[Hijikata is startled when he gets the message. Riou is inviting him over?! Oh, wait... he's inviting everyone over. Of course, it's finally thawing, so he must be drawn back outdoors, nature lover that he is. Well, this is as good an opportunity as any to do what Hijikata wanted to do anyway, namely apologise for the whole miserable situation at the Cave of the Brave of Soul two months ago. He meant to collect some rare plants for Riou come spring, but now he has to accelerate that plan a little.
He buys a woven basket, covers the inside with cling film, and heads out fill it with soil and collect flowers from the fields. Sure, none of those are rare, but given the increased general interest in the language of flowers he has the perfect guide for an apology present now (or so he thinks). However he gets so into all the different meaning that he ends up replanting far more flowers than originally intended... dusky purple belledonna for silence, light pink carnations and gladiolus for remembrance, white cyclamen for resignation, and some large light purplish-pink hydrangea for gratitude. Ultimately he doesn't even find any flowers that stand for an apology, so he'll have to verbalise that after all! But that's alright. It'll be an apology and also a closing of a door that is no longer open. Hijikata has to accept that Riou will never remember the bond they had on that other world in that other timeline, and that he has to move on.
His preparation activities took him far longer than expected... dusk has long crawled in, but to be fair, the party was set to start around this time. He hesitates, though. Does he really want to barge into a lively party with his basket full of downer flowers? It'd be awkward as hell! Samatoki is bound to be there; he'd never let him live it down! Jyuto would probably also think he's a weirdo! And who can tell how many other people Hijikata knows will be there? No, no. He can't go now. He has to wait.
Parties can continue long into the night if everyone is entertained and having fun, so even going at midnight seems risky... but he's just trying to get an idea of how many people are still there, that's why he's cautiously approaching the camp in the deep darkness. He can see the lantern lights ahead, but it seems quiet... maybe everyone did already go home after all? It's still quite chill after nightfall, even if they made a fire. He moves on, all senses alert, when he trips over a wire and sets off the chime of several little bells. Well, then! So much for not getting noticed. He takes a deep breath and just stays where he is, nervously clutching the basket's handle in both hands. Riou will come to check who intruded his territory.]
...
[Maybe this was a godawful idea from the start. He should book it out of here while he can! But ugh, he can't always run away, can he? That's not at all in adherence to the bushido!]
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He buys a woven basket, covers the inside with cling film, and heads out fill it with soil and collect flowers from the fields. Sure, none of those are rare, but given the increased general interest in the language of flowers he has the perfect guide for an apology present now (or so he thinks). However he gets so into all the different meaning that he ends up replanting far more flowers than originally intended... dusky purple belledonna for silence, light pink carnations and gladiolus for remembrance, white cyclamen for resignation, and some large light purplish-pink hydrangea for gratitude. Ultimately he doesn't even find any flowers that stand for an apology, so he'll have to verbalise that after all! But that's alright. It'll be an apology and also a closing of a door that is no longer open. Hijikata has to accept that Riou will never remember the bond they had on that other world in that other timeline, and that he has to move on.
His preparation activities took him far longer than expected... dusk has long crawled in, but to be fair, the party was set to start around this time. He hesitates, though. Does he really want to barge into a lively party with his basket full of downer flowers? It'd be awkward as hell! Samatoki is bound to be there; he'd never let him live it down! Jyuto would probably also think he's a weirdo! And who can tell how many other people Hijikata knows will be there? No, no. He can't go now. He has to wait.
Parties can continue long into the night if everyone is entertained and having fun, so even going at midnight seems risky... but he's just trying to get an idea of how many people are still there, that's why he's cautiously approaching the camp in the deep darkness. He can see the lantern lights ahead, but it seems quiet... maybe everyone did already go home after all? It's still quite chill after nightfall, even if they made a fire. He moves on, all senses alert, when he trips over a wire and sets off the chime of several little bells. Well, then! So much for not getting noticed. He takes a deep breath and just stays where he is, nervously clutching the basket's handle in both hands. Riou will come to check who intruded his territory.]
...
[Maybe this was a godawful idea from the start. He should book it out of here while he can! But ugh, he can't always run away, can he? That's not at all in adherence to the bushido!]