[Video/Action] Bittersweet the Bonds of the Heart

[oathshackledbird]

[Losing Mami, who he viewed as an adopted daughter, last month had been hard, but Diarmuid had worked his way through his grief by focusing on the happy times they had spent together.  However, when three more people he is close to are sent home--two of which he cares for like his own children--those happy memories become a source of pain instead of a route passed the grief.

When he appears on the Network, Diarmuid looks more lost and empty than he has in a long time.]

Usually, when I address everyone, I am asking for help on a project that will benefit the whole Tower.  Today, I am asking for help on a more personal level.

How does one handle losing a child?  Not just one, but several over a short period of time?  Nothing I try seems to work, and I am...

[His voice trails off here, shaking and uncertain.  A short time later, the feed ends.]

Action:

[After making his post, Diarmuid can be found wandering the Tower almost as if he hopes one of the floors might give him the answers he seeks.  There are some specific prompts below, but feel free to find him elsewhere.]

Room 4-16:

[A handmade wooden box sits on the bed next to Diarmuid.  Once it held chocolates, now it holds letters.  Several written in a childish hand are sitting on the top, but what Diarmuid is looking at is a pair of drawings that are usually set up near his bed on the nightstand.

He's not crying...  He's not...]

Floor 48 (The Graveyard):

[Rabbit would probably scold Diarmuid for singing what is suppose to be a funny song in such a sad voice, but it's hard to be happy when he is singing the song alone to the gravestone of the person who was suppose to be singing it with him.  He and Yotsuba had promised to get together to sing Rabbit's songs as a way of honoring their friend's memory...

Now that is never going to happen in any way other than this.]

Floor 3 (The Library):

[There is ink smudged on his cheek and his arm, but Diarmuid doesn't notice.  On the surface, he's focused on printing more copies of the Tower Guide to put out for those who might want them, but really he's in the Library for a very different reason.  Tohko was always here and it's like he feels spending time here will help him find her again--find that cheerful voice who had so often redirected him when he didn't know what to do next.  He almost expects to look up and see her there, smiling and ready to offer her help with what he's working on.

Unfortunately, no matter how long he waits, that will not happen.]

Floor 28 (The Music Room):

[Before even his brother, Labrys had been the first family Diarmuid had in this place.  Their bond created during the January experiment, afterward they had talked about learning to play an instrument together, but life in the Tower and his indecisiveness had kept them from doing so.  Now, as his hands run over the piano he had once heard her picking a tune out on, the sound of his grief blocks any music the instrument might make.

How is it that one who once lived his life with no regrets has so many of them now?]

Comments

[bydefacto]

One day, when Sealand is a powerful nation with lots of brilliant musicians, I'll be so good I could sing on Broadway if I wanted!

[He's beaming with pride, despite his current mediocrity with music. And he's glad as well that he seems to have cheered this guy up a little.]

You sing something next! [Sealand scrambles out of his seat at the piano, in case Diarmuid wants to play as he sings.]

[oathshackledbird]

Sealand? Is that where you are from?

[Diarmuid watches as the boy moves away from the piano, but doesn't take a seat himself.]

When I sing I usually do it without an instrument to accompany me. Do you have type of song you like the best? Something funny? Something adventurous? Something sad?

[bydefacto]

It's who I am! I'm the Principality of Sealand, the smallest nation in the world!

[Or... in his world, perhaps that should be. He holds out his hand for Diarmuid to shake as he proudly announces this, sitting himself back down on the stool.]

Funny, please! Something funny!

[oathshackledbird]

Who you are?

[For a moment, Diarmuid is puzzled and then the a memory crosses his mind.]

You are like America was? The...spirit or soul of your country?

[It's not accurate, but he had only known America a short time before she left, and she hadn't really explained what she was all that well.

When Sealand requests a funny song, Diarmuid smiles.]

My brother prefers funny songs as well. All right, here goes!

[The song he sings is about a pair of brothers and the pranks that they pull on each other. It is a tradition between them and so there is never any bitterness between them. Only joy. For Ancient Irish folk songs, this one is surprisingly free of the tragedy that often is a part of even the happiest songs. That is why he picked it.]

[bydefacto]

Y-Yeah, like that! I'm the embodiment of the Principality of Sealand!

[He grins, more pleased than anything, perhaps, to have been compared to America.

When Diarmuid begins to sing Sealand is paying rapt attention to him. He makes a good audience by himself, giggling at various points and humming along a little, despite that he doesn't know the tune at all.

He claps and cheers when it's over.] That was really good!

[oathshackledbird]

It is a pleasure to meet you, Sealand. My name is Diarmuid Ua Duibhne.

[Diarmuid bows to the boy, and once he is done singing bows again in gratitude for the boy's attention.]

Thank you. I am glad you enjoyed it. Only, I don't know if I would suggest taking any of those tricks and playing them on people in the Tower. Unfortunately, not all of the people here have as good a sense of humor as the brothers in that song do.

[Like Ganondorf, for instance, who cursed and turned to stone the last people who played a trick on him.]

[bydefacto]

Nice to meet you too, Diarmuid.

[He grins, following the man's lead and bowing back.]

Don't worry! I promise if I did play a trick like those, I won't play them on people who are violent or anything!

[...It has given him a few ideas for his brother though. Who's a jerk, but wouldn't hurt him.]

[oathshackledbird]

I am glad to hear you won't do that.

[Diarmuid smiles, though there is relief in his eyes.]

We have only just met. I would hate to think something I told you about got you into trouble. My brother sometimes acts without thinking so when I sang him that song, I had to make him promise not to use anything from it either.

[bydefacto]

[He smiles back, spinning back around to the piano and pressing a few random notes.]

I'd only use them on my own brother. He won't mind... But if he did, he's a jerk anyway. So it's okay. [This is perfect Sealand logic.]

[oathshackledbird]

[A such perfect child logic. Diarmuid can't help but laugh softly. It reminds him of something one of his boys would have said.]

Is your brother here? What is his name?

[bydefacto]

Yeah, he's called England. He's a nation as well. [A recognised nation, at that, unlike him. But Sealand doesn't see reason to admit that.]

[oathshackledbird]

England?

[Diarmuid falls silent a moment trying to remember if he has ever met England. In the end, he shakes his head.]

I do not believe I have ever met him, but it is good you have someone here to help support you. Even if he is a jerk sometimes.