And we're all adrift together through the cold mist, 'til we're lifeless together

[dokkalfheimr]

[The preparations hit differently this time.

Last weekend was at least an attempt at being festive, even with the light supplies they have; at being joyous, at giving people at least one nice thing to look back upon before things inevitably took a turn for the worse. And now two people are dead, and instead of trying to figure out structure placement and how best to keep everyone entertained and occupied and well-fed, the preparations now are given to much more practical purposes.

Large amounts of bottled water from the machine. Bagels and bread and muffins, light starchy things to avoid forcing anyone to keep meat or seafood down after seeing a corpse. Fruit for the sake of providing energy. Avoiding including bananas for any reason. Quietly pulling aside one of the first people she sees with any experience in the matter and asking them to help her make tea.

Once she's got one of the tables at the party zone set up and the tea is on its way to being prepared, she'll set around letting people know; the invitations are simple, written in Freyja's broad, elegant handwriting:

I think another gathering tonight would be beneficial. Not to celebrate, but to remember; perhaps more importantly, to ensure that no one is alone if they don't want to be.

Tonight is hard. There is nothing further to do but get through it.]

Comments

[dokkalfheimr]

...I don't think that makes you a failure. You just have more compassion for the lives of others than some of us here.

[Not that that's...terribly hard...given some of the people we have here...]

It's calming, honestly. To know that some here are good people.

[ahelpingpaw]

[Pffft, that's true, that's true. Oh well! There's always gotta be someone with oodles of compassion in any murdergame, I guess this time it's Filbo]

I'll choose to believe that's it.

[Hard to believe it, but he'll try his hardest]

...besides, we're all alive. We survived! And our homes did too, at least for now. And now there's nothing to do but keep going on, you know? No matter how much it hurts or what may happen, we have to keep going forward and try to move on. I know it's not gonna be easy now that people died, and the Captain probably will say the threats worked and will use more, but...

...it's not like we can stop moving! So how about it?

[It's as if he's asking Freyja if she's willing to come along and face whatever will happen now. They managed to get through a week full of worries, and this entire day was a horribe, painful experience, but stagnating isn't an option. You ready to face the future, Freyja? Or need some time before you're ready?]

[dokkalfheimr]

[Oh...

The sudden shift in mood is undeniable, and she'll look over for a moment once all of that is out there, tearing her gaze away from the water and refocusing on Filbo properly; it takes her a moment to figure out what she would do with her face, but eventually she smiles, despite everything.

She would love to.]

Here's to moving forward, then.

[ahelpingpaw]

That's right!

[He seems so pleased to see Freyja smile. It's hard to, after the day and seeing two people die. It's hard and he'd more than understand if anybody didn't feel like they could just bounce back. He himself is forcing himself a little, but hey, fake it until you make it! Because he's real good at making it, hah]

Besides, I know you're working hard. I got this. [He shows the invitation for the gathering] I should have known something like this would be a good idea.

[dokkalfheimr]

I thought it might be something people needed. Unity and solidarity are...well, they're good things to establish, even if the situation may be bleak.

We'll get through this.

[ahelpingpaw]

You know, I used to gather people around campfires every night while I was in Snaktooth Island. Too bad we don't have a firepit, it'd really feel nice to be around one these days.

[And you really, really, really don't want Filbo handling fire outside of a firepit or a campfire. Please don't let him near fire if you want the ship to stay intact]

[dokkalfheimr]

We'll have to come up with an alternative... Unfortunately, fire on board a vessel in the middle of the ocean seems a bad idea.

[...Dear god, where would we even put it.]

[ahelpingpaw]

[Data's meta once mentioned possibly he using a treadmill's mechanisms to heat up stuff. I guess in the middle of the gym by breaking treadmills is the one choice to follow there, haha]

It'd be awful. That's why when I had to heat up water for tea I had to sit for hours with a pot here on the deck. It's supposedly an old wilderness survival trick Lizbert mentioned to me a couple times. When you can't do something like you want, improvise!

[Hopefully in ways that don't involve setting treadmills to have fire on them somehow]

[dokkalfheimr]

[...Filbo, is that what you were doing with the pot...]

I would like t o hear about her sometime. Lizbert.

[ahelpingpaw]

[That's exactly it. Took him days to use that to make some good tea for Jasper by heating up water thanks to the sun's heat against the pot and adding vending machine tea and giving it so many tries because it wasn't heating up enough and that's all before getting some lemon in there. Days]

Oh, she's great! I'd love to tell you about her. [He just beams with pride when her name is mentioned, that's how much he's already looking forward to that] But maybe not tonight. There's a lot to be done!

[But still, it's a promise. He'll have to tell Freyja all about Lizbert]

[dokkalfheimr]

Of course. We can talk anytime you would like.

For the time being, however, shall we?

[ahelpingpaw]

We shall.

[There's a gathering to attend, after all. People probably are feeling down after what happened, for obvious reasons. May as well keep an eye around, see if anyone's feeling too down in the dumps]