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

[calx]

[ Well this is Albedo's room too, so it's only a matter of time before Lalli finds himself with company. He'll leave the door open after he comes in as that's the way he found it, and it's quite late enough to worry about sleep.

Albedo's not particularly one for greetings, but Lalli's probably used to that by now. And that book catches his attention pretty easily too, he had seen Zero make origami earlier in the week. ]

Do you need paper?

[silentscout]

It didn't come with any.

[So yes, he does need paper. It is much appreciated.

By the way there's now someone sleeping on Lalli's bed. She is a calico longhair cat and is curled up in ball form currently.]

[calx]

[ Albedo's been carrying around a notebook, so he tears out a view pages and sets them near Lalli without another word. They have some scribbles on them, mostly runes that are unrecognizable and the occasional quick sketch of an object including a banana. ]

With someone making use of your bed, the efficiency of this room has increased twofold. [ It's slight but there's some lilt with how he says it. Cats aren't all that interesting to him truth be told, but he does look at the feline with some interest. ]

[silentscout]

Mhmm.

[Lalli, on the other hand, likes cats. They're easy to understand and can be good company if you know how to treat them.

He's also biased because his luonto is a cat. But shhh.

Lalli is also taking those papers, thanks.]

she won't cause trouble. She's trained to search out trolls and alert humans nearby to their presence. She's a very smart cat.

[calx]

[ Y'know he's prob had Klee running around his lab at times so a cat is nothing. ]

I didn't know cats were capable of such a thing, but I also do not know precisely what a troll is. How does she locate them?

[silentscout]

By smell. All cats can smell trolls easily, and they're immune to the rash. But it takes training for them to know how to report it to humans.

[calx]

Impressive. I've seldom worked with animals, but I've heard cats are more difficult to train than dogs. Can she detect other anomalies?

[ Looking to the feline again. There's some genuine interest here but also Albedo doesn't exactly smell human given the whole homonculus thing, though in his case it's more a lack of scent than a distinct one. ]

[silentscout]

She can hunt rodents and keep them out of food supplies.

[That is a much more normal cat thing though. Also Albedo will probably be fine, Kissa is a very friendly cat. Lack of smell is better than troll smell.]

[calx]

[ Good. He's yet to have that conversation with anyone here and he doesn't really intend to change that, at least for now. ]

It seems she'll more than earn her keep. What is her name?

[silentscout]

Kissa.

[Wait for it.]

That's what was put on her training paperwork. But we all just call her different words for 'cat'.

[calx]

In different languages?

[ ... ]

Is that how I should address her then?

[silentscout]

Kissa is fine. She will answer.

[calx]

Alright, Kissa then. If she needs an extra blanket as well, I'll get one for her.

[ Now that there's +1 to the party under the bed. ]