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

[paucipan]

Yeah, exactly. Which is probably what the Captain wants at this point.

[And any chance they can take to spite the Captain is a good one, honestly. Plumeria pauses when Sylvando answers her question, though. It's not an unexpected answer, not really; Sylvando took this whole thing pretty hard, and Magica and Alice egging him on likely didn't help matters any.]

...I don't blame you. That entire ordeal was...quite a bit to deal with. I don't think any of us could have expected the way it went.

[But she has a feeling that's not what Sylvando is talking about. He made that much clear at the trial, after all.]

...You really did have a lot of faith, didn't you? In the fact that we could stick together through this.

[Surprisingly, there's no judgement in Plumeria's tone. It's an observation and nothing more, but. It still comes off a little rude, sorry about that.]

[hypnowhip]

[Even if Plumeria's not judging him for it, the wording still stings pretty bad. He flinches a little and glances away.]

I did. The group that I traveled with back home, we...went through some devastating times, but we stuck together. I know we all just met, but so had we back home. I thought we could develop a similar unbreakable bond.

[...]

I was wrong, and I have to accept that.

[paucipan]

[Sorry about that, Sylv, this is just further proof you don't deserve this...

Plumeria listens, though. Devastating times, huh? It...somehow makes a little more sense, that he's been the way he's been. Though really, the idea of him maintaining such a positive demeanor even in those times is...]

...That's probably the best way to go about it. We can't change the past; the most we can do now is keep going and keep our guard up. Dwelling on it is only going to be more depressing.

[Plumeria does look at Sylvando after that, though. Considering.]

...What happened to your home, if you don't mind my asking?

[hypnowhip]

[Plumeria's definitely got the right idea there. It's how he got through those aforementioned devastating times in the first place. It's good to hear such words repeated to him now.

As for her question, he shakes his head.]

It's all right, I don't mind sharing. [...] I'm part of a group that includes the Luminary, Yggdrasil's chosen hero to combat the Lord of Shadows, Mordegon. Despite our best efforts to stop his rise to power, Mordegon still managed to deliver a catastrophic blow to Erdrea: he destroyed Yggdrasil, and with it, took over Erdrea as his and caused so much suffering in the process.

Thankfully, we were able to regroup and defeat him once and for all and restore Yggdrasil to her former glory, but dealing with the initial fallout of that calamity was not easy.

[Nor did it come without sacrifice.]

[paucipan]

[Plumeria, for her part, listens very intently. It's definitely a lot to take in; the idea that something so evil could, even for a time, managed to win against them...well, it reminds Plumeria of something unpleasant.]

I can see why you wanted to believe the best of all of us. I imagine that after overcoming such an ordeal, one would truly think anything is possible.

[If he and his merry band managed to get through the destruction of something so precious, then he'd certainly apply it to something like this. Which...really, is just setting him up for more hurt down the road.]

...Though really, I'm surprised that you've managed to keep such an optimistic demeanor through all of that.

[It's...genuinely surprising, honestly.]

[hypnowhip]

[As it turns out, being stuck on a murdercruise is definitely not the same as going on a JRPG adventure! Who'd have thought?

Sylvando laughs a little at that last bit.]

Oh, believe me, I was ready to give up at first. I woke up and had no idea where everyone else was- I had no idea if they were even alive after what just happened. I felt hopeless. [He smiles.] But I had someone looking out for me- someone who knocked some sense into me and reminded me who I was.

Dave, the first mate of my lovely ship, the Salty Stallion...I truly couldn't ask for a better friend.

[This sure was a way for his ship to come back into a conversation.]