Welp We're Here and That's What Matters

[ahelpingpaw]

[Perhaps it's tradition by now, he doesn't know. Still, he does send a note to everyone some time after the trial. Simple and to the point:]

Because everything on this ship is awful, I think a drink is needed. Come get some at the bar, it'll do you some good as long as you don't drink too much

Filbo (pawprint)

[Indeed, if you come to the bar you'll find there's one of everything. Filbo seems to have asked literally every drink he knows or has at least heard about, and lined them up from the most mellow to the strongest. There's one of each, so it's limited, take yours before it's gone! Or...ask Jimmy Buffett for more, he's right there.

Should he be encouraging drinking? He's not completely certain, but he had to do something! And this is as good as anything -- not festive because this is no time to be festive, but also social enough to encourage coming.

This will do.]

Comments

piano lounge

[silentscout]

[Music is a rarity for someone like Lalli, who grew up without regular electricity or most forms of entertainment. As such, it's not something he's particularly attached to. Music can be loud, and that makes it distracting and sometimes painful.

But Lalli will stop and listen today. He doesn't interrupt, but he does stand relatively close the piano as he listens to the music and watches Zero play.

Music isn't something he would normally seek out, but he can listen when someone else is playing.]

[jibunwo]

[If he noticed Lalli (and he did), he didn't say anything. There wasn't much he could think to say at the moment, anyway. Better to just keep his mouth shut for once and refocus himself after that calamity of a trial. Deep breaths, focus on the simple motion of his own hands and let the song continue for a while longer.]

[silentscout]

[That's fine, Lalli won't interrupt Zero's playing. Instead, he walks around to stand at the front of the piano, watching Lelouch's hands as they fly across the keys. It's a kind of precision that Lalli recognizes comes with years of practice, and it explains why Zero can make something that sounds genuinely melodious.

Then his gaze flicks up to the phone image. So that's Zero's wish, huh? It reminds Lalli of his own motive photograph, in a way.

...don't mind the guy standing right behind you though, Zero. Lalli still is weird about personal space. But he's trying not to disrupt on purpose, honest.]

[jibunwo]

...You know, you could step back just a little bit.

[at this point he expects general lalli weirdness.]

[silentscout]

But then I can't see what you're doing.

[He moves off to the side of the piano instead of backing up. He can at least lean on that a bit to look over and watch Zero's hands on the keys again.]

[jibunwo]

Do as you like, then.

[Eventually, he'd switch to something a little calmer, at least.]

Have you never seen a piano before?

[silentscout]

I've seen them in Iceland, but I never stopped to listen. And we found some in the Silent World, but those were worn down from decades of exposure to nature.

[Oh, he likes that song. He didn't know music could be easier on the ears like that.]

Nobody played anything in Keuruu. There wasn't much time for hobbies on a military base.

[jibunwo]

No, I would imagine not. I haven't played in a very long time, myself.

[silentscout]

Why not? No pianos where you were?

[jibunwo]

I think we had one at school, but most of my time was split between there and active warzones. Not much time to play, when I was around one.

[silentscout]

You fought in a war too, like Sara.

[Lalli is frowning now.]

Why?

[jibunwo]

Present tense--I still am.

[He glanced briefly to the picture on his device before looking back at the movement of his hands.]

'Zero' was created because there's someone I need to kill and an empire deserving of destruction. I can't do any of that as 'Lelouch', so I put on a mask and chose to lead anyone who wished to oppose tyranny.

[silentscout]

Oh.

[Suddenly it all makes more sense. No wonder why Zero- no Lelouch- no wonder he hid his face for so long. He had to protect his identity.]

Why can't you say that as 'Lelouch'?

[jibunwo]

For one thing, teenagers don't really lead violent revolutions in my world. Most of the Knights are older and more experienced than I am, and on top of that there are several reasons they simply wouldn't trust me if they knew my name or saw my face.

[like, a lot of reasons]

[silentscout]

But you're good at speaking and uniting people. That makes you a good leader, even if you're young.

[Lalli is absolute dogshit at boosting morale or commanding others to listen to him, but even he can recognize the traits of a good leader. He's biased and thinks his grandmother and Sigrun are better, but Lelouch is a solid third place.]

[jibunwo]

And I can do all that behind a mask. It's fine if they doubt me because I don't show my face, because it's the lesser of two evils--if they knew anything about me not only would it jeopardize the entire organization, but it would put the people I care about at serious risk.

[silentscout]

Are those the people you care about?

[He points to the phone sitting up there on the piano.]

[jibunwo]

...Yes. But some of them are already...

[A pause, his hand hitting a slightly wrong note.]

...It doesn't matter. Not here, at least.

[silentscout]

[Boy, he sure can fill in the blank there. It's a blank that exists in Lalli's life too.

Lalli pulls out his phone and opens his own motive image and sets it down next to Lelouch's phone. Then he starts pointing to people and saying their names, starting with the blonde on the far right.]

Emil.

[Then the big guy in the back.]

Mikkel.

[Then the redhead with the braid.]

Reynir.

[Kissa and Lalli himself would be next, but he skips over them since he's sure Lelouch knows both of them. Instead, he goes to the redhead in the back.]

Sigrun.

[And then, after a moment of hesitation, to the last person on the left.]

...Tuuri.

[jibunwo]

[Lelouch listened as she named them off, glancing up as he did. Then he paused, hands going still on the keys before reaching out to pick up his own phone. In order he pointed out the young girl in the wheelchair and the woman behind her-]

Nunnally. And our mother, Marianne.

[-the woman in pink and the knight at her side]

Euphemia and Suzaku.

[-the redhead in a school uniform]

Shirley.

[The woman with green hair, whose name was pronounced C-2 but I'm forced to spell it 'correctly']

C.C.

[and the other teenage girl in red.]

Kallen.

[silentscout]

[Somewhere, Rolo is crying.

Lalli listens carefully, committing those names to memory. He's normally not so great at remembering names, but it feels important to try this time.]

You have a little sister.

[They're all such pretty people too. What an aesthetically pleasing noodle canon.]

[jibunwo]

[joke's on him, lelouch ain't even finished season one yet]

I do. Nunnally is...why I understood Plumeria. She and I would both do anything for the person most important to us.

[silentscout]

Mmm.

[Lalli understands that want to save his people too. He just hasn't found a way to act on it.]

Tuuri and Onni are the most important ones for me. They're my cousins, and we're the last of our family.

...it's probably best that I was the one who came here. Tuuri wouldn't have made it very long here, she's too soft in the heart. And Onni would have killed someone for a motive.

[jibunwo]

My sister doesn't belong in a situation like this. She's a gentle and compassionate person, who just wants the world to be a kind place. If we were here together, I would probably have killed every single one of you in the first week.

[...don't just say shit like that]

[silentscout]

[Lelouch please!]

You wouldn't have made it through everyone before getting caught. But I understand what you mean.