WE'RE STILL HERE AND THAT'S WHAT MATTERS FOR GRUMP'S SAKE

[ahelpingpaw]

[Well today was quite the unusual way. Filbo pretty much went into his room and collapsed on his bed and just fainted because hey, everything that happened? It's overwhelming. Bluuuuuuuh.

A few hours later, once he recovered somewhat, Filbo just goes and gets paper. This is a ridiculous situation, but...hey, no matter what, stuff needs to be done]

I know today was a really weird day, but let's try to gather and see what happens. There will be ice cream at the ice cream parlor in half an hour. With everything that happened we really should try to at least not forget we need to stick together for whatever reason.

---Filbo Fiddlepie (pawprint)

[Geez.

Well, he goes and does exactly what he said: this time it isn't booze, it's all kinds of ice cream available for anyone who comes. The tables all have spoons and water because really, this is going to be a whole lot of sugar for everyone. Better this than alcohol, especially since things clearly have gone off the rails one way or another, so may as well gorge yourself with ice cream and try to gather your wits for whatever the next week can bring]

Comments

[ahelpingpaw]

[Of course the host has to be there at the afterparty. There's Filbo, piling ice cream ball upon ice cream ball on the stuff, so he can serve them around]

Ask for anything and you'll get it! Except, uh, the dark froyo, I don't wanna give any of it.

[Still, Filbo looks a little bit rattled. Once he has a moment to rest, he just sits to the counter]

...so, how do you feel about, well, everything? Are you holding up well? It was...something.

[cethflayn]

[Flayn's priority once they emerge from the elevator? Find Kissa. Sure, she's not hard to find for a cat, probably sleeping in Lalli's room and not too objecting to the girl she met before scooping her up, but catte is likely very surprised to be moved to a new room, with stuffed animals and Emily and Jimmy Bear watching as Flayn just. Sobs into Kissa. Shivering, scared, and so very lonely.

If you need to find her in Room 2 before the "dear fuck what do we do now" party, you may do so.

Flayn does show up, after a time. She sits in a corner with Emily and Jimmy Bear, Kissa loafed on the table, sipping at a glass of water. Her eyes have a sort of far-away look to them, something of tension in her shoulders, and she'll ask if you come by,]

Do you think he will come to hurt us?

[She means the Ghost Man that's in their Captain.]

[jibunwo]

[Holy shit.]

[Lelouch was also going to take a long while alone in room 11 after...all of that. Catch his breath, give his heart a chance to stop pounding, maybe clean up the room a little while he was at it. Not like anyone else would be using it anymore. After that he'd spend some time in the kitchen, only getting Filbo's note on his way back.]

[He came to the ice cream parlor much calmer and less confrontational--and without his eyepatch, left eye glowing pale red with a bird-shaped sigil clear in his iris.]

[...Calmly, he'll set a banana bread with cream cheese frosting on the counter for anyone that wants something warmer.]

Afterparty

[ahelpingpaw]

[Here you go, Flayn. A sundae made of all the fanciest stuff he could find, just like you provided him with one last week]

...uh...I wish I could say no? But, well...

[You saw him, he pretty much tried to set Filbo on fire. That's a threat]

But Davy Jones says he should follow the rules of...whatever's going on here? Maybe Davy Jones will be able to keep it subdued for the time being.

[scythegun]

[Yeager returns to his room immediately, but he doesn't stay there long. He's out and about patrolling shortly after that to make sure that whatever battle is waging down there doesn't end up coming up here... and he's definitely armed. He has his massive scythe with him, and though he has it slung over his shoulder, he definitely doesn't seem to be at ease. His expression's certainly less-than-pleased, for once.

But eventually it becomes clear that this isn't our battle (today), so Yeager wanders off to room 12 - Risotto's and Sylvando's room. He's initially in there only to do a sweep of the room and grab any more weapons, but... well, there's something on the desk and Yeager ends up standing there quietly for a long moment.]

...I won't let you down.

[He's going to be in there for a bit longer as well, cleaning up and putting things away just as Freyja noted in her journal.

Eventually he joins the afterparty proper; he's still got that massive scythe with him, but it's propped up against the table as he works intently on some notes. He'll notice if you approach, and hold up a hand in greeting.]

Do you have any experience with weapons? Have you received any from the vending machine?

Afterparty

[ahelpingpaw]

[That...that really is some good-looking banana bread. Filbo looks at it for a moment, tempted to get some, and slides some ice cream towards Lelouch, in case he wants it]

...well done today. I know maybe it's hard to feel like there's anything to be glad about given...things kinda went crazy there? But well done anyway.

[magycks]

[ Magica maintains fixed eye contact with Filbo as she walks over to the frozen yogurt wall, pulls the forbidden froyo lever, and lets it gradually spool into a looming tower of dark malevolence. She absolutely cannot finish this bowl and will not attempt to do so! ]

[jibunwo]

I'm not really hungry, but thanks.

...Today could have gone better. But at least we're still here.

[ahelpingpaw]

...I-I mean, if you want it that badly...

[...]

...I hope it got cleaned really well after the essential oil thing, you know. But if you get sick I guess--I'll see what I can do?

[Don't die, Magica]

[scouserer]

[Constantine isn't found at the ice cream parlor at first. His mind is racing, and he can't quite settle down just yet. Rather, he can be found on the top deck, smoking almost all his reserved cigarettes. He paces back and forth along the deck, the strong smell of nicotine indicating the presence of a lit cigarette in his hand. Cigarette stubs can be found scattered across the ground, thrown down without much care and promptly trampled upon. As he walks, he mutters to himself under his breath.]

I should've known. I should've known Jack couldn't have done any of this on his own--for God's sake, he even mentioned that he was tipped off, and nobody gives out that kind of information for free--not without some sort of intent behind it. He mentioned a ritual--it's got to be what he's after. It's got to be--

[Constantine runs a trembling hand through his hair, exhaling sharply and letting out a quiet, shaky laugh.]

God, John, how the fuck are you gonna get outta this one?

[Eventually, he makes his way to the living quarters and notices Filbo's note. He decides to go to the ice cream parlor--but with several supplies in tow. Constantine carries with him several stacks of loose paper taken from the craft room. In his hand, he grips a packet of thick, colorful markers. As soon as he enters, he slams them down on the table, glowering at anyone nearby.]

If that bastard is gonna play things this way, you all may as well learn some basic incantations to protect yourselves. S'not gonna kill him anytime soon, but it will safeguard your soul.

[He hopes, at least. For someone normally so adamant about being careful with magic and staying away from it, this is a change of pace.]

[ahelpingpaw]

That's exactly right! I dunno how we keep pulling it off, honestly. Kinda feels like we got lucky there at the end.

[Really lucky Davy Jones came back at the right time]

[sivard]

[Well, Filbo might not have supplied booze, but Zaveid shows up with booze anyway, looking pretty shaken, to be frank.

But just the same, he'll be in the ice cream parlor for most of the evening, not eating, but then again everyone probably knows by now that he doesn't technically need to eat. And it's hard to want to eat after... everything that just happened anyway.]

Does anyone know what the hell that was possessing Jack? I've seen an Empyrean using the body of a young boy as his vessel before, but not sure if that was a god or an evil spirit, like with Lorna.

[Later that night, much later, Zaveid can be found on the deck staring out at the water.]

I thought we'd be out of here when Jack kicked it. And here we are. Still trapped, now with something even Jones was apparently afraid of.

[cethflayn]

[. . .

She is hungry.]

...Maybe. I hope so. But...I hope he is not severely hurt in the process.

[Kissa perks up when she notices Filbo, but it is a good perk! Hello friend.]

ice cream parlor

[cethflayn]

I am sorry I swore at you.

[Flayn does indeed sound sorry - but geez, how many times is she going to have to apologize for being awful? She's in a little place in the parlor drinking water, surrounded by Emily and Jimmy Bear and Kissa.]

[magycks]

[ Magica has run the emotional gamut today, relatively speaking, which really just means that she felt more than two of them. Now, though, she's right back to rage, which is all the more potent for its new source. She does show up eventually, but it's only after a lot of stalking around and hissing furiously to herself. She has three major stop-off points:

Jimmy Buffett's Jimmy Buffet, where she is just straight up flinging plates and glasses at the walls.

The library, where she looks for the mysterious aforementioned atlas, doesn't find anything, starts tearing the shelves apart, then suddenly grabs a Bible and storms out.

And the garden, where she clips various herbs — dill, rosemary, lavender, sage even though it's presumably for cooking and not smudging, you get the drill. She brings them all back to room 5 in one big bouquet, then heads out to the ice cream parlor with the Bible and, weirdly enough, Flayn's friendship bracelet. Once she's there, she stares at both, writes furiously in her notebook, and in general does nothing but stew in the knowledge that she's doing nothing. ]

Honestly, I still want to burn something.

[ahelpingpaw]

[Hi, Kissa! Filbo manages to smile and pets Kissa on the head. Just pat pat because seriously, these paws weren't made for scratching, hah]

Davy Jones is...uh, an old spirit of the sea. I'm sure he knows all sorts of things we can't even imagine -- there's no way he's gonna get hurt by that thing.

[Don't make assertations you can't prove true, Filbo]

[cethflayn]

[These are good pets! Kissa purrs softly and arches into Filbo's touch.

Flayn, meanwhile, slowly pulls the ice cream bowl over and eats small, delicate spoonfulls.]

...That is true. When you live and experience so much for so long, you do learn many things.

[She wishes she were conscious for more of her life.]

[jibunwo]

Don't worry about it.

[ahelpingpaw]

Exactly. I'm sure to Davy Jones we're all just...children, I guess? In terms of age? Maybe even you though you're far older than us.

[He's not that old, Filbo, hah]

[jibunwo]

Probably because we did.

[like, damn.]

[magycks]

If a mouthful didn't kill Decus, it's not going to kill me. We've got bigger concerns right now.

[ She doesn't know that Decus actually ate all his froyo like an idiot, and she refuses to acknowledge the fact that obviously, being much smaller than Decus, something that didn't kill him could probably easily kill her! ]

[ahelpingpaw]

That's...that's true.

[Still, if this night ends with Filbo having to carry a collapsed Magica on his shoulder all the way to the infirmary he's so going to be disappointed with the universe in general for leading his life to that moment]

...so, about that thing that's now possessing Jack's...corpse? Well, whatever it is. Had you seen anything like that before? Or maybe...commanded one like that before?

[cethflayn]

[A shrug.] I might as well be a child to him. Most of my life...a great portion of it, I was asleep.

[She's self aware she's naive.]

[cethflayn]

[A nod.

Sips her water.]

...And. Thank you. For voting. I...I do not think I could have if I tried.

ice cream parlor

[sivard]

I know what you mean. If I only had my artes, I could have taken that thing on.

[Probably not, actually, since wind is weak against fire but when has that stopped Zaveid.]