Receive them into a twinkling star

[cethflayn]

[When the remainder of the passengers returns to the ship, Flayn steals away to read what Constantine gave her upon their parting. She reads it, and cannot find it in her heart to burn it.

Well. With the rest of the letters from the dead it goes. They'll all be on her person, now, which is the safest place she can think to keep such precious words.

Quietly, privately, Flayn comes to Lelouch to ask for his assistance, and soon enough pieces of paper with Flayn's lovely handwriting find themselves slipped under your door.

Please come to the Pub on the seventh floor this evening, so we may not spend this dark night alone.

- Flayn





Cethleann

No more hiding.

Between Lelouch actually knowing how to cook, and Flayn being a doggedly determined young lady, the pub is much more hospitable when you arrive. There are homemade snacks as well as...McDonald's milkshakes and apple pies? And all manner of sweets brought over from the various floors of the ship, as if in Jasper's honor. Lengths of relatively subdued fabric have been cut from bolts in the crafts room and laid out over the tables and bar, and there are even some various liquors put out if you feel like getting absolutely wasted. We're all kind of fucking sad at the moment, it's fine. It's fine. Just eat before you imbibe, please.]

Comments

[jibunwo]

[Lelouch was quick to set himself to work at Flayn's request--putting together those fruit sandwiches he'd promised Jasper, along with some fruit salad from the excess and some actual salad for anyone looking for a goddamn vegetable today.]

[As for himself, he'd be sitting on his own in the pub with one such sandwich, eyepatch left off and eye continuing to glow ominously.]

[...What a day this had been.]

[sivard]

What a disaster, huh?

[jibunwo]

...I don't know. Maybe it went exactly as planned, we don't have any way to be sure.

[cethflayn]

Thank you very much for your help.

[Now they won't all die because Flayn accidentally turned a cake into a bomb or something.]

[jibunwo]

It's nothing, really. I'd already been looking into how to make those fruit sandwiches.

[ahelpingpaw]

Looks like Jasper left a letter for you.

[Sure was quite a day, really. Still, no rest for those who have to fulfill favors for the dead! That's why he's here, yup. Tonight his only goal is to bring Jasper's last words to people]

You holding up well?

[jibunwo]

...

[He took the letter and looked it over; whatever it said, a look crossed Lelouch's face that was probably a smirk but almost a smile. Almost.]

I think I can manage. What about you?

[cethflayn]

[For what it's worth, Flayn does her best to be a good host in the Pub. In addition to her normal clothes, she's got on a white furry cloak that...probably came out of the vending machine? It's weird, isn't it? But it seems to comfort her, and give her the strength to keep going.

If you come, she'll invite you to sit, fetch you something to eat and drink (or if you're Data, fetch things for the cat friends to nom on), even sit with you for a time if you want to talk. Do note that she's got Emily, Jimmy Bear, and Kissa with her as well, who can provide moral support in their unwavering presence, if you'd rather, like. Cry into an ugly teddy or stare down a psychic doll or pet an additional cat.

Eventually, though, Flayn will slip out from the little party and go to the Deck on Floor 1-B with her three companions. She'll sit quietly on one of the deck chairs, the same exact one she found herself in when she first arrived, and looks out at the sea. Jimmy's in her pocket. Emily is seated in her lap, hugged to her chest. Kissa is curled up at her side.]

...Oh. That was how it went, wasn't it.

[She remembered an old sea shanty her mother sang her, once. A long, long, long time ago. To remember it now...surely her mother is watching over her, even here. So she'll sing it, softly to herself.]

pub

[ltcommandroid]

Thank you.

[FOOD FOR THE CHILDREN, THEY ARE STORVED]

Would you prefer to use the name Cethleann now?

[cethflayn]

...[She tilts her head, thinking about it.]

Honestly? I am not sure. It was the name I was given when I was born, and I have missed using it. But I am not unopposed to being called Flayn in the least. Both are still me.

[sivard]

[They're so few in number now. With nine, he thought they had a chance. Seven, though? They're left with so few now... and Filbo at least, is someone that Zaveid doesn't want to see get into a fight at all. He doesn't deserve it.]

What the hell was he thinking? Why bring Jasper into this...? I don't understand what he was thinking.

All he's accomplished is lowering our odds even more.

[ahelpingpaw]

I guess we're never gonna find out...

[He says that, looking around as if he expects to find the Captain's head peeking through a wall spying on them all. Filbo doesn't feel at liberty of discussing whatever Constantine and Jasper had been planning -- Jasper was kind enough to give a few broad details, but not that many]

But...no point in wondering that, right? Because we gotta go on no matter if we know or not! At least Jasper left a few letters -- yours is right here.

[scythegun]

[Jasper and Constantine. Seven people remaining. It's a bit harder to be as confident as he was during the trial - now that the show's over and they have to pick up the pieces and move on, things certainly won't be any easier.

He doesn't arrive at the afterparty in a timely manner, but eventually he'll join everyone in the pub, where he's definitely eating cake pops in remembrance of Jasper. He still has that giant scythe with him, but that's just going to be how things are now. Someone's got to be prepared for battle at a moment's notice, right?? If you approach, he'll gesture for you to take a seat and join him.]

How are you doing after all that?

[Not exactly the best greeting, but it's a good idea to see where everyone is right now.

Finally, once it starts getting dark, you'll find him in the bar. It's margarita time again, but this time he's working on a lot of glasses?? Oh my god that's so many margaritas. Why this.]

Pub

[cethflayn]

I am...I will be alright.

[Flayn has taken part in the honorable tradition of dunking a hand apple pie into a milkshake. For Jasper.]

While I wish it all could be through different means, I hope...I hope things turn out well for them.

[For the dead. For Constantine's plan. For anything, at this point.]

pub

[magycks]

[ There's no verbal response! Just the hugest shrug and shit-eating grin combo anyone's ever seen... which, honestly, there's no way Yeager didn't see coming. ]

Pub

[ahelpingpaw]

Truthfully? I'm conflicted. But that was to be expected.

[He's finding out he doesn't take betrayal well, really. He couldn't be upset at Freyja because he knew she hadn't done anything out of malice. Reika making it seem like she had used him had hit him hard, but he was able to cling onto the weapon she brought to the trial and focus on that to try to make things have sense -- and this time he didn't have such a thing. At that time all he had was his disappointment. Now that he read letters from Jasper and Constantine he's cautiously hopeful things will go well, but still, today hurt, Constantine]

Ah, before I forget, here. Jasper left this for you. Looks like he left letters for all of us!

pub

[sivard]

[Oh, hi there, roomie. Don't mind if he does sit down.]

...Better, I suppose. Knowing now that they planned this together. Still stupid of them to do this, when the risks are so great, but... I guess I can see the logic.

[ahelpingpaw]

S-S-Set--le-an.

[He has no idea what's the correct pronunciation, so he wings it. Reminder to himself he needs to hang around Lelouch to see if he pronounces his last name again so he can catch the right pronunciation this time.

This was a...surprisingly overwhelming trial for Filbo, if he has to be honest. He hadn't felt so emotionally overwhelmed since Sylvando's death -- and by now he can tell it's because he didn't expect it at all. Looks like if he has a moment to prepare or anything to cling onto, he can face it with relative acceptance, even though of course he was sad. Being able to say farewell to Freyja, and at least having received forewarning from Liz and Egg back in Snaktooth had made him be able to take their departures from his life relatively well. Constantine? Filbo never thought he'd kill someone. Nor make a show out of it, for the sake of making things go well. Thank goodness for the letter Jasper left him, as well as the one from Constantine he'd receive later.

Filbo has a duty to do. Taking the bundle of letters from Jasper -- except the one for someone named...Hendrik? Apparently? -- and goes to the afterparty, taking a small pile of cake pops along the way]

Hey, Jasper sends his regards.

[He says, extending the letter for you and a cake pop]

[ltcommandroid]

[Well, no need for a cake pop for him, but:]

I have a letter for you as well, from Constantine.

pub!

[cethflayn]

A letter from Jasper? Is...the cake pop part of it as well?

[She will accept, though. Do you want a rundown on pronouncing names, Filbo?]

[ltcommandroid]

[Well, here we are again.

Data will once more be sitting in the pub and largely focusing on giving the cats their dinner for a little bit. Once the outrage of Cat Honger has been quelled, he sticks around for a little bit, just kinda hanging out with Spot on his lap. These gatherings tend to not have much for him to do, when he isn't bartending or trying to shove food into people.]

Would anyone care for some music?

[Eventually, he makes his way back to Room 4 to put the cats to bed. The door is open, so you can see him making up Constantine's bed for Parker instead, fashioning a little nest and depositing the Vaporeon inside. Parker accepts this offering! It's during this that he happens across Constantine's journal and dead letters. He'll take the latter and deliver them to anyone who's still out and about at that hour.]

[magycks]

[ Magica, true to her word, shows up at the pub, and it seems like afterparty is definitely the operative word here. She hasn't been this perky about a trial's aftermath since the first one — which makes sense, probably, since that was the last time someone accused her of anything at length — but there's still a certain flatness to it. For someone as emotionally diminished as her, the last two days were a lot, and then there's the actual mortal toll to take into account. Constantine, despite now being neck and neck with Glomgold on her personal vengeance hitlist, was knowledgeable about the occult they're still enmeshed in. Apparently, so was Jasper! And because he didn't pull some giant magical explosion out of his trenchcoat at the last moment, she's got to assume that the plan involves the afterlife in some way, which means it's probably ongoing. At least with Reika, they all got to watch Jack die and know there wasn't anything left in store! Now she's got to keep playing along with the ill-understood scheme of someone she's started to actually hate.

But hey, it's fine! Let's all get a pint and punch in a ton of Bjölk on the jukebox while nobody's looking to totally kill the vibe of the whole affair. Also, she's absolutely throwing darts at the photos of Handsome Jack nonstop, since she's in a good enough mood now that she won't flip out if she misses. If you think this is ill-advised in a room with six other people... well, don't look at her and expect her to get that message, because her first assumption if anyone comes her way is: ]

You want a go?

[ When she leaves, she gives the purple not-morgue a long, resigned look. ]

Ugh, it's going to have to be me again, isn't it.

Purple room

[cethflayn]

...Magica, I know magic.

[She thinks you mean, oh, so I'm going to have to do all the magic shit by myself. But anyway...last two ladies and the shortest people on the boat. There's gotta be some kind of solidarity, right?]

[ahelpingpaw]

...I think I'm gonna pass on the darts for now. For reasons.

[Emotional reasons he's not divulging -- more concretely that he played darts with Constantine so seeing this game stings a little, hah. Still, he produces something for Magica]

Here, have this. Looks like Jasper left a letter for you!

purple room

[sivard]

You know, it's not the same as yours, but my artes are a form of magic.

At the very least, between those of us familiar... it might narrow down the sort of magic involved.