darling, this place is a lovely oasis [forward dated to Thursday]

[honeyedtea]

[ It doesn't seem right to call for a party this week, not with this new incentive hanging over their heads and ticking ever closer to its deadline. Mielle's been trying not to think about it but she knows she's in the minority, compared to those who've been spending their hours doing nothing but sit around the meeting room. It feels like the fragile sense of stability they've managed to establish is going to come splintering apart and that frightens her. She'd talked about arranging something like this last week with Gaius, but... now seems like a good time to actually make it a reality.

At some point during the prior day, everyone will have gotten an invitation from Mielle – either in person or through notes left at their suites – to come by the restaurant around noon the next day for a little gathering. There'll be food and also a bit of a surprise that she'd like everyone to come and see.

Anyone who drops by at the time indicated will find that Mielle has set up a tea party in the restaurant. She's done what she can to wrangle finger foods and sweets and enough tea for everyone from the menu and there's a few tables set up for people to sit around chatting over tea and food.

There's also another table set up not with food, but handicraft supplies. There's beginner embroidery sets and more than enough supplies for everyone as well as some supplies and paper for flower pressing, if you're into that.

Mielle's hovering around, trying to look more like a confident hostess and less like a nervous wreck but with this week being what it is, she thinks they won't mind her slipping etiquette. ]

I'm not quite sure how typical this is elsewhere, but... in my own world, young ladies will come to gatherings like this to socialize and display their skill at these sorts of crafts. I know nothing can change the situation we're in but... I'd hoped that a gathering like this might lift our spirits, or at least take our minds off of things.

[ It's certainly not as formal as Jonathan's meeting from last week. But there's something earnest about it all the same.

Mielle will be attending, of course, and while she's here to socialize, she'll also be happy to help anyone who wants to learn handicrafts with getting started – she'll be surprised if any of the guys show an interest but she'll help all the same. Otherwise, feel free to mingle around and try not to think about the rapidly approaching motive deadline. ]

Comments

[inaclearing]

[Brett snorts. Honestly, that seems like the purest version of this assignment.]

Nice.

[allatonce]

I'm trying to decide if I'm going to give it to Fontaine or hang it up in my room.

[She's probably gonna give it to Fontaine. Or rather, to Eleanor to give to Fontaine.]

[inaclearing]

Make two and give him the worst one. We've got nothing but time.

[allatonce]

Oh, true. I could rework it to be "fuck you" and give him that instead...

[She tilts her head from side to side, contemplating the design.]

[inaclearing]

Yeah, stick it on a throw pillow or something! Maybe someone, someday, can beat him with it.

[allatonce]

I like the idea of a throw pillow. That was Eleanor can smother him with it.

[She's holding out hope that Eleanor will come to her senses.]

[inaclearing]

Hopefully someday. It's easy to fall for stuff like that, at that age.

[And also when you're older sometimes maybe don't worry about it]

I get it and all, but I think some folks are a little too hard on her. Yelling at her won't help her see it how it is.

[allatonce]

[She snorts.]

People like to think they're sooooo above cults and stuff like that but nobody is. Someone catches you at the right time and then boom, you're giving the Church of Scientology hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

[inaclearing]

[Brett nods.]

The right time, the right person. Sometimes you just...really need something to hold onto.

[It's not like he's with Donald on all of it, all of a sudden. But in retrospect, the way things could be with Howl...it scares Brett a little, in a way it never did when the man was still alive.]

[allatonce]

.... Yeah. Yeah, sometimes you're just chasing after something and hoping that it helps. That it makes the vast nothingness of the universe brighter or something.

[She pinches the bridge of her nose, breathing out.]

[inaclearing]

[Brett looks sidelong at her for a moment]

You okay...? We can just sit here and do crafts, we don't have to be existential.

[allatonce]

Sorry, I keep thinking about... my mom's just up there, and she definitely thinks this is all my fault, but for once she's... she's kind of right?

[Moreso than she usually is, anyway.]

[inaclearing]

...not really. You might as well say it's our own fault we got kidnapped. There's nothing we could've done to stop any of this.

[allatonce]

[Oh, that's not true at all but she's not about to say that to Brett.]

I guess. It won't really matter to her, though.

[inaclearing]

...I'm sorry. That sounds hard.

[Brett tries really, really hard not to be one of those "at least you have a mom" guys. He knows better; he is still a gay guy in the Midwest.]

[allatonce]

[Funny story: she actually doesn't have a mom anymore. "But she just said—" :)]

Yeah. At least she's not an overt homophobe, I guess? Grey linings.

[inaclearing]

...small blessings.

[He's quiet for a moment, poking at his crafts. But maybe he should share too, while they're at it.]

My hostage is a friend of mine, Peregrine. She just started her first year of college - she should be there now, her fall break must've ended last week.

[allatonce]

Damn, that's rough. What's she like? Is she someone you met doing your podcast?

[She means that in a "was she a fan or something" way, because like 18/19 seems like the right age to be into that kind of shit.]

[inaclearing]

Yeah. It's about her, pretty much. I ran into her when I went up to Whitetail on a personal project - she and her friends were doing this really intensive survivalist training with this recluse who lived out in the woods. I thought it was interesting, we got to talking.

[so you know probably not listening to a lot of podcasts actually]