Funeral Service for Adaman and Hodaka Morishima

[giddyundertaker]

[ An hour or two after the first trial's end, Hild and the Undertaker set out to invite as many people as possible to the Restaurant for the funerals of our dearly departed friends.

Why the restaurant of all places? Because there aren't enough chairs and tables elsewhere.

Indeed, some of the tables have been moved against the wall to make room for the seats. The chairs have been set up in four rows of six, like an improvised theater or a church. To the side, a small buffet has been set up courtesy of Obi, Mafuyu, and Hild. As for the main event? Two tables have been set up and decorated in black fabric and white flowers. In lieu of a live viewing, two drawings referenced from the profiles have been set up in the center of funeral wreaths... They're not the best, due to the artist's handicaps, but it does look like Adaman and Hodaka at least.]

Comments

[fuckingguy]

Perhaps. But does it not make you uncomfortable to work so closely with places of worship?

[kninja]

Well, there's plenty of food in the...

[What is it called.]

...fridgers. [Nailed it.] I may have gone a little overboard cooking earlier. We can brew some fresh tea to go with it so it's not all cold.

[giddyundertaker]

... Not entirely.

[ He's kind of used to it. Sort of. ]

[kninja]

[Obi gets the distinct feeling that the kids are not all right.]

...Well, me too.

[He rubs the back of his neck and takes a seat on a nearby stone. Not the one that did Adaman in, thankfully.]

Mind if I join you, then?

[fuckingguy]

Thank you, Zinda. [ He smiles back, the expression uncharacteristically tender but still incredibly fangy. ] You have given me much to think about.

[ And he reaches out, intending to take her hand and squeeze it, before he can consider the action in any way, shape, or form. ]

... Uh. So... what about you?

[ crushing it ]

[fuckingguy]

[ Oh, right. Other people have loved ones who might not want to see them just murder people! And while that would not have stopped Nandor, it did stop Forrest, so clearly this is working for him. ]

Is she your girlfriend, this Midori?

[kninja]

Uh. ...Hi there.

[Obi comes to a standstill holding a plate of flatbreads, looking equally uncertain about her presence here.]

Garden

[pairtner]

...do you believe in gods, Forrest?

[She asks that once Forrest finishes the plea. Aiba respectfully stayed silent during all that time, waiting for him to finish]

[fuckingguy]

If he is not willing to listen to reason, a mediator might be for the best. As for the situation... eh. [ He waves one beringed hand dismissively. ] Basically, it means that I am an ancient, infinitely powerful beast of the night who drains human victims of their blood in order to perpetuate my own eternal life, very scary, yadda yadda yaddee.

Restaurant

[pairtner]

Brett.

[The voice comes before Aiba climbs on the table, the hamster thing waddling until she's a few inches from the edge of the other side of the table, and stands there.

.........

On second thought, perhaps talking about this kind of topic goes better when you do so with a human than with...her real self. Taking advantage of the direct line of sight to his eyes, Aiba augments reality to project into his retinas the sight of her human self sitting to the other side of the table, looking right at him]

You were having a difficult time today during the trial, didn't you? I cannot say it with certainty, but it seemed like you were struggling.

[Dissociation, yeah]

[pairtner]

[Aiba is trying so hard not to think about what happened. It's her job to aid in solving cases, but that doesn't mean she has to like any of what happened, especially when she liked both Hodaka and Adaman.

Which is why she has made herself scarce for the most part. She has never been one to be able to give consolation or condolences -- not because she doesn't understand people being in pain, she just isn't used to that at all...

...much less when it's to all these almost complete strangers. It's...really rough]

I hadn't thought I would find any place suffocating.

[Things sure are nice and easier when all you have to do is hang out inside your partner's eye socket and see stuff happen. To be the one to face it all herself...it's not all that great]

Restaurant

[pairtner]

...nothing in particular. I already broke your privacy enough for a lifetime.

[.......]

Which is why I wished to apologize. I did what I felt was necessary but that doesn't equate to it being right.

[This definitely ranks up there as far as dry apologies go, but she means it]

Meeting Room

[pairtner]

...they really are gone...

[It's quiet, but there she is, looking into the empty isolation room. Truthfully she almost didn't think the Mayor would really take everyone out of there]

[onemillion]

...As much as I wish to argue that... I would be surprised if we didn't lose anyone else.

[After all, Fontaine's horrid motive worked, so he's certainly not going to stop "motivating" us...]

[onemillion]

[People can just. Summon gods where you're from?? Absolutely wild.]

Gods simply aren't real where I come from, and I have a... complicated history with religion as a whole. But... he was always so adamant in his belief that I wanted it to be real. If his Almighty Sinnoh is real, then I hope that they are the benevolent god Adaman believed them to be.

[bootyhunter]

[...Oh.

In Dandy's wild and wacky philosophy, the simple joys are the best ones. He keeps surprisingly quiet as Nandor speaks, the edges of his lips drooping downwards all the while.]

...Did it?

[buriedstar]

[ That is plenty different, which just goes to speak about how sideways this whole situation is. Seo Dawon nods, closing his eyes briefly. ]

Part of it, at least. Figuring out the cause doesn't do much if there's no will to fix it, or strength to. No one would call me kind, but listening to others talk is a service for the both of us.

cw emeto

[fuckingguy]

No. No, it did not. It was like, [ he's miming this now? just miming taking a bite out of something ] mm mm, yummy, oh no--

[ And what follows is Nandor making loud noises that are definitely stand-ins for projectile vomiting while throwing his arms in front of his mouth, violently shaking them and doing spirit fingers, to simulate the stream! When you think he's done, he just goes BLUHHH even louder and extends his arms further. It goes on for, like, thirty seconds. ]

Tore through a tent from the sheer force of it. Humiliating experience for me.

[honeyedtea]

[ Zinda's kind, level voice is usually relatively grounding to hear – it's enough to make Mielle snap to attention at least but before she can registers anything else, she sees the sheen of Zinda's wavy blonde hair spilling over her shoulder and immediately cringes back, pressing herself into the sofa as hard as she can. ]

N–no, don't... I didn't...!

[ She's scrunching up, as if to make herself as small as possible. ]

I didn't do this... I didn't kill him... so don't...!

continued cw as above

[honeyedtea]

[ At the sound of Mafuyu's voice, Mielle freezes – locks up like a prey animal hoping to be overlooked by whatever has it in its sights. But when she realizes it's Mafuyu – just Mafuyu – she manages to take in a big, shuddering breath. She feels the throb of her pulse under her own hands and knows that she's fine, she's alive but convincing her head of that is easier than her heart. ]

I–I don't... [ Another deep, shaky breath. The ones that come in between are a little too shallow but she's breathing, at least. ] When did I...?!

[honeyedtea]

... I'll be fine. Mafuyu and Miss Zinda were very kind in taking care of me.

[ Her voice is low and a little raw – the sort of sound that only comes from stress and tears, even if Mielle looks too drained right now for any of that. ]

I just... had to come here and see for myself. So I could believe it'd really happened.

[inaclearing]

[Brett sighs, rubbing at his eyes.]

There's...I don't know. I - I think I need to get out of here. How long are you supposed to stay at a funeral? Twenty minutes?

[It's almost definitely longer, but also there's not really a service happening here.]

Garden

[pairtner]

[This case has affected a lot of people here. Aiba is pretty sure during those times one must do everything in their power to find the strength to go on, but upon seeing Mafuyu praying where Adaman was found...there's no doubt this isn't Mafuyu reaching out to gods for herself. She's praying for Adaman.

Makes her wonder if...]

...do you think a word from someone who hasn't ever prayed at Almighty Sinnoh such as myself would be welcome to that deity?

[Aiba doesn't believe in gods but she sure isn't the kind of person who would belittle others for it. In fact, she'd join in. It's the sensible thing to do...and she does want to say goodbye to Adaman in some way]

[buriedstar]

And by something you mean setting poor examples for everyone, disrupting trial in not one but two ways, and trying to get everyone else to feel sorry for you? That's almost funny, Jonathan Harker.

Ah, and before you imply that I haven't done anything—in my spare time I've discovered another recording, cooked for those who forgot that their health matters just as much as their hostages, and got Fontaine to agree to post his own profile. Actually, for as busy of a man he claims to be it's been several business days now. I'll have to go remind him after this.

[ There's very little emotion in all of this until the end where that's something of a lilt, he is just the type of guy to visit Fontaine regularly at 5am in the morning. ]

[inaclearing]

...I guess so.

[Brett sighs gustily, scrubbing a hand over his face. This is the first funeral he's been at in years. Howl never really had one. All they did was plant those trees, which was entirely different.]

I just don't want to look cold. Especially since...especially now.

[Especially since he's always had issues with showing emotion in front of other people. Any tears he's shed today have been strictly in private, but maybe that makes him look like he didn't feel anything much.

Especially since he sort of pushed Hodaka to that breakdown in the first place.]