don't go breaking my heart

[inaclearing]

[Well. All that sure happened!

Brett hasn't done much for one of these post-trial gatherings thus far, but he's been trying very hard to be functional lately, and...well, the fact that so many other people aren't okay right now just makes that all the more important. So he'll go around telling people, or slipping notes under doors if need be:]

We're going to have some food at the bar, if anyone wants it.

- Brett & Joy

[It feels a little weird to have it there, but...let's be honest. He expects quite a few people will be passing through the bar of the own accord tonight. They may as well not drink on empty stomachs.

There's not a ton going on. Brett's figured out how to turn the light-up dance floor off - it seemed a little inappropriate. Despite being hosted at the bar, Brett hasn't actually set out any alcohol; there's tamagoyaki and a big vat of chicken noodle soup sitting on some tables in the middle of the room, as well as tea for anyone who wants a drink that isn't alcoholic. Everyone who does want to drink can serve themselves. Also, someone has draped a rainbow pride flag over the bar? It seems appropriate given who's throwing the party, at least, and he didn't really have it in his to stop Joy, so.

You're free to turn on some music, if you want. Brett couldn't pick anything out on the jukebox, it seems.]

Comments

[fuckingguy]

[ Nandor shows up to the afterparty for pretty much whatever the duration of Kokomo (Seafaring Song) is! Like, he just walks in to get some drunk blood, sees that the get-together is happening, punches in the song, and stays until it ends. Then he leaves with a blood bag and a little cordial glass, which is, you know, fine! And he doesn't return. You can find him in the art supply store for a while, looking at necklace cords, but eventually he ends up in the garden. It's not the best place to be alone, he knows, since people end up gravitating there eventually... but he had something in mind.

He stands before the gravestone the Undertaker made for a while, then empties his glass onto the nearby soil. Afterwards, he sits on a bench, the glass once again full of an opaque red liquid. He reads New Moon for a while, ignoring the world around him, but it is hard to focus on the words.

He retires to his room early, and falls into a deep and dreamless slumber. ]

Garden

[hotpaprika]

[Jonathan sees Nandor at the Garden and finds himself sitting down next to him. He doesn't say anything, he just lets himself chill with him.]

[fuckingguy]

[ And it's a good thing he doesn't, because Nandor is not going to speak to him! He doesn't move to leave or anything, he's just going to be reading the same page of this book for a solid two minutes. ]

[hotpaprika]

[They sit there in silence for a few more minutes, before Jonathan finally speaks up.]

... I am sorry for the blood offering.

[fuckingguy]

[ There is a decent amount of dead air before he speaks, still looking forward. ]

That is not the issue anymore.

[ IT STILL KIND OF WAS, THOUGH... HE'LL APPRECIATE IT EVENTUALLY ]

I am not going to be soft with you tonight, Jonathan. You should leave if that is going to put you in a state.

[hotpaprika]

... I will stay, I can handle it. Whatever you have to say to me, I am sure it is something I need to hear.

[fuckingguy]

Very well.

How do you think I was feeding before I awoke in New Rapture? Do not say what you think I want to hear, because you have no fucking clue what that is.

[hotpaprika]

[He fidgets in his seat, but he only barely hesitated.]

Ah... infants, I suppose. Besides me, those were the only blood I had witnessed my captors attempt to eat.

1/2

[fuckingguy]

[ HE ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT THE BABY EATING... ]

cw vampirism talk including The Infants

[fuckingguy]

No. I was not eating babies, okay? I was draining the lifeblood from adults like a regular person.

... Nonetheless. Yes, I was killing people. I have been killing people for over seven centuries. Do you have any idea how many human lives that adds up to?

[hotpaprika]

Oh, my apologies! I only had the Count and his wives for reference before; I didn't know if that was normal for your kind.

[But he sighs, continuing to listen. God that was so many people, it pained him to think of all those innocent lives lost.

... And yet a thought sticks out to him.]

Wait, if you don't mind me asking, why did you object to consuming my blood if you had...?

[fuckingguy]

This is the problem, Jonathan!

[ Nandor shuts his book with a snap. ]

You are apologizing to me after I tell you I have murdered thousands of people, and then you ask me why I do not want to drain your blood and kill you?! Have these five weeks just not fucking happened?

[ He stands up and strides forward, still speechifying. ]

Of course I wanted to eat you! But I did not, even when I was starving and you were traipsing about smelling all pathetic and delicious, because I have self control! And now, it has been too long, and I care about all you assholes!

[hotpaprika]

[Oh...

Jonathan is quiet for a long time after hearing that. Words fail him as he just sits there, taking in Nandor's speech.

His voice is quiet when he finally speaks.]

You... truly care about me?

garden

[specialyellthing]

[Hes in the nightclub so briefly that she misses him—- spots him across the room once, figures she’s got time, and by the time she’s wrapped up whatever conversation she’s got going with whatever poor sap she’s cornered at that time, he’s gone.

Which means her visit to the Garden is intentional, and carefully planned—- she slips away between songs, when she hopes she won’t be miss, and heads to the garden, where her hopes are realized. She had a feeling he’d be here.

She doesn’t speak, doesn’t want to ruin his moment or his ritual—- just drops into the space beside him effortlessly. She winds an arm around him, rests her head on his shoulder, and stares at the page with him.]

[fuckingguy]

[ There are maybe two people in New Rapture who Nandor actually would choose to have in the same space as him right now. Zinda is, handily and obviously, number one. His eyes flutter shut for a moment as he leans into the contact (which is just kind of like... leaning back, but that's neither here nor there), then open again to gaze ahead at the set of completely blank pages after Edward leaves Bella. ]

... It is a stylistic choice on the part of the author.

[ Okay, pal! ]

[1/2]

[specialyellthing]

Mmm. [She doesn't have anything to say for once, just that quiet sound of agreement. She's content to stay there, cuddled up, for a few minutes at least--]

[2/2]

[specialyellthing]

[but after a few minutes---]

... Is there a secret message that pops out and scares ya?

[fuckingguy]

[ turning his head to look at her with real concern: ]

Like some kind of curse?

[specialyellthing]

… Yeah? Or maybe just some scary words.

[fuckingguy]

Oh.

[ Well, other than the tragedy of Bella having been abandoned...! ]

... Well, either way, no. [ He solemnly closes the book. ] I am just thinking about some things.

[specialyellthing]

You’re always thinkin about things.

[She says it like most people don’t. But they can’t all be Zinda, all no thoughts and only Hawkah.]

Did he get to ya?

[fuckingguy]

[ Nobody has ever said this about Nandor before, and, god willing, no one will ever again! ]

Seo Dawon? If I am being honest, the ghost part was the biggest surprise.

[ This is not necessarily true. Until the arm check, he was really quite certain he knew where the mage stood, and that the where was not "in the dark ride, ripping a man's heart out of his chest." ]

There are many vampires just like that. I had no real delusions as to what he was, it is just... four people is a lot to lose in one day.

[ And he's going to actually miss all of them, is the real issue. ]

[specialyellthing]

… Yeah. It is. Gettin used to loss again… it’s weird, ain’t it?

[She remembers how she felt when Barda died. She hadn’t been able to go to that funeral, either.]

[fuckingguy]

[ Nandor blinks a couple of times as this sinks into his mind. ]

Yes. Yes, that is exactly it. Once again you have known me better than I did myself.

[ MOST PEOPLE WOULD NOT CONSIDER THIS A STUNNING INSIGHT..... but also, this is the same guy who had to crowdsource to Guillermo to recognize "grief", so ]

What is it even gonna look like when this happens again and Aiba is not here?

[specialyellthing]

What can I say? I'm Lady Blackhawk, I'm amazing. [duh.

She flashes a smile for just a few seconds-- then her mood shifts back into something more serious again. He's said when this happens again, not if, and she doesn't correct him. It's not exactly uplifting, but that's part of what Zinda likes about him. She doesn't have to futz around the truth. He knows things are dark, he's a vampire, after all.]

...It's gonna suck. My guess? It'll fall onto one of us-- maybe Forrest, or Gaius. Depending on which of us is still alive. And we'll just have to make our best guesses, based on what we've seen before.