I have died every day waiting for you

[lovelikeyou]

[That was, in Rose's opinion, even worse than last week. Any loss of life is an awful waste, but for it all to come of some horrible accident...

This week, she doesn't retreat back to her room. She knows now that the people here, or at least enough of them, like to gather after these experiences. Many of the Crystal Gems were the same way; she remembers their post-battle huddles well. It's not a party, really, but...it's good to be together. To have friends around. Maybe, to remember those who were lost.

So this time, she'll go to the cafeteria herself and request some food for everyone. It's just basic snacks, the kind of human food she knows well enough to ask for. There's some hot chocolate provided, too. She definitely knows people enjoy that. It doesn't take too long, since she isn't making most of it, and then she goes to invite everybody she can find.

She doesn't slip any notes underneath doors, for the people she doesn't happen across. Some Crystal Gems didn't join the groups, or maybe did after one battle but not another. Sometimes they wanted to be alone. She never really understood that...but it wasn't her place to tell them otherwise. Weren't they all about freedom?

Everybody probably knows something like this is going to happen again, anyway. It's their choice to come.]

Comments

[drladysounds]

Professor, you coot, come out of wherever you are! My skinny fists demand retribution!

[There's Shelley, shouting at the ceiling at the lounge. Look, it's already bad enough they have to watch friends kill each other, it's even worse when it seems the Professor explicitly targeted Alice]

That just was so...so...I don't even know what word to use!

lounge;

[valentinus]

Disgusting?

[ It looks like Shelley wasn't alone anymore in the lounge, at any rate. ]

[drladysounds]

Yes! Exactly! What Vincent said!

[Shelley keeps shouting at the ceiling]

You're disgusting, Professor!

[valentinus]

[ A short sound escaped him, though there was no smile.

He was a little amused. ]

It's too bad I doubt he'd care about us hurling such words at him. Although he didn't seem above a little petty spat towards the end of trial...

[drladysounds]

I'm sure if he could he'd have words to say to all of us. He just doesn't so he can stay up his high horse.

[Although at times he does seem willing to have spats! Guess the horse isn't that high, haha]

[valentinus]

[ Nope... ]

That sounds likely. But someone could argue he never had the chance to 'get up' on one in the first place as soon as he opened his mouth.

[ Vincent, while quiet, knew the meaning of snarky for sure. ]

[bogwife]

Nightmarish?

[Sup, Shelley, Zerinda has scissors in her waistband and is missing several inches of hair.]

[drladysounds]

Yes, nightma--

[Her shouting stops when she sees Zerinda's new look. Huh]

...not bad! You look good.

[bogwife]

Thank you. [She runs her hand through it, giving it a little ruffle.] I got to a point where I needed to just do something and that something ended up being letting Mira cut my hair.

[drladysounds]

I know how that feels. Sometimes you just want a drastic change that makes you feeling like a new person, whether it's moving to another city or just getting a haircut.

[Shelley approves, really!]

[pimpplan]

Asinine?

[ Sure, he'll add another word to the party. ]

[drladysounds]

Asinine!

[.....hm. Or perhaps not!]

Not strong enough. I need a stronger word! I can think of a few, but they would bump this up to a mature rating.

[pimpplan]

Stronger, huh?

[ He ponders, rubbing his temple as he tries to think of something appropriate and not something someone has already said. ]

Hypocritical? Idiotic? A literal waste of time?

[drladysounds]

Perfect!

[Shelley keeps shouting]

You heard him! You hypocritical, idiotic, literal waste of time! You wouldn't win in a fair fight against anyone and possibly not even against me!

[Saaaay...]

You'd defeat him if he tried to fight you, right, Zelos?

[pimpplan]

But of course I would! [ He flips his hair dramatically. ] That's why he hasn't given me a weapon, he's too scared of me being able to take him down myself!

[ ............. maybe. ]

[thieviusraccoonus]

Pointless?

[Sly's here to add to the list of descriptors, leaning on a long, hooked cane.]

[drladysounds]

[Something about the word 'pointless' just makes Shelley deflate a little. Yeah, the Professor aiming at Alice is...it may have been pointless. Maybe he did it for no reason at all.

Maybe he just felt like being a jerk, and Alice was the unlucky one who depended on the Professor's mercy no matter what.]

...yes, pointless.

[Sounds about right, and it hurts, somewhat]

Maybe it was just because she was the easiest one to force to act out of desperation.

[thieviusraccoonus]

[It's a easy word for Sly to draw on, even if he didn't like it himself. "Pointless" didn't exist in the vocabulary of a master thief, everything he went after had some meaning to it. The Professor doing this? What was the point?]

Yeah. Couldn't have been easy, having a strict diet while you're trapped in a tin can at the bottom of the ocean.

[The whole blood-sucking thing aside...]

Plus hiding it.

[drladysounds]

You know, I never thought she was a vampire. Sure, she had cold skin and was supposed to be super strong and looked beautiful, but none of that made me think 'vampire'. I thought all vampires usually were these stout, winged men living in Bulgaria.

[So that particular revelation came as a surprise to Shelley. Apparently Alice didn't need to make much effort with some because they deluded themselves]

[thieviusraccoonus]

Hey, the only vampires I have experience with are some undead, hopping ones I ran into back in China.

[And that's a whole story unto itself.]

I wasn't exactly expecting her to... shine as much as she did either. I hope that didn't hurt.

[hardnosed]

Pointless.

[ wow this word association is a real shocker huh (high five, Sly)

Jasper steps out of her room just in time to hear Shelley yelling. It would be kind of comical under any other circumstances. As she speaks, the door whooshes shut behind her with perfect melodramatic timing. ]

[drladysounds]

Exactly!

[Hrrrrrgh the Professor makes Shelley so upset. She wants to make him step on Legos]

You know, I once told Alice the reason why he took away all of her skills is because he was afraid of her. If at least I had been right about that, this wouldn't feel like it was pointless.

[Something about being trapped under someone who just...picks them off one by one is just so infuriating and demoralizing at once]

[hardnosed]

I didn't even know she had skills until an hour ago.

[ Which makes sense, since Alice lied about a lot of things — or told half-truths, in her words. ]

You were right. He's afraid of everyone who outclasses him. If he wasn't, he wouldn't keep resorting to [ raising her voice and glaring upwards ] lowlife trickery to keep us down here.

[drladysounds]

[It's weird that the way Jasper puts it seems to be uplifting to Shelley. Maybe it's because imagining the Professor as this scaredy-cat guy who had to downgrade so many of them into their current state made her feel better]

But he'll run out of tricks. He can't keep having you all under his thumb like that.

[Not including herself because Shelley is as normal as a human can be]

[hardnosed]

He can try. But this isn't the first time I've been held down. It doesn't matter how long it takes — he'll slip up.