What I want to hear on nights I can't sleep is your voice

[philoxenia]

[ ... Well, that was an absolute shitshow, wasn't it? Instead of dwelling on how she feels about everything that just happened, Mira's channeling that energy into something else--and she has a little bit of help doing it. Zerinda and Ema are here in the bar to make drinks, and Mira's brought in a ton of food that's definitely not healthy for anyone, but screw it, who cares about health right now?

Della's here to pass out invitations, too--they let everyone know there's a gathering in the bar, if they'd rather not be alone.

If you choose not to come, well... Mira's got that taken care of, too. She'll place a little container of cookies and hot cocoa outside your door. Maybe it'll help someone feel a little less alone--at least, that's what she's hoping. ]

Comments

[blackmass]

[You should never have been born.]

[Entertaining as the unmitigated mess of a trial had been, something about that stuck with Kirei like a persistent thorn. It bothered him, and it bothered him all the way to the bar. He poured a glass of red wine and sat in pensive silence, only occasionally remembering to actually drink it.]

[A small book of matches laid out on the bar caught his eye, Kirei picked it up as if considering something. Glanced around the room, then stepped behind the bar. He struck a match and took a photograph from his pocket, holding it over the flame and watching the edges curl as they smoldered.]

['Your wish will not come true unless there is a clear evil. Even if it is not something you approve of, a superhero requires a villain to defeat.']

[Yes. To grant that wish would be to bring about a cataclysm requiring a savior. What that Master desired now, Kirei didn't know. He doubted that person himself was even fully certain any longer.]

['You said you would be a superhero. Then make your decision.']

[To grant that person's wish would be to give them an enemy that a hero of justice needed to defeat. In that way...their desires were one and the same. Worth killing for, certainly. Kirei had only refused as much because-]

['Such a hopeless wretch! Do you still seek mundane happiness!? Do you not understand that such a thing does not exist for you!?']

[The small flames reached a little too close to the priest's hand, and the photograph was dropped into the metal sink to slowly burn away harmlessly. Kirei, as though nothing out of place had transpired at all today, turned his back on it.]

[The reasoning didn't matter. Neither did the motivations of a madman styling himself a professor. He could only live as he always had, and wait for the right opportunity to show itself..]

bar;

[snackooed]

[ There's the unmistakable sound of a coin pressed up against the bartop, as Kirei pensively stares at his wine glass. Seems like Ema's tapped one for the vending machine down not too far from where he sits, on the barten's side of the wood. ]

It's not quite a penny, but that's for your thoughts, Father Kotomine.

[blackmass]

...I have no need of it. Neither do I have any wish to speak on such a disastrous week's events.

[He's Fine]

[snackooed]

I get what you mean. Between the motive, and everything about today, I can't say that I blame you for wanting to just sort of put it behind you. I do, too.

[ Poor guy, though. He's been having a go of it, too, clearly... ]

At least we didn't have to look for the missing blood this time, though, right?

[blackmass]

...Quite. I would sooner deal with a misguided child than a vampire.

[At least, he was pretty sure that was the case.]

[snackooed]

Well, he was a bit old for me to really think of him as a kid, but misguided is probably closer to on the money.

[blackmass]

[kirei is wholeass 38 years old he does not care]

It's certainly a word to use, I think.

[snackooed]

In any event, there's no unringing the bell, right? What's past is past. We just have to pick up the pieces from here.

[ Easier said than done, but... ]

What's that thing they say? The serenity to accept the things I cannot change...

[blackmass]

'God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.'

[He sighed to himself, briefly closing his eyes.]

Far easier said than done.

[mouflon]

You know, I think you might have the right idea about what to do with those photos.

[ Rin, willingly starting a conversation with him? It's impossible to tell whether that means she's in an especially good mood, or an especially bad one. ]

[blackmass]

It's best to just be rid of them.

[It must be a day and a half, Kirei's not immediately antagonizing her.]

[mouflon]

Like I said, right idea.

Where'd you get the matches, anyway?

[blackmass]

Not an uncommon sight, in the average bar. Why, did you want the rest of them?

[mouflon]

[ Hmm. ]

I'd take them if I still had the picture on me, but I don't. And, now that I think about it, wouldn't it be dignifying it with too much to go out of my way like that? I'll just have to remember to toss it in the trash later.

[blackmass]

I suppose so. It isn't as though keeping such things closely guarded as to destroy them utterly matters now.

[mouflon]

Did it ever? It's not like any of us would have known what Wilder was trying to do if we'd seen that picture of his earlier. It's always been first and foremost an issue of keeping personal business personal.

[blackmass]

...No, perhaps you're right. It wouldn't have mattered even from the outset.

[nothingcanstop]

[ Della's widely here to keep the peace. She's here to spread positivity, and togetherness, and...

And Kirei Kotomine isn't at all about any of those things. Is he? ]

So. You gonna say anything about who got you all twitchy?

[ She nods to the photo. That one. That one right there. ]

[blackmass]

Why should I? Such an offer made by the Professor no longer matters.

[nothingcanstop]

I was just thinking. You were right about watching for people affected by the motive. So, I wanted to understand what it was that got under your skin, about that one.

[blackmass]

...Understand?

[He seemed a bit tense at that, smile just a little forced.]

Don't waste your time. The Professor's motive means nothing now.

[nothingcanstop]

How can we be sure? What if he starts doing variations? On the things that, ya know, seem to work.

[blackmass]

Why should I tell you, or anyone else? I am not careless enough to further lay out any potential faults the Professor may not yet have thought to abuse or exploit.

[nothingcanstop]

You think he hasn’t already laid out each of us like a high school portfolio? He probably has notes upon notes. But, on the other hand, we all know so little about each other.

[blackmass]

And perhaps some of us wish to keep it that way.