hey mom, dead mom, i need a little help here

[nothingcanstop]

[ ...All of that happened, huh. That's the sentiment each and every week, and it's no different this time. Except, this time they've lost more people than before. Five.

The gathering invitation is slipped under everyone's doors, but it specifies something a little different. ]



[ That's a good two hours or so of difference. Enough time to wander around, for sure.

But, in the garden, at the appointed time, there's a variable arrangement of fresh-cooked food. A good amount of beef stew, some Chinese hot pot, and...watermelon? Just, an absurd amount of watermelon, cut up and set on plates. All the food's set on tables that seem to have been moved from the library, and the ground is littered with blankets, for those who don't want to sit on the grass.

And yes, she did not lie. There is, indeed, a variable fuckton of alcohol. (And coffee, for our underaged.)

This has become routine. But, we're still here. We're still alive. ]

Comments

[mouflon]

[ Rin... doesn't look like she's in a good mood.

That's actually rare, so far as these parties go. Either the executions don't mean much to her at all, or she waits until she can put a neutral face on before showing up. This time, though... Even after helping to put food on the table, there's an odd emptiness to her expression that conveys more than neutrality.

Earlier on in the evening, she can be found near the table. She's a bit spaced out, and doesn't notice anyone who approaches until they're close. When she does, though, she looks up from her own plates of food and says, ]

If you want more of something cut up for the hot pot, give me a minute to get it.

[ Later on, though, she's moved away to sit in front of some flowers. She... doesn't look like she's doing much better now, her knees drawn up to her chest as she stares at the plants in front of her. Or maybe she's looking at nothing at all? It's hard to say. Either way, if anyone approaches her now, she'll say nothing until directly addressed. ]

flowers;

[valentinus]

[ ...

....

This was awkward because Vincent came here during alone time so he supposed he was suddenly in the midst of a party. Maybe he should've looked at the invitation for once, and he's about to leave as suddenly as he came, but he saw her sitting there. Then, for some reason he came over instead. ]

...Rin?

[mouflon]

Yeah? What is it?

[ Vincent being the one to address her comes as something of a surprise. But, on the bright says, that surprise stirs her out of her haze some, eyes gaining some focus as she looks up. ]

[valentinus]

[ There was a pause as he gazed around to properly assess some of the items that had been assembled in the area before looking back at her. ]

I'm not one for parties or anything, but...

[ ... ]

Whose idea was it first?

[mouflon]

I mean, Rhea's the one who came up with the idea first, isn't she?

[ There's a... sardonic note in Rin's voice, but. ]

But if you mean the details of this one, I'm not sure. Della asked me to help out, so you can probably blame her.

[valentinus]

I wasn't very good at keeping up with who did it first, on account of never really attending any before now.

[ He absolutely avoided them like the plague. ]

I won't blame anyone for it. Anyone who helped put this together seemed to have put in a lot of effort.

[mouflon]

...Ugh, look, I'm not going to get on your case about staying or whatever. It's not like I've been especially present at all of them, or if I was, it was only because what happened didn't affect me all that much.

But... There are barely any of us left. Now more than ever, we need to stick together.

flowers

[fivestagegod]

[Birkin never shows up on time to these things, preferring to wait until most people have cleared out and then coming by to see what's left; "what's left", tonight, is apparently Rin, and she looks sort of out of it, and that's fine, honestly.]

I'd ask if you're okay, but then we'd both have to be annoyed with me for asking pointless questions.

[mouflon]

[ There's a movement at Rin's lips, like she almost smiles. ]

It's fine. Sometimes people just say things to start a conversation. This isn't even in the top ten times I've been not okay in my life, anyway.

[ ...She says this, but her fingers bunch in the grass. By the end of her sentence, she tosses a handful of it toward nothing, like the saddest shower of confetti there ever was. ]

[fivestagegod]

I'd actually imagine it wouldn't be.

[From what he very vaguely understands about Rin's life, it is not precisely great!

Speaking of, ]

So how dead are you, in this future we were supposed to be trying to circumvent?

[mouflon]

[ She snorts at that, and now she really does smile — but the expression is so bitter that it might be more fitting to call it a grimace. ]

Only slightly less dead than Fugo would have been. Life, soul — all of that gone, so there'll just be a husk of a dead body left on the outside.

Actually, the two of us were pretty much looking at the exact same picture.

[fivestagegod]

Count me among you, actually.

[He shrugs a bit; god, he's been here for six weeks and still has no idea what to do with his face.]

Main problem I had with mine was less that I'm absolutely dead and more that I took my wife and kid out with me.

[mouflon]

Wow. That sucks.

[ ...She means that with all the sympathy in the world. But, you know, what do you say to something like that?

Rin settles her chin on her knees again, evidently comfortable enough to go back to looking at nothing. ]

For me, it's... You know, after the first trial, Winters asked me what I saw myself doing after... the revolution, I guess. After everything. And it tripped me up, because it's hard for me to imagine that there will be a life for me at the end of it all. But just because I've always known I could die fighting, that doesn't mean...

I just can't die until I've accomplished this one thing. Does that make sense?

Table

[ladygeryon]

Hm? I just wanted to ask...how you were. [Because she's definitely noticed that blank-eyed look.]

[mouflon]

Oh. [ What? Personal concern?? Crazy. ] This isn't even... I've been worse.

[ladygeryon]

So have I, but that doesn't mean it doesn't suck. And there's different kinds of bad.

...she still believed she was right, in the end. Maybe not justified in her actions...but right in her beliefs.

[mouflon]

[ Rin makes a scoffing noise. ]

Who, Rhea? It's like I said to Kotomine: she might as well die how she lived.

[ It's probably a testament to her mood that she can't even manage to work up her usual level of venom right now! ]

[ladygeryon]

[Yeah, Nira notices that.] Suppose in the end, just a few weeks here wouldn't change how she's been planning all these past years. And losing her brother couldn't have helped. [Mostly he seemed like the type who would have at least tried to talk her down.]

[mouflon]

It doesn't matter anyway. People like her don't want to change, because they delude themselves into think they're right.

[ To be fair, it... kind of helps to talk about the one she's glad is dead? ]

table

[nothingcanstop]

You can relax, Rin. I'm fine with what's here.

[ Rin's been...very helpful. But, Della knows a distraction when she sees one. ]

[mouflon]

Oh.

[ ... ]

Do you need something, then?

[nothingcanstop]

[ She shakes her head. ]

I was just... You looked like you were a million miles away.

[mouflon]

...Yeah. I guess you aren't wrong about that.

[ The fact that she, for once, isn't deflecting probably says it all. ]

[nothingcanstop]

[ ...That's worrying. ]

I think everyone who's coming right now has gotten food. How about you...find another thing to do? I'm not- [ How to put this. ] ...I don't want this to seem like I'm trying to...to take care of you. I just think you've done a lot today.

[mouflon]

I'm not...

[ mmm ]

And do what instead? Stare at the wall?

[ FEEL EMOTIONS??? ]