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

[nothingcanstop]

[ Before the gathering, here's Della. Flitting around. She's got some of the nice paper from the vending machine...and blankets. Setting up the garden, as it were. She's tracked down some people to help her and she's...well, in determined mode again.

Nothing can stop her, so it seems.

During she's mostly around. Mostly. Helping at the tables, or trying to chat someone up. In quiet times, she's sitting by the pond, no blanket needed. Maybe trying to pretend she's somewhere else.

There are...so fewer people to check on now, so every absence is felt. So she does what she had a few weeks ago too, goes out looking for those who aren't here. She has a bowl of stew, a little watermelon. If you aren't there... Where might she find you? ]

[fivestagegod]

[Hey, Della.

Birkin is doing his usual thing of not showing up to the mass gatherings anywhere near on time; it's questionable whether he's going to show up at all, honestly. So he doesn't really fault her for looking; he's currently in the infirmary because of course he is - he's sort of predictable in that way, consistent, it's either the workshop or the art room or here, and tonight he's chosen to be here.

He's currently sitting on one of those beds that's in here - ten beds, ten of them left, what a fucking coincidence that turned out to be - and he looks like he's reading some stuff over; whatever it is he's got, he seems like he's getting increasingly agitated with it.

But he's here, and he's in one piece at least, so thank god for small favors.]

[nothingcanstop]

[ Della, to her credit, knocks. She knocks as she enters, arms full of stew and watermelon. ]

Thought you'd be around here. Hi, William.

[fivestagegod]

Yeah, I-

[...And then he actually looks up, and Della, oh my god.]

You didn't have to bring me anything.

[nothingcanstop]

Eh, yeah. But I figured, even if people don't want to show up, they deserve an actual home-cooked meal.

[ She doesn't seem very bothered by it. ]

...And, don't worry, I had no part in food prep. Don't want another...disaster.

[fivestagegod]

...I was wondering what that was on Sunday.

[JUST...SAYING...]

You can stay in here for a while. Don't feel like you have to just drop stuff off and bolt, unless you have other people to go check on.

[nothingcanstop]

Mm, there's...a few others. But, one of them's Kirei, so. I'll get to it.

[ Della takes a seat on a neighboring bed, or...goes to do so, and then realizes the beds require a little...climbing. ]

Uh. Here, could you hold this for a sec? I gotta...clamber.

Pond

[ladygeryon]

[After a bit, Nira comes to sit a ways behind Della, so she's close to her without being close to the edge of the pond. Aria does approach more to nuzzle her slightly, though.]

I...I started thinking of him as my kid at some point. Brian, I mean...and Piers, before that.

[nothingcanstop]

[ Della's not looking in the water, so Aira actually nuzzling her is...a tad surprising. But, she heard Nira approaching, so it's not that bad. She pets her, appreciatively. ]

...It's hard, as a mom, not to...project a little. They both seemed like such nice people.

[ladygeryon]

Yeah, they were. Piers...he had that feeling about him, you know? That he'd been the one looking out for himself and his sister for quite a while.

And Brian...I had more opportunities to talk to him, and it still feels like it wasn't enough.

[nothingcanstop]

I don't think it'll ever feel enough. No matter how much we get to know people...there's still something we miss. Something we still want to know.

[ladygeryon]

Yeah...I haven't really lost anyone like this before. [She tilts her head back, looking up at the ceiling.] Closest was probably the time Anza offered himself to a spirit so it would let the rest of us go, and he got out of it fine in the end.

[nothingcanstop]

I was...too young for my parents' deaths to really...leave me with something lasting. I'm sad about them not being there, but...it was really young.

elsewhere

[blackmass]

[boy oh boy della if you think he's coming out of his room tonight you're in for a surprise]

[nothingcanstop]

[ haha frankly she expected this

after doing a full all-over search, she knocks at Kirei's door. ]

Kirei? ...Father Kotomine?

[blackmass]

[There was a long silence before any answer came, but ultimately Kirei did open the door.]

What.

[nothingcanstop]

[ She wordlessly holds up a bowl of stew. The plate of watermelon's at her feet. ]

[blackmass]

...I'm not hungry, Della.

[nothingcanstop]

You eat anything before the trial?

During

[bolderfell]

Did you eat?

[Oh. Therion's here, actually. Not immediately, of course, but not so late he misses it, either.]

[nothingcanstop]

[ ...That's a surprise. She slid a note under his door, of course. But, that was customary. She was going to bring him some food later. But, here he is. ]

I taste-tested. ...And I had some stew. [ Actually taking care of herself? Novel! ]

[bolderfell]

[Sometimes self-care is nibbling on the kitchen trials of your friends after a raccoon got poisoned in there the night before.]

...All right.

[He sips at his mead, gaze drifting up towards the ceiling. It's a melancholy kind of evening.]

[nothingcanstop]

...what about you? Have you grabbed anything yet?

[ ...with how routine this is. It’s almost nice to talk to him here. ]

[bolderfell]

Stew for me, too. [He's not eating it, for reasons, but still.] Guessing it's Zerinda's contribution. Her food seems the most like what I can get in Orsterra.

[nothingcanstop]

Got it in one. [ We’ll address all that later, maybe. ] You two have sort of...similar homes, from what I can understand. Right?