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

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?

[blackmass]

No. What does it matter to you?

[nothingcanstop]

It's been a long day for all of us. We can kill each other and let the Professor play us for fools...but at the end of the day, I still consider us on the same side.

[blackmass]

And I do not. Today only served to reinforce that any of us can and will turn on one another at an instant's notice if it so serves our own goals.

[nothingcanstop]

...Are you a little smug, Father?

[blackmass]

At the moment? No. I'm infuriated.

[:)]

[nothingcanstop]

I haven't seen you mad before. Not really.

[blackmass]

I would presume that not many people have.

[nothingcanstop]

What was it about today? After all the other days... What about the spectacle Rhea put on did it?

[blackmass]

I simply hated her. Is it that shocking?

[nothingcanstop]

Oh, no, I figured that.

...But I also figured you were the type to be...well, not happy, but...not unhappy if someone you hated died.

[blackmass]

True, I am not exactly going to mourn or miss her.

...Perhaps I am merely frustrated to no end by her disposition.

[nothingcanstop]

If anyone has the reason to be frustrated with her, I'd say it's the person she tried to frame.

[blackmass]

Perhaps. I have been frustrated with her for far longer than that, however. I have no ability to tolerate those who dress up their reprehensible acts as being in service to some greater good. Less still for someone who so rejects all else beyond their narrow view of what is 'right'.

[nothingcanstop]

If you're going to do those things...at least be honest about it. Right?

[blackmass]

...Exactly.

[It was clear something about the day's events bothered Kirei, though as usual he didn't seem forthcoming at all.]

Acting righteous like that is either lying to everyone or oneself. It's obnoxious hypocrisy.

[nothingcanstop]

Which do you think she was, everyone, or herself, or...both?

[blackmass]

Both. Though I would presume that she placed priority on justifying her acts to herself far more than she truly cared for the opinion of any others. Any humans, at the very minimum.

[kirei you're talking to a duck.]

...Mortals, rather.

[nothingcanstop]

[ Della shrugs. She's used to it. ]

I usually just go with people. ...But, with her, that's a bit of a different distinction.

...I think she did care for...some of us. [ Mira. Probably just Mira. ] But, in the end, what mattered most was always the same thing.

[blackmass]

...I could have almost respected being so intent upon a single purpose that one would forsake all else.

[Almost.]

But she had to be so...herself. It's truly frustrating beyond measure to me.