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

[bolderfell]

[Oddly enough for a thief, particularly one with no compunctions against robbing tombs, Therion doesn't make a habit of going into the rooms of the dead. Maybe it's superstition; maybe it's mere discomfort, having known them while they lived. Maybe what Aela left him the very first time he crossed a newly-unlocked door spooked him off the rest.

But before the gathering, Therion slips into both Anna's and Rhea's rooms. And before he joins the others, he goes to Shelley's memorials. There, next to the others they've lost and killed, he leaves a hand-carved flamenco figure and the Shield of Seiros.

Maybe he'll think of things to leave for Sly, Brian, and Rose later. For now, these two were the ones he feels he knew best.

It's an evening of firsts, it seems, because Therion actually attends this party instead of lurking just outside of it. He takes some of the food prepared (though careful observers will see he doesn't eat it); he brings his own drink, a bottle of homemade mead. He spends most of the time at the fringes of the group, quietly watching everyone else. Now and then, though, his attention drifts somewhere internal.

That night, before the clock turns over to midnight, Therion duct-tapes plastic wrap over all the vents in his room and waits, the taste of black licorice between his teeth.]

attending party;

[valentinus]

[ Feel free to note that Vincent didn't even so much as touch any of the food or drink. But even though originally he came here for peace and quiet, apparently he's decided to linger at a party for the first time as well. ]

Some Gil for one of your thoughts?

[bolderfell]

[He glances up and huffs softly through his nose.]

Maybe. Depends. How much can I get with that?

[valentinus]

[ He looked kind of thoughtful...well, actually not seriously thoughtful. That was reserved for self-reflection time. This was definitely more suited to winding down. ]

Hmm...I'd say a good amount of materia and some potions, since I'm not feeling like being cheap today.

[bolderfell]

[Huh. His eyebrows rise at that, for a moment, and then Therion acquiesces with a nod.]

Well, if it's worth that much to you. [He exhales quietly.] I'm... thinking about Anna.

[His voice stays low, and he keeps his eyes trained on the fork he's playing with between his hands.]

[valentinus]

...Did you know her well?

[ Or was it she had said during the trial? Both were possibilities, though in that same thought he supposed nothing couldn't say that those were two unrelated things either. ]

[bolderfell]

Who can say, after all that?

[Everything Anna kept to herself, all that pressure building inside her--he had no idea it would come to that. To what she said. What she did.]

Maybe I knew her better than I assumed.

[valentinus]

[ That's an interesting statement. Not one he anticipated from anyone here.

But, knowing some of the story Anna told...well. He had considered a possibility that she'd act, just not all of what she showed in the trial. Not that it made it any better in the end. ]

What makes you say that?

[bolderfell]

...That wasn't the first time she reminded me of someone I knew.

[From his tone, the comparison must not be a flattering one.]

I didn't want to see it in her, though, so I left it alone. More fool me.

[valentinus]

...Even if you hadn't left it alone, do you think would it have changed anything?

[bolderfell]

Probably not. It was the kind of thing she saw as getting in her way. But maybe I could've been better prepared.

[valentinus]

Maybe.

[ Beat. ]

...Though, it seems difficult to be really prepared for what people can do under pressure.

[bolderfell]

That's true. Hard to prepare for what people will ever do, really. There's a lot we keep wrapped up, even from the ones we feel closest to.

party

[mouflon]

[ At some point, Rin comes out of her thoughts enough to notice that Therion has a plate full of food he hasn't touched. As one of the people who cooked it, she has something to say about that!! ]

I know we just had a poisoning, but everyone here has been eating out of the same pot. Or do you need me to be a taster for you?

[bolderfell]

[Oof, called the fuck out. Rin knows what's up. He gives her a sour look and picks up his fork, but he's still just kind of poking at it.]

It's nothing personal. And anything I don't finish I can take back to my quarters.

[mouflon]

[ Well, if he's going to be like that.

Rin reaches over, plucks something right off his plate, and pops it in her mouth.

Hers now. ]

[bolderfell]

Hey.

[Scandal! Thieving from a thief! He pulls his plate away from her and leans over it, boxing it in with his arms.]

Did I say I didn't want it?

[mouflon]

[ She laughs, letting him wrench the plate out of reach without complaint. ]

Sorry. [ But not, like, too sorry. ] Are you actually worried, or are you just... not hungry?

[ "Not hungry" is a code word for "sad", but she doesn't want to put him on the spot about feeling emotions. God knows she wouldn't want someone to do that to her. ]

[bolderfell]

...Could be both. Not exactly easy to break old habits. And I don't usually eat supper this early.

[He's hardly ever out and about before noon, and his mealtimes shift late accordingly. Rin isn't the only one who's not a morning person.]

But... yeah. Not much of an appetite today, as good as this all smells.

[mouflon]

I haven't eaten all that much, either, to be honest. Just a bite here or there. [ She's still smiling, but her expression starts to drift away into something distant again. ] Plus, Radeucan kept asking me to taste-test her stew...

[ That's her excuse, anyway. ]

[bolderfell]

[Ah, that look. It's both familiar and strange, seeing it from the outside.

Well, they've all got to do their part in keeping one another afloat, don't they?]

Oh, no. A terrible fate. Forced to eat the efforts of someone who knows how to make a meal work.

[As he dryly drops that, he picks up a bit of his own food and puts it in his mouth. There, Rin. Happy?]

[mouflon]

[ She huffs, but she sounds amused. ]

Hey, I didn't say I was complaining. The stuff's pretty filling, though. So, maybe my appetite isn't the greatest right now, either.

[bolderfell]

Maybe we'll be hungry enough later to stay conscious through... whatever happens tonight.

[Six weeks and that still unnerves the hell out of him.]

[mouflon]

...Not that I don't appreciate the sentiment, but if it were that simple, we'd have heard about it weeks ago. Not everyone here sleeps normally, remember?

[bolderfell]

[Sigh.]

I know. I'm trying everything I can think of to figure out what happens. But it's like my memory just... cuts off.