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]

I know that's what she thought. But that's the problem, isn't it? That she... I don't know. That she grew up around people who convinced her that was the only way forward. That doing that was the only way she could matter.

I just wish she would have listened to me.

[nothingcanstop]

...There's a lot we can hope would be different. Rose, I kept...hoping she'd open up to me. But... Right now we can only keep moving forward. No matter how hard it is.

[mouflon]

I wasn't planning on doing anything else.

[ ... ]

What did you hope she would open up about?

[ Though, of course, after today, it seems like Rose had a lot more secrets than Rin had remotely expected! ]

[nothingcanstop]

...She would keep getting upset, by things I said, or...things she saw. I just wanted her to...to talk to me, to help me understand what was hurting her. So I could try and help her with it. Or...at least stop bringing up old feelings.

[mouflon]

[ Rin nods to that, because she's thinking, and it takes her a few seconds to speak. ]

I never realized how much she was hiding. She always felt open to me, when we talked. I don't know if it was just because we're both... rebels, I guess. Maybe the things she wanted to talk about with me were just the things she could speak freely, without hiding too much.

[nothingcanstop]

Yeah, it was always things where...she was getting upset. It was always when I talked about...being angry, or... Well, when I tried to talk to her about something from the vending machine, something she said was Pink Diamond's.

[mouflon]

...The way she talked about the Diamonds...

I can't imagine how much guilt she was carrying around. And I can only guess, but it seems to me that she never felt like what she did was enough to make up for the person she used to be.

[ And, in some ways, Rin thinks that isn't without cause. But, then, she can only imagine what happened to make someone like that realize she was wrong. Those kinds of people never change, in Rin's mind; she hadn't needed to look any farther than Rhea for proof of that. ]

[nothingcanstop]

It was in front of our faces the whole time. She hated herself.

[ The profiles said it, after all. They were just a bit redundant. ]

...I just wish she could've tried to talk to Jasper. I'm...sympathetic, to both of them. But, there's a lot left over...and a lot Rose would never listen to anyone about.

[mouflon]

But she did try, didn't she? At least, to convince her she's misguided. In the end, that's on Jasper for not listening.

[ Rose had explained the situation to her with sympathy, but... Well, as pitiable as Rose had made her sound, Rin only feels it now, after everything that's happened. ]

[nothingcanstop]

She... She did. [ Della sighs. She doesn't really want to take sides...and does it even matter, anymore? ] It's a damn tragedy, for all of them. Jasper, Rose...the people Rose left waiting.