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

[bogwife]

[Julius leaps up and snatches it out of midair, licking his toothless chops with his weird dragon tongue. Not quite an acceptable offering but it's a start.]

Taking care of a living thing is hard work. Some are easier than others, [She glances down at Princess the Nug, who is being perfectly behaved on her stool.] But it's all work no matter what.

[hardnosed]

[ To the goddamn lizard, who totally understands her, she provides a dull: ]

Nice catch.

[ And to Zerinda: ]

I meant — these things. The gatherings.

[bogwife]

...Oh. [Someday they'll have a conversation that doesn't involve Zerinda completely misunderstanding something Jasper says. Someday.

They're not usually this involved. Typically we just get treats and then alcohol after we found the bar but now that we have the kitchen it just felt right to use it. [She gives the stew a strong stir, scraping up potatoes from the bottom to the top.] Put in a bit of extra effort.

[She peers at the melon Jasper is working on again.] Are you...doing alright, at decimating that child-shaped fruit?

[hardnosed]

I'm fine. I've gotta do something.

[ She turns her eyes back to her work, which she is not going to mention is not, in fact, child-shaped, but shaped like Rose after she deliberately changes form!

If that's what she really was. The motive never named Rose Quartz, didn't say Jasper refused her help. Just like every other Gem on earth, it, infuriatingly, only mentioned Steven. She doesn't know what to do with that, and she's certainly not going to bring it up to Zerinda, so instead she just brings the knife down again. ]

... Della called it that too. I should probably leave off the part that looks like a head.