and every broken heart will mend

[scourgingstars]

[Not too long after the trial, a note found its way under everyone's doors, all of them written in the same neat handwriting that had been asking after a ring not that long ago.]

If any of you would prefer not to be left alone after all of that, I propose we meet in the dining hall. Nari has taken up cooking at the moment, and should anyone wish to talk I will be present regardless of whether or not the group at large should choose to join us.

-Ardyn

[True to his word, Ardyn was at a smaller table in the dining hall with an untouched cup of coffee in front of him; lost in thought leaning his head on one hand as the other turned a silver coin over between his fingers.]

[King in an empty hall, and savior of nothing. All that effort to prevent bloodshed, and it had come down to a situation designed to force their hand from the beginning.]

Comments

emetophobia mention/warning

[plugout]

[ For a while, Rhys does not go to the party. He retires to his room at first, because he'd just seen a person die and his stomach is very much not prepared for that. Afterward, he spends way too long scrubbing at his face and rinsing his mouth of the sour taste, but it doesn't want to go away.

But, eventually, he leaves his room. First order of business: finding Angel. He won't talk to anyone else until he's found her, and he decides to take a risk. He scribbles a note in a shaky hand and slips it under her door--it's a note asking her to meet him (not in the garden, no) in the rest area.

Afterward, he goes to the party. He's kind of out of it, even after speaking with Angel, but he grabs a cup of coffee and puts too much flavored creamer into the cup. He's not even sure what flavor it is. He doesn't eat. Maybe someone should coax him into doing that... ]

[brokencode]

[She hadn't wanted to leave her room. It was safer in there, and this way she didn't have to face Nari. She had hurt the woman, of that she was certain. Moreover, shame burned through her, and her throats felt hot. It was all just a residual reminder of the horrible thing that she had done.

But it was hard to miss the note, and harder to forget the way the man had reacted. Against her better judgement, she drifted toward the rest area, careful to avoid the area, and then cleared her throat.]

Rhys?

[myocordial]

[Heart went by the room earlier, briefly, so he has some idea of Rhys' condition. So he keeps an eye on Rhys when he finally shows himself at the party. Only drinking coffee...

Heart doesn't need to eat, so he hasn't bothered to get any food. But after watching Rhys for a while, he makes his way over to where it all is. Then he goes over to Rhys, putting a plate of plain and simple food in front of him.]

I don't think you should persist on coffee alone.

[serrata]

[ When she leaves the courtroom, Yuuri makes a beeline for the garden.

There's an angry sort of purpose in her stride even though she has the tight-lipped expression of someone who is doing their very best not to start crying. But she has something she needs to do and she can't waste time with crying.

She finds herself a corner of the garden with a tree and enough room for her to make a second memorial next to it. It might be too on the nose but... she can't very well plant a tree for Michaela, can she?

She aggressively clears out the section of the garden she's picked, tearing up handfuls of grass to toss into a bucket at her side and uprooting flowers so she can plant them elsewhere. By the time she's done, she has a clean plot to work with. She can't make a cross, but she can damn well make a memorial.

But it's only once she's actually cleared the plot for use that she realizes -- she doesn't know what their favourite flowers are. And, stupidly, that's the thought that nearly undoes her. Her throat tightens, her eyes sting with tears and Yuuri furiously scrubs her face with her muddy gloves to clear them.

That's no problem. She'll make do with something.

She stabs a small support stake into the ground where she wants both of their memorials -- the closest to a cross she'll be able to make for now -- and gets sowing seeds. Asters for remembrance. Edelweiss for courage. Sweet peas for a fond goodbye.

... she's going to be here for a while.

When she's finally done, you'll find Yuuri at the after party looking more like she's been fighting with the garden than cultivating it. She's muddy, covered in grass stains but she seems to be handling things a little better than she was in the courtroom.

She'll be helping in the kitchen if needs be or at the dining table with her food, lost in thought. But before she leaves at the end of the gathering, she leaves a note on the dining room table for everyone to find. ]

I've made memorials in the garden for Michaela-san and Mai-chan.
If you have anything you'd like to say to them or if you want to leave an offering, you can do it there.
- Yuuri

Garden

[misanthropicprinciple]

[At some point well into her work--after the digging and clearing, while her hands are busy with future life--there's a sound from another part of the garden. A soft animal noise, perhaps, or a muted impact. Whatever it is, it's out in the shelter of the fruiting trees, isolated, shaded, and quiet.]

--God damn it!

[Or maybe not so quiet.

Junpei's pulled the Kip-themed pillow cover inside-out over the body pillow he finally got to go with it and is currently sitting astride it, punching the living daylights as much as he can out of it with the desperation of a man cursed. He strikes blindly, no thought given to technique; all he wants is to smash through that thick, choking block of thoughts inside him starting with that damned courtroom and ending with Clarith, with Mikaela, with Mai. It's action, it's violence, and he thinks he's alone as he pants and punches at the facelessness of their captors and observers.

Finally, he slams both fists down and just yells, a wordless, raw sound that fills the tiny, not-quite grove.

Only then can he finally slump where he kneels on his dirtied, battered pillow, and let his head hang.]

God damn it...

[How many times does he have to do this?]

Garden

[everylittlesecret]

[Nari came into the garden for some fresher ingredients than what the kitchen afforded. She's just in time to see Yuuri sow the seeds, so she walks over and kneels down beside her. Yuuri will definitely be confused as the redhead grabs a watering can, soaking the ground in front of them, before putting it aside and sticking her hands into the dirt.

Nothing happens for a few moments as Nari mutters something about water manipulation ratios among different plants. Then the first little green sprouts pop up above the ground. She doesn't stop till they are a somewhat decent size and then removes her hands.]

They'll bloom in a day or two. Sorry. Don't have the energy for more right now. You should eat something later. Starving yourself will just make today hurt worse, alright?

afterparty

[daughterofthemark]

[The second she walks in, Arianna stands up so fast her chair falls over.]

Rii-san!

[SHE LOOKS LIKE SOMETHING AWFUL HAPPENED OKAY]

[shikosuki]

[ Choromatsu is missing from the after party and not in his room either. In fact he didn't make it to his room at all after that. He didn't really want to be in the same space as someone else yet, not even his room mate. So he had gone straight to the rest area instead and just... collapsed there.

He just needs... to chill out for a bit.

He doesn't really know how long he's been there. Maybe if he just goes to sleep here he'll finally wake up back at home, squished between Osomatsu and Jyushimatsu in their futon, realize this was all caused by one of those idiots chokeholding him in their sleep or something stupid like that... ]

[serrata]

[ She's on her way back from the garden when she spots him -- she just sees him flopped over in the rest room like a puppet with the strings cut and for the stupidest moment, her heart leaps into her throat and she half-expects they're going to be going through another trial today.

She's halfway through the door when she realizes... oh. He's still breathing. She pauses, knowing she's being ridiculous but... she has to ask. ]

... Matsuno-san, are you...

[ "still alive?" ]

[brokencode]

[ Angel would, perhaps noticeably, be absent from the party. Though being with others might have been the better idea, might have kept from the agonizing cycle of self-loathing, she couldn't bring herself to face anyone after the revelations of the trial. Furthermore, it was hard, perhaps impossible, to shale the image of Mai's final moments.

She meant what she had said: Mai had been her first friend.

Angel spent the bulk of her time with her back to the door and her nose pressed into the furthest corner of her bed. She curled tightly around the unicorn plush that had arrived for her, currently her only source of comfort.

Of course, being as non-confrontational as she was, anyone who knocked on her door in hopes of talking to her would not be turned away. Something to bear in mind for those concerned types.]

[myocordial]

[He's not sure exactly when he makes the decision to visit Angel. One moment he's in his room, the next he's made his way over to her door. Idly holding something he received from the dumbwaiter in one hand. Knocking on the door with the other.

And then he simply waits for her response.]

[daughterofthemark]

[Mikaela's death had been bad enough. Mai, though... even in the short time they'd been here together, Arianna had liked to think they'd become good friends. And now she'd watched her friend die such a painful-looking death, and she'd never see her again.

That last part was only just now truly sinking in.

She found a table in the corner of the dining hall, focusing intensely on a glass of apple juice she'd gotten for herself and trying not to break down again. The others needed her to be a lady now, not a sobbing child.

Later in the evening she started to leave, but froze in the doorway, then turned and sat down again.]

sad princess is good princess

[getgood]

[She's been in her own world a lot of this time, an unhappy place, and Arianna might have been in the same one after how she tried to hold up the vote. After she tries to leave, Lee looks up at her and gently tries to wave her over.]

[getgood]

[ Lee doesn't cry when she loses, but that crash of reality everyone's been waiting for? It's here. It's been here for hours, really, since she woke up to shouting about a body and everyone splitting off as she got out of bed, but caffeine and adrenaline carried her through the trial until she took a final look at Mai inside the execution room. She's silent afterwards instead of trying to speak up: look where it got her, or any of them. Instead, she's chopping vegetables and wiping counters and setting plates for a wake, quiet work her respects for two girls she didn't know well at all.

This isn't enough to make it up to either of them. Not Mikaela, who no one could have found in time, nor Mai who deserved any other response from them than what she got. It really is all that they're going to get, though, all anyone here can give them right now, so she tries to accept it.

She isn't ready to tell anybody what she thinks of them yet: the trial isn't personal anymore, and they all voted for the same outcome anyway. Even she did, trying to justify it with "the machine's only going to accept one answer". We're all cowards, she hears herself say over and over again, and after the last dish is out she finally slumps into a chair, token plate in front of her. It's not a comfortable position with the bandage over her ribs, might even mess up the eye that's been there maybe twelve hours, but it doesn't matter. She tried to stare down evil. And she blinked.]

[goteachother]

[There's only so much fussing left to do at this point and Lee is one of the easiest to fuss over, even if they're the ones in on why. So she comes over and glides her hand down Lee's arm as she circles her chair, drawing the one next to it out and sitting down facing the other woman.]

Can I see? [A hand reaching out to tug at the front of her shirt. She needs to be letting air get to it, anyway.]

[desperateprayer]

[ Clarith shows up. She's quiet, but she's there. She doesn't have anything, she's just there. She doesn't... Want to be alone. She's... Very tired and very upset, but she's hanging in there. ]

[scourgingstars]

Clarith. [He looked up when she came in, pocketing the coin he'd been fidgeting with and standing up to try gently guiding her to the nearest chair.] Here, sit down--do you need anything? I think that Nari is still cooking, when last I looked.

[motherfucking_ghost]

[Church's first priority after leaving the room is to look for Cece. Starting with the foyer. And it's...immaculate. The table's righted, the roses in place, the glitter gone, no blood, no body. He stands...right around where Mai went down. No wonder she'd acted so devastated. She knew. He'll check everywhere, even give the guest house a knock.

Whether he finds her or not, eventually he sees Ardyn's note. He sure doesn't know how to feel about all this, but he's not exactly an introvert. He'll eat whatever Nari's making almost without saying anything. How long can the blessed silence last? Look at all this sadness and melancholy and it's driving him a little wild, because--because--

Whatever stupid shit is about to come out of his mouth, he stuffs it with food instead.]

[scourgingstars]

...I likely owe you an apology.

[And there went the silence, broken by what was probably the most collected person in the room for whatever reason.]

It was terribly cold of me to snap at you like that.

[myocordial]

[The first death had been a shock to everyone's system, there's no denying that. But the execution... that was something else entirely. It was brutal and wrong. Sickening.

Like most, Heart is quiet. And at some point, for a while, he actually leaves the room altogether. Instead you'll find him out in the hall, just sort of hovering outside the dining room by himself - not still, but not quite wandering either. He looks stoic enough, so it's hard to say what he's feeling. No, actually... it's almost as if he seems a little... lost. Maybe you run into him there, or you followed him to see where he was going.

Either way, soon enough he goes back in, back to leaning against a wall. As if he didn't leave at all. At any time, he's free to be approached.]

[motherfucking_ghost]

[He doesn't follow at first. People will want space and to be alone. He gets that, but at some point he needs a breather from the room, too, and--there's Heart. Looking almost as lost as he feels.

Church lays a hand on his shoulder.]

Hey.

[goteachother]

[She hadn't been prepared for the execution. She's heard Tina think about them, her sister'd been present for her share. A glossy pool that shows you fond memories, makes you want to just slip quietly beneath the surface. No pain, even as the potion eats away at you, just an eerie kind calm.

That's not at all what Mai got.

She hadn't been able to watch, hiding her face in Nishitani's chest. She hadn't been able to vote, shaking too much to trust her fingers. She hadn't really been able to help at all and now Nari was dealing with the aftermath of pancakes people had barely touched. It's been hours now that she's been trying to be strong for everyone and none of it matters, two girls are still dead and she's not sure how much longer she's going to last.

If anyone needs hugs she's still there, ready and willing to give out physical comfort. If anyone needs coffee or tea or even cocoa, she's still prepared to make up mugs of hot drinks without getting in the way of the people actively cooking.

But she probably will need to duck out before she breaks down completely in front of everyone.]

[scourgingstars]

You don't need to stay if you would prefer not to.

[because man, nearly every last one of us looks like hell]

If you need to rest, I can handle matters here for some time yet.

[misanthropicprinciple]

[Junpei's a very late arrival, but he does arrive, damp and fresh in his flannel, not the sleeveless hoodie he was wearing before. Looks like he took another shower after all of... all of that.

He wants a drink, and he looks like he wants a drink, but he made sure he doesn't have one. Instead, he sits at one of the smaller tables, in the room but not facing the group, hand in front of his mouth as he stares ahead silently at nothing to be seen at all.]

[scourgingstars]

[guess who is now occupying the chair across from you, junpei.]

...

[so that sure as fuck happened.]

Investigation

[tacomeme]

[This is not the first time he's seen someone die. It's not even the first person he's seen torn apart by monsters. But it is the first he's seen that with someone he would consider beyond a passing acquaintance.

It's... a lot to take in, certainly. And he knows if he sits with everyone else, he will be done for the night. Hearing their grief and facing his own will be all he can manage. So before that, he has something else he needs to try. While everyone is in the dining hall, or garden or their rooms... he heads to the empty foyer. He's expecting the possibility of seeing the aftermath of the killing, but that wouldn't be anything he hasn't seen before. It being utterly clean would shock him more.

Either way, once he's there:]

PAL, will you speak with me?

[Later he shows up at the dining hall with everyone else, eating quietly. He should be trying to comfort Clarith or Queenie or Finn. Try discussing what to do next with Roland or Ardyn.

Instead he just stares at his hands, lost in his own head and very tired.]

[daughterofthemark]

Lord Takumi.

[Well, here's a princess who's also very tired.]

[marvelously]

[Mary can't bear to be alone right now. The thought of it is miserable- like she might break into a million pieces, and never put herself back together, if she isn't around someone else right now. Life's been hard for Mary, but it's never seemed quite so unfair as it does now, and she's never felt so alone.

She sits in the dining room, hands wrapped so tightly around her hot cocoa that her knuckles are white. Michaela and Mai had both needed saving, and both times, she had done nothing. What kind of a hero is she?]

[cameupshort]

[It's going to be a bit before FN-2187 can join everyone. Anyone in rooms eight and seven for a while after the execution are likely to hear the shower running in the shared bathroom.]

[When he finally gets to the dining hall, he's wearing a slightly mixed ensemble; the dark slacks he received in the dumbwaiter and the dress shirt he was wearing on their arrival. It's simple, but also notably all black. He'll be... nowhere in particular, nursing a cup of coffee. He might occasionally make his way into the kitchen to brew up a fresh pot, if their current supply ever runs out.]

[If he spots anyone alone, he might approach, and- not say anything, just sit down nearby or otherwise join them in their silence.]

[marvelously]

...The outfit's a nice touch. [She doesn't really have much else to say, but she does feel bad she doesn't have any black to wear herself.]

[theundertaker]

[After her talk with Church, Cece is a little late to the gathering with her new #squad in tow. She pulls up a seat at a table by herself, rolling a cold can of soda with an unreadable name on it. She's...not really feeling up for much talking right now but she won't say no to company.

After a little while in the dining hall, she retreats from the group and to the rest area. Something about curling up on a mattress floor surrounded by pillows sounds really appealing about now.]

[shikosuki]

[ Oh hey guess who's still sulking dozing off in the rest area.

Or at least he was, until a bunch of roombas kept booping into him, which stirs him out of his half-asleep-but-not-quite state. ]

Wh...

[ Sitting up and rubbing his eyes. Hi Cece. ]

[buddyoldpal]

[ Nishitani's been sticking close to Queenie most of the day, a weird job for him, considering he's a career criminal. It always sucks when civilians get pulled into messes like these, but what they'd all seen wasn't exactly the kind of mess he was used to, either. He's hanging out, not really sure what to say or how to... comfort anyone, actually. It'd be one thing if they had a killer, this was just bad luck and a shitty AI.

Naturally, Nishitani finds a better option. A bottle of vodka, courtesy of Mai herself. He's cheery, fake cheery, but it's!! an attempt, okay?? ]

So, who wants ta drink?

[ Bad news: it's ghost pepper vodka. This shit will kill you. But who doesn't hate themselves a little bit right now? ]

I gotta get rid of this stuff. If nobody drinks it, I'm throwin' it out.

[marvelously]

...Does it taste good?

[everylittlesecret]

[Wakes were nothing new to Nari. Death was inevitable to be around when you had a doctor of any kind in the family. She's been to so many that she knows what to do automatically. Cook. Clean. Do the busy work required so that the others could mourn peacefully. So that's what she does.

She promised to make beef bowl with extra sauce in Mai's honor. She doesn't know what Mikaela liked, so she makes some plain pancakes that can be dressed up in any way, and since they aren't sweet, someone can choose that instead of rice to put the beef on.

Something she grew up with at these things was music. While the others might be silent, she'll be singing to herself. Every hymn, drinking song, pretty much anything that crosses her mind. The songs switch freely between English and German, and are meant as a comfort for others, not herself. She'll take her time to mourn later. Right now the kitchen is her sanctuary.]

[cameupshort]

[So they should probably talk about some stuff. But for the moment, he'll just stand off to the side quietly.]

...That sounds nice.

[theoverseen]

[Kip doesn't reappear for a while, and when he does he's shed the jacket and tie of the suit he was changed into at the trial, leaving him in the black shirt and black slacks.

He still looks slightly dazed, little better than one of Cece's roombas, but he's instinctively seeking warmth and companionship no matter how reluctantly it's given to him.]

[scourgingstars]

...Here.

[how about a peace offering in the form of a coffee that is more sugar than coffee]