theairlock | THE FIFTH INVESTIGATION

[Heart is...! Not in the dining room, actually. Well, he does make a brief stop to pick up some food, though it's not for himself. Don't worry about it.

No, he's actually going to be found where Choromatsu is. You know, where Queenie is also resting. So Heart is standing nearby, leaning against a wall with his arms crossed. Who can say if it's necessary for anyone to play guard right now, but... It seems like something he should do. Just to be safe.

He looks kinda drained, but honestly who doesn't.]

[Queenie is also not going to be in the dining room much. She didn't get much sleep last night, as Heart knows from her frequent worried trips to come down here knocking on his door like the mother hen that she is. All night. Yeah, she's exhausted.

But she does try to stay awake as long as she can, quietly stroking Choro's hair and refreshing the bluebell flames beside the bed, not that they need it. It gives her something to do, though.

It takes a long time for her to remember this but eventually she looks over at Heart, worried all over again.]

Honey, are you still cold?

[Heart was... honestly lost in thoughts for a bit. But alert enough that his head immediately snaps up as Queenie speaks up. And then he... frowns, because that's not actually something he'd been thinking about. So focused on Choromatsu that anything else barely registered.]

...No. [He thinks back.] No, not at all today.

I suppose it was only meant to last for a little while.

[It's a relief, but a very small one in the grand scheme of... this whole mess.]

[She nods, glad for that.]

You know... you're welcome to come here. [And she pats the open space of bed behind her. There's two mattresses, Heart, no need to stand.]

Just because you don't need to for warmth doesn't mean you can't.

[It seems like he's about to refuse. As if he's already decided that this is his "post", so he's not leaving. Or something like that, anyway. But...

...It doesn't really matter where he is in the room, does it?

So as he goes over to the bed he doesn't so much sit down as basically slump into a sitting position. Up close, it should be obvious how tense he is. Turns out even robots can be really tired.]

[It breaks her heart to see him looking so worn down. So she scoots away from Choro, just a bit, just for a little while. She makes sure he's still tucked under the blankets and she comes over to drape herself against Heart's back, hugging him hard.]

Thank you, honey. Thank you.

[He breathes in and out very slowly. Trying to manage his exhaustion in his own way.]

I feel as if I should be saying that.

[And if Church is going to check up on Queenie, you bet your ass he's checking up on Heart, too.]

...Good thing you were there. [He doesn't really know what to say, because it sucks that Heart had to be there, but if he hadn't been? They'd be down one more person.]

...Yes. [He practically breathes out the word. Today has been a... very tense experience.] It was.

I... almost might not have been. I'd considered... No matter. I'm glad I stayed.

[He'd thought about joining the others. Thought about giving in to Queenie and how worried she was. But his desire to be alone won out and thank god it did.]

You couldn't have known, man. We would've welcomed you. It's all just...fucked up coincidence.

Hm... I wanted to be-- [He stops himself, because... no, it's not really that he wanted to be alone. It's just that he couldn't deal with being around people.] ...It really was just pure luck.

But it worked out for once.

[A Friday with no corpse. It almost seems like a miracle now.]

Much as she doesn't really know how to really deal with people, we'd be lost without Nari. And...at least Queenie was here, too. We should've--maybe we should've checked up on everyone. And made sure.

It's a good thing she was so worried about me. She was close-by exactly when it was helpful. And... hm. I'm grateful for Nari Reno as well.

[Even if he's had some issues with her. He can still appreciate her.]

Isn't that what all the gatherings were supposed to be for? In a way.

[Yeah, sounds about right.]

Junpei was saying, that it's not really helping us to have meetings and parties and shit if we aren't talking to each other. Like...not lying to each other. If we're not honest about how we're doing, this might happen again.

True. However, you can't exactly force someone to be honest if they don't want to be. The meetings do still provide the opportunity. That's still important.

But it would be good to keep a closer eye on everyone. To make sure no one else is going... too far downhill.

[Said by the guy who kinda shut down all week.]

Sometimes there's only so much you can do. That anyone can do.

True enough.

...I do regret not being capable of doing much myself this week. [He wants to keep an eye on people as well.] Something to improve upon from now on...

You had a lot on your mind, man. Like, to put that as an understatement.

I know. But I've been losing people at a steady rate for about a year already. It's something I've grown accustomed to handling.

[Which is both kind of depressing and really not the same thing at all.]

My focus right now should be to do what I can to make sure no one else is lost. It won't always come down to luck.

THE FIFTH INVESTIGATION

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