when you hear me calling out to you, saying, "i'll always believe in you"

[ratherdoweddings]

[It occurs to Yurika that she has no idea what either of the men they'd lost just now had with regards to religious beliefs. She doesn't know who they wanted to leave their things to. She doesn't miss the detailed funeral requests, and at least neither wanted their ashes scattered over a lake on a planet that might not even exist here while the mall radio blasted "Stairway to Heaven," but having nothing...

It's actually kind of fitting. They don't have much to begin with.

Arianna strongly insisted on handling the food, so don't worry, your afterparty food today does not consist of disgusting burnt lumps and will not send you all back into the courtroom should somebody eat one. Candles are lit on another table and Yurika's standing at the front with a hand on her shoulder.]

In my last group... our last group, for some of us, the only cases we've remembered so far had culprits who were either cruel or just that determined to escape. Here, it seems different. We're all survivors, so it seems, and we're all friends who are doing our best -- even when the motives make it seem like we should give up. Even when people die anyway.

Maybe Togami-san was right that it'll just keep going from now, but he was also right that it can't keep going forever. I'm going to make sure to keep trying for all of you, and I know you will, too.

Comments

[burninglight]

[Ardyn, predictably, did not show up.]

[Instead he went off with Nari to In-scents--when he came out not too long after, it was straight to Spaceglasses Hut to alternate between sleeping this whole incident off, doodling in a sketchbook with his uninjured arm, or being miserable and stare at the ceiling.]

[The door's unlocked, for now.]

spaceglasses hut

[ratherdoweddings]

[knock knock]

Ardyn-san? How's your injury?

[daughterofthemark]

[Knockknock--oh it's open.]

Lord Ardyn...

spaceglasses hut

[nightcure]

[ Noct is here, with bandages and some painkillers. He's learning a lot about first aid, so that's pretty good! But he wishes he didn't have to.

Still. He knocks before pushing open the door. ]

Hey.

[airlockedmods]

[bzzt bzzt

There's a buzzing but it's gentle buzzing that will hopefully not agitate his injury.]

spaceglasses

[tokencanadian]

[Knock knock Ardyn, it's your doom- I mean, Pyrrha with a small dish of purple soup.]

Ardyn? Are you... awake?

[alive?]

Spaceglasses Hut

[cyan_maid]

[...........Yeah her God Tier hood is bloodied tatters because of you but she still worry. Knock knock, you have a visitor.]

not here but here

[induality]

[...well no one comes inside but. At some point when it's quiet.

A small bag gets thrown into Spaceglasses Hut.





...it appears to be a collection of first aid supplies, including painkillers, headache medicine, bandages and other things collected over time.

If he remembers the early meeting she called, he might have an idea who's responsible. But she's flee now.]

[a10tionplz]

[Knock knock, here's roomy, roomy. Only not bothering to knock. It's really quite like the icon, only much less manically cheerful and more resigned to having sent yet another person to death.]

How's the shoulder doing?

Spaceglasses Hut

[misanthropicprinciple]

[Junpei knocks, but also immediately tries the door. When he finds it unlocked, he slips in regardless of an invitation and takes a seat on the floor by Ardyn's bed instead of being, like, a reasonable person and sitting at the desk or something.]

Hey.

[He brought work to do, apparently. Ardyn doesn't need to entertain him.]

[induality]

[After the execution, Fukawa doesn't stop for anything or tell anyone where she's going. She takes the broken parts of Togaminime-- because they sure don't need it for anything anymore-- and locks herself up inside Spare's. There's no one there to worry about anymore. That's where she stays. She has a lot of feelings to get out.

...that said, she hasn't eaten for a whole day by now. But then-- that's not something she'll think about for a while yet.

If you come, she may answer, but... whether or not she'll let you in...]

[desperateprayer]

[ Clarith knocks. She's... Exhausted. Emotionally drained. But Touko. Touko... ]

Touko? It's me.

[airlockedmods]

[There is a loud thump against the door of Spare's.]

[daughterofthemark]

[Knockknockknock.]

Dame Touko?

[tokencanadian]

[Pyrrha actually doesn't knock, though she almost does. Instead, she exhaustively lets her head rest against the door, and she speaks.]

Touko...? It's Pyrrha.

[cyan_maid]

[It's a little while before Jane can muster up the courage to go and look for Touko - and her hunch is apparently right, that she'd go into Spare's. It's not that she fears Touko's reactions and mental state after the events of the day...but she wants to give the woman some space, and really...take the time to reflect, on herself, what might be...okay to say, and how she can try to help. The little things can help, right?

Knock knock.]

...Miss Touko? Are you...taking visitors?

[everylittlesecret]

[Fukawa gets a knock on the door. There won't be anyone outside, but she'll fine a book about cats in space, a a candle that says it smells like money, and some chocolates. There's a note attached to the candle that reads:

Anytime you want to come back, your bed is still yours.

The signature is a cat paw. Feel better soon, Fukawa!]

[airlockedmods]

[Hey, who made this giant pot of soup for your afterparty?]

[ratherdoweddings]

[blinkblink]

Arianna-chan? But I thought she was at the other oven...

[She's gonna check it out. What kind is it?]

[motherfucking_ghost]

[Ardyn's off being injured, Fukawa's off doing her own thing and he realizes that while he should apologize (more), now may not be a good time, so...

So Church sits by himself, not touching the food. At least he's not stabbing the table this time. Oh right because he left his knife in his other pants.]

[ratherdoweddings]

Church-san? ...You did really well today.

[daughterofthemark]

[Arianna's here, naturally, spending most of her time in the kitchen at Dairy Empress so she can keep the food coming. Apple turnovers first, something familiar she feels confident in. Then come cookies.

She'll make some rounds in case anyone needs her, but... she's not feeling great right now.

Really, if you want to talk to her, you might want to find her later. She'll be in her kiosk, with the door propped open all night.]

[myocordial]

[Well, the door is open and all, but Heart knocks anyway to be polite.]

[ratherdoweddings]

[Yurika will come around to see anyone who shows up to the afterparty in the food court, and she'll also go to Splankets and the memorial wall -- it's never been her job, but Clarith's not in great shape. She also steps off to Starbucks, where the Xenomorph and lumberjack dolls are taken out of the diorama and placed carefully to the side with the angel doll.]

...every week again.

starbucks

[myocordial]

The pattern is very persistent, isn't it?

['Sup, Yurika, Heart heard that comment and is just walking up.]

[everylittlesecret]

[After taking care of Ardyn, Nari takes a shower because she feels gross. Gross from the investigation, gross from what she had to do to take care of Ardyn's wound... just gross. But at least that means she'll come to the afterparty freshly washed with hair that seems to be... steaming a little?

Though she'll bail early to go to the Reading Comet and setting up a little corner with flowers. Her own memorial of sorts.]

Reading Comet

[cyan_maid]

[The last stop on the visits for Jane is here. Why? She's making good on her promise. Slowly, methodically, she searches the bookshelves, gathering the titles authored by Varric as if she did not plan to do anything for the next few days but read. And that's where she finds Nari, and stops. And clears her throat.]

...Need some help?

[desperateprayer]

[ Once Clarith is done talking to Touko, she'll retreat for awhile. And she'll hide out in, of all places, Prism. And she'll curl up in a ball there for awhile, just crying quietly to herself. Then, finally, finally... She's not sure what she's expecting, but. Messages, right? Maybe the notepad. She'll open it. ]

I don't know if you can see this, if you're watching. I don't feel like I know much of anything right now. But... If you are... I wanted to thank you for saving my life.

And I'm sorry, because I'm not sure how much more of this I can take.

[ Otherwise, she's not leaving Prism. Whether Lady Consequence answers or not. ]

[airlockedmods]

[bzzt]

[tokencanadian]

[Pyrrha makes her way to the afterparty, pulling up a seat... before deciding she's going to feel even worse if she does just sit around. So, it's time again for her to make some rounds. Every person she comes across gets a variation of,]

Hey, how are you doing?

[And an offered cup of water, because all this despair means they need to keep hydrated.

Later on, as things die down, she's naturally dragged herself back to her kiosk, where she seems content to take a seat on her bed and poke through her Scroll. There's school notes, pictures of Remnant friends... It's all very sweet, but she isn't smiling.]

..."All I did was decide on a place to stand."

[door's open]

Making rounds

[cyan_maid]

[Jane's...in between visiting people at the moment, so she's sitting in the food court, staring off into the distance, but she blinks to attention when Pyrrha speaks, and looks at the water with mild surprise.]

...Oh, um. I'm...I'm fine.

[She's not fine. That hollow ache in her heart is carved out into a bigger space with every life lost, and it's likely that, like all trial days, she won't be able to eat much. But the water she'll take.]

Thank you.

[misanthropicprinciple]

[He has to check on the fallen first, but Junpei is actually at the afterparty this time. After grabbing some food, he sets himself up at a table to the side, though, working on both Togami's notes and his own, alternately chewing on his pencil and twirling it around his fingers.

A, D, E, F, G, H, I, L, N, O, P, R, S, T, U, V, W, and Y. Those are the letters he has to work with, and while it's hard to pick the letters out from shorthand he's never used, he's determined as hell to put this puzzle together.

He's going to figure out what Togami's last message says if it kills him.]