trial 4 afterPARTY

[keyringwitness]

After the chaos of the trial and its aftermath, their tradition of the morbid "afterparty" almost seemed insulting... to everyone else, at least. Yasu is more than happy to provide.

The rest of the class might be drawn toward the cafeteria by the alluring scent of well-steeped black tea and baked goods. Inside, Yasu sips from her own cup, looking totaly composed by the tray of scones—sorry, everyone, cookies are a Kakuya-only privilege—and the teapot.

There are plates set out, too. Much more sophisticated than the mopey crackers, apples, and cheese everyone is used to.

Comments

[temmapathy]

[Emma heads back to her room first, to pick up some supplies and sob into her mattress just the slightest bit. She finally emerges, Polly and notebooks in tow, and sets up at a table, propping up one notebook on which she's written:

FREE HUGS
For Everyone

True to her word, anyone who approaches will get open arms, no matter what happened down there in the trial room. She has another open notebook as well, on which is written: Sleepover tonight?

She does have a plate of scones, which she occasionally nibbles at.]

[violence_ensues]

[Adorabat is one of the first to turn up, after having been in the playground for quite some time. She doesn't look sad, only that she's been doing a lot of thinking in a very short amount of time.]

...Hi.

[temmapathy]

Hi, Adorabat. Are you...okay?

[violence_ensues]

Uh, yeah... just... thinking...

[...]

[temmapathy]

... about monsters?

[violence_ensues]

[Adorabat nods.]

[temmapathy]

Well...there was something I wanted to say, about monsters, several weeks ago. That maybe...it's only the monsters that want to hurt people that show up where you live, so that's the only kind of monster you meet. Maybe there's lots of peaceful monsters living in their own valley.

[Only a few weeks ago, really...and yet it feels like forever.]

[violence_ensues]

That's the thing! They don't care about hurting civilians or not, they just want to eat and smash! But... but I've never had to deal with monsters that think before...

And I don't know what Mao Mao would do about them.

[hashtagwoof]

[ You know what, he's gonna accept the hugs.

... Then he spots the other note. ]

Uh... I think I'm gonna skip the sleepover this time... Got some things I need to take care of.

[temmapathy]

[Well, she'll give him a good long hug.]

Of course.

[There's a pause.]

I should have tried to talk to Yasu more... I thought it would be fine, with A looking after her.

[And how did that work out? Pretty good, it doesn't seem!]

[hashtagwoof]

Hmph. Yeah, and we all thought A was on our side and not... Like... A complete psycho, if she's even got a human mind in her.

[ But she is some kind of haunted doll, and this situation just keeps getting more and more insane. ]

We're gonna have to rework our entire strategy to get past the haunted doll if we wanna survive.

[temmapathy]

I don't think it really matters, if her mind is human or not. What matters is how she acts with it.

I have no idea how to deal with a haunted doll like her. Especially if she can still turn invisible and possess other things.

[hashtagwoof]

... Good point.

[ He frowns... ] The mysteries we've been getting every week must be her doing, I bet. We'll have to get whoever's up for this week's to be extra vigilant. Other than that...

...

I'm gonna try to hold a meeting tomorrow. After we've all had a chance to breathe.

[temmapathy]

That sounds like a good idea. Everyone had better come! We can't let this split us all up.

[Which is why she's running her non-discriminatory free hugs stall here.]

By the way...where are you going to stay after your great-aunt is dealt with?

[hashtagwoof]

Yep, that's part of the reason I'm gonna hold it...

[ But then she asks where he's gonna go and he just blanks. ]

Uh... I... I hadn't thought of that.

[ He's probably gonna be cut off when she gets thrown in jail. Either that, or stuck in some orphanage or foster home or something... Worth it, probably, but still. ]

Why do you ask?

If my limited understanding of how BSL grammar works doesn't hold true I'm sorry

[panglici]

Emma, I might mess this up, but....

[She's had close to a month of watching her erstwhile classmate's hands and mentally hearing a voice, now. She's been given a name in this silent language. The library had books on it along with books on the ones she'd have to learn to pronounce, she'd had time, and... now seems like a decent time to try.

She's nervous, so she's moving awkwardly. Her face is a mask of concentration. Timeframe, topic, action, the words have to go in that order, and she has to remember this. No matter what, her signing is going to come off amateurish, a foreigner speaking a language she doesn't really understand.

[Immediately/right now] sorry

Thank you

[Tomorrow] fight plan yes

She still isn't quite sure how to mark something as a question, so she tilts her head to one side after "yes".]

It's fine I've just been translating directly myself

[temmapathy]

[Emma nods, looking appreciative of Carrie trying to learn her language.]

Hunter also said he'd have a meeting tomorrow. Is this the same one?

I just couldn't figure out a better way to show she's not really confident or fluent!

[panglici]

[Carrie nods, relieved that at least one of them can ask a question directly.]

I do not know when I will be able to really talk like that, like you do, but... I think we need every possible advantage, now. So -

[She tries for "I'm going to keep studying", then.]

[temmapathy]

[Emma nods.]

I can teach everyone what I know. It might be easier if you see me do it too.

[lets_dewey_it]

<sub>[ ...

Dewey couldn't help but freeze in front of her. Not that he wanted to reject it, exactly. But he was standing there wondering if he even deserved one after everything that happened.

"Fucking asshole"

He promised himself he wouldn't be fishing for others to stroke his ego after that trial. But part of him wondered what would happen if he said "you were right" to her.]</sub>

[temmapathy]

[...Emma opens her arms to him.]

[lets_dewey_it]

_{[...screw it. He'll almost knock her over getting into her arms. He needed this. Desperately.]}

[temmapathy]

[She wraps her arms around him as tightly as she can, careful not to crush him. She's not sure how fragile anthropomorphic duck bones are. As she hugs him, she starts rubbing circles on his back with a fist, as if she's trying to sign "sorry" with him in between.]

[lets_dewey_it]

_{[He keeps the hug for a few more seconds before stepping back.]}

I'll do better by all of you next time. I promise.

[temmapathy]

[She nods.]

It's okay. We were all upset...I was worried about what Adorabat was saying too...but I thought that kind of conversation was better saved for after the trial.

Some of it DID need to be said, but it probably wasn't the right time. I...probably made things worse myself.