Week 2 Post-Trial

[strictura]

[ The trial itself may have been pretty straightforward, but with how high emotional tensions were running afterward, there's probably no one feeling like organizing any kind of gathering right now.

So, go do your thing until a new week starts, and write down those memories you don't want to forget. ]

Comments

[battlestations]

That's fine. I'm just going for a light sugar rush this time.

[He will be deeper in his cups if someone he trusted dies, but that's a battle for another time!!]

It's a good thing Numbuh Five isn't here though. Take it you don't want any?

[strictura]

[ ...That is much more similar than he was expecting. ]

So it was the stepmother who ended up there that time?

[strictura]

...A little bit would be fine, I suppose.

[ He hasn't had any since he got here, so he can allow himself half a glass, anyway.

He takes a seat. ]

Would Five not approve either, or would they be the type to drink too much of it?

[octopups]

What's a "vampire"?

[He comes closer and sits down around her to watch the screen better, definitely interested now.]

Oh, kind of like all of us are from different worlds?

[battlestations]

[Just reaching over to the bottles and glasses to pour him one then. Alas the monkey pumpkin can't really bartend after all.]

Oh Five's my second in command, and she's the biggest sweet tooth on the team. Even I don't understand the lengths she'll go to in the name of discovering lost and rare treats. You wouldn't be able to stop her, and I'd hate to see you try.

[So yeah it's a 'good thing' for Nagisa. Nigel wouldn't mind the backup! And the drink is done pouring now that he's spoken fondly about his teammate, so he'll pass it over.]

[xxxx_me]

[Tiny nod.]

[prescience]

[Oriko pauses mid-descent, stopping on the stairs to return the wave.]

Ah, something like that. The future, the past, how they blur together in a place like this...

It must take a lot of energy to hold together a castle much larger than this.

[prescience]

Well, I'm far from an expert in the supernatural...

They were human once, but now they're a sort of living undead and drink blood to survive.

[His question about different worlds seems to make her chuckle. It's easy to get complacent when they're all in the same place, as if they might have always coexisted under different circumstances.]

Not quite. They live on the same planet, but it's as if - well, a cat and a mouse were to care deeply for one another, predator and prey.

[prescience]

[Unlucky indeed.]

How cruel. That makes it sound like this is all just some twist of fate. You were dragged back into something you hoped to escape.

[xxxx_me]

...This place... it's so much like the Dream, I didn't even realize I was someplace else at first.

[octopups]

Ohh, so kind of like zombies. [Yes of course Tinish culture has zombies, everybody has zombies.]

[Her explanation has him rapt though.]

Woww, that's a really interesting romance!

[He is super into this movie now sorry Oriko you're doomed.]

[prescience]

Really?

[She crouches down to get closer to his level where he's sitting and writing. It's time to really get into this, she supposes.]

It reminds me of something I've seen before, too. [And her brain is already working on reasons for this: She suspected that everyone brought here had something extraordinary or magical in their worlds, but if there is a connection, and everything isn't just cruel, horrible coincidence - is it bigger?]

It's potently awful; I'm sorry it's like that for you.

[prescience]

[Strange that zombies can be a reference point, but - ]

Yes, but more themselves. They are still cognizant of their actions. Supposedly they are patently evil, but as we all know, the truth is more complex.

[She leans back against the side of the bed, seemingly accepting the arrival of eight whole dogs to watch the rest of the movie with her.]

Is it? Well, you're welcome to stay if you'd like.

[golden_king]

[ That just made things easier, at least. ]

...The Dream? The Teacher?

You lost memories back in your world too?

[strictura]

...I'm sure that wasn't pleasant to watch, but that's better than it being your friend, at least. If she was a witch who was attacking her in the dream, she probably didn't treat her well in real life either, right?

[xxxx_me]

[That does get his attention.]

What was it like where you're from?

[xxxx_me]

[...He'll start with the easiest one first.]

Yeah. I lost all my memories - the only thing I could remember was my name.

[xxxx_me]

No. That's probably why Letty moved to the facility.

[ballooncaged]

They are being helped... So I can't stop. Even though I'm still angry at Cori, at least she didn't seem like she did what she did because she hated any of us.

[That's been ALSO haunting her, and making her want to throw in the towel, but she can hope the sector didn't actively make things worse.]

It's been easier here because I can hide all the things that are weird about me. And it would be even worse if people were worrying about me... That is guaranteed if everything exploded at once, though, you know? [In other words it's good she can talk this through with Nagisa who respects her as an equal, because she does acknowledge she has Some needs.] I still need to think more about what we need to do, but for now I can be sure that we want to do the right thing, all together. And Franziska von Karma definitely doesn't have a monopoly on any of that.

[ballooncaged]

[Well, this is aesthetic. Makes her think of Marble, though that would be adult enough to kill?Nigel. Mizuki gives a nod to the monkey.]

Evening, owner.

[Beginning to draw up a lemon-lime soda for herself.]

...less drinking, more talking okay?

[prescience]

It wasn't like that all the time. For someone who didn't know any better, it would have been an everyday city.

[There's a second in which her smile falters, but it's back, patient as ever, just as quickly.] However, great dangerous creatures named witches also exist. Come too close to their lair and being trapped inside is warped and confusion, like walking through a girl's dream.

Therefore...it feels a bit like that.

[xxxx_me]

[Oh... He nods in understanding.]

What did you have to do to get out?

[prescience]

Destroy the witch, of course.

[xxxx_me]

[A pause... and then another nod. Makes sense.]

So that's what you did?

[ballooncaged]

There are more important things than being good at advice. [Mizuki begins to trace a larger shape around her pumpkin with the tip of the knife.] Sometimes... if you don't know what to say, but you're there... the other person will still get it someday that you care.