Week 3 Post-Trial

[xxxx_me]

[It's hard to feel much cheer after finding out the culprit. Everyone's welcome to do whatever brings them peace after such a tense time, whether it's jotting down memories before the next loss or finding other things to occupy themselves with.]

Comments

[ballooncaged]

[Mizuki has her coat back on, glad for it in the breeze of the garden. And... glad for the thumb holes protecting her hands as she runs up to grab the trunk of that strange new whispering tree.]

Are you still alive in there? I keep trying to figure out what all you crazy girls are trying to tell me, but this is too much!

[soverainty]

Is it really okay to be grabbing that? It's some kind of haunted chimeric flesh tree, you know.

[It's probably not a flesh tree but like. Hm.

Niko's wrinkling her nose a little at Mizuki trying to handle the tree, at least, though she's also here and has seemingly been here for a bit and although she didn't have any particularly strong reaction to their bizarre rendition of Snow White... Well, now they've really got a garden going.

She's giving Mizuki and the tree their space, let's just say.]

Or did you just feel like yelling now that you've got your voice back?

[ballooncaged]

[Breathing heavily, she draws her hands back to her sides in fists.]

...maybe I am trying to say what I couldn't back then. Get it out of my system.

[There's a high sarcasm in that, skepticism such simplistic therapy can actually help. Looks at Niko.]

What about you, wanted to jump on some leaf piles in shorts?

[soverainty]

Hmmm. Maybe the tree's lucky you didn't decide to just go straight for punching? Yelling at the dead is kind of like yelling at the ocean, though? Just less satisfying.

[Glancing at the closed fists with a sort of academic curiosity.

There's a snort at the idea of jumping into leaf piles. She's wearing a dress now, and was wearing leggings earlier, but yes, she does have outfits with shorts.]

With our luck, they'd be poisonous leaf piles.

[ballooncaged]

[O-oh seeing the outfit ending in a skirt Mizuki blushes and feels stupid. Not the first time Niko has made her feel that way.]

...if I knew I'd end up here one day I would have seen the ocean more often when I could. [Just add this to the pile of times Mizuki foreshadowed the pirate zone.] Can't tell whether our luck is good or bad.

[soverainty]

[At least the tree isn't still in a skirt. All things considered, it's somehow still more fashionable than all of them, so it's quite understandable that Mizuki's been dazzled(??).]

Well, you could always see if the Alices want to give us some kind of simulated ocean. You've seen how the windows work, hmm?

[Of course, then they'd probably get another drowning, but y'know. Pirate zones are important, though.]

Definitely bad, though. This murder mystery marathon is going on a little too long.

[ballooncaged]

That actually wouldn't be off brand for them. You can see the stars in the arcade even though there's probably more floors above that. I wonder if Anna ever drew a picture of—

[And then. She hears that voice again. Saber...]

Kyaa! [She brings her fists together in front of her chest, trying to school her wide eyes into sturdy suspicion.] She IS in there!

[soverainty]

Hmm. Well, if you can do whatever you want in a castle of your own design, I don't see why you wouldn't go all out. In fact, it's a little disappointing how conservative they've been with their designs.

[Maybe she's just here to be critical.

There's a tilt of her head as she looks around, like she's going to start going over the garden aesthetic next, but there's a blink and a step back because then Mizuki starts yelling??]

... What? Did you lose your marbles on top of everything else?

[whimsicalism]

[An apple drops from the tree. It sort of rolls towards Yuniko.]

[ballooncaged]

Maybe I just wanted to hear...

[Okay, NEITHER of them were touching it while this apple rolled out. Mizuki kneels to scoop up the apple in her palms (covered by the fancy thumbhole coat sleeves), at a Niko friendly height.]

Trust me, I'm not stupid enough to eat this yet, that's for sure. But it seems like more than another one of their overwrought props.

[soverainty]

So you're hearing things, huh...

[Since Niko has not been nor will she ever be particularly much of a treehugger, she probably didn't hear any weird whispers.

She definitely gives that apple the side-eye, though. Mizuki did the bare minimum of picking it up with (bare minimum) PPE, so she'll just circle a little closer, suspiciously, like a small animal that's just seen a mushroom of the wrong color.]

And what's with the 'yet'? The tree not tell you it wanted you to have dinner or something?

[ballooncaged]

You know how we investigate tons of stuff around here to grope for any illusion of control over our environment?

[She turns the apple upside-down for good measure.]

Now not knowing what this is really made of bothers me. Though talking things out, in most bu... boring fairy tales it's something bad anyway. [Was gonna say bullshit but got shy.]

well hi

[whimsicalism]

[The tree doesn't seem to be answering you. It, however, giggles a little. Though, the next whisper of 'oh, Saber' the giggling likely isn't directed at you, Mizuki.

You can continue to try strangling the tree.]

[ballooncaged]

[wildcard prompt for people with wildcard needs includes the dining hall. Mizuki has gathered up a delightful assortment of Japanese food (source). But she hesitates at the finishing touch of unagi.]

...it'd serve Date right for not coming to save me.

[She continues to stare holes into it, even taking bites of her rice.]

[byzer0]

Ooh, does he like eel?

[ Catboys actually haven't made a habit of eating in public but that doesn't mean they can't graze with their eyes. ]

[ballooncaged]

Not as much as I do. But he promised.

[actually wait this is unusual so:]

What are you even doing here? Feeling vindicated?

[byzer0]

Then serves him right!

[ Maybe he's in a good mood or maybe Natsuo just doesn't need to hear more to agree in this instance. ]

Ahaha, am I not allowed? I just lookin' around~

ai spoilers start here

[ballooncaged]

[Picking up the eel with her chopsticks resignedly.]

Then you can have some too if you actually like it. [There's for example a much bigger serving bowl of magic nice warm rice and everything.]

...we had just finished investigating the New Cyclops Serial Killer. [Which makes her think, and stare at Natsuo's eyepatch, but then she remembers that staring is rood and looks down deliberately to start shoveling food into her mouth.] Thouft it'd aww be oferf 'en...