I'll wait, so show me why you're strong

[isafraid]

[And so the day's trial for the attempted murder of Gabriel Knight draw to a close with... charitably better results then usual.

They were alive, at the least, but that didn't mean there wasn't several blows against the trust that had been built up here. One mole that attempted murder, another that quit, and another that was given the offer no doubt put strain on several relationships... most notably Sigrun's.

It was all, in a word... frankly shitty. But now it's all out there, no sense in trying to get it back.

An hour (or two) after the "trial" ends and everyone's gone off on their own business, Speedwagon heads back to the kitchen. It was the usual plan in mind, what they did after every trial. And everyone, regardless of what was said or done, would soon find a note being slipped under their door.]

[Name],
There's gonna be food in the dining hall, in case anyone's got an appetite for it.
I know some might want to be alone after that mess of an investigation, but if you don't then the offer's as open as it's always been.
I'd say sticking together might still be safer then not.

-R E.O. Speedwagon

[And yes, folks that arrive in the dining hall will find a nice spread of sandwiches, soup, and what leftovers Speedwagon could scrounge out of the fridge. Speedwagon isn't the best cook in the group, but there's definitely stuff here that's good enough to eat.

...Sigrun's 'masterpiece' was, thankfully, left out of this. Keeping folks alive is the goal, after all.]

Comments

[cherryblooded]

[Cherryblod spends a long, long time in his room with Yosuke.

But eventually, he leaves, and returns to the others. First things first, he grabs a dish towel and some ice from the kitchen. After rolling up his sleeve, he starts to ice the bruise forming on his left shoulder.

He occasionally takes breaks from icing it to actually take a bite of his sandwich.]

[isafraid]

[Hope you don't mind a hand coming to rest on your (not punched) shoulder. You're someone Speedwagon was concerned the most over, so don't mind him as he pulls up a seat with a sandwich.

He offers him a light smile.]

[notjustawriter]

[Gabriel stays throughout the entire "trial", and by the time he leaves, he just looks exhausted.

He'll be eating one of the sandwiches, though, because not eating after that mess just wouldn't be wise. They've made it through a week without anyone dying, and even if it had been a near miss on his part, he's still grateful. He doesn't look like he's in particularly good spirits, but he has a bottle of Advil next to him and a large glass of water-- if nothing else, he's not horribly tense right now.]

[cherryblooded]

Can you spare one of those?

[He means the Advil - this bruise really does hurt, it's just that he's good at pushing past pain when he has to.]

[isafraid]

... Is that medicine any good, then?

[He doesn't recognize the bottle, but if Gabriel's using it it must be good for something. And heck, he's curious.]

[pokexplorer]

[Colress realizes as he slinks into the dining hall for a bit that he hasn't had a proper chance to say anything to Gabriel just yet. So...he makes it his first priority to do that, taking a seat across from him.]

...At this rate, I suppose I should give you Klinklang every Thursday night.

[It's a horrible attempt at a lighter mood to the start of the conversation, but...maybe he's not actually attempting to lighten the mood. It's frightening in hindsight that he had just been worrying about something like this happening to Gabriel last week, and they almost lost him this week.]

I am glad that you are all right, Mr. Knight.

[Well, "all right" as in not dead.

And he just kind of glances off after that, since he knows he didn't come off so great at the meeting.]

[captainobnoxious]

[Well, Black isn't leaving her side any time soon, so expect to find him in all the places she is too!

... Before the dinner they're invited to, Sigrun and Black are in Room 13, because it helped last week to calm her head and because she's going through Mettaton's stuff after starting a letter, leaving it aside to collect all the written information he left behind.

She was right in thinking that most of it was on his dead as fuck phone.

A quick stop up in the chapel to deposit her finished letter and the multitude of unfinished ones she'd taken from Mettaton's sketchbook and she'll take Black to dinner.

Though they're notably sitting away from others in the dining hall, it isn't like there's no room for company if... anyone wants to talk to either of them, though Sigrun doesn't think anyone particularly will. She's busy eating and keeping an eye on Black as he scribbles in his notebook, not thinking that anyone'll want to talk to them either.]

dining hall

[cherryblooded]

Hello, captain.

[Don't mind Cherryblod just icing his shoulder. His bruised shoulder. From the punch you gave him.

He certainly doesn't seem mad, though.]

How are you holding up, all things considered?

room 13

[penduli]

[ He feels like he's being babysat.

Maybe he is. Black twiddles his thumbs, watching Sigrun look through Mettaton's stuff, and sighs. He... can't blame it, and he agreed to it. It's not like he really has any right to complain either—he's the one who sold them out for the last month and a half, roughly. He's the one who knew what he was getting into, what it'd cost if anyone found out the closer he got to people, what would happen if he...

he was so stupid, thinking he could keep secrets from anyone. Even if he had killed someone all those weeks ago and saved White (somehow), he's sure it would've come up eventually. Even if he managed to keep his deal and what their parents did for White under wraps—that was just because neither of them wanted to talk about that day, wasn't it?

He feels completely hollowed out, and all he wants to do is go back to his room and sleep and never come out again. Black watches Sigrun for another moment, then watches the floor instead. ]

...Miss Sigrun?

[ He's... testing the waters, and it's evident in his tone. Hesitant, soft, ready to close up again at the first sign of "Don't talk to me." ]

Room 13

[notjustawriter]

[Gabriel will eventually show up at Mettaton's door, knocking politely.

He really isn't angry at Black, truthfully, and he needs to discuss things with Sigrun anyway. He steels himself, because this could get ugly, but he doesn't have much choise as he sees it. He needs to keep holding it together.]

Sigrun? It's me.

[isafraid]

Captain.

[And Black. Hey there. He nods curtly to both of them on approach. He's not about to say it but he's glad to see them out here.]

Feeling a bit better?

dining hall, late

[garudynamic]

[Hi Sigrun. Yosuke stops a few meters away, eyes wide and and trembling slightly. He tilts his head, asking her to come over a bit away from Black]

pre-'party'/locked to Cherryblod

[garudynamic]

[He walks to Cherry's room without a word, Blooky's headphones still hanging crooked and broken from his head, twisting the the frayed cord around his own fingers over and over- mimicking how Gabriel almost died.

When Cherry let's him in he doesn't even take off his shoes, instead just crawling into his bed, and putting the pillow over his head, knees pulled up to his chest until he's as small a fetal ball he can manage with his long legs]

[cherryblooded]

[Cherryblod is quiet as he sits down on the bed next to Yosuke, not touching him just now because he doesn't know how much Yosuke would appreciate it.]

...Take as long as you need, my dear. I'm not going anywhere.

Not at the afterparty

[sleepingkogoro]

[Mouri is not in good mood.

It'll be the first time he won't go to the Afterparty. In the other weeks, no matter what happened, everyone could count with seeing him there.

Today it is different. He receives Speedwagon's note, only crumpling it in his hands and throwing it against the wall.

If you somehow miss his presence in the afterparty feel free to come to Room #2 and try to talk to him. Let yourself be warned: he probably is going to be angry with you, no matter who you are. Some aren't going to have as many faults as others, but eh. So if you feel like getting some bitterness directed on you go ahead and knock on his door]

Room 2

[isafraid]

[Someone's got to check. It's been a while since Speedwagon really talked to Mouri one-on-one... but he was the one to have sent out the notes. It was only right, wasn't it?

So, sometime into the evening, Mouri will get a knock at his door. And an even-leveled voice calls out.]

Detective? You in there?

[isafraid]

[Speedwagon's around. He has to be.

Mostly he could be found working in the kitchen on whatever was going to be added to the dining table's supply of food (usually another sandwich) before carrying it out and going back. This happens several times until he's sure there's enough.

Later he actually takes a seat at the dining table, not too far away from everyone, but it gives him a good view of whoever's here. He's got his own bowl of soup, and a cup of tea. Not much of an appetite for either.

But he's glad this all came together.

Like always, around the time everyone's left the afterparty, Speedwagon's taken to patrolling the lower floors. There's a brief stop in the library to clean up whatever's left of the mess Black made, but that's about it. Anyone that's out at this time had better be prepared for a confrontation.]

[goodforsomething]

[That was an ugly, unpleasant experience.

But Stan knows it's for the best. The Kingmaker wasn't going to keep their short flirtation at cooperation a secret, and it would have been so much worse coming from him, after all they've been through. Best to just lance the wound. It's too dangerous now to have secrets like that - besides, it feels like keeping things from family now. He doesn't do that for just any old reason, and not just for himself. Whatever's happened back home, he did what he needed to, and as far as anyone there knew they lost him anyway. He's all in here.

He shows up to the party same as ever, takes a sandwich and sits near the others. But not too close to anyone in particular. He may not have fucked up as much as some people, but he did nothing to help this whole shitshow. If they wanna talk to him right now, that's up to them, not him.]

[notjustawriter]

[It's a while before Gabriel approaches Stan, feeling awkward and confused.]

How are you holding up?

[pokexplorer]

[Colress isn't at the gathering for too long, but he does make a point of checking in with Stan for sure. They obviously didn't have a good chance to talk about their offers from the Kingmaker at the earlier meeting.

Colress' voice is low as he sits near Stan.]

...So he did get to you too.

[May as well cut to the chase.]

[cherryblooded]

Stan, could I talk to you about something?

[Cherryblod, of course, missed most of the mole discussion. But it wouldn't really change much if he'd heard. Stan quit and that's the important thing.

Still, someone should probably tell him eventually.]

[garudynamic]

[Yosuke is in Cherryblod's room for a long time. It'd be fair to assume he's sleeping off the 'trial' and for awhile that's true. But once th edge of exhaustion is gone nightmares inch at his mind, and he's awake again.

But he's not ready to go outside yet. So instead he makes his way to Cherry's bathroom and showers (and uses the Lavender shampoo), washing away the snot and tears and sweat. But once he's done with that he can't help looking in the mirror. At his red eyes and pallid skin and shaggy mess of hair.

It's an impromptu choice, but he makes his way back into the room with a purpose, digging through Cherry's chest- he knows he won't be mad if Yosuke borrows some stuff.

So when Yosuke finally goes out to the party he's a bit of a sight: for one thing he's missing almost two inches of hair- thanks to Cherry's hair scissors. His hair is more brown then orange now, and what IS still pale looks more like tips instead of weird two tone mess. He managed a decent job of it too. After all, his hair style was already spiky.

('Black will miss the length' he thought as he did it, and can't bring himself to do more then laugh bitterly)

Not only that, but he managed to cobble together some fresh clothing from the chest- mostly Zagi's guild uniforms and a few other things. So he's mostly in black (and truly those pants look nice), and while Zagi was a little shorter then him, it was close enough to fit alright. His hair is still damp and smells like a lady, but whatever.

He feels cleaned out

Yosuke looks... sane. Quiet and grim, but sane, and eventually sits to try and eat]

[amygdalae]

[Bruce is

so tired

to put it lightly.

After their meeting initially disbands Bruce heads down the chapel first, because he feels like he needs to go down and apologize to everyone down there. For suffering through this, for... being played with, all this time, by the Kingmaker. Bruce wasn't blinding himself to the truth of that but it stings all the same. No matter what they did, it wasn't as if it was of any use anyway. The Kingmaker knew everything.

It feels more or less like a giant slap in the face.

He spends a fair amount of time there, stopping by each portrait and giving each one their apologies, lingering the longest at the pictures of Aqua and King. Even as ghosts, they're still here in a sense... and he needs to do his part for them, as much as he can. They all need to do something soon. But not right now.

He does come to the gathering soon enough, but for the most part he sticks to a corner with some food and looks through his notebook, occasionally scribbling down a couple of notes. He's certainly open enough for conversation, though how much you can get one with him depends on who you are.

(If you're Sigrun or Black, chances are you won't get much. At least for now.)

...much later, close to nighttime, if you happen to be near the bar you'll see Bruce rummaging through the shelves here in search of something... which turns out to be alcohol that he's drinking from should you look at his room. It's unlocked and the door is open, and Bruce is sitting at floor with his back against the bed, drinking straight from the bottle.

For a guy who has 'alcohol' listed as a dislike on his profile, the fact he's drinking now certainly isn't a nice indication of how he's feeling.]

Bruce's room

[pokexplorer]

[As night time draws near, Colress comes back down to the first floor to finally try to get some sleep. But he lingers in the dorm hallway, thinking about how he hasn't found a good time to talk to Bruce since the meeting earlier. Not that...he hasn't really known what to say, but he figures he should at least go to him at some point after what he revealed today.

So rather than turning in just yet, he ventures further down the hall and gently knocks on Bruce's open door.]

...Bruce, may I come in?

[No Mr. Banner this time, though he really kind of wishes he had used it now that he addressed Bruce by his first name. He doesn't know if he's earned informality anymore, not after earlier.

He sticks his head in though, and...oh.

He's pretty good at remembering profile information, so...oh.]

Ah...

[This is probably so bad.]

[pokexplorer]

[After the discussion, Colress once again retreats to his room for a while. This week was already rough enough, but it somehow managed to get rougher. Despite there not being a full-fledged trial today, from the way it went, it may as well have been. Secrets were spilled, trust was broken... Colress legitimately feels sick, partially for what was revealed, and partially for his own actions. He mulls it over for a good while as he sits on his bed, tinkering away at some sort of device with his Pokemon nearby. He will answer the door if anyone wants to talk. But at this point he wouldn't be surprised if everyone wanted their space from him too. He very easily almost became a mole himself, after all.

He makes a brief appearance at the after-party, but he doesn't stay very long. He's still tired and feels pretty awful, but he does at least check in to see if anyone wants to talk.

He has a similar idea to a few others, heading up to the chapel to once again sit near the portraits of the ones they had lost. The ones who are currently in more danger than the living. He sits curled up on the bench with his head and arms resting against his knees, staring at the portraits with the same worry he has had all week. He's thinking, though. Thinking about what to do next. As much as he wants to get Beheeyem out right now, he...will wait for Sigrun. He's not entirely sure what to think of Sigrun right now, but he does intend to at least hold up the offer to have her in on their next successful interaction.

He just hopes that there will be a next successful interaction.

Feeling a heaviness in his eyelids after some time of brainstorming, he'll head back downstairs to his room where he'll stay for the night, his exhaustion finally giving way to some more sleep.]

[isafraid]

[There will be at least one person amidst the afterparty that wants to speak with him. It's unfortunately when Colress is about to leave, but Speedwagon wasn't the sort that gave up easily.]

Mister Colress! [Speedwagon strolls up briskly, making sure he reaches him as he's walking away.] Nice of you to show up.

[And, judging from his tone, he means it.]