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]

Nothing. I've spilled my secrets.

[...But he hesitates a moment before adding something.]

The night after Mettaton's trial, I asked the Kingmaker if he'd ever consider an incentive allowing someone else to graduate in the culprit's place. He said he'd consider it.

That's the closest I've gotten to collaborating. I swear to you on my daughter's good name, that's it.

[cherryblooded]

Sigrun's doing that, I think? And I trust her to take care of him.

[notjustawriter]

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

How are you holding up?

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." ]

[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.]

[captainobnoxious]

[She stirs her soup a little more, glancing over at him, and decides flicking a spoonful's good enough.]

Like hell he'd go through with that. Who would you have used it on, if it came up?

[garudynamic]

[Yosuke nods, the pillow shifting with the moment. He doesn't say anything else for a long moment... then finally sits up. The pillow is covered in fluid, and his eyes are nearly shut, red and eyelashes matted together, his hair at all angles and headphones crushed into the side of his cheek.

The cord is still around his fingers, and he looks down at the ruined jack. A beat, and he untangles it, and takes the headphones off, holding them out to Cherryblod. They are a pathetic sight]

I... I broke them.

[His words are almost childlike, as if he was holding out a small animal he had crushed out of innocent ignorance- his mouth trembles and twitches- something any father would recognize as fighting tears, but he just doesn't have any left]

I broke Mettaton's phones. I...promised I'd take c-care of them.

[notjustawriter]

...I hope it's enough. Might be worth patrollin' tonight, just in case.

[cherryblooded]

[Soup in the face. He deserves that.]

Yosuke. He's young enough - he might recover from this. I don't think you would take it as well if I did it for you.

[cherryblooded]

Hello, Speedwagon. Thanks for taking care of all this.

[He would have, but he was busy.]

[captainobnoxious]

[Her head snaps to attention, pausing in her search for anything good, and she watches him for a moment before smiling. It's only a little awkward.]

Yes, sweetheart?

[cherryblooded]

[Gently, he takes the headphones from Yosuke's hands and sets them down.]

He'd understand.

[Mettaton knew a lot about breaking promises.]

If you hear from him again, you can apologize.

[...this will probably never happen, but there's still some hope, somewhere, or at least he's willing to pretend there is right now.]

[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.]

[cherryblooded]

Mm. Think I'll let the uninjured people handle that.

[captainobnoxious]

[He does. It's all the food he's getting from her too.]

I definitely wouldn't have. Flattering, but please, it doesn't matter where I go, where I am. So long as I've got someone to lead.

[... So much for that...]

I think I would've done it for you though. Wouldn't matter if you hated me or not for it, you're the first person to come to mind. Black's second, then Yosuke.

[Mettaton would've been first, really, but that goes without saying. She probably would've asked he could put Mettaton in her world too.]

[garudynamic]

Maybe... I can fix them.

[The speakers are okay, he thinks. It's not ruined, it's not ruined yet]

[cherryblooded]

...We are a bunch of disasters, aren't we?

[He's known he was a disaster for hundreds of years, so it's not exactly news. He just sounds resigned, mostly.]

I wouldn't have hated you. Just questioned your taste.

[penduli]

[ Please don't call me that, he wants to say, because he doesn't really deserve pet names.

But he hums, trying to work up the courage to not sound like a child on the verge of tears. ]

Do you... does everyone hate me? [ ...his courage was all for naught, because guess what he sounds like. Doesn't stop there, either. ] I— I wouldn't blame them, any of them, because what I did... what I've been doing isn't forgivable, but I...

[ Well, the world sure is getting mistier again, and he grits his teeth. He's not going to cry. He did enough of that earlier. ]

I don't want them to. [ Especially her. Especially Yosuke. Especially Cherryblod. ]

[cherryblooded]

You should give it a try.

[It'll give him something to do and it'll make him feel better if he at least attempts. And it's not like Cherryblod knows much about electronics.]

[garudynamic]

[Yosuke nods, slowly, deciding something]

I think I know what to do. But... god, Dad I'm scared.

[captainobnoxious]

You have more people who're depending on you than I do.

[There's a pause there, like she's going to say something else, and she sighs.]

Which... isn't true, I guess. I have five others in my team and many more back home, all waiting for my return, even if they've probably moved on by now. But your people need you more than mine do -- mine have a back-up leader.

[cherryblooded]

What of, dear?

[There's a lot to be scared about right now.]

[cherryblooded]

Yours are, more likely than not, alive.

[Just... bluntly said, with the kind of smile he wears when he doesn't really care enough to put on one that seems happy.

His are probably dead.]

[garudynamic]

[He laughs- it sounds like a dying toad, but it's not hysteric. It's, in fact, oddly bare and honest]

Dying. Losing the people I care about. Again. Disappointing people. Being hated.

...spiders. You know, normal stuff.

I... have to talk to Will.

[captainobnoxious]

[... Well, if there ever was a way for her to stop doing what she was doing faster, it was to introduce her family in a mess of choked up words. Sigrun comes to sit beside him instead, arms wrapping in a hug almost automatically.]

I can't say about everyone else, but I don't hate you, Black. I... kinda get Cherry's feelings about loving someone even if they did bad things, even if they hurt you somehow, because I still love Mettaton, too.

[As over it as she should be, there's just... Well. Anyway.]

I don't forgive him and I won't forgive you, but that doesn't mean I hate you. It'll take time for the others to trust you, I'm sure -- Yosuke especially, [because she knows that's probably one of the bigger ones,] but you've gotta give it a shot. Everyone makes mistakes.

[Evidently.]

Some people make bigger mistakes than others.