And it's the stars, the stars that lie to you.

[neverheardofhim]

[This week, Varric opted to take a page from Vanille’s book. Gathering everyone together after the roller-coaster that the first trial had been proved to be somewhat cathartic for himself. He hoped that it would prove to do the same for the others.]

[He wasn’t alone, of course, having found himself blessed with the most ragtag team of chefs and party-planners. He might have had words for and thoughts on Elda and Kimbley, Mikazuki was welcome company, and he wasn’t about to turn away potential allies, even in a fight as simple as cooking dinner.]

[Once everyone’s set to a task, baking a cake, brewing tea, or stirring stew (the only task Varric could think to assign Elda to), Varric excused himself to his room. His first task was writing up cards, each personally titled and signed by Varric.]

Food in the Library. 5 p.m. Don’t spend the night alone.

[Each note was slid under a door and accompanied by a single rap on the wood.]

[With his tasks completed, Varric returned to the kitchen to put out any potential fires and, with luck, set the food out. A table in the library would be adorned with plenty of tea, cake, pancakes courtesy of Viktor, and stew thanks mostly to Varric (sorry, Elda).]

Comments

[stepout]

[ She is doing her best with what she has! Don't alcohol shame her. ]

It's not so bad when you get past it. [ ...She genuinely misses Quindecim. ] You want to come in and sit down, or are you just checking in on everyone who didn't stay at the party?

[ No judgement there, it's... pretty nice of him to do that, if that's what he's up to. ]

[foundfate]

I guess I could join you for a bit.

[And he will, though he will probably avoid the non-alcoholic sake.]

...I have been checking on people, though.

[stepout]

[ She wouldn't let him have any anyway, he's not old enough. ...Non-alcoholic or not. ]

I'm glad. [ ... ] I'm okay, by the way. It's not... [ ...

She just shakes her head. ] I'm just okay.

[ It's nothing she's not used to, to an extent. It's nothing she's not bothered by, to an extent. It's

a lot of things, at the heart of it, but that's fine. She can handle it. ]

[foundfate]

[Wow rude, he can drink. When adults give him liquor, at least.]

How do you stay so calm about it? I think you're the only person I've seen not raise their voice.

[stepout]

[ ...She's had mixed reactions to this, and she's wondering what he'll say. ]

I work in a bar that does games similar to this. Not exactly the same—our clause extends to violence, and that's only while the game goes on. If it happens after, we stop it pretty quick.

...My co-worker stops it pretty quick. [ She doesn't... really do anything. ] I'm there to assist him in telling the rules and giving my input when I feel like he needs. Otherwise, I stay quiet and I just watch.

[ It's what she ends up doing for a large part of trials, too. She glances aside to the letter, lips pursed. ]

Nothing I've seen or heard has been anything I've gotten mad over. [ She almost did about Kyrie, but she was reminded of Misaki, and... it just didn't happen.

She's been ticked at a few things, sure, but not to the point of raising her voice. ] That's probably how.

[foundfate]

[That. That is not what he was expecting to hear.]

You...you watch people do 'games' like this? You watch them kill each other?

[stepout]

[ Yeah, see, that. ]

Not exactly. No one ever dies. [ ...for reasons she's not getting into. ] It's more like... a no-holds-barred fight?

They don't always come to that. Sometimes, they're calm and relaxing. [ ...but a lot of them do, there's no denying that. ]

[foundfate]

[Hearing 'no death' does make Watanuki relax slightly, though he hadn't even realized how tense he had gotten at hearing about Chiyuki's job. Still, he looks very concerned, both for Chiyuki herself and for what she might be about to tell him.]

What's the point of the games, then? Fighting or no, they must have some kind of purpose.

[stepout]

To win? [ ...what else? ] For the people who play them, it's just to win.

For my co-worker and I, it's... [ ... ] A judge of character.

[ That's a simple way to put it, and not entirely wrong, either. ]

[foundfate]

You're testing people to see their character?

[That creates more questions than it answers!]

I hate to sound like a broken record, but why? Why do that?

[stepout]

[ Stop trying to get her to explain Death Parade!! This is hard to do without the whole "they're dead" thing!! ]

It's our job to. [ ...and that's that. ]

[foundfate]

[Nope sorry, he has to know more.]

Chiyuki, this is serious! Your job sounds a lot like what's happening to us now! If you know something, anything that you haven't told us yet, it might help us get out of here.

[stepout]

It won't. [ She sounds certain.

...That's going to worry him more, and she sips her non-alcoholic sake and sets it back down. Okay. There's a hint of frustration in her voice, but she's smoothing it over as best she can. ] ...At my job, when the game's done and we've considered everything that's happened, the people playing can leave. This game—if we're going to call it that—doesn't work on the same principle.

[foundfate]

[It worries him regardless. That sounds too good to be true. Almost like how anyone can leave the wish shop without making a wish, but most people don't.]

It sounds like there's big parts you're leaving out of that story for some reason. But whatever it is you're trying to cover up, just...be careful, okay? It sounds dangerous, and I don't want anything bad to happen to you.

[And he will actually leave it at that, for now, and not pry into the purpose of the games anymore.]

[stepout]

[ ...That's very touching, actually, and she stares at him for a moment before she just... nods, looking away.

The worst thing's already happened to her, so the sentiment is nice, but... ]

...It's not dangerous for me, and everyone ends up okay. It's hard to say if there's anyone who's really happy with our judgements though. If it's any consolation.

[ Any at all, because she gets it, it's— it sounds awful. It sort of is awful. But she's happy to leave it at that, too, and she'll cement it by moving on: ] Last week, we got access to another floor after sleeping off our ordeal, and I'm not sure it was a coincidence. What about you?

[foundfate]

[Oh look, a change of topic! Watanuki can roll with this.]

I think you're right, and if you are then that's actually really weird to think about. I don't think I like the idea of being rewarded for people dying.

[stepout]

Neither do I. [ ...It spells trouble, and it's not right. It's a lot of things, honestly. ] We'll see soon enough, I guess.

[ unfortunately. ]

[foundfate]

[Watanuki nods.]

It was like two days after last time, right? So in two days, we'll see.

...maybe it's better not to tell the others, until it happens and we know for sure.