and it takes, and it takes, and it takes

[acherontiastyx]

[It... definitely takes a while for the weekly after-execution note to arrive, but it does --- kind of scrawly and on ripped paper rather than nice stationery.]

EY. YO. WE GOT EFFIGIES IN THE DINING ROOM AND WE'RE GONNA BURN EM.

FOOD TOO. THE USUAL AND HOT COCOA. GOOD FOR THE SOUL. GET SOME. MAYBE TAKE IT BACK TO YOUR ROOM IF YOU HAVE TO. JUST GET SOME.

[Anyway, in the dining room, there's plenty of mugs set out, with a janky looking arrow sign pointing into the kitchen to where you can get your hot cocoa. On the table, there's Vichyssoise, a pot of green tea, and some booze. There's also a cookie tray on the floor away from the table on which to burn the Wordsmith and Kimbley effigies, which are handily placed near the food on the table.

...also if you go in the kitchen without shoes on just. Watch the northern corner. There's no kidneys, but there's a lot of broken plates there for some reason...]

Comments

[matchbreaker]

That last one sounds fun, actually.

[ You'd think that would be sarcasm, but she sounds sincere as she makes her way inside. She brushes back her hair a little, looking around the room for the moon thing or the flower thing as well, so she might wave at them if they're in here. But either way, she quickly turns to Lusamine, taking up a seat...

On top of the ruined desk. ]

You don't owe me anything, Lusamine. [ . . . Err ] Though, if you wish to clear the air, I'm curious.

Pokemon Sun and Moon spoilers

[elepe]

It is, as long as you don't get wood chips in your hand.

[Lusamine goes to lay on the bed, then, and...pauses, when Elda says that. Well...]

...I want you to know that the only reason I didn't say this when you brought it up...is that it was meant to be a fun occasion. I didn't want to spend the entire night moping over it, so I lied.

[Lusamine just...looks up at the cieling.]

My husband is gone. My son and daughter, as well.

[matchbreaker]

[ ... Oh.

Holy shit. Elda's eyes widen at that, and once more they feel hot. She's cried way too much today but - she leans forward on the desk, catching herself before she falls. She- ]

Ah. [ She needs to say something more- ] Lusamine...

[elepe]

My husband did a lot of research. He was one of the first to discover unusual phenomenon...and unusual Pokemon who came from them. He wanted to connect to them, as he had done many other Pokemon.

[Lusamine smiles, despite herself.]

He loved them, just as I do. He wanted to understand them, and he left one day to go on a mission...to connect with a wormhole he found. He...never returned. All he left behind was an injured, unusual creature, his research papers, and us.

[...she can feel tears picking at her eyes again.]

And...that's how both of my children went, as well. I had tried to take up the mantle of his research, hoping I could get him back and we could be happy again, but...my son disappeared with a different creature, and my daughter when the weakened one became powerful enough...

[That gets sharper laughter from her.]

It was foolish of me to think that I could do anything, wasn't it?

[matchbreaker]

[ She listens, her eyes still wide.

... Her son left her. Her daughter left her. Her husband vanished.

Elda...

Elda falls off the desk. However, like a cat, she lands on her feet. And from there, she springs, right up to Lusamine's feet. Up to right in front of the other woman. She looks up at her. Was she foolish? ... Yes, of course she was foolish. Everything Elda believes and everything Elda knows is aware of this fact, is certain of that truth.

And she refuses to lie.

But... ]

There's no way that you you could have known what was going to happen. All... of us are carrying burdens.

[elepe]

[Well, Lusamine was gonna ask if Elda was okay--but there she is, right at her feet, and it's...

Huh. She didn't even flinch at it. Maybe she's become too used to her.]

...That's why I chose my wording carefully, when you asked that. I didn't want to see something like this happen ever again, but...

[Well. Look at how well that turned out.]

[matchbreaker]

[ "He wasn't your son."

... Elda shouldn't say that. Lusamine had said it herself, right? She had called it a silly Alolan custom, but where to Elda it was blood, blood which was most important - the blood of family, the blood that sustains the lives of vampires... to others, clearly there was something else which fuels them.

Elda reaches to take Lusamine's hands in her own, highlighting the fact that the colors of their nails match unless Lusamine ended up blowing the job Elda did this time last week. ]

I didn't plan to apologize. [ Just to be clear ] But I understand and I - [ ... Ren. Picture it being Ren. Or Henry. ] Would have argued the same.

[elepe]

[There's a long bit of pausing. The same woman that was willing to fight in order to get to those two, who she screamed to stop, that she was going to abstain...

It's...]

Don't you dare let yourself die here, Elda.

[It's...harshly said, and she pushes herself up from the bed and tries to grab at her shoulders. Just...something to make it clear she means business.]

...Please.

[matchbreaker]

[ Elda looks up at Lusamine. She's surprised for a fraction of a moment, considers shoving the hands off her, but doesn't. Tears are dotting the edge of her eyes. But after that moment passes, her eyes harden - they become catlike and predatory, the same way they had been through the entirety of questioning Silver, up until she collapsed to her knees. ]

I won't. [ And there's more she could say - she has a family to get back to. She won't die for anyone's sentimentality. All these things she's been saying. But she instead smirks and promises, ] I'm Indomitable, remember?

[elepe]

...Good.

[That look in her eyes...it's always been kind of interesting, the more Lusamine thinks about it. It's always so inhuman looking, adding more to Elda's appearance.

But...she'll let go, after she says that.]

I trust you not to lose your way. No matter where it leads you.

[matchbreaker]

[ Elda...

... No, if Lusamine is going to say that, Elda will shake her head. ]

I'm far, far too old to get lost on my path. [ . . . But, again. Her eyes relax and she, of all things, forces a smile ] What about you, sister? Can I count on you as well?

[elepe]

[Lusamine chuckles a bit, before nodding her head.]

I don't intend to stray, Elda. I've survived Kira wanting to make an attempt on my life, and I like to think that counts for something.

[matchbreaker]

[ He didn't even attack you, she can't help but think but- ... like, fuck Kira. ]

You're calling me "Elda," now, White? I think I like it.

[elepe]

[Lusamine...pauses a bit at that. She'd been angrily calling her by her first name without thinking, and she figured that she had shifted back into her normal mode, but...

Huh.]

...You've become a constant, in this place. [It's...weirdly honest, when she says that.] You're always around, and you come up to me enough that I've gotten used to it. In a place like this...having something constant is a comfort.

[...]

Oh, but I'm rambling. Don't mind that.

1/3

[matchbreaker]

[ A constant... huh. ]

2/3

[matchbreaker]

[ Elda's tired, very tired. She suspects Lusamine's even more tired all things considered. Perhaps it's that from both of them which is making them act so silly. But all the same Elda... smiles. It's not quite a warm or sincere smile. It's more side-long, it exposes her fangs. But she is being genuine as she replies, ]

You know, I like you, Lusamine.

[matchbreaker]

[ Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

With Hanyuu it was for her own sanity, and Sportacus and Varric (even if he ruined it) are just like that. This time, Elda's actually making herself a little bit vulnerable as she stands properly, looking up at the other woman as she asks, going against everything that she knows to be true: ]

Want to call ourselves friends? It's easier to say than constant.

[elepe]

...Friends?

[...Well, that's...unexpected, considering Lusamine's tone. And she has to think about it for a moment.

Weeks ago, Lusamine barely considered this woman a person, much less anyone who she'd allow in her room. That she'd tell some of her biggest secrets to, or someone she'd be pretty damn honest with when push comes to shove. Elda was just an annoying woman with no boundaries in the first weeks, and now...

...There's a small laugh.]

...I suppose that is fine. Friends it is, Elda.

1/2

[matchbreaker]

[ Elda... tries hard not to look as surprised as she is. Because she is a little bit surprised when Lusamine goes from that initial tone to the follow up. And her heart rate might've picked up a lot there too, honestly. ]

[matchbreaker]

[ So..........
what.....
no....w.....

... she laughs! She laughs, clapping her hands together with somewhat rosy cheeks not at all befitting of a woman of her age and smirks, looking up at Lusamine ]

... Alright! You've clearly been sleeping, but did you drink enough?! Or eat, too! I could bring in a book so you don't need to leave here!

[elepe]

[...did she break the vampire, oh lord, that's actually concerning. Does she need to go back to regular mode and system reset--

Nope, nope there she is. Uh. ...Well, Lusamine actually chuckles.]

I could use a cup of tea, if you would be so kind. I'm a tad parched.

[...you okay over there, Elda]

[matchbreaker]

... Sure, I can get that, I made some the other day! You don't mind it being a little bitter, right?!

[ . . . Elda sounds way too excited about this.

> you remember she can't taste not-blood things... ]

[elepe]

I'm actually fond of bitter things.

[it helps when your soul is as black as the shadowfriend]

As long as you don't mix anything into it, I believe you may do just fine.

[matchbreaker]

Good!

[ Well then, she'll just make a little smile and duck out! She's going to go and make that same tea she made for game night... and thus, in like fifteen minutes, she'll return with the strongest black tea you'll ever have ]

[elepe]

[...she broke Elda, didn't she.

Oh dear god what has she done--either way, when she comes back with the tea, she. Wow. At the very least, Lusamine will take the tea offered and take a drink.

...she. She's keeping a good face here. She underestimated how Elda could do her tea, jesus christ. Is this what that tea of mourning tastes like--]

...You weren't lying, to say the least.