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]

[ 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.

[matchbreaker]

Everyone said that the other night too...

[ SHE TOOK THE ONE THERE WAS THE MOST BAGS FOR...

... Might've put in more than one... ]

[elepe]

[... ... ...]

Elda, may I ask how many bags you used?

[matchbreaker]

Four. It didn't smell strong enough until then.

[elepe]

[...Elda.]

...I understand that your sense of smell is...not the best. [TO PUT IT LIGHTLY.] But one tea bag is enough for a cup, I can assure you.

[matchbreaker]

My sense of smell is great! Vampires can smell people who're their blood affinity from meters and meters off!

[ She just... has no frame of reference for the relationship between the smell of tea and it's taste... ]

[elepe]

There's a difference between the scent of blood and the scent of tea! Tea is supposed to be something you can't smell--it comes from the taste. If you overwhelm the delicate balance, all you're left with is wet leaves.

[it's an art]

[matchbreaker]

Well... Well if you don't want it I'll drink it! It's all ash to me anyway!

[ HUFF ]

[elepe]

[Elda...]

It's... [why you gotta be this way] It's the difference between humans and vampires. Don't fret over it so much.

[...Sip.]

You don't strike me as the type of person to like tea anyway, if you did have the ability to taste it.

[matchbreaker]

Yeah, it's true... [ A wistful sigh ] Normally, I wouldn't even really be able to focus on the smell at all in a room like this...

[elepe]

Is blood the only thing you can smell, or are your kind simply dulled to food-based scents by default?