i feel the love, and i feel it burn, down this river every turn

[oyashiromama]

[The trial, as usual, was taxing. It's for different reasons every week, but what it all comes down to is there are fewer of them than there were, and that keeps on happening. The note comes, as it always does, earlier than last week, but still with some delay. There's a note slipped under everyone's door. ...One under Gold's door because of course Silver will be staying there, she knows.]

Please come to the dining room, if you would like not to be alone. There will be food, and there will be some cards and board games if you need a distraction.

- Hanyuu & Elda

[True to that, there are a variety of foods. It's nothing too fancy. Rice, grilled fish, eggs in various styles. ...No creampuffs this time, it seems Hanyuu thought that would be a little in poor taste. Also a bunch of fries? ...Really spicy fries, like incredibly so.

On a far table, board games brought from the games room have been left out, along with many decks of cards.]

Comments

[acherontiastyx]

[...well. you know. on the one hand, he had something resembling fun at the trial today given that ragging on Shadow the Edgeslash back there, but... damn. That guy... left an impact on a lot of people, huh. All three of them, and it still wasn't fair...

...hm. Well, now he gets to spend a lot of time in the kitchen figuring out who he's gonna make hot cocoa for, because he's a one-trick Ponyta but he's gonna revel in being a one-trick Ponyta. There's... definitely some obvious ones, but man, he's probably just gonna end up making something for everyone, huh.

...

He ends up making one or two more than than he needs, because it hasn't really occurred to him how few of them there are left. ...well, two of them end up handed off to his Pinsir, since he's the only Pokemon of his who has hands. And so they head off to both the hallways and finally the dining room to track people down to shove hot cocoa at them.

...after that, well, he hangs out in the dining room picking at some fries, and even though it's kind of... sad, maybe. Yeah. It's bullshit and unfair, and he's not happy with the situation.

...but every so often she just thinks of something and snorts a little.]

...friggin' Cryoblood.

hallways;

[tsugomori]

[ Well... Mikazuki had left the room for two reasons. One was to check on Estelle and one was to grab his Internal Affairs wear clothing. But his mind is still a little fuzzy so his walk becomes aimless and then--

He's suddenly holding some hot cocoa. He's still never tried this... whatever this is. He's forgotten what it is too. ]

Ah... what is this?

[acherontiastyx]

...it's hot cocoa, dude.

[...he should be less incredulous, he's having a bad time.]

It's good for your soul. Kind of like soup when you have a cold.

[tsugomori]

[ He looks down into the drink, and of course he wonders if Killia would've liked to have some. Has he ever tried cocoa before? He sighs thinking it was a mistake to have that train of thought, and now he's not sure if he really wants any, but it'd be rude to just refuse things, so he just holds onto it. ]

... You didn't need to give me this.

[acherontiastyx]

Man, I rarely do things out of obligation. If I need to do something, it makes me not wanna do it.

[He smiles a little.]

I did it because I wanted to. That's all.

[tsugomori]

Thank you.

[ Mikazuki takes another gaze into the cocoa, and brings the beverage to his lips to take a sip, and then because we can't have nice things, he drops it by accident due to his unsteady hands, spilling the drink at their feet. ]

Ah...it fell. I'm really sorry about this.

[acherontiastyx]

...Oh.

[...

He pauses a bit and turns away.]


Yeah, I probably shoulda... gotten you to a table or something. Eh. It happens.

[tsugomori]

[ He'll nod, and then... softly: ]

It wasn't bad. It tastes different from tea, though. Not as sweet...but good, and warm.

[acherontiastyx]

Yeah, it's got a little bit of salt in it and it's a lot thicker, so it's great on your mouth, right?

...I mean, I've got more on.

[tsugomori]

It is.

[ He'll take a moment to think upon this for a few seconds, before he's made his decision. ]

Well, if you have any more of it, I think I would like a second chance at trying the drink again.

hallways

[ravagers]

[ ...! She's a little surprised but she takes the cocoa anyway.

(her eyes are kind of red, too.) ]

Thanks, Leader...

[acherontiastyx]

Hey, it's no problem. Everyone has a bad time on these days, and some get it worse than others.

[he's not even gonna correct that to "boss," because it's not the time.]

[ravagers]

[ it'll occur to her later and she'll apologize ]

Yeah...

[ She sips at it and nods. ]

It's good. Really good. Put anything special in here?

[acherontiastyx]

I might've fudged with a the sugar to chocolate ratio a little bit, but other than that it's just... you know, how I've been making it.

...

Nice to know that I keep getting better, though. I kind of sucked at it when I first got here.

[ravagers]

Well... practice makes perfect, you know? And more sugar isn't a bad thing.

[ ... unless you're sportacus. ]

D'you make hot cocoa for your team back home?

[acherontiastyx]

Nah, I'd usually just make it for myself. We don't... exactly have access to it all day, every day. The good stuff is a little expensive.

[ravagers]

Oh.

[ She nods. ]

So having it so often like this is pretty amazing, huh?

[acherontiastyx]

Yeah, it's actually pretty great. A lot of this stuff would be kinda alright if... you know, it weren't for the everything else.

dining room

[foundfate]

[Oh look, somebody heard that!]

That has to be one of the most ridiculous names I have ever heard. And that's saying something, considering the colorful crowd I know back home.

[acherontiastyx]

I know a guy who'd feel kind of put out he didn't come up with it first. Honestly, I just kept thinking of him every time something new came out of that guy's mouth, because he'd be unironically all over that.

[foundfate]

Oh? Who is this guy, then?

[acherontiastyx]

He's some kid I brought into Team Skull because he needed somewhere. He tries way too hard to be cool, but I kinda like him anyway. He could probably be legitimately cool if he stopped trying.

[foundfate]

Well, if he's trying so hard, then it must be because he cares about what you think of him.