trusthell | WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT? OUR TALES RIVAL JUST TURNED INTO A ZOMBIE!

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WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT? OUR TALES RIVAL JUST TURNED INTO A ZOMBIE!

[...so, uh, that was a thing that happened. Tarrlok was completely ready to do the politician thing and come up with a speech or something for most of whatever the hell that excuse for a trial was, but everything got all confusing, baffling, and horrifying and completely inexplicably, he can't find the words.

Maybe he just... needs a day. Tomorrow will probably be fine. For now, though, Misa volunteered to make brownies, and he was going to make a Northern Water Tribe comfort food specialty.

...even if they only had shortening and not actual animal fat and it'd been a while since he'd made it, but it tasted... alright? Definitely not as good as the stuff back home, but it was hard to get that good, anyway.

...there's also the matter of setting things up in a location other than the dining hall, because even though that's cleaned up, it still feels pretty tasteless to hold a wake literal feet from the place you found someone's bloody corpse.

So, a little later on in the day, a lovingly personalized note will be slid under everyone's doors:

And if the Survivors choose to head to the library, they'll find a... well, okay, it's a bunch of boxes from the storage room of comparable size stacked up on each other to kind of resemble a table. The dining hall ones don't even seem like they'd fit in the library, so Team Afterparty clearly had to improvise. One side is filled with plates, bowls, and spoons, and the other is filled with brownies, cookies, and a big bowl of berry aqutak. There are also chairs dotted throughout the room in a sort of vague circle --- close enough together that if people want to talk, they can, but far enough apart that it'd be easy to drag it off for some privacy.]

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[Point taken! This was indeed the natural conclusion to all that pressuring.

Good thing it is pretty much over now, you won't ever hear of it again]

The Illness? What happened in your world?

[Because wow, just what kind of worlds do all these people come from. Why are there so few from orderly and relatively peaceful worlds like Mouri's]

About a century ago the Illness came from nowhere and killed the world. It's like a really bad rash. People like me are immune because the ones who weren't died off over the years in some way, but there's a place that has more non-immunes than immunes since it's water-locked.

[Iceland's also got the best technology like, ever, but Sigrun doesn't really care about that part unless it helps to kill trolls.]

The ancient gods saved those that believed and punished those that didn't.

[...you know, with everything he's been doing, he should probably at least thank the other member of Team Afterparty. He's at least trying to come off like he gives a shit, and he's genuinely pretty thankful someone helped him out.]

Thank you for all your hard work today, Miss Amane. I feel like it would've been kind of a disaster if it wasn't for your baking talents.

Well if he was feeling like helping us at all, he would have let us go free if we so pleased.

[A little shrug.] Saying that... he apparently does answer some questions if you seek him out.

Oh, so, like, a folding party! Misa-Misa knows how to make origami cranes, because they're really easy! If everyone figures out how to do them, though, we can make a whole bunch and have the place covered in them! Sigrun, you're a genius!

Well, focusing on everyone else is Misa-Misa's way of focusing on herself!

[ Misa, that doesn't make any sense... ]

I'm used to getting my energy from the crowd, you know?

I tried. None of it made sense.

You still need time to learn, no matter how much effort that's put in.

[Nobody is an instant master at anything - not even geniuses.]

[~~this is going to be so much fun with the new art room they just got~~]

I know I am. [If she were a bird, her feathers would be so fluffed right now.] So a talent show and a folding party, things to keep our minds and hands busy, and a suggestion box for anyone who wants to drop an idea in if they want.

[This sounds solid to her.]

I know you'll do a good job, so let me say again: You make sure you take care of yourself too, alright? Anything you can't do yourself you let Mettaton handle, and if you're not feeling well he'll be a good person to take care of it too. Everyone's smiles will be a little hard to see at first, but they'll return with work, so don't worry if it's not going well at first or if someone says it's silly.

I can understand that, but you can't always please everyone.

[Case in point... well, what happened earlier.]

You should take some time for yourself, too.

Suppose it takes a balance of the two, then.

The way you said it made me think it might've been easier, rather than let the Kingmaker handle it. Which is a little funny.

[And Sigrun's not one to let silences go on for a while, because that does nothing but let people dwell on things they shouldn't, so she speaks up again soon after.]

Why did you give him your sympathy if he didn't want or need it? I won't knock you for having a moral balance, but I think it's a little disrespectful to tell someone that to their face. It's not like bandaging their wounds or anything.

It doesn't matter how it was done. It's already dealt with, anyway.

[His words ring just a little bit hollow, echoing in his own ears. There are already so many mistakes that Bruce doesn't forgive himself for - this will be another one to the mix. And here, perhaps, there had been the foolish thought that maybe Stark and the others were onto something. That maybe...

He should have known better.]

Because the alternative was to simply despise and hate him for what he did. [And oh, it would be so easy to hate, to be angry. It would be far too easy. Bruce knows and lives and breathes anger to know how easy it is to give into it, to let it take over. And he knows better than most how terrible the consequences of that would be.]

That I can agree.

If you want, I can teach you some of my secrets.

Hmm... thought I might give it a try, seeing as how I haven't already.

He claims he didn't take anybody's powers, and we know that's wrong. Even if some of them remained, like with Kamui.

Hm... well, not everyone has a name that feels familiar to me, but a lot of the names I have seen remind me of Fire Nation names? Things like Yosuke and Megumi and the like.

That, and the fact that apparently some of the other worlds have Zodiac animals assigned to their years as well... that's the sort of thing I wouldn't expect my world to have in common with others, but it's interesting that it does.

[ That does give her pause, and she looks a bit... torn. ]

I didn't expect to, with a suggestion like that. I'm glad we're safe, but...

I'm sure this is about as extenuating as we could possible get.

[ She pauses, finishing her tea. ]

Is there anything I can get you, Cherryblod?

Bruce. Hello.

[ She manages a smile--it's a little fragile, but she's trying. ]

How are you feeling?

It's more common in some cultures than others. I had to look it up when I left my country to see what I was. We have something different, assigning colours to the day of the week you were born. There's no prize for guessing I'm purple, by the way.

Nothing at all, but thank you for offering. I'll be alright.

It had to be done, unfortunately. There's nothing we can do to change the rules the Kingmaker has pushed onto us.

I am sure if we could have chosen we would all have spared Kamui-san.

[Wow. What a terrible world that sounds like]

So what you do is to secure the rest of the world from those affected with the Illness?

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