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

[bloodisthicker]

[...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.]

Comments

[sleepingkogoro]

[Kogoro Mouri is fine...relatively...but he can't deny he is shaken up by the experience. That doesn't mean he is going to pout in his room for the rest of the day, though. May as well go to the meeting and try to provide some emotional support, as badly as he may do that.

So there he goes, sitting to a side of the "table". It seems like he is kind of...downcast. Not outright depressed but it is noticeable enough, especially because until now he had kept a semblance of fortitude]

[cherryblooded]

How are you holding up, detective?

[Cherryblod seems to be doing somewhat better, although he's not quite up to his usual cheer.]

[sleepingkogoro]

Definitely could be better.

[Passionless shrug]

I had never realized how much pressure there was on all of us. This is all much worse than I had expected.

[cherryblooded]

I don't think it took any of us by complete surprise, but it's always much harder than you'd expect.

[sleepingkogoro]

The worst part is that although I always supposed we all would have to investigate and find out who the killer is, I never thought it would end in something like...

I did suspect it would end in the culprit's death, but I didn't think it would be so brutal.

[Yeah, that was not a nice thing to see]

I'm way too used to seeing criminals being taken away by police and merely being locked away. Death sentences are not common in my city.

[cherryblooded]

It was fairly bad, if you're not used to seeing things like that...

[Though Cherryblod didn't even flinch.]

And it's not a detective's job to oversee execution.

[sleepingkogoro]

No, I'm not used to that. Dead bodies and blood, I can deal with that. Executions are out of my zone of comfort.

[A short pause]

It is also even more terrifying to know there's a chance somebody I esteem here in the Vault could be in that same position, if they make the mistake of murdering anybody. It is bad enough to pin them as culprits, I know that by experience myself. To know they would die right in front of me is depressing.

[cherryblooded]

Especially when you feel like you hold some responsibility for their deaths. Even though there's nothing else you could really do...

[sleepingkogoro]

Exactly.

You seem to be faring better than most. After living five hundred years does this all not faze you? Is that it?

[Genuine curiosity, that is what is in Mouri's voice under the dullness that is overtaking it right now]

[cherryblooded]

[Cherryblod considers his reply for a moment.]

There was a civil war, where I live, about a century and a half ago. I fought in it.

I saw a lot of people I'd grown to care about die then. Some in worse ways than that.

[ratingspoint]

[...It's never good, when the normally strong-willed ones are getting down on themselves; Mettaton still doesn't exactly get along with Mouri, but...well, this is kind of depressing, honestly.]

Doing all right, Detective Mouri?

[sleepingkogoro]

I am fine. It is just that this is too much to deal with in a few hours.

[Give him a day or two, Mouri will be back to normal. At least for now he will just be introspective for a while]

I was never prepared for sending people to executions. It's the type of thing that never happens in a normal life, at least where I'm from.

[ratingspoint]

That sort of thing isn't what we normally do back home, either. Usually our king deals with people who are causing problems, and he's more the sort to sit you down with a cup of tea and try to make you re-evaluate your life as opposed to...all of that.

[Either that or the Royal Guard dispatches them, or Mettaton himself dispatches them, but that's...neither here nor there, really.]

It's not your fault, though. None of what happened was. It's not like you killed him or anything.

[sleepingkogoro]

That sounds like the kind of king anybody would love to have.

[Although technically, by voting, Mouri was kind of complicit in killing Kamui]

You seem to be taking this all as well as Cherryblod-san. You haven't fought in a war like he did, did you?

[ratingspoint]

Not at all! I'm not suited for that sort of thing; if anything, I'm more interested in stopping one that's probably about to happen back home instead of participating.

I've just seen a lot of people die, I guess.

[sleepingkogoro]

I have the feeling you would do a good job on that. It's said celebrities and stars are pretty influential with the public. Good luck with that.

[...while his wishes for Mettaton to be successful at helping stop whatever that war is are sincere, he doesn't really see how useful a celebrity can be. That was said more because, well, Mouri really is trying to see something positive, as if saying positive stuff to other people would help himself feel better]

Now that I'm wondering about it, what exactly is the entertainment you do back at your home? You were built for that as your main function but I think you never went in detail of what you did.

[ratingspoint]

[Oh! Oh, well. He certainly doesn't mind this topic of discussion, certainly, and it does make him perk up a bit.]

I do just about everything, darling! Acting, singing, dancing, everything. Mostly television, but you name it and I probably do it. News broadcasts, game shows, cooking demonstrations, various stories and drama pieces, movies from time to time... And that's when I'm not appearing live at my resort, where I do concerts and stage shows.

I'm a busy person, in other words.

[sleepingkogoro]

[Yeah, Mouri is kind of dumbfounded at such an extensive list. He had expected just a couple main actions, not...all that.

Mettaton was truly built for entertainment]

That is amazing!

[There are truly no more words to be said. Mouri is authentically impressed and damn it does show in his face]

[bloodisthicker]

[...Even Kogoro's doing poorly. Well... Tarrlok isn't doing too well himself, and while he'd normally want to talk action... well... maybe a lighter subject's called for right now.

let's talk food.]

Ah, Detective Mouri... have you tried the akutaq yet? ...Actually, have you had it before now? This is important.

[sleepingkogoro]

Akutaq? I have never heard about it before.

What is it?

[Well you got his interest! That's good]

[bloodisthicker]

It's a mixture of whipped animal fat and... whatever you have lying around, basically. Usually something sweet, which you think wouldn't go well with it, but it absolutely does. You can make it with meat or berries depending on what you want it to taste most like, so if you think you'd like something savory a little better, it's definitely a good choice.

...I suppose you can make it with shortening, too, which is what I did, but it's definitely not as good. That... might just be me, though.

[sleepingkogoro]

[Mouri winces a little when he hears it's mostly made of animal fat. Well it's worth a try. He tries sushi food in a regular basis, this may be similar enough to that.

Somehow.]

I see! I shall give that a try.

[Mouri looks around as if he expected to find a random bowl of it nearby]

[bloodisthicker]

[IT'S PROBABLY FINE. PROBABLY.]

There are bowls right over there, you know. This is a very professional party with appropriate trappings and everything.

[/GESTURE TO THE BOX TABLE]

[sleepingkogoro]

[Hey, there are random bowls of food over here! Looking around did work!]

Alright, time to give it a try!

[Nom.

...

...huh]

Not bad. It is less savory than I thought it would be, but that is fine.

[bloodisthicker]

Sweet and savory actually isn't as bad a combination as you'd suspect, but I definitely decided to go for sweet this time. It's more... comforting, I suppose.

...but really, I'm glad someone who doesn't actually know it from beforehand likes it.