that's not what we usually mean by 'dance with death'

[cherryblooded]

[That certainly did happen. Cherryblod's not the type of person who will judge one person's value as being more than another's, so he can't say whether it was better or worse than the first week. It came as less of a shock, maybe, but even so...

It's not the kind of thing people usually want to go through alone.

So, after he spends some time in the kitchen preparing (with assistance from Bruce), he'll slip some personalized notes under everyone's doors.]

[Name],
If you'd prefer to spend this time alone, that's fine.
If you'd prefer not to, I've made some food and set it out in the dining hall.
Even if you're just hungry and would rather not talk, feel free to come take some.
But if you'd like the company, we're here for you.
-Cherryblod

[Those arriving in the dining hall will find an assortment of food - a fair number of sandwiches and other, actual meal-like options since most people missed a meal or two, but also a goodly number of desserts. There's tea, as well as coffee for those who favor it.]

Comments

[goodforsomething]

Ha! Nah, straight from the big guy!

[Stan takes a sip of his own glass.] Promised Sigrun last week that I'd give it a shot.

[capyper]

[ Coincidentally, the last place Yato talked to Caren was the sewing room, so maybe that's why he's gravitated here as well. And being the nosy guy he is, of course he feels the need to check out what black's doing. ]

... Stuffed animals? They're pretty cute! They have, uh... unique charm.

[goodforsomething]

Shapeshiftin' monster?

[Stan has a glass of what is clearly alcohol this may not be the most productive conversation.]

[sleepingkogoro]

[Oh, hey there, mister god. Mouri leans on the sledgehammer. At least it seems he won't be raising it again]

After this case the last thing I wanted to see for a while was a sledgehammer. To receive one less than an hour after the debate...

...it made me see red, that is all.

[To say the least]

[sleepingkogoro]

What? Really?

How did you convince him to send you this?

[Mouri is genuinely curious. This has so much potential!]

[capyper]

... Luck is cruel like that sometimes, isn't it.

[ His tone is much colder than it usually is when he says that, but he quickly settles back into his usual, easy-going way of speaking. ]

But if you don't like it, I can take it for ya! Just to keep it out of sight and out of mind and all that. I won't do anything with it, pinky promise.

[goodforsomething]

Promised to quit sendin' him creepy love letters if he did.

[Shirazu may have started a bit of a Thing for a while]

Room 5

[goodforsomething]

Hey, you.

[Stan proffers a bottle of whiskey, having finally found Sigrun.]

Told ya I could talk it outta the jerk upstairs.

[ratingspoint]

[...It's really no weirder than anything else, let's be honest with ourselves.]

...That sounds nice, actually.

[It really does, from the sound of it.]

Dust is really all we have once people die - there aren't any bodies or anything left behind. Sometimes we don't even know that someone's died, if someone does it when there's no one around.

Usually if someone is gone for long enough we can assume, but there isn't any closure that way. It's sad, I guess.

[captainobnoxious]

Still a bunch of leaves to me.

[Sip.]

I got some sweet smelling tea from the vending machine. I think it's cinnamon? I'll drop it off at your room when I go back that way later.

[cherryblooded]

Thank you, that's very kind of you.

...Aside from the headache, how are you holding up?

[Most people don't volunteer torture as an option unless they're stressed out.]

[sleepingkogoro]

[This person he was having a conversation with other than passing greeting words was asking him to hand over the sledgehammer. Mouri's first thought is a definite 'NO', why would you give Yato a weapon?

Then the rest of himself takes the decision]

Here you go. There's no way I would accept having one in my room for the moment.

[At least now he knows Yato has a sledgehammer. That is good for something, Mouri supposes. Mouri manages to pull the sledgehammer towards Yato, trying to give it to him]

You don't need to promise anything. At this point it's useless to believe anyone won't be tempted to kill.

[Back at home he had to accept that, too. Practically the only people he can't imagine ever killing is himself and his family. Everyone else in the world - or the multiverses - is fair game, as far as he is concerned]

[sleepingkogoro]

Wait, I think I didn't hear correctly!

[Mouri chuckles. Whaaaat, Stan?]

Did you say 'love letters'? Did I miss something big or was it just your way to not to get bored?

[captainobnoxious]

[MmMoosst. Most.]

... Fineish. I kiiind of feel bad that I just brushed Caren off as someone who was too serious for her own good, you know? I mean, I could've handled a couple things better too.

[... and she threatened torture...]

[cherryblooded]

[Well most good people don't. He's currently counting Sigrun in that category.]

Likewise. I talked with her a few times - even after the incentive was announced - I could have realized how desperate she was to be able to do something. Anything.

[psychoh]

... A r-real one? [looks slightly too eager about that]

[ratingspoint]

Of course.

[He's excellent at being Fine.]

I've seen worse than this; I just wasn't expecting all the...

[...the...how do you describe that.]

...All the soul-crushing that happened today.

[psychoh]

Ghost.

B-But, the kind that can touch things and, and interact with people, of course.

[also, same.]

[cherryblooded]

...It's something that would get to you, wouldn't it. Monsters don't normally have physical bodies in the same sense that I do - but they do have souls.

[That's his best guess as to why this specific instance is bothering Mettaton.]

[capyper]

Maybe for you humans, but I'm different! I don't gain anything from killing that I wouldn't get from just waiting it out.

[ He is, after all, well over 1,000 years old, so clearly he doesn't have a problem with waiting. ]

Even if you're gonna be cynical about it, I'll pinky promise you anyway. [ He holds his right hand out, pinky extended. ] Cut it off yourself if I break it! I won't use the hammer for anything, except maybe to prop my door closed at night.

[sleepingkogoro]

[If it weren't for what happened to Pearl Mouri would have a hard time imagining there being no body. For a moment he feels tempted to ask how monsters deal with murder cases, but even Mouri has enough social smarts to know IT IS NOT THE MOMENT FOR THAT QUESTION. Like it ever will be, at the rate the Vault life is going]

You guess.

[Emotions can't be that hard, even for a robot, right? Right?]

Why is there only dust left? I don't understand that yet. Is it like what happened to Pearl, the body disappearing if something is struck hard enough?

[That was...worded a bit too roughly than it should have been, but at least Mouri's tone should show there was no disrespect intended]

[captainobnoxious]

[... She almost wishes he was mad, being there is such a weird thing.]

Yeah, I am. As usual. [Which is difficult sometimes, but that's her upbringing.] Though between you and me, as a captain's confidant, I'm actually feeling kind of sucky for not getting to really know either of them better. It's a captain's job to work with the people they protect no matter how distant, unruly, so and and so forth they are.

[But that can't... really be helped now, she guesses, and waves it off.]

And... Sorry about the spectacle earlier. I don't know what set you off, but sorry.

[captainobnoxious]

[-- That is just the pickup she needs, holy shit, Sigrun has never sat up so fast.]

Stan, old timer! You are a man of beauty!

[Come in, come in, she's waving him in absolutely.]

How'd you do it? I mean, I never asked him myself, but what in the gods' name did you do to get him to give it up?

[sleepingkogoro]

[You know what, may as well indulge Yato. Who knows, maybe being in good terms with him will give good luck in gambling once everything is over and he is out of the Vault.

Of course that doesn't go through his mind right now, this is no time for such idle thoughts! It is just something he had thought back at the beginning.

There you go, pinky promise. It is settled!]

I'll remember this promise of you, then.

...I can't believe a god made a pinky promise with me. This Vault is seriously the weirdest place I could ever have been in.

[ratingspoint]

No, it's okay! You don't need to apologize to me, sweetheart, I'm not mad or anything.

[And there's where the energy comes creeping back in a bit; god, we're a pair of disasters that are used to very aggressively Being Okay in front of everyone, aren't we.]

You sound like someone I know, though, talking like that. Even if I'm pretty sure she was aiming the sentiment at me - we didn't get along very well. She's captain of the Royal Guard back home.

[...]

It's not your fault, you know. It isn't as though we've really had time to encourage that sort of camaraderie, anyway, and we've all spent the week pitted against each other besides.