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

[goingdigital]

[It doesn't take a genius to see that something is bothering Yosuke.]

Yo, whatcha drawing?

[capyper]

It is definitely a compliment! [ So he says. More importantly... ] Y'want some help with them?

[ He gets it if not; people cope in different ways. But Yato wouldn't mind having something to keep him a little busy tonight. ]

[sleepingkogoro]

[Somehow when Mettaton talks about monsters Mouri can't avoid feeling interested on knowing more. It is such a strange culture and...well, if there's one thing the Vault has been good for it is about broadening one's mind]

I suppose it is different because of the situation, being a group of strangers trapped in here and all that.

Do...do humans back at your home have souls too? Despite being made of water?

[It is good-natured curiosity, but if Mettaton tells him to stop asking stuff then he sure will, but somehow Mouri is kind of afraid to hear humans in Mettaton's world have no soul. That would sound so wrong he is not sure how he would react]

[bloodisthicker]

...That's probably the best I can think of right at this moment, quite honestly.

[even if you are a little drunk.]

I would think it was some sort of disguise that's made more convincing by the fact that we're viewing what happens from a distance, but... whatever it was used some sort of ability that wouldn't be possible for a normal human.

[sleepingkogoro]

I think that's what people usually say about angels, back at my home. I don't really know, I haven't paid attention to those matters that much.

[ratingspoint]

...Something like that. It's how we do funerals.

[He'll let her do her thing without interrupting at all, though.]

We take the person's dust once they die, and we spread it on their favorite thing. I think it's more for us than for them, though - once monsters die, that's the end of it. There's nothing else.

[happysweets]

I usually don't drink. It'd be bad publicity if someone caught Misa-Misa out doing something like drinking alcohol...and besides, I never really liked the taste. But Misa-Misa figured that someone would probably need it more than she does.

[ Go ahead. Kanpai. c: ]

[happysweets]

Misa-Misa hasn't drank any yet, actually...I just brought it to be polite, is all. Would you like to try some? I'll share!

[sleepingkogoro]

[...huh. You really are very kind, Aqua. Mouri leaves the sledgehammer aside, rubbing her arms now that she mentions that]

I am fine. Pain is something I'm already used to.

[That is what happens when one is an expert in martial arts with a lot of slamming people against mats. Mouri didn't learn that by watching from sidelines, that is for sure. Being slammed against the floor was part of the experience]

Coffee, huh. Thank you, Aqua-san. How are you feeling this time?

[Now that Aqua didn't, well, suggest something that ended catching the killer Mouri is hoping to expect to hear she isn't feeling so bad]

[captainobnoxious]

So it reminded you of that.

[Sigrun can draw the comparison well enough; how happily she'd offered herself up to try and get a straight confession out of Caren with a sledgehammer and the "not going well" of the Underground's current state with a human on board.]

No wonder you got so mad. [She feels better about leaving the hammer there now, hopefully it wouldn't be there whenever they came back.] I mean, even if I wasn't going to kill her, to you it's a pretty solid reality that I would just by hitting her with that intent?

[happysweets]

I-if you wouldn't mind! Misa-Misa didn't want to be by herself tonight, eheh...

[ She's forcing it a bit. Her smile isn't as convincing as it usually is. It's not hard to see that. ]

[goingdigital]

...Yeah why not.

[Do you corrupt the teen? Sell it for profit?

y/n?]

[captainobnoxious]

It's not wrong to make a connection though, especially from at least one of our detectives. I just don't want Black to feel like he's trapped to the point he might have to.

[ratingspoint]

Of course they do!

[And that's utterly confident; there's no question about it, really.]

They aren't as physically aware of them as we are, but their souls are actually a lot stronger than ours. One human's soul is said to be as powerful as all of the monsters' in the Underground.

[cherryblooded]

You're right, of course.

[Not that he thinks lowly of one of their detecting skills, but... yeah.]

It's easy enough to feel like you're in a hopeless position.

[prismbloom]

It's the same with Unversed--but I don't quite have the same relationship with them as you. They're emotions; they disappear without a trace, as if they had never existed in the first place.

[ It's a bit sad, now that she thinks about it. ]

[captainobnoxious]

[... It's some kind of bear? She's seen bears before -- wild, infected ones that'd given chase -- but this is... like Zagi, she guesses? The colors make it seem so.]

I can't say I care much about stuffed animals, [though she'll take it form him just to look it over,] so I won't take it from you, but this is pretty nice. Is it supposed to be Zagi?

[bloodisthicker]

Could you tell us a bit about the Pokemon that can do this, then? I don't know if it's what we're actually dealing with here, but I think it's worth knowing about just in case.

[captainobnoxious]

And I'll bet he won't answer a single one of those questions, even if I ask him about it. But at least we're certain now that it'll happen again if someone else gets killed.

[The whole fiasco from start to finish. Maybe not the threatened torture part though.]

Could be some kind of shapeshifter, but that's about as far out there as ghosts are for me too. I've never seen one.

[ratingspoint]

...Monsters and humans with malicious intent don't tend to play nicely.

[He's quiet for a moment before he just...tries to shake it off, because damn.]

It's nothing to worry about here, anyway. But we'd already been dealing with utterly smashing one soul today, and...well.

[You get the idea.]

[notjustawriter]

'Course.

[He smiles, even if Mettaton is looking away.]

Rememberin' the dead is important. Especially in circumstances like this.

[sleepingkogoro]

[Hm? Oh, it's you. Taichi, was it?]

No, I'm done. Feel free to use the machine.

[He's trying to be as natural as possible, at least not to freak out other people]

[pokexplorer]

I don't mind at all. I...thought that might be the case.

[With that, he takes a seat across from Misa.]

Would you like to talk about something nice or nonsensical? To take your mind off of the trial. I take it this one may have been a bit rougher.

[ratingspoint]

...It's not really something I think about very much.

[It's not shutting down the conversation, per se, but it's...odd.]

I've seen a good amount of death, many of us have. But I usually don't deal with everything that comes with it.

[captainobnoxious]

[Yeah, she gets the idea. Sigrun's gonna get up to go to her trunk, shifting through some of the various items there for something in particular.]

Got it. Wish I'd known that, I wouldn't have offered in the first place.

[Because, as brash and bold and a mistake as Sigrun can be pretty much all the time, she won't force things onto people who don't want them or can't handle them -- and that includes sights and experiences. Instead, she'll find someway to make it more manageable, but in this case she really wouldn't have offered. No way to get past bludgeoning a tail.]

I mean, I shouldn't have in the first place, but the idea kind of came to mind to at least threaten her with it when I remembered I had it nearby. Seemed like a good idea to offer at least, even if I knew it wouldn't be popular, but... Yeah.