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

[cherryblooded]

[Cherryblod, as per usual, is spending much of his time in the kitchen making more food, though he does duck out now and then to check up on everyone. If you catch his attention, he'll probably start with:]

Is there something in particular I can make for you?

[He has a wide repertoire. Try him.]

[garudynamic]

[He doesn't come out right away from his room, getting all his grief out in one go. But eventually he returns, cradling the last piece of Pearl, the one Caren held, in his hands. It's easy to assume Sigrun will attempt some form of funeral, so he owes it to her to make sure all of Pearl is available to do so.

But something about that is bothering him, so one might eventually find him at one of the table, doodling and writing on one of the storage notebooks, thinking hard]

[cherryblooded]

Is this spot taken?

[Cherryblod's willing to take a break from cooking to check up on how Yosuke's doing, but not if Yosuke would rather have the quiet.]

[garudynamic]

Huh? Oh hey, nah, sit if you want.

[cherryblooded]

Thank you.

[He'll have a seat.]

...What are you writing?

[garudynamic]

Nothing much. Just... trying to get my thoughts together.

Hey... uhm, was it just me or was the ex-

[He almost says 'execution', which is the right word. But he can't bring himself to finish it]

-the thing at the end... wasn't it kinda weird?

[cherryblooded]

For a lot of reasons. [Where to even begin.]

First of all - we had Pearl's body right there, at her podium. But her gemstone looked completely whole in the pit.

That can't have been her.

[garudynamic]

Yeah! That's what I was thinking. Plus, I dunno if it worked the same way as Kamui and Caren being able to transform or if it's more like some of our other abilities but... she pulled a weapon out of nowhere. If it IS a fake it can still mimic powers?

[cherryblooded]

Couldn't say. If that's something she wasn't able to do while alive here, then it's definitely a fake.

[garudynamic]

A lot of us can't do all the things we could back home. So there's no way to know if it's something she could do before or something the Kingmaker set up. Either way... it's something.

[ 'Something'. It's info with no context. Frustrating]

[cherryblooded]

...We'll put together the pieces. It might take a little time, but the more we learn, the closer we are to leaving here.

[He sounds like he really believes it, too.]

[garudynamic]

[He smiles and nods]

Yeah, we will. It's all here, we just gotta figure it out.

[cherryblooded]

That's what I like to hear from you.

[...sorry, he's gonna try and ruffle Yosuke's hair now.]

[captainobnoxious]

[There is the smallest part of Sigrun that'd like to simply stay in her room, and granted she'll probably end up there again, but for now it's just as Yosuke thinks in that she's going to attempt some kind of funeral for the two girls.

... She hadn't known Pearl too well and really had only fought Caren every step of the way, so after obtaining what she needs (Yosuke's piece of Pearl and some of Caren's weird clothes) she's sitting puzzled outside the dining hall, not entirely sure what to do with it at first. The clothes she can burn. The rock.....

Well, she's taking one of the kitchen knives to delicately inscribe a rune into it, curling the tacky scarf into a "nest" of a kind and laying the gemstone piece within the folds. Kind of like a memorial for tonight. No fires today!

When Sigrun's done with that, she's just going back to Room 5 to lay on her bed and stare at all the pretty paint work Mettaton's done. Probably berate herself a little for acting as rash as she did when she was younger.]

[garudynamic]

[Yosuke doesn't stop him, though he looks a little embarrassed. His dad does the same thing.

But this close and with his usually very carefully brushed hair tousled, he can't hide the tiniest bit of dark brown hair near his scalp]

Though if we get another floor tomorrow I might scream.

[cherryblooded]

[Oh his roots are coming in. He'll have to keep his eyes out for hair dye for him.]

So will I.

...unless there's a pool, but I doubt that there will be on the third floor.

[captainobnoxious]

[Grats, you actually managed to catch her. Sigrun's halfway out with a knife in hand, blinking a few times before shrugging.]

Unless you can conjure some ale, no. Though I guess I can take a tea for headaches if you have one.

[cherryblooded]

Ginger tea it is.

[He won't comment on the knife.]

I'll bring you some when it's ready.

[garudynamic]

Oh man, but the idea of having a pool above us is kinda scary-!

[penduli]

[ Thanks for the invitation to just take some, Cherryblod, he'll be doing just that and taking everything... well, the sensible choice would be back to his room, but he'll end up thinking if he's there with nothing to do.

So, as he's been doing the past few days, Black and his maidenly carry-on bag make their way over to the first aid room to pick up bandages for his fingers, before he settles for good in the sewing room. At least he has food this time, which he picks every time he takes a break from his work.

Black's keeping his hands busy sketching out and cutting up pieces of fabric--there's a number of different colors littered around him, along with a lot of ribbon. He switches between hand-sewing things and using the machines available, only stopping when things start to take shape to grab some stuffing.

...he's making teddy bears for the people they've already lost. They're not going to be the best looking bears ever--actually, they're probably going to be a little misshapen and definitely not consistent or uniform--but as long as they're recognizable, that's good enough. It's an apology in his own way, because he knows he hasn't been the easiest person in the courtroom to deal with.

At some point before the kitchen gets locked up, he'll come back down to wash his plate and carry what he's managed to finish back to his room. In his bag, of course; no sneaking peeks if you just catch him in the hallway or if he stops by your room. ]

[cherryblooded]

Probably, we'd have leaks. It's just wishful thinking on my part.

[He misses home.]

[captainobnoxious]

Okay, sure. Thanks.

[She can hang out here then. No problem. Just fiddling with a knife is fine.]

[cherryblooded]

[And shortly thereafter, Cherryblod returns to her with a... larger than usual cup of ginger tea. Regular cup-size cup.]

Here you are. Thought you'd prefer this kind of cup.

[ratingspoint]

[Well, that was...strange. The execution was beautiful, no doubt about it - the sort of elegant, sad thing that he'd approve of, normally, at least as far as staging goes - but the fact remains that Mettaton is still rather obviously distracted by something going off in his head.

He'll try to catch Bruce as they leave the elevator, and he'll stop by his own room to pick up some of those candles and his lighter; after that it's a matter of getting into Pearl's room and...well.

He won't go through her things - if he'd known her better he would have, admittedly, he would have found her favorite thing, or at least something she liked, but the fact of the matter is that he didn't, and so he doesn't, because he has no idea what he'd even be looking for. He does have the framed photograph that he'd taken from her podium, though, and he's able to set that up on the trunk easily enough; it presumably contains her things, or at least it was intended to, so it'll work as well as anything else, and after a moment's thought he surrounds the frame with the larger pieces of the gem. Once that's dealt with, though, he'll take that bag containing what remains of her - crushed gems tend to leave dust, they'll grind away at themselves in whatever container you put them in and they'll...shed, for lack of a better term, and it's that dust that he's after now.

He'll let his hand make a few passes with it over the photograph, sprinkling iridescent dust over the frame and the pieces of rock surrounding it as he goes; he sets the candles up after he's done with it, one on either side of the photograph and lighting them easily, the small lights from the flames bouncing off the shards of the gem. He's saying something as he does it, something about candlelights and crystals and guidance home; it's quiet, though. Not really for anyone else.

The door's open, though, should you choose to enter; he doesn't mind.

--

Once that's taken care of, he'll wander over to Cherryblod's gathering eventually; being around people is something he's definitely not averse to right now, let's put it that way, though he'll be fairly subdued this time around. A little less talking to people, a little more being lost in thought.]

[cherryblooded]

[Of course, Cherryblod's the type to notice that he's a little less sociable than normal. And of course Mettaton's someone he'll drop all attempts at making more food for everyone for in a heartbeat.]

Hello, dear.

[Quiet.]

...Did you know her very well?