Week 6.

[trustharder]

WEEK 6 The number of Survivors left is dropping at a quick pace; the King got what he wanted, for better or for worse; Tarrlok and Lynne were victims of both fate and some sort of magic that most in the Vault still don't quite understand, and Misa Amane has been executed, not for her particular brand of "justice", but for murdering two innocent people. It's been a bad week. However, Saturday is given to regrouping and sleep; there aren't any bodies to be found on Sunday morning. But that doesn't mean the night was uneventful - it seems something else may have brought you some newfound clarity. Or perhaps not... Once again, that spiral staircase leads farther than you remember, clear up to a previously inaccessible sixth floor. Go ahead and explore as much as you like; you've done well. You've earned it. SURVIVORS REMAINING: 14

SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
[OOC: Welcome to week six of Trustfell! Save your threads for coins and the coming week's activity check; don't forget to check in to this week's activity check and submit your memory regains!

The text and calling posts are still active, for the sake of contacting the jerk who's keeping you here, to be used at your leisure!]

Comments

[cherryblooded]

Polite to ask anyway.

[Cherryblod sits down on the edge of the bed, because there really isn't anywhere else to sit besides the floor or the trunk, and those are both pretty uncomfortable. They should get chairs in here.]

At least you're drinking in your own room.

[penduli]

[ They totally should. One day. ]

I'm not really in the mood for accidentally offing myself falling down the stairs, so. [ Yes, he's in his room. ] That wouldn't solve anything, and it'd be sorta anti-climatic.

[ ...would they still have a trial? Maybe. Hmmm. ]

[cherryblooded]

Also, I'd be upset if you died, in any way. So try not to do it on purpose.

[...he probably wouldn't say that if he'd heard Black's conversation with Yosuke.]

[penduli]

[ Aha, that gets a flinch. ]

...sure, I... [ ... ] Mr. Cherryblod? Do you mind if I ask you something sorta terrible?

[cherryblooded]

[He definitely saw that.]

Ask away.

[penduli]

What would you do if your wife and daughter died?

[ ...that isn't all, that's just him taking a short breath to try and keep anything more from kind of spilling out. ]

And it was your fault, sort of? You never meant for it to happen, but it did, because somehow it was better for everyone if they did?

[cherryblooded]

[He's right. That is a terrible question.]

...Do you want to know what I would do, or what I should do?

[penduli]

[ He said "would," but— ]

Both.

[cherryblooded]

What I should do... is remind myself I'd never have intended that, and that they wouldn't have wanted me to blame myself. That they'd want me to keep going and keep living.

But what I would do is shut down, probably. I don't think I could take it.

[penduli]

Well, at least I'm not alone in that.

[ ...guess who remembered something fan-fucking-tastic, shrimpdad. ]

The "should" is really hard, though. I feel like I'd be better off just staying in my room and doing nothing than trying to pretend that I want to do anything else. [ He's not gonna cry! He's not gonna cry! He's... he's gonna cry. ] Nothing matters anymore, Mr. Cherryblod, so what's the point in going on?

[cherryblooded]

[...Oh, honey.

Black, he's sorry, but he has to hug you now. You're not getting a say in this.]

[penduli]

[ No, no, a hug is probably what he needs. He doesn't fight it, anyway, even if he's not exactly... returning it. He just sort of wants to curl up and do nothing ever again? He had to make Misa's lamb today, and he wanted to do something for his sister, and then he had to go pray that he wouldn't do something stupid, and then he decided to get drunk in his room.

Because thank fucking god, that isn't stupid.

Sorry, Cherryblod; you're going to get cried on a lot, because this is such an exhausting thing and every time he thinks about it he cries more. ]

[cherryblooded]

[Lucky, Cherryblod has nowhere else to be right now. He gently rubs Black's back, murmuring soothing words.]

Let it out. Just let everything out.

[It'll be better once he does. Maybe not much better, but - better.]

[penduli]

[ Well, if he wants him to, he will.

At least for a little while; he needs to pull himself together, or else he'll just cry himself raw, and he manages to get it down to sniffles, at the least. ]

...crying just makes me feel like a pathetic kid again.

[cherryblooded]

It's a perfectly natural thing to do over the death of someone you love.

[He switches to stroking Black's hair instead of his back.]

[penduli]

[ It is, isn't it. He remembers doing this years ago too, but she'd been in his lap and... she had probably woken up, hadn't she. He doesn't remember it, but if she was alive in the other memories, she would have to have woken up. ]

I really don't know how I'm supposed to go on without her, Mr. Cherryblod. She was the only reason I was able to keep living while I'm stuck in this God-forsaken place. [ It's not unlike Misa, with her Light and everything. ]

[cherryblooded]

You'll find a way. It'll be hard, probably agonizingly painful, but you'll keep on going, somehow. And it'll get less painful.

[It's not experience that tells him that, exactly, because he's never lost his family - but...]

It's natural to shut down for a while after something like that. I've never had to go through it, because I've never been through that much trauma, but I've seen it in my daughter.

[penduli]

What happened to your daughter?

[ —asking about other people's traumas isn't something you do, ordinarily, and Black winces. ]

Sorry, it's not my place to ask, I... you don't have to say.

[cherryblooded]

...it might help you, so I think she wouldn't mind.

Lobco was tortured for a few months. For the longest time after that, she was barely functioning. I could barely get her to eat, she didn't talk, she wouldn't leave the house... I worried she'd be like that the rest of her life.

She's doing better now. Not a hundred percent, because that kind of experience leaves a mark. But she can smile and mean it, and she has dreams again, and she's forgiven herself for what happened.

It's not the same, but people can recover from nearly anything with time and support.

[penduli]

[ Ah. ]

I'm happy to hear she's doing better. It must be terrifying to see your child go through that. [ ...it must be terrifying to think of people he cares about going through it here, too. Black squeezes Cherryblod, then leans away. Not pulling away entirely; the hug is too nice for that, and he gets the feeling they sort of both need it right now. ] I... won't make promises, because I'm sure I won't really be in the mood to do much of anything, so... thank you in advance for worrying?

[ ...right? ]

[cherryblooded]

[He'll be here for this hug as long as Black needs it, and honestly it's helping him a lot, too.]

It's nothing you've got to thank me for. Just something that comes along with caring about people and having friends - having to support them in their hardest times.

[penduli]

You should take gratitude when you're given it, Mr. Cherryblod, or people'll start taking you for granted.

[cherryblooded]

You're probably right, but it's a hard habit to break.

[He just wants to help.]

[penduli]

Just start accepting thanks instead of saying there's no need for it. [ Aka: Just shut up— ]

[cherryblooded]

...Okay, then I accept your thanks.

[This feels really weird?]