we're all living under loaded gun

[amygdalae]

[Every week was bad, but this one? This one most likely has hit them all the hardest.

All well, almost all of them. Bruce certainly can't speak for everyone here... not that there's a lot of them left now.

Anyway.

Working with Speedwagon in the kitchen the two of them whip up a decent, simple fare of food just so that their stomachs won't go empty - Bruce knows that a lot of them won't have much of an appetite at all after what happened, and he can't blame them. He doesn't have much of one himself even after the food is done.

Once everything is set up in the dining hall a couple of hours later after everything that happened downstairs Bruce goes around to slip a notice to every body's room. (Everyone that is still alive, that is.)]

I know what happened was hard to take in. I feel the same as well.
If you wish to be alone I understand, but if you need company, or somebody to talk to... there is food in the dining hall made by Speedwagon and I.

I sincerely hope to see you there.

- B. Banner

[For Sigrun and Cherryblod respectively, he'll have the note along with a plate of some food from the gathering by their door.

As mentioned earlier, there's a small fare of simple, light food and snacks for everyone to eat if they have the stomach for it. For better or for worse there's alcohol too, although Bruce certainly isn't going anywhere near it. But if anybody needs that drink after what happened, he can't blame them for the need for it, either.]

Comments

[cherryblooded]

[For a long time after the trial, Cherryblod will be in his room with the door closed and will not open it, no matter who knocks or calls to him.

Eventually, though, he'll make his way to the dining hall. His eyes are redder than normal, and he doesn't make a move to interact with anyone - merely carries in the plate of food Bruce so kindly brought out to him and starts to eat in silence.

He can't shut down. He can't close himself off. He has to be here, because if he cuts himself off then he won't recover from this.

It's hard to imagine recovering from this anyway.]

[garudynamic]

[Yosuke doesn't come to talk to him most of the night- there's nothing he could say that would help

(after he helped kill the other person Cherryblod considered a son)

but when people start going to bed he finally makes his way over. No words, but he takes Cherry's plate, putting it aside and putting a hand on his shoulder, urging him up. Gentle, but insistent]

[cherryblooded]

[It's not as if Cherryblod didn't have his own part in killing him, either.

He's up, not quite looking at Yosuke.]

[garudynamic]

[That's fine, as long as he's agreeable to Yosuke moving him. Down the hall we go, towards the rooms. He pauses, considering, before heading towards his room. Open sesame and in we go-

- he doesn't have much, but there is a distinct teenage-ness to it regardless.]

Shoes, please.

[cherryblooded]

Mm.

[He carefully - or at the very least, slowly - takes off his shoes and sets them to one side.]

[sleepingkogoro]

[Mouri had gone to knock onto Cherryblod's door, but he didn't answer. It was a relief to see the shrimp in the afterparty.

It doesn't make it any easier to go talk to him, though]

Cherryblod-san. I...

[God damn it, why does this have to be so difficult. Stupid Mettaton, breaking everyone]

I won't ask if you're okay because I suppose you aren't, so...instead I'll ask if there's anything I can do so you will be okay.

[cherryblooded]

[It takes a moment for Cherryblod to answer.]

Can't think of much. Kind of you to offer.

[sleepingkogoro]

...thought so.

[Mouri feels kind of awkward, but he has his own guilt and feelings to deal with too. It's kind of hypochritical to keep it bottled and ask others to not to do it, so may as well set the example]

Is it stupid I'm feeling like an idiot right now?

[It...may not be all worded very well]

[cherryblooded]

No, it's not. You were right from the start, just for the wrong reasons. Congratulations.

[isafraid]

[Speedwagon's at the party for, well, the whole of it- he's not going anywhere, and he gets a good idea of who's coming and who isn't soon enough.

Maybe that's why he's surprised that Cherryblod shows up so late. Or maybe it was that he didn't expect him to come at all. After that trial, he didn't blame him in the slightest.

....Heck. He was about to head out, but. Here he is, quietly pulling up a chair beside him, sitting himself down with an even look, despite the similar but slight redness in his eyes.

He nods, solemnly.]

[cherryblooded]

...Didn't want to believe it was him, and I pushed anyway. Didn't want him to die, but I voted for him anyway.

[He can't meet Speedwagon's gaze.]

[isafraid]

....It's simple survival. The same thing we've been going through every week.

[His voice was quiet. And no, he doesn't expect Cherryblod to look at him.]

If we didn't push against him, then we'd all be dead, then the Kingmaker would get just what he wants.

[cherryblooded]

If I hadn't had Yosuke here I might not have said as much as I did.

[Guilt is clear in his voice.]

It's not that I don't care about you. You're a dear friend. You're all dear friends. But he was my son.

[notjustawriter]

[Gabriel doesn't know what he can do.

He's one of those people who helped doom Mettaton, but Gabriel Knight is also not a heartless man. It was murder, what Mettaton did. But what they did to Mettaton is just as much of a senseless killing.

Their numbers are down more than half, and for what? Some freak's entertainment?

When he approaches Cherryblod, he's holding what looks like some kind of mixed drink-- nothing too boozy, but it should taste all right.]

Brought you something.

[cherryblooded]

...Mostly I drink to celebrate, but I'll make an exception for this.

[He accepts the drink with a hand that's only trembling a little bit.]

Thank you.

[notjustawriter]

Losing people is never easy.

I've been through it a lot, even before comin' here.

[pokexplorer]

[Colress isn't sure what to say at all when he sits near Cherryblod. Honestly, when everything began to spiral downward at the trial, observing just how badly it hit Cherryblod and Sigrun...it was a very strong showing of how deep bonds can get, and the harshness of when they are severed so. It's still a bit of unfamiliar territory, but after the last few weeks...

While he is unable to find words at the moment, he at least wants to be here for Cherryblod. He hopes the show of support is at least a little helpful as it helped him in the past.]

[cherryblooded]

[He appreciates the support, and after a moment or two he'll speak up.]

Do you think it was stupid to get attached, in a place like this?

[If anyone can speak reasonably and neutrally about attachments to others, it's probably Colress. Or Black, but Black's not here right now.]

[pokexplorer]

[That. That gets Colress to flinch. And he has to take a deep breath before actually answering.]

...Scientifically speaking, yes. Forming attachment means forming trust, and in a place where the one you form that attachment with is killed or becomes a killer and betrays you, like so many unfortunately have, the only thing that awaits is pain and regret.

[He clearly doesn't sound like he feels good about what he's saying, though. Maybe a few weeks ago, he'd be perfectly fine with that logic, but...]

That does not mean it is so easy to prevent from happening in such a time of shared hardship, however. This, coming from the one who directly told you he had avoided such things entirely back in his world.

[goodforsomething]

[Stan's been at the afterparty nearly the entire time, but after he sees Cherryblod enter, he'll pick up his work and move it over near him instead. One can glue a Wayfinder back together from pretty much anywhere. It was pretty well smashed, and it seems like it's going to take a while, but he's got little better to do.

He can't think of anything to say, so he doesn't.]

[cherryblooded]

...How is her necklace coming?

[That's something he can talk about. It doesn't even have to do with Mettaton, not directly, so maybe it'll be less painful to think about.]

[goodforsomething]

Pretty good. I'm tryin' to get the big pieces together first, get somethin' to work from.

[Stan is well aware he's talking around the actual issue, but that's fine]

I don't know that it'll look the same, but it'll hold.

[amygdalae]

[Bruce comes by, eventually, with a cup of tea that he'll put in front of Cherryblod.

...although he doesn't really linger; once he places down the tea and Cherryblod sees it Bruce starts to move on. It's hard to say how much Cherryblod wants to see him right now, after what happened - not when it was Bruce who had kept pushing against Mettaton. Despite his reactions, and Sigrun's reactions.]

[cherryblooded]

Wait.

[Cherryblod knows why Bruce might be avoiding him - that trial was awful for everyone involved, and it's true that Bruce was one of the key players in it, but...]

I don't blame you.

[amygdalae]

[Bruce is inclined to just not heed Cherryblod, initially, but after everything that should probably not be what to do and so he does stop, however reluctant he is to do so, and listen to him.]

You don't need to sugarcoat it, you know. [Just... quietly here, and saying in a way as if he expected this, as if the inevitability was always there.] I'm entirely used to be being hated.

[And he does deserve it, he knows, for what he did to Sigrun and Cherryblod both. Even though he knows how much Mettaton meant to them, he still did it anyway.]