souls have been lost and the panic grows

[phototraces]

[That... that was hell, actually. Wendy didn't like that at all. After the trial she... has to head to the kitchen and hopefully not find clay shit everywhere. She needs to do something to keep things under control. To keep things going.

She's not a great cook but she knows the basics. Meat. Bread. Cheese. Something warm for the belly to drink. She's nervous when she works but she's relentless. There's no asking for help from her as she makes a spread for everyone. Then... she's moving all of it not to the eatery but the bonfire.

Making makeshift tables around it and placing trays of food and drink. Even setting up a chair for Alex a good distance away from the fire but close enough that he can be part of things if he wants to.

Wendy, with her careful writing, writes up some notes and hands them out to everyone if she can find them or if not under their door.

Food at the bonfire and the area around it. Attendance not mandatory but it's probably better for all of us if we stick together. Bring more food and drink if you want.

Wendy

...She can't control other people but she can try to suggest.]

Comments

[latinumsbetter]

[incredibly bitter, got it.]

Yeah? What happened to him? [because he knows how fast someone like that would've been cut loose on Ferenginar.]

[sweetsynergy]

Killed him. Took over the company myself. Made it a galactic juggernaut.

[latinumsbetter]

[Quark blinks. And then his eyes narrow a bit, but it's more in shrewd interest than suspicion]

And when you say galactic juggernaut, you mean what exactly?

[sweetsynergy]

Absorbed most of our close rivals. Starting to move in on our more distant competition. We were crushing the competition.

[latinumsbetter]

That's impressive. [He does, in fact, look impressed. But he also doesn't miss that "were".]

So what happened?

[sweetsynergy]

That's-

[Her face twists for a second. Anger, betrayal. Maybe some regret? She look away.]

My- predecessor.

[yeah that's definitely the first word she went to there]

Subject One-One-Zero. ...Echo.

[Her hand clenches over part of the fabric of her jacket, and Quark of all people can probably hear the crinkling of parchment being crushed.]

[latinumsbetter]

[...yeah, he sure can.]

...you didn't see it coming, did you? [it's a bit of a rhetorical question, really, but there it is]

[sweetsynergy]

No.

[She folds her arms, looking down.]

I offered to bring her back into the fold, once I was in charge. Her and Zero-Nine-Fourteen both. Asked, even. She turned me down and ran off with a bunch of fucking pirates.

[Her voice actually cracks a little.]

The trivia on that stupid plaque- that was her.

[latinumsbetter]

She's the one that forcibly retired you. After you went and offered her a seat at the table, even.

[he folds his arms himself...and then huffs out a breath, moving to go sit down next to her. This is going to clearly be A Discussion. After all, he remembers more than just the trivia from her plaque.

(Likes: her family. Dislikes: her family.)]

Family can be a real pain in the lobes sometimes.

[sweetsynergy]

She objected to the idea of a total galactic monopoly.

[a definitely accurate assessment of the hows and whys]

[She pulls in on herself a little, looking away.]

Stupid to think she'd come back into the fold just cause I was the one in charge.

[latinumsbetter]

The Rules of Acquisition would agree with you on that.

[on the stupid thing, that is.]

...why'd she object to a monopoly, exactly?