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

[letsplayamod]

[Good news, all! There is not clay shit everywhere when you come back.

Your little Winion friends have been hard at work scrubbing down the crime scene with little scrub brushes, wooden buckets and brooms much taller than they are. They even fixed the broken table...albeit not very well. It looks like they slapped it back together with some kind of glue that's still very wet so maybe don't use that one tonight.]

[threeapplestall]

[Mortis can be found in a corner, hugging her knees and trying to dry the last of her tears. (For real, this time.)

She doesn't seem particularly talkative, but who would be in her situation?]

[phototraces]

[Someone is placing... a plate of. Grilled lamb and some cheese right in front of her. Wendy is trying to keep calm. She has to.

She sits in front of her and just. Kind of waits for her to react first. Quietly. Don't want to scare anyone. ]

cw brief final destination style panic spiral

[rockymountaindie]

[ It was very nice of Wendy to get him a chair so he's not just...hovering in the background. Which is absolutely what he would do. A gathering, around the bonfire? That's just asking for trouble. For someone to trip and fall in, and then that'll catch the wood, and everyone else, they're all going to go up in front of him like smoke and he can do nothing once more to stop it—




So yes, Alex is here, at the edge of the gathering. He's sitting in a chair set up a good distance away. He does not have any food. He doesn't really have an appetite. He does have his little hot pink Eye-Pod, though! The little thing's trying to roll around in the grass in front of him, but its wheel keeps getting stuck. Alex, dutifully, stands and frees it when this happens. ]

Come on, buddy, again?

[ It happens often. But he's an indulgent parent/pet owner, it seems.

Eventually, despite his vigilance, he can't keep staring at everyone around the fire, waiting for...for something to happen.

Quietly, he picks up the Eye-Pod and moves to go back to his room. However...

At the pavilion he gets distracted. He catches sight of the statues, and he stops. Sayo's—Beatrice's—with its threefold design and non-distinct features. Everything that happened...it puzzles him a little. But it doesn't change the fact that the person known as Yasuda Sayo was just as much a victim as any of the rest of them. It doesn't change that she wanted to help them in whatever way she could. ...It doesn't change the fact that Crito acted likely in fear of the threat that has haunted him as well. It doesn't change anything.

At the end of the day, there's no way to stop feeling miserable about this.

He stands there for quite some time, searching for answers where there are none. ]

[pariunt]

[Astarion is here.

For all the shit-talking he did at the start of the trial, he's noticeably subdued. He doesn't eat any of the food, of course, but he's here.]

...This is going to happen again.

[It's not addressed at anyone, and he murmurs it under his breath.]

[markofnobility]

[Ferdinand is here. But for once he is not flitting around talking to everyone. He's not touching the food either. If anything smelling it makes him feel a bit ill. Instead he's sitting in one of the chairs, staring at his motive parchment with a tired but intense expression.

The energy is very 'I don't want to talk'- almost alien coming from him. But he's here, regardless.]

[yourheroine]

[Wendy's right. It's better if they stick together. So Aoi can be found at the bonfire, even if she isn't doing much. Occasionally, she'll find someone and offer them one of the breads or cheeses.]

It's supposed to keep our strength up, right?

[Aoi also stares at her phone when she's by herself, thinking over what happened at the trial.]

That's where the signal is strongest, but Aoi still didn't get a response. Do we need more energy?

[phototraces]

[Wendy doesn't seem to be helping herself to the food as she sits down after her running around is done. The fire crackles and burns as she takes out a picture from her pocket. There's a jagged piece missing but the teenage boy is visible. She doesn't smile but she stares at the picture, tracing a finger over his face. She knows she shouldn't be this close to the fire. That the others might be in danger. That Beatrice didn't save anyone's person in particular, let alone Julie...

But for the moment she didn't care. What would Jason have done? What would Carrie have done?]

J... I miss you.

[She whispers it to the wind, to the picture. She doesn't expect a response. Jason was gone. He was dead and he never was coming back. That's how being dead works. She just leans back and closes her eyes for a few moments.]

...god, I sound like a widow...

[phototraces]

Something like that, yeah. Sorry, it's not much. Just... it's something.

[She's trying to sound upbeat but her smile doesn't reach her eyes.]

pavilion

[necromants]

[Ah, Life and Death meet again, after a particularly difficult day. Zvei lingers just out of sight for a moment, just watching Alex. What is he here for? Memorizing the information in case it becomes useful again in the future? Or just asking questions he won't get the answers to?

Zvei eventually clears his throat and approaches properly; he's not trying to startle Alex, at least.]

Good evening, Alex. Heading to bed?

[phototraces]

[She's not giving him food because he hasn't touched any on his own but she just. Sets a glass of water next to him. She doesn't say much.]

...Sorry. I know you meant well.

fire

[phototraces]

I can't force you to eat but make sure you don't dehydrate, alright?

[She sets the cup next to him.]

Look, I'm sorry I picked the bonfire... I figured for the others it would be easier than the bar.

[necromants]

[Zvei just so happens to be close enough nearby to overhear, and he speaks up from where he's feeding the chicken who hopefully has a name by now but if not she's "Nugget" and I hate everything.]

It will if Typhon continues to threaten us like he did this week. We have little reason to want each other dead otherwise.

[Well, outside of those that dislike each other, but even then they probably wouldn't jump to murder. Maybe.

Anyway, Zvei seems a little bit more subdued than usual, but his smile is still easy and he keeps his voice low not to draw unwanted attention to the conversation.]

[literarybehemoth]

[...he'll just kinda. get some cheese and some grubs and stare at the bonfire. maybe he doesn't want to be here, really. but he might as well.]

...I wish to hope this is a deterrent, but I feel the floodgates have opened instead. So it goes.

[...some gods they are, huh? It's easy to be kind of flippant and philosophical about it at this point, when it was two people he didn't know. But...]

...

I wonder how those who were threatened are doing at present.

[markofnobility]

[he takes the water with a small nod. Honestly he is thirsty as Ailell and feels just as burnt out. Still-]

I... did not intend to start a fight. Not when we had larger concerns. I am the one who should apologize.

[His tone is bland and maybe a bit bitter even with his words- any apologies from him will have to wait until the morning when he can muster the proper kindness for them]

[murchada]

[for the most part, Cerejeira is hanging around the bonfire, just sitting somewhere quiet. she has a drink in her hands, but don't ask her what it is. she just sort of grabbed it to have something to hold, with no regard for what was in the cup. she hasn't sipped it or anything, either.

late at night, though, she's over at the eatery... specifically, at the dabo wheel. she's not doing anything of consequence, if you were wondering. she's just... spinning it.

over and over again.]

[eeeonetwothree]

[ Omega is sitting apart from everyone. He doesn’t eat, and what’s more, he doesn’t really need warmth and nor does he feel as though he fits into the group after this week and a half. He’s gotten a few to accept him, but he knows more than a few distrust him yet.

That won’t stop him from standing guard.

While he does, however, he watches a holographically projected recording. What manner of recording, you might ask? Security footage taken from the original Egg Carrier. Omega watches it, on a loop, multiple times, before stopping once in between viewings: ]

WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT, GAMMA? IT WAS JUST A BIRD.

[ And then he resumes watching, and standing guard, sensors tuned towards any offending approach. Luckily, the sensors are not programmed to notify him of the approach of any comrades. ]

[yourheroine]

Wendy already makes better food than Aoi.

[She nibbles on a piece of cheese.]

And we're sticking together. Like...fish? Aoi heard Wendy and Ai talking about descending from fish.

[rockymountaindie]

[ A small but noticeable twitch. ]

He- hey.

Uh... I guess.

[pariunt]

[Astarion doesn't respond to the first half, but that's because he agrees. This will happen again.]

...I imagine they're fine, if they were ever in danger to begin with.

[After all, Crito's acting on the threat means that there's no reason to go through with it.]

I worry what will follow.

[tailoredfate]

[As gentle as Aglaea had been with Mutsumi, and with some of the others, there was always some level of distance. Reaching out with her threads, rather than her hand.

But as everyone gathers, she's just. Going to sit right next to Mortis. An arm's length away, nothing that could startle the girl with touch, but still a more solid rock than she had been earlier.]

... You don't need to say anything, Mortis. But I'll be here, if you need it.

Bonfire

[yourheroine]

[Aoi just wordlessly sits down next to Cerejeira, keeping quiet for a few more moments before speaking up.]

That arena...it's the center of this universe. But Aoi's calls still won't reach yet.

[necromants]

Today was... [a blink-and-you'll-miss-it brief pause] difficult for everyone. I think we'll all need a good rest after that.

For what it's worth, I am sorry it turned into a rather difficult debate.

[Not that it was his fault, just that Alex seemed to take that particularly hard.]

[atu709]

[ Snow doesn't have anything to offer when it comes to food or drink. Those are pleasures she can no longer partake in, after all, and she's long since come to terms with that.

But there is something she can do, she thinks, knowing what she knows of comforting those who spend their time around death. So she arrives with some blankets and the like - it's not like she needs the ones on her bed, after all - and sets up a small area off to the side with a small sign that reads REST AREA - Discussion of the trial forbidden.

She doesn't spend any time inside the rest area, though, instead settling down by the fire - maybe a little closer than other people can manage - and staring into the flames. ]

So, is this what you supposed Godhood would be like?

[rockymountaindie]

[ A small thanks to the cup. It's true, he does need to drink something. ]

Nah. I get it. It was the right choice. It just... [ His face scrunches up a little. He thinks about deflecting...but Wendy knows. ] ...It's different when you, uh... When you know what it feels like. You know?