Keep the ghosts in fond memory.

[carries_war]

After all the...everything that that trial was, not to mention the horror of that execution - if it can even be called that, something uncomfortable has settled over the Depths. Two people are dead, and while nobody willingly broke the tenuous trust between the Titled to end a life, what actually happened may be worse. Even all the trust and companionship in the world can't protect them from tragic accidents caused by powers they don't understand.

But even so, it's not time to give up and drift apart yet. Yusuke spoke of trust and hope, and one person is determined to keep that alive. A couple hours after the execution, every living Titled (yes, even Eric) will find a note slipped under their door, in what some may consider familiar handwriting:

'Everyone is upset about what happened, but that's just more reason to not leave people alone. Come to the cafeteria, I've made enough food that everyone can have dinner together. You might not feel like eating after watching that, but we shouldn't just go to bed hungry.

- Rubedo'

The exception is McBurn, who just gets a sketch of the first floor of the Depths with the cafeteria circled and a doodle of a cooking pot and various food items in the middle.

When people get there, the entire room smells like vegetable stew courtesy of the communal pot in the kitchen. There's pitchers of water at all the tables, along with bowls of fruit and vegetables from the Conservatex. In one corner is a pile of thick, heavy cloth sheets - blankets for those who just want to huddle up in something warm. It might not be much, but it's there for everyone. That's the important part, right?

Comments

[defriendestration]

[Well. Papyrus knows what he's going to do. He's...going to just take some blankets and spread them out around him. Each of them have a bowl of soup on them. Each has a little note saying "?" on it. As in, "what do you do with this stuff?".

It looks like he's made another puzzle. But...this one's a little bit easier to solve, at least.

He's going to be nearby under his own blanket, watching.]

[bythewaves]

"Thank you, Payprus." He looks worn, something very old and tired to him.

"This is very kind." He settles on a blanket and cups his hands around the soup.

[defriendestration]

OH, THANK YOU! I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE STEW. RUBEDO'S PRETTY GOOD AT IT!

[bythewaves]

"He is, isn't he. But what of you?"

[kiddefender]

[She can move now, at least. Her tail is still bushier than normal and her ears are flat. But her eyes aren't red, she hasn't been crying. In fact they seem more blank than anything.

She just silently sits at the table with her tail curled around her.]

[bythewaves]

He is dry eyed but there is an emptiness to his look. Still.

He comes to where she sits and lays a gentle hand on her arm.

He doesn't speak, for sometimes there are no words. But he wants her to know she is not alone.

[kiddefender]

[He's not going to get a response other than a slight slump.]

[bythewaves]

[ That's alright. He'll be here, just quietly present, until she wants to talk and shoos him away. Either way, sometimes you just need company ]

[carries_war]

[So, what's the organizer of all this doing? For the most part, he's sitting at one of the tables with a bowl of stew and sketching. Sisi the corgi is under the table with a plate of meat and a bowl of water, blissfully unaware of what just happened...not that it'll stop him from growling at any adult men who try to approach.

When he's not doing that, he's up and moving around the room, checking in on people. If anyone is sitting by themselves without anything to eat or drink, he'll bring them a glass of water and a piece of fruit. After all the emotion he showed earlier, his face seems to have settled back into its calm neutrality.]

You should at least try to have something.

[defriendestration]

NYEH?

...OH! YOU MEAN THIS VERY FULL BOWL OF PIPING HOT STEW! I...I DIDN'T REALIZE IT WAS RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! AND THAT I WAS HOLDING IT. AND...AND STARING AT IT.

WHOOPSIE!

[...He's trying.]

[carries_war]

[Papyrus...he was going to wait a little, but it seems like Papyrus needs this now.]

Here, I made something that might cheer you up. It isn't much, but...you really like puzzles, so I thought it might help.

[He pulls something out of his jacket pocket, and...it's one of his sketches! Except it's been cut up into little pieces with unique edges. You know what this is, right Papyrus?]

[defriendestration]

[IS THAT




IT IS!!!

Papyrus can't help but light up.]

OH NO! IT'S BEAUTIFUL!! YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO, RUBEDO!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

[bythewaves]

He looks up and smiles at him quietly when Rubedo comes over.

"I should say as much to you, Rubedo. You need to look after yourself too."

[carries_war]

I already ate. That kind of thing...doesn't bother me too much. Not in terms of physical reaction, anyway. I'm used to seeing ugly deaths.

[bythewaves]

"That is not what I meant." Maglor straightens from his weary slouch.

"Tis not on your shoulders, Rubedo. You do not have to carry this alone."

[socialhacktivist]

[Futaba sees the note. She looks at it from across the room for a long time before she drags herself over to pick it up. Everything on it makes sense. But she doesn't know how to get past this. If she went, she told herself that she'd just be a burden on everyone. She doesn't hate them-- they only did what they needed to do, the same way she did. But she doesn't know how to face them. Futaba takes the note back with her to the bed and curls up there. Her whole body feels dried up. There are no more tears to be found, although that just feels worse. It's like she's entirely empty right now. But she's trying to find her strength-- a way forward. She just... can't see it right now. The horror is still too fresh.

If anyone comes to her door, she'll answer. She may even come out. But right now she just doesn't want to cause any more trouble for anyone.]

[defriendestration]

[Its a bit of time before there is a knock on the door. But, he didn't see Oracle at the party! So...someone ought to check up on Futaba. As PuzzleMaster, a member of the team, it would be very rude to just leave her like this, right?]

[socialhacktivist]

[Although there's a bit of a wait, Futaba emerges a minute later.]

Oh.

[It's Papyrus. She feels a little bad disappearing after she'd said how she wanted to see one of his puzzles later and everything. Although she's come to like a lot of people here, he's probably one of the one's she weirdly feels most comfortable talking to.

Not that she knows much what to say right now.]

Hey.

[defriendestration]

OH! HEY! NYEH-HEH-HEH!

I WAS JUST, YOU KNOW, IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND I HAPPENED TO HAVE THIS BOWL OF STEW, BUT...AS I PASSED BY YOUR DOOR I REALIZED I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ALREADY HAD A BOWL BACK IN THE KITCHEN!

...

SO, SINCE WE HAVE RUN INTO EACH OTHER, I WAS WONDERING IF YOU'D LIKE THIS! OR, YOU KNOW, MAYBE SOMEONE IN YOUR ROOM WOULD LIKE IT. IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE YOU.

[lightnen]

[ After speaking with Rubedo, he agreed to go check on Futaba after the execution and deliver a note from the other boy. Seeing as Rubedo was kind of his friend and he felt a bit bad about what happened, so he had no problems in doing just this for her.

So with a piece of paper in one hand, he knocked twice on her door. He could have just left it under her door but that didn't feel right. ]

[socialhacktivist]

[It takes a minute, but Futaba opens the door a minute later. She had said nothing after the execution. Still, she knew what Killua had done for her and she was truly grateful.]

...hey.

[A deep breath and she manages to get herself started with--]

Sorry I didn't say anything but... thanks for earlier.

[lightnen]

[ Blinking a little at her apology, Killua then shook his head and offered a small smile. He honestly couldn't blame her for not doing so because of the nature of what had happened. ]

Don't worry about it. I just didn't feel right letting you watch that happen to your friend, even if there wasn't much that I could do other than that.

[ For god's sake it was a DRAGON that appeared and he still could hardly believe it happened at all. Though that wasn't the sole purpose of what he'd come here to do. ]

Look. I kinda wanted to see how you were doing, and I also brought you something... it's from Rubedo. He wanted me to give this to you

[ He holds the note out to her. On it, the contents will read as such:

I'm sorry for what happened to your friend. I did what had to be done, but he still shouldn't have had to die because of that. I'm sorry I wasn't good enough to save him. It's okay if you hate me, that's the burden a leader has to bear, but don't lock yourself away from everyone else. I don't think he would have wanted that. He wanted all of us to look out for you.

- Rubedo ]

[bythewaves]

He doesn't knock. But he promised Yusuke that he would look after her.

So he sits outside her door and sings, painting in music the art that Yusuke loved so much, the brilliant colors of the mural, the flowers blossoming. He won't interrupt her grief, but he wants her to know she is not alone.

[socialhacktivist]

At first she just lifts her head and listens from the bed. His voice is soothing by itself but it's the words that really get to her. The image of Yusuke's final painting... It hurts, even though the last time she really looked at it, it wasn't even finished. She wants to see it but at the same time it's like she doesn't want to. It'll just bring back all the painful things she doesn't want to think about. And yet it's-- the one thing they can't take away from her.

In the end, she ends up coming over and sitting by the door, listening.

Although she'd been so scared of all these people at first, it was like meeting the Phantom Thieves all over again. They didn't leave her by herself, even when she threatened to shut herself away. They really were too kind.

[bythewaves]

In the end, the song turns coaxing, gently hopeful.

will you come out?