[Week 1 Afterparty] Now kid, I know I haven't been a perfect man

[nothingbadeverhappensto]

That all sure fucking happened, didn't it?

Again, Leon walks out of the crypt with blood on him that is not his, and it's absolutely no comfort that he didn't even get the worst of it this time. He spends longer than he means to washing it off in the bathroom sink, going over and over and over things in his mind, before gravitating towards the kitchen to see if Luis is looking to play host to another wake. When he doesn't find him, Leon decides he might as well try to put something together himself.

Thankfully for him and also everyone in attendance, he gets plenty of help. Otto, Garry, Yuri, Lortel, and Shauna all lend a hand in the kitchen, which leaves dragging the furniture from the library back into the sitting room to him. Before long they've got a spread of snacks and drinks - better than he would've probably done on his own, having planned to make something that could be eaten quickly to efficiently replenish energy after a whole day spent arguing as opposed to like. Something tasty.

Once it's all set up, he'll go scouting around the now considerably more sensibly laid out house, knocking on doors and telling people that dinner's ready in the sitting room. Once he's at least told everyone he could find, he'll be standing guard/being a wallflower in there. Second verse, same as the first.

Comments

[richesse]

[ Now that she’s moving again, she’s steady on her feet. Lortel can be found 1) helping Leon with the furniture, 2) running food from the kitchen, and 3) even fetching tea. It’s like she needs to keep busy or she’ll fall apart.

When she does sit down—and she does, eventually—it’s with her face in her hands, just breathing. ]

Sat Down

[iflickerback]

[Yuri does see Lortel with her face in her hands. ...It reminds Yuri a lot about herself. With silence, she will sit down next to, or at least nearby, remaining silent for a moment more.]

...Breathe in slowly, count to five, release slowly.

[This may not be a panic attack, but Yuri recognizes that this method can help in more situations than one might think.]

[mind_chess]

[ Once she's sat down: ]

Are you quite all right?

[doctopoda]

...have you had anything yourself?

[He's been in the kitchen the whole time, equally not eating or drinking, but that sure does mean he's been able to observe her doing it!]

[inlocked]

Uh…

[ she came. for … some reason.

she’ll wallflower like CRAZY unless someone physically pries her out of a corner. she looks like she doesn’t know how to feel about being here. ]

[selfreliar]

[To be quite honest, Aqua isn't sure how to feel about her being here, either.]

...Feeling better than last time?

[nothingbadeverhappensto]

Hey. Glad you made it.

[ Leon offers her a cup of tea from one of the nearby trays - thankfully made by Yuri, not him. He'll look at her with some obvious concern as he does so, even through his smile - so far she's looked worse and worse by the day, and while he hopes the executions of all things aren't what puts a spring back in her step, well... ]

[doctopoda]

Oh - you're here.

[Otto looks a little surprised! He'd been planning on trying to bring her something to eat again, but maybe he should have considered that she'd be up and about. She's not as badly off as last week. Maybe because...?

This party, he's been working more in the kitchen. Otto's not a chef by any means, but he's functional in a kitchen. Besides, keeping his hands busy has always made it easier to keep his mind busy. Today was...just a wonderful topper on a fairly miserable week. Knowing the Blot was involved wasn't enough to truly change it.]

Can I make you anything?

[madderbloom]

[ Look alive! Anemone already has a plate of food in her hands and she waves Pratibha over with her fork. ]

Don't just stand there! Come and get something to eat.

[mind_chess]

[ Where there is tea, so shall there be Edgeworth. He sits in the dining room and sips quietly. ]

[doctopoda]

[After a while, Otto will eventually come to sit near Edgeworth. He's not drinking anything, nor will Edgeworth have observed him eating today. For a few moments it seems as if he may just sit quietly, but eventually he asks:]

...what did you make of what he said in there?

{Edgeworth was one of the main people trying to get Jade to clarify all of that, after all.]

[selfreliar]

[Aqua can't help much with cooking or moving furniture, but he doesn't seem keen to get too far from Lortel right now, either. While preparations are going on, he sits on the floor outside the kitchen, noting down as many of the important meta-revelations of today's case as he can remember.

At the afterparty proper, he still defaults to sitting quietly off to one side. But he's watching people, too. If he catches someone's eye, he doesn't look away, either. He either tilts his head towards a seat near him or nods in their direction, as if to ask if they want some company.]

[richesse]

[ oh, good. That’ll mean he’s there when she leaves the kitchen at some point and just…

Falls. Not collapses, but into a crouch, hands pressed to her face. ]

[windmilled]

[Luis is scarce in the immediate aftermath of the trial. But if any of his roommates check room 1 for him, they'll find something that wasn't there before - a guitar, resting neatly on his side of the pull-out.

When he does join the party, he's managed to find his new friend already, as if someone told him where it is. Unlike last time, when he had an almost manic energy, he finds a station (chair) and settles in.

Anyway, here's Wonderwall.]

[doctopoda]

[Ah - that's a bit nice, isn't it? Otto doesn't really stop to listen, mostly in the kitchen or ferrying food until everyone seems to have finally eaten, but eventually when his passing coincides with a break in the music, he pauses.]

Did Pratibha give you that?

[madderbloom]

[ Anemone curls up in her chair, chin resting on her knees as she listens to Luis play. A calming melody is just what she needed after today. ]

Closed prompts for Anemone and Ranma, everything else OTA

[eldritchwaifu]

[ Whelp. That's... Three people gone poof in one fell swoop. Again. Most of them being in Zoe's room.

Which leaves her... Well. Uncharacteristically lonely and looking for roomies.

She could write up apps, but she's tired and would rather room with friends, so the first person she goes to is Ranma. ]

Hey, uh... You wanna switch rooms? My roomies just died, and sleeping there is gonna feel awkward.

[ She was gonna ask someone else next, but as she was walking the halls she noticed Anemone also lost all her roomies... Zoe wasn't sure what to think of the space girl, but after two weeks and six horrible deaths she decides no one deserves to sleep alone. May as well seek her out... ]

Hey, Anemone? You need someone to room with? I have a vacancy open.

[ Yep. Just two roomies. Four was a bit too crowded, and there's no sense in making people sleep on the floor if they don't have to.

After all that's sorted and she's got all the technical stuff sorted with Pratbitha, Zoe settles down in the sitting room with takoyaki and starts working on more memorial portraits.

... Which she is taking creative liberties with. Floyd is in his mereel form and dressed in the school uniform he came with. Viktor is drawn like a Cyberpunk 307X character. Snake looks like he belongs in an edgy video game adaptation of Mafia. Zoe is the artist, no one will stop her. ]

[treebornekettlegirl]

[Zoe isn't the only one exhausted. She'll actually catch the pigtailed martial artist after she finished washing Viktor off herself.]

Ha. Trading bunking with one octopus for another... [Ranma jokes somberly with a faint smile, one that's exhausted beyond measure.] If you can put up with my snorin', sure.

[That sleepover wasn't a bad time despite things getting hectic, so what's the harm with rooming with the fangirl?]

[madderbloom]

[ Uncharacteristically lonely and looking for roomies? Mood. At the beginning Anemone had wanted her own space and complained about it, too. That was before the house started eating people and her roommates began dropping one by one, leaving her feeling paranoid she would be next. ]

There's no one left in mine, either.

[ She replies solemnly, regarding Zoe. Sharing a room wouldn't be so bad under these circumstances. ]

I will if you promise not to die.

[gardenwitch]

[ Don't mind the grandma who is peering to have a look at those drawings... ]

Oh, my.

Sitting room

[selfreliar]

[Wow. She's really eating takoyaki now, of all times?

When he flips the thought over in his mind, though, it makes more sense. One more way to memorialize the dead. Aqua gets it, if that's the case.

He isn't coming over to say anything about that, anyway. He bows his head a little, acknowledging her.]

I wanted to thank you for not pressing me any further, back there.

[About his stab wound and the circumstances surrounding it.]

[treebornekettlegirl]

[Ranma...

... isn't at the afterparty, at first. Being right behind Jade when the eel Rick-Grimes'd out Viktor's jugular meant he was slathered in blood. Blood of yet another innocent life cut short that he didn't save. First thing he does when they're allowed to leave the crypt is beeline to his room and throw himself into the shower.

Cold water spritz out of the nozzle, and stays cold. Today calls for a cold shower day. Fifteen minutes, thirty minutes, an hour. Ranma stays in the shower scrubbing out every inch of blood off her until the inside of the shower was a diluted pink.

When she finally gets out of the shower, she... still doesn't go to the afterparty. Her body's clean of blood, but the same can't be said for her clothes. Dressed in spiffy, bloodless clothes, she heads to the laundry room... From the entranceway, she can see Snake's body had been removed like Yoojin's and Maomao's. And yet, she had to push herself into entering inside. The pink haired girl tosses her load in a washer with as much detergent it'd take to get the bloodstains out...

... and promptly sits in front of the mirror, pressing her forehead against her knees with a shaky breath. It's fine. It's fine if she let it slip in this body, less pathetic and wrong.

Not that she is, it's just the detergent agitating her eyes. That's all.

Clothes washed clean of Jade's handiwork from the trial, she takes it and some cleaning supplies to scrub the bathroom's shower shiny clean. Before finally joining the rest at the afterparty, keeping beside herself by the food table. Unlike last time when she couldn't help gorging herself, she's more picking at her food and taking slow, precise bites this time. So actually eating with some table etiquette.]

Afterparty

[iflickerback]

[Yuri comes and sees Ranma. She sees Ranma not... really doing too well. She opens her mouth, about to offer tea, but... hesitates. Then she takes a step back.]

...I apologize for bothering you.

[doctopoda]

[Otto was never exactly a social butterfly, but he's certainly gotten noticeably more withdrawn and reclusive over the past week. At least part of it was the Blot. He can tell, now, but even knowing after the meeting that something like that was happening wasn't enough to just ignore the effects. He knew that already - when your very brain chemistry is being altered, of course you can't rely on your own thoughts any longer.

But the Blot was never the real problem in his life. Today hasn't helped much either. Watching Viktor die like that; losing Snake to what may well have been just some insane conspiracy theory. Practically handing Jade over to the house himself.

He works mechanically and efficiently in the kitchen, turning out some soup and a number of grilled cheese sandwiches. You can try making a request, if you've got any. Eventually, with that work done, he goes to sit in the library. He's not reading anything; he's just sort of sitting, looking uncomfortable with the way he has to twist and lean to try and fit into normal chairs these days.]

Library

[selfreliar]

[When Aqua notices Otto's absence, he makes his excuses to his minders roomies and goes looking for him.]

Dr. Octavius.

[Sure, Otto introduced himself just as Otto, but "doctor" is a title earned with time and dedication. Aqua looks down at the mug in his hands.]

I brought tea, but it took a while to find you. It's just lukewarm, now...

[nothingbadeverhappensto]

[ As noted above and as before, Leon spends most of the evening standing just inside the sitting room door like a bouncer for the world's saddest club. When he's not there, he's running back and forth between there and the kitchen to restock drinks and finger foods or check on the others working the stove.

Towards the end of the evening, though, he does finally sit down at one of the sitting room tables, hands clasped in front of him and seemingly lost in thought. 9 o'clock approaches, and he shows no signs of remembering this before he gets locked out of his room. ]

[selfreliar]

...Kennedy.

[Hey, roomie, hey. Rather than say, "You look tired," Aqua goes with the more neutral:]

It's getting late.