[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

[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.]

[mind_chess]

I believe... that he believed what he was saying. And that the source of that belief was unrelated to the madness he exhibited in his final moments. That doesn't mean that he was correct, but it does make his words worth considering. Did Snake truly know something that the rest of us do not?

[ Pausing, eyes flickering down to the empty space in front of Otto. He had been very kind after Wright had passed. Perhaps the right thing to do would be to repay the favor. ]

...Can I get you anything?

[doctopoda]

No, thank you.

[The reply seems reflexive, automatic.]

I admit, I didn't know Snake well. But I can't see what he'd stand to gain from hiding evidence.

[mind_chess]

A lack of trust, perhaps? If he had truly been through something similar to this before, I can see how trust would be difficult to come by, especially if he was under the impression that one of us is some kind of traitor or mastermind.

[ Shrugs slightly. At this point, this is more of an intellectual exercise than anything. ]

What's your opinion on the significance of that blank profile?

[doctopoda]

[One of his lower claws taps thoughtfully against the floor.]

Before today, my best guess was that another person was meant to be here and somehow managed to avoid capture, or else escape immediately. Now...well, there wouldn't be any sense in a second profile for one of us, I think, unless they had some sort of entire alternate identity.

[Which he's not dismissing out of hand, that's definitely a thing that happens!]

[mind_chess]

The way Pratibha reacted to talk about the missing person was interesting. She stated that if we can figure out their name, we can vote to execute them, as we would anyone else, but insisted that they were not responsible for what is taking place here. She seemed protective of this person.

All of that implies to me that it's someone here, but hidden. Perhaps in the room we're not permitted to enter?

[doctopoda]

Maybe so. She's...implied to me that there are some things she can't speak on, and that we may still learn about some of them later.

[mind_chess]

I would believe that. But at the same time, I'm certain there are also things she won't tell us.

[doctopoda]

That's probably true as well.

[But he really has no place to judge there...]

But she doesn't want this any more than we do. If she’s got a friend here...well, maybe that's a good thing.

[She won't necessarily be alone, then, if the rest of them get got.]

[mind_chess]

Hm. Maybe.

[ That's not the tone of someone who agrees, though. He considers for a second on how best to put it, then plows forward: ]

I have nothing against the girl. It's clear that none of this is her fault, and it's not my wish that any of us should treat her cruelly. But at the same time, we cannot forget that the position she has been forced into is one adversarial to our own. This mysterious final person could simply be an innocent friend that she's protecting, or they could be the key to putting all of this to an end.

[doctopoda]

[Otto listens, and sighs at the end. He can't say he agrees, but - well, he's biased.]

I don't believe she would protect someone like that. She doesn't want this any more than the rest of us. But, you're right. We can't know anything for sure yet.