at the end of the river, the sundown beams

[destage]

[Well...that trial was most certainly a thing, now wasn't it.

It's probably a while after the trial that some notes will be going underneath people's doors, written in a nice, clean scrawl--]

For anyone who hasn't gotten anything to eat, there will be food and refreshments provided in the dining room courtesy of Estelle-san and I. Feel free to take as much as you need.

Please stay strong, everyone.

♥ Estelle and Sayaka

[True to the word, there's plenty of food to go around--potato stew courtesy of Estelle, and curry courtesy of Sayaka. There's coffee and tea out as well, for anyone to drink, and...well, it's more or less an optional thing. After today, some might need it.]

Comments

[gorira]

I think it has been, too. Honestly, I would've kept to myself all night, if it weren't for this...

[ She's grateful she's holding the bowl of stew; her impulse is to wring at her knuckles a bit, as they start to sting at the reminder. They're significantly more red than the rest of her hands. ]

But knowing everyone else is out here makes it a little more inviting. It's good to reflect on your own, but it's also a nice way to show that none of us are going through this shit by ourselves. Sayaka's a good moodmaker, so I'm not surprised she'd want to help run something like this...

[ But Estelle's optimism isn't a bad thing to have, either. As a matter of fact, to Chitoge, there's a strength in it. ]

Don't forget to watch yourself, too. Doing things for others is great and all, but you should take time to breathe...

[firstaid]

She really is. Miss Maizono truly does want to see others happy, I think.

[Something she admires about her. She feels honored that she could help with this with Sayaka's help.

But then, look out for herself? It's not the first time she's been told this, but she shakes her head in response.]

And I'll be fine. I would prefer not to be alone in my room and I also wished to be productive. After all, I can't just tell people what to do, right? I also need to act.

[Something she took away from that meeting. While she has ways to act in her world due to her powers, here she feels she needs to find a new role.]

[gorira]

She told me that's what she loves most about her line of work, so I wouldn't be surprised if you told me that.

[ Though she needs time to look out for herself, too, she's certain. ]

That's a good way of putting it, though. There's being productive, and then there's this. Personally, I think it's going above and beyond. But I'm glad for it, either way.

Even after what we saw back there, having you guys do stuff like this paints a pretty good picture of what's to come, in my eyes.

[firstaid]

What's to come? What do you mean by that?

[She wants good things to come and she wants everyone to band together, but she also knows unless they escape that may not be a possibility...]

In any case, I don't really feel this is above and beyond. Everyone needs taken care of right now and Miss Maizono and myself had the means to do that.

[And it benefited the two of them as well. Perhaps people are saying they're not taking care of themselves, but at least Estelle is the kind that can't wallow in depression. It hurts too much to do that, so she chooses to help others and bring the figurative light back.]

[gorira]

Well, I was just thinking that none of this is really gonna get any easier. The longer this goes on, the worse it's gonna be. I don't know what this means for our time limit, now that we're two down. And I don't know if what we saw is gonna be enough to deter anyone, by itself.

[ That said... ]

But the fact that we have people here like you and Sayaka, who want to take care of everyone, is a good sign, to me. Not only that, even if people are hurt right now, we're hurting together. Licking each other's wounds and getting ready to bounce back. If we splintered here, the situation would look way more hopeless than it does. But instead, we're uniting. Like a pack, or a hive.

And I think that's how we need to be, if we're gonna get anywhere.

[firstaid]

I can't deny that we need to stick together during these times, and that's why we did this. So I'm happy to hear that. After this we'll need to figure out what to do, right? And not despair. And to do that we need to get back to full strength.

[It's clear she's a caretaker of sorts, but it comes at a cost of her well-being at times as others had pointed out. As much as she fervently denies it.]

[gorira]

You really do have an awesome amount of optimism, huh?

[ It's pretty admirable, really; even with all the punches at that trial, she's still rolling with them. ]

What's your secret?

[firstaid]

[She cants her head.]

I'm not sure if there is a secret. I just want the best for everyone and believe we can achieve it, even if we hit tragedies along the way.