The world is all one! Unity mind!

[brandnewday]

[Another week, another set of disasters. Hibiki’s head is still reeling from the lengthy ordeal that was Solf J. Kimblee. But it’s because of that exasperation that she’s able to turn her restlessness into something useful. It’s too late to set about making curry for everyone, so it’s time to make some easier dishes. A replication of Fern’s mac-and-cheese, somehow she’s whipped up some kind of donut to go with her animal-shaped rice balls. There’s coffee, tea...hopefully it’s enough? And if it’s not, Rin has provided some delicious Chinese food. And that always tastes better late at night, doesn’t it?

And for the adults (or the exasperated teenagers), Susan is carting down booze from the bar. Joy. Hibiki’s never written to the group en masse before, but she delivers a piece of paper to everyone while Rin and Susan finish up the preparations. Each paper has a drawing of an animal on it, too.]

Too much has happened today. Whether you want to get angry, cry, smile, laugh, or just be out of your room, you don’t have to do it alone. Rin and I have prepared food for everyone, and Susan’s brought the drinks downstairs so none of us have to go into the bar tonight.

Even if it’s just for a little while, won’t you think about joining us in the dining room tonight? Being together is just as important as working hard. And remember, nankurunaisa!

-Hibiki Ganaha

[Three more candles are lit today. Tabitha Smith. Sigrun Eide. Solf Kimblee. They’re all Cabanela’s doing. There aren't any decorations, but the food is spaced out so everyone should be able to grab something and munch if they need it. It’s not clear how many people will come, but a serious attempt was made this time.]

Comments

[firstaid]

About how there's three more to go?

[That seems so ominous. What on earth did that mean? She had been thinking about that for a bit as well, but it's so cryptic, it's probably best not to dwell on it.

In any case...]

That was strange, what he said. I'm just glad that we made the right choice in the end.

[She feels a little validated about this, but still. People were right to be upset if she was leading them down the wrong path without evidence.]

I... just wanted people to listen to me.

[And well, it started her temper tantrum and ended badly. Listen to her that she thinks she's on to something-- not tell her it's all useless and why she's doing this.

And then tell her when she found evidence that connected Kimblee to the crime it means nothing. (Even if Elda gave her the idea)

She personally felt invalidated. It's why she got upset.

Someone... listen to her. That's all it came down to.]

[hesperos]

[ Maybe it had something to do with something on Jericho's likes? The guy was totally weird like that--or maybe it's something deeper. ]

Well from what I could tell, people were listening to you--'course some of them disagreed because they wanted to wait or be sure when it was later on but they still tried to listen. I don't think anyone really intended on ignoring you up until you started to marginalize efforts like that. Granted it wasn't just you who was throwing around some insults, though I think that's what started some of it. I think another part of it was them assuming you'd call for a vote which was their bad too, yeah, but hopefully that'd be cleared up if you guys have a talk.

Hell, for what it's worth I know they appreciate the amount of work you put in. It's thanks to a team effort that we managed to finally put an end to the trial, not just because of only one single person.

[ Yuri knows he appreciates what she's done; he doesn't mince words here but he's not going to just full out admonish her. He'll say it like it is and he hopes that she'll continue to do her best. They're going to need it. ]

[firstaid]

[It's true she announced who she would cast her vote for, but never did she call for one. Then again, after all that fiasco and all the assumptions made, she can't really blame anyone for jumping to that conclusion.

Still, she appreciates Yuri for telling her the truth. It hurts, but... she probably needs to hear it from him even if she wanted to avoid that truth.]

I know other people put a lot of work in... I just... got upset.

[And he knows when Estelle gets emotionally charged, well, it doesn't end well because she stays on that track of her emotions. A tunnel vision of sorts.

Because once she makes a choice she's rather stubbornly going to keep that choice.

She knows she should find some people and apologize, but after that, she's also certain there are people who don't wish to talk to her.]

All I could think about was that it wasn't useless and I wanted to prove it. Nothing else mattered...

[Basically, her silly pride got in the way after Kimblee had started to chip away at her attempt at a calm composure at the beginning of the trial. Maybe this was what he wanted. Who knows...]

[hesperos]

[ He does, but it still didn't do them any good for her to lash out like that. He understands why things happened the way they did with both sides, but he'd actually like for that to be prevented for the next time. Not that Yuri knows if it can be stopped from happening a second time, but there's no harm in trying. ]

I figured that's what happened.

[ ... ]

The best thing you could do was keep trying, anyway. What I've said is just something to keep in mind the next time we have to be in that trial room, so maybe we could avoid it from happening again.

[ Not any of her efforts, of course. But just the...everything else that helped turn things on fire on the latter half of the trial. ]

[firstaid]

[Estelle nods at that. She knows she'll keep it in mind for sure since that entire debacle was just awful and she knows she's a cause. Truth be told, she wanted to avoid being told she was at fault, but there's a weight off of her shoulders hearing it. Yes, it hurts, but finally grasping her head around it all and with her emotions dying down, she can see where she could have... done better.]

Yes, it's something I'll keep in mind.

[She takes a sip of her drink before taking a deep breath. It should look clear now that she looks a lot more relaxed.]

Thank you, Yuri, for always being truthful with me.

[Even when she doesn't want to hear it.]

I should have come to you first.

[hesperos]

[ Well, Yuri's certainly relieved that they had a chance to discuss this, and once he notices she's relaxed, he'll just plop himself down, next to the desk without a care. ]

Hey, it's no problem. It's something someone has to be straight with you about, anyway.

[ Yuri will set the glass of alcohol beside him. ]

Well, I'm guessing you just felt like going to someone else first. There's nothing wrong with that either--sometimes it helps to have more than one person to talk to about these things.

[firstaid]

I didn't want to let you see me cry.

[That's the reason along with some other things. Keeping it in during the trial was difficult, then again, it came out in different ways, but... well... it is what it is. But really? She knows she didn't want comfort and 'It will be okay' because she knew that wouldn't make her feel better.

She also didn't want people telling her not to cry. Basically, she knew what would have been productive to her.]

But you're the first person I've actually made an attempt to talk to about this, so there's that.

[hesperos]

Alright.

[ Yuri's definitely not the type to say 'it's going to be okay', or at least easily. It's not because he doesn't think they won't, but saying platitudes like that seem to rarely help in situations like this. There are better ways to approach things anyway. ]

...Guess we can add that to the list of good things about today.

[ He's half-joking, half-serious; he's not making light of things, mind you. It is just what it is and just the way he is about things. ]

[firstaid]

I suppose we can.

[This entire experience has been a mess. Part of her just wants to blame being here, but that's just trying to shove off the blame. At the very least once she's figured out what she's done wrong she internalizes it in a way where she learns from the mistakes and figured out what to do from there instead of dwelling on it.

This is going to be hard, but she technically made her bed, so she had better lie in it.]

[hesperos]

[ ... For the record, Yuri doesn't think it was all of Estelle's fault that the fire happened. He still thinks some of the blame lies with some of the conduct the others performed as well, so he hopes that it's not just Estelle apologizing here.

And speaking of which. ]

...Oh yeah, I've got something else I've been wanting to tell you.

[firstaid]

What is it?

[She's a lot calmer now so she's not visibly defensive by this statement like she would have been just moments ago.]

[hesperos]

[ There's a moment of pause on Yuri's end, not because he's hesitating in saying anything or other, but it's more due to the fact that he's considering how to phrase his words. He wants them to be straightforward, so of course it's going to be exactly just that. Though, he's also mulling over a few other things, even besides what he wants to say.

It's obvious that the timer is a very real threat, and in a certain conversation last week he supposes he'll have to take back some words he's said. ]

I've already stated that both sides in that argument had some blame. But, as for me, I didn't end up trying to say something to diffuse the situation. So, I'm gonna state for the record that I should've spoken up, and it was my bad.

[ Yuri's not holding any particularly large regret for it, he simply feels the fact that he should've said something, so that Estelle wasn't taking all that heat. She's his friend and whether or not she was in the wrong for one thing meant he shouldn't have left her hanging at least. It doesn't matter there was a lot going on at the time, he should've been more attentive and refocused his attention elsewhere for a bit. ]

[firstaid]

N-no, it's fine, Yuri. You don't need to apologize for anything.

[She knows by now she should have relented. It could be her ego talking again like it was in the trial, but she's stubborn as hell when she thinks she has something to go on and takes unnecessary risks like she did without thinking of everyone else's survival. Now she's trying to correct it, but not over-correct it like she did in Mantaic.]

I... should have known better.

[hesperos]

Heh. Well, alright.

[ Yuri's not in the mood to start another argument and things were fine as-is now that they were able to talk about the whole thing in the first place--might as well leave it at that. ]

[firstaid]

[It's probably best to leave it at that. Best not to get her in a stubborn mode again, though she would catch herself... probably.]

Thank you for coming to talk to me-- I feel a lot better.

[She looks a lot better, too, having that weight off of her shoulders.