One day we'll reach to emotions: unexplored, unprecedented

[matchbreaker]

[ Sometime shortly after the trial small notes will be folded underneath the doors of everyone still alive, and also posted to the staircase leading up to the upper floors. Not many of you have probably seen Elda's penmanship yet unless you checked that Penmanship check a while back, but it's impossibly impeccable fancy cursive script, to match with her old timey appearance. ... She also writes a lot more proper than she talks. ]

To My Fellows,

The half of you who didn't assist me in this are cordially invited to a celebration of our continued living, and to the memories of those who aren't. We are a mismatched group,
but it has become increasingly clear that we are together in this. Do not allow yourself to be alone.

We will be congregating in the ballroom for the rest of the night.

Better chefs than I will be providing food.

Sincerely,
Elda Marker

[ she's being somewhat facetious about half the group, but the fact does remain that she got more offers than she expected, when she set out to do this. She had expected that Sayaka would help, and indeed both her and Alex provide cookies and curry for the tables. Elda herself sets up the tables, dotting one longer central one made of smaller ones in the ballroom for things to sit on. The bulk of the food's provided by Tarrlok of all people, Chinese food by any other name. Susan, bless her, provides alcohol. Hibki, once she was clean, decided to run backup on preparing the food.

And then perhaps fittingly, Aligula provided the decorations. Steamers line the room, and little cut outs hang around. At Elda's instruction, it's a mix of cats, snakes, and bats. The majority of them have little faces on them. And finally, as and afterthought more than anything else, Elda makes some tea.

... Said tea is black tea and is impossibly dark and bitter because she can't taste it, but maybe that's what you want on a night like this. Who knows. ]

Comments

bar

[evilfrenzy]

[...a habit that not even multiple deaths in this room will break.

Rideaux was in here earlier, but after some spending some time in the billiards room he stops by again to see if Yuri has shown up. Apparently his intuition wasn't wrong there.

He ends up making himself another drink before joining Yuri wherever he happens to be sitting.]

Up for some company?

[May as well keep the same courtesy.]

[hesperos]

[ It seems so. Well, at least he's not alone in the idea of still lingering around in the bar, even considering everything. When he hears Rideaux's voice, he's distracted from just zoning off into space. He was just kind of chilling, which is the reason for it primarily. ]

Yeah, definitely. I was getting pretty lonely in here.

[ Judging by his lighthearted tone, he's not serious. He's had time to hang around with others tonight. Anyway, it's always nice to wind down with someone he knows. ]

[evilfrenzy]

Oh, well we can't have that, can we?

[His response comes equally non-serious as he sits down beside Yuri. Idly, he considers if this is going to become something of a tradition at this point.

...hm. He shifts the glass a bit before glancing at Yuri. The way Yuri seemed unfocused enough to not react to all the rummaging around going on as he made his drink didn't go unnoticed. His gaze lingers for a moment, before:]

You had me rather impressed today.

[And he doesn't give sincere praise easily. If ever. At all. But Yuri continued pressing despite the uncertainty that is Everything About Terumi, and it ended up working out. Rideaux thinks it's warranted.]

[hesperos]

Heh, I did?

[ Yuri smiles slightly at that--he had been super uncertain about his pressing, actually. The murder had seemed so complex from his point of view he didn't know if he'd be able to figure out anything behind it. However, he did know that it seemed from what he knew of Terumi that he'd be someone who'd have been involved, and so he went with that. He was expecting to be completely wrong too.

Not that he was happy that Terumi had went ahead and did something stupid like that, but maybe it wasn't so surprising. The guy seemed like an asshole. ]

Can't say I'm exactly detective material, but I figured it was well worth a try. And if I were wrong, then I'd find out sooner or later given how everyone else was working pretty hard at trying to solve stuff too.

[evilfrenzy]

I believe that is the thing about it. You at least had an idea and were not blindly pressing.

[Blindly and stubbornly. It turned out to not be a derail in the end, and he's sure a lot of the group is thankful for it, even if Terumi went all...well, Terumi, for a bit.

He's studying Yuri a bit as he takes a sip from his drink. Yuri chose to press Terumi because he had gotten to know him...]

It's not sitting well with you though, I take it.

[hesperos]

[ Well, he's grateful someone did think so--and of all the people to express this, he feels like it being Rideaux is ... particularly noteworthy. ]

I'll get over it.

[ Like he always does, anyway. But he takes pause, thinking maybe it can't hurt to talk about it. ]

I'm not sure if we could ever be called friends, since I did have a good read on the guy and it's clear he was an ass. But there were a couple of times I ended up vaguely telling him stuff I hadn't anyone else. So maybe it's because of that.

[evilfrenzy]

[Yuri says that, but Rideaux knows better considering his own experiences. He wasn't going to press it though, but he does listen when Yuri ends up elaborating.]

So you confided in him. That takes trust, you know, and trust isn't always easy to come by. [Sharing personal things. That's pretty big. Rideaux can understand that.] Even if you weren't sure where you both stood, it's not a stretch to imagine that something like what happened today would leave an impact.

[hesperos]

[ He believes it's actually not a big deal in the scheme of things; he knows he'll be fine after today. He has to keep looking and moving forward. ]

Some of the earlier weeks had been kind of...y'know. With the dreams I had around those times, I couldn't manage to keep everything to myself. Couldn't really tell Estelle, so I guess I just saw someone I had spoken to and before I knew it...

[ He shakes his head. Somehow he's managed to talk about this, but he's making an edge away from it, since he doesn't want this to be...just about him. It feels weird. ]

So, yeah it was something like that. It's kind of a pain in the ass, but might as well move on and talk about something else.

[evilfrenzy]

[He nods.]

I understand. The dreams have a way of being infuriatingly vague. Sounds like you had some pretty bad ones, but hopefully they've been resolved now that it's been a few weeks since.

[Hmm. That must have been why Yuri was on the verge of injuring himself in the dojo the other week.

He'll let it drop there though since Yuri wants to, and swishes his drink while he thinks of a subject change. A sigh follows, since he's really not in the mood to talk about their shitty situation right now either...]

Do you have something in mind? Any burning questions?

[hesperos]

Yeah, they were pretty bad, but they did end up getting resolved, so there is that.

[ Honestly getting into a fight with Rideaux ended up being one of the best decisions he's ever made that week--in fact, since he's thinking about those dreams, he'll be unable to keep from recalling that fight and then there was later on when they took a 'photo'. Which does make him smile a little. Oh, right, focus. ]

I dunno if I have any burning questions yet. Or ...

[ Hmm...oh wait, he has an idea. ]

... Did you have any kind of hobbies you liked to do whenever you had free time back at home?

[evilfrenzy]

[He caught that...!! But he doesn't say anything, instead pretending to hum like he's having a hard time coming up with an answer to that question. He ends up leaning against the table while facing Yuri.

This. This may have been a mistake on Yuri's part, because boy does Rideaux love talking about this shit.]

I am sure this will come as a complete surprise, but I greatly enjoy taking care of my appearance, fashion included. I pay close attention to trends, and sometimes set my own.

[...]

Do you recall the photo that we took together? That is something I do regularly as well. [As in, take photos of himself. Yeah.] There are applications that allow you to add little effects to your photos. I find it enjoyable and relaxing.

[Which would explain why his GHS wallpaper was how it was.]

[hesperos]

[ Shh, you saw nothing!! ]

... Oh yeah, I can definitely see that.

[ When he saw Rideaux in all of that red, he thought it was literally something that would be considered a fashion statement. Even if he doesn't exactly know anything about fashion.

...Yuri also finds nothing weird with taking a photo of yourself and putting it on the wallpaper (not that he knows what that is either) because he thinks it's the same as saying it's yours or something. ]

Applications...? Wait, so does it allow you to add stuff like cat or dog ears to photos?

[evilfrenzy]

[Gotta save lives and destroy dimensions in style.

...bless Yuri though, it's so nice not to have to try to defend the selfie thing. He'll get a smirk from Rideaux for his question.]

If you so wished, yes. Along with text, sparkles, hearts, little icons of foods, flowers and animals...

[He could go on, really.]

[hesperos]

Wow, there's no shortage of options, huh?

[ Yuri's not quite what a selfie is, either. He's going to probably learn a lot about technologically advanced stuff from Rideaux, or well at least a good amount anyway. ]

... Hey, why don't we add sparkles to our picture?

[ He kind of wants to see what it'd look like. ]

[evilfrenzy]

[Yuri is absolutely going to learn a lot about technologically advanced stuff from Rideaux, especially if he can help it.

...oh. Rideaux's smirk softens ever so slightly.]

I would be happy to.

[He shifts back in his seat so he can grab his GHS out of the inside of his jacket. After powering it on, he holds it in a way that Yuri can see so he can watch Rideaux actually apply the sparkles. He'll also hear Rideaux quietly snort when he pulls the picture up. He had forgotten about the pose...

The application is simple enough, with tabs for specific effects. It only takes a couple taps for Rideaux to add several sets of sparkles around them. Spaced out perfectly and not drawing attention away from the main focus of the photo, of course!]

There. What do you think?

[hesperos]

[ Yuri is definitely looking over now, leaning a bit out of interest because even for him it's relatively easy for him to follow along. His expression is one filled with wonder, which lights up completely with another smile once Rideaux finishes.

He's sort of recalling the conversation he had with someone--about having moments where one isn't thinking about how terrible their situation was. He thinks at that time it certainly was one. ]

I think we look fantastic, with just enough flashiness too. Hell, if anyone saw how cool it was, they'd probably be jealous.

[evilfrenzy]

[You know, normally if someone were to react that strongly to something so commonplace in his eyes, he'd probably judge them a little? And feel sorry for them, because he really can't imagine living in world without technology like this. But watching Yuri marvel at this silly, simple little app... Well, he's amused.

It's difficult to stifle a genuine laugh. Then again, was he really even trying to?]

Oh, absolutely. The wolfman and rabbit-eared mad doctor. Truly, the pinnacle of flashiness.

[His tone is joking, though he can't help but agree. They look absolutely ridiculous, but it's still a good photo.]

[hesperos]

[ The important thing is that they're having fun here, and that's what mattered. He hears him laugh -- and for a moment he thinks that he's always liked it. Then without giving it much thought he moves on to muse that once again it really is the small things. ]

See? You get it.

[ His tone's lighthearted, of course. And, hmm... ]

...Hey, you know what I think we should do? We should take another picture.

[evilfrenzy]

You already want another, do you?

[It is in no way a bad thing. Although...]

I do hope you realize that we're going to have no choice but to caption it with, "Exhausted and several drinks into another long night after a trial".

[He really prefers to not look like garbage for selfies, but this could definitely serve as a perfect #Mood one.]

[hesperos]

Yeah, I kinda do.

[ He snorts--it probably wouldn't look very elegant either. But he's never been the type to care about those types of things. ]

Sounds like it'd close to accurate. Though, if I was on my seventh drink, I'd probably be saying something pretty damn stupid right about now.

[ Yuri usually just gets a beer but this time he decided to change it up by mixing drinks a little because he's seen someone else do it. ]

[evilfrenzy]

[Pfft.]

Oh, I can imagine. We would certainly be exhausted of all embarrassing stories at that point.

[Joking aside, he picks up his glass with his free hand and motions for Yuri to get closer so they can fit nicely in the photo frame.]

I assume you know the drill?

[With the confirmation, Rideaux puts on the best selfie smile he can muster at this time and readies the camera, holding his drink up to get it in the shot as well. What is Yuri going to do?]

1/2

[hesperos]

Yeah, I sure do.

[ ... Is it any surprise that Yuri is already thinking of being up to no good? Okay, okay, maybe it's not being 'up to no good', exactly. But he certainly had something in mind--he's going to get closer shifting a bit now. He remembers how in bars some people like to sling an arm around someone's shoulders and sing stupid drunk tunes. They're not...going to be singing anytime soon but he wants to try to see if he can get away with that sneakily (it's more about capturing that kind of image than anything.) ]

2/2

[hesperos]

[ But as fate would have it, with him trying to be sneaky and let's say he's actually kind of a bit still out of it (its been a long day), his grip loosens on his glass and instead of things going as planned, he spills his drink expertly all over himself because we can't have nice things.

He probably looks ridiculous if that's when the photo got snapped too. ]

...Damnit!

[evilfrenzy]

[It's not a surprise in the slightest. After the first photo, Rideaux half-expected Yuri to do something. However, he did not expect Yuri to completely bungle it. As the camera goes off (a mis-click on Rideaux's part due to being startled by all of this), it captures the perfect moment of Yuri with his arm half-around Rideaux and spilling the drink, and Rideaux breaking his gaze at the camera to look toward the disaster going on beside him.

On instinct to avoid getting any of that drink on him, Rideaux backs away a foot or two and almost drops his drink in the process. And then as it finally begins to completely register...

He practically loses it.]

Very smooth!

[Just let him...put his stuff down as he tries to recover, holy shit.]

You wear your drink well.

[He really should help Yuri clean up, but he couldn't resist a little jab first.]

[hesperos]

[ Yuri is the most smooth man in all of Terca Lumireis and the universe combined--okay definitely not, especially with all of that sweet alcohol dripping on down him. The dark-haired male just makes a face and raises his arms out that is basically like 'yeah, laugh it up buddy'. Luckily he doesn't put his hands in his hair because then he'd be washing his hair too. ]

Thanks, buddy. Man, now I'm gonna probably have to do laundry tonight.

[ Because to no one's surprise Yuri can be lazy and puts off doing this stuff until pretty much the next day or 'when he has to'.

...You know what though, since Yuri decides he wants to be a little immature, he'll try to flick a bit of the alcohol drops at Rideaux, since a bit got on some of his right hand too. ]