I dreamed of a world so far from here that's not on the map

[matchbreaker]

To my Fellows,

What is "good" and what is "evil" is something that can be debated for longer than most of you will ever live, as is the nature of men. These debates are without meaning in my eyes. Despite that man's belief, men are not born to be good or evil, and what flaws they have in personality or character are things that can be overcome through their choices. Both for better and, as we've seen, for worse.

Life is not without suffering, but I should hope that every one of you is loved by someone. Loves someone. Many of you probably know that some of those loved ones are entering into an experience similar to our own. The terror of that is an undeniable sword which hangs above our heads.

Do not isolate yourselves, and hold onto what belief will best inspire you. And if you wish to join us for another one of these gatherings, meet us in the dining hall at 8PM.

Sincerely yours,
Elda Marker

PS: Those who can taste will once more provide food.

[ Well that sure is a lot of words which is being put under your doors, put on the fridge, and generally distributed around. It... uh, sure is a letter? It's in the same impossibly perfect cursive as last week, and is written with an almost angry bravado. Because even if she was vindicated at the end there, she was vindicated by a (by his own admission) evil priest. So. That feels bad.

Anyway, with some effort, the dining hall (which now has a lot of candles at Cabanela's little shrine, even with adding the two more here) is filled with food: Susan's got the booze as usual but also a big pot of mac and cheese. Adelina's done her noble best with some finger sandwiches. Yuri's brought some sweets that Estelle might've made. As for Elda, well, she still basically can't cook, so what she provides instead is:

A few board games including a Settlers of Catan, Sorry, and Candyland knock off. I guess we're playing games. Or at least she's suggesting it, who knew? ]

Comments

[hesperos]

Pretty much. Might as well keep up that tradition.

[ Of doing things inappropriately, that is. ]

[innocentloveholic]

[ ............... ]

Real convincing, Courageous. [ JUST SAYING. ] You don't have to eat sweets to enjoy making them! I'm sure there's plenty of people who'd line up to try your stuff anyway.

[evilfrenzy]

[It's at least promising to see Yuri being up for something lighthearted, in spite of everything.

...

Huh, weird time for Rideaux to suddenly want to look the other way and focus on finishing off this drink. But it's possible to catch the slightest hint of him not knowing what to do with his expression before he does.]

Well, the fact that you did is appreciated. [...] But more than that, glad to have apparently helped.

[ninehundredlives]

Do you want me to show you? It's something you'll probably need to use sometime. And I'll be right here in case anything happens.

[ninehundredlives]

Sooner or later we will. You know? Fuck Jericho.

[hesperos]

[ Yuri will definitely be taking a quick peek at Rideaux, before looking back down at his drink again. He'll smile a little to himself, finally finishing his drink. He doesn't have anything to say for now, but maybe that's not so bad. ]

...Yeah. Thanks for the drink too.

[ He'll lean back against the bed again. ]

You can stay as long as you want or leave whenever. I don't mind.

[heritrix]

[This is hard for her. On instinct, she wants to refuse. But after another few moments, the door does crack open. The invitation to come inside isn't made with words, but that gesture itself. Rin has already left the door to backtrack to her bed.]

[heritrix]

Maybe...

[Mumble mumble around the food, a little red in the face.

Honestly, she can make cookies and things just fine, but it might be fun to brush up on other sweets. Glancing aside, she seems to be thinking of what people would "line up" exactly. Maybe on a rainy day she could surprise Shirou.]

It would be a fun trade, either way.

[sleepytimegal]

Fuck Jericho. ...That one, Terumi had right.

[matchbreaker]

Well, if you say so.

[ Is it really that kind...? Well, she'll just play some little sting to try to right her mood. ]

[heritrix]

...do you know when Estelle's birthday was?

[matchbreaker]

I can bill you later.

[ That's her first response. She's in the school uniform now, so it's... not that bad, really. Okay no, it's a little bit bad, but she stopped with the scalp scratching a bit ago, this time just sort of rocking in the embrace a little. The thing is... Well, she's more mad about her foot, honestly. The thing is, ]

You're a strong girl.

[matchbreaker]

[ Look. ]

She is at that. [ Elda says that with a dramatic, exasperated sigh. She looks up at the ceiling again, leaning back against the piano. She... ]

I'd more say she knows we love them. Understands... you know, when I invited her to Shihaba, she jumped at it. I'm not sure she'd thought about that dad of hers at all. Never had a mother, doesn't have siblings. She's called me of all people "mom" before. Understands... no, I'm not sure she understands it quite yet.

[heritrix]

...I don't particularly feel strong right now.

[Sniffing, she steps away from Elda, not willing to keep blubbering on her shirt. Rin wipes at her face.]

I let Kirei get under my skin. [She knows exactly how he is; the secret wall just spelled it out plainly, after ten years. Always always she's strived not to let him provoke her.] And this is the second time I've cried in front of you.

[...It's not just Kirei, really, she hates to let anyone see her like this. Maybe given time she'll be able to connect the dots and put words to the reason why she feels like a chasm has opened up in her stomach; like she's waiting for a shoe that's not there to drop.]

[hesperos]

...Yeah. It's February 28th.

[ ... ]

What month and day was yours, anyway?

ah... small text fail, my old friend

[sleepytimegal]

Don't sell her so short. [ ... ] I'm not saying she doesn't have...issues, things to sort out, but... I dunno. Not everyone wins the family lottery. I don't think wanting to get away from a sad situation's...a horrible thing.

She understands love. No matter...how much she says she doesn't, and I think that's enough for now.

[matchbreaker]

You're blind if you think that's the case. She's working it out now, but she's not there yet. Like I told Hibiki, there's a different from starting on page 1 from starting on page fifty.

[ Or two hundred thirty three.

Still, she laughs it off with a wave of her hand ]

It's probably not going to be that much of a problem either way.

[evilfrenzy]

[He gives a small and light laugh at the way Yuri phrased that, now letting the ice clink against his glass as he shakes it. He really has nowhere to be apart from sleep at some point, so...]

I will stay however long you want me to.

[ninehundredlives]

I wish it weren't him. We could have taken it as our new creed, if it wasn't after something so awful.

[ninehundredlives]

...I think I should probably tell you to let it go. But I've never been any good at that, either.

[hesperos]

...Good.

[ Yuri murmurs this as he shifts more so his feet are now resting on the bed and he's back to lying on his side again in the exact same position as before. He's not this antsy all the time, really. ]

[ninehundredlives]

...okay. [It's quiet, but Susan considers it and nods.] Okay. We'll find another way. Or Jericho and Hilda can come and kill me their own damn selves.

[innocentloveholic]

[ She's so cute...... She's getting the urge to pinch her cheek.................... She's gonna do it, sorry Rin. ]

That's the spirit! We can start whenever you want. I'm not gonna force you into the kitchen tonight or anything, since people're still up and about and like, you're obviously not here for a bunch of company and all.

[chessturner]

Blood is life...you said that many times. I suppose in her case it may be a bit more literal than I expected.

[Or at least she supposes that's what a 'magic tonic' would be]

Vampires sound much more complicated than any of the mediocre stories I had heard. As usual, truth is stranger than fiction.

[evilfrenzy]

[This feels so strange to Rideaux. Hanging out with someone in their room as what he guesses is a comforting presence... He's never presented himself as an approachable person before, so he is not used to this at all. But something tells him that Yuri probably doesn't care that much.

He sets his empty glass down on the floor by the bed and then actually leans back so he's resting on his back beside Yuri. He's content to let the silence linger for a bit, just watching Yuri and letting his thoughts wander.]

...do you think you will be able to get yourself to sleep tonight?

[He wouldn't be surprised if Yuri was too restless after everything.]