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

[sleepytimegal]

I guess...I get you. But I've reasoned with some...irrational people before, so...I kind of want to keep trying.

[matchbreaker]

[ Yes, yes she will. Sayaka has yet to get it as near as she can tell. The girl's still jittery, thinking about it in terms of repayment, or as if considering the possibility of rejection.. She'll learn, but to watch it is frustrating, particularly when the girl's foisted such a title as "mother" on her.

She'll go back to playing now, clearly considering this the end of the conversation. ]

Be good for her though, girl.

[matchbreaker]

I'm still going to make you lick this honey off.

[ But for now she's content to smear it on her floor to try to make it feel a little better. But with the door secure, the woman, laughing some, crouches down in front of the foot of the bed. She smiles up at Rin. She knows it's got to be one of - no, probably the worst ... no, a shadow of the worst day of the girl's life. There's a confluence of circumstances which have to make just about everything painful. Truthfully, there's not much she can do. ]

It can wait, though.

[ninehundredlives]

Would you have actually told somebody that about their family dying?

[ninehundredlives]

Extra hard.

[innocentloveholic]

You were just soooo cute, I totally couldn't help it!!!

[ aligula that's not an excuse and you know it!?!?! she's letting go though, clapping her hands together instead. ]

Soooooorry~ [ she doesn't sound sorry at all. ] Don't drop my cake or I'll totally never forgive you!

[ it'd be your fault you insufferable pink thing............ ]

[ninehundredlives]

It shouldn't. And if it does, all you have to do is put a lid over it and smother it. The important thing is not to add water, or it'll shoot up everywhere.

Grilled cheese is easy, though. You only need one pan.

[heritrix]

Potential. [...] There was a lot she hadn't experienced yet. She could have had a good life.

[heritrix]

[Blue eyes flicker to Elda's smiling face, and there's a little more light in them. Just a little. Then she rests her head on the bed again.

She opens her mouth to say something, and it hangs partially open for just a moment, as if unsure. It closes soundlessly, then opens again.]

...the night father was killed, mother was badly injured too.

[matchbreaker]

[ . . . Oh.

Oh, she's - She falters a little, her gaze not averting, but her expression softening. ]

... From that wording, she did not die.

[heritrix]

[Rin shakes her head.] Not intentionally. Emiya-kun's family did die, probably... He lost everything in that fire ten years ago, that Kirei and I were talking about. I didn't know that at the time.

[She'd planned an entire day to cheer him up, and he constantly held himself back from enjoying it, like he didn't think he deserved it. That frustrated her, and... Yeah, she very much did tell the kid with severe PTSD to get over it.]

[heritrix]

[/WHINING]

Ohhh, like I haven't been humiliated enough today! Are you a queen, or some kooky aunt?!

[Rin, how does cheek pinching top having your biggest trauma dragged out and exacerbated in front of everyone, that was god awful.

Spoilers, it doesn't, Rin's just getting extra worked up about this to cover for being emotional.

Everything with Kirei was horrible, but Aligula was so nice bringing this to her. Rin's holding back tears as she straightens out her plate, saving the cake from falling on the floor. She's got the worst case of emotional whiplash right now, and can only desperately try to cover for it.

More cake. The solution to this is to definitely whine about cheek pinching, and stuff her face with more cake.]

[bloodbiter]

...That is a good way to think of it, too. She was among the younger people here. She should have had the chance to go home safely.

[bloodbiter]

Is that so? Doesn't water usually smother a fire?

[Well, regardless.]

I'm ready to begin when you are.

[bloodbiter]

I'm glad you've had that kind of experience... That you were able to reason with them.

[And that's sincere, too. She honestly means it.]

But - he said he did not fear even death, nor did he value the lives of others. For someone like that, what could we possibly use as leverage?

[evilfrenzy]

[For what it's worth, Rideaux isn't judging Yuri any for it. He's been through his own fair share of sleepless nights.]

I'll fetch something to help, once the alcohol has worked its way through you a bit.

[He's being a responsible doctor here, even though everyone is well-aware of the dangers of mixing medicine and alcohol by now.]

I'm afraid that is the best I can do to assist in that regard, unless there is anything else that you would like me to do.

[ninehundredlives]

It's because of the oil. We don't need to use oil for this, though, just melt some butter in the pan to start.

[grilled cheese GRILLED CHEESE here we go]

[ninehundredlives]

...I see.

[She doesn't even have all the context and it already sounds really insensitive. But if she didn't know, well.]

People sometimes keep that sort of thing private.

[bloodbiter]

Alright.

[Grabbing a stick of butter, she looks towards Susan.]

How much?

[sleepytimegal]

Of course. That one... That one I'm determined to do.

[sleepytimegal]

I...don't know. But there has to be something. At least- I don't wanna believe there's nothing. Even after...it's all too late.

[bloodbiter]

...You and I come from very different places, I suppose. I have had the opposite experience.

[heritrix]

[Rin shakes her head just slightly.]

It was a near thing. Someone strangled her, but she was resuscitated. Kirei got to her in time... [Her face scrunches up a bit speaking those words, as if they taste wrong on her tongue.] She was just never the same afterwards, from then until her death.

[...]

It's not like I didn't know he was a twisted person. [She looks down at the pictures in her hands.] I could barely contain myself three weeks ago, when I realized he probably saved her just to see her suffer longer.

[heritrix]

It's okay to say it, you know. [She... smiles at Susan. An honest to goodness smile.] I've had bad things happen to me too, but I don't give much consideration to others.

I'm selfish like that. I'm a terrible person. Kirei calls it machine-like, rather than cruel.

[And to her, that might as well be the same thing.]

[heritrix]

Young or old doesn't really matter either, does it? Susan has had a rough life... She's older, but she deserves to be happy as much as anyone. Tarrlok too.