how am i going to be an optimist about this?

[bloodisthicker]

[Almost as soon as the trial lets out, Tarrlok kind of... tears off to the kitchen, because he's mildly concerned that he's going to experience an adrenaline crash before he even starts cooking, and so he begins! He starts on some tea, marinating some beef for kebabs... but he feels like he's forgetting something...

...

OH SHIT. HE FORGOT TO PUT NOTES OUT OKAY FUCK HANG ON LET HIM REHASH SOMETHING HE THOUGHT WAS FUNNY AND SHOVE IT UNDER PEOPLE'S DOORS BEFORE ANYTHING BURNS]

FOOD IN EAT PLACE

[okay whew he makes it back to the kitchen. And so does Yuri at some point, actually! So... Tarrlok will be getting kebabs ready for everyone, since he was hungry for them, Yuri confirmed, and Cabanela said he'd have whatever he'd have. Speaking of, Cabanela shows up to make some chicken soup! And Yuri makes curry, teriyaki chicken, and steamed vegetables. So there's a little something for everyone. The food that gets put out isn't super fancy, but it's nice, and there's tea just like Elda wanted.

So have at, then!]

Comments

[heritrix]

I'm normally better about keeping it in check.

[There's something weird about the way she says that/how she talked before, like this isn't just a flare up, but something she should have control of.

But Rin shifts her arm awkwardly (it seems to bother her more than her throat or her head, strange as that is), and finishes what she was doing.]

Anyways, the good news is you'll probably have a goose egg for a couple of days. You can take the bandages off before the weekend is up; they're just there to give the cut a little time to heal.

[matchbreaker]

... Right. Anything I can do for you?

[ She asks this perhaps more flatly than she needed to, but she is going to wheel herself to look Rin directly in the eye. At this point it's... she has no idea what to feel now, but Rin is the one who saved her earlier, and is the one who she loves the most her now. ... Who isn't dead.

It's odd, to contextualize a world after she made those insane promises. ]

[heritrix]

[Rin blinks, not surprise, but like she's not sure what Elda is getting at here.]

Anything...? What, to help my arm?

[She can't think of anything else Elda would be asking about.]

[matchbreaker]

I.... yes, I suppose there is that. [ . . . ] Or anything else, I suppose?

[ . . . God, what does she even say here. ]

[heritrix]

[Well, Rin is never one to look a gift horse in the mouth. The ridiculous request she made of Tarrlok at the end of the trial is proof enough of that, so even while her first instinct is to say it's nothing, she does stop to think.

And maybe it is become her arm hurts that she thinks of it. The Magic Crest, her most precious possession... This one thing she inherited, in place of a sibling, only to sever its potential in her memories.

Frowning, she touches her arm and moves to put the supplies away.]

...do you remember the conversation we had the other day?

[matchbreaker]

I assume you mean the one about... family.

[ A family that's dead. ... Including Sayaka. ]

[heritrix]

When you say it like that, I feel inconsiderate.

[matchbreaker]

I asked. Go on.

[ she makes to poke Rin in the cheek. ]

[heritrix]

[Dammit, woman, your nails are sharp. Rin swats her hand away and frowns.]

My sister. [...] I'll ask you just this once: was it only a whim that made you declare you'd save her, or did you really mean that?

[matchbreaker]

[ Look, the fact is... ]

Does it matter? [ She smirks ] You're the one going on about my sincerity. I said it, and so I'll do it.

[heritrix]

[It's not Elda's sincerity she doubts.]

Zouken has lived a long time; his magics are likely very powerful. He's also a man so despicable even that fake priest was offended by his existence. I'd never heard him hate someone so viscerally before.

[matchbreaker]

Okay so it'll probably be hard, but out of here I'll have my strength and bats back.

[heritrix]

I'll have to test that, and gather more intel on him... [She looks away as she says this.] Honestly, I want to do it myself, but my hands may be tied by then. If I think you can do it, I'll leave it to you.

[matchbreaker]

You do know we can work together, right?

[heritrix]

I'd be glad if we can. Truthfully, though, I don't know if it's a possibility.

There are many things I have to see to when I get home. Unless I can take appropriate whatever ability the Coordinators have to control time and space, it's likely I won't be coming back to Japan for a while.

[matchbreaker]

... Why? Okay no, I'm not nosy. [ Exhale. ] What, so you're asking me to clear up your family drama while you're out?

[heritrix]

Frustrating as it is. But yes. For Sakura's sake, I'll rely on you to take out Zouken Matou.

[matchbreaker]

[ . . . Hah. Elda glances around the room again, flexing her nails a little bit. But then nods ]

Alright, I'll make sure I can manage that, then.

[ She... ]

I was going to say that'd be the first person I've actually killed, but I guess I've voted here every time.

[heritrix]

[...]

Don't be stupid.

[She brushes a lock of her hair behind her shoulder.]

Whether it's sending nine of our number to their deaths or not acting sooner ourselves, We're not decent enough people to mourn over what's already done.

[matchbreaker]

Don't tell me what I can and can't mourn, girl.

[ It's said perhaps more sharply than it need to be. But then, right now, she's still reeling from the fact that Sayaka is dead. She doesn't have any conte-- no, that's not true. She has plenty of context for it. But it's a coiling, dark feeling which seems to threaten to kill her at any moment. She curls up a little more on the bed, hugging her knees as she shifts up. ]

[heritrix]

...that's different from everything else.

[It's why she specified those two things, to separate it all. But fair enough.]

[matchbreaker]

[ Is it...? No, it probably is, but at the same time. ]

It's not like there's blood, you know. Could've been you I connected with.

[heritrix]

...Honestly, it always weirded me out.

[/cue inappropriate laugh track.]

I mean, I was happy for both of you, but how did the calling you mom thing even start? Even adopted kids take a little time to warm up, I thought.

[matchbreaker]

Oh this is not the time to start with that.

[ But from Elda's tone, she's not going to murderously silence Rin (as Rin knows she's well capable of) as much as just hold out a claw at the girl's face for a long moment before she relents and exhales. ]

... That fool of a girl never had a mother. I'm nice to her for a month and she just lets it slip at an emotional moment. In truth, it began with her wishful thinking.

[heritrix]

[I mean, it would seem more threatening if Elda hadn't literally just admitted she's never actually killed someone before. For a split second she looks unimpressed, but it's actually the talk of Sayaka that wipes that look from her face.

"...That fool of a girl never had a mother."]

...She told me about her mother and father a few weeks ago, when I was braiding her hair. Back then, she sounded so wistful for a happy family like mine—a mother like mine—that I didn't haven't the heart to elaborate more.

It must have been love she craved, more than anything.