It keeps happening

[forcegalactic]

[After that horror show of an execution, Mordecai is still restless from the investigation and trial. He has too much pent-up energy, and plenty of others are sure to be upset, too. Ashley was loved by nearly all of them, the trial was mentally draining, and that execution was crueler than it should have been.

Two hours after everyone has returned to their rooms, they'll find a note slipped under their doors.]

We can't go on with empty stomachs. There's food in the kitchen, and the dining room is always open if you need someone to talk to.

Please keep anything outside of eating and civilized conversation away from the dining hall. That room is meant to be a peaceful place for those of us that need it.

-Mordecai Benmont Jiminy

[Today, there's cream of tomato soup warming up on the stove with a set of bowls besides it. It's a more mindless dish to prepare than mashed potatoes, as much as Mordecai wants to vent his frustrations on the potatoes.

He decides to follow Cabanela's tradition and lights one more candle, and after some consideration, lights a sixth. Let those who cared about either girl pay their respects.]

Comments

[charcoalfeather]

[Like it or not, Rakka shows up to the after party eventually. Two hours is enough prep time to make any person gain enough strength to move. Everyone stops crying at some point.

She makes it out of her room and five, six, seven steps down the hallway before her knees give out from under her and she begins to sob. Her hands curl against the tile floor, eyesight blurring from tears as she crumples against the floor.

She won't notice anyone that approaches right off the bat.]

[blazeit]

[ Oh no

why this

why him

why tears

He is not equipped for this but he also feels like he probably shouldn't just turn around? What if somebody saw him just turn away from Rakka crying and judged him for being a huge fucking asshole? Besides, he wants to talk to her anyway, so... okay, he'll approach. He can do this. He's a big kid. ]

... Hey. [ "Stop crying please". ] Do you wanna. Sit down somewhere not on the floor maybe.


[ NAILED
IT ]

[charcoalfeather]

[You've picked a bad time to come across a crying girl, Bakugou. But it's not like Rakka was going to notice him there, at least until be decided to approach and speak out.

To her credit, Rakka manages to halt her crying for a moment, managing to pick herself up and look up at... Bakugou's knees. You are a very tall person, Bakugou, are you really sure that you're fourteen?

Sniffle.] H-hey... [Hiccup.] Umm....

[..That's a little funny way of asking her if she'd like a seat... but heck. She would nod to him, weakly, but a sign that she understood.]

[blazeit]

[ In his opinion, anytime he comes across a crying girl is liable to be a bad time, but he's also kind of not in tune with most emotions not anger, so there's that.

He's also fifteen maybe sixteen because nobody talks about aging in this series but either way, she's... probably not going to make it to his height in a year or two unless a serious miracle occurs. Anyway, he'll lend her a hand to support her a little, she doesn't seem entirely stable. ]

Do you wanna go to the dining hall? ... Or back to your room, I guess, if you prefer to be alone.

[ People usually prefer crying alone, right? He remembers the most humiliating about crying a whole five tears he couldn't take back wasn't that he cried them, but that people saw them. ]

[charcoalfeather]

[Anytime a girl is crying is a general guarantee that you're going to have a bad time, so you're not wrong, kid.

...Fifteen. That is correct. Rakka was fifteen too. Maybe - there was a bit of evidence to her age being that, but not much. She wouldn't remember it. Still, was it really fair that he got to be almost an entire foot taller then her? Just not fair, and something else she'd love to focus on while she's on the floor here.

Her gaze lifts further up to his hand, and that face.]

...I... I-I was going down there anyways. [Which counts as an answer. Basically. Bakugou's already seen her crying several times by now. It's cool.

Despite the way she looked like a stiff breeze would topple her, she reached up and took his hand, slowly managing to rise up again.]

[blazeit]

[ Dining hall it is, then. They can walk slowly, he has something he wants to say to her that is probably best not heard by others anyway. ]

... Hey, I'm going to ask you to do me a favor. Don't go outside alone at night if you can help it. If you really have to, come get me and I'll go with you.

[ There's a pause. ]

Or somebody else that you trust, I guess.

[ It's so strange, the fact that that trial simultaneously made him feel like he should be protecting others, but also made him feel an uncomfortable awareness that he, too, could probably be motivated to kill under the right circumstances. ]

[charcoalfeather]

[She would like it if they walked slowly. Here, Bakugou, enjoy Rakka leaning against you as they walk. It's for support - the physical kind, though possibly the emotional kind is needed too.]

A... favor? [Some mild confusion before he got to explaining. It was as... idea he had there. One that she couldn't find anyway to argue about.]

....W-why?

[Her tone was honest, showing blank confusion as she turned her gaze up at him. It didn't finally click with her until her next sentence.]

Why would I... O-oh...

[Because she could die.]

[blazeit]

[ Well, they could all die, but that doesn't make it better... ]

... We need to start doing something to make sure that people aren't baited into killing others anymore.

[ But Bakugou doesn't want to and isn't equipped to try to do that for a group of people, so he'll start with just one person. ]

I don't know what else to do. [ It's blunt, but better to be upfront, right? ] But it's better than nothing.

[charcoalfeather]

[Nothing could make it better.]

....But, what can we do about that? I know we need to do something, but...

[What could they do to make it so the Conductor didn't bother them. At the least, a spark of inspiration slipped into Rakka's eyes.]

Maybe we need to do what some of us talked about; more people spending time together, instead of being alone.

[blazeit]

... What, you mean like parties and group dinners and crap like that?

[ "Crap" was probably not the right word for him to use there, as it sounds more irreverent than he intended... ]

Yeah, that's probably better than doing nothing.

[ ... He doesn't imagine people will be up for that right away, but maybe in a few days. ]

[charcoalfeather]

[A small, sad nod.] Umm, yeah, "c-crap" like that. [she's too drained to realize that swearing is still not the best thing for her.]

....I don't know what else we can do. I've been trying to think about it, but every time, my mind just goes back to the trial...

[And to Asuka. That unfortunate image was burned into her brain by now.]

[blazeit]

... Yeah. I think it's gonna be a while before we collectively get our minds off of that huge fucking mess.

[ Even he keeps thinking about it... ]

But that's probably all the more reason to do other stuff. It'd be a distraction, I guess.

[charcoalfeather]

...A distraction, but for how long?

[Rakka hated having these sorts of thoughts, and she hated it even more when she had to voice them.]

All of you... probably have lives you need to get back to. You can't be here forever.

[blazeit]

I'm not really game to trade a couple weeks of freedom for another life... but I see your point.

[ Everything's just stopgap solutions, isn't it... ]

Although you should really include yourself in that too, you know?

[charcoalfeather]

[There's never really been a solution to any of it. They'd just been trying to prevent things for three weeks now, and still failed. Spirits were kind of low at the moment.

And it really showed as Rakka's head dipped, her voice breaking a bit with the first word.]

I guess, but... I still don't know what I am, or what I'm supposed to be doing. I remembered that I'm a Haibane, and we have special laws with Humans, but that's all.

[blazeit]

[ That doesn't make a lot of sense out of context, but that's okay. ]

... That's just what you are, though, isn't it more important who you are?

[charcoalfeather]

It is.

[It doesn't make a lot of sense to Rakka in context, unfortunately.]

... I don't remember who I am. In here, I know that I'm Rakka, but nothing else about myself is coming to me.

[heymcfly]

[ Marty comes across the scene shortly after Rakka starts to cry, and it's enough to get him started all over again. He sniffs, before resting on his knees beside her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. ]

I gotcha. [ His voice is awfully scratchy. ]

[charcoalfeather]

[Rakka is mostly unresponsive at first, letting Marty easily move her if he wanted to. She sniffles and hiccups and is generally a mess, but she's still trying to get it together.]

I-I'm sorry... I s-shouldn't be crying...

[heymcfly]

No, no. [ Marty puta a hand on her back, and a solemn smile. ] with the shit we've seen I'd kinda be worried if you weren't crying to be honest. [ especially with the most recent execution... ]

I cried and shit. Honestly.

[charcoalfeather]

.... You did? [Well, now that just makes her feel worse. But she is still moving with Marty now, instead of being half-dragged along.]

I can't believe... Asuka would... and then the Conductor did that...

[heymcfly]

[ Marty shuddered, despite himself. The image of her hanging there, knowing she was alive, it was awful. A memory that would be burned into his head for the rest of his days. ]

Least on the good side we're remembering stuff, right?

[charcoalfeather]

[It hurt. It hurt a lot.

Rakka tried to nod weakly. It looked less like a nod though, and more like she was rolling her head on her shoulders.]

Y-yeah. I mean, it's in bits and pieces, so are we learning anything? I still feel like there's.... so much I don't know.

[heymcfly]

[ He nods, frowning as he looked down to his feet. ] It's really weird.

It gets my friend involved too though. How does he even know who the Doc and Biff are?! It's like he can read our minds or something. I really can't stand that.

...what if he hurts them?

[charcoalfeather]

[She lets out a small gasp.]

M-my... my parents... I can't even remember their faces. I wonder, if they even care for me right now. But if the Conductor knows who they are, at all, then...!

[You're asking this to the wrong girl, Marty.] I don't want that to happen.