nobody's in the mood for recording 6.9: the post-trial garden tea "party"

[tsunderine]

The flowers that bloomed at the end of the trial are ones that only seem to prove, continuously, that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Of course, it's only natural that many of the people are full of mixed emotions - grief? sadness? anger? frustration? maybe something else completely different?

But it's there, along with the end of the week.

Miasma still continues to be around, of course - but make use of the fact that this might be the last time it'll be at a low level one before it shoots up again.


Well.

Life continues as usual, disregarding any feelings that any of the house's occupants might be feeling.

So what are you doing these next two days?

Comments

[golden_dream]

Haku.

[This was new... and actually rather interesting.]

That's what I was going to ask from you. Are you bothered by what happened...?

Being accused, I mean.

[dreamshielder]

[He'll consider that one for a moment.]

I suppose it would have bothered me more if the way Morrison had died looked more like something I could cause.

[Just being blunt here. Would have been much more of a headache.]

And what about yourself?

[golden_dream]

...It was the first time I ever cursed being born with small feet.

[A little bitterness creeps in.]

I'm just glad I was believed, after a little questioning.

[dreamshielder]

[Bitter as it may be, it still gets Haku to smile a little.]

I hadn't given much thought to the size of my feet before this myself.

[But guess there's a first time for everything....?????]

Was this the first time you've experienced something like this?

[golden_dream]

God, yes. Even the work I did at the Foundation was nothing like this. Though I suppose it was just a matter of time...

[dreamshielder]

The Foundation is distressingly good at providing agents with novel experiences, isn't it.

[Nope, not bitter or anything. Turning back to his laundry and giving it an unnecessarily hard scrub.]

[golden_dream]

...I'm so sorry, Haku.

[Ninja or not, he always seemed so gentle... he didn't deserve this. Neither did she, of course.]

...Were you and Yuri... [a pause as she searched for the right word,] friends, at all?

[She had to know if she would suffer more judgment from her interactions with Yuri before the conversation continued.]

[dreamshielder]

[He looks up at her with a smile.]

There's nothing you should apologize for. I'm simply not as prepared as I would have liked. That much can be said for all of us.

And no, I wasn't close to her. We only ever spoke during meetings.

[golden_dream]

[Oh thank god. She let out an inward sigh of relief.]

Yes, the same. No good can come from magic, it seems...

Not to speak ill of the dead, of course.

[dreamshielder]

The dead are dead. Speak of them however you wish.

[Well. Not that the dead here can't exist in some capacity.]

Magic can be quite the source of trouble, yes. It's unfortunate that they both perished for it.

[golden_dream]

...They might speak back, so I'll exercise some restraint.

[A little shrug.]

Do you remember what happened when we first came in to the house? I heard something interesting... the other day.

About a certain...

[She mouths the word: "RO-BOT"]

[dreamshielder]

The first day here was difficult to forget.

[What with that massacre and all. But he glances up from his laundry curious. He gives the laundry room a lookaround -- admittedly pointless because he can't see ghosts for shit, but then taps at his ear and motions for Rosa to come closer.]

[golden_dream]

[Her eyes dart around wary even though she's the same way. She speaks:]

She distinctly said she didn't feel pain that first day. Now? She does.

[dreamshielder]

[He considers this for a moment, then moves to turn on a faucet. He's hoping the combination of the running water in the background and his own hushed tones might make this harder to eavesdrop on.]

She said she's gained the capacity for quite a few new things. Wrath, hatred.... [A beat.] But what do you find significant about pain?

[golden_dream]

She described it specifically as a constant, sharp, piercing pain.

...Can you think of any natural wound that would cause that? It sounds like something eating her up from inside...

What if there was something to distract her, or even relieve her?

[dreamshielder]

Hm. You think it's literal.

[Not that this would be surprising. A lot of things have been pretty literal it seems.]

It could be something akin to phantom limb, perhaps. [Since we're going for literal here.] But I'm not certain how one can be distracted from something like that.

[golden_dream]

...Well if she thinks it's real, it becomes real, doesn't it?

[she bites her lip in thought.]

If the same was true for the first one, that's a theme.

[dreamshielder]

[He'll consider this for another moment.]

Let me ask something, Ushiromiya-san. In pursuing this line of thought .... are you hoping to quell the miasma's rage and despair, or simply distract it long enough to find a way out of this house?

[golden_dream]

[She shrugs.]

I'm hoping to live a little longer than I am right now... No more or less than that. Whichever works to achieve that is fine with me.

Oh, but you don't need to be so formal, Haku-san! Calling me Rosa is fine with me.

[dreamshielder]

[A nod at that correction.]

Just Haku is fine by me as well.

In any case, keeping other options in mind beyond trying to locate the room Turner described would be in everyone's best interests. I'll keep that in mind as well going forward.

[golden_dream]

...Yeah, that.

[whistles...]

You think that's possible? I mean, between you, and me?

[dreamshielder]

[That's getting a few beats of silence before finally she gets a firm answer.]

Yes.

But I doubt we'll like the cost.

[golden_dream]

...I'm not liking the cost even if we don't get there.

But, I guess... from a point of view, we're lucky to have even made it this far.

[dreamshielder]

[His expression softens at that.]

You're right. It's already been quite the cost.

[Honestly he keeps forgetting that for some people here it may be their first time seeing someone die and in such violent ways.]

By the end of this, many of us will have become masters at killing our own hearts the way ninja are trained to do.

[golden_dream]

My heart, maybe. My stomach...

[She rubs her head a little.]

Anyway, I'm glad we have you with us. ...Speaking of which, maybe I can do something for you? If you want something else to wear besides that uniform they handed out.