From the white lights, the darkness comes...

[sageking]

Today's trial was a mixture of regret, anger, guilt, and second-thoughts. Perhaps some people realized that situations and choices weren't to be black or white. However, decisions were made, and whether it'd be through people keeping secrets or causing a ton of chaos...everyone could probably agree on one thing:

They've made their choices and no matter what happened in the coming days, they will lie in the beds they made for themselves. Whatever that should mean for each and every single person still living here.

That being said, there's still new choices to make. In the days to come, what will those be?

Comments

[cw_suicide]

[at some point after the trial, Dazai can be found zoned out in the smoking lounge. smoking. as you do. also the zoning out seems to be directed at the two empty, clean glasses at the end of the table that he found during investigation.

there's still work to be done and he's feeling the time crunch but also.

a smoke break.

many smokes break.]

[onemolife]

[ Is he sitting in the smoking lounge? ]

[cw_suicide]

[yep. just sitting in some lounge chair or another.]

[onemolife]

[ Time to go over there and just sit mostly in his lap. Part of his booty is parked on whatever space is left in the seat. ]

[cw_suicide]

[it breaks him out of his funk a bit.

then the non-cigarette hand is petting his hair mechanically. it's how WWX does for him so that's how this works, right?]

After a small break, I'll need to borrow your skills again.

[need ghosts come hither papers]

[onemolife]

[ He'll just lay his head on Dazai's shoulder.

He'll hum in response. ]

To look for his journal?

[cw_suicide]

Mm... stealth op.

[boardreversal]

[There's a knock at the doorway.

It's Battler, leaning in and looking right at him.]

...

[Oddly, he...can't think of anything to say.

But...he still feels like he should be here, for some reason.]

[cw_suicide]

[he glances up and over, looking vaguely nonplussed to see Battler.

he gives a small wave.]

[boardreversal]

[...

He comes over, taking a seat - of course, respecting distance as well.]

...

['Why is it....so hard to talk?
I don't know what to say.
....Did I,....ever know?
Or did I just...pretend that I did?']

...I didn't take you for a smoker, Dazai-san.

[cw_suicide]

Habitually, I'm not.

But I have a lot of vices, and anything harder than this wouldn't help the overall goal, now would it?

[there's a kind of wry edge to his reflexive smile]

[boardreversal]

...Yeah, I guess you're right.

[He is so tempted to grab something, anything, that's left from the liquor cabinet....

Hell, maybe even that poisoned whiskey, if it's all that's left.

But he doesn't. He doesn't, because it'd be too easy to lose himself in it again.

And ultimately, he doesn't want to be his grandfather.]

And - the goal is...to find Sakaguchi-san's notebook, right?

[cw_suicide]

That's the immediate one.

I do still have a promise to another dead friend to keep, also.

[he's doing his besto but people keep dying anyway. haa.]

[zweivoltage]

Somehow, I thought you'd be there.

[The words sound like it should be a reprimand, but the words were more thoughtful, as he casts a glance at the empty glasses]

... You make it think for a moment I'm back on the airship.

[cw_suicide]

Airship?

[a smile comes across his face but it doesn't quite reach his eyes--these kinds of smiles never do, Ky might notice by now]

I don't know about that but this room reminds me of times long past, in a way. Bigger, though.

[almost too big for how empty it is]

[zweivoltage]

My company, like many in the Holy Order, use airships as our primary means of getting from place to place.

[He's starting to recognize it, a smile that doesn't match the eyes]

A lot of my men tend to smoke on the decks... it's kind of a strangely nostalgic room.

[cw_suicide]

I'm usually not a smoker, but it can help calm the nerves when I need to avoid drinking too heavily.

cw: implied underage drinking

[zweivoltage]

[He just makes a face at drinking]

I don't think I can touch another bottle any time soon.

[Look, he's a lightweight]

cw: outright stated underage drinking

[cw_suicide]

I'd say "good, it'll stunt your growth" but I've been drinking since I was sixteen.

[so it's fake news.]

In any case, continue to stick to your convictions.

[accessorytomurder]

[Arms loop around him from behind, loose but... decidedly lacking in hesitation, by this point.]

...hey. How's, um, Wei-kun holding up?

[In her infinite mercy, she doesn't ask after him directly from the start.]

[cw_suicide]

[she knows him so well already, wow. he just takes care to make sure the cigarette won't be in the way, even going as far as putting it out before reaching up to her.]

About as well as can be expected. Still wrapping his head around everything.

I think he was more caught off-guard than I was...

[last part said kind of quietly because. he sure. saw it coming. just not the details]

[accessorytomurder]

Mm.

[One of her hands slips up to comb idly through his hair, more soothing fluffing than actual order going on.]

You're... a pretty guarded guy, you know. But, um, tensing before a blow lands... doesn't mean it doesn't hurt, just the same.

[She squeezes him, gently.]

Don't... Don't use his pain to try and blot out or downsize your own. You know that isn't fair to either or you.

[cw_suicide]

Houdini supposedly died because a fan punched him too hard before he could tense.

Or was that they ruptured his already inflamed appendix? I forget.

[but she's not wrong, and he knows it. he does already have the experience of the death of a friend coming without warning to compare it against and the truth is... they both. hurt. so intensely.]

... I told him, when he volunteered, someone was going to use that as a reason.

[and then Date had to go and actually use those words.]

I was still angry at him about the hesitating on speaking up about the votes, too. And yet, he still knew... I'd help him...

[he would have, too, if only the house would have let him!]

[accessorytomurder]

[She tilts his head, still terribly, terribly gentle with him, and presses her lips to his temple.]

Of course you would.

[Another one, on his forehead.]

Of course he did. Being angry isn't an end to anything, it's... it's transient.

[His cheek, softly.]

...no matter what his voice is used to say, next week, no amount of anger or miasma is going to change or undo the friendship you built together.

[She falters, briefly.]

In... in some ways, the two of you are a lot alike. You treasure other people so... so, so much more than your own selves.

[cw_suicide]

[the last bit draws a small, strained laugh from him mostly because the second-to-last thing has a lump in his throat strangling him for a moment.

he tugs on her arm a bit in a bid to get her to come around to the other side.]

Maybe so. People who drink to the stray dogs are a bit like that.