when your thoughts turn sour make them sweet instead

[sentree]

[ That was...positively horrible? Ugh. After a few hours, notes are slipped under each person's door. They read, in a neat handwriting: ]

Banquet in Vanellope's honor in the dining room.

- Reyna, Sally and Thalia

[ You may not know what to expect when they say banquet, but it...really is one, isn't it? Thalia's main dish is cheeseburgers, so there are so many of those, but the table's positively covered in an arrangement of fruit and vegetables and all kinds of bread. Looks like they've gone all out.

What's really the cream of it all, though, are the desserts. Not a lot that's special, but there's a wide collection of cookies and cupcakes, and enough hot chocolate to feed an army. Maybe literally. There is a section that's particularly fancy, and that's the many candy apples, definitely courtesy of Sally. Along with a cute amount of peppermint bark. It seems like the food is unending, too, since there's the delicatible smell of baking cookies and simmering candy from the kitchen. Thalia and Sally are keeping you stocked, don't worry. ]

Comments

[higitusfigitusmigitusmum]

[None of the food will make Merlin feel better; all he wants is a smoke. Badly. He does join the others though in the dining room, but he can't look at anyone. The old wizard seems exhausted.]

[coulombslaw]

Feeling alright, Merlin?

[Well, obviously you're not alright, you look exhausted. Still...]

Come on, eat something. For Vanellope.

[forgottenfounder]

[At least someone will look at Merlin then.]

Merlin? Are you okay?

[theduck]

[After a good while of being depressed and dissociative, Donald figures that everyone else is probably in the same boat as him, so he should at least try to see if some of them are okay. Merlin is pretty easy to spot, and he’s very definitely out of it, so later on into the party Donald sits a couple of places away from him.]

Hey... you gonna be alright? Looked like that guy really got to you.

[sentree]

[ As promised by that sweet narration text, Thalia spends most of the remaining day in the kitchen. She's...actually a good cook? Huh. She's focusing on sweets, mostly, but she takes requests, too. Sweets and good old greasy diner food, mmm.

At some point, she takes a break, wandering around the dining room to check in on people. ]

You...doing okay after all of this?

[ It's a much more collected girl standing in front of you, compared to the one who punched Preston in the face and...probably would've kept going, had a direction not been given. Her right hand, however, is bandaged haphazardly with strips of cloth from the coat check. That you'll probably notice. Looks like she's done a few more rounds since the trial? ]

Kitchen

[coulombslaw]

Mind if I help you with some of those sweets? I know nothing about cooking, but...

[But it's something to do in her honor]

kitchen

[audentiae]

[ Reyna does walk in here to check on her. ]

I didn't think there was enough to make this much food in here, somehow.

dinging room

[forgottenfounder]

I guess I should say I'm doing alright? But, honestly I'm just trying to take all of this in right now.

[He still feels angry, and sick, and the check is resting on the table before him.]

dining room

[fairlypushy]

I could ask the same of you.

[She trusts that ya'll know what you're doing, fighting-wise, but also honey.]

dining room

[geomanctic]

...I have a younger sister. She reminded me of her, in some ways. [She's super not okay right now. She's not about to let it show, though.]


You were really cool back there.

[anasty]

[ Ursula is in the kitchen, trying to rustle up something to eat herself since she has no real taste for the sweets on offer.

Which, considering she's had plenty to drink, means she just dropped a package of bacon onto the floor. She blinks at it slowly, in open annoyance, before smacking it with a tentacle and using the suckers to raise it back up into her waiting hands. ]

You didn't see anything.

[ She warns whoever she heard just come in, at a grumble. ]

[darnsitall]

[Sally, meanwhile, seems peppier than ever. She drifts around the room giving out drinks: just some remarkably normal fruit punch, although it is served in cups with googly eyes on them. She seems eager to chat everyone up, even if they don't look like they want to talk.]

This really has been quite an experience, hasn't it? I'm almost sad it's over!

[What in the world could she be so happy about?]

[coulombslaw]

You should tone down the joy, Sally.

[Read the mood, gal. He thinks you may not be actively malicious about this, but...yeah, Sally, you really need to read the mood]

I'm sorry Sally

[grownmammal]

...Lady, I don't know what's wrong with you, but a kid died and ain't comin' back. This ain't a game where everyone just shows back up at the end and laughs 'cause we did a good job.

[ Someone needed to say it. They really did.

Of course it's Finnick. ]

[hallotween]

[she feels like they should be specifically eating candy. to, you know, honor the dead and everything.

but, for once in her life, she's really not interested in any of the candy in front of her. she just ends up picking at the outsides of candy apples, her expression one of increasing frustration. ugh. what a jerk.]

[sentree]

[ ...Well, Thalia ends up coming on over to her. ]

Not feeling a sweet tooth?

[nocasetoobig]

[Chip, quiet through most of the trial, is quiet here. He has a cup of hot chocolate - an actual cup, human sized -by him, which he's kind of leaning against.

He looks pretty tired. Can you blame him?]

[theduck]

...Are you actually gonna be able to drink from that?

[coulombslaw]

[Virgil hates the thought that he was wrong. There really was going to be someone who'd go as far as to kill a child to get what they wanted, and for such a ridiculous reason, too.

He did know the world was a rough place, but that was such a display of...he doesn't even know how to describe it.

The thought of doing something in Vanellope's honor is rather appealing. It won't bring her back to life, but...sometimes this is the best you can do for the dead]

Hey. Get over here and tell me something that cheers you up. Go ahead.

[Vanellope wouldn't have wanted them to be all mopey, right? At least he supposes so]

[forgottenfounder]

...[Looks around. Points to himself.]

Something that cheers me up?

[lusito]

[Joshua is indeed here in the dining room when he gets the note! However, he, uh... is noticeably quieter now and having coffee now that we're not in the bar anymore. Yes it's late, he doesn't care. Coffee is acceptable at any hour of the day.

He will chat if approached, but it also looks like he isn't going to stay long and likely as soon as whatever mod thing happens will make his way back to his room once he's finished with his coffee here. He'll still be awake for a little while longer though if anyone has a pressing need to speak to him for some reason after today's events.]

Dining Room

[coulombslaw]

How could you be so calm? I'm almost jealous you weren't affected by any of what happened.

[At least Virgil doesn't sound judgmental? But yeah, you were very level-headed, Joshua]

[grownmammal]

[ Finnick is just going to angrily eat for now. He's got burgers and he's sitting off on his own, and he seems to not be okay at all. Give him meat. ]

...At least somethin' good came out of this.

[ Even the fox is looking a bit haunted. ]

[hallotween]

[frowns]

What?

[audentiae]

[ Reyna can be found sort of... to the side of the party, a cup of hot chocolate in her hand. She's... quiet, contemplative. Also her fists are bandaged? That's probably fine.

Anyway, she doesn't look angry or anything, she can probably be approached. ]

[greatwidesomewhere]

[After a little bit, Belle wanders over, and gives Reyna a smile, tired smile.]

I have to say, I...I admire how calm you were throughout that whole thing. It's not easy to remain so collected.

[darthfanboy]

[kylo ren got fucking smashed at the trial. it's fine, it happens.

he won't be showing up to the party for that reason, but you could possibly knock on his door and see what happens.]

[lusito]

[...actually as a matter of fact we totally will see what happens on our way back to our own room

knock knock]

[fairlypushy]

[Amanda shows up slightly late, given that she may or may not have overextended herself by pulling the trick she did with Preston's jacket. She was physically exhausted, at any rate, and had to take a nap.

When she does show up, she grabs an obscene amount of desserts . . . and a single cheeseburger, mainly to point to is someone says she should eat "real food." Then she sits down in the dining room and starts eating.

At some point after she eats, she wanders into the lobby and stares at the bios for a long moment before setting a handful of candy down in front of Vanellope's bio. It's non-bloody don't worry.]

lobby

[hallotween]

[she happens to glance in on her way, and stops.]

Grave goods? [like the egyptians did.]

[greatwidesomewhere]

[Belle has never had a cheeseburger before, but once she arrives she realizes that she hasn't eaten a thing all day; once she'd dropped that carton of eggs this morning, food had sort of slipped her mind. Now, she sits off to the side, experimentally biting into the strange sandwich before her. It's...surprisingly good. Different. But she can't really enjoy it. She's too busy running through the day's events, trying to make sense of it all. Trying to process all the twists and turns.

If she sees someone looking for a seat, however, she's not going to turn down company; she'll gesture to the empty chair beside her.]

Please...be my guest.

[sentree]

[ Hello, Belle. Thalia's coming by to check on her, and...well, she can stay awhile. ]

How're you doing?

[theduck]

[Donald is sort of regretting not actually having anything to drink at the bar. He can't say he's... upset about Preston dying, but Preston as a person was just upsetting in general. That plus the fact that a kid died this week. It's kind of just now catching up to him, now that they're out of the trial and the high tensions have mostly dissipated.

He's not actually hanging around the party. He's a weird mixture of morose and frustrated right now and doesn't want to snap at anybody or drag everyone else down just because he feels shitty. If you do manage to find him, he's wandering between rooms aimlessly because he knows how to cope with his emotions in a healthy manner. Obviously.]

[tadaishi]

[Tadashi and Donald have never really talked (and didn't really, at the trial), so he has no idea what to say to him, but when he finds the duck wandering the floor, he's going to try to talk to him nonetheless.]

You doing okay?

Investigation...?

[grimgrinningghosts]

[The party begins to die down after a couple of hours, and people begin to disperse. While the party was sad, it probably help lift the mood of the remaining guests in the mansion. At least enough that tensions begin to lower, just a tiny bit.

But later that night, that's all shattered when suddenly there is a loud crashing sound, followed by a scream coming from the lobby.

Investigate?]

[coulombslaw]

[Virgil was going towards his room when he heard the scream. Alarmed, he started running to the lobby. He doesn't burst in, though. His instinct makes him stop at the entrance, peeking inside with caution, in case there's danger.

What does he see?]