This Used to Be the Life but I Don't Need Another One

[stenchus_rodentus]

[Well Ratigan couldn't care less about what happened, but he really didn't get his fill of partying from the bar and everyone simpering wasn't how he wanted it to go down. Soon after the trial little notes are slipped beneath each door.]

You are cordially invited to a mourning party in the lobby. RVSP ASAP.

[In the lobby Thalia will have moved some tables to the lobby and provide her choice dish of cheeseburgers along with a smattering of bread, fruits, and vegetables. Reyna will have brought along hot chocolate galore.

For those that aren't your thing? Well in honor of the recently departed there's pine tree shaped cookies (Thanks Thalia.) and triangle crackers with cheese (thanks...Ratigan?). And there's a helping of drinks if the bar wasn't enough for you wink wink. Ratigan has every intention of making this a party.]

Comments

[tadaishi]

[Tadashi...sort of attends the afterparty. Most of the time he's there he's hanging around the kitchen with Thalia or over by the bios. He didn't talk to Merlin much, but he and Dipper were supposed to find a way out...and he never got to find out much about Gravity Falls, either.

And Dipper wasn't much younger than Hiro.

The rest of the time, he can be found sitting in a corner of the ballroom with a plateful of snacks and a mug of tea or on the back of the diving board in the pool being asocial.]

pool

[lusito]

I would be careful if I were you: after all, we wouldn't want another "misunderstanding" to happen if you slip and fall in here.

[Hi Tadashi how's it going]

[tadaishi]

[He pulled a dead kid out of a pool and then discovered the other dad in the group killed an old man, that's how he's doing.

i.e. terribly.]

I'll be careful, I promise. So what brings you out here?

[lusito]

I was curious to see how you were doing after today's turn of events.

[He almost adds a shitty remark here about boredom, but then he seems to remember that part about Tadashi pulling the dead kid out of a pool today, so for once, he has the tact to not say such things. For now.]

[tadaishi]

I'd be lying if I said I was fine. I know it's not realistic, but each week I spend here, I hope that we'll find a way to work together and get ourselves out.

[He pauses and looks down at the pool.]

And each week, someone snaps and undoes any progress made. It's frustrating.

[lusito]

Indeed. It can be difficult to understand others and how they think, especially in this type of situation.

["Difficult", but not impossible. The Joshua that exists now would like to think so.]

The problem is that no one trusts each other here as much as they say or think they do. And that's going to keep causing people to make the kind of mistakes that brought us to that elevator today.

[tadaishi]

Difficult, but it's possible.

[They're thinking along the same lines, clearly.]

Yeah, that's exactly the problem. I can't even say I'm not a part of it...there are people here I'm afraid to be alone for too long with. [Joshua's not one of them, he does trust Joshua even if he's a brat.] And you've seen how eager everyone is to fight at both trials so far.

bios

[fairlypushy]

[Amanda's lighting new candles when she finally notices Tadashi. She stands, dusting off her jeans.]

. . . do you want to leave something?

Re: bios

[tadaishi]

Um...I don't have anything to leave right now. It's nice of you to set up a memorial for them...

[fairlypushy]

I don't like to forget people. [There's something layered in that statement, but she doesn't dwell on it.] Um. If you're not busy, could you teach me how to do something?

[She figures Tadashi is the one person here who could teach her how to make a fancy mobius strip.]

[tadaishi]

[And he's not going to point it out.]

That's a good thing. I'm sure they would appreciate it. Except Northwest...I feel he might not even find a memorial not set up by him to be substandard.

[Especially one set up by anyone here.]

I'm not busy right now, what can I help with?

[fairlypushy]

That's why I just left a candle for him. [Also he doesn't deserve a memorial but.] I was wondering you if you knew how to make a mobius strip? I think I'm doing it wrong and I figured that would be better for Dipper than this.

Haha, I just noticed an extra 'not' in that last tag.

[tadaishi]

Oh, yeah. I can definitely help with that. Möbius strips are pretty cool...what were you thinking of making it out of?

[Paper's easiest, but if she wants it to be fancier, cloth is an acceptable substitute. If she wants a real challenge, she's welcome to try to physically represent Euclidean space.]

ballroom

[greatwidesomewhere]

[After a little while, Belle realizes she hasn't seen Tadashi in awhile; she feels it might be prudent to check in on him. Everyone handles grief in different ways, she knows, and since she's usually the one squirreling herself away to deal with her emotions, she's pretty certain that he might be doing the same.

She goes wandering, notebook clutched in her hands, until she finds him up in the ballroom, sitting in the corner much the same way she'd been sitting in the lobby with her food and her writing. Giving him a weak smile, she comes up and stops just short of him.]

You're not in a social mood either, it seems.

[tadaishi]

[By the time she gets there, he'll find him literally hanging--

--nah, that's mean. He's not that depressed, yet. Though he'll apparently be asleep when she walks up, until he hears her footsteps get closer and opens his eyes. He's notably wearing slightly different clothes than he was at the trial, since the others were mostly wet.]

You caught me. I would be, but I thought I'd leave everyone to mourn on their own. How are you holding up?

[greatwidesomewhere]

[WOW TADASHI DON'T PLAY HER LIKE THIS.

She doesn't realize that he's been asleep until she's right up close, and she covers her mouth to stifle a startled note of laughter.]

I'm sorry to wake you. I'm...fine. Fine as anyone can be, anyway. I think maybe it hasn't all hit me just yet.

[tadaishi]

You didn't. I'm glad it was you, though, and not our host. I don't know if the 'you must sleep only in your room' applies all the time, and I don't want to be the example if it does.

[He sits up straighter in his chair so he's more comfortable to talk to her.]

It's a lot to deal with at once...

[greatwidesomewhere]

I like to think I'm a little bit more trustworthy than that...that dishonorable, awful man.

[Belle is obviously not a huge Rod fan, in case Tadashi hasn't noticed.]

It is. It's...I've been trying to let it wash over me, like it's a bad dream, but I'm being reminded all to often that it's real.

[tadaishi]

You are. Our host doesn't do a great job at acting like he deserves anyone's trust.

[Honestly, Tadashi's waiting for her to throw a punch at Rod eventually.]

Hah...I think a few of us are. It's hard to process this kind of thing...and we barely even get a break before it happens again. But we'll find a way out...eventually...this place isn't escape-proof.

Pool

[coulombslaw]

Do you think it'd be against the rules to block this room's entrance? This is too dangerous of a place to leave it open.

[tadaishi]

I don't think anyone's going to try to clean it anytime soon, if ever, so it can't hurt to try.

[The worst that'll happen is someone will remove their barricade.]

[coulombslaw]

You're right. [Virgil examines the door] Leaving a barricade inside won't work, so doing it outside will have to be enough. Any ideas?

[tadaishi]

We could stack some of the tables and chairs from the ballroom. Wedge them in the door so they're difficult to move later?

[coulombslaw]

That should work. Anyone would stop trying to get here if it's a hassle to get in -- I know I would stop. It wouldn't be worth the effort.

[Besides, having something to do with his hands in these awful times is always nice]

[tadaishi]

There isn't really anything anyone would need in here, so no one should need to take down a barricade. Help me out with one of those tables.

[He's going to go pick the closest one to the pool and start dragging it over.]