This is fine. It's fine. We're fine.

[sharpasanarrow]

[Well that was.

Something.

Underneath everyone’s door they’ll find a slip of paper, in shaky calligraphy, that reads:

INVITATION

Meet in the Dining Room.

Do not bring alcohol of any sort.

Upon arrival into the Dining Room it’s clear that this is very much...not a party.

The center of the room is cleared of all tables, and instead has all the chairs arranged in a circle, facing inwards. On the tables pushed to the side are jugs of water, cups, plates of saltines, and several hastily-made pamplets that read on the front ”How to cope with Child homicide” that contains an advisory list:

1. Try not to think about it.
2. Do not get hysterical.
3. Crying is permitted, but keep it within a reasonable volume. (For the consideration of fellow mourners)
4. Maintain civility
5. Do not plunder the belongings of the deceased.
6. No drinking or gambling your sorrows away. Set an example.

Standing in front of one of the chairs already is Mr.Arrow. He clears his throat as people start to slowly come in.]

I gathered you all here because I believed it would be conductive to group morale if we all worked through our feelings regarding recent events. Talk about your feelings with one another, but not with me.

[He steps back a little, out of the circle of chairs, in what seems to be an invitation for people to sit down and discuss with one another.]

Comments

[tanukey]

[Rocket is... not exactly sneaking in, except that he's completely sneaking in. He's going to quietly enter and place what are obviously a few bottles pilfered from the bar behind the jugs of water, making a token effort to keep them out of sight. They've all been given extra paper labels reading "100% Non-Alcoholic Vinegar"]

[Rocket himself is going to keep mostly to the edge of things, drinking a cup of what is almost assuredly not water.]

[scrapplinghook]

[Their early interactions were a bit of a rough start, but with everything going on, it's all water under the bridge for Mabel. So when she sees Rocket sitting off to the side, she'll just... plop down next to him.]

... Hey.

[tanukey]

Hey.

[He takes another drink.]

...You're probably too young for booze, right? Which this isn't, if Arrow asks.

[scrapplinghook]

[Okay, that gets Mabel to crack a smile.]

If he finds out, it won't be from me. [She's used to covering stuff up for Stan!] Do you... always drink after stuff like this happens?

[tanukey]

...Not JUST after stuff like this.

[scrapplinghook]

[She knows, bud. Stan may try and hide the booze around her and Dipper, but she can connect the dots with that smell. Plus, she's snuck inside biker bars before!]

Well I mean.... when stuff like this happens, do you always drink?

[tanukey]

Nah, this- this is usually a way to kill time. Get smashed, do some betting, that kind of thing.

[Get into a fight with your friends and threaten to shoot them, no big.]

Not much to do BUT kill time here, seems like.