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

[bayoublues]

[This kid took Noby's death pretty hard, huh? Louis has pretty much drained the entire room's supply of saltines when he notices the boy, curled up in his chair.

Comforting people always made him rather uncomfortable, since he never knew what to say. Still holding half a sleeve of crackers, he slowly makes his way over to Pinocchio.]

...Hey. How you doin'?

[Clearly, he wasn't doing well, but Louis is going to ask that anyways.]

[madeofpine]

[He curls in on himself a little tighter, chin resting atop his knees. It takes a while for him to respond.]

...Bad...

A lotta awful stuff just happened.

[bayoublues]

[He almost offers Pinocchio a saltine before he remembers he can't eat. Right. So he just nibbles on the corner for a little bit.]

...You can say that again.

[...how is he supposed to comfort this child who just had two of his friends killed? Think. Think, Louis.]

It, um. It won't do any good if...if you just keep it all inside, y'know? You can let your feelings out--heck, if you're mad, you're allowed to be mad.

[Yeah, this is getting somewhere.]

[madeofpine]

I dunno. I'm not really mad anymore, but I miss Noby.

[It's kind of hard to pin down his feelings outside of that at the moment, really.]

And I guess I'm kinda worried.

[bayoublues]

[Louis tries to pat Pinocchio on the back. Which is weird because he's made of wood.]

Worried? 'bout what?

[He probably knows what he's worried about, but...he wants to give the kid a chance to vocalize his thoughts.]

[madeofpine]

When Randy was tellin' us stuff about our friends he just said some stuff that confused me, I guess and I... I'm worried he could hurt some of my friends from home, too. He seemed to know stuff about 'em.

[bayoublues]

Maybe he was...maybe he was tryin' to throw you for a loop? He tried hurtin' a bunch of people. I'm...I'm sure whatever happened, it wasn't...y'know.

If you're really unsure, you could always ask Beast 'bout checkin' in with your friend. That might help you feel better. [Or worse.]

[madeofpine]

I thought about it, but... I don't wanna know if he's really gone or not. I guess as long as I don't use it I'll think he's still okay, but...

[He's still worried. It's kind of a lose-lose situation.]

[bayoublues]

[oh pinocchio....]

Maybe...maybe it's better not to know for now, then. But if you just let that worry linger like that, it's just gonna get to you eventually. It's better if you just...get it outta the way early, y'know?

[madeofpine]

...Next week. I'll try and talk to him next week. I just don't wanna have to find out right now.

[bayoublues]

[Louis nods slowly. Fair enough.]

I get that. 'Specially after everythin' that happened.

[For now, this kid needs some serious cheering up.]

Hey, I know...I know this day was pretty awful. But...maybe we should do somethin', um, for Noby's sake. Kid needs a better send off than...than....

[You know.]

[madeofpine]

[He does lift his head up a bit at that.]

Yeah, he does... I was gonna draw somethin', maybe, but didn't really feel good enough. [He's still not sure he could manage it.] D'you have more ideas?

[bayoublues]

Well, he had his pets, didn't he? I'm sure...I'm sure they need a new owner. One who cared a lot about Noby and was very good friends with him.

Some humans light candles to honor their dead, but...I'm not sure that's such a good idea. [What with Pinocchio being made out of wood.] The drawing idea is good, though.

[madeofpine]

[He considers that for a while, perking up just a little. He did care about Noby-- more than he cared about anyone else here.]

Figaro and Cleo'd have to get used to 'em, but... I bet I could watch 'em. If nobody else wants to.

And I just thought it'd be better to look at than candles. [Plus he's admittedly not a huge fan of fire when it's close to him.] So we won't forget them.

[bayoublues]

I mean, you could get help from other people here, too! Like me--I dunno anythin' about keepin' pets, but I'll gladly help out.

Yeah...yeah. We gotta keep in mind that he...he probably wouldn't want us to be sad about him. [He was always such a cheerful kid, even if his rotten luck ended up getting him...well, killed.] We gotta remember what made Noby, Noby.