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

[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:

Try not to think about it.
Do not get hysterical.
Crying is permitted, but keep it within a reasonable volume. (For the consideration of fellow mourners)
Maintain civility
Do not plunder the belongings of the deceased.
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.]

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I was wondering where you were.

[Most of the party passed, and now you're heer. Rémy has been wandering around aimlessly, not wanting to go sleep yet, and then he sees Kim]

I know we're not really...close friends or anything like that, but if you want to talk I could listen to you.

[You didn't take well at all everything that happened, anyone could see that]

[ Mmmm, hi Rémy. Kim doesn't notice him until he speaks to her, at which point she jumps a little. ]

O-oh, hi. [ Kim tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. It's...habit, whenever she's uncomfortable. ] Um- no, I... How was the...gathering?

Awful. Not that it's surprising, I don't think there was anyone in mood to do much...

[Besides, well, Negaduck. But the less is said about that guy, the better]

You didn't miss much.

[ Mmmnngh. Her forced smile flickers, she...kind of hoped someone got something good out of it? ]

Yeah, who'd want to...do anything after a day like... [ gentle internal screaming

She takes a seat, it's weird to be standing and talking to Rémy, and she doesn't want to just brush him off. ] I just- I just kind of needed to be...alone, for awhile.

Why did you come here? Nobody would have blamed you if you stayed in your room for the rest of the night.

[...]

Although some of us would have gone to check on you, anyway.

Uh... Leia showed up. [ ...Mmmmnn- ] Maybe I...needed to see a few people after all.

[Leia, she's such a strong person. Now that she mentions Leia...]

...you and her were...pretty brave for trying to do what you did.

...Yeah. Trying's the key word there.

I think what's amazing is that you overcame any hesitation and tried to offer your own life. I don't think many would do it and actually mean it.

I had to, Rémy. She... I told her so many times I'd get her out.

[ooooooh dear. That's a promise maybe you shouldn't have done]

...I'm sorry this...uh...

[Sorry this didn't work and she died. Rémy has no idea how to put it in words]

Do you think you'll be okay?

[This is far from over, after all]

[ Yeah. Yeah, she's realizing that. And Jane's not the only one Kim's made a promise like that too. ]

Yeah. Y-yeah, I... [ The words sound wrong even to her own ears. She frowns. ] I...don't know.

[ Honesty. It's a start, at least. ]

['I don't know' is not a hopeful answer. Rémy is in silence for a moment]

...I doubt anyone knows.

[Especially tonight]

...there's a lot of trouble still ahead. Guess we will all not know, together. It's not much, since we're all trapped here, but at least we do have each other.

[He can't put a lot of heart in these words because he doesn't feel optimist at all right now, but it sounds right to him]

[ It's more honest than she's been in awhile with anyone about her mental state, frankly.

She sits with that for a good long moment. That sounds like something she should be saying. It sounds like something she's believed. And yet...

...Kimberly bows her head a bit. It's halfway to a nod. Not quite one. ]

Yeah. Yeah, it...would really suck to be here all alone.

And I know we're not the friendlist group ever, but some of us are going to keep trying the best we can.

Just...know that you're not alone.

[Maybe it's because he's saying it aloud to someone else, but something about this all is helping lift Rémy's spirits a bit]

[ She glances over at Rémy. He's...really trying, isn't he? Even though this couldn't have been easy to see. ]

You know. You're a pretty good guy, Rémy. ...Good rat. Good rat-guy.

[He feels anything but good right now. A good person would have tried harder to save Jane, right? He looks away, feeling guilty]

...thanks...I'd like to think that.

[Besides, doing this much is the very basic support anyone should give, right? Nothing amazing about it]

Really. ...I know I- I'm not the only one messed up by all this. So it's...reaching out, when you're also upset, it's good.

[ It's something she wishes she'd done lately. ]

...it's not something I have done many times before, so I don't even know if I'm doing it properly. Talking to other people when I'm upset is not my forte.

[Since most of his woes involved Dad's disapproval and pretty much nobody else experienced such thing]

But if it makes you feel a bit better then that's good.

...You are. Um- doing it properly.

[ It's hard for her to feel much better right now, but the attempt is touching. ]

You should do it more often. It's never good to bottle things up. [ she says, like a hypocrite ]

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

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