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

[faciliheir]

[hey what happens when seeing a child be brutally murdered in front of you makes you suddenly Care That You Were An Asshole for the first time in your life and you're like well now I gotta make up for this somehow.

so she's decided that since words are hard but music is easy, she'll do her own sort of memorial to the kid. after all, she's probably the only other one here who knows any Neverland songs. even if her exposure to the genre is. limited.

which is why she'll be sitting at the party with her guitar, strumming out a nice little acoustic version of, well. this. An Effort Was Made.]

[stanbyme]

[Stan stares Arrow dead in the eye and tears his stupid fucking pamphlet in half.]

[He's not really here, he's just. Well, he's kind of physically here. Everything is bad and terrible and they all came close to dying and that little girl--

She wasn't even as old as Mabel.]

[bayoublues]

[Louis is just going to...make his way to the tables and start shoving saltines into his mouth. This beats the vinegar from last week, but at least the vinegar helped keep his mind off of...well.

It was so, so much worse than last week. It was weird, of course, and a little gruesome, but it wasn't like this. It wasn't seeing a friend being...being....

Crumbs keep flying everywhere as he chews--he's nearly emptied an entire bowl of saltines at this point. It's fine. Everything is fine. He's just a bit catatonic at the moment.]

[madeofpine]

[It takes Pinocchio... A While to show up to the quote-unquote party. After the trial he went straight into his room, slammed the door shut, and didn't come out until well into the night. He didn't even entertain the idea of drawing another memorial picture for Jane or Noby, not tonight, anyways.

He's kind of lifeless when he's there, though. He only showed up at all because he'd feel guilty if he didn't (he feels guilty about several things, really, after all that happened), but he's entirely silent, sitting on one of the chairs with his knees drawn up to his chest again. Surely this is the correct way to cope.]

[truecalling]

Oh. Um... this is... different.

[It's a very different take on things than the last. But she shouldn't be surprised considering who's hosting. But it's okay. This is okay. She-- she had something she'd wanted to say.]

...ahem. Listen. I want to say a few things. I meant everything I said back there. Even though things are like this now, I know we can get through this. I know it probably doesn't feel much like it right now but-- we will keep getting stronger.

And I want to support everyone.

Back home... a lot of people were looking to me to guide them-- but I followed my own path. We're not... the most normal bunch. But I would consider any of you one of my people if you asked something of me.

I'm going to find a way to get us all out of here. No matter what it takes. Maui... he would have done the same. And I know he'd want me to.

[Probably. You know. If you could ask the dead their opinion.]

Just... I want you to know you can rely on me. I know I seem small and probably not that reliable, but-- I'm stronger than I look. I'm used to carrying the hopes and expectations of others. So... if you're having trouble, I can carry yours too. Whats a few more, right?

cw: emeto mention

[holdthetrumpet]

Hey... hey.

[Is he saying that to get Louis's attention so as not to spook him or because his mouth has been having trouble doing the words today in general and he has to get back into practice? Probably both.]

Slow down. You'll make yourself sick.

[More sick. He himself has already been sick today (how could you not after seeing that, how could anyone, good lord), he gets it.]

[upgradeit]

[It takes a long time for Hiro to arrive at the party. He's in his room, just.

Sometimes there's two options: you cry or you throw things. Hiro goes for both. Anyone stopping by to check on him might hear the crashing of a lamp being thrown or soft, frustrated sobbing. He's fine. He's absolutely fine and happy with the idea that you can upgrade things all you like but you can't stop them from breaking.

Eventually, he does show up at the party. He can mostly be found picking at a plate of saltines and not drinking the water he poured himself. He doesn't really want to talk to anyone, but he will respond when spoken to.]

[bayoublues]

[He pauses for a moment, not looking at Kit. He swallows what's still in his mouth and picks up another cracker, nibbling on it slowly. He then goes to grab a pitcher of water and, after making sure it's not vinegar this time, starts to sip it. Without pouring it out into another glass. Sorry, everyone.

It takes him a few moments for him to speak, and when he does, his voice is faint.]

T-Thanks.

[There's a long pause.]

Terrible.

[pinkflip]

[ Someone got Kim back to her room. She doesn't know who, because by the time she's up, they're gone, and the invitation's there.

Well.

Kim does not leave her room, not for a good long while. She's going to miss the majority of the...therapy, coping, that's just a given.

Eventually, with...a long amount of time, when it's well into the night, she shows up. Some people are probably gone by then. At the party - or the aftermath of the party, or what have you - you can find Kim, with a bowl of chicken broth and a forced smile, pale in the face and eyes red from crying.

She's. Yeah, she's fine. It's fine. This is fine. ]

[nachosquire]

[Marco's a little bit late this time to the party -- but not as late as last time. He remembers what Hiro told him last week, about how people need each other in mourning. He wasn't particularly close to Jane or Noby or anything, but still.. watching a young girl die like that.... on top of learning that his best friend was here before and killed is just too much for someone to handle.

So he went into his room first to calm down a little bit, writing and doodling stuff in his notebook until he felt like he could go and talk to others. There was someone he wanted to talk to in particular, anyway. Someone with a certain magic mirror.

So he arrives with his hood up and takes a seat for now, not even bothering to touch the food and water set out for them because frankly eating is the last thing he wants to do after watching someone be torn to shreds by a ceiling fan.]

[holdthetrumpet]

Yeah.

[He can't even begrudge the water. It's bad manners but literally who gives even a tenth of a fuck, two children are dead, two children are dead.

He places a hand cautiously on what passes for a shoulder on an alligator.]

I know.

At least I didn't make it worse this time?

[He tries a smile and it comes out very weak. It's kind of a wince. He's trying.]

[truecalling]

[Well. She can't blame him, but still--]

...isn't that really dry?

[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.]

[bestchefinparis]

[Today was a very tiring day. Everyone is tired and depressed, Rémy included.

Still...he can't get out of his head what happened during the trial, with everyone volunteering. Rémy is there, nibbling on a saltine without much enthusiasm]

I feel I should have volunteered to die in her place, but I didn't want to die! But she didn't deserve to die either. She was just a little girl, and I'm an adult. She had a whole life ahead of her.

I already achieved what I wanted to be, she was just growing up. I feel like I failed her.

[Yeah, he's feeling conflicted. Rémy is a good person, and he empathizes with everyone who tried to sacrifice themselves for Jane's sake, but he wanted to live, and that's that.]

That's not selfish, is it? That I didn't want to volunteer for her.

[truecalling]

[The sentiment is something Moana can appreciate. And the music brings a little life to the room that was otherwise pretty devoid of it.]

It's a nice song.

[bayoublues]

[Louis forces himself to laugh. Talking is very hard right now.]

Man, you can't get much worse than that.

[He picks up another cracker and holds it out to Kit as an offering.]

I feel like garbage. Just, straight up garbage. I'd play some music...or drink. That'd help me feel better. But it...it feels wrong.

[faciliheir]

[idly] How many years do rats get, anyways?

[bayoublues]

[He nods, taking a moment to swallow the crackers.]

Dunwanna talk.

[truecalling]

No, not at all. It's not... it's not anyone's fault here. It's the people who are responsible for bringing us here who took those lives. They don't care if it's an accident or what-- they just... they just want to see us die.

They want to see us upset. They'd probably be really happy if we blamed ourselves or each other but-- that's not right.

[faciliheir]

A friend taught it to me. Her dad really liked it. [strums] It's from a place Jane was... from? Had been to, anyways. Didn't really get it too much.

[truecalling]

It's not good to bottle all your feelings up.

...it's okay to be sad.

[tanukey]

That's absolutely selfish.

[Said without any venom, but a long drink of totally-legit-vinegar.]

[Rocket didn't volunteer either.]

That have to be a bad thing, though? You do what you gotta to survive. We can't all be G-reat people. Great. Whatever.

[not_over_yet]

[ Basil just kinda. stayed on Freddie's shoulder once she put him there, until they got to the "party". He wouldn't have come on his own (the alcohol being on the next floor up), but he certainly didn't feel like moving just to avoid the gathering--but there's only so much "trying to stay on the shoulder of somebody playing guitar" he can take, SO eventually he hops down and starts wandering around the room.

And finds one of Arrow's pamphlets.

And marches over to that circle of chairs because clearly there is a talk long overdue. ]

A number of us here came from worlds with ~magic~ of some form or another. It appears to differ in form and function somewhat between worlds. [ Here he pauses to mentally condense his entire introduction because he's suddenly realized no one wants to deal with any of that, least of all him. ] ...We can get to all that later.

Point being, we need to come up with a powerful and permanent exorcism ritual or spell or whatever as soon as possible. Anyone with something useful to add, start talking.

[tanukey]

...we could try shooting him. We absolutely sure that won't work?

[He's got a taser now, he's just saying.]

[truecalling]

I'm sure Jane would be really happy to hear it.

[It's the thought that counts most.]