there's so much that we share

[amadeusrockette]

[If there's one thing Julia's good at, it's feeling guilty. Once they're let out of the awful stretching room, she sets up in the kitchen and makes another cake. It's the same sort of coffee cake she made for Lea's wake, but this time it's got apples over top. While it's going, Julia writes notes for everyone except Elsa.]

I made cake and coffee. It's in the lounge, if you'd like to come by and not be alone.

Comments

[amadeusrockette]

Elsa
[Elsa actually doesn't get a note. Julia's noticed she doesn't often come to the afterparties, so while she's in the process of leaving everyone notes she actually just takes a slice of cake with her and knocks on Elsa's door.]

Um. Qu - Elsa?

Everyone Else
[At the actual gathering, Julia's everywhere, trying to make sure nobody's alone and everyone who wants to talk has someone to talk to, but she looks . . . kind of exhausted actually.

It's possible someone should tell her to sit down and rest.]

[defyingfrigidity]

[Oh, this is... the first time that's happened. Elsa tries to visit the afterparties, at least for a little while, because she owes it to the dead to honor them in some way. But after Anna died, the atmosphere of the wakes is just... to stifling, digging too deep into those dark places in her head that are growing larger and larger with each day, so she's usually the last to arrive and the first to excuse herself.

So yeah, she's a little surprised when she hears a knock on her door, and a bit more surprised when she goes to open it and sees who it is.]

Ah... yes? What is it, Julia?

[amadeusrockette]

I was going to invite you to the gathering, but I thought you might not like them since you don't seem to like . . . gatherings of people? [Is that rude? It might be rude.] Not that that's a bad thing! Sometimes we all just want to be alone, but - um. I just brought you a slice of the cake I made instead.

[chainbroke]

Julia? Is there anything I can do for you?

[ Naminé looks pretty worried about her. ]

[amadeusrockette]

Oh, I'm fine. [She offers Naminé a slice of cake.] Would you like some? It's traditional, where I'm from.

[kindaruledatit]

[Well it's a good thing that you dropped by, because Wendy's just sat down with a bottle of something from the bar, and a good amount of glasses. She beckons Julia with one hand.]

Hey! You're looking kind of tired. Want a drink?

[amadeusrockette]

Isn't everyone? [Maybe if she deflects hard enough, nobody will notice.] But I'd love a drink. I think I'd love to figure out how drunk to be all the time so I don't remember any of this.

[She holds out the mug of coffee she's been drinking. Just pour it in there it's fine.]

[aboyandhiscar]

[Mike's not feeling the most social right now, but even he notices Julia buzzing this way and that. Eventually he'll nudge her should they pass each other.]

--nice cake, but hope you're taking it easy on the coffee.

[amadeusrockette]

[She looks down into her cup, which she did refill with coffee after Wendy refilled it with alcohol.]

It's not like I'll be able to sleep tonight.

[chainbroke]

[ She's here, but she sticks to one of the corners. People have a right to be mad at Demyx--he hadn't exactly made himself sympathetic, and poor WALL-E...

Naminé has a lot to think about. About the nature of a Nobody, especially concerning their hearts. About where Demyx will go now that he's not here, and his biology is much more different than the others'. About what it'll mean for Lea's timeline, since he's dead here.

About what might happen to Kairi if she dies here.

She's not eating, but she can be persuaded to, maybe. ]

[aboyandhiscar]

[Mike's quick to grab and go when snagging a coffee, but he does notice Namine over in the corner, and it gives him pause. She was one of Demyx's friends, right? She helped coax out the truth. Mike knows jackshit about what all this nobody business is about--for all he knows, people in Demyx's world just. Explode into smoke when they die, he guesses. Weird, but not the weirdest thing??

In any case, he'll mosey over briefly, and bring a piece of cake.]

. . .yo!

[chainbroke]

[ She looks up. Well, at least she doesn't look mad at Mike or anything. A little distant, and thoughtful, but not angry. It's not Mike who deserves ill treatment. He'd only done what he needed to, and in the end, he'd been right on the nose. ]

Hi.

[whistlenotchirp]

[There's two specific stages of Jiminy's night.

Early in the party, he's kind of morose. He does what he can to help others, offer a sarcastic remark or two, but otherwise... he's tired.

Late in the party, well. He gives into his vices. He's angry, bitter, and upset. He just wants to... take the edge off a bit. Which leads to him stumbling about the foyer, trying to keep this from anyone's notice.

Jiminy has become an angry drunk.]

Later

[pardonmylanguage]

Mochi, Pig, no! [Tip now has to wrangle two cats that are quite interested in chasing around this tiny insect. Especially her own Pig, who has much more muscle than fat.]

Late

[outsidethecircle]

[What are you even doing, Jiminy?]

Um, are you okay?

[aboyandhiscar]

[WELP, that happened. After the execution, Mike seems to slip out first, immediately wandering off outside. At first he just walks a while, letting the looping forest bring him back over and over again, or sometimes, he opts to get some excess energy out by hopping up the trees and using his staff to swing around the branches.

Once that bores him though, he can be found sitting atop a gravestone, just sort of absently staring up at the fake night sky again.

Eventually he'll head back inside though. He may not have the stomach for cake but he'll definitely grab some coffee and give a quick wave to anyone he passes in the lounge. He doesn't sit though, and keeps on moving.

When no one's seemingly looking, he'll make his way up to the music room. Not doing much, just generally looking around. He has to have some reason for doing so though, right? Well, later, back downstairs at the memorial, someone will have placed the smallest stringed instrument they could find among the other items. Fushigi Mystery.]

music room

[kindaruledatit]

[You're not so slick to everyone, Mike. Especially someone that's purposefully looking for you.

Wendy catches him as he's rummaging around the music room, letting her knuckles rap lightly against the door frame. She doesn't look or sound like she's here to pick a fight, quite the opposite in fact.]

Hey. Looking for something?

lounge

[whistlenotchirp]

[A drunk cricket stumbles his way through the room, biting his thumb at Mike in lieu of a wave.]

[ilovepuppies]

[Star is in the foyer in time to see Mike zip on by. She almost waves him off but decides that no, she's gotta talk to him, so she runs to catch him.]

H-hey! Wait up!

[toogoodforhim]

[As much as he hated not being there for the last trial, he hates this one even more. Two- three people gone this week. How many were left? How long did they have before their captors got bored and just swung the axe? Until whatever magic in the house just suffocated them and finished the job? He hates giving himself over to morose thoughts, but morose thoughts are all that he has right now.

He spends a while just... around people, hoping that the nervous energy possessing him will fade or spread or something. He sits off to the side, one leg jittering in place, the heel of his shoe tapping against the floor like he's trying to jackhammer his way beneath the mansion. His hair is out of its usual ponytail, a dark curly curtain hanging around his face that he nervously runs his hands through, brushes back out of his eyes. He's sober but anxious, which changes abruptly when he disappears from the gathering to head up to the bar.

He doesn't know any fancy drinks or anything like that, so he picks the first thing that doesn't smell like it will kill him to drink it straight and tips it back to take a long swig. The warmth that hits the pit of his stomach (empty, he hadn't eaten that morning) and spreads out to the tips of his ears, nose, fingers, and toes relaxes him, like the weight of a warm, woolen blanket in the middle of winter.

The fact that he makes it down the stairs still in his two-inch heels is a feat in and of itself, his face flushed from alcohol down to the bright red tip of his nose and steps just shy of a straight line. But he doesn't rejoin the party proper, even though the nervous energy has been replaced with something calmer and more content. Instead, he lingers near the portraits, playing one song in particular over and over again. He's wobbly on his feet, but in the emptiness of the foyer there's plenty of space for him to start dancing to the music, slowly and by himself.]

Dance with me?

foyer

[chainbroke]

[ Eventually, she leaves the lounge.

Naminé tends to gravitate toward the foyer after gatherings, to draw pictures for the dead. This time, though, she doesn't have her pencil or paper. Her fingers are still a little smudged from last night, when she'd been drawing, but curiously, there's a bit of that graphite on her face. Her cheeks and under her eyes, and at the corners of her eyes.

She turns instinctively when she hears Lefou's heels. It's a familiar, comforting sound, and she straightens up from her crouching position underneath WALL-E's picture.

If he'd come a little earlier, Lefou would have heard Naminé apologizing very quietly. ]

If you don't mind that I still don't know many dances, [ she admits, folding her hands in front of herself. ]

[whistlenotchirp]

[Two drunk Europeans go to a bar]

Not with a Frenchman.

foyer

[wannagetsmote]

[From the moment Lefou disappeared from the gathering, Maui felt on edge. Being alone in murder mansion was hardly a good idea, in and of itself. And after yet another trying investigation, Maui found himself more worried about his partner than ever. Clinging to him, however, seemed like it would only make things first.

Still, he found he couldn't remain idle forever. And though he still thought it a bad idea to follow Lefou around like a dumb chicken, he couldn't swallow his own panic.

He came across the man in the foyer, and found himself studying his partner's movements. After a few seconds, he cleared his throat though, stepping forward with an outstretched hand.]

You, uh. Wanna continue that lesson?

[kindaruledatit]

[It's not getting any easier, but this time Wendy arrives early to the afterparty, her eyes a bit red but otherwise she seems just really... down. She had no strong feelings about Demyx, one way or the other. He was just a dick. WALL-E, on the other hand....

He was a friend, even if he wasn't a normal human, but plenty of things in Gravity Falls weren't normal humans, and they were still friendly. Most of the time. The rest about Demyx kind of went over her head, but this still meant quite a bit to her.

Wendy comes around and plops down in a couch, same as last week, only think time she's got her phone out, flipping through until she finds... a picture taken several weeks ago.

At least she's here, and definitely open to talking to people. She can't keep everything bottled up all the time.]

[chainbroke]

[ Hey, Wendy. Here's Naminé with a slice of cake for her as she takes a seat. ]

If... you're hungry, here.