and we all wanna party when the funeral ends

[shellhawked]

[Holy hell, what a week this day has been.

In the immediate aftermath of the trial, Hawke disappears into her room. It takes a while, maybe an hour and a half, before she emerges again. She's changed out of her trial clothes into something a few people might find familiar: dark make-up (slightly runny), a faded red tank top cut from a t-shirt, shredded jeans and heavy black boots. In short, her Secret Midnight Band clothes. Her first stop is to look for Anthy and, after securing her help, folded notes handwritten in purple ink are slid under dorm doors and posted in the main areas:]

Dinner in the Dining Hall. Memorial in the Conservatory.

[The dinner in question is a layout of leftovers and various ready-to-go snacks with plates and utensils ready to go. It's not exactly a full funeral spread but you work with what you've got in the time you've got. From the conservatory music plays. The only instruments are Anthy's guitar and Hawke's voice which, while not the best, carries clearly in the acoustics of the room.

It's not much of a memorial but it's better than being alone.]

Comments

[shellhawked]

[Anyone looking for Hawke in the early trial of the aftermath can come looking for her in A-3. It's hard to say if she'll be feeling especially talkative but she might not shun company.

At the dinner/memorial gathering, once her singing is done, she retreats to the Billiards Room. She can be found sitting on one of the pool tables, a plate of mostly untouched snacks next to her as she absentmindedly rolls the 8 ball under her palm against the green velvet.]

A-3

[sweetsynergy]

[At some point, before the memorial postings. Vanity slams into the room, bee-lining for her bed, sitting on the edge. Her hands clasped in front of her, on her knees, clenched hard enough to not shake the way they clearly want to.]

[She does not meet Hawke's eyes, staring at the floor, breathing deeply.]

[rosewitch]

[After they're done playing, before Hawke leaves for the billiards room, Anthy hesitates. She seems to be fighting with herself for a moment before, as she's pulling the guitar strap over her head, she finally just says,] Thank you, [to the floor.]

billiards room

[goldendoll]

[ she'd had a similar retreat strategy, after the music stopped. she feels... drained, now, even more so after her conversation with kohaku, but...

despite the exhaustion, despite the grief, there's something she hasn't felt in a long time, too. she's not sure what it is. she glances up from her coffee, seated at the bar and ignoring her own mostly untouched food, then finally speaks up. ]

... Thank you again, Hawke. For earlier.

[goldendoll]

[ in the early aftermath, doloris can be found in B-4.

after that, she's changed and showered since the trial, throwing on one of her ave mujica shirts along with dark jeans and boots. that ordinarily shaggy bob is tied back into a loose ponytail, and... well, when she steps into the conservatory, she's brought her guitar, hanging on her back like a knight's sword. she glances to anthy and hawke in turn, resting a hand on the back of her neck: ]

... I'd like to join in, if you're still going. [ this isn't about... playing with a band. it's not about performing. it's about remembering someone who she realized was important far, far too late.

... it's about remembering both of them.

after that, she makes her way to the dining hall to make herself a plate from some of what remains, but her appetite... isn't there. she picks at her food in fits and starts in the billiards room afterwards, seated at the bar and mostly just staring into her coffee. ]

[shellhawked]

[Hawke glances from Doloris to the guitar strapped to her back to Anthy.

After a beat she looks back to Doloris and smiles.]

I think we've got a few more songs in us.

dining hall

[ergine]

Oh, there you are, Doloris.

[ Kohaku greets Doloris as she emerges from the kitchen. Then, she hesitates, uncharacteristically unsure of what to say. ]

...Are you certain you have no scrapes that require dressing?

[ Maybe she just asks because it's a familiar thing to do. ]

B-4

[protomartyr]

[ Lottie arrives in the room a little after Doloris. She does not say anything. Instead, she retreats into the bathroom, and washes her hands again. And again. And again. ]

[ergine]

[ Kohaku doesn't spend more time in her room than is necessary to clean the bloody dirt off her hands. It means that she beats the crowd to the conservatory. She isn't sure what she expects to see when she gets there, but immediately, she notices Sayo's body—her parts—are already gone. She feels a ripple of something, like an echo, in the emptiness of her chest.

That plant is still where she left it, though—tucked aside to shelter it from the traffic of the others' feet. She slides its roots down into the pot and buries them in soil, unaware of the crestfallen expression on her own face.

Later, she can be found in the kitchen. Rather than assisting with the food prep, though, her attention seems to be on any uncooked perishables that remain. She's noting them down: what can be pickled, what should be consumed in the next day to keep it from going bad. If she has any appetite of her own, she hasn't noticed it. ]

[rosewitch]

[Once she's stopped dissociating in the conservatory — which takes A While — Anthy wanders. The kitchen is a reasonable place to end up, all things considered. There's always something to clean up in there.]

[Or organize, as the case may be. Her expression settles into something like recognition when she sees Kohaku — when she sees what she's doing. Lottie and Misty, they kept talking about it. About following the rules, letting it take what it wants. So if they're to survive, then . . .]

Is there anything I can do to help?

[thanoptical]

[Satsuki only shows up in the kitchen much later. She doesn't announce her presence. For someone so large she's quiet as she tries to find something to eat.]

...

[She's not looking up. Her voice, surprisingly delicate, surprisingly soft.]

It's going to happen again, isn't it.

[It's not a question.]

Kitchen

[hootheart]

[Tiera notices Kohaku taking inventory, and pauses for a while. She remembers talking about jam, before the motives proper began, before the murder and trial. After some more time, she steps forward.]

Need make jam now? [It's a simple question, but the expression on her face conveys so much. That she can't believe it's really come to this, that now they need to adjust the rationing for two less people, that the next time it just might be the food that's taken away.]

[rosewitch]

[All evening and deep into the night, Anthy is in the conservatory.]

[Her Secret Midnight Band outfit is a lot more conservative than Hawke's, let alone Sayo's: just a black t-shirt and black jeans, which somehow still manages to be shocking on Anthy, who rarely wears pants. She manages to look very small in it and dwarfed by her guitar, which she plays with gradually-increasing confidence as time goes on. It's harder to do any of this without Sayo, but it feels important. They barely had to look at each other to know it had to be done.]

[So she plays, eyes on the floor, sometimes glancing up at Hawke at important moments in a song, sometimes looking at nothing at all. In an unlikely twin to the guitar strapped across her front, she's strapped the foil of speculation, the one with the K on the hilt, across her back. She wants it close, but that's not the only reason it's here with her now.]

[It's in another one of those don't-even-have-to-speak moments when she and Hawke both pause. She glances up, lets out a breath, and sets her guitar carefully against the wall.]

Excuse me.

[Her voice is so hoarse. She clears her throat, pulls the foil around to her front, and pulls it out of its makeshift harness. Pale knuckles lead to shaking fingers lead to a tight grip around the hilt. Between her first and second fingers, K.]

There's something we — need to tell you. Since — the person who should be able to, they can't.

Someone else died this morning. With Sayo. And they both deserve . . . deserve to be remembered.

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

[ Rinne's...here. Just kind of trying to figure out how to feel. And that, the announcement, it takes her by surprise. ]

Someone else? What do you mean?

[kickdownthatwall]

[...it's weird. This is all weird and Alena doesn't know how to deal with it, and there's something that makes her feel like a lot of other people she's here with have had more experience with actual life-or-death situations than she has.

...Should she be thankful that she hasn't? Or is it a burden...?

She's uncharacteristically quiet at the dinner as she just kind of... stares blankly at her food and moves it around a bit instead of eating. She is perhaps engaging in one of the more dangerous pastimes... thinking.

She'll probably make an appearance at the memorial, even if she's not really sure what she should do there because she didn't really know Sayo all that well.. but she'll head to her room to gather up some paper so she can head to the library and write some letters. They're all in Russian, and cursive Russian at that, so they're probably incomprehensible. But, uh, you know.]

library

[thanoptical]

[Someone has been in the library for a while by the time Alena arrives, judging by the many books scattered... everywhere. It's kind of a mess. Satsuki is... slumped over one of the tables with her face in her hands. She notices Alina enter and there's some movement.]

Sorry... I'll clean it up in a minute.

[tomestones]

[Dagr immediately returns to room A-2 and stays there for a very long time. They thought they'd want time to process this, maybe to cry or be upset and angry or anything, but instead they sit on their bed, staring off into space and feeling completely blank. Numb. Maybe it's the shock. They're fine talking with either Alena or anyone who swings by, but they aren't exactly going to be the best host right now.

The letter reminds them that they should eat. They should do something that isn't just stare listlessly into the space approximately two inches from their face. So they head down to the dining hall where they pick at some of the food, not really succeeding in eating much. If you join them, they try to force a smile.]

Hey. I know today's been a hell of a lot, but how are you holding up? Anything I can do for you?

[Is it selfish to want to be given a task, so they can feel like they're accomplishing something? Hell, they don't know.

They'll also go hang out in the conservatory to listen to the music, but yet again they are zoned out and not exactly paying attention to much. Dagr may be physically present, but their mind is miles away, focused on something else entirely given the blank stare at absolutely nothing. They tried? That's really the most that can be expected of them right now.]

A-2

[formerbanchou]

[Hilariously they are next door neighbors, so while Dagr is laying there she might hear a 'thud' against the shared wall, one that sounds suspiciously like a book being thrown against the wall.]

[emptynester]

[ Isabella doesn't directly attend either part of the event, of course. Even if she was on better terms with the students, it wouldn't be her place to interfere with their mourning. Or to be at a concert cramping their style. But she can't help the thought of being their age, especially not with the music choice.

But there's a small table set up outside the conservatory while everyone is at the memorial. And there's some homemade chocolate chip cookies on it, along with a few guitar picks, in case anyone's close to running out. ]

[goldendoll]

[ at some point in the night, she avails herself of one of the cookies and a guitar pick. whenever she eventually collects the dishes again, isabella may find a small handwritten note folded in half tucked under the plate, reading: ]

Thank you. I know this must be hard for you, too.

[thanoptical]

[Satsuki doesn't show up to dinner. Considering how much of a big eater she is, this is very unusual. If looked for, she's just standing randomly in places around Rosenblum, thinking. She does show up for the memorial briefly but it's definitely more of a 'I'm here in body but not in mind' thing.

Later, though, there will be some commotion coming from the library. Books thrown everywhere, medical texts sprawled all over the tables. Satsuki tearing through the shelves. There might also be some crying and yelling? It's fine. It's fine. You're fine, she's fine. The world is fine and dandy!]

library

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

[ Of all the things to find... Rinne halts in the door to the library, startled at the outburst. She's unsure what to do. Leave? But no. That's callous. Too callous. The thought of it makes the pit in her stomach rise back up. ]

Sa... [ She forces her voice to rise. ] Satsuki-san?

[banishedfromparadise]

[Dorothy sits in the lounge, just outside the conservatory, her legs crossed at the knee and arms held tightly around herself, staring down at the floor. She's since changed out of her trial clothes into a simple black dress. Black seemed appropriate.

She makes no move to approach anyone else for a long time. If someone settles in close to her, though...]

I knew it. I knew if someone would do it, it would be her.

[If one is able to listen past the less-than-expected venom in her voice, there's something else slipping out. She sounds... sad? Closer examination will show that, like a lesser version of when she witnessed Mariko's punishment, her eyes are threatening to well up and she's ever so slightly trembling.]

[tomestones]

[Honestly, Dagr should've thought to switch to black, but they're in grey sweatpants and an oversized band t-shirt, so not exactly doing the best, but also they wanted to be comfy. Sue them.

They join Dorothy without a word, though their eyes dart when she speaks up. They don't blame her for being mad, and it's not like Misty's innocent. Even in the absolute best case scenario, she still cut Sayo up. Dagr has a hard time believing the whole thing was just an accident, though.]

It shouldn't have happened. We could've kept working together to deal with the cold. We were doing well, weren't we?

[Sure, it sucked, and maybe things would have gotten much, much worse if they'd gone on any longer. It's not like Dagr would know. But the betrayal of trust followed by the world's worst scavenger hunt coupled with that harrowing mockery of a trial...

They heave a sigh and run a hand back through their two-toned hair.]

Have you eaten anything yet, Dorothy? I'm sure that's the last thing on your mind right now.

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

[ Rinne, like most of the group, is going to take some time in her room, but, well...

She stands in A-4. She hates sharing a room with others. On some level, even sharing with Kana is uncomfortable. A part of her wished for a single, for her space, for Misty especially to disappear.

She got her wish, didn't she?

That leaves such a pit in her stomach.

It's only polite to go to the conservatory...and it feels like the only thing she can do. Two people she knew are dead. Unlike some story, there's concrete proof that they were real and there and now they're not. Rinne doesn't know how to cope with that.

So she listens to the music. And she looks around, thinking about how the conservatory is even more impeccably clean than Misty tried to leave it. ]

A-4

[protomartyr]

[ Someone stands in the doorway, dark hair hanging over her face like a curtain. ]

Her stuff. [ Lottie rasps. ] What are you gonna do with it?

[bellpepperexercise]

[Immediately after the trial, Kana goes into room A-4 and instantly finds herself regretting it with the fact that so many of Misty's things are still in there. She doesn't have it in her to take out her frustration on the objects completely, but she does toss a spare sweater outside the door.

Afterwards, she quietly spends some time in the conservatory quietly listening to the music. She doesn't feel especially hungry right now, and is lost in thought.]

Does Crystal's family know, I wonder. I don't know if anybody's gonna find her body now.

[thanoptical]

I don't know...

[Satsuki doesn't even know who Crystal was! But... she does linger a little when she hears Kana.]

Um... I'm sorry. About what I did. I should have asked. [Before I hugged you.]

[sweetsynergy]

[Vanity is. Eventually at the party? She's wallflowering for once, white-knuckling a steaming mug of caffeine. Staring into its swirling brown depths as if trying to see beyond the curve of the universe.]

[She does, eventually, start approaching people who don't actively hate her, smile fixed and not reaching her eyes.]

How are you holding up?

[nailing it]

[Later on, once things have died down, she's in the billiards room- yeah, that's the saddest home putt-putt course you've ever seen. A pool cue has been point-and-click combined with some tape and a tenderizing mallet from the kitchen to knock the billiard balls into a laying on the ground.]

[Vanity gives one a too-aggressive tap of the improvised putter and sends the ball past the mug and into the wall with a loud clack. She inhales sharply, straightening up and marching forcibly past the mug to gather what looks to be the full set of balls from various points along the baseboard.]

...this floor is uneven. The craftsmanship is completely appalling.

billiards room

[tomestones]

[Dagr was just aimlessly wandering past, but when they hear Vanity speak up they double back and poke their head into the room.]

...What are you doing?

[They're curious, and Dagr enters the room to see the balls Vanity's retrieving. Makeshift minigolf...?]

[curdle]

[ Thomasin does not want to see the others, and she does not want to see herself. She goes back to Room A-1 and takes a long, scalding shower until the bathroom mirror has been completely occluded. She kneels by the window and prays, both out loud and in the privacy of her mind, and she can feel no sense that God is near.

I mean it. Justice is always served.

Later, if Anthy gives her permission, she goes to see Mariko in B-2 and spends a while at her bedside, knitting some kind of hat while she hums under her breath. Even the sight of her drawn face, the movement behind her closed eyelids, manages to dredge up some envy in her wicked heart, because she did not have to see it. No matter what monsters stalk her friend's dreams, she did not have to be there today. She has yet to forcibly witness the true nature of the people she is trapped with.

She shows up late to the dinner, and resolutely eats whatever food looks the worst and oldest as mechanically as she can. Her mother's voice, ragged and distraught, screaming that they will starve, echoes through her mind until she goes to the conservatory. There, the music finally drowns her out. She's polite and cordial enough to everyone, but doesn't seem much inclined to talking.

Late at night, you can find her in the lounge, stoking a fire which is once again 90% ornamental. Only two days ago, they had all been gathered here. She gazes into the flames with a wide-eyed fixation that makes her seem entirely oblivious to her surroundings... until she speaks to any newcomer without so much as turning around. ]

Good evening. [ ... ] I was just going.

[ on the opposite end of the spectrum entirely, maybe she actually is nodding off and needs to get shaken awake ]

[rosewitch]

[Anthy doesn't think of it as giving permission. She wouldn't dream of stopping anyone from seeing Mariko.]

[. . . all right, she might entertain the thought of doing it to Vanity, but only if she was being very annoying and only for a second.]

[The point is: Thomasin is welcome to stay as long as she likes. She fusses a bit, even, taking care that she has good lighting to knit with and a pillow for her back. She leaves the two of them to it, but it's not long before she's back, expression drawn. There's not much of a crowd in the conservatory, but grief makes the room choking.]

Sorry, I won't be long, [she mumbles, because apologizing feels correct, and stumbles over to her bed, where she draws her feet under her and sits with her hands folded in her lap, fingers entwined, looking at the join of her wrists and thinking about how easy it would be for someone to separate her hands from her forearms.]

[It's suffocating in here, too, but at least she knows Thomasin doesn't blame her. Although why she trusts that to be true is another set of questions entirely.]

[formerbanchou]

[Mafuyu will be in A-1 for a while, alternating between thinking too hard and taking notes in a notebook.

Eventually though, she'll head down to the dining hall to get some food. A girl's gotta eat. If she looks like she's been crying, that might just be a coincidence.]

dining hall

[iseedollpeople]

[Mei's just been drifting here and there, occasionally looking in on the conservatory but mostly around the dining hall where it's quieter. She may or may not be on her 5th cup of tea but that's neither here nor there.

Her eye scrutinizes Mafuyu when she comes traipsing in, thoughtful.]

... Kurosaki.

There's still plenty left.

[Yeah, there hasn't been much appetite from anyone.......]

[protomartyr]

[ Lottie’s teammate is dead. The loss feels like a maw has opened up somewhere in her chest, terrible and hungry. Her teammate is dead because she killed a person. And they suspected Lottie could do the same.

What’s to say, when tragedy strikes again, that they won’t suspect her once more?

The conservatory is anathema now, which is a shame, because that was Lottie’s favorite room in the place. The room with the next best windows is the entrance hall, where, after the memorial, Lottie takes her blanket and huddles in a corner, watching the storm.

If you enter the hall, she will not acknowledge you. But if you say something, or stay long enough, she might look at you, exhaustion and grief set deep in her eyes. ]

[hootheart]

[Yeah, this is not the sort of case where Tiera would say anything. But also, she does want to check on Lottie. So she slowly moves to sit next to her, not quite touching yet, until Lottie turns to look at her. She lowers her head, chirping apologetically. Losing a member of your flock is always hard.]

cw: human trafficking, slavery, forced labor, abuse

[trustheart]

[ Chris is in an odd mood coming back from the trial. Death has always hung over her life like a looming specter, and now she's just helped send someone to theirs. How many lives were there on her conscience now? Before there were people she couldn't save, but now...now there was someone for whom she'd literally signed a death warrant. Plus, there was nothing to say of Sayo, whom she'd barely even known and couldn't even remember talking to, but whose loss she still keenly felt.

How many people were going to die while she lived?

And then...there was something else on her conscience too.

There would be time enough for that. Once Hawke's concert was done, Chris would be one of the volunteers to sing. An unusual choice for someone who reportedly saw her presence on the Academy choir as an obligation, but...she did it nonetheless. ]

This is "True Colors"...this song means a lot to me. I don't know if it really fits all this, but...I want to share it.

[ At dinner, Chris eats quietly but somehow still manages to make a mess all over her face. Those who look at her can tell she's holding something in...until she finally decides to say something. Tapping her glass, she bites her lower lip, before speaking: ]

I feel like I owe you guys an explanation for some of the stuff I talked about during the trial. Um, the reason why I said some of the stuff I did in the trial...is because when I was younger, my parents were killed while we were abroad in [REDACTED]. I was separated from our security detail in the chaos, and captured and held in a work camp for over a year...I was forced to labor along with other children, and they...they abused us. Pushed us too hard. I saw other kids die. Starve. Some just disappeared. Others d-died...on the job...others...they did horrible things just to survive...

[ By this point, she's pale and her hands are shaking. ]

It's all happening again. People are d-dying and I can't stop it. I can't let anyone who'd hurt someone else get away with it...

[ She lowers her head and frowns. ]

I just thought you should all know what that was all about.

[ She sits quietly for the rest of the party; she'll talk to anyone who approaches her, but for now, any social interaction will be focused or be based on anyone who comes to her. She's checked out for the evening, otherwise. ]

cw: human trafficking, slavery, forced labor, abuse

[sweetsynergy]

[Later on, once things have settled a bit- Vanity settles in next to Chris. Hands folded between her knees, looking down at the ground.]

[Breathing deep and chewing her lip.]

Finally telling everyone your secret backstory, huh. Time was I might have been a little jealous of that.