Love's no good but it sure beats the hurt

[madgiganticfeelings]

[That was... Christine can only call it the most horrible thing she's seen so far, with that familiar dread that says something worse may come. Four people have died. Four friends Christine had trusted in and relied upon. And four more people she cares about have turned into memories and painful reminders of her failure to do anything meaningful here.

And Christine wallows in that. God, does she wallow. But she also knows that those painful ghosts of the people she loved relied on her to keep getting back up when the world knocked her down. And she has to keep going, if only to honour there memories.

The note she slides under each person's door is very simple, the bright orange gel pen somehow seeming duller in the wake of mourning:]

Food is in the dining hall.
Please come have something, or I'll track you down in an hour and force feed you.
If there's anything at all you need, please come talk to me. We shouldn't have to suffer alone.
-Christine

[There's a few dishes Christine knows how to make: lo mein and beef stew, some simple sandwiches as well. There are almond cookies after the more filling foods are prepared.

Off to the side is a plate with a few dumplings and... what looks like mashed turnips? An odd combination, but they were Angus' favourite.

And Christine is true to her word. If you don't come in an hour, she'll find you. In fact, she makes rounds around the opera house pretty much every hour, checking each room, and... maybe singing softly to herself as she goes.]

O god,
I can't stay, I won't stay for things left unseen
I can't stay, I won't stay, this end has no means
I can't stay, I won't stay, you were just a dream
A sweet sweet dream
You were a dream
But not my dream...

[Speaking of dreams, someone should convince her to go to bed.]

Comments

[heathencall]

[When idle mourning gives way to listless wandering, Mephisto finds Nana in the dance studio.

Maybe he should... leave her be.

But with everyone else breaking down, he figures he should at least check on her.]

Nana. [He announces himself as he enters, the last thing he wants to do is startle her, especially here.] You are still with me, yes?

[musacal]

[ For a moment she's just very still and not answering. But then, ]

...Yes. I am. For now anyway.

[heathencall]

[He sits down... relatively beside her. A few feet for jesus between them.]

What do you need, Nana? [He pauses.] We asked a lot of you today.

[musacal]

[ "Need"? What does she need?

.......... ]

...I need them back.

I need to be able to bring Clau-chan home.

Starlight... Starlight needs to be eight people...

[ And fuck off Hikari you timeloop interloper you can't replace Claudine.

...

She doesn't just mean Claudine though, does she. ]

[heathencall]

[Yeah, he's not sure what answer he expected there but... He just nods. He knows the feeling. Not having Riley here, not seeking her out the second a trial came to an end... ]

We'll get out. Together -- the rest of us. And we can help you reclaim your position without anymore bloodshed.

We can bring the rest of us back.

[musacal]

[ She's quiet again before eventually speaking again. ]

...We'll fix it?

[heathencall]

We will. Claudine, Spinel and Riley... Red, Richard, and Sigyn. We will put this right.

[Jonny and Angus can go hyuck themselves though.]

[musacal]

[ Yeah even she agrees with that. Fuck those guys. ]

...Okay. I trust you when you say that.

[heathencall]

[Trust. It's still such a foreign thing to him. He has to take a second to... orient himself, after that.]

I will not disappoint you, Nana. I promise you that.

[musacal]

Okay.

[ ... ]

...I’m sorry that I lost it so badly at the trial today.

[heathencall]

[Ah, that's a laugh. Strained and not at all genuine.]

I am in no position to judge you for that, Nana.