"A Swing and Miss Doesn't Mean it's Game Over"

[mayavericks]

[Well… All of that sure happened. And while Maya is visibly shaken Sissi's literal dance with death, she’d meant what she’d said to the others -- she would protect them. At that moment, it meant voting and making the “right” decision. Now, though? It means ensuring that no one feels alone, and that everyone has a good meal in them.

She’s not Nana Daiba, however, she certainly can’t do this alone. But she does have the resourcefulness and authoritative disposition to to recruit allies. Discord is sure to be… mostly unbothered by everything that’s happened, and Spongebob will likely be eager to help. She approaches both men: one is asked nicely; The other is grabbed by the collar and dragged from whatever hole he’s locked himself in. Sorry Discord.

For Maya's part, several potato dishes are prepared (can you tell someone has a bias). And while she doesn’t have the resources to make baumkuchen, Maya does manage to produce a cake, as well as… muffins? They’re not… quite how she remembers Nana making them, but she can at least recall how hearty the food had felt, and how it had restored her energy on long days.

It’s a pleasant memory, even if it does make her a touch melancholy.

Nevertheless, the food is laid out in the kitchen, as are a number of pies that Maya has uncovered. She even tucks a few bottles of wine in a corner for the adults that might like it. This is in addition to the mead apparently brought by Salieri. Look she’s not a fan of having alcohol but… she can’t tell the adults no.

But hey, courtesy of Benjamin, there is even some cocoa. It doesn’t start off spiked but… you know. Thanks to Spongebob there are, well… Angry Patties? It’s fine. Even Discord managed to contribute some pies and tea, as well as being bossed around to do the grunt work in the kitchen. There’s also that inexplicable pizza? Huh, that’s weird.

Eventually the group goes around extending invitations to the dorms, knocking on doors and explaining what’s been set up. No one will be forced to go, just… strongly encouraged. Maya herself will even duck into the principal’s office and, if she’s there, invite Hester.

She seemed just as upset as the rest of them.]

Comments

[violentenvies]

[Salieri listens, quietly, to the prayer--and almost startles when the hand goes to his back. He almost pulls away, instinctively; he's used to hand shakes and such things, but this kind of comforting contact, especially with slow back and forth, is something has not experienced since his parents were alive. It makes a part of him want to recoil from it and its strangeness; another part of him aches to lean into it, to accept that comfort in a place of safety that he hasn't been afforded for decades.

It's enough to threaten the thin walls that have been holding back a lot of the excess emotion, and he finds his bottom lip trembling, voice choked as he says, simply, at the end of the prayer]

Amen.

[barberic]

Amen.

[Benjamin's hand stops, as he finishes the prayer. His own voice is thick and ragged. He's exhausted, bone-weary, but he knows others are hurting more.]

It's been a long night.

[violentenvies]

[Benjamin's hand continues to rest on his back, though it's stopped it's movements. And very tentatively Salieri just...tilts to the side slightly, leaning into Benjamin a little, as if not entirely sure of his welcome but unable to stop himself from seeking contact and comfort now that the other man initiated it.

There's maybe a small sniffle from his side, face still hidden in his arms]

Far too long. [his voice wavers, betraying his upset. It's been a long night indeed, and a long night of holding in much of his emotions in an effort to present support for others in what way he could but...there's something about being with Benjamin and the safety he feels in his presence makes all the walls he's built feel like little more than thin paper, tearing easily.]

[barberic]

[Benjamin does him the kindness of letting his tears go unremarked upon, simply letting his hand slide across Antonio's shoulders as his friend leans into him.

With his free hand, he wipes his own cheeks dry, sniffing softly.]

...We'll do better.

[Then, a little softer.]

We have to.