we're gonna afterparty and you're GOING TO FUCKING LIKE IT

[presomnia]

[Tiki wanders into the great hall expecting company, expecting a full room just like before to abate her loneliness and what she finds instead is...Mahiro, chillin'.

And no one else.

Okay. Cool. Fine. She'll throw a goddamn party herself IF THAT'S WHAT'S HAPPENING, TRY HER.

So she drags one (1) rude teen into the kitchen despite protests that he can't cook, finds Eizen actively in the middle of cooking, and takes full advantage of the situation and also her own cute charm until curry for two turns into curry for twenty four.

Everyone will find notes slipped under their door, courtesy of Tiki's new gopher since he refuses to cook, the first part written in loose, loopy handwriting like an elementary schooler who hasn't quite gotten the hang of the cursive they've been taught:]

Let's meet in the Great Hall together in about an hour and have dinner again this time, so nobody has to be alone.

[aaand under that in a completely different set of handwriting:]

I don't know why we're doing this after someone died from getting poisoned through food but at least there won't be any fucking cake. Don't come if you don't want to.

[hm. well.

in the Great Hall, Tiki's hard at work setting up Eizen's mabo curry for the taking (and she's bullied him into making exactly one plate of non-spicy curry because she loves Hanyuu), and also hard at work into bullying Mahiro into helping her set up silverware and plates and beverages. It's not much, but it's here.]

Comments

[buddyoldpal]

[ Ah, you dodged talking about your feelings, Majima. Smooth. ]

Gonna be one hell of a stretch if they do.

[ Nishitani runs the math over in his head. ]

Wouldn't surprise me if they got all ass-chafed about the rules an' started weedin' people out that way, though. But who fuckin' knows? Our pals in charge have lived a damn long time, what's a few extra fuckin' weeks?

[maddogs]

[ he did indeed ]

That's a lotta people that haveta die.

[buddyoldpal]

[ Ah, yes... Majima cares about people. Not just his people. He really does have a fragile heart. Nishitani sighs, squeezing his hand. ]

Doubt there's anythin' we can do about it. Ya know as well as I do that Teishu-kun and Sage-chan ain't the kinda "people" ya can make budge.

[ Which is to say, they're not people at all. This is one problem they can't solve with fists and knives. ]

[maddogs]

Ah, yeah. They're tryin' ta save their home.

[ or whatever. he guesses. ]

[buddyoldpal]

Or some kinda bullshit, yeah. Don't make much sense, with the way their so-called cases are goin'.

[ He shrugs. Magic is weird. ]

[maddogs]

[ majima's quiet for a moment, then, finally: ]

He didn't interfere. The tea was just a coincidence after all.

[buddyoldpal]

[ Nishitani nods. He knows what Majima's talking about without him having to say more. ]

Guess so. Can't really know fer sure unless ya hear it from the man 'imself.

[ Senhime was apparently the one the Sage gave tea to, but who could have known that? ]

[maddogs]

We made such a big deal out of it for fuckin' nothin'.

[ you only get to play that card so many times. ]

[buddyoldpal]

We sure did.

[ He nods. He's made a big deal out of nothing a lot.</small. ] Ain't gonna be right every time, pal.

[maddogs]

[ majima makes a frustrated noise. ]

I know that. Been wrong more than right most've my life. I just don't usually make such a big damn deal out of it.

[buddyoldpal]

[ Ah, html. my mortal enemy. ]

Hey, ain't nothin' wrong with that. Only way ta win big is ta try big -- means yer gonna fail big too, sometimes. Don't mean ya gotta tone yer shit down.

[maddogs]

Mm.

[ he doesn't really care what the others think - it's something else that's eating on him. when he speaks again it seems to be another change in topic, but maybe they're really all related in that jumpy, overly active way that majima's mind usually works. ]

I'm worried about the Teishu. [beat] Should jus' wanna fuck 'em both an' go home.

[buddyoldpal]

[ Nishitani's just along for the ride, he'll follow Majima's train of thought wherever it goes.

He pauses, listening to Majima and letting him know that he really is paying attention. It's true that Nishitani wants to fuck 'em both and go home, but he likes the Teishu quite a great deal, too. ]

Teishu-kun's alright. Kinda reminds me of some o' the guys back home.

[maddogs]

He wanted ta talk to us during the trial.

[ not to "us", though. to majima in specific. and it means he feels that much guiltier about it. ]

[buddyoldpal]

[ Nishitani nods. He noticed that too, obviously. ]

He's sure as fuck more interested in the truth than our pal Sage-chan is.

[ Might there be trouble in paradise...? ]

[maddogs]

But other than stoppin' him from talkin', the Sage really hadn't interfered.

[buddyoldpal]

Maybe he really was pissed at Sen-chan fer the food thing. Mighta been he woulda helped her get away with it if she hadn't ended up poisonin' him.

[ Which lets them know that the Sage can be poisoned in the first place. Isn't that interesting! ]

[maddogs]

If he was mad, he could've told us about the cup all along.

[buddyoldpal]

Who the fuck knows? Sure, he can fuckin' rewrite the rules, but 'e seems ta wanna come off as if he's gotta follow 'em like everybody else. Got real pissy at me when I suggested he didn't hafta do that shit.

[maddogs]

Maybe the best we can do is just take 'em at face value.

[buddyoldpal]

Might be.

[ Nishitani shrugs. ]

Ain't much we can do if they lie ta us. They're the ones holdin' all the damn cards.

[maddogs]

Yeah.

[ he's quiet for another moment. ]

Ya remember what I told ya about my oath brother?

[buddyoldpal]

[ Nishitani nods. ]

Saejima-kun, yeah? What about 'im?

[maddogs]

His sister Yasuko-chan was shot not long before I got here. She got all wrapped up in this insane scheme that went all the way back to fuckin' '85.

[ back to the hit, in other words. majima finally takes a drink from the glass of sake nishitani brought him. it burns going down but he's glad for it. ]

Turned out the whole thing had been a goddamn set up. They'd always intended for Saejima ta take the fall. I knew...I knew there was somethin' wrong, even back then. Never wanted ta believe it.

[ he's well aware he's all over the place tonight. there's a way these all connect but he doesn't know how to make the connections out loud, only knows these are the things weighing on him this evening. that's enough for him, he doesn't really question it and nishitani is following him on it which is more than a lot of people would do. ]

I just...[ he trails off, sighs. ] Seems like the people holdin' the cards are always playin' by their own rules.

[buddyoldpal]

Damn.

[ A hit going all the way back from '85 to 25 years later? That sounded like hell. And losing his oath brother's sister... well, Nishitani figured Majima had seen some shit in his day but it sounds like this is just a small part of it.

Nishitani leans a bit towards Majima. He can't say much to that -- he, too, was a victim to some asshole holding all the cards. There isn't much to say. ]

Power lets ya do whatever the fuck ya want, till somebody takes it from ya.

[ There's always someone more powerful, isn't there? ]