ain't no party like a murdergame afterparty, cw: some mentions of alcohol

[originallutece]

[--cuz a murdergame afterparty is horrifying and sad and possibly a little threatening if Mahiro insists on bringing his gun with him, please don't do that buddy.

Honestly, guys, we're running out of cooks at this rate. But it's nice to gather after horrifying events, and so while Rosalind's cooking skills are absolutely terrible, her alcohol-pouring skills are a little better. Come have a glass of wine or three and ruminate on the fact that there's only fourteen of us left.]

Comments

[irrationalities]

[While the fireworks were bound to draw some attention, he wasn't expecting people to approach him at all. He might have thought he was fully justified, but he's not unaware that what he did was generally frowned upon, so most of his attention is just on setting up the next round of explosions. He stops, though, when he hears his name.]

You need something else or what?

[originallutece]

A word, if you will.

[Come here. At some point, she'd clearly wandered down to see Fire-chan, because she's a cigarette between her fingers.]

It concerns our pendants.

[irrationalities]

[If it's about business, that's fine. He takes one last glance at the smoldering remains of the fireworks on the ground before walking over to her. Cigarette smoke and the sharp scent of black powder - what a pleasant combination they must make.]

You figured something else out?

[originallutece]

You felt strange on Wednesday, didn't you? More focused, more intent on things . . . yes?

[irrationalities]

Yeah. Felt like I didn't wanna move from the lab until those [a thumb towards the bag of fireworks] were finished.

[They were the only onyxes left, so he could see where she was going with this...]

You think it had something to do with Eizen's death?

[originallutece]

I do. We were the only two affected, and there was an affected. And given he shattered his pendant . . . I think there's something that links each of us with the same colors.

[irrationalities]

[Hmm... It's a different world so he's not sure if the same principles would apply but.]

The magic I'm familiar with lets you send stuff between objects with similar shape and composition since they resonate with each other. I doubt it'd be the exact same, but Eizen's pendant being broken could've sent out something that was picked up by ours.

[originallutece]

Harmonic resonance . . .

[She murmurs it, more to herself than him.]

But that wouldn't explain why it affected our moods-- or why it resulted in that mood in particular. Was it because it was Eizen who died? Or because we've all onyx pendants?

[irrationalities]

We were talking about how personalities may have been related to why we got the pendants we did, so what if it just exaggerated something we already had?

[originallutece]

It's possible. I've spent hours hyperfocused on a project. Is this--

[She gestures out towards the courtyard, where the fireworks had been flashing a few moments before.]

--something you'd conceivably spend time on?

[irrationalities]

[...Well, after that display in the trial room, he might as well say it.]

No. But for the past year I've been focused on getting revenge on Aika's killer.

[And that would count, wouldn't it?]

[originallutece]

[He's mentioned that name once before, but she's almost positive she hasn't heard him say who this person is.]

. . . it certainly would count. You were dedicated to one task in particular.

[. . .]

Did you get your revenge?

[irrationalities]

[This is opening him up to be accused if a revenge motive ever comes up, but again: he wasn't exactly subtle about it already.]

Not yet. [It's said calmly, evenly.]

Were you in the middle of something too?

[originallutece]

Nothing so dire as that. I was exploring the universes with my other half.

[irrationalities]

[It's a testament to how strange this place is that hearing something like that sounds fairly normal. He's not sure when he got used to it, but. That's how it always is, isn't it?]

So jumping through universes is like a field trip to you. You able to do that on your own or is it because of something else?

[originallutece]

We weren't always able to, no. But it's an ability we've grown used to having. I can't give you a number of years, because frankly time stops having meaning at that point, but we had it for quite a while.

[irrationalities]

['Too bad it doesn't work here' is something that floats through his mind, but that's obvious enough. If it was that easy to break through this cage, none of this would've happened to begin with. Still...]

So if we found a way to get rid of whatever's blocking that ability of yours, could you get us all home?

[originallutece]

Yes.

[There's not a moment of hesitation.]

It would be like opening a door.

[irrationalities]

[He looks contemplative before he replies, albeit he's not really looking at her. It's more like he's talking to himself, really?]

Might be our best shot, if we don't wanna play around with their game then.

[However, after that Mahiro's back to having eye contact.]

How much do you know about the corruption?

[originallutece]

Not very much. Not beyond what we've all learnt. How much I believe is another thing entirely-- I've never heard of anything that would consume worlds like that.

[irrationalities]

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

[With that said...]

They haven't given us any damn proof anywhere either. You'd think that if they'd wanna convince us of it, they'd give us something more substantial.

[Instead they only really bother talking about it when asked.]

[originallutece]

[Another day, another time, that might have made her smile.]

I don't think they have to, really. Why should they? We're caught here, belief or not, and most people don't seem to be murdering for corruption's sake, but for the sake of simply guaranteeing their loved ones are safe.