come out of hiding, i'm right here beside you

[barehands]

[A while after the execution has ended, everyone will find a simple note slipped under their door.]

If you don't want to be alone after everything that's happening, some of us will be in the dining room. Even if you decide not to come, please remember that you aren't alone here.

[The note isn't signed, but the handwriting is feminine and neat.

For anyone who decides to come, there's a good array of food laid out on the table. There are some small and simple cakes, cookies, and pastries, a healthy amount of okonomiyaki, okayu, and other Japanese dishes (with a focus on rice and eggs), along with curry. In addition, there are pancakes, and a large pot of soup. It looks like a few people collaborated to make enough food for everyone here.

Just like the meal they shared together earlier in the week, the candles from the storage room lend a more peaceful light than the fluorescent lights above.]

Comments

[arebetter]

[ Pizzazz doesn't look happy by the time she gets to the party, but that's nothing new. She's smiled like once? Twice? Since she got here. But to say nothing that happened today sits well with her is... one hell of an understatement. She sits at a table with a place of food and sort of... shuffles it around, glaring at it like it's what pulled this shit.

She can be caught occasionally actually taking a bite, but mostly she's just kind of... muttering swear words under her breath. Goodbye, all-ages rating! ]

[crywiththesaints]

[Sakura sets her spoon down and looks over, serious.]

Children whose world has forsaken them, desperate to take their revenge... That sort of thing happens more often than people realize.

[arebetter]

You don't need to tell me.

[ She stabs a poor innocent bite of pancake way harder than needed. ]

Guess some things are true in every world.

[crywiththesaints]

[nod] That seems to be how things are. As little as anyone wants it to, this may happen again. If it does, will you be prepared?

[arebetter]

Yeah. I think so. Guess I wasn't really... present, at the trial, huh?

[crywiththesaints]

A few weren't. But there will be another chance, provided we have another body on our hands eventually. Of course, nobody wants that.

[arebetter]

We better not. I mean we couldn't even go a week, apparently, but.

[crywiththesaints]

We'll need to see. Unfortunately, this group is still nowhere close to finding an exit.

[arebetter]

Nope. And we're going to go stir crazy stuck in here eventually. We have like five rooms apart from where we sleep.

[crywiththesaints]

There needs to be more to the building, even if we haven't found it. There's got to be a door, after all.

[arebetter]

Right. Just a matter of finding it.

[crywiththesaints]

I'm surprised that hasn't happened already. Whatever they've got at work, it's effective.

[arebetter]

Yeah. Apparently magic is real, it might be that.

[ If only Felicia could see her now. ]

[imaginex]

[Sakura catches some of that muttering while she passes by, that's for sure. While not stupid enough to assume it's because of the food, she pauses long enough for it to be awkward if she doesn't say something, and so:]

Is the food not to your liking?

[arebetter]

Huh? No, food's fine. The one thing that's not fucked up right now, honestly.

[imaginex]

[Well that startled a smile out of her]

I'd have to agree.

[The smile dies quickly, however. It's... hard to maintain]

Though I'm surprised anyone's able to eat right now.

[arebetter]

Yeah, well... you take comfort where you can get it, when shit goes south.

[imaginex]

Mm. That's true.

[A pause, before - hesitantly]

May I sit here, Miss?

[arebetter]

Sure thing.

[ And she will scoot over to allow more room for emphasis. ]

[imaginex]

[Sakura relaxes a fraction, surprised. The other girl kinda intimidates her (like most people), so she's perpetually bracing for rejection first. After that pause, she slips into the seat with a plate of food - the okonomiyaki in particular.]

Thank you.

[arebetter]

No prob. Sakura, right?

[imaginex]

Yes.

... Though I admit, I don't remember your name, Miss.

[arebetter]

That's for the best. Call me Pizzazz.

[imaginex]

Pizzazz-san then.

[Looking down at her food, untouched]

... Did you know Arietta-chan or Felicia-san well?

[arebetter]

I got into a fight with Felicia,t hat's all. But I liked Arietta okay.