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

[ossifragant]

About as well as I can be, I guess.

[.....]

I can't imagine what Arietta went through, what Felicia went through, in their last moments.

[cadmiums]

[ He sits down next to Gred with a small sigh.]

Felicia was very kind. I think she was my first friend here. [ Sure he asked her out and she told him that he was too young for her, but he got a friendship out of it which was basically just as good.]

Arietta... I'm still not sure what to think of what we saw in there.

[ossifragant]

[He's quiet for a long moment.]

That was.... Arietta's mother. I don't know how something like that is possible; it must have been an illusion, but...

Well. It was... I'd like to hope we won't be seeing it again.

[But by his tone, he's already resigned himself to seeing another execution.]

[cadmiums]

You think someone will murder again, don't you?

[......]

I do too.

[ossifragant]

Now that it's started, I don't think it can stop.

I don't think the Transmitter wants this any more than we do, but I think her hands are tied now. We'll have to go through another trial, I'm sure.

[cadmiums]

I don't think she does either, but a lot of people seem to think otherwise. Yelling and fighting with her won't accomplish anything, even if I don't blame them for being upset. [ It just makes him feel sad, all around.]

[ossifragant]

Really-- I think what's important is figuring out who, exactly, the Risen are. Misty won't, or can't, address that directly, but I think their exact motivations are key to understanding what's happening.

[cadmiums]

[ Nod.] They won't even let her accept gifts, even if she wants to.

[ossifragant]

Yeah. I can't imagine it's easy, whatever she's going through.

[cadmiums]

I think you're the first person I've heard say that. Everyone else seemed so angry at her during trial.

[ossifragant]

I'll admit, the trial pissed me off, but I don't think it was her fault. Getting angry at her is a little like shooting the messenger.

[cadmiums]

[ Nod.] I think she's a kind person, deep down. I like her. [ This may not be the best thing to admit, but oh well.]

[ossifragant]

[Even if it's not a good thing to admit...]

Yeah, I like her too.

[cadmiums]

I'm glad I'm not the only one. [ And he truly looks relieved, especially after some other reactions he's gotten.]

Sakura-chan was confused on why I took her out on a date.

[ossifragant]

A date?

[....man, kids around here move fast.]

[cadmiums]

Yeah, and we have a second one this weekend. [ He's just so happy about this, despite the incredibly strange circumstances.]

[ossifragant]

Do you? Well, I hope the two of you have as much fun as you can in a place like this.

[cadmiums]

Thank you. It's a little difficult to have dates like this, but I don't mind.

[ossifragant]

We all need our moments of happiness, even here.