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

[nachetanya]

No, you're probably right.

[ there's something to be said for contrast, but that really did fit the mood. She gives a little nod and then makes a weird gesture like she might've clapped if not for, you know, one arm. ]

[protectandselfserve]

[it takes him a second, but...]

Haha, well, thank you. It's always difficult, you know? Sometimes people tend to prefer something that'll sound like it'll cheer them up, but sometimes it just makes them feel worse, strangely enough.

[nachetanya]

To be told to be happy when you simply can't is a stressful thing. I understand, certainly.

[protectandselfserve]

Precisely. And that whole thing was...

[...how does he describe it without... you know...]

...more than anyone was expecting, I think?

[nachetanya]

[ . . . ] A minister, or a priest, or a judge will have been empowered and study for years in order to gain the power they hold. I think we all had to feel the weight of the ability to hold life and death in our hands today in the same way a judge does, and it's more than I know I could have expected.

[protectandselfserve]

...well, I definitely get you there. Admittedly, I wouldn't say that I'm entirely unfamiliar with the idea, even if detectives don't directly decide whether people live or die. We're a part of the process, but the judge is the one who decides things.

[nachetanya]

[ She nods. ]

I'm a warrior and a saint, and one of the Braves of Six Flowers - I've had to weigh the lives of people to protect. and sometimes even to fight. But it's different than a battle to the death of just words and ideas. The whole thing feels much more dangerous.

[protectandselfserve]

Indeed.

[He begins idly pressing keys, though more softly than is usual for him.]

It would help if we had a better idea of what we were actually dealing with here, wouldn't it? I hate to admit it, but it's a fair ways beyond what I'm used to.

[nachetanya]

[ She closes her eyes, briefly. And she... exhales. ]

We can piece together some times, but... yes, we need to learn more about what's happening. We don't have anything near a clear picture.

[protectandselfserve]

Honestly, that trial raised more questions than answers.

[re, mi, do.]

Especially that execution.

[nachetanya]

Oh, is that what worries you?

[protectandselfserve]

It was a little much, don't you think?

[nachetanya]

No, it was... I suppose i had just been thinking more about the process than the result.

[protectandselfserve]

Hmmm.

[plink plink plink...]

Both are definitely worth thinking about, I think.

[nachetanya]

Probably. There's a lot to think about.

[protectandselfserve]

Enough to keep you up several nights in a row!

[nachetanya]

[ Several nights in a row? She laughs at the idea, but she doesn't quite dismiss it either. Taking a step back, she motions for him to go back to playing. ]

[protectandselfserve]

...haha, alright. I'll see if I can get your mind off of it, then.

[...hmm, maybe something contemplative, but pleasant...

...

why not.]