TP - PERIDOT DORM 1.0

[impacter]

If any of the Peridots die, we shall make a new dorm PC (unless the dead, idk, become ghosts or something).

Comments

This is both a response to Ainosuke and also just Solomon being Here Too

[impacter]

[Not much later comes a priest. Weird.

Ah, no, it's just Solomon. Weird getup he has on, and the sleeves are mildly stained with a splattering of red at the very ends.

He's taking a peek through the main sitting areas, making sure everyone's accounted for (if they're even here), before slipping his way up to the second floor to--

Oh.]

...What in the world happened to you?

[fullswingkiss]

[ It's really a shame that he is in a shit mood right now, because the sight of Solomon dressed as a clergy member is rivetingly unfitting.

Unfortunately, he really doesn't feel like banter, so. ]

I looked at the body.

[ Duh. ]

[impacter]

Ah. You found the rest of it, then.

[Mm.

He quietly pivots to turn his back to Ainosuke, shoulder leaned up against one wall, keeping his eyes on the flowers instead. No need to watch him unrobe.]

Are you alright?

[fullswingkiss]

[ This, too, would be worth teasing if he were in any mood for it. So shy, all of a sudden... But no, Ainosuke doesn't care about the courtesy right now, he just needs to get out of his bloody clothes without much regard for being looked at. ]

I could ask you much the same. You just found a severed head.

[ They should be in the same boat here, similarly unnerved. Yet, they are not. Same as on their arrival day. It irritates him. ]

[impacter]

I did. Up on the church altar, no less.

[In some ways, it's easier to talk like this, unable to see his face. Knowing that Ainosuke can't see his in return, that he can't see how unhappy he feels, or how his eyes darken thinking of how Annette had screamed.

"Oh, Solomon, you could have at least shielded the poor child."

...

He exhales heavily as he glances down at the blood on his sleeves, on an outfit never made for him.]

Even bracing for it to happen, it's still unbearably cruel.

[fullswingkiss]

[ There's a mirthless laugh from Ainosuke at that information. On the altar - of course. Spiting the God that has decided their wishes are beyond redemption, while following His order all the same. That's how it always goes with God, doesn't it? In the end, your anger just drives you back to Him as well.

He throws his shirt to the side, pretenses of politeness and tidiness forgotten. ]

... you've seen cruelties like this before, haven't you?

[impacter]

[He hums in response. A vague affirmative with little shape.]

Not to the letter, if that's what you're asking.

[fullswingkiss]

The broad strokes explain enough.

[ They're from wholly different walks of life, and this drives it home a lot more than something as fantastical as magic could have. ]

[impacter]

A life taken needlessly is a life that could have loved, fought, and encouraged. It could have been so much more. Reduced to nothing but collateral, becoming an object, because of one wrong decision.

[...]

There's nothing shameful in being shaken by that.

[fullswingkiss]

[ Ainosuke scoffs. It's a perfect repeat of their first day here. Regardless of what happened in-between, they're just right back where they started: with unwanted sympathy. ]

A beautiful eulogy. Maybe those clothes suit you after all.

[ And with that, he's off to the shower, unwilling to be talked to like a child any longer. ]

[noellemadic]

Hi.

[There's Noelle. She looks more sullen than in grief over someone dying, but yeah, she's here in the dorms and will stay here until trial time]

[impacter]

[Ah, his visual relief at seeing her is immediate. Hi, girlypop, nice to see your grumpy face.]

Good, you're safe... have you been here all night, Noelle?

[noellemadic]

...no. I was--I spent the night at the rose garden, with Dain.

[And woke up to a decapitated body, wow]

[impacter]

Dain.... Ah, you mean Dainsleif. That tall blond fellow, right?

[God, but more importantly... the body had been in the garden, hadn't it? That's what the announcement had said, at least...]

Are you alright? Was it just the two of you there when night fell?

[noellemadic]

Yeah. Lavi must have arrived after we fell asleep. He just wasn't there before.

[impacter]

Did you see anything? Anything unusual at all in the garden before you woke up, or before you came down here afterwards?

[noellemadic]

Nothing worth telling. Dain and I kept distance from each other, and when I woke up and saw Lavi I left immediately to come here. I didn't want to risk someone killing me too.

[Tremendously numb to horrible death she is, but not when she's the one who could be dying. Sorry, Lavi, self-preservation mattered the most to her]

[impacter]

Mn. That's fine - keeping yourself safe was a smart decision.

...It does sound like they plan on gathering us all later today, later in the evening. Will you be alright, having to leave?

[noellemadic]

What? What for?

[She totally missed the details of the incoming trial, having been too worried to listen or remember the 'get away with it' portion of the murdergame. Better prepare yourself for a trial, Noelle!]

[impacter]

It was right when we woke up, from the girls crying from the windows.

"In six hours, the Troupe's on trial. A mystery dinner show, and the whole school's invited."

[noellemadic]

[Let her juuuuuust bury her face into her hands, tired]

This is going to be horrible.

[In many ways]

[impacter]

So long as you firmly remember what you just told me, you'll be fine. And you'll have others here to protect you.

Unless you're worried about something else?

[noellemadic]

I mean, I woke up near a mutilated body and fled as soon as understood what happened. I'm worried someone will think I had something to do with that death.

[It's a suspicious thing, after all!]

[impacter]

[He hums quietly, before slowly crossing over and extending a hand to place firmly against her shoulder.]

You're going to be fine, Noelle. You are. Just tell the truth.

Whatever happens, we'll find out who's guilty by evidence. Not by coincidence.

Okay?

[noellemadic]

...okay.

[Noelle nods, looking more comforted]

I'm trusting you all to do it right, because I'm not really a detective. I'm a strategist, not the one who figures things out.

[And even then her strategist skills are game-based. True, it could translate a little into the real world...but also don't put that responsibility on her, pleeeeease]