Disaster Zone And Grill: Backyard

Characters: Elara, Mariette, Eric, Justin, Condor, Melody, Anne, Vesper

Location: Fellward (Mariette's rental)

Date: 14 August 2021

Mariette chose the house well - its backyard is large and open, with plenty of room on the patio for the grill, a folding table with trays of meat (and some vegetables) ready to be cooked and empty trays waiting for cooked food. More folding tables and chairs wait for club members on one half of the lawn, shaded by a large white canopy. The rest of the backyard is open, with more space than the group probably needs. It's ringed with a tall wooden fence, every third board with a sticky note on it.

Behind the grill stands Eric, a man in his fifties holding tongs and wearing a novelty apron. He's just finished getting the grill to temperature, and the scent of grilling meat is rising with the hot air over the entire backyard. Next to him, Justin pours another bag of ice into a large hard-sided cooler filled with non-alcoholic drinks.

Mariette arrives and the smell immediately hits her, it's really good.

She looks around for Elara, waving at Eric when she sees him.

"Hey, it smells great!"

Elara’s curled up in a folding chair under shade, amusedly watching Max chase... nothing? The dog darts in and out of the shade, clearly happier out of the sun. She glances over immediately when Mariette comes through and waves.

Eric waves back at Mariette. "E T A ten minutes for the first round," he predicts, looking at the cooking food with a critical eye.

Condor has been distracted from their unfolding of chairs by trying to figure out how to stow Triviality's gift in their bag without breaking it, and they're distracted from *that* by Mariette's entrance.

"Right? Nice place, by the way."

"Thanks, it's not mine!" Mariette says enthusiastically to Condor, and gives Eric a thumbs up. She was actually having a good time there. And more now that she saw Elara, she quickly approaches her. "Hey, not too much socializing, eh?" She giggles. "You saw Triviality's gifts?"

Elara shrugs, smiling back at Mariette. “I’ve been watching,” she says noncommittally. “And nah, happy watching those two run around for now.” Elara gestures to the dog who is now contentedly rolled over and... scritches? What’s giving him scritches?

Mariette looks towards Max... Was he following an insect?

Then she realizes.

"Oh, Gambit! I knew they would like it." She smiles. "Isn't the sun bothering you? It was a bit more intense than I expected."

Elara makes a face. “Annoying to have right there,” and she gestures to the open lawn covered in brightness, “and kinda uncomfortable to look at, but long as I keep my hood up and stay out of it directly it shouldn’t burn me. Not a major deal, I think.”

"You could go inside too, but, well, Maybe is helping me with the receiving people there..." Mariette makes a face. "Anyways, you liking it so far? The place seems so much lively with more people!... I mean, not that I don't like it when it's just us around..." She shrugs.

“Don’t fuss.” Elara sounds amused. “It’s kinda nice watching the place glow so much, and I ate enough not to be seriously wondering what they taste like.” The words are utterly casual. ”And it’s good you’re having fun.”

A cloud passes trough the sky, projecting a small shadow on the backyard, it feels much more refreshing.

"Hey, wanna come with me talk to other guests? Would be nice to have you around to socialize or whatever." Mariette smirks.

Elara visibly relaxes as the sun dissipates a little. She eyes Mariette warily. "Sure, if you like, but, well. You *do* know how I get. I ain't guaranteeing I won't accidentally piss someone off." She gets to her feet and stretches, before shaking herself off.

The happiness on Mariette's face for Elara agreeing to it is obvious. "Cool! Let's go with those guys Condor and Justin? I... Don't think I know barely anything about them."

She looks towards them, Condor finishing with the chairs and Justin with the drinks... She really wants something to drink.

Elara shrugs. "Don't do anything stupid," she tells Max and Gambit, to which Max barks with something like amusement. After that, she just gives Mariette a shove over to Justin and Condor. "I don't know 'em either, guess its time."

She wants to grab Elara's hand towards there, but... Maybe she would be uncomfortable with the guests? Instead she goes towards Justin trying to pace her steps so she's close to Elara.

"Hey, mind if I grab a soda? How are you doing, by the way? You don't talk too much around the forum, do you?"

Justin looks up at the two of them from where he kneels next to the cooler distributing the new ice. "No, go ahead. They should be pretty cold by now. Want me to pass you something?" He looks down at the selection, carefully curated via the purchase of the single multi-pack of soda cans available at Cashco. "And... no, not lately. I've been pretty busy with work and studying. Besides, the crowd on the forum..." Justin pauses before his eyes settle on Mariette and Elara properly. "Well, you probably know what I mean," he says with a smile.

*Well... No offense taken.* "Could you pass me something lemon flavored? And c'mon the chat isn't as bad, is it?" Mariette chuckles.*That's where I met her, after all.* "So what do you do?"

Elara snorts. "C'mon, Mari, a bunch of 'em can be dicks." *Including us, very much so.* She eyes the selection with something resembling wistfulness, but doesn't ask - for obvious reasons. She's listening.

Justin glances over the selection, then hands her a can labeled with a lemon-headed boy wearing a propeller hat. "All right, all right, it's not the worst," he says, taking a drink for himself before closing the cooler lid. "I'm a Warden, focusing on some of the dangerous stuff near where I live, but I also work at Sanctuary. You could say that I'm Christine's assistant." He opens the can and takes a long drink. He's certainly dressed like he might belong in Sanctuary. "Really, I'm more of a student and records-wrangler. What about you two?"

"Christine?... Oh the Lady of the Hotel? I didn't got to meet her, only that other guy. Uh... I forgot his name." She takes a few moments, thinking about it before continuing. "Oh, I'm a student too, I guess, but I worked... Or work, I don't know, for the Lord of Bordeaux, I'm a Licensed practitioner, I guess." *With no patron until I'm done studying...* She shrugs.

"I'm an alchemist's p-" Elara cuts off the word there, "Spy and thief." The words are almost a challenge, Elara watching Justin with a kind of sharpness. Elara's only fine clothing is Mariette's jacket, everything else worn down but fitting her, a hood over her head. She's not distinctly inhuman, only kind of off, but the smell of rotting flesh is faint on her. She scrubbed *some* of it off, before, but there's only so much she can do.

Condor, too, has scrubbed off as much rotting-flesh-smell as they can manage after interacting with Roadkill that morning, but anyone with sufficient senses could smell the traces of it. They're still absently holding Triviality's egg as they approach, looking slightly overwhelmed but happy nonetheless.

"Oh, alchemy? Neat, I'd, um, like to hear more if you care to share." They look over at Justin, and affection loosens their slightly tense smile. "I feel like Justin's really underselling himself here, by the way. He's an amazing Warden, his wards have saved my life... at least a couple times."

Mariette eyes the group while drinking from her soda.

"I don't *really* know much about it, I'm the... hired help, I guess you could say. I guess I know a few things he can do?" Elara makes a face. "I'll try and think of something I'm allowed to tell, secrets and shite." Her gaze flicks between Justin and Condor. "Get into danger much?"

Condor gives an amused snort at that. "We, uh, certainly *try* not to. And yet... kinda feels like we do, yeah. Sorry if my question put you on the spot there, um, no pressure if it's stressful. I've recently gotten into alchemy is all, or rather, discovered that I've kind of accidentally been doing it for a long time, I guess." They glance at Mariette, start to open their mouth, then suddenly become self-conscious about how much they're talking.

Elara shrugs. "I don't normally discuss his work. I'm sure you can guess how much trouble I'd be in if I spilled something important, huh? Something I can say, though..." Elara taps her leg, thinking. "He's got some mixtures that keep more fragile... what's the word. The not-so-touchable stuff, like a memory? You drop it in that mixture, it keeps longer, doesn't break down so much, if I remember right."

"Huh! That's pretty neat. Memories are really tough to work with, I don't really know how to do it."

For a brief moment, they notice the faint odor of rotting flesh cutting through the smell of freshly cooked meat. *Ah shit, I thought I washed it all out. Can she smell that? Embarrassing.* They cast their gaze around the yard. "So, um, is that your dog?"

Elara glances over at Max, playfully pouncing on... nothing? Well, he landed on *something* for a moment, before barking happily and getting back to chasing.

"Yeah, that's Max," Elara says fondly. "Been hanging around with me for a while. I can call him over if you want, but I think I'd rather leave him to his fun."

Justin’s eyes follow where Elara looks, and he smiles at Max. He doesn't seem fazed at all by her not-quite-living nature, although if she pays very close attention, it might become clear that he's putting in deliberate effort to come across as casual. "Have you done any alchemy yourself?" he asks, gesturing over his shoulder with a nod of his head. "Eric's been doing a bit lately."

The moment Melody steps into the back yard, her dog freezes in place. His ears perk up, and he sniffs the air for a moment. He turns his head towards Elara and bounds towards her excitedly, stopping a few feet short of bowling her over entirely. He looks up at her, panting happily.

Elara was going to answer Justin, something about chemistry, but Nox's arrival immediately yanks her attention away, turning. Even Mariette hasn't seen her this unabashadly *happy* very often - no one else Elara knows except Max would ever have seen this. "Oh *hello* you!" Elara says, immediately going to her knees and reaching out to scritch behind his ears. She's grinning, and for a moment she really *does* seem like just a young girl, her ever-present dangerous edge fled for the moment. "Oh, you're *gorgeous* aren't you? Beautiful boy, want to say hi? Hello."

Gambit weaves through the increasing amount of bodies with ease for a large creature such as themselves, fascinated with the fact that there are not just one sosoft dog, but two! Many many eyes are dedicated to watching the spectacle.

Melody walks up at a much more sedate pace, eyes sparkling with amusement. Elara can see Death all throughout Nox, radiating out of Melody's heart, and infused in the fingerless gloves on her hands. Idly, she pats the dog on the side.

"Looks like Nox already made a friend."

(Condor breathes a silent sigh of relief that nobody's relying on them to carry the conversation, and looks warmly upon the scene)

Max chases after Gambit for a bit, before spotting Melody and Nox, at which point he barks happily and leaps into the fray as well, bounding into Nox. He's careful enough that he doesn't knock the dog over, but he's oddly massy.

Elara's giggles are brightly sincere enough to be contagious, and her delight is nearly palpable.

If Melody *Looks,* then Elara's traced with ivy, exactly as expected - and remarkably healthily, by ghoul standards. *Max,* on the other hand, would be absolutely covered by thorny ivy, much, much more Death-oriented than his mistress... somehow, when he looks entirely alive by any other measure.

"I'm definitely willing to be Nox's friend," Elara tells the dog she's scritching, before looking up at Melody. "Hello there. Grave, wasn't it?"

Melody nods, crouching down so she can provide pets to both dogs simultaneously. Nox looks overjoyed at the attention.

"Yep! Or Melody, if you want. I'm guessing you're Skyline, and *this-*" She ruffles Max's fur. "Is Max?"

Max's tail is wagging so fast that its making *thwapthwapthwap* noises, nuzzling up to Melody happily. "You've got it," Elara says brightly. "Though, yeah, you can call me Elara out here." Her ability to pay Melody attention degenerates rapidly into crooning nonsense at Nox. "Happy boy, aren't you?" she asks, scritching under his chin. "Like attention, huh?" Elara laughs.

Nox barks happily, as if in agreement, and Melody chuckles.

"Yeah, he especially likes people on the deader end of the scale."

Elara's humour tempers itself a bit at the reminder, a bit of melancholy. "Right, yeah. Church Grim, you said?" She runs her hands through Nox's fur, managing to recover under the sheer influence of Dog present. "Well, you, I am kinda dead," she informs Nox. "Bit less dead than usual, admittedly, but still pretty dead."

"Yep. My favorite graveyard guardian, right here."

She smiles fondly behind her mask and gives Nox, who's currently having the time of his life, a few pats on the head.

"Sure seems like he'd do good work, though should I be worried he could be bribed with pats?" Elara's tone is light, not serious - she doesn't seem in the least genuine about the question.

"He doesn't do as much guard duty now, more of a hunting partner. Maybe if we ran into an Echo caught in an endless loop of dog-petting." Melody's tone is equally light.

"Hah. That'd be quite a ghost, if someone was so delighted by petting a dog that they'd leave an Echo." Elara's tone sounds like she sympathises with this hypothetical individual. This actually gets her thinking, and for a moment she glances away, towards Mariette, before back to Melody. "Which, actually, does Nox trigger dog allergies?"

"Nope! He's pretty dead himself, so there's no reason for him to shed or anything." To demonstrate, Melody runs her hand through Nox's fur and holds it up for Elara to see. Her hand is entirely free of fur.

Mariette finally takes her hand off her mouth and nose, a good think, since she was starting to feel light headed... It had felt like hours since she had taken breath. She inhales deeply "OOF! Good! Can I pet it?!"

Seeing Elara *so happy* made her happy herself, she had barely taken her view off her during the time.

"Go ahead!"

Nox looks up at Mariette expectantly.

Mariette gets close and starts petting it, crouching down next to Elara. To maintain her balance she puts a hand on Elara's back, softly, just to be able to balance herself. "Oh my god, what a cute doggy!" She continues petting.

"He's beautiful, yeah," Elara agrees, grinning. She leans into the touch instinctively, most of her attention still on Nox. Max whuffs and gives Mariette a lick, before determinedly going on his back legs and attempting to lick Melody's face.

Melody is clearly experienced with this kind of behavior, turning her head away so Max gets her cheek instead. Her mask shields her from the worst of it, and she gently pushes Max down, scratching behind his ears as a consolation. "Yeah, yeah, you're beautiful too, Max."

Max whuffs again, momentarily disappointed, before his tail starts wagging like a little motor running again. His tongue lolls out, grinning as he pushes into Melody's touch.

He's *weirdly* weighty, that's what Melody can tell. And he's not actually drooling or shedding, either.

As Elara leans into the touch, Mariette changes her touch so none fall down, using almost all her arm, ending in an almost hug.

"What's up with this hypoallergenic dogs? I mean, I'm not complaining, but meeting two in such a short time is kinda funny," Mariette chuckles. "This is probably the month I've petted more dogs in my life, I usually need to get away from them..."

Melody shrugs. "Max looked pretty Deathly with my Sight, maybe you just need to meet more undead dogs?"

Elara just shifts to keep things comfortable, half-noticing the hug. "I'm pretty sure Max is alive." Elara eyes her dog, who just pants happily. Elara pauses. "... Pretty sure?"

Melody looks at Max and blinks. When her eyes open, they look like they're made of glass and speckled with dust. Her irises have turned into rings of silver filigree. "He's covered in vines for me, and that's only ever meant Death. He has more than you, even. If he *is* alive, that'd be a *lot* of Death to be managing without going straight into undeath." She looks up at Elara and squints. "Is your balance okay? I'd expect you to have more Death than him."

Elara looks... embarrassed. "I've been working on it," she mutters, automatically looking over at Mariette. "Besides, I feel f- oh."

Oh.

Mariette's... hugging... in...

Elara's brain shuts down, cutting off her words, and she freezes.

*Uh oh... Too much life?* Mariette stands up, stopping the petting, almost making it look natural. She grabs her soda and takes a sip "She has to have a balance, right? So that means that she can't be completely dead..."

Elara's recovery isn't nearly as natural, half-shaking herself back into giving the dogs their well-deserved scritches. "I feel fine," Elara manages to insist. "I think I'm pretty balanced right now. I'd feel worse if I wasn't, surely?"

She wishes Mariette would come back, but she isn't sure if she could handle it.

Melody looks at Elara skeptically, but she blinks again and her eyes return to normal. "Well, if you're sure. Actually- I'm going to go grab some food. You want to stay here for a bit, Nox?"

Nox whuffs his assent, nudging his head against Elara and Mariette.

"Yeah, thought so. Attention-lover." Melody gets up and heads in the direction of the grill, giving Nox a parting pat.

Mariette wants to continue with the pets, but decides to let Elara breathe a little... Even if she wants to, she knows she shouldn't be too asphyxiating. *Ugh...* She looks around the place and notices all the new faces, getting excited. Seemed like the grill had actually been successful. She feels proud.

"Wanna go meet more people? We can bring the doggies!... And seems like Gambit also wants to play with them!" She looks *to something* towards the horizon.

"Sure, sounds good." Elara under the influence of two dogs that like her is outright friendly, it seems, getting to her own feet while still scritching at Nox. She smiles, seeing Mariette happy. "Lead the way."

Mariette extends her gloved hand towards her. "C'mon!" And looks around to see who to join. "Uh... I should also go check back in the entrance, I left Maybe there helping me out... You don't have to talk to him" She gives her an apologetic smile.

Elara hesitates, but the habit of taking Mariette's hand is ingrained by now. She reaches back and grasps it, following her. "Alright," she says.

Mariette uses all her might to not let out a victory screech when Elara actually holds her hand. Her day suddenly became much more *everything.* "Also Triviality is there! They have a really cool braided beard, and Emet who apparently is named Rebecca and she didn't shook my hand, and we could see who else is around!" She says excitedly. "Uh... By the way, I have something for you, but that can wait for later."

Elara laughs a bit, all fondness, as she watches Mariette be excited, walking at her side. Then she cocks her head at the mention of something else. "Really? What is it?"

Mariette shrugs. "It's a surprise... I just hope you like it." She starts pulling her again. "Let's go, let's see who's around!" She really doesn't want to tell her what it is yet, and the sole idea of doing it makes her heart beat faster.

Elara makes a noise of mock-complaint upon discovering its a surprise, but accepts it with a sigh. "A'right," Elara agrees, following her.

They get inside the house and Mariette looks to the entrance, seeing now a banner receiving the guests, the others probably went somewhere else. *Ah, shit... Did I take too long?* The banner wasn't a bad an idea though, she leaves it there and goes back with Elara to the backyard, watching the new arrivals. "So... Who do you wanna talk to?... Triviality seemed pretty interesting."

"Could be amusing, they're kind of weird." Elara glances around. "I wonder if Fire'll actually manage to arrive. 'E might not be too bad."

Mariette looks around before realizing she doesn't have an idea how Fire would look... Or who the guests are. "Wanna go around asking people if they're Fire?"

She sees Vesper among the people, maybe should go say hi... Maybe the girl with the weird clothes next to her could be Fire?

Elara snickers. "How awkward can we *get?*" She scritches at Nox's ruff with her unheld hand, and the dog licks it. "I think you're kinda distinctive, Mari. Not sure how anyone could miss you."

"Well, people don't usually have turquoise hair like me, I guess..." She notices a girl with white hair "but other people can also have some distinctive stuff!"

Fire should have a distinctive look to flex about his strength, right?... Maybe that girl could be them?

"Let's say hello, to that one!"

"Sure," Elara says, a bit dryly, following Mariette's tug.

((Went into entrabce, has now come back from https://discord.com/channels/810126049224425474/816800984293965862/876256458570870795))

Making their way through the crowd, Mariette and Elara bump into another guest; the one that was standing next to Vesper just a moment ago, causing her drink to splash all over her clothes-- or, armor, actually.

The girl, tall, with brunette hair and deep green eyes, scowls at them both, rubbing the soda off of her. "𝔅𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔡𝔢𝔱𝔥 𝔡𝔞𝔴𝔰, 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔱𝔠𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔴𝔥'𝔯𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔲 𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔱𝔯𝔬𝔱𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤. ℌ𝔞𝔰𝔱 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔶 𝔢𝔶𝔢𝔰 𝔣𝔞𝔩𝔱'𝔯'𝔡 𝔞𝔰 𝔴𝔢𝔩𝔩 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔡𝔞𝔶, 𝔦𝔫 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔫𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔰𝔢 𝔟𝔩𝔞𝔰𝔭𝔥𝔢𝔪𝔬𝔲𝔰 𝔴𝔦𝔫𝔡𝔬𝔴𝔰?" She scowls, her accent thick and near unintelligible.

Elara recoils instinctively, taking a few steps back. “Th’ fuck’re you - *you* watch where y’re goin’,” Elara snaps back. Fuck the Life in here, and Mariette holding her hand (Elara clutches a bit tighter), how can she be so fucking clumsy? “The hell’re you saying? What’s wrong with the windows?”

Elara’s accent, while also an English variant, isn’t that much better when she gets snippy. Birmingham ain’t the most high-brow of locations.

Mariette keeps looking at the woman with curiosity. "I barely understood what you said... Eh, sorry for messing with your cosplay? I think?" She already knew some practitioners we're eccentric but the medieval theme was still funny to see. Her french accent is as obvious as all the others.

"ℭ𝔬𝔰𝔭𝔩𝔞𝔶? ℑ 𝔞𝔪 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔦𝔫 𝔞𝔫𝔶 𝔰'𝔯𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔭𝔩𝔞𝔶𝔢𝔱𝔥, 𝔫𝔞𝔶," She says, before she blinks, and her face turns into a nasty sneer against her. "𝔄𝔫𝔡 𝔪𝔬𝔰𝔱 𝔴𝔬𝔫𝔡𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔰, 𝔠𝔬𝔢𝔮𝔲𝔞𝔩 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔩𝔦𝔪𝔶 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔤𝔰 𝔥𝔞𝔰'𝔱 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔬 𝔞𝔰 𝔣𝔞𝔯 𝔞𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔫𝔢𝔴 𝔴'𝔯𝔩𝔡. 𝔖𝔭𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢𝔱𝔥 𝔳'𝔯𝔪𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔲 𝔞𝔯𝔱, 𝔠𝔬𝔢𝔮𝔲𝔞𝔩 𝔞𝔠𝔯𝔬𝔰𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔣𝔩𝔬𝔱𝔢𝔰."

She then leaned over, her eyes glaring annoyed and confused at Mariette's head. "𝔄𝔯𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔢𝔮𝔲𝔞𝔩 𝔥𝔲𝔪𝔞𝔫? 𝔦𝔣 '𝔱 𝔟𝔢 𝔱𝔯𝔲𝔢 𝔰𝔬, 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔦𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔡𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔣𝔲𝔩 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔱𝔥 𝔲𝔭𝔬𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔶 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔱𝔥? 𝔦'𝔡 𝔣𝔢𝔢𝔩𝔢𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔬 𝔫𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔩𝔶 𝔦𝔣 '𝔱 𝔟𝔢 𝔱𝔯𝔲𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔫𝔡 𝔴𝔞𝔰𝔫'𝔱 𝔞 𝔠𝔬𝔵𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔟, 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔶 𝔥𝔞𝔦𝔯."

Elara can’t pick out that many words, but she can identify an insult in *any* language, let alone one of her own. Elara bristles, and her temper doesn’t come out quite human. “Leave ‘er the *fuck* alone you festering cunt,” Elara snaps. “She didn’t even fucking bump you, and fucking *shut* your mouth about her hair you fucking bitchy *twat,* yank that stick out of your ass and shit yourself.”

Mariette looks surprised first at the apparent explosion and then... She passes a hand through her hair and says softly, "She talked about my hair?"

She takes a few moments to break out of it. "Wait, who are you and who invited you? Also why do you look like you're part of a Monty Python sketch?... And I'm human, I'm one of the hosts of the party, I thought a knight or whatever would know how to behave as a guest? I don't wanna fucking start something because of the rules for the party..." The anger on her tone becomes gradual until the end. *Relax Mariette... C'mon, what will Elara think?*

"ℑ 𝔰𝔢𝔢𝔱𝔥 𝔫𝔞𝔶 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔬𝔫𝔢𝔱𝔥 𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔦 𝔰𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡𝔰𝔱 𝔦𝔫𝔣'𝔯𝔪 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔪𝔶𝔰𝔢𝔩𝔣, 𝔴𝔥𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔳'𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔲 𝔞𝔯𝔱," Anne scowls, raising her chin up at her. "𝔅𝔲𝔱, 𝔦𝔣 '𝔱 𝔟𝔢 𝔱𝔯𝔲𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔰𝔥𝔢𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔬 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴𝔢𝔱𝔥 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔦𝔰'𝔱 𝔥𝔞𝔱𝔥 𝔟𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝔪𝔢, 𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔰𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔫𝔡 𝔥'𝔯, 𝔶𝔬𝔫𝔡 𝔬𝔫𝔢." She jabs her thumbs behind her, over towards where Vesper was still chatting with 2B. "𝔄𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔢, 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔥𝔬𝔰𝔱? 𝔥𝔢𝔥, 𝔦 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡𝔫'𝔱 𝔥𝔞𝔰'𝔱 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔤𝔞𝔱𝔥'𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔦𝔣 '𝔱 𝔟𝔢 𝔱𝔯𝔲𝔢 𝔦 𝔨𝔫𝔢𝔴𝔢𝔱𝔥 𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔰𝔱 𝔡𝔦𝔡 𝔥𝔬𝔩𝔡 𝔟𝔶 𝔣𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔥 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔤 𝔞𝔰 𝔭𝔬𝔦𝔰𝔬𝔫𝔬𝔲𝔰 𝔞𝔰 𝔶𝔬𝔫𝔡 𝔥𝔞𝔦𝔯," She sneers at Mariette.

She hated that hair. She hated that color, so bright, like all the lights that are everywhere, that she see's they keep shining right outside her window at night. She hated that this what the world was now, that things like this were now just... *there.* That this was the way things are now.

"𝔄𝔫𝔡 𝔣𝔦𝔱𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱 𝔦𝔰, 𝔣'𝔯 𝔞 𝔱𝔬𝔞𝔡 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔨𝔢𝔢𝔭𝔢𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔭𝔞𝔫𝔶 𝔬𝔣 𝔯𝔬𝔱𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔠'𝔯𝔭𝔰𝔢 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰, 𝔤𝔦𝔳𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔬𝔡'𝔯 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔩𝔞𝔡𝔶 𝔧𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔠𝔯𝔞𝔴𝔩'𝔡 𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔤𝔯𝔞𝔳𝔢," She spits out venomously at them.

It is at that point that a very tired looking Vesper finally makes her way through the obstructing crowd, interjecting herself between Anne and the pair with a highly unamused expression on her face.

*Pas sortable. Can't take my eyes of her for five bloody seconds!*

"Okay, that's enough!" she glares at Anne, before giving an apologetic look to Neon and Elara over her shoulder. Immediately, she is hit with the smell of decomposing meat, but she somehow manages not to refrain from reacting to it outwardly.

"Terribly sorry about that. This is my roommate, Anne. La folle avec une épée.\*(The crazy one with a sword)\*. She'd been acting better recently and I thought she could be trusted to behave herself around other people. Clearly she can't."

She gives her a withering look, her exhaustion clearly apparent even in spite of the glamour.

Elara's bristling is, for a few moments, starting to go *actually* inhuman - her skin aches with spines that want to come out to defend Mariette, that are starting to come out, prickling claws starting to press through her gloves -

*She's holding Mariette's hand.*

She can't - she can't claw up Mariette. Not out here. Not again. *No.* She can't -

She can't let her *see* -

~~She's already seen, she's still here.~~

Nox whines, pushing into Elara's side, while Max paws at Mariette. Elara grits her teeth and pushes her hand into Nox's ruff.

Mariette activates her back tattoos, ready to throw herself into that Lord of the Rings extra, when she feels a sharp pain in her hand, barely a thing, but enough to make her refocus on the bigger picture.

*Ouch...?*

She looks through the corner of her eye and sees Elara... Changing.

*Oh fuck.*

Then Vesper arrived.

That was her roommate? Wasn't she also a native french speaker?

Mariette tries to calm Elara down by squeezing softly her hand. *C'mon, not the moment, we need to be chill.* She still wants to rip Anne's head off. Then Max actually helps her relax herself, she pets him with her free hand.

"Your roommate?... So I wasn't the only one with terrible roomies, eh?"

She doesn't take her view off of Anne.

Anne glare shifts over from Mariette to Elara's shifting state. Her eyes widen, and she takes a step back, her hand over at her hairpin, and prepared to swing at any moment. She shoots a look of utter disgust and repulsion at Elara, sneering at her, like a rat that just scurried over her dinner platter. "𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔢 𝔡𝔦𝔡 𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔬𝔴 𝔞 𝔤𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔩 𝔥'𝔯𝔢? 𝔄 𝔡𝔦𝔰𝔤𝔲𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤, 𝔠𝔯𝔞𝔴𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔤, 𝔤𝔯𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔯𝔬𝔟𝔟𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔣𝔩𝔢𝔰𝔥 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔰𝔲𝔪𝔢'𝔯? 𝔚𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔰'𝔯𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔦𝔫𝔡𝔢𝔠𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔥𝔬𝔰𝔱 𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔢? 𝔄𝔩𝔩𝔬𝔴𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔳'𝔯𝔪𝔦𝔫 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 '𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔡 𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔯𝔞𝔣𝔱 𝔭𝔢𝔬𝔭𝔩𝔢?" She spits out venomously at Mariette. She then points a finger out at Elara. "𝔗𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔳'𝔯𝔪𝔦𝔫 𝔰𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡𝔰𝔱 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔟𝔢𝔢𝔰𝔱 '𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔡 𝔞𝔱 𝔴𝔥'𝔯𝔢 𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔯𝔞𝔣𝔱 𝔣𝔬𝔩𝔨 𝔤𝔞𝔱𝔥'𝔯! 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔰𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡𝔰𝔱 𝔟𝔢𝔢𝔰𝔱 𝔡𝔦𝔡 𝔥𝔲𝔫𝔱, 𝔰𝔩𝔞𝔦𝔫, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔭𝔲𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢𝔱𝔥, 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔩𝔬𝔴𝔩𝔶 𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔯𝔞𝔣𝔱 *𝔟𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔱* 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔦𝔰!"

That -

Elara can't -

She can't *argue* with that.

She wants her anger back. She can defend Mariette. She can. But she can't defend herself, not with the spines trying to crawl out of her skin.

They retreat, and she's a human girl again, almost, but not quite, not *ever,* because all she can see is Life and Death. Everyone here is a potential meal.

Why is she *here?* Why would Mariette *bring* her here? Why would anyone...

The world tastes like ashes and rotten flesh.

Elara takes a step back, and tries to pull away from Mariette.

Mariette holds on and takes a step forwards, getting between Elara and Anne, she passes Elara's hand from one hand to the other behind her back.

She's not gonna let her get hurt *by this.*

Her face completely red, the weight of her implement heavy on her jacket, *burning*, screaming to be used.

And the adrenaline starts pushing through her veins, her body starts getting ready to fight.

*AAAAAAAAHHHHHHGGGGG.... Not here... Just words, Mariette, that was the rule.*

She takes a few moments, the time appears to have stopped.

"You ask why she's here? Because I fucking want her here... Anne, I remember who you are now. You're talking about her calling her a vermin, when the only thing that doesn't belong here is you... And I don't mean in the party... She's no beast in my eyes, she's one of the best people I've known and if I have to put down someone, well..." Mariette lowers her voice. "You better fucking wish your sword or whatever can pierce my skin, cause my fists certainly can go through your head."

"That's enough."

Anne seems as though she was about to respond, but suddenly, something appears to catch her attention. A faint, ethereal glow in the corner of her eye which she cannot seem to ignore. She tries to resist at first, but inevitably seems to find her gaze drawn back to it. Vesper's eyes, no longer dark brown nor even the smoldering orange of her Sight, were now alight like tiny flames, looking deep into her own with an almost hypnotic allure.

"Now, you don't really want to be here, do you?"

The dabbler moves back slowly, further and further out of reach, and the armored young woman feels a strange compulsion to follow. There was something so.. fascinating about that flame. Entrancing, almost. The more she allows her attention to wander towards it, the stronger the effect seems to get. Subtle at first, but growing stronger as she starts to follow. Moving with an almost ethereal grace, Vesper lures her carefully out towards the exit.

Then, the spell is broken and she finds herself standing outside the door.

"I think it's time for you to leave. Try not to murder anyone on the way back." she says dryly, slamming the door in her face while she is still reeling.

Mariette wasn't letting go. Why wasn't she letting go? Why was she saying -

Mariette can't lie. She shouldn't lie. No one would lie for *Elara*. That wouldn't make sense. But then how could she say those things? Didn't she hear what that woman just said?

Elara doesn't understand. A dog - Nox? - pushes into Elara's palm, and she gives him a scratch, almost automatically.

Elara doesn't understand.

Mariette unclenches her jaw and waits a few seconds to breath. She turns, letting go of Elara's hand, instead putting her hand on her **shoulder**. "I... Didn't invite that one. What a fucking rude bitch... Are you ok? Don't believe all that bullshit she just said, you're great." She tries her best to smile, still being angry. *Shit, she looks sad... Should I hug her?*

Elara pulls away, taking a stuttering step back.

It feels wrong. It feels *wrong.*

Max tenses, warily, looking between Elara and Mariette.

Elara inhales to say - something. Anything? But the breath gets caught. The words don't come.

They're not *there.*

There's a sickening kind of terror to that. To not having her words. Like being trapped. Stuck.

She can't -

She. She can't -

She doesn't *understand.*

*What?* Elara's face is almost that of panic. *What's going on?* Mariette herself feels her own heartbeat go back to it's faster pace, but now out of worry. This was not a fight. She didn't know how to deal with this. *Fuck.* Mariette raises her hands up to her shoulders, showing her palms. "Okay, it's okay, alright? Let's... Sit down for a moment? Let's go back inside, ok? We can catch a breath there... Please?" *Fuck fuck fuck what did that bitch do?*

Elara tries to swallow. It doesn't quite -

She has

She has to be able to talk. She *has* to. If she can't talk, then...

Noise. Elara's head jerks around, and, and, this is -

There are *people.*

Its so bright. Everything is colour and Life and its too too *too bright.*

She needs to get -

Mariette's... talking.

"Inside?" Elara manages. Out of the sun, out of the light, *please,* she needs to get out of the light.

Max nudges up into her side, steadying, and she looks down, and she *hates* the sight of Death but here's something dark and bleak that isn't bright-bright-bright and she's - she's a bit more stable. Elara puts a hand on his back, and he looks up at her. He whines.

"Please," Elara manages to add. Too few words, not enough words, but they're *words,* she's here, she's not there, she's herself, she's *here.*

Max carefully, carefully nudges her into motion, and then Nox slips into his place, more comforting Death under her hands, while Max goes to make sure they have a clear path, nudging people out of the way if need be.

He's really got a *lot* of mass with which to do that.

Mariette hurries up behind her, not wanting to touch her because...

*The balance.*

She runs to the room where she left her things, and grabs a small bottle marked with a skull and crossed bones.

*Wolfsbane, ok ok, Grek, this better work.*

Her heart starts beating *harder.*

*It would be kinda ironic if I had a heart attack while trying to poison her.*

The bottle containing small pieces of Wolfsbane root shakes slightly from her own shaking.

She runs back to Elara.

Max and Nox manage to tag team Elara somewhere private, and dark. Mariette finds her curled into the corner of the room, hugging Max a bit desperately while Nox nuzzles at her from the other side.

"I do my work," Mariette catches her muttering. "I do... I do good -" Her voice fails her there. There's a shaky pause. "I help the kid?" Elara sounds unsure, plaintive. A question. "I do my work. Its... its good..." She can't finish the sentence, her voice cracking.

*Aaaaahhhhhhhh what's going on?*

Mariette walks slowly towards her. "Elara? I-uh... Are you feeling too-uh... Alive? I got this, just in case, I hoped we wouldn't need them, but..." She shows the bottle, it's obvious that the skull and bones in the label were drawn by her, looking goofy under the light.

There's a pause, and Elara glances up; she tenses. And then she processes Mariette's suggestion, and she starts *laughing,* pressing her head into Max.

Its not good laughter. Its half-hysterical. It sounds like she should be crying with it, but she's not. She can't. She *can't.*

*What... the... fuck.*

Mariette looks to the bottle on her hand and then back to the laughing Elara.

She feels left out of *something.*

"I'm gonna approach slowly, ok?"

She starts taking careful steps towards her, before crouching down and putting a hand on Elara's shoulder.

"I-uh... Did I say something wrong back there?... Fuck... Do you want me to leave for a few?" That was the last thing she wanted. "I... I'm sorry..." The worry on her face and in her tone hasn't disappeared.

The laughter fails, eventually, still leaned into the hound. Elara's position looks like it should be hellishly uncomfortable, but she doesn't seem to notice. Maybe she doesn't.

"Why would I ever want you to leave?" Elara's voice cracks, and a few of those hysterical, not at all humorous giggles come up. "Why - why would I ever -" It takes a few moments for her to get that back under control, both dogs pressing closer. "You probably still should though." Elara's voice goes flatter, now. Kind of dull. "She wasn't wrong, was she? Fucking... did I lie? I've called my work good before, I know I have. Does it even *do* anything?" A half-hysterical huff. "So much *Life* out there. And what am I for? What else is a monster *really* for?"

*Oh.*

Mariette sits down next to her, being careful to leave the bottle away from where she could crush it, and then she hugs her as best as she can considering the position. She lets a few seconds pass before talking. "I don't want to leave you either... She was just being an ass because she doesn't know you... I wanna think I know you, and in my opinion, what she said about you was wrong... Calling you that stuff... You're not a monster, you're a person... You're my friend..."

She wonders about adding something else to that last part, before continuing, "I don't know what others would consider you're *really* for... But if I can talk for myself you're someone that I don't ever wanna lose... You're a great person Elara."

Mariette can feel her eyes getting teary.

"How do you know?" Elara doesn't twitch at the touch, for once. She doesn't move. If Mariette was worried about her being alive, then... that's not really a concern right now. She's warm, but its from the dogs, from the outside, from Mariette herself, not from her own skin. "What do you fucking..." Elara shakes her head. "Those Heartless I spy on?" Elara's tone is too-bright, too-cheerful. "Arguably *they're* the ones who own me, in the end. Fucking... intra-house politics. I'm not fucking allowed to do *permanent* damage. And they have my boss, so if they ever really tire of all the testing and the games, I'm pretty sure they could fucking make him make me stop. Do other things. Worse things. And what the hell could I do about it?"

Elara laughs again.

"Hell, maybe one day he'll ask me to fucking kill someone, and what'll I do then? Ain't like he's great, he's been fucking... the kid's been *hurting.* So fucking bad. And I can't... I didn't even manage to help that much when I *was* there."

Nox whines, low.

"What's *wrong* with you?" Elara asks, and she's tired now. She's looking at Mariette. "Why do you care so much? Why're you... why am I *here?* You asked, so I tried, but why the hell would you *ask?*"

Mariette's heart beats *faster.* She feels lightheaded.

Still...

"That says more about them than you, right?... You try to not be like them, right?..."

She stops for a second.

Was she really gonna say it?

What other moment was there?

All those times she got color on her face seem to suddenly charge her the facture, her face pale as wax.

"I... I'll tell you, but...

"I'm new to this, ok? Can you say that if I tell you you will try your best to not freak out or... I don't know..."

She feels heavy.

The laughter isn't gone after all, but the hysterical edge is more exhausted. "Me? Not freak out right now? I don't know, Mari." Elara shifts, a bit, a bit more upright. "Maybe I'm too tired to panic, but I'm *undead,* I'm sure I could try." She laughs a bit again. "Sorry. Sorry."

Mariette's fighting the need to tear up.

"Please don't get mad... I think... I..."

Why was it so hard?

Why did she feel like dying?

Why did she felt like dying was actually a better option?

*... Off with it, c'mon... No other way around this.*

"Elara, I...

"... I really like you, ok?... Like, more than a friend... I'm-... I-"

She can feel her heart stop, along with time, all that matters is seeing Elara's reaction.

There's a pause. And then Elara starts laughing again.

"I should've... should've fucking..." The laughter is painful. "How did - how -"

Elara is *not* okay. She can't cry. A human would be crying with this.

"*How?*" is all Elara really manages to say. "Do you not - do you not *get* the undead part? You just - you just offered me *poison* -"

This laughter should be tears, but it can't be, it *can't*.

The laugh is what ends up breaking Mariette's facade.

She can now feel tears slowly marking their path through her cheeks.

"I get that... I really do... I just- it doesn't make a difference, okay?" She lays her head on her hands, covering her eyes. "I didn't plan on this!... I just ..." She sobs. "... Don't you feel something similar?... Please tell me truly that you don't like me back... I.... Don't care what you are, I still *feel* this, just from the person I've known..." She feels empty.

Mariette's *crying.*

Elara wishes she could cry. Something other than all the pain that's just wrapped up in there. The laughter isn't helping. The laughter feels worse.

"I can't *lie,*" Elara says plaintively. She swallows, struggling to find composure. "I can't - I can't *tell* you that. But you *shouldn't* - I - damn it all."

Mariette's *hurting,* she can't. She can't. She should push her away. She *can't.*

Elara shifts, and then she tugs Mariette close.

"I can't tell you that," Elara says, and she sounds weirdly heartbroken. "Damn it, Mari. Damn it."

Mariette can't comprehend what she means, what she's doing. Elara's hug *hurts* her, but she doesn't want to break away, it feels like if she were to do it everything would break. The moment felt so fragile. She lays into the hug instead, the crying barely giving her enough time to breathe.

"Why?" Her voice sounds distorted by her crying. "Why can't you tell me?... You don't like me... Do you?" She can't stop her voice cracking. She closes her eyes as hard as she can, trying to think of *something* that could help her deal with what she was feeling.

Don't laugh, don't laugh, don't *laugh.* And she has to - she has to fucking be careful of the fucking *tears* of all things, gods damn her, fucking damn it.

"I can't *lie,*" Elara repeats, insistently, and she's cracking apart. Fucking hell. "You're - do you know how *bright* you are?" The laughter ripples up for a moment, painful, so painful. "Did you really think I don't - I came here because you *asked.* You *asked.* How... how could I say no? Damn it, Mariette."

Mariette moves, she puts her knees to her chest and buries her face in her arms.

She feels small.

She feels tired.

And she feels weak.

But her tears keep coming.

Her voice sounds empty, almost like someone else is talking.

"Please, Elara, just... Just tell me, do you like me? No other thing..."

The weight of her implement feels like it drags her down.

She feels so weak.

She shouldn't, she shouldn't, Elara *shouldn't,* she should just let this -

it'd be so much easier longterm. so much easier. everything would be wrong and bleak and sick but it'd be *easier.*

"I like you," Elara says, quietly, because Mariette's *crying* and she can't *deal* with that why would Mariette cry over her? "I really, really, really like you." Might love you, even.

Elara's laughter is a bit cracked. "Maybe I like you a bit too much."

Mariette continues crying for a moment.

And then

*Oh*

*What?*

"You... You do feel the same?..."

Mariette feels shocked.

*What?*

"You do?"

Her whole body feels heavy.

It takes a moment before she has control over her limbs again, and then she hugs Elara, trying to keep her face away as to not cover her with tears.

The laughter ripples up. "Maybe not exactly the same, but, well." Elara hugs her back.

Gods, she wishes she could cry. The laughter isn't better.

"I like you enough it scares me," Elara says, and she sounds *sad.* "Damn it, Mariette."

Mariette wishes she could stop the tears in her face and just enjoy the moment. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry if I'm hurting you... I... I've never felt something like this before, ever... I'm really sorry." She breathes however she can.

The embrace felt different from everything before it, it felt sincere, finally.

Elara scoffs a bit. "Ugh, don't worry about that, I can manage that. I have some very dead corpses, you just *brought* me poison. That's... not what I'm worried about." She sighs, and then...

"Shit, you've been *crying.* Water. Fucking..." Elara shifts, getting her weight off of Max. "Max, you can get a water bottle, right? There should be some out there?"

With an acknowledging bark, Max runs off, while Nox nuzzles comfortingly at Mariette.

Mariette didn't thought that she had felt so confused before... And even then...

She couldn't say that she was happy, she wanted to be much more happy than she was, but so many feelings in a row had just left all her remaining emotions muted.

But she was hopeful. She had hope that when she were to get some rest she would feel happier than ever before. She had hope that things could work. She had hope in both of them being able to leave behind all their struggle.

"Water?"

Mariette smiles.

She hopes for so many things.

But now she just hopes that the hug never ends.

"You've been *crying,*" Elara repeats, as if Mariette didn't know this. "Water. Rehydration. That's important." It was very important. Elara presses her cheek, for just a moment, into Mariette's hair. "Just let me take care of you for a bit, huh?"

Maybe she can't stay. Maybe this *is* just going to end in pain. But she can at least do her damnedest to make sure Mariette's okay right now.