After(life) Party--

[soylentprotag]

[Lenka isn't talking much, though he spends most of the time after the execution either expressionless or frowning, moving among the ones still left at the campfire to check on people and try to make sure none of them are trying to either follow Boa or possibly throw literal or metaphorical stones at each other. Probably everyone's too exhausted for any of that at this point.

At some point he disappears for a little bit and comes back with an entire table and supplies -- not from the kitchen, but from the stash he'd accumulated in Cabin 2. It's not much, but it feels better than eating anything from the kitchen right now. Nobody wants that.

There's just some crackers and fruit snacks and some cheese with them. A few baggies to take them to go since most people aren't hungry right this moment. Once that's set out, he'll idle at one end of the table, staring out into the lake.]

Comments

[linearcrash]

[ The corner of his mouth goes up at that. ]

I'll tell Ichigo you get to go first, yo.

[ It's dumb, but... it helps. It helps knowing there's people who care enough to threaten this. ]

You get to cut because you're family.

[homeecspacecop]

Really? [Family? That's... that's a lot more than just friends or teammates. It's so different. It's so much bigger.]

[linearcrash]

Yeah, really.

[ They are talking about family getting cutsies and not the whole family part, right? ]

[homeecspacecop]

You don't have to do that. You don't have to say you're my family.

[linearcrash]

Huh? No one is making it say it, yo. I say it because it's true for me.

[homeecspacecop]

But... [But it's too big, it's too much.]

[Why is he saying he's your family?]

I don't know.

[Chuuta has a very narrow definition of family. Nine isn't part of that.]

[linearcrash]

Hey, what's up? What's Drew saying?

[ Nine can't hear him. ]

[homeecspacecop]

[It's a little bit easier to ask if it's Drew asking, but there's still a level of awkwardness that Chuuta hates. After how today went, how this week went, it's too much, it's too uncomfortable, it's a closeness he didn't ask for and is unprepared to handle.

He pulls away from Nine and sits up, shoulders hunched and face turned away.]

He said, why are you saying you're my family?

[linearcrash]

[ For once, Nine can put it together. Between what Drew was asking, and the way Chuuta is acting, he can actually figure out that it's not something he's used to. ]

Because I'll always have your back.

[homeecspacecop]

That's not what "family" means, Nine.

[linearcrash]

That's how it is for mine. What's it like for you? [ Sitting up now and bracing his hands behind him. They never really talked about this before huh ]

[homeecspacecop]

[He doens't want to talk about this, doesn't want to think about family because he doesn't want the coral in his head picking up a picture of his aunt and using it against him somehow.]

Your friends or teammates or coworkers have your back, but that doesn't make them your family.

[linearcrash]

[ the coral knows all. all heil the coral ]

My teammates are my family. We were all raised together for the last ten years, yo. [ Which is where the big difference is between them. ] Hey, if it makes you feel better, we can keep it to friends. Keep it to being a team.

[ Keep it as in he already was sure that's what they were. ]

[homeecspacecop]

... I... I think that would make me feel better about it. Sorry.

[linearcrash]

Hey, it's cool, yo. [ That's what friends do. He reaches over to pat him on the back ]

Mind if I stay here?

[homeecspacecop]

Thanks. You can stay, if you want.

blood

[linearcrash]

[ He manages a smile at that and then it kind of falls. ]

Yeah, I just need a break from seeing Tal for a bit.

[ It makes him feel like shit because he knows it's not Tal that did it, but... he still sees it. He can still see Boa laying there and still see them all covered in his blood. ]

[homeecspacecop]

It's not their fault. [Chuuta says, because he can't let it be their fault.]

[linearcrash]

[ He can feel a lump forming there. ]

I know it's not. I know it wasn't really them. I just...he sat next to me right after it happened, Chuuta.

[ So he got to see Boa bits on Tal, while still remembering. ]

I'm supposed to be used to all of that, you know?

[homeecspacecop]

I'm supposed to be used to it too. [Neither of them are.]