make a new plan, Stan. (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lazyinlove) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
exsiliumlogs2013-11-25 02:29 pm
lazyinlove) wrote in exsiliumlogs2013-11-25 02:29 pm
C'est la mort. (Open)
Date & Time:Tonight, around 7.
Location:The viewing windows.
Characters:Anyone who knew Peace or who might stop to pay respects at a memorial even if they didn't know her.
Summary:A memorial gathering for an Exsile who ceased to exist with the most recent world change.
Warnings:Tears, cursing, bitterness? Not sure yet. People can label threads as they come up. Everyone is free to make their own and jump around. Prose and action are both fine.
It's a waste of emergency torches, but there are a few set up around anyway, lit that soft unearthly blue of emergency lighting. The flowers are paper, clumsily folded from discharge sheets, some from the prison, some from the clinic. There are no photos. All of the ones she was in before are empty spaces, or pictures of Stanley or others who'd been holding her at the time. The music is strings, playing softly from a haphazardly tossed tablet. There are no chairs. Instead, every pillow from 144 is on the ground as seating.
Stanley isn't sitting on one, though. He's standing at the window, staring down at the planet so far below. Today, he's combed his hair. It's still in his eyes because it's too long, but he's made the effort to tame it at any rate.
He's not sure how to start things off, but if someone shows up he'll greet them. That's what you do, right? So that's what he does.
"Thanks for coming."
Location:The viewing windows.
Characters:Anyone who knew Peace or who might stop to pay respects at a memorial even if they didn't know her.
Summary:A memorial gathering for an Exsile who ceased to exist with the most recent world change.
Warnings:Tears, cursing, bitterness? Not sure yet. People can label threads as they come up. Everyone is free to make their own and jump around. Prose and action are both fine.
It's a waste of emergency torches, but there are a few set up around anyway, lit that soft unearthly blue of emergency lighting. The flowers are paper, clumsily folded from discharge sheets, some from the prison, some from the clinic. There are no photos. All of the ones she was in before are empty spaces, or pictures of Stanley or others who'd been holding her at the time. The music is strings, playing softly from a haphazardly tossed tablet. There are no chairs. Instead, every pillow from 144 is on the ground as seating.
Stanley isn't sitting on one, though. He's standing at the window, staring down at the planet so far below. Today, he's combed his hair. It's still in his eyes because it's too long, but he's made the effort to tame it at any rate.
He's not sure how to start things off, but if someone shows up he'll greet them. That's what you do, right? So that's what he does.
"Thanks for coming."
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The boy's shoulder was given a final pat before Giovanni stepped over to the emergency torch lined alter to offer a silent prayer for the girl who was no longer here.]
No one could have prepared for this.
[Don't blame yourself.]
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[It makes him sick, but there's no use pretending otherwise. That anon post had only predated this event by a few days. Someone had not only known, they'd practically spelled out to him that it was coming.
But he'd understood it too late.]
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[THAT is surprising enough to interrupt his thoughts and send a questioning look back at Stanley. ]
How could they have known?
[Maybe he was the only one truly surprised by a person being wiped entirely from history?]
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It's happened before. Before we were in the city. People...they've seen it happen before and they never told me.
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Information about our situation has been difficult to come by... I would never have thought this was even possible. I would have taken better measures...
[Some how, though right at the moment he could think of nothing he could have done. ]
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Sorry.
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[The makeshift alter was given a final parting look before Giovanni stepped away. ]
She was a good girl and didn't deserve this.
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[It's obvious. Doesn't need to be said. He doesn't need to tell Giovanni that the Exsiles got a shit deal. The dude knows. He even cares. And he tried to help. That's more than anyone else in this room can claim.
Stanley lets go of his own ribs to reach up and put a hand on the back of Giovanni's shoulder in return. It's good that he came.]
You...you can still visit. Sometimes. If you want to.
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[He also came to make sure Stanley was doing well too, avoiding hospitals and all that. Which reminds...]
You may not feel up to it, but after the funeral I would like to take you to lunch. There is not much to be had up here, but we could find something.
[Looking after the dead was important, making sure they were remembered and had a fond sendoff, but seeing to the living was even more so and poor Stanley did not look like he had been doing much looking after himself again. ]
Would you come?
haha no worries
[It's nice to hear that Giovanni doesn't seem to hold this against him. The dude still seems to be cool with Stan like before. But that part is hard to acknowledge, so he grasps the other conversational straw instead.
Actually, for once in his life he's not hungry. His stomach feels off. All tied up and heavy and tense. But he doesn't really want Giovanni to leave yet. It's reassuring to have someone older and smarter and stronger there. So Stanley nods. If he can't eat it, he can at least try to pay attention to how it's made. He'll be hungry later. He's always hungry. Growing is hard work.]
Okay.
SO bad with names. ^,^
Va bene, I am glad you agreed.
[He led the way to the door. ]
We can leave the memorial here for any others to visit and return to it once we have had something.
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The thought made Stan's stomach roll over again, but he calmed it with the palm of one hand as he hurried after Giovanni. Anywhere was better than here.]
We're kind of like...neighbors...or something. I don't mind.
[Hanging out, that is. In fact, he usually likes it. At the moment it's tough to get past the crawling feeling of loneliness and grief and existential weight, but somewhere under even all of that, he's grateful.
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[The clanging plates and boisterous voices in cafeteria didn't quite drown out inner thoughts, but he tried to focus on Stanley. Seeing the boy to a seat and finding him something in this supply limited place to offer him to eat. A small sandwich and a glass of water were soon sitting on the table for each of them. ]
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Stanley pauses for a moment, turning this over in his mind. He can't say that Giovanni hasn't acted like a friend to him. He cried in front of the dude and he didn't laugh. He almost puked on the guy once too, but here he was anyway. Not calling Stan a loser. Just...trying to make sure he was eating. Even the one day he didn't feel like it.
After a second he hurried to catch Giovanni up again, and took a seat when they made it to the cafeteria. The sandwich that appeared didn't look appetizing at the moment, but the water Stanley killed off in a few big gulps. His hands were still shaking, but that kind of helped somehow. He must've been thirsty and not really known it.]
I'm kind of freaking out.
[He admits, slumping forward against the table. It's probably obvious anyway. No use trying to lie about it.]
Sorry.
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That young girl had so much spirit. She should have lived a long and full life, had children of her own some day... She deserved at least the chance to try instead of being erased from history and forgotten. It was always tragic when ever some one died but it was even more so some how when it was a child.
It occurred then, as he studied Stanley across the table that he really may never have seen death like this before. He had been so green, so inexperienced in battle and even more than that. The young man seemed very inexperienced with life as well as if he had been very sheltered or not given the proper guidance to help him deal with these situations now that he was on his own.
The question had to be asked, though it was done very softly and in the most gentle manner he could manage.]
Have you never experienced death before?
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A cousin he used to see a few times a year at family gatherings...but it's never been so personal. Never someone so young and close to him. Usually there was a clear distance between himself and his idea of reality and...death. Even his own brushes with it hadn't felt this terrifying. He'd thought when he arrived here that he might have died at home, but that hadn't been painful as much as nerve wracking.
This was a whole different beast.]
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He was accustomed to the idea of death, knew what to expect from it, but... it was still unpleasant business. Even those whose death meant life for others deserved respect in their final moment. It was a terrible necessity that some people had to die to free others from their tyranny. His mentor had stressed that fact to him during his training and it held true.
That in this case a child was involved did make it that much more tragic to him. He had several children at home whom he loved and tried to protect. If one of them had been killed... He did not know what he would do. For a moment he felt lost, unsure what to say, but then the words of wisdom his mentor had spoken to him after his first kill came flooding back. ]
Death is a difficult thing, it is meant to be so that we do not forget. It does not get any easier, but the pain will lessen over time.
[And now for something of his own. ]
Do not punish yourself for it. That sweet girl would not want to see you suffer for her sake.
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She didn't want to see her home destroyed and her family slaughtered either.
[Stanley pushes away the plate of sandwiches, sure now that he won't be able to eat any until later. He's trying to get a grip on the situation. Trying to understand. But all that it comes back to is that they're responsible. How can he push that aside? Maybe Peace wouldn't have held it against them, who knows. The thing is, they never will know.
He rubs at the aching spot between his eyes and stares down at his feet, too big to fit his shoes now. He's been growing. He gets the chance to do that. How can he feel anything except guilty about it?]
I want to go home.
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She didn't want to see her home destroyed and her family slaughtered either.
No, she hadn't. They had failed her family... failed her in preventing that. There was no way to turn off that feeling of defeat and loss. He hadn't meant to say that there was if it had come across that way. ]
Unfortunately war is like that. Innocent people are often lost in meaninglessly senseless ways...
[Sad to say there was nothing that they could have done to prevent it. They had tried everything in their power. The lost of those innocents was on United Earth and whomever had meddled with history to distort the timeline.]
You may be able to, one day. I mean to work towards that. Try not to give up hope.
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He kicks the table leg, frustrated, and disturbs someone sitting further down the bench just trying to enjoy their dinner in peace. Maybe they didn't get the memo about Peace being gone now. Hah.
Except it isn't really funny. Not actually. Not at all. Stanley slumps forward on the table, like he used to do in class when he really couldn't stand the lecture material.]
We can't. Someone tried once and they took the whole planet down. No one ever tells you about that until it's too late, but it happened.
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I am aware of what happened before. Some how United Earth was able to attack that world.
[And completely destroy it... Millions of people wiped out with a single action.
They did have too much power. That needed to be changed.]
I do not know how this was possible but if we can discover the way we can prevent it from happening again.
These have been terrible defeats and too many people have been made to suffer due to them, but that does not mean that we stop fighting. If you want to go home you must find the strength in yourself to stand when every instinct in you tells you it is impossible.
[Strong words, sometimes they were not always felt, but he had a creed to uphold and a family at home to protect... friends to avenge. The losses here were painful, potentially crippling, but he had to keep fighting for the good of everyone. It would do no one any good to allow the UE to maintain their ability to so easily destroy lives.]
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[It's not sarcasm, honest. It's a legitimate question.
It must be frustrating for Giovanni, to be asked questions like that. But it's frustrating to ask them, too. What else can they do? They can't just pretend it isn't happening. If they do that, don't they lose by default?]
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How indeed.]
First we should try to discover more about our new situation. Then maybe we can discover a way.
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Stan nods anyway, trying not to look as unconvinced as he feels.]
I guess.