C'est la mort. (Open)

[lazyinlove]

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."

Comments

[gevurah]

[ She casts her gaze upon the paper flowers once more. ]

She's an Exile, so she's affected by the timeline changing.

[reassures]

She may never have been alive at all.

Some day it's going to affect us, too.

[She's not sure when, but the way she figures... the only reason they get out of it is because they came after the Exiles, and it's primarily their past that has been changed so far. But Nill doubts it's going to remain that way forever.]

[gevurah]

[ It takes her a few seconds to realize Nill's "said" something in response. She cranes her neck once again to read the tablet, pressing her lips together. ]

Hard to know for certain.

[ Maybe. ]

[reassures]

[Kate's got her there she supposes. But it's nice that she doesn't think poorly of Nill for saying that.

However, it's a depressing thought on top of an already depressing event. Lingering on it wouldn't be very pleasant. So, once she's sure Kate is paying attention, the next message comes.]

How have you been?

[gevurah]

[ It manages to get a short pause from her, while she debates on her answer.

There's no point in telling her the exact truth as to how she's been feeling since the mutiny and all the drama that's been following. ]

Alright. What about you?

[reassures]

[Nill offers a slight shrug, her wings shifting against her back with it. It was a reasonable enough answer, even if it wasn't totally true. She wouldn't really expect Kate to tell her the whole truth.]

Alright. I'm glad it's a little quieter now.

[Definitely not as quiet as it could be with the shit people have been posting on the network, but at least there wasn't another mutiny going on or something.]

[gevurah]

Were you okay earlier in the month?

[ Between the mutiny and those zombies, the peace is both pleasing and unnerving. ]

[reassures]

Yes. I know how to take care of myself. I tried to make sure people stayed safe.

[Just, you know, in general. It was chaos and actually trying to find specific people had proved... difficult.]

Thank you for asking.

[gevurah]

[ She's more than glad to hear it, but she almost expects it from Nill. As far as she knows this girl knows how to keep out of trouble, even when it comes after them. ]

Hopefully that's the last of the undead and people playing takeover.

[reassures]

[Kate thinks she's competent! she's kind of glad to hear it, even if he doesn't say it.

But as for the state of the place lately...]

There might be more undead movies. They were really popular before.

[She really hopes it won't happen again though, because if it]

[gevurah]

Living a B horror movie kills my interest for a while.

[ She finds it hard to try and settle down and do something relaxing up here, confined in space. ]

[reassures]

I never liked them before this, either.

[She doesn't really see why people enjoy them so much, honestly. What's so wonderful about seeing people get eaten alive?

Nill fiddles with her tablet for a moment, her expression uncertain. Finally, she types up another message and lifts the tablet to Kate again, her expression on the apologetic side.]

I lied to you about my age before. I'm sorry.

[gevurah]

[ Kate blinks profusely after she reads the message, having leaned in to do so. Once it's settled in, she pulls back to straighten her posture, gazing down at Nill. She doesn't appear angry. ]

Why did you lie?

[reassures]

People take you more seriously if you don't have "teen" at the end of your age.

I'm 20 now, but that only happened in August.

[It should be said that she looks apologetic, not guilty. She believes she did the right thing at the time. No-- she knows she did. More than one person took her more seriously after she told them she wasn't a teen.]

[gevurah]

[ It doesn't matter if Nill is nineteen or twenty-one, she's still "young" and almost a kid to Kate.

She shakes her head. ]

Your actions determine that, Nill. Not age. I've met kids here who are more mature than some of the adults.

[reassures]

[In response to that, it's Nill's turn to shake her head.]

Actions should determine that, but sometimes they don't. There are a lot of people who think you can't do anything if you're a kid.

It was the easiest thing for me to do at the time.

[gevurah]

It's not a bad thing to be a kid. There are responsibilities that shouldn't fall on them, especially here, but that's not the case.

[ To protect, to fight, to save lives when they don't fully understand moral obligations. ]

Have you lied to others about this?

[reassures]

[Nill doesn't always understand Kate's way of thinking.]

Only the people that asked.

[gevurah]

You owe them the truth then.

[ A big or small lie, you're always supposed to answer for it. That's what her mother taught her. ]

[reassures]

[There's a moment of thoughtful hesitation, before Nill frowns slightly. Her wings fold in a little closer to her back.]

I don't remember all the people I told that to.

[She'd told Kaneis - she remembered that, because he was one of the people glad to see not everyone here was a kid. But the others... She hadn't really thought about it. She's been lying about her age since the Port, and though she hadn't like it, it was necessary. It hadn't been a lot, but she just... didn't remember who had asked.]

[gevurah]

The ones you can.

[ Her voice is quiet enough so the conversation only carries between the two of them. ]

If you want people to treat you with respect, you have to do the same for them.

[ And the truth is good way of that. ]

[reassures]

[She's... fairly certain she told Stan that, too. Which probably hadn't been necessary - he was younger than she was, but at that point it wasn't so much about lying as it was keeping her story straight with everyone.

It had never been about disrespecting anyone. It was just... getting by. It was necessary in Siren's Port when she needed to stop attending school.

Thinking on it now though, she wasn't sure she'd ever actually needed to do that here.

She doesn't bother to type up a reply. Instead, she simply nods. She could do that.]

[gevurah]

[ That's as much as Kate can ask from her. While it's not a huge deal and it wasn't meant to hurt anyone, there's no telling what other lies she's fed others for the sake of appearances. She doesn't press for now, but she keeps it in mind. ]

Then you can preserve your integrity.

[ It almost sounds rehearsed, like she's heard it somewhere before. She has. ]

[reassures]

[You know... It's the first time Nill's every heard anyone talk about integrity, let alone putting value in it. It's a strange thought.]

Is integrity important to you?

[gevurah]

[ She seems to ease up a touch. ]

Always. [ A beat. ] My mother was the one who taught me when you do wrong, you have to answer for it.