15[20:21] Dryas has gone to work on important plans, or to sulk, it's not clear. But the rest of the Fangs have a moment of stillness and calm. That classic calm before everything continues to be fine indefinitely. How's everyone feeling? What's on their minds? Piu has people she wants to pay attention to; Daizo and Zhangyu both have people pressing on their attentions. [20:23] 14So many plates to spin! And none of them involves boys. Well, some might involve literal boys, since that's apparently what the deathknights are. But not Rinca or Caedus or the twins. 15[20:23] In particular, Nellens Szalony wants to pick Daizo's brain about pedagogy, while Seiri also wants to talk, but instead of saying so she does that thing where she's always helpfully underfoot and clearly waiting for an opening all the while. Meanwhile, Sadako just walks right up to Zhangyu and says, "Hey. Are you busy?" 15[20:28] What plates is Piu thinking of spinning right now? There's the case of Garnet's narratively-convenient but emotionally-problematic withdrawal, as well as the fates and schemes by and against various children or possible-children(?) [20:29] 6He's not doing anything pressing - just attempting to decompress after the whale. Company would be welcome. "No. What's on your mind, Sadako?" [20:31] 14She'll see to Garnet first. She's not really ready yet to run into another sleazy 154-year-old man in the body of a pre-teen. [20:31] 14Which is always on the table with these guys. 15[20:34] Sadako: "How do you pretend to be interested in stuff that's really boring?" [20:34] 14Hahaha oh man. Good luck, bro. 15[20:36] Garnet's been eating alone; the crew's been pretty weird since they saw her with the veil off, though there hasn't been a security breach as yet. So she's in her cabin when Piu comes calling, balancing a book on her thigh while she stirs a bowl of dried fruit and porridge with an absent gesture. "It's open." [20:37] 14She enters silently. "Hey." [20:38] 6He blinks. "I usually don't bother. If it's important, hrm. Can I get some more context?" 15[20:39] Garnet's masked up, which is maybe a bit weird since she's in here alone and hardly anyone bothers her, but it is commendable opsec. "Piu. Is there trouble?" [20:39] "How's the book?" [20:39] "There's always trouble." 15[20:42] Sadako: "You know... stuff. Reading poetry. Writing lesson plans. Kids, like, generally. This is a totally hypothetical question." [20:43] 14She shuts the door. "It's probably on us, the idea that we'd only drop by if there was a fight we needed help with." 15[20:45] Garnet reads aloud, "'Despite the unmatchable military advantage the Legions presented, the Empress saw further. With this careful economic strategy, the Realm was able to totally destabilize the future satrapy's currency. Its princes welcomed her rule with open arms.'" 15[20:45] Flatly: "Colorful. How are you?" [20:46] 14Piu sighs and stretches. "Just made time with Rinca, so not bad. But very busy these days doing politics. I don't like doing politics." 15[20:47] Garnet: "What is it this time?" [20:49] "Demons. Always demons. Seems like every question out here comes down to some kind of up or down vote on how you feel about Anathema." [20:50] "This time, some cultists trying to create one on purpose. We're trying to figure out if we should just kill them all or if that will only make things worse." 15[20:53] Garnet: "Well, I know what the Immaculate Idea would tell us to do." [20:54] 6Zhangyu actually likes one of those things. "Right. I'd find something about those things or conversations I was interested in, focus on that. Hypothetically. It's... usually possible. Like I said, though, most people can tell when I'm bored or ignoring them on purpose, so this really isn't my forte." [20:54] 14Piu: "Yes, it does so love killing them all and Heaven sorting it out. Especially the 'Heaven sorting things out' part." [20:55] "Anyway, that's what we're doing. We've called in a specialist." 15[20:58] Sadako groans. "Can we fight these guys? Any of them? All of them?" 15[20:58] Garnet: "A specialist in demons?" [20:59] 14Piu: "Eclipses. Celestial bodies. Our cultists think on the next Eclipse, they can get a great general from this or that past war down into the body of one of their children, and he'll save them from the crazed Realm general across the island, planning to kill everyone here." [21:00] 6Zhangyu: "Probably not all of them. Not yet, anyway. Anyone in particular in mind?" 15[21:03] Garnet: "Children??" 15[21:04] Sadako: "I don't like the kids. I don't like the teacher. Everyone's so fucking weird here." [21:06] 14Piu: "They're not abusing the kids, as far as we can tell, or else this issue would be...resolved...by now. Their 'preparation' involves high-quality schooling and teaching them to fight and walk around blindfolded." [21:07] "However, if their ceremony doesn't work exactly like they want...you can imagine how quickly a fanatic might turn to, ah, helping the Sun out with his choice by actually blinding one of them." [21:07] "And complicating things, two of the boys in this village are deathknights." 15[21:07] Garnet: "Dragons' sake. That is such a fucking monk thing to do." 15[21:08] She shuts the book and moves it to the table. "It doesn't sound like you came here with an action plan, though. You came to check in on me?" [21:09] "Truth. One of the kids's the reason Rinca got turned half to stone, school's run by creeps, their plan is dumb as shit. 'Fucking weird' about covers it." 15[21:10] "So what are we doing? Why are we not just, fucking, ungh!" Sadako mimes wringing an invisible neck, perhaps unconsciously. "Why are we helping them?" [21:12] 14Piu: "Yep. Making sure you don't feel cooped up in here. And that the crew isn't being weird." 15[21:12] Garnet: "They are being weird. But respectfully so. I can't really ask more than that." 15[21:12] "What about you?" [21:13] 14She sighs. "You know that crazy Realm general I mentioned?" [21:13] "He personally executed half my House." 15[21:13] "...ah." [21:13] "So I'm rapidly cycling through some stuff." 15[21:13] "He'll get his, right? They're not going to make you forgive that." [21:14] "If you wanted my personal reason as to why I haven't pulled the plug on the cult operation here, it would be because yes, he and I have business." [21:14] "And while it's selfish, as long as none of the children are in physical danger...I need the counterbalance. For the moment." [21:16] "Some of it's caution on account of the whole 'not wanting to get turned to stone' thing, or knowing what else is out there. There's other enemies around that they might be a buffer for. And some of it's not being sure if shit goes worse if we DO --" 6He also mimes wringing an invisible neck. "-- so. Information gathering. Holding patterns. Planning. Lotta the stuff I'm not great at." 15[21:19] Garnet: "Right." She digs her spoon around in her food before leaving it there, sticking straight up like a planted flagpole. "Is there anything I can do to help, or am I needed here, where no one can see me?" [21:20] 14Hmm. Is there anything she can do to help that doesn't involve proclaiming herself the Scarlet Empress? 15[21:22] She's pretty good at swordplay and ruin-diving. Whether those fit into the hearth's plans is a question for the hearth. [21:23] 14ARE there any ruins around here? 15[21:24] There's clearly some stuff going on in that mountain - the meeting-chamber was clearly not built to order for the Rite of Ignition, and they got all those tablets and scrolls from somewhere. 15[21:24] Sadako: "I miss the empty haunted town full of machines. I miss the horrible zombie people." [21:24] 14Piu: "There's some ruin-delving we could do...and it's kinda-sorta like what's going on with your jar." [21:25] "The question is getting in there..." 15[21:25] Garnet: "Easy. Just tell them I'm their Empress and I'd very much like to see it." [21:26] 14Piu: "We could certainly do that. If we're going down that road though we might as well get the most bang for our bit and just end the fight on this island entirely." [21:27] "Which I only really oppose due to the consequences it will have for all of us in a few weeks' time." 15[21:27] Garnet: "I don't know how you do it." [21:27] 14Most of the time she's been told that it's a criticism veiled as a compliment. 15[21:28] Garnet: "How do you sit with a secret you can't let out because it will destroy you? How do you keep it from consuming your every thought?" 15[21:28] "It'd drive me mad. It is driving me mad." 15[21:29] She picks up and drops the book demonstratively. "Maybe it did drive me mad." [21:30] 14Piu: "One of my coping strategies is a life of incredible hedonism, which I will admit is incredibly unsustainable." 15[21:30] "You make it look good, though." [21:33] 14Piu pushes her hair away from her face, which she recognizes with some dispassion as a tic of hers when she's embarassed. Interesting. She's mostly gotten rid of that one. "Thank you. It's quite a lot of work. But maybe there's something down there that might at least help Daizo learn more about where to start in getting you out of that jar." [21:33] "Or we could start a book club." [21:33] 14She sounds moderately serious about that alternative. 15[21:35] Garnet laughs. Her faces settles into a rare smile. "Well, I've got a stack of really dismal histories, and a smaller stack of really dismal poetry. Any takers, you think?" [21:36] 14Piu: "History sucks, but I have had boyfriends who love poetry. So histories, for me." [21:36] 6To Sadako: "You know, it's kind of horrible that I'd take that over here, right now." 15[21:39] Sadako: "It's cause there was stuff to do! Assholes to fight, people to save from things. If I wanted to listen to weird people get sad about the stupid shit they're making themselves read I'd hang out with Garnet," 15[21:39] Her voice changes. It sounds pained, small. Young. "But she's so happy." [21:49] 6Zhangyu: "Seiri's built different, I guess. Or better at hiding it, maybe." [21:49] 14And so, for now at least, book club it is. Who knows. Maybe Piu will even learn something. 15[21:56] Sadako: "This sucks! I hate it!!" [21:58] 6Zhangyu: "Maybe we can get some of the others involved in something to blow off some steam. Find something to fight that isn't going to upset this stupid balance of power or wreck anything we've got going on." 15[22:00] Sadako: "What about the hairy guy? What's his name? Mik 2?" 15[22:00] "He seems like he'd be good for it." [22:09] 6Zhangyu: "Worth a shot."