Erin

[residentflorist]

code

Azalea japonica
From Greek azaleos, "dry", because it thrives in sandy soil
Homesickness, taking care of a loved one, moderation

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w0 friday

[residentflorist]

[she's at the bulletin board, staring at these new posters with a frown on her face. she's smoky, coughing into her hands to clear her lungs and ignoring the way her boots are wet and muddy. and yet she's examining the announcements.]

...so why...?

[underinworld]

[Generally deadpan Erin may be, but she's not so callous someone's death doesn't rattle her. She's been going back and forth between all the investigation places, trying hard to get in to investigate, but, well, you know how it is, magic murdergame preservation techniques are making sure she can't do a thing. At some point she passed by the bulletin board, stopping to talk to Aerith]

Probably part of the ritual. We got careless somehow, I guess.

[What else can it be, really. She eyes the pyre -- or in direction of the pyre, if that's not nearby]

That thing getting blue proves the deaths are step one of some weird plan.

[residentflorist]

[everything looks fairly normal now which is even more frustrating.]

I don't think anyone was doubting that death was a step in their ritual. But how was it possible when people were trapped last night? I can't imagine Aventurine was alone...never mind how Death was involved.

[underinworld]

Aventurine was with Todomatsu, at the cabin. Death must have been in the village too -- it's not like anyone could have gone out to get a crow and invite them somewhere after this mess started.

[She sure was going to, and that's when she found out she was locked in]

Okay, theory: after we all got trapped, the horsemen felt something was off, and since they don't want sacrifices Death came to take a look. That's when they got caught in this all.

[Sounds plausible to you?]

w1 wednesday

[residentflorist]

[okay well everything ended pretty damn poorly at the end of the harvest festival, so it's much later that aerith finds herself alone. has she left the island? no, but maybe she should have. instead she can be found sitting in a patch of bright-colored flowers, away from the center of town and closer toward the beach. she's alone in her thoughts, more concentrating on the blooms before her, but she hears footsteps and looks behind her.]

Oh, hey. Planning to head back soon?

[underinworld]

Is there a reason to stay? After how this went we all need a break.

[Emotional stuff is hard to deal with, good grief]

Whoever has to go around trying to keep others from crumbling down will end up biting more than they can chew.

[Best of luck, Aerith, best of luck]

[residentflorist]

I guess not, but the town's not exactly any more cheerful than this place. [sometimes you still want to be in the sun even when everything went terribly.]

We've been here for a little while now. I think people are finding people they can trust even just a little...so that's the good thing. We're all going to have to support each other if things like this keep happening instead of just leaving it up to one or two people.

w1 friday

[residentflorist]

[she appears to be walking away from the bulletin board at the moment, head down and arms behind her, but she notices erin out of the corner of her eye and looks up with a nod.]

Erin, hey. Were you out there looking, too?

[underinworld]

Yeah. Since I was at the ranch, I went back there to see what I'd find and I--

[Erin feels so gross having blood in her hands. She's been looking at the posters with the face of someone who feels kind of ill, really. As nonchalant as she is about a lot of things, she's kind of shaken right now]

You know that feeling when you find something locked and you're sure whatever is in there will be horrible?

[She founds something bloody and has no idea what it is. Her mind is going towards all kinds of possibilities, and none of them are pretty]

[residentflorist]

Usually the way, isn't it. [it's absently said, and she's frowning in thought for a moment.] We all had to look today after knowing it'd end like this, but I wish...[well, she sort of wishes it were easier for people, especially when nobody knows what to expect.]

What did you find out there? Are you okay?

w1 saturday

[residentflorist]

[she will come back to the pyre, hands folded behind her back and looking at erin curiously.]

...so, did you know the bag had his heart in it when we spoke yesterday?

[underinworld]

I had no idea. It was so gross to find out.

[She exhales, a weirdly ethereal sound. Being what she is now didn't numb her to the horrors of gore]

I knew it'd be bad but never thought it was Ichiban's heart. Pretty rich to hear that, coming from me, given what I did.

[She wasn't exactly nice and clean with the person she killed, after all]

[residentflorist]

Well it is an organ. No matter how cleanly it was removed, it'd be pretty messy. [she's not thrilled that someone would have done this to ichiban, but she also wouldn't appreciate being lied to. so it's fine. instead...she just frowns softly in thought.]

It does bring us to what you did. [curiously.] Would you be willing to explain why him?

w3 friday

[residentflorist]

[good lord yesterday was so much. but considering the adventure that erin and nona were on, she makes it a priority to go and check on her after she sneaks a peek at the living side to see who might be joining them soon.

the nice thing about this town is it's not too terribly big, so it's easy enough to find erin and approach slowly with a little wave.]

Hey. Feeling better than yesterday?

[underinworld]

It'd be hard to feel worse.

[She's still in a lot of pain because the antidote Nehan prepared was partial instead of total, she just is trying to pretend she isn't feeling terrible.

That's why Erin is probably hanging out at the Jamba Juice. Since she probably can't go having alcohol just in case, she's compensating with a whoooole lot of juice]

Shouldn't I be asking you that to you? You didn't return from your adventure fresh as a rose.

[Aerith didn't come back with a million stab wounds, but all that blood and tar can't have appeared from nowhere]

[residentflorist]

[we will have a seat and hang out at jamba juice. that is fine with her.]

But there are definitely ways to feel worse. If that's any consolation. [at least her optimism's back! but she does offer a sympathetic little smile because she gets it. it's bad.] At least it'll get better in time, so just take it easy for a few more days.

[as for the rest...she shrugs.]

We're okay. ["we" of course because of cloud, too.] Seems like everything wore off finally, and the wounds haven't reopened or anything. I'll call that a win.

w3 sunday

[residentflorist]

[after the excitement of the day (?), aerith finds herself heading back over to barks & waffles, scouring the shelves for anything vaguely interesting. upon hearing footsteps though, she turns her head and waves with the hand that isn't holding a few novels.]

So. One more day and we'll see what's waiting for us. Still holding out for a beach?

[underinworld]

I have been focusing on it. So this is what people mean when they say positive thinking is about picturing what you want in your future, like that makes it more real.

I never really believed in this kind of thing before.

[Erin has never been too used to thoughts instead of action!]

[residentflorist]

[she has a lot of things she could say in this moment, but she pauses for a moment to decide which way to go with it.]

Why not? Just never really came up before now? [she still doesn't know much about erin or what kind of world she's from, but she does want to give her the option to share if she wants. she's always fine to listen.]

w4 sunday

[residentflorist]

[wow this has been a day! so much can change from saturday to sunday, and so once the hustle and bustle from the execution and welcoming karlach and daan dies down aerith finds herself drifting back to the pharmacy and looking through some items. she seems to be weighing her options between some cute colored star stickers and some flowers when she hears erin approach.]

Kinda impressive they managed to find a workaround. I wouldn't say it's something to celebrate, but...kinda glad for it anyway.

[underinworld]

I'll take anything that isn't 'going 100% according to plan' for the cult.

[Workarounds are good! They're not...ideal, but in Erin's opinion anything that's not like 'it should be' is a step foward!]

[residentflorist]

Yeah. They lost Karlach, but they kept Geto. I hate to say "it could have been worse" to something like this, but it really could have been worse. Now we just have to make sure they stay alive. [a low hum.] If anything, I won't be surprised if Geto and Gojo make a pact themselves.

w5 friday

[residentflorist]

[it's slowgoing, but she's up and moving. she's actually on her way back to the apartments, jamba juice in her hand. currently she looks extremely pale and her eyes are glowing, but she seems to be mostly fine? every now and then a hand comes up to adjust a black choker around her neck, but upon seeing erin she waves.]

Heya. Another Friday, right?

[underinworld]

Good to see you back on your feet despite everything.

[There indeed was a blip of relief in Erin's vibes when she saw Aerith! Which was then overcome by that awkward feeling of having to wonder if you should say something or not about Aerith's current appearance. Better be quiet, she decides]

Another Friday, yes. Spiced up even more by Kate's everything. I'm glad she was caught in the act.

[Because it means Kate can be helped. It just greatly sucks said help has to come in the form of, you know, death. Still, after all the deaths Kate's possession had caused...it's a good thing she was found in a manner that leaves absolutely no room for doubt]

[residentflorist]

[thank you, erin, it is best to ignore it. she knows. it's fine.]

Yup! Probably not for much longer, but just for a little bit to stretch. [there's a faint pulse of sympathy at the mention of kate though.]

Seems like a few of them had figured it out beforehand. Yuffie told me they were trying to figure out what to do...unfortunate it came to this, but at least they can decide for themselves tomorrow. We'll see if Famine shows up tomorrow with the others.