residentmerc | catchall robin

Fine. Fog got denser and trapped all of us around the pyre, but nothing else happened.

[ his voice is raspy because. fire inhalation is real. i guess. boos. ]

Can't say the same for this morning. You?

... Your voice.

[ hate to say she becomes even more alert hearing the raspy quality because of how much of a singer she is. ]

I was at the cabin, and I'm worried and becoming more worried. What happened this morning?

I'm fine. [ REPEATING AGAIN ] There was a fire around the swamp. Breathed in some smoke.

[ s o m e ]

We found signs of people there. And... a hand in the fire.

[ YOU DON'T SOUND FINE. ]

... You breathed in a lot of smoke. You should rest when you can. I wish we had something to soothe your throat.

[ but the news doesn't stop. ]

... A hand? Dismembered?

[ she has to doublecheck. it stuns her a little. ]

I'll grab some water. It should work.

[ RESTING???? absolutely not. never. she has to doublecheck and, unfortunately, he has to nod ]

Yeah. Burnt to a crisp, too. Didn't find any other signs of a body there though.

[ she does not think water helps smoke inhalation that much, but it's better than nothing. at least he isn't refusing everything. ]

Does that mean it was left there to burn on purpose? Why...?

[ it's fine he is always Fine and constantly refuses to see a doctor because he is So Fine ]

I don't know. [ like. genuinely! he has no idea! it looks like it annoys him a little! ] Even if it's just that they left it there after it was cut off, I don't know why they'd move the body after going that far.

[ everyone can see in his mako eyes that he isn't fine, but she will let him have his Fine-ness today since she is also Fine. ]

It's a lot of effort when it'd be simpler and cleaner to burn the entire body.

[ just cremate if you're going to go so far to murder someone, she thinks, but in nicer words. ]

Especially if it was that big of a fire for that much smoke inhalation.

[ idk what you mean. ignore that his eyes glaze over from time to time, it's unrelated to fire. he is also nodding along at that ]

Yeah. Not to mention we've got a pyre that never burns out.

[ why even... set a fire... ]

It doesn't make any sense.

[ it's not like she knows this is supposed to a murder mystery. ]

Not to me, at least. Or maybe I am trying to see something that isn't there. Perhaps I want there to be meaning when there isn't any.

Maybe it's part of that stupid ritual thing.

[ cloud also does not know shit about murder mysteries and being in one ]

If there is meaning to be found, it's not gonna be something obvious.

If it's this way instead of all at once....

[ she hates the thought of it. ]

If that's what it is, we no longer have two months. There's no telling if it'll only be two a night or something else.

We know what happened before those guys were killed, so maybe we can be a little more prepared for it next time.

[ he doesn't... sound confident about that. considering. they all fuckin passed out. ]

... If we are locked or confined to an area again, you mean? That'll be a sign it's happening again?

[ what can they do if they all are made to sleep again, cloud? she is too nice to ask this. ]

... Yeah.

[ he knows!! he knows. ]

It doesn't give us much, but we won't be as surprised next time.

... I suppose it's something. We will have a warning.

[ an hour or however long (because they don't have clocks) of dread. ]

We'll be more alert for when we wake. We can hopefully find more clues.