chicago ♔ beside you in time

[romanticidal]

♬ Right Where It Belongs - Nine Inch Nails

WHO || Buffy, Spike, Finnick, Myri, Dawn, Archer, Elena, Kat, Gar, Mark, Isabella, Burt, Des, Rafael, Violet, Francesca, Luthir. [closed]
WHAT || The events directly following the day of Jade's death
WHERE ||Various, Chicago
WHEN || July 5th, 2013 to the funeral
HOW || Actionspam

[ Following a long night after returning from the hospital where Jade finally passed away, there remains a lot to be said and done.

As Burt struggles to deal with the legal side of things, Francesca begins to head that way across the ocean in order to help the Knights do the same, and to help Finnick leave his celebrity life behind somehow. Violet takes the full weight of responsibility for planning the funeral into her hands, and the others continue to try to cope with what's occurred, and slowly put the pieces of information that they have together.

But many of them are still reeling from the revelations of the last few days, or carrying their own emotional burdens. Des continues to keep the truth about Jade's last words to himself as he deals with losing a woman he'd come to love, and faces up to a now uncertain future, thanks to a deal struck with Iscariot. Myri worries deeply about the potential fate of Violet, who's been considering hunting down Keijen Blade on her own, and her concern causes another small rift in her relationship with Finnick. Buffy finally reaches a point of breaking down over her conflicted feelings for Rafael, as Elena assists Archer in completing a giant fireworks bomb for reasons unknown.

This log covers the events leading up to the funeral, which means it will most likely cover a day or two or three. We will use it to make threads for any and all events occurring during this time. ]

Comments

[slay]

I could drive your car and you could sit in his lap. [ she says it offhandedly, because it's not a legitimate suggestion she's just being an ass. she steps into the elevator, glancing over her shoulder and turning to look at him. ] I'm not ripping anything out or off, okay? [ beat. awkward shuffle. ] Off as in ... limbs, not clothes.

[nothingsodivine]

I never would've guessed. [Guess who's also being an ass. It's him. At least the poor abused elevator door isn't being abused today and gets to shut on time.] Either way, we gotta get him out of Jade's room. And I'm not above bribing him with meatballs.

[slay]

I am ... 78% sure that's racist. [ he's italian ... meatballs ... get it? no? okay. she lets her clever one-liner go and hits the appropriate floor button and wow all the words for pushing buttons are really aggressive aren't they. ]

[nothingsodivine]

[...You know what Buffy, he'll let you believe that.] At least I didn't make a Godfather joke. I'm at least halfway culturally sensitive.

[ELEVATOR GO UP.]

[slay]

I don't think that's how cultural sensitivity works ... [ but whatever. she just rolls her eyes, giving a labored sigh. ] What's wrong with just letting him cry it out?

[nothingsodivine]

He has a lot of emotions and my room is next to Jade's.

[So yeah. He has to hear the quiet sobs. It's obnoxious.

ELEVATOR GO PING. The doors slide open. /phones in all the actions]

[slay]

Okay, point taken. [ she opens her mouth to say something else and stops. it would be incredibly insensitive to say WOW GOOD THING THEY NEVER MADE IT BACK TO THE HOTEL AFTER SHE REMEMBERED HUH. but she thought it. ] So, intervention. Intervention is good. [ she pulls out her room key and swipes it, pushing open the main suite door and holding it for him. ]

[nothingsodivine]

Definitely. [And he strolls inside.

WHAT

IS

WAITING.]

[65]

[nm it's just finnick tying knots with the same shoelace over and over again. he looks up at them with a flat expression and only says] I thought you were at the zoo. [before going back to tying knots.]

[slay]

You can only watch an alpaca lick its own butt for so long before you just have to move on with your life.

[ maybe that's a metaphor for their lives right now who knows. she eyes his creepy knot tying, but doesn't say anything as she walks in. ]

[nothingsodivine]

Is Rafael still in Jade's room? [Buffy beat him to the clever one-liner, so he has to be Facts Man.

And he is also... just observing the creepy knot-tying. It's so Stephen King character.]

[65]

[wow y'all way to be assholes. good thing finnick doesn't give a shit.] He went to the park.

[slay]

Well, darn, beat to the punch. Looks like our work's done here - but, hey, call me if you need something hit really hard.

[ don't mind her as she tries to escape to her room. no one wants the responsibility of dragging rafael out of his misery ok. ]

[nothingsodivine]

[Des grabs Buffy by the shoulder.] Do you really wanna find out if Iscariot considers the deal nulled if Rafael gets himself killed? I don't.

[That's emotional manipulation, Des.] I'm the one suffering here. I told you I hate nature.

[65]

He was acting weird before he left. Said you wouldn't need to look for him. [he gives them a look like "so do something about that i guess bc it's not my problem...."]

[slay]

[ finnick is actually what makes buffy stop. she whips her head around, staring flatly at him. ]

And you, of all people, didn't peg that as suicide hotline talk? How long ago did he leave?

[ i hope you enjoy the insult of "you of all people" though. w/e you have myri to deal with your trauma there's nobody better. ]

[romanticidal]

[ ♬ Shattered - Trading Yesterday ]

[nothingsodivine]

Forget it. Let's motor. [He's already heading towards the door, looking furious.] And when I find him, I'm gonna kill 'em and Iscariot can go to hell.

[65]

[ he was actually really offended and was going to ask what she meant by YOU OF ALL PEOPLE but buffy bitching at him jogged his memory and made him remember some valuable information. wow he jumps to his feet look at all that emotion. no he actually looks slightly horrified that he was busy being too catatonic to make any connections.] I don't know how often you've been to that park, but I'd check the giant bridge first.

[slay]

[ look finnick she expected more empathy from your catatonia. but this will do. she bolts after des. ]

On it!

[ she shouts it over her shoulder at finnick as if it's supposed to imply thanks for the info but wow saying thank you is a job of work. ]

[nothingsodivine]

[Des keeps up with Buffy through sheer force of will (dex 16).] At least he didn't leave the area to act like an idiot. I know where that place is. [with his nav 20 roll.]

[slay]

[ buffy takes it a little slower as she follows after des, because she's not sure where they're headed. she keeps her eyes peeled for a giant bridge, which really shouldn't be that hard to find (dex 12, spot 20 total). ]

Next time, Des? Skip breakfast.

[nothingsodivine]

I'm starting to see your point about that "telling him not to do the thing and he does it anyway" problem he has.

[(spot 14) HE NAVIGATED. LEAVE HIM ALONE.]

[slay]

Up there! [ she gets a good look at the bridge, and adjusts to beeline towards the edge of it. at this point she's just running full speed to try and pray they make it before rafael decides to fucking swandive like an asshole. ]

[romanticidal]

[ ♬ Who Wants to Live Forever - Queen

buffy's the one who sees it: it's really hard to miss, considering how high the bridge arcs over the park where it rises up down the path. and she's also the first one to see him, perched up on the railing out of reach, one hand on the girder to his left. he doesn't notice them at all with his lousy spot check, his attention one hundred percent fixated down below.

the expression on his face is worse than tormented. it's almost blank, something entirely missing, including any fear of the heights he's so perilously close to diving off from.

the park is all but abandoned - people still sleeping in from the fourth, or not looking to come to the park when it's still messy from those who came out to watch the fireworks last night.

they reach the actual ramp onto the bridge itself, and he still doesn't move up above, his jacket flapping slightly in the wind. ]