chicago ♔ it’s a tragedy to be left only with memories

[savemyself]

WHO || Failboat and friends [Closed]
WHAT || As the trial drags on, the Knights spend their last few months in Chicago and tensions mount
WHERE || Various locations, Chicago
WHEN || November 21st - The end of the trial?? [Back AND Forward dated]
HOW || Actionspam, don't sweat tag order


Everybody loves a media circus and the trial of Rafael Giovanni is no exception. If he was famous before, in the days following the shooting, now he's all people are talking about, and all the tabloids want to focus on. The complications presented at some of the early hearings by Jaka, regarding the identity of the Black Scourge and Rafael's alleged reaction have only made the story more appealing to the millions watching.

They've also caused the trial to drag out for months as facts are checked, evidence is poured over, and the jury becomes only more split on the issue. In the meantime, the holidays fly by, and one of the most terrible winters in years blankets Chicago in blizzards.

This log covers any work and non-work related shenanigans the Knights have while staying in Chicago, immediately following the last log and continuing for the next couple months. This will be the Knight's last time in Chicago before the trial: after which they plan to return to the castle to fully Knight Violet and Elena and decide where to head next.

Make your own threads, don't fuss about tag order, feel free to threadjack multiple people into one thread for hang-outs, ask me if you want a certain scene with an NPC, etc. forever whatever.

Comments

[witchwoman]

[They're trying to help, and in some part they are, but the idea that her relationship was doomed to fail, no matter what, just twists like a knife in her gut. She takes a shaking breath and focuses on the comfort of having them near, having them care so much that she can feel it. She leans her head against Spike's shoulder and gives Buffy a weak smile.]

I've read some things about the planetarium? Where I came from, the gods came from the stars. I've wanted to go for awhile, but... it seemed like a bad time.

[slay]

[ strangely (or perhaps not so strangely) the thought of gods coming from the stars just makes her think of if she'll feel jade's presence in the planetarium the same way it's been suffocating in the court room and the hotel suite for months. but a part of her wants to go all the more for it - alone with her thoughts and the chance to miss someone they've all lost instead of being caught up in the grief of those more entitled to feel it, or the intentional destruction of everyone's memory of her. ]

Seems to me like the perfect time.

[bigbad]

[Spike gives a slight smile down at her.]

Shouldn't be far from here. Think we can walk there if we stay out of the way of incoming traffic. [He bumps his shoulder lightly against her.]

[witchwoman]

Do you think they're still open? [She had been on her way to bed before the fight had happened so its pretty late. But this is rp so clearly 24 hour planetariums are a thing.]

[slay]

Well, maybe not, but ... I'll bet they open early. [ she quirks an eyebrow. buffy runs on very little sleep in general, and she's been doing without more and more during the trial, anxiety wearing her thin. if it helps distract myri from her pain, there's no reason not to stay up with her. ] And I can say with absolute certainty that IHOP and Denny's are 24-hours.

[bigbad]

And if you don't want to wait, we could always break in. [Spike is here to help.]

[witchwoman]

[This is some a+ parenting right here.]

Breaking in won't be necessary, but... Pancakes could be good?

[Someone is gonna eat the shit out of her feelings, awh yeah.]

[slay]

Pancakes it is. Well, you pancakes. Me waffles. [ she glances up and around to consider the city block. it's a great plan because buffy has been wandering dark alleys and graveyards for hours as she is wont to do, and that makes her starving. ] Anyone bring their phone? I'm not sure where the nearest one is from here.

[bigbad]

[Spike takes his out and after some typing (computer use 15) gets directions.

SKIP AHEAD TO GET THERE?]

[witchwoman]

[Oh look- the three of them are seated in a booth in the far corner of the nearest IHOP. Myri sips at her orange juice while they wait for their food.]

I appreciate you guys doing this. Really.

[slay]

Hey, I'm in this for the waffles. Don't thank me. [ it's clearly sarcasm, but she's hoping making light of it will improve myri's mood and keep her from dwelling on what's visibly hurting her. ]

[bigbad]

[Spike's got coffee (this is his morning, after all) and he's playing with the syrup dispenser.] Yeah, not exactly a chore, getting breakfast foods with my favorite girls.

[witchwoman]

[She smiles a little, even if her heart isn't in it.]

This all feels like it isn't... real. Is that normal?

[slay]

I'm not sure I'm the person to ask.

[ and she looks genuinely sorry for that, so much so that her eyes gloss. ]

I can't ever remember feeling something like what you're feeling now. And I wish that I had, or that I had - some advice to give you, something to make it better, but ... I don't.

[bigbad]

[Spike shakes his head. He hasn't had that pain either, in his memories. The closest was when Buffy rejected him after they slept together, and even that was... nothing like that. His feelings for Buffy were strong, still are, even, but they'd never had what Finnick and Myri had.]

Sounds normal. Even if it isn't, doesn't matter. It's you.

[witchwoman]

[She reaches over and covers Buffy's hand with her own. Because even when she's hurting, she feels this need to comfort people.]

I keep wondering if it matter to him, if he notices that I'm gone. [Which isn't fair to think, really, but it's new enough that she's thinking all the worst things. She just imagines him sleeping, not at all distraught, fine without her. The thoughts start to spiral out of control until she finds it's a little difficult to breathe. A sob chokes in her throat. Maybe being in public wasn't such a good idea.]

I just wish I knew how to make it right.

[slay]

Myri, it's not on you to fix this. [ and it's hard to say it, because she knows that's the worst thing to put up for her to process. things maybe can't be fixed. hell, it might be better if they're not, considering how much pain myri has been caused by finnick's poor mental health. ] You need to think about the possibility that there isn't a bandaid to slap on this, and make right with yourself. Do what's best for you, not whatever you think will salvage something that's been hurting you.

[bigbad]

[Spike's heart twists for her. It's bloody hard, giving up on someone you love. He doesn't know if he could do it. He casts a surreptitious glance over at Buffy for a moment, wondering if, in some strange alternate universe where they were dating and she was the one drinking herself stupid and staying in bed all day, he'd ever dump her. He knows he wouldn't. But that's him, and he's not Myri. And he wouldn't want Myri to be as bloody stupid and self-sacrificing as he is.

Still, he can't tell her that she shouldn't want to make it right. He gets the urge. So instead of saying anything, he reaches across the table to squeeze her arm, giving her a sad look.]

[witchwoman]

I don't want to just make it go away. [She protests. She doesn't feel like she's explaining herself properly.] We're a team... or we were. And it's... We're supposed to work together and fix these sort of things, aren't we? That's how it works. And I want to be there. I want to see the other side of it. I want to be by his side through this, through everything. [In the movies. In the shows she's seen. There's been no real life example for her to believe in so she's holding onto some hollywood fairytale bullshit to come through for her.]

I just... I don't know how to say that without it coming out all wrong. [Because she can't just be there and not do something, not try. As a healer, she can't just sit and watch someone hurt, even if it's not a wound that she can actually do anything to fix.]

[slay]

Sometimes, there's nothing that you can say. Not everything can be fixed, some of it takes time. Some of it takes ... change. [ she sighs, squeezing myri's hands. ] I know how hard it is for you to watch someone hurting. But, their pain isn't your responsibility, especially not when it's hurting you, too. Maybe he needs to get to the other side of it on his own.

[bigbad]

Might be this even helps. Seeing what he's lost. Rock bottom and all that. [And this way Finnick won't be dragging Myri's heart through the muck as he works out his issues.] But yeah. Takes time.

[witchwoman]

[She swallows hard at Spike's words. Rock bottom.]

I can't... I can't watch him go through that. I don't..

[There's a panic that sets in. She just shakes her head, unable to form the words to describe how afraid of this she is. It would kill her everyday to watch him, to see him hurt but not be able to say anything out of fear of what would happen. That was why she had tried to talk to him in the first place, wasn't it? To get rid of that feeling? But now it would only be worse, because she would know that her actions had caused it.]

[slay]

You don't have a choice. [ and she sounds utterly sorry for it as she says it, but that's the cold hard truth. ] He's gonna go through it whether you're watching it or not. And he's gonna be that way as long as it takes until he can pull himself out, because it's not something you can change. He has to work through it. I know it sucks, and ... and we'll be here. The whole time, to help you. However you need us. But you can't change the way he feels, and you can't drag him out of it before he's ready to get better.

[bigbad]

And we can escape off for pancakes as often as you'd like.

[witchwoman]

[She continues to shake her head.]

You don't understand. I can't be here. I can't... I can't stay. [And saying it makes her realize how true it is. It's not just Finnick that makes her hurt, it's all of it. She's grown so impossibly close to these people and now so many of them are hurting in strange and unique ways, and the combination of it is overwhelming. Losing Finnick only made it that much worse.]