The Silence After the Storm

[vrdr_mods]

The Ken Amada who made certain threats, whom Igor didn't bring to the Velvet Room and didn't welcome, has been permanently contained within his other-world self. Many of the Velvet Room residents mobilized in the effort to neutralize the threat he posed, and now, in the moments after the devastating battle that sealed Ken away, perhaps you have business to conclude.

Maybe you're a fighter, left in the rubble the battle made of its surroundings—or maybe you were a noncombatant this time, left behind to wonder what's happening or prepare for the aftermath. Maybe you linger around the battle site, or maybe you have other things to do.

Or maybe you didn't survive. Maybe you're one of the glowing forms slowly coalescing in front of Igor's desk in the Velvet Room over the course of the subsequent half hour. Igor presides over them gravely, with no sign of his usual smile. Near his desk sits a box of snacks, familiar to anyone who's used the operation's training room.

[[ooc: This post is a general catch-all for the aftermath of the battle! It's backdated to February 26, the day Ken got got.]]

Comments

[willowandoak]

Normally, all of that would make Ren crack up. He's not exactly in the right mood right now, but he does breathe out a short, voiceless laugh as he pulls out his switchknife. "Okay, then."

He studies Joker's leg for a moment, then brings his knife to the hem and starts cutting. The knife is sharp, at least, and he's doing his best not to jostle Joker's leg. But it's impossible to keep it entirely still; he winces every time it shifts a little, even though it's not even his damn leg. Before long, though, he reaches Joker's thigh, just above the knee. He cuts a clean circle into the pant leg and lets the resulting rectangle of cloth fall open, revealing Joker's lower leg and its injury.

It sure does look like a broken leg. Damn. "And that's it, until Crow and Hiro get here."

[willowandoak]

He hisses in fury, shooting Hamuko a betrayed glance, but he lowers his voice and swallows down the yell that was about to emerge. "Real convenient," he growls, glaring at Maruki with, if anything, even more animosity. "Hiding behind the fucking blankets, you liar, hiding behind everyone who got hurt, so you don't have to face up to how you put everyone on that battlefield in danger. Typical behavior, actually. I don't know why I'm surprised. Go ahead, then, fuck off."

[willowandoak]

"Yeah. You're not fucking kidding." He allows himself a single, deep sigh. "You gonna be okay getting home? Need some more blood first, anything like that?"

[wipingallout]

Hamuko met his glare with her own calm expression, carefully folding the hefty blanket in her arms a few times to make it easier to manage as she spoke in a level tone.

"What happened after I died?"

Civil, straightforward, asking for an explanation.

[willowandoak]

"Mmf." He blinks. It takes him a few seconds to lift his head, but once he sees the curry, he falls on it just like he did the soup.

Halfway through, though, he stops and looks at Goro. "...Thanks."

1/2

[takutomaruki]

Maruki takes a deep breath.

Imagines himself back in the nurses's office. One clipboard in hand the other finding himself comfortable on the sofa. He even backs up a little- eyes darting away as he adjusts his glasses and considers what to do.

"I would like to say a few words before I jump into this discussion." And no, he doesn't care if Drake gave him permission or not, he's saying his few words.

He looks back and forth between Hamuko and Drake before shaking his head. "Right so, Hamuko-san, thank you for fighting till the end even if things shouldn't have ended that way. We are all standing here safe and sound because of your help. I hope you will get some well-deserved rest after this. If you need anything else aside from the blankets and the snacks, please let me know."

[lakebrat]

A shadow of a smile touches his lips, and his fork pauses near his plate. "You're welcome. Back to me being the leader now."

He's teasing, just a little. He doesn't like the look on Ren's face.

[willowandoak]

"You must've been a real asshole in a past life." Unlike Ren, who's an asshole in this life and knows exactly why he was punished like this. He touches Goro's hand briefly, then goes back to his curry, at the same eating contest-level speed. It's not just that he's hungry, although he is. The sooner he's done, the sooner he can go upstairs.

[lakebrat]

"Maybe. Or maybe I got that out of the way back before all this started."

He turns his hand to brush against Ren's touch, then returns to shovelling curry into his own mouth, with slightly smaller scoops.

2/2

[takutomaruki]

"Second- as per the plan... after your unfortunate passing, I released Fatalis's cognitive mother so that the others could catch their bearings and we could lower his defense." He set aside the mound of blankets by walking past them both- stretching his hands as if to ease off his anxiety.

"He wasn't...happy with it, I suppose. I can see why, it was a bit horrifying in principle, I would have actually liked if I spoke to him personally but that aside...he naturally went after me next. I defended myself to the best of my ability which, while I was scared to death wasn't exactly as shocking or surprising. It felt more attuned to what I was used to."

He placed one hand in his pocket. "Then I stayed on the battlefield and helped others."

[willowandoak]

He has some thoughts about what Hasegawa was saying, but he follows the subject change. He can take a hint.

"Three casualties, including..." He nods at Akane. "There was also Hamuko and vampire Ren. And a lot of injuries, but they all healed up. People are just tired, I think. We're all gonna sleep for a week. You should, too, after this."

[willowandoak]

Ren takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. His hands clench into fists. When he's done, he's pretty sure he can speak without yelling and disturbing the people around them. He cares about his team, unlike some assholes in this room.

"You barged into the middle of a situation that was already chaotic as fuck," he says. His tone is intense and angry, and the words come quickly, but at least he stays fucking quiet. "You confused people who'd never seen you fight and didn't know what the hell was going on, in a fight where every split second of distraction could be deadly. It wasn't clear whether the fucking tentacles were allies, or a new attack from Fatalis. We all trained as a group specifically so that when everything went to shit in the battle, we'd still work well together and not get in each other's way. But you weren't involved, people didn't know how to fight with you, everyone was scrambling to deal with your self-righteous delusions when we were already hanging by a fucking thread.

"Like I said. Typical Maruki behavior. You get an idea in your head that you can help, and you make it everyone else's fucking problem. We're lucky no one got hurt because of your reckless bullshit."

[vampirethief]

"I think that should tide me over until I can get back to my apartment."

Ren's real glad he made sure to stock up on blood juice boxes 'cause he's going to stay at home for at least a few days. So he can rest up and not need to put on sunscreen for a while.

[willowandoak]

With triumph, he sticks the last spoonful of curry in his mouth. As he pushes the plate away, he makes an inquisitive little noise.

[lakebrat]

That noise makes him want to drag Ren straight upstairs and force him into Goro's onesie. "You won't agree. It's just the same old stuff."

Just him and his mother, and let the rest of the world go hang. That sort of thing. Goro's not too worried about it.

[wipingallout]

"Hmm," Hamuko hummed aloud, making sure to hold her place in the conversation and keep them from arguing and interrupting her.

She looked between them both, studying them with her gaze as she mulled over each of their perspectives. Hamuko took a lengthy moment to really picture the chaos of the scene that must've followed in her mind... trying to grasp what could best be learned for everyone.

"...Maruki-san," she started, finally turning her gaze back to the older man, "In battle, it's extremely important for you to follow the orders and directions of your leader - they are trying to balance and maintain everyone's safety as best as possible, and in a battle as deadly as what we faced, there was not a lot of margin of error. I don't blame you for wanting to keep supporting people, especially after some of us fell - I can't say I wouldn't have done the same."

Without missing a beat, she turned her gaze back to Drake. "Drake. You did admirably keeping everyone going forward even after we suffered losses. All of us were ready to lay down our lives for this fight, but only a few of us actually fell. Trust me when I say... as a Leader, you can't control everything that happens - for example, I never told any of you what I could do to Seal that power. Mostly because I had no idea if I could call on that power again."

She paused, to gesture to the teammates still reeling, still recovering, but alive. Despite everything, they were alive. She looked between the both of them.

"We made it. There are always 'what if's that one can get stuck ruminating on... but we did it. We defeated an unbeatable foe and took away his power - and we all did it together. Past pains and distrusts or not. We can learn from how we had to improvise, from what risks we don't want to have to take a second time."

[takutomaruki]

Fatalis had clearly drained away most of his energy and whatever was left of it was still being eaten away by Azathoth's festering regenerations.

"Juice boxes, ey?" There's a small smile in his face before he finds himself fishing into his bag and pulling out exactly that- a juice box.

An apple juice box but.

"Well, this isn't blood but I have plenty of this...if it helps..?"

[willowandoak]

"Oh," he says darkly. "That shit." But he's too tired to start arguing about it. He'd rather go to bed. "Hurry up and eat."

[lakebrat]

He doesn't need a second telling. The last of his curry vanishes into his maw, quick as you like. Then he stands up and stretches, watching Ren with veiled affection.

"Screw the dishes. They can wait until the morning." He hides a yawn. "Sorry, Boss."

[willowandoak]

Seeing an opportunity, Ren gets to his feet and wraps his arms around Goro's middle while he's stretching. Without a word, he presses his face against Goro's neck, nestling close and feeling his warmth.

[willowandoak]

"Cool." He stands up and stretches, wincing as what feels like every joint he has pops loudly. "I need to check on the others. Text me if you need anything, yeah?"

[lakebrat]

Heh. He giggles, momentarily delighted, before he wraps his arms around Ren in turn, keeping him close.

"Thought you were tired," he tells Ren's ear, in an undertone.

[willowandoak]

"I am." He closes his eyes. " 's just nice."

In theory, he wants to go to bed. In practice, Goro is so comfy.

[lakebrat]

Ren is comfy too. Goro lets himself mould to him, against the planes of his stomach, the curves of his thighs. "Mmm," he agrees. "What do you think, time for bed?"

In theory, he feels like he'll lie awake all night. In practice, he has a feeling he'll be out as soon as he hits the pillow.

[vampirethief]

Ren shakes his head. "It's not actual juice. It's animal blood put in a juice box container, which makes it easy to drink."

The straw the blood juice boxes come with are much thicker than standard straws, due to how much thicker blood is compared to fruit juice.

"It wouldn't hurt to have some, even if sugar does nothing for me."

He could have as much sugar as he wants, and not get sick. But he doesn't do so because he has self control.