the end

[productions]

murder manor end



servants' wing

20 players alive.

[The walls of the servants' wing shudder and groan, but do not give out. Inside, the servants' wing is pitch dark, lit only by the glow of Kanaya's skin. Very slowly, the energy field flickers and vanishes, the great machine stops humming, the keypad goes dark, until it is simply a cold piece of metal.

It's difficult to tell what is going on; outside, it sounds as though a powerful storm is raging. The sound of heavy winds and crashes that could be thunder can be heard, and sometimes the walls themselves tremble as though in danger of giving out. Occasionally, bright flashes of light seem to light up the building for a moment, seeping in between cracks in the wall. It certainly sounds like a storm powerful enough to destroy the shack everyone is huddled in, but the building remains standing.

Inside, it is incredibly crowded. Twenty people, two dogs, a horse, and a dove are all sharing the space, not to mention the rodents, miniature panda, and Rin's lifeless body, and the space is only one room half taken up by a large machine. It is also gradually growing bitterly cold.

Gradually, the lost abilities and memories (including reunion memories) will return to everyone inside. The storm continues on for about a day; you'll have to wait it out.]

Comments

[souredsweet]

Good luck, then. [because hey he doesn't particularly care about humanity on a whole even though it's been proven to him that individuals aren't all bad.]

...I think. There was only one option before I came here and I still want it. [he won't lie about that, at least; Chizuru's misery is something he does still want to see. one day of good intentions doesn't undo a lifetime of suffering, after all. still...]

...I think I may reconsider. Maybe.

[hollowheart]

Good luck to you, too. [Despite her perpetually bored expression and her show of detachment, Annie's longed to understand those around her, even as they were involved in the mechanism and tribulations of the game. She wants to ask more, but now is not the time, and it may never be.]

[souredsweet]

[he, too, seems to be considering saying something else. in the end, he just manages a brief smile.]

It's a shame we won't be able to see if that luck actually comes in handy. [if the whole 'we're going home and parting ways forever' thing is to be believed, anyway.]

[hollowheart]

We can always leave each other mysterious flowers on a mantle as a secret sign.

[souredsweet]

[he laughs openly at that.]

Cross-dimensional floral messages... Ah, perhaps that is the business that Kanaya should go into.

[speakveryclearly]

[Here as furniture and light source for this entire increasingly anxiety-inducing conversation, finally speaks up.]

There isn't a lot of natural flower growing that goes on where I come from these days, as you might expect from the environment in which a species could reach the brink of extinction. I hope you wouldn't mind tokens of the synthetic variety considering you're my built-in consumer base.

[hollowheart]

Ever the realist, aren't you? [And it's rich, coming from cynical, pragmatic Annie. She's been open divulging her past before the one person who should be hearing it when she would have been mortified before. And on that note, Annie leans down to help Kanaya up to a standing position.]

I don't remember exactly how it goes. I think most humans bend the knee, here, but I don't need to be shorter than I already am. [The only other interested party is already present, so the blonde takes Kanaya's hands in hers and aggressively ignores the five inches in height that separate them as she looks up.] Miss Maryam, will you marry me?

[souredsweet]

[well he had been about to shoot some snippy barb back at Kanaya, but he is suitably distracted by this! he actually has no idea what Western marriage customs are like, so he lapses into an interested silence, watching whatever happens play out.]

[speakveryclearly]

[Open mouth... close mouth... Miss Maryam, you are not a fish. A glance at Kaoru confirms that she is on her own here. Maybe Poland can help with his face??? No, he's too far away.

It's just time to think back to everything Sonia has ever said. A marriage is a promise between two people, a reserved arena for the concupiscent component of interpersonal relationships, and the expected end resolution of a two month romance if Gundam is anything to go by. Does this converge with her case...? She closes her mouth into a smile, keeping all the questions inside, and nods.]

Yes, Miss Leonhardt, I can't in good conscience refuse any proposal from you.

[hollowheart]

That's fine. It's not like--

[hollowheart]

[Wait. She said yes. Kanaya said yes and no one in this small group laughed and Kanaya even looked earnest and suddenly Annie's feet felt less steady that what they've been a few minutes ago and everything is swimming in her head.]

Okay done

[hollowheart]

...Really? You mean it? [She's unfamiliar with this particular feeling of genuine relief, even if she's only entertained the notion to humor Kaoru before.

And it's a good thing they're already holding hands, since she'll raise Kanaya's to her lips to kiss her knuckles.]

[souredsweet]

[CUTE AS HELL. Kaoru will provide the obligatory round of applause that every touching proposal must be accompanied by.]

Congratulations.

[speakveryclearly]

[Good-natured glance at Kaoru. She doesn't understand his best man dreams but hey he's a man now so that's cool with her he can go for it. When Annie has her head down Kanaya will affectionately stroke her cheek.]

I understand what I'm supposed to mean in this ritual even less well than you say you do... but it's a kind of commitment, right? I want to fight for you, and let you fight for me, and be with you when there's no fighting to be done, as long as paradox space permits. Is there anything amiss in that description?

[hollowheart]

[It's a rare reaction, but Annie laughs. No one's heard her laugh in the entirety of their stay in the mansion. It's endearingly high pitched and girlish. There's a high possibility they're parting shortly, but it doesn't seem to matter at the moment.]

And here you say you're not familiar with the concept. How demure of you. But I think that sort of thing suits you.

But you're right. And... Thank you, too, Kaoru.

[souredsweet]

[he doesn't even understand his best man dreams, Kanaya. but this entire display has been endearing and he can't even claim to be BITTER ABOUT HUMANS AND HAPPINESS!! over it because neither of them are human.

Annie's laugh gets a brief look of surprise, but the thanks is waved off with a smile.]

A thanks is unnecessary.

[speakveryclearly]

Okay, what is necessary... do either of you know what comes next....

[Happy as much as confused - what are they now, marriagesprits???]

[hollowheart]

You exchange tokens and then kiss... [There's also the lack of a priest or an officer for this, but Annie's not going to touch on that. Removing her hands from Kanaya's, she extracts the ring from her index finger. What if it's too big? Too small? Nevertheless, she musters all that's left of her nonchalance to slip it onto one of the fingers of her left hand. She's read enough of the novels in the library for this.]


There. Don't activate the spike.

[souredsweet]

[something about this seems so perfectly suited to both of them... he has no idea how this whole thing is supposed to go, but so far, it seems just right.

to Kanaya:]

I think you have it figured out without my help.

[speakveryclearly]

[She stares down at her hand, the skip in the aura where the metal band covers her skin, and back at her mate...bride...? What comes next... Her ocular globes are usually a more convincing facsimile of simple eyes than unholy lanterns. Quick action is the order of the day if she wants ritual to triumph over self-preservation. because her lower fangs are generally inclined to stay in her mouth. Kanaya needs the upper pair still - not for the bad habit Susan has helped her break a little, but for something to bore through their smaller twins.

Her hands are only a little jade-stained as she presents them to Annie.]

I'm pretty sure - auricular piercing isn't unheard of?

[They might grow back.]

[hollowheart]

[The fangs are in Annie's palm before the words leave her mouth to protest. It's not in her nature to tell people they don't have to, and the significance of the gesture in this particular moment isn't lost on her. Blinking down at the offering, she doesn't tell Kanaya that piercings have never been considered before, by virtue of her rapidly regenerating body, making them a permanent fixture.

But this time, it's actually perfect, her body bending to her will in human form, for once. The sharp ends pierce her lobes with ease as blood blossom through broken skin, but there is a hiss of steam, and the heated skin quickly mends over, healing over the holes and keeping the new "earrings" fixed in place.]

How do I look? [A hand lingers over her right ear. She's sure it's not part of the ceremony, yet she can't help but ask. It seems that they're forgetting something, but how to get to the end of it with the whole room for an audience?]

[souredsweet]

[if he knew how far away from an actual wedding ceremony this was he would only be a little surprised.

AS THINGS ARE they have a riveted audience of at least one!! GIFT EXCHANGES... too cute...... sitting there with his face in his hands, basically.]

Should we have music for the last bit? [Rapture serenading them both during their dramatic wedding kiss, A+]

[speakveryclearly]

[Okay, Kanaya may be one of the most aesthetically inclined trolls of all time, but even she has her limits, and musical appreciation is right now one of them. She gives Kaoru this Look, like, if she had the vocabulary for it, There Is Only So Eighties I Will Suffer My Wedding To Be.] I don't think that's necessary.

[Looks back down at Annie, and her breath is taken away by how beautifully everything fits together.] You look perfect.

[Then Kanaya gives her a kiss. Not borderline involuntary (she doesn't know what she would have done to Minatsuki were she still breathing and covered in blood) or covertly passionate (in a room this much smaller than the theater, the mood is officially dampened enough to effectively not exist). She can be happy touching their lips together softly for even a few seconds, because the point is that they're joined, symbolically.]

[hollowheart]

[From Annie's meager experience with witnessing weddings, they should be more enthusiastic, but it's hard to do so in the presence of eighteen other people and various assorted animals. She rises on tiptoes to lean into the kiss momentarily, hands on Kanaya's shoulders.

The pain is already fading from her ears--a mere pinprick on the general level of discomfort. There are no flowers in her hair for Annie to comprehend the compliment, but she accepts all the same.]

This is it, then. [and there's no otherwise commentary to protest. Should they have expecting anyone to protest?] It's done.

[souredsweet]

[he would have shut down anyone who tried to protest okay. there's some sort of brightness in his expression now, since he's never witnessed something like this before and he is pretty sure he won't have the chance to ever again. it's nice, in a way - in something beyond just two people having a slapdash wedding. it's a sign that even dire situations like this can still have some good in them, and for all the teasing he had done earlier in regard to the manor couples, it's heartening to see some truth in the whole happiness in odd places thing.

feeling like now is as good a time as any to leave them both alone, he finally turns to mosey off to another corner of the crowded shed. an illusion of privacy is better than nothing right...]

Congratulations again, both of you.