[[open post and announcement: no mourners, no funerals]]

[ravkanwitch]

[cw: discussion of death!]

Nina knows that word of Shen Yuan's death has been slowly spreading. She tried to put out a general warning of danger right after it happened... but she's not sure how many people were warned by it. She wasn't in the right mind at the time, after all. This time, she's more careful and collected. With SecUnit's help, she's alerted and gathered everyone who's interested for an important announcement in the lobby of the mansion. Despite all appearances of bossiness and stubbornness - all quite true - Nina has never been in charge of anything so serious. Kaz, Zoya, and the King himself; she followed their lead. As people slowly begin to gather and she attempts to compose herself, she wonders why she decided to put herself up to this.

Deep breath, Zenik. Pretend that - well, that this is pretend. She's back in the orphanage as the official greeter, making an important announcement to all the other children. She's the governor of a small town, making sure that all the citizens are aware and prepared. It does have to be her, after all. She's playing a crucial role in everything. She also doesn't want anyone else to carry the emotional load.

"Hi," she tells everyone gathered, trying to paste on a somber but not-too-morose expression. "Thanks for coming. I'm sure some of you have heard part of this announcement already and I'm sorry that it took so long to pass this information onto everyone else... but there was an incident not too long ago. We're not sure what caused it, whether it was the house or whether it was an individual, but... Shen Yuan is dead." There's most likely a reaction at this point and Nina forges onwards as confidently as she can, pitching her voice above the hubbub.

"But there is a way that he can return. We're sure of it. We're just trying to figure out the details, which might take a while. If you want to know more about that, you can ask Magnus, but I'm not sure how much he can tell you. Also, if you encounter any signs of Shen Yuan's spirit, you can talk to--" Here she meets Aleksander's eyes almost instinctively; this line of conversation is something she's purposefully kept from him. "You can talk to myself. Or... to Lan Wangji. ...That's all. Thank you."

A confident start but slightly deflated by her last few sentences, Nina steps back and allows for conversation to happen. If anyone would like to speak to her, she's looking much less strained and grim than she has in a while.

[[Feel free to post a single comment reaction and/or start a thread with Nina in the comments!]]

Comments

[wickedwit]

"Ay, e'en so." Claudius kneels down by the flowerbed, plucking up a spade to dig into the earth and make room for the gentians. "I am sure Galahad would miss little of the questing life, were it not for the company of a friend. Has he told to thee of Sir Percival? It's a similar thing. Whenever he speaks of what he saw with Percival, what Percival told him, what cliffs they climbed and what creatures they encountered, thou wilt see his face alight. There's a sadness to it, too, because Percival in elsewhere. But thou art here, thou art ready to share this world's marvels with him. Exploring the mansion's many doors with thee ... I think it brought back the best parts of his quest. This time, there's no martyrdom waiting at the end, only stories he can share. I hope to hear many more of them."

[summerdude]

"Obviously I know about Percival," Magnus says. "Percival was his Gertrude, right?"

[wickedwit]

Claudius considers the comparison. “I suppose you could say that, yes. We spoke about it, once — about how we were alone, until someone chose us.”

[summerdude]

"A friend that you loved back home but couldn't be with, for whatever reason," Magnus adds.

[wickedwit]

For a moment, Claudius is taken by surprise -- were he and Gertrude friends? But she said it herself, when she visited. They were, they are friends. Brother and sister. Survivors of the same family. People who love each other. "That, too," he says, lightly.

[summerdude]

To Claudius's earlier point, Magnus says, "I do wish this world was a little bigger. I miss, like, variety." That's why he had so much fun with the basement.

[wickedwit]

“I used to travel often. Diplomacy, you know,” he says, potentially referring to any number of previous conversations. “I would I could take Galahad on a wedding trip to a city somewhere by the sea.” So Galahad can see the way the sea-air curls his hair (and he can see Galahad sunbathe upon the beach, the way the Italians do).

[summerdude]

"Oh, that would be cool," Magnus says. "Man, I wish there was a sea here, too. Probably all the, like, eleven different sea gods who want me dead couldn't reach me here, so I might even have fun with it this time."

[wickedwit]

"The gods of the sea are merciless -- any mariner will thee," Claudius says with amusement. "Who knows? Perhaps thou wilt find some secret underground shore, the next time thou art a-questing."

[summerdude]

"I don't need a mariner to tell me. I have firsthand experience." Magnus pauses to help a wilting flower. "Did Galahad tell you we found the bottom of the ocean?"

[wickedwit]

Claudius watches Magnus work his magic, momentarily rapt. He settles down to sit at the edge of the garden bed, rests his chin upon the ball of his hand. "He may have. If thou couldst swim thy up to the surface, dost thou think thou wouldst find a shore? It would be a long swim, I grant thee. I have not the constitution for't."

[summerdude]

"It was too deep to swim. We would've been crushed."

[wickedwit]

"Certainly not fit for my constitution, then."

[summerdude]

Magnus laughs and drops down to sit next to Claudius. After a moment, he leans against him. That's not been their relationship so far -- being close like that -- but Magnus misses Galahad, and this is, like, resting against Galahad by the transitive property, right? "Thanks for letting me invite myself over tonight," he says.

[wickedwit]

It takes Claudius by surprise, but chaste affection is still new ground for him, like the testing touches of his first flirtations. Wryly, he feels like he cheated, relying on those touches and his assignations for all his oxytocin. Magnus is a comforting weight against his side.

The tone with which he said Galahad’s not going to like it still sticks with Claudius. “He will be glad to see thee,” Claudius says. “As will I, of course. And glad to see thy young mistress.”

[summerdude]

Magnus blinks. That's not -- what? Ugh, but Claudius has always been super perceptive. "I'm excited to see you and Alex go at it," he say, peaceably. "You two are gonna talk circles around me and Galahad." A content little sigh that shifts into something slightly apprehensive: "I usually see Luo Binghe in the mornings. I'll ask him first thing about getting you in to see the, um, thing. Plant-body thing."

[wickedwit]

“I’d appreciate it,” Claudius says smoothly. In the interest of openness, he says, “I was the first here, know’st thou, and I spent many sleepless nights wondering when this place would turn into a society, and what sort of society it would be. Being tortured early on with demon magic certainly did little for my sense of safety. It made me aware of the terrible potential the people have here to hurt each other, and how delicate a peace can be. How vulnerable some of us are, with no power to protect ourselves, no authority to promise protection. But this … this is a way we can help each other. Save each other. That changes the society we can become, the protections we can promise. When Shen Yuan died, I lost all hope, but this has restored it.”

[summerdude]

Magnus slings an arm around Claudius's shoulders in addition to just leaning on him. "It's already better than back home," he says, quietly. "For me, at least. Even with... even with all of this. I think we're doing okay?"

[wickedwit]

It's strange -- Claudius keeps thinking of this as the mansion's first death, even though it isn't. Crowley died long ago, and they were so small and so scattered that no one noticed. He was almost dragged back to Hell once, and Galahad killed the demon dragging him. And Claudius himself believed he was dying one long, painful day here, that first time anyone had ever used magic to harm him. It's still terrifying to think such things could happen at any time. At least when Claudius's brother was out of the room, he was gone. But then someone showed he could threaten Claudius with his own blood, from far away, and there was so much more to fear. Whoever attacked Magnus didn't even have to be present.

No, Claudius has always seen the mansion's peace as something fragile. In that sense, many things were the exact same as back home. But something is changing. This time someone died, and everyone noticed. There was no way they couldn't. Too many connections ran throughout the place.

Not long ago, at the Bacchanalia, Claudius told someone that the mansion had few common trials, few concerns that affected everyone alike. Even during Dark, there were several people present who didn't need to eat. If there was something they all cared about, it could unite them. Is thatwhy the mansion spirits allowed this to happen? Claudius has asked himself why he was spared so many times, when he deliberately courted death, yet Shen Yuan wasn't.

Who was he speaking to? He can't remember -- there's only the glimmering haze of wine, and a black, yawning void beneath it. A void in a gold dress.

Claudius shakes his head. Despite it all (but what is it all, what is he missing) he's hopeful. "I suppose we are," he says.

[summerdude]

"We have a nice little community here, even if there are, like. Some people who suck."

[wickedwit]

"Mn. I've decided to lighten up on Lancelot," Claudius says, with only a touch of shame for their lost alliance. "He at least apologized and made amends with Galahad, unlike a certain someone who swore he would never apologize or make amends with me. Good luck with him tomorrow."

[summerdude]

Magnus snorts, then says, "Lancelot is all right, I guess." Especially for a guy who's been secretly training Magnus four or five days a week. Magnus is actually starting to get the theory behind swordplay? It's not just about stabbing a giant in the nose and/or toes and trying not to die? "Dude, did I tell you he did the homework I gave him?"

[wickedwit]

"Homework is not a word I understand," Claudius says with a smile, feeling like he's on familiar ground now that Magnus is in a rush to tell him things and using unfamiliar words. "Needless to say, he didn't tell me about it. What is it?"

[summerdude]

"It's, like, you go to school, and you do work there, and then you go home and your teachers assign you more work to take with you. Homework. It's, like... extended lessons. Anyway, I was like, 'yikes, this guy is sexist and making his trauma other people's problems,' so I told him some books to read. And he actually read them?"

[wickedwit]

"That was a promising first step," Claudius observes. "I believe I assigned myself my own homework, because I picked up one of those trauma workbooks after we discussed the concept." It turns out even a single day of torture can be traumatizing. And the list of things that might have traumatized him felt far too long, but the symptoms fit, the numbers added up, and Claudius is foremost a scientist. So he accepted that his trauma could, possibility, be worth addressing in the space of a few written questions and long meditations with Lan Wangji. "I won't debate whether or not that puts me ahead of him. That's part of the magnanimity I'm showing Lancelot." And yes, this is an old, tired tactic to express a petty thought while saying he would never, but they're old enough habits to die hard. "Was he able to grasp the point of those books?"