Seven Horrors (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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sevenhorrors2025-07-31 05:19 pm
sevenhorrorsmods) wrote in sevenhorrors2025-07-31 05:19 pm
[if april showers bring may flowers, then july showers bring. . .?]
Who: everyone!
When: July 31st throughout the day
Where: outside, but also wherever you want to be!
What: a general all-purpose mingle with flavor
Warnings: nada
[Today, for the first time since your arrival, dark and angry clouds gather in the sky above to block out the sun. It is sweltering outside, so when those clouds eventually open up in the early afternoon, showering everyone with cool rain, rolling thunder, and a few flashes of lightning. . . it probably feels good!]
[It seems to be normal rain, for the most part. Look at it from the wrong angle and some if it may seem to be tinted red, like blood. And sometimes, when a drop spatters against the ground, a spider lily suddenly blossoms in its place. The flower dies almost immediately upon springing to life, its petals dissolving into dust that is quickly washed away by the rest of the water]
[dwbi]
[. . . things have been awfully quiet since your arrival. It feels almost a bit like the calm before the storm, doesn't it? Are you still waiting for that other shoe to drop. . .?]
[What else are you up to today!]
When: July 31st throughout the day
Where: outside, but also wherever you want to be!
What: a general all-purpose mingle with flavor
Warnings: nada
[Today, for the first time since your arrival, dark and angry clouds gather in the sky above to block out the sun. It is sweltering outside, so when those clouds eventually open up in the early afternoon, showering everyone with cool rain, rolling thunder, and a few flashes of lightning. . . it probably feels good!]
[It seems to be normal rain, for the most part. Look at it from the wrong angle and some if it may seem to be tinted red, like blood. And sometimes, when a drop spatters against the ground, a spider lily suddenly blossoms in its place. The flower dies almost immediately upon springing to life, its petals dissolving into dust that is quickly washed away by the rest of the water]
[dwbi]
[. . . things have been awfully quiet since your arrival. It feels almost a bit like the calm before the storm, doesn't it? Are you still waiting for that other shoe to drop. . .?]
[What else are you up to today!]
no subject
I daresay this school doesn't lend itself to restful sleep even amid less bothered minds. Much less one that worries, or replays the day's events, or settles on thoughts that one has no control over. Though I see it is not something in which you wish to expound upon.
no subject
It is not so much the day's events that haunt me, but years past. In truth, I'm not accustomed to elaborating - the events of my father's murder are already widely known by near everyone in Fódlan.
[When the king dies, everyone knows. Grief is no longer a private affair - it is politics.]
no subject
You are not singular in that, to feel the past dogging at the heels of the present. My friend once served in the military, mending the terrible wounds of soldiers and even incurring a bullet wound to the leg. And there are mornings in which I can easily see the hauntings of the past night having caught up to him, like old spectres at his bedside.
[Not always, and never to a worrisome degree, but he sees it all the same. A pause. He realizes that he is not always great at these kinds of discussions, and amends with-]
It is far from the same as your situation, I know.
no subject
As prince, it is expected that I lead our battalions... whether to quell banditry or suppress rebellion, I have taken lives. And for all virtues of knighthood that the Kingdom upholds, there is no glory in battle - only senseless waste. Each lost life, a failure of governance, of understanding.
[anyways he's 18]
no subject
Then it is no wonder that you cannot sleep at night. You are burdened by past, present, and future.
no subject
[he really does have a tendency to be self-efacing at every opportunity]
Thank you for listening, all the same. I really do try to minimize how much my worries may affect others.
no subject
There is little to thank me for. I hardly mind it.
[It helps he is nosy, and it helps that he is empathetic, but not to the point of taking on heartache for someone else's sake.]
I can offer a little bit of aid in the present, anyway. You will be resting to heal those ribs of yours [you WILL be resting, young man], and so! You will need something to stimulate your mind instead of tossing and turning in the long hours of the night. Shall I recommend a book to you?
no subject
though he has doubts that a mere book could soothe all the things that make him toss and turn fitfully in the night, Azure puts on an appreciative expression]
Please do. I'd be grateful for the suggestion.
no subject
Well, firstly — how do you feel about puzzles?
no subject
I confess I've never committed myself to their study.
no subject
Then we must introduce your mind to the whetstone that is logic and reasoning, Azure. Not only is it a distraction in the long hours of the night, but it makes time pass wonderfully quickly when you find yourself engrossed in the most abstruse sort of puzzle... Ah. Come. I will let you borrow one of my library books.
[And yes, he will do so once they enter the school again. Though he intends to chaperone him back to Kenkou, they will make a short detour to Kin'un, with Holmes disappearing into his dorm briefly, only to immediately come back out, offering him a small book.
It is a puzzle book. A puzzle book that focuses on solving crimes. Every page looks something like this. Is this... is this a book he should so enthusiastically prescribe after being told of this young man's past and the poignant murder that resides in it? M-maybe not, but this is Holmes, so. He thinks it's fine.]
Here. Something to stimulate the imagination.
no subject
...Though his expression does go blank when he sees the book itself. That it's... murder mysteries...
...
Ignoring the violent whispers in the back of his mind, he forces on a polite smile.]
Th...ank you. I'm sure these will be most stimulating.
no subject
...I suggest this book because I think it is quite a resource regarding our situation at hand, insofar as how we must begin to approach our setting.
[For clues and such, etc.]
Mm. But you must think me insensitive now.
no subject
Not at all.
As you say, the mind needs a whetstone as much as any blade.
[He projects calm like someone with a gun to the back of his head. Like he has his heart clamped in an iron vice to force himself to stay steady, looking forward, no sudden moves.
Maybe even like he's contemplating whether it's worth it to let the gun go off.
It's an imperfect metaphor. He doesn't know what a gun is.
He wobbles a little where he stands. Nausea from the Kenkou curse is starting to take over again.]
And I... need to train my mind.
no subject
And yet.
Holmes is not the purely cold and calculating machine that some believe him to be, but there is always a grain of truth to the overarching narrative. For every empathetic beat of his heart, there are stronger electrical impulses of the brain that make practicality more paramount. There is faith, too, in others being able to supersede their fears and traumas to overcome a larger issue. He's employed that more than once over his long career as a detective.
AND MAYBE IT'S A MISFIRE NOW, not knowing the true depth of Azure's traumas, but. He will at least offer once-]
Are you sure?
no subject
Yes.
I'm sure I can see myself to Kenkou's dorm from here... thank you again, Adair. For... looking out for me.
no subject
You're most welcome, dear boy. [Looking out for him... are we sure that's what happened here] Now go, rest. You look ill.