Later, dawg [Open!]

[meat_mooks]

|| Attention, crew. Those who wish to attend the funeral of Matthew O'Connor, please report to the Observation Deck. ||

Another death announcement so soon after the last. It's a sad day.

Once again, the Observation Deck is arranged for the launch. The departed crew member, better known as Punchy in his lifetime, is encased in a central pod. The deck is lit by the starlight pouring in from the open window, a blazing blue star that will soon be Punchy's final resting place.

Another life lost. Time to say farewell once more.

Comments

[thewunderkind]

Weirdly enough...it made..her laugh? It wasn't something she had expected him to say...and yet it was totally Zetta.

"Yeah. Seriously." She quickened her pace towards the sensoriums. "Whatever happening next, it's gonna be a ride, huh?"

[badassfreakingoverlord]

...no, that can't have been an intentional innuendo.

"Whatever it is, there'll always be exploding Prinnies and weapons and movies and stuff."

That was kind of his way of saying he'd be there for her, except it didn't actually occur to him to say that outright. He still wasn't great at this. Still, the minion picked up her pace, not at all noticing the exertion.

And this one too *flips tables*

[thewunderkind]

"Yeah..." She understood what he meant. It still annoyed her how attached she'd grown to some people. Why she even cared about someone's funeral at all, but here she was, being a bit emotional.

The way there was mostly silent after that.

When they arrived at the door, and she opened it, not even bothering to see if someone else was in there. Good thing there wasn't. The room didn't really change; it was just pure white of an empty mind. Didn't really feel like thinking at that moment, really. Lash sat on the floor and looked at the nothing before her.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

A moment later -- coincidentally, the amount of time it took for Zetta to imagine himself a body -- the Overlord dropped to his knees behind her, reaching around to pull her in against his chest. It wasn't explosions or Prinnies or making out, but some deep, long-suppressed part of Zetta knew it was the Right Thing To Do.

[thewunderkind]

It was warmth regardless, and she was glad for it. She let out a small sigh and Lash realized that her lip was trembling. Damn it I don't want to cry that's pathetic. She managed to hold it back and leaned a little closer to him, closing her eyes and saying nothing for a long time, before finally breaking the silence.

"...Thanks."

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Claiming Zetta spent the entire time holding her and being supportive in thought would be a stretch at best. Honestly, he'd gotten bored pretty quickly, and had drifted off into his own thoughts -- but he hadn't let that slip, because he hadn't forgotten that she needed him. Love could, it seemed, override his selfish and egocentric nature in need, if not entirely.

"This did really get to you, huh," he said quietly.

[thewunderkind]

That was fine. Lash's own mind had gone off wandering as well, unable to keep even keep her thoughts completely just about the friends she had lost. The rebellion, the planning, the weapons she had to make.

There were huge tasks ahead. It would keep her occupied and off this mindset. It was only when Zetta spoke again did she realize that she'd been completely lost in her thoughts.

"...yeah," she admitted, looking at the floor. "Dying before we got everything going? What an asshole." She said it in a caring way, however. like a friend. "Why does everyone always try to be the big hero..."

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"That's pretty much who this ship attracts, y'know," he said, giving her a little squeeze. Actually a little squeeze; for all his strength, Zetta could be surprisingly gentle. "Heroes like them, villains like me... But there're upsides, right?"

wow I didn't send this out this morning.

[thewunderkind]

"Yeah I guess they wouldn't have bothered trying to save the more normal ones, huh? Everyone on the ship's got some use." She pouted a little. "Sooo annoying!" But they couldn't really talk like that in here. It was a public area, least she start badmouthing some of the Daligig and they heard her.

Shepushed herself more into his hug and stayed quiet again after that.

"...yeah there are upsides." They just seemed a little farther away due to what had happened. Unspoken, of course, but Zetta was a big one.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"If you need a strong soul, or whatever, to get out of the pod, then it's not surprising it's the people most used to fighting and with strong beliefs that manage it," Zetta said, in a (very) rare flash of insight.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I can tell you for a fact that there's an afterlife AND a reincarnation cycle. The guy's probably up in Celestia hitting on hot angel chicks and having the damn time of his life-- Uh, so to speak."

[thewunderkind]

It did make sense. They wouldn't rescue the weaker guys that couldn't help them out fight their glorious little battle, they'd need warriors or people who had useful skills.

And...wow that was a mental image that needed to leave out of her mind as soon as possible.

"...I'm not sure even the hot angel chicks deserve that," she replied, deadpan, suddenly thinking about how it would have to end up with all of them learning his lingo. Somehow.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Oh, don't worry, they can take care of themselves," Zetta said, demonstrating that either he didn't think Lash would wonder how he knew that, or that he was too stupid to not give hints about his past history to his girlfriend. "Plus some of the guy angels are so girly-looking he's bound to have a horrible realization or two in the course of it..."

[thewunderkind]

That got her laughing at the image. Good job!

"Tee hee hee! Won't he be in for a surprise!" because she could see that in her mind now and it was rather glorious. Well in Lash vision anyway, no need for all the details, just his surprised expression. Maybe then he'd get just an idea of how he'd pissed off everyone from dying!

"Well, long as he doesn't get bored, I think everyone's safe."

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Hey, the idea gave Zetta a good laugh too. "He'll be fine. Mostly. Anyway, point is, don't get too broken up, okay? It's a big cosmos and death isn't a huge obstacle to getting on with things."

[thewunderkind]

"Yeah..." It was strange the way Zetta dealt with it almost casually but considering where he came from, it wasn't too surprising. What was more, she realized was the fact she had been stuck into it so much that she needed him to say something to her at all; after all she had done countless experiments and blowing up entire villages without a care for who was dying before.

"'Sides, We got things to plan, tee hee!" She was gonna punch a million things in his name.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Things might have been different if Zetta had known Punchy well at all, but he hadn't been a teammate or comrade of the kid's. They were just both on the same side in this stupid war. But even a demon knew there was a huge difference between detonating a town full of nameless innocents and losing a comrade. And even a demon could be upset over the latter.

"Yeah, this is a 'don't get sad, get even' kind of case, isn't it?" Not that their plans had anything to do with the people responsible for Punchy's death, but Zetta took the broader view of "us vs. them" where 'them' was 'everyone whose ass he wanted to kick'.