#supersimplesimmer

Nancy: “Are you okay, Avery?”

Avery: “Nnngh, been better... I hope I didn’t make Haru feel too bad back there? Um, by, like, making a big deal out of this?”

Nancy: “I’m sure you didn’t--”

Avery: “Oh god, I did, didn’t I? I don’t even know why, I know I should’ve just given it to her, cus I already had the, but-” *tugs on hair* “-you know - I got so defensive. I just wanted to get back what was mine, somehow.”

Pandora: “I know that feeling. But don’t worry about it. Even if she’s hurting, she’ll get over it.”

Nancy: “W-well, I wouldn’t... How did you recognize the flowers anyway, Avery? Know what they were?”

Avery: “Oh, that’s way too long a story for this li’l thing. How’s this, though - if I survive the night, I’ll tell you then.”

Nancy: “You will survive. Everyone will. So sounds good to me!”

Avery: *yawns* “Mrh? What did we miss?”

Poppy: “Ohhh, Aaaaveryyyyyyy!”

Nancy: “Why were you napping on the--”

Justin: “We thought you were fucking dead!!”

Nancy: “--y- well. Some of us. Did?”

Avery: “Oh. Sorry, we, uh, we didn’t think of that -”

Pandora: “We just got back in -” *cracks her shoulder blade* “ow - last night and passed out down here.”

Nancy: “You left the house?”

Pandora: “I know, not the best--”

Avery: “But it was for a great reason, though! Promise!”

Haru: “Wh- what kind of - reasons are you talking about?” 

Echo: “It won’t work.”

Pandora: “--Phoenix’s li-w- what?”

Echo: “The flower fits in the palm of your hand. It won’t bring her back.”

Pandora: “Oh. Figures.”

Avery, less acquiescent: “But - but I swear I read that the calvariae titanum plant could--”

Echo: *grimly* “Once, it had a chance to. But even then, only a chance. When I was part of their... world... the flowers grew much bigger than this, almost to my size. They ran wilder; and their purposes too were wild - they could kill as much as resurrect, spare as much as suffocate. No one could predict what it’d do. It had to be, what’s the word? Domesticated? For you humans to use it at all; but it lost its other purposes in the process.”

Áine: “She’s right, I’m afraid. A second chance’s the only thing Death’ll recognise it for these days.” 

Daichi: “...”

Avery: *sadly* “Gee. Guess I’m not the botanist kind of scientist, huh?”

Dottie: “You couldn’t have known, Avery, don’t worry too much about it--”

Avery: “I should’ve! I’m a... damnit. What are we gonna do with it now? We can’t just--”

Pandora: “Ta-da!”

*a few scattered gasps*

“Is that what I think it-?” “It might be!” “Yay! It’s... what is it?” “What’s that gonna do for Phoenix?”

Pandora: *sotto voce* “...I. That was... Avery, I don’t think they’re impressed.”

Avery: *same* “It’s okay, I’ll-” *louder* “It’s a Death Flower! I noticed a few of them growing in the Arboretum, in, you know, the Maze walls, so I - well, we, it was Pandora that actually found it. Girl’s got eyes like a cat, I swear...”

Pandora: “Hm.”

Avery: “Anyway, this little beauty’s what we’re going to be using to bring Phoenix back from the dead!”

Poppy: “Whoa!!”

Pandora: “Hang on, let me ask before you say anything, I’m still not sure how this works. Are you going to accuse me of killing Justin right now? Or will you question me first, and then accuse me?”

Nancy: *taken aback* “Pan- I can’t - I can’t accuse anyone. Why would I? It’s... I just, I’m doing what I did before cus Avery started it, and. It seemed to work then. A little bit. ...u-unless you’d rather I didn’t?”

Pandora: “No, you need to know I didn’t do this. I just wanted to know where I’d stand.”

Nancy: “O-okay. ...so--”

Pandora: “I was with Avery most of the night. We did a balloon fight, got pretty wet - but you already know that. We chatted for a few more minutes after you left, then went to bed until the gun went off.”

“Hey, Nancy - his demeanour! Don’t forget.”

Nancy: “Right... Avery said Justin was the most upset of not getting th- your flower. Did you notice that?”

Pandora: “I don’t - I think most of us in our group were upset... though he was the only one to make a phone call afterwards, so maybe?”

“Ooh, an outside contact! That’s something we could chase up, dear.”