"Pretty good, pretty good." He started piling food onto his plate. "How about you?"
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“Good.” She reluctantly picked up her fork and glanced at Gaius. She damn sure wasn’t going to eat if he wasn’t following through on his end of the deal.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
He met her eyes, sighing quietly and picking his up as well. On three. He counted in his head, gripping the fork tightly, and scooped up a solid portion from his plate.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
She sighed, too. She wanted him to eat, for his sake. But she wanted him to change her mind for hers, so that she wouldn’t have to eat. But he scooped up food so she did too, shoving an entire mouthful into her mouth and chewing it quickly, then swallowing it mostly-whole. Her stomach flopped.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Gaius put his portion in his mouth as well, focusing as much as he could on not gagging, though his reflexes immediately fought him.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Tadaaki watched them both in perplexed silence, helping Tasia eat. What in the world was going on with them both? Were they competing to see which anorexic could eat more? Was this… healthy? He looked for Sera to see if she was noticing this and if she had an opinion. It didn’t feel like a good thing… probably.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Gaius dug his maimed fingers into his leg as he chewed and swallowed, trembling slightly as he downed some water. Sera was watching him and Ky carefully, brow furrowed.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
She pushed the bile down along with another huge bite of food.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Gaius was taking his time to recover; he'd gone a sickly color but was doing his best not to show his discomfort as his stomach clenched and heaved. He glanced at Ky to see how she was faring
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
She’d made it through a third of her small portion already, but felt like she’d hit a wall and now sat staring at it, physically sweating. Her skin felt cold and clammy and breathing felt labored. They may need to renegotiate the terms.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Gaius went back for more. He had a feeling he'd need to start taking meals in private if he was going to do this--with a bucket nearby. He felt like he would die if he had any more.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Tadaaki desperately wanted to ask what in the world this nonsense was supposed to be, but knew better then to draw attention to it in public. That’d just embarrass her. Embarrass them. And make things worse. But he sure as heck was going to be following up on it later.
Ky focused on her breathing, realizing she was trembling. She took a sip of juice and glanced around the room, gaze flicking past peoples faces instead of looking at them, mostly interested in seeing if they were being observed. She hoped not.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Nobody seemed to be watching them except Sera, Sara, and Tomhas. Sera and Sara both glanced away, but Tomhas gave her a proud grin. Gaius swallowed this portion. Everything in him was fighting to throw it back up. He wondered for a second if Septimus knew why. He probably did. Hell, it was probably in his diary somewhere exactly what he or Michael had done to fuck up this badly. There was no doubt in Gaius's mind that it was one of them, not just some disorder that had never been corrected.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Ky had a prick of conscience and dipped her head and dutifully shoved another bite of bread into her mouth. It felt dense and heavy and awful. But she had to do it. For Tomhas. He clearly was watching and clearly cared.
She needed to remember to be a good daughter again.
She’d gotten so wrapped up in ghosts and her own selfishness that she forgot that her ultimate duty was to please her parents. To make sure they didn’t regret her. Tomhas didn’t want a daughter as thin as her. She needed to make herself what he wanted. That was her job. She swallowed, closing her eyes as it felt like it ripped her throat open with the effort.
(Bruh I have made a critical error and stayed out late last night socializing and now my neurodivergent ass doesn’t know how to get out of eating with people so I’m just hiding in the bathroom on my phone instead ;-; I feel like if I still had a therapist she would not approve haha)
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
(Aw man I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you feel better!)
(Also crikey Ky)
He'd ask Ky if she could ask later, maybe--no. That was stupid. He had nothing he wanted from Septimus; he would just have to work up the nerve to read the diaries--the early ones. They shouldn't be too bad.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
