delight has been -- delight, reclusive as always, though he forces himself to come out into the sun for lily's call. he knows he can't go on like this forever, letting himself sink further into the dark, unpleasant void of his head -- oh, hell, he needs to talk to seabreeze, but not friend-seabreeze, therapist-seabreeze.

that's for later, though.

for now he makes his way to the meeting site, greeting lily quickly before taking a seat. he hopes that this meeting will be, ah, smoother, and that his children will actually show up after his scolding of them last time. that's another thing that is overdue, he thinks, a family meeting -- well, let's get through this and then deal with that.

Since Ibis' disappearance, grief had swelled up inside of her.  It had no temperature, neither warm or cold, but it had a definite presence.  It grew behind her sternum, pushing against her heart and her ribcage, demanding they make room.  It pushed against the walls of her chest.  She didn't know who she was without it anymore.  Without her grief, she was sure that her organs would collapse in on themselves, she'd fold in on herself like a black hole and cease to exist.

But still she perservered.  She had no choice!  She had her wife, her friend, her child.  She had Elysium to care for.  She was pleased to see the turnover for this meeting, and she resolved herself to this: if Delight's children did not show up to this meeting, so be it.  If they did not want to bring themselves before the public forum to give voice to their concerns, they would not be given a chance to air them.  It was here or never.

She waited patiently for the pack to arrive as she moved to stand next to Lily, pleased that she wouldn't have to shoulder the meeting this time.

he smiles a little, watching khali and lily. they're sweet, and lily deserves sweet, he thinks. lily explains the arrival of the morningsiders -- delight glances over toward the new faces, none he knows. they seem nice. he promises himself internally to make more of an effort to intergrate with them. it's baby steps, but he can manage. 

olive is next to make an announcement. truthfully delight had assumed olive and seabreeze were already officially together -- but somehow, hearing it out loud makes something in his belly twist. lily and khali, olive and seabreeze: he's surrounded by joyful couplings and it. hurts? no, he's not a mopey teen, why on earth should he feel jealous of their happiness? he can't -- he won't -- have that, not when they've all been so kind to him, so careful of his glass heart, so tolerant of his failures to function. seabreeze meets his gaze and he forces a smile, mouthing "congrats," hopeful that his clear-moon eyes don't hold any of his hurt in them. foolish boy! 

desperate to move past news of the happy marriage, delight finds his mouth opening, his attention moving back to the morningsiders. "ah, not news, per se," he begins, fumbling, "but -- well -- so -- i know it's, um, hard to go through -- changes, and -- well, i'm a historian of sorts, so -- if any of you have stories of morningside, or histories you'd like to share, i'd be happy to listen and help ... preserve them with you. my name's delight, by the way." shyly he ducks his head (he hasn't spoken so much in so long!) glancing towards his former co-leaders to make sure that was okay to say, before looking back at their newest acquistions, tentatively hopeful some will take him up on the offer.