[PROMPT] The Funeral

"Y'know, I don't know why you brought us here."

Damon feels a sigh rise from his chest as Ignition shuffles and sways next to him, moving towards the Church of Sulfur. They were far from the only ones heading there, Many had been touched by the church, Many had been touched by father Oleander, In the various ways the word touched could be used, anyway. Damon is an older bun, this much is clear, and the stresses of some of his life have made him appear as such. It was a personal choice, Though it did make the ones around him look a lot younger by comparison. Crowds and clumps of buns head towards the church, like the pull and wobble of ocean waves greedily crashing against rock. The ebb and flow of life being lived, heading to grieve a life lost unexpectedly. They were incredibly close to the church so Damon had stopped the group so he could have a smoke before heading in.

"Damon...You're aware that there are no rules against smoking in church, right?" Ignition continues his mouth running since everyone else seemed to be lacking in the chatterbox appartment today and Damon shook his head.

He takes a drag and blows the smoke out slow and casual "Its a personal principle, Ignition, I'm not going to billow out smoke at a FUNERAL where tonnes of buns are. Feels like thats common sense" He says in a tone that gives away just how BLATANT and obvious he thought that line of thinking was. Ignitions tail swings behind him as he sways from hoof to hoof, He isn't the religious type and to be honest, neither is Guinevere standing next to the both of them quietly.

However, Someone like Oleander dying so suddenly like this was incredibly unexpected, and shocking down to the core of their bones. Nobody saw it coming, and considering his community role it would have felt disrespectful not to show up, even if only for a short period. Damon is dragging them here with him.  He seems to be more of a religious type than these two, He hadn't forced them to come, The bar was shut today for the funerals reason, so he wouldn't keep them here or make them stay, but both of them seemed very willing to join him even if just for a little while. He rubs his eyes briefly with the hand not holding his cigarette and sighs deeply again.

Gwen hugs her imp Amon close to her. She brought him just in case things got difficult during the funeral. He was Damons imp first after all, she figures theres still a form of good the little star ram could do for him if everything turned out to be more tense than anyone could foresee. Unlike Ignition, Gwen did actually use the churches confessionals sometimes. Mostly it was when she was nervous about things or needed a push in a good direction. She is a very shy bun and sometimes someone elses advice or encouragement can go a very long way, and asking for that help can be easiest in a confessional setting. She knows -- knew -- Oleanders voice, She knew that he had helped her with some things and shes grateful. She wants to show up. Without his short guidance, She may not have gone all out with her ideas for Gamma and anxiously downsized them to something lame due to lack of self assurance. Many buns pass by on their way down into the church.

Damon finally unceremoniously drops his cigarette and stamps it out, blowing the last wisps of smoke out of his mouth and up into the top reaches of the cavern limits. "Right, Lets go inside then."

A lot of buns had shown up, and really thats nothing surprising. There are many religious and church buns, and them alone could have filled the spaces, but there are also many people the church members and the father himself had reached into the heart of. For the sake of himself, Damon picks a spot thats more to the back and less crowded for the moment. If he had plans of approaching the casket and paying respects, He did not make them known to the two buns with him. The ceremony was just beginning and yet being here feels like being aged for decades.

The sobs and sniffling of hurt buns echoed off the churches walls, the avid space within the building apparently illuminating the sorrow by making sure the sound bounced around to everybodies ears. They looked ahead at the line down to the casket and waited for an opportunity where there was less buns and more of a gap. More walking space. Without even needing a sound queue or prompt, Damon leads the two younger buns down towards the casket. Mercy is stood by it, handkerchief close to their face as they press it to their cheeks every few moments to try and quell the tears.

Gwen moves forward, placing Amon on her shoulder as she takes their hands softly. Her eyes soften "I'm so sorry, Mercy. I know this has been hard on the community but i...i can't even imagine how you're feeling right now. Please take care of yourself, He would expect you to upkeep that at the most, right?" She smiles gently.

Its moments like this where Damon is reminded that sometimes, The workers he has are simply too good for him and his shitty bar. He smiles briefly, gently.

Ignition, however, is perplexed as they've reached the casket. It isn't his decision, and he barely interacted with Oleander but...closed casket feels...

He doesn't know how to phrase it without sounding like a dick. It feels wrong. Off. Something. Its NOT something Oleander would have wanted, he knows that much and he didn't even talk to the guy much. So why? What prompts THAT decision? He glances over Mercy quizzically. Something is off about them too.

"Thank you, Gwen. I appreciate your kindness, I'm sure he would have as well," They pause and glance over the other two ",All of yours."

Ignitions face falls into an accidental frown. Something about their tone is disingenuous, but he doesn't have time to even think before Damon mutters a sharp "Fix your face, kid" and he immediately blinks and glances away.

"Y-Yeah. Sorry about this, Mercy. I'm sure it isn't easy." He murmurs, which seems to have appeased Damon...though Gwen is now looking at Ignition with confusion through her bangs. They pay their respects and try to get Damon to head outside but he says something about the ceremony, so Ignition and Gwen head outside where they spot the area that Oleanders casket is planned to be buried under.

"What was that back there?" Gwen murmurs, tilting her head and Ignition sits back against one of the outside walls of the church, far from the exit steps. He stares down the plot in which the father is to be buried with apprehension.

"Somethings off. I dont know what it is but...Gwen, this doesnt feel RIGHT. Something isnt RIGHT."  Ignition murmurs, his flames flicking to and fro along with his thoughts. This community had been so peaceful and then all of a sudden, MURDER? Something about Mercys demeanour didn't feel like the label of 'murder' was right though. Whats going on?

"People handle grief differently, Ignition. Now is the worst time to be having suspicions-" She murmurs and he snaps a finger

"Now is the BEST time to be having them! We just had a random MURDER in what we all thought was a peaceful community. Wallowing isn't going to get to the bottom of that" He huffs.

He was planning on sitting and overthinking for a while but Gwen perking up caught his attention and snapped him from his daze. Coming from another path down the way was Dove and Jackal. They had become an inseparable sight, not that Ignition minded after the shit they'd all endured with the meadow. Dove spots him and seems to beeline toward the both of them with Jackal closely behind.

"Fancy seeing you here" Ignition chuckles but it lacks its usual bounce 

Dove cocks their head to the side "Why wouldn't i be?"

He analyses them briefly. For a funeral, They seem insanely calm. Considering the situation he would expect a little more...hesitance? Something like that. He shrugs softly "Dunno, Just figured murder is kind of out of your ballpark" 

Their eyes soften, and their expression is one that he can't read. Which is pretty odd considering he THOUGHT he was rather good at reading Dove by now. 

"It is, But death is far from new to me, Ignition. If anything i'd be considered the expert down here in comparison to you all" They reply and he nods slightly. That was entirely fair, It's not like death was ever a looming threat in burrowgatory. 

"To be fair, I think murder is out of ALL of our ballparks" Jackal chimes in , though she seems to be looking around with caution. Ignition could chalk it up to the natural suspicions of an envy bun, considering what they've been through, but he feels that's not quite correct either. 

"You can say that again" Gwen sighs softly, petting Amon gently in her hands with a thumb as she looks slightly downcast.

"How are you holding up?" Jackal asks

"I wasn't close with Oleander, Neither was Gwen. I'm just here for the sake of my 'dad' really. He was a big enough community staple that i'd feel bad not showing face anyway" Ignition answers with painful honestly and both of the other buns look slightly uneasy.

Was he mistaken or was there a twinge of guilt on their faces for a moment there? But what would there be to feel guilty of, he knows these two certainly aren't the murderous type. 

Dove wrings their hands together with a touch of nerves and glances towards the side door to the church with a soft sigh "I'm going to go and find Mercy. I'm sure they're taking this harder than they're showing" They murmur as they head inside and Jackal staggers their walk a little before heading after them.

She puts a hand on Ignitions shoulder with a soft frown "Hey...be careful, right? I know it's...it feels like a lot because of the murder and shit just...be careful" She murmurs before going inside and Ignition frowns.

"What was THAT????" Gwen asks, slightly nervy and he rocks back to sit down again, frown deepening.

"I don't know. But clearly SOMETHING is going on and it's more than we know of or about. I'm half tempted to get to the bottom of it." 

They sit together in silent thought for what feels like hours, until the ceremony moves outside and they rejoin with Damon. He gives them both a look, trying to decipher what in the hell they'd been doing. It was questioning for another time. They watch in silence as the crowd grows slightly more hysterical once the casket is lowered to its grave and buried. Things come to an end at last. After this, some of the crowd disbands. Damon and Gwen do part finally, but Ignition stays put where he is. He knows its wrong, and morally questionable to hit the detective books in a situation like this but he wants to ask Mercy something. He doesn't really get the chance as they rush off in a direction after the ceremony concludes but he DOES see where they go.

This is not cool.

He thinks this as he tails them at a subtle distance. He isn't sure what he's looking for, he just wants peace of mind, maybe. What he does NOT expect is to see them meeting up with Dove and Jackal, they must have spoken earlier in church and then left momentarily to a different area outside. He almost calls out and waves to them out of habit until he realises hes been stalking Mercys movements and that would make him seem incredibly juvenile. Jackal and Dove are practically tied at the hip, seeing them together is like seeing clouds with rain.

The three are murmuring to themselves in hushed tones and Mercy is always glancing around and over their shoulder like they're scared of something. Ignition doesn't get it, but maybe its not his place to meddle this time. He had meddled enough when he helped Jackal with Dove and perhaps this isn't his fight. As if solidifying this train of thought he gets a text from Rowan on his device and turns back, leaning against the wall he was sneakily peeking from and sighing. He is VERY WORRIED, and wants to help, especially if those two are somehow involved in...whatevers going on with Mercy. However, he has a life to live and considering theyd just had a funeral over an important community member...he figures he should start living it a little more instead of dwelling on baseless suspicions.

He shoots a 'be there in a minute' reply to his partner and reluctantly pulls back from the wall, heading in the direction of town. If Dove and Jackal are in danger, they know where to find him. He'll only get involved on request...and that seems unlikely based on Jackals words from earlier. Glancing up, Jackal seems to catch him leaving his little peeking spot and he waves to her. Catching each others gaze they come to an understanding of sorts before she refocuses back to murmuring with the others. 

Yeah. They know where to find him