7/16: Ion

[randori]

[ Another week. A terrible, terrible awful week, but rather than being discouraged, there's a set expression on Natsuo's face as he mills around throughout the day, that same sense of Purpose that seems to rears its head every other week to varying degrees of success, but this time is with hope, a piece of paper clutched tight in his fist. ]

Ion.

[ non... roommate... Ion, he makes absolutely sure because he just left the dorm with the other and then ambushes this Ion in the kitchen ]

We're friends.

[ Gringrin, that sure is a declaration, no preamble, no context. ]

Comments

[fonlines]

[ Well. He is blinking very owlishly now over the rim of his cup of tea-- if he wasn't awake before he sure is now. ]

... we are...

[ he says, slowly. There's an obvious question in the way he trails off- less 'we're friends?' but more 'yes, and...?' ]

[randori]

[ They're friends, and Natsuo is going to capitalize on that friendship ]

We're friends, so I know I can count on you. You said to cheer up, ask for help, and do my best— so that's what I'm going to do. You saw that letter, right? [ The owl one, and Varian's too that verifies it. ] I need your help!

[fonlines]

I did see the letter, yes...

[ Maybe not Varian's, since he didn't quite make it to breakfast this morning, but;

there is a mild tinge of a pleased smile on his expression when Natsuo lays out his reasoning for coming to Ion. ]

What is it that can I do for you, then?

[randori]

I need to know your title.

[ It's a tall order and he knows it, so he rushes forth with the explanation; he has his own copy of the letter in his hands (crumpled, badly, but still legible) that he smooths out and points at the criteria for the good ending. ]

It's for my objective— I've been getting easy ones, so if I do seven of mine, the rest of my group won't have to do theirs- they won't have to hurt or kill or do whatever that's making them not want to do theirs. That's what I'm going to do for everybody.

[fonlines]

[ A minute stiffening-- because it is. He hasn't even told the other Ion his title yet. And his partner-- both of them-- still only learned it after some time had passed, despite them being privy to just that much more of Ion's careful trust by default.

But, also... He's well aware that Natsuo's group needs all the help they can get, so few in number that they are. So reluctantly, and very slowly; ]

... Aladdin. My title is Aladdin.

[ a pause. ]

What, exactly, is your objective?

[randori]

[ He almost thought Ion would refuse him, so it's with a sigh of relief that he says his ] Thank you.

[ The good ending is a two-fold effort, and week after week of not being able to prevent any deaths, it's like the Crafters are throwing him a bone: stay on course, do your objectives, it's more important than you think. And for the Villains, it's really important, kind of pressingly so. ]

I need to learn five people's titles. I was hoping to find the rest of the Villains, so I can tell them they don't try so hard about their objectives if it's something they really don't want to do. I've been getting easy ones, after all, so I can carry some of that burden.

[fonlines]

... I see. So it's like that, then. Thank you, then, for doing that for the others here.

[ He lets out a small sigh; that... seems reasonable, after all. Still: ]

Please be careful of who you tell that to. I would rather it not come up at all, given... that my faction will most likely be the most targeted for now, but.

[ The heroes have suffered the least losses thus far, after all. They might not be able to avoid a small amount of bloodshed every week, the game forces it of them- and it might be for the best that everyone is finally on board, willing to try to work together to find the best ending to the game, but balance is important to that and the hero faction is ever so unbalanced right now. ]

[randori]

[ It's the only thing he's good for, doing easy mode objectives while he still holds that good luck... ]

I won't tell. [ He can promise that, but Ion brings up a really heavy subject Natsuo's been ignoring and praying it'll disappear or sort itself without anybody having to choose targets, killing specific people rather that whoever was assigned to them or looked easy to kill or however Blotters work. ]

Even though it's a good ending, it's still really hard to do when nobody knows what group everybody else is in, huh...? So many more people will have to die, too, compared to if they let the rest of the Villains die.

[fonlines]

But if we do that, then we abandon those left on the other side. [ a quiet sigh; a helpless wave of his hand. ] No one ever said this would be easy. But.

[ his voice goes silky soft, entirely too sincere. ]

I refuse to let that happen. I very much will not allow such a thing, not as long as I'm still here to say anything about it. There are others here that I know-- I would be very displeased should any of them come to harm.

[randori]

[ Natsuo has friends on both sides, so it's a constant struggle on what to do. Watching people die is hard. Choosing who to die is even harder. If he ever has to be the one to pull the trigger...

He shakes his head, like a dog drying itself off, but instead of getting rid of water, it's these negative thoughts. ]

You're right. I want that good end too. No matter what, I want to see everybody on that other side too. I hope everybody feels the same way too. But... It's a "war," isn't it? Does this mean Dragon or Tiger wins?

[ Three in each group makes it seem like a stalemate...? He's not so optimistic that it'll be smooth sailing from here, even if they all work together. ]

[fonlines]

[ Ion... would like to think it wouldn't come down to that, that he ever has to be the one to execute a friend. ...Friend?

Perhaps simply someone under the umbrella of his care, for now. ]

... I'm not so sure it's as simple as a war anymore. Not between all of us, at least. They keep saying it's a story. The Dragon told me, all that time ago, that no matter the details, it always was quite sad.

I wonder if it means that people keep failing, or taking the easy way out.

Neither the Tiger nor the Dragon have ever made any indication of being tied to any one of our three sides.

[randori]

[ It's sad because of the stupid rule about killing at least once a week. He could see people refusing to play by the rules- maybe if they all swore not to hurt each other, a week could pass without anything happening... or that could count as a "fail" and they collectively die. ]

Probably not, huh... Since there's two of them and three groups, and it's not like the groups can work together if they don't know who each other are. Sometimes I wish I'd done what I'd said I'd do from the start- be a leader and get everybody to one place so they'd just talk to each other.

[fonlines]

[ ... Ion knows it likely doesn't work that way, but only because he had a Blotter for a partner. One way or another, it is likely that the Crafters will get their due. ]

Hahaha. It might have been quite different now if that was the case, don't you think? If we had all been capable of working together from the start, back then?

We distrusted each other all too much. And now that there are those of us closer to each other... [ it means that regardless of who dies, someone will be grieving; someone will be angered. ]

I'd thought to try gathering together a group of people such that we could all simply- talk with the Crafters. Discuss with them our place here, or attempt to negotiate on all our parts. It seems so long ago...

[randori]

We were capable of it, though? I trusted everybody, and I still do— I don't think talking with the Crafters is impossible either.

[ Gathering everybody and having them all be on one page is hell of a task and he recognizes it, but it's not too late. People should be trusting each other more now, not less, getting to know each other and not wanting to let anybody else to go, those should all be shared wants. ]

I think we should still try. The two of us- let's get people together and try.

[fonlines]

[ The closer you hold people, the harder it is to lose them. There are some among their number who don't want to feel such a thing ever again.

Ion wonders if there is any way out of this that won't end in tragedy. To that end, he sets his tea down, frowning very lightly. ]

I know it isn't; I had tea with the Tiger just the other week, but... Try to what? Speak with the Tiger and Dragon? They both seem so convinced that all of us, themselves included, are simply roles in a story that has yet to see its conclusion.

[randori]

Try to get everybody together so we can talk about our options. Like how we meet every weekend, but without all the other stuff that makes it hard to talk. [ corpses, a time limit, etc ]

At the very least, getting everybody on the same page about being part of the story. Then we won't lose people like we did with Sousei and Jae-ha.