7/16: Steph

[randori]

[ Super belatedly, but... Although the rain had stopped days ago, the investigation and the rest of the weekend had come crashing down like a train wreck, and it's only now that Natsuo goes to find Stephanie, with her abandoned crutch tucked under his arm. ]

You don't need this anymore, huh? I didn't want to just throw it away, so...

[ He holds it out to her, just in case she thinks she'll break her other leg in the near future. Considering she's apparently thinking about running marathons with that prosthetic, maybe that's not entirely unreasonable. ]

Comments

[vigilantics]

You can have it, if you want.

[ honestly she should probably keep it considering she

you know

there's a good chance she'll end up breaking another leg. ]

[randori]

[ He'll keep it for safekeeping, available when Steph needs it; hopefully not before the week is out. He sets it on the ground before him, hands folded on top and leaning his chin on it like it's a cane. ]

I'll hold onto it, then. Is everything okay? I thought maybe we could help each other with objectives again.

[ Since they both have new objectives, right? :'') ]

[vigilantics]

[ how does she... approach this...

on one hand, it would probably be good to be honest and say it didn't work out. on the other, he did accidentally out her objective because he thought it had been fulfilled, and she doesn't want him to? feel bad????? about that... ]

My new one isn't really that difficult.

[ .............. casually lies....,,,,,,,,,.. ]

[randori]

[ Was nobody supposed to know about it and now he screwed over all chances to complete it.......... ]

That's good! You should finish it fast, and if I can help, just let me know! My new one, I thought it was going to be really hard, but after those letters went out, I think people will be more willing to help me with it.

[vigilantics]

[ no it can still be done.... it's just awkward now.... ]

Really? What is it?

[randori]

[ Surely there's somebody else stupid enough to risk their lives during murder hours;; ]

I'm, uh. [ Well. He probably doesn't have to explain why it's hard and easy at the same time, so he goes on with it. ] Supposed to learn five people's titles. Dead people don't count, or I'd be done already, and everybody knows mine so I can't use that as an exchange either.

[vigilantics]

[ there's a pause. ]

I'm the Bear.

[randori]

[ he makes a strangled noise ]

I thought that was a joke title.

[vigilantics]

Nope. I fear every day for if I ever end up executed and I have to transform into one or something.

[ uno bear has uno fear ]

[randori]

Maybe they'll let you live as a bear! It's not that bad-- they eat honey, and sleep all winter, and they're super super tough!

[ THAT doesn't make executions any better, probably, but a bear might be a match against a tiger or a dragon? ]

[vigilantics]

Do bears smell bad? I wouldn't want to smell bad...

[ none of this makes it better. ]

[randori]

I dunno what bear smell like. [ bad? they probably smell bad. ]

But you don't have to think about any of that as long as you don't get executed.

—actually, why'd you vote for yourself last time?! [ and got her leggy chopped off?? didn't she watch the warning Tiger gave him when he did the same thing? ] If you've got to vote for somebody and don't know who, vote for me so that doesn't happen again!

[vigilantics]

I just wanted to.

[ it's said with a shrug. ]

It made me feel better.

[randori]

[ You lost a leg, Steph. But he can't say that, because he remembers when he'd made that same decision, how much better it'd made him feel, however short it lasted. ]

No, I get it. It feels like being able to make your own decision, right? Standing up against unjust rules, and stuff like that.

[ The rebellious phase. Dangerous consequences, but man does it feel good. ]

[vigilantics]

Yeah. I know that I can't try that again a second time. I doubt that I'd be able to pull the same stunt without getting killed as a punishment, but...

[ even if she did lose a leg, she doesn't regret it. steph only feels bad about making people worry about her. \

[randori]

[ But it'd be nice to be able to stick it to the man sometimes. ]

Yeah... Dragon's been mad at me, I think [ for good reason, probably, dicking around during trials ] so I wouldn't get anything easy either. It's just playing by the rules...

But last week, Evan and everybody messed with Tiger, so it's not like they're all powerful.

[vigilantics]

They barely got out of that though... but you're right. It is possible to at least sneak up on them.

[ potentially. ]

It's hard to compare since we don't know the limits of their powers.

[randori]

[ $100 says that Tiger tightened up security since then, so potentially not anymore ]

Ugh... Thinking about all this makes my head hurt. If they're all-powerful, let us go home! This is a stupid war and nobody's winning!!

[vigilantics]

I still don't get why they need to drag other people into their fight...

[ that bothers her. what is the need of getting other people involved. ]

[randori]

Right! They should settle it the proper way! With a fist fight!!

[ Just beat each other up! Leave them out of this!! ]

[vigilantics]

Somehow I can't picture them fighting each other that way?

[randori]

It'd be cool, though, like how legends do it— and if they're using us to fight their battles, they can't claim that win for themselves! They need to grow up and fight their own battles!

[ "grow up"
It pained me to type that ]

[vigilantics]

Maybe if we tell them to grow up to their faces they'll take the advice.

[ they really would not. ]

[randori]

[ haha ]

I think we might die.

[ real talk ]

[vigilantics]

No slap on the wrist?

[randori]

I think we'd be lucky if only our wrists were cut off.

Actually, I'm kinda surprised how hands off they are. When I used to be under someone, he'd order me around all the time, and make me report back to him, and yell at me when things aren't working. At least Tiger and Dragon leave us alone and let us have nice [ ... ] Mondays and Tuesdays.

[vigilantics]

And occasional nice Wednesdays. It varies.

[ she frowns though. ]

I guess they might consider it cheating if they interfere too much with what we do?

[randori]

[ If he could gesture at each and every trial and execution, he would. That's way more interference than he wants from them. Just remove people by putting them in a jailhouse or something, they don't have to kill anybody, or cause them so much pain doing so. ]

Maybe... "You can kill however you want! But you gotta kill." doesn't sound like freedom, though. In the end... do you think it's too late for a miracle? Like, if we do ten objectives in each group, or twenty, that'll be enough wishes so nobody more has to die.

[vigilantics]

There's always the possibility that there's another way to end the game that we don't know about. But it doesn't matter as long as we don't know it.

[randori]

That should matter even more, shouldn't it? Finding that way, without killing anybody, somehow... without any clues...

[ Hm, yeah, impossible. Maybe they should just take the good ending and be satisfied with that. ]

[vigilantics]

There's always the possibility that someone else knows something and is just not telling us?

[ which would be kind of shitty but!! that seems to be how this game is. ]

[randori]

Somebody else other than Tiger and Dragon? [ who he'd believe is still holding things back from them, despite their many assurances that they don't want ~*unnecessary bloodshed*~ and pray for their success ]

There's no reason to hold that back, is there? If they told everybody, they'd be a hero.

[vigilantics]

There's been a lot of information that people have been holding back that could help. We have a lot of paranoid people here, Natsuo.

[ which she can't entirely blame them for, with the whole people are dying thing going on. ]

[randori]

[ People are dying, so secrets shouldn't die with them?? ]

What's there to be paranoid about? If people are helping, there's nothing to be scared about that fact being used against them. Keeping all that to themselves, what's the point?

[vigilantics]

Oh, I agree. Some people are just... very bad at not being secretive. It's probably a habit they've had since before they came here.

[ and murder castle would have made it worse. ]

It's safer to just tell a few people and hope the news spread than tell everyone at once, right?

[randori]

No, why would that be safer? It takes longer, and- you've played "telephone" before, right?

[ second hand sources can be disastrous. imagine having Natsuo as your point of contact ]

But I guess people are just like that. It's really hard for me to talk to people like that— Sousei barely told me anything about himself, and Hikage too.

[ people! he wanted to make friends with!! but they make it so hard ]

[vigilantics]

You shouldn't feel too bad about Hikage. I'm his partner and he only admitted that we're friends like... yesterday.

[ hikage is like. hard mode. ]

[randori]

[ IT'S BEEN 6 WEEKS ]

Now you're allowed to hug him!! Crush his bones for me!

[vigilantics]

[ alright, that makes her laugh. ]

Will do. Just for you.

[randori]

Hehe~ You're the best, Summer!

[ DESTROY HIKAGE. ]