Don't think you're more than this, or above all this [W6, Monday Afternoon]

[hydrokinetics]

[He manages to catch her after the fiasco that is the corpse pile and he jogs up to her with Mrs. O'Leary in his wake, easily falling into step with her and dropping his voice to a lower tone.]

Hey, can I talk to you for a minute? I think most of the town's busy dealing with our corpse pile.

Comments

[hydrokinetics]

[A nod. Please don't risk, Natalie. He finally, finally relaxes again, sagging back into himself and less ready to put up a fight. He's back to himself.]

Good call. And…the people we don't have any information on. Noctis I think is taking care of Ash, but I'm going to ask him about Okabe and Rin. Rin's a wildcard right now.

[robitussin]

[A nod of realization.]

Right, I keep forgetting about Rin... I don't think I've ever talked to her. You said wildcard, but does she seem suspicious to you at all?

I kind of get the feeling Ash is going to have to go no matter what, though.

[hydrokinetics]

The fact that she's survived this long without us really remembering she's here says enough, Natalie. [A pause.] Did you know that Russell kept a diary? I read it. He wrote about how Annabeth died. He talked about how no one suspected a thing. That medicine he talked about taking to sleep…it wasn't from the clinic. It was a reward for killing my girlfriend.

[A beat.] We missed him for weeks because we weren't suspicious of the quiet ones enough. I'm not letting something like that happen again.

…but yeah, Ash should go, too. He's not after the same goal. He's made that clear.

[robitussin]

Maybe she's just like Will and doesn't care about the rest of us succeeding, but... If that's the case, we should be wary of her either way, yeah. [That detail makes her wince, though.] Fucking asshole. I knew there was something off about him.

Other than that, it's just Papika, Barnham, and our group, right? The only one of us I'd really be worried about is Shinnosuke, given the right incentive, but... Everyone else should be fine.

[hydrokinetics]

Even if she doesn't care right now, I don't think it's a good idea to ignore her. Not caring isn't the end goal and we don't know what she'll do if she feels like she suddenly cares. [He's not thrilled with Russell either, it's fine.] He felt guilty later, maybe. Hard to say. His diary's in my room, I don't know.

Other than that? That's it. [A pause.] Xion, too. I wouldn't worry about Shinnosuke. Trust me…we've talked. He has goals to get back to, too. He'll work with us.

[robitussin]

Yeah. If I see her around this week, I'll strike up a conversation. See what I can find out from her.

[A sigh.]

That's what I am worried about, though. What if he decides getting home is more important than the rest of us? He's - I don't know, he doesn't seem like the type to trust other people easily.

[hydrokinetics]

See what you can find out. I'll see what I can get from Hal. I have more than enough merit to blow.

[But he shakes his head.] He doesn't. Trust easily, I mean. But it's like I've been telling him…he doesn't have to keep coming to the meetings. He doesn't have to keep spending time with me. I could turn around and kill him immediately since I have the advantage of sight. He could do the same since he knows how to use a sword and he could leave me abandoned somewhere. But that hasn't happened because he's come to trust us whether he realizes it or not. He wants to believe in us. So…I believe he's going to trust us to stick together so all of us can win and go home.

…even if you don't believe in him, believe in me to keep us together. I think…maybe that's my other job.

[robitussin]

[There's a light frown on her face, but in the end, it comes down to this:]

...Okay. I do trust you, so - I'll trust him, too, if you do. Fingers crossed he doesn't prove us both wrong.

[hydrokinetics]

If he proves both of us wrong, I'll take the fall for it. [A little grin.] Annabeth usually gets on my case for being too trusting, but I don't know if I'm that far off this time. You, me, the rest of our group? I trust.

[The hotel's close now, at least.] What're you going to do now?

[robitussin]

[A nod, and then a small smile and shrug.]

Overthink everything you just told me for hours, probably. That's kind of my thing. You?

[hydrokinetics]

See if I can stomach something besides water and fruit, attempt to take a nap, try to figure out a plan, give up, have a couple of nightmares...[An echoing shrug.] The usual.

[But he stops walking for a moment, looking at her before a fit of spontaneity hits him and he moves to trap her in a hug. It's very brief, but also fairly tight because...well. Nobody knows the other half of what he's doing. Natalie does now, and she doesn't hate him for it. It's more of a relief than he can imagine. He's also not expecting her to return the gesture and that's completely fine with him.]

Thank you. For...well. You know. I'd say "don't overthink too much" but that's a pretty big thing to ask at this point.

[robitussin]

[She didn't see it coming, and she freezes in place for a moment in surprise and hesitation as his arms wrap around her.

It's another long moment before she reaches up with her remaining arm and wraps it around him in turn, but... She does.]

...Nothing to thank me for. You would've done the same.

[hydrokinetics]

[Yeah, it's unfortunate that he's come to like her so much. Percy tends to be a little tactile with his closer friends. The fact that she responds helps, too.]

Would I? [It's more of a joke because they both know he would.] Given the fact that the only other person who knows is Will, it's definitely worth a thanks. [With that, he lingers for only a few beats longer before he pulls back.]

We'll figure everything out before Thursday. And if not, then we'll figure it out with everyone else. I can believe that much. Catch up with you later?