We've got no reason to be alone now [W6, Saturday, Post-Trial]

[hydrokinetics]

[And so after the Bounty meeting, Percy lingers back and waits for Noctis, watching the other two go before he walks up to him and taps his shoulder.]

...I'm going for a walk. Wanna come with?

[He figures they could both use the time to clear their heads.]

Comments

[elemancy]

Don't know if he'd lie about it. [but still:] Gonna be a tough sell when some of us definitely won't kill each other if we don't have to.

If we all refuse... [their allies, of course. they still have wildcards—but noct's not really sure how to deal with that, either.]

[hydrokinetics]

Natalie once told me that Hal's programmed to lie to us sometimes if we're not supposed to know something. So. I don't know if I believe that yet. But that's what I'm worried about, too.

...I'm wondering now if he told me about the no-kill route knowing that. Knowing that it wouldn't matter.

[elemancy]

I wonder if anything matters but "last man standing" anymore. Nothing... really seems too promising.

[hydrokinetics]

But we can't just fixate on that, can we? If we keep thinking about that we're basically giving up.

[elemancy]

We can't ignore it, though.

[he's not saying to give up, but—] It's... still something we should be ready for, just in case.

[hydrokinetics]

I'm not ready to kill my friends. I've already lost enough of them. [But his tone suggests he knows Noctis is right. They can't ignore this.] And it bothers me that we never found Shinnosuke and Xion's killer. We just...

...[There's a small pause.] ...did I do the right thing, Noct? Calling the trial early and everything.

[elemancy]

Yeah.

[he did.]

We're... all tired, Percy. We weren't going to find out who did it, and even if we did...

[he sighs quietly.]

It might have hurt us more to know. Our morale is bad as it is, and with who is left—

[it could be a crushing blow to know who among their friends is taking lives so brutally.]

[hydrokinetics]

...I know you're right. I still hate it. [His hands are in his pockets and his eyes are half-lidded as they move on.] That's going to be important no matter how this ends. Keeping up morale. It will only be worse if we don't try.

Natalie said Hal's going to start choosing one Bandit at a time now. We're locked in whether we want to be or not.

[elemancy]

I know. That's why I just want to be ready for the worst. Doesn't mean we won't work towards the best.

[the knowing they're locked in is definitely... weighing on him, and it's why his optimism is kind of bleak.

maybe he's because he's already mentally preparing himself to either be a target or a problem, too.]

[hydrokinetics]

It's just more realistic than what we're used to. I think we were focused on a good ending to this game that we forgot the gods are assholes and so's Hal. [Thanks, Robo-man.] ...but for people like Milla and Papika and Damian we have to stay focused.

[He makes a face.] I want to write letters to them tomorrow. [Them, of course, being Xion and Shinnosuke.] Maybe there's something else they can tell us.

[elemancy]

Yeah, maybe. Even just a hint to who did it, or... what the other letters were hinting at.

[he knows the other letters they've gotten were trying, but it still makes noct sigh a bit to think about.]

I've got a bad feeling about it, though. We didn't even figure out what the other hints were, but... they didn't seem good.

[hydrokinetics]

Maybe we weren't really supposed to figure it out. Or we already did and we're avoiding the right answer. But now with even more people on the other side maybe it'll be easier to figure it out from there.

...I don't know, dude. I hate not knowing what to do.

[elemancy]

Me too. We just have to keep looking until we figure it out, then.

[but boy, it is ever defeating in every single way.]

[hydrokinetics]

Does it have to be tonight, you think?

[elemancy]

...Probably not, unless everything goes to hell overnight.

[hydrokinetics]

It could. But I think Hal feels sorry for us by now it might just be the only quiet night we have.

[elemancy]

Guess that means we just have to make the best of it while we have it, right?

[hydrokinetics]

Guess so. [He turns his head then to look back at Noctis, dredging up a grin.] So okay. On our one night off...what do you want to do more than anything?

[elemancy]

A bunch of stuff we can't do while trapped here. So, uh...

[he's got nothing. what's it like to want to do fun things, again?]

[hydrokinetics]

...yeah, that's about where I get stuck too. [He sighs quietly.] Guess we shouldn't stay out here too long anyway.

[elemancy]

Guess not. Would kill for my ride right now, though. A nice drive would beat the hell out of anything tonight.

[hydrokinetics]

[His eyes light up a bit.]

You have your own car? Can't say I blame you though.

[elemancy]

Was my Dad's, but yeah. The old girl's pretty nice.

[nothing like driving a badass luxury convertible, y'know?] Besides, night driving would be a hell of a lot safer here than back home.

[gun coyotes are way safer than daemons, surprise.]

[hydrokinetics]

[A snort.] Too bad we can't trade. We only have my stepdad's Prius.

[Not that Noctis knows what that is.] If we had a car, we could drive out to the desert and see if we were right all along, that nothing was really there. Maybe that's what we should have asked for all along.

[elemancy]

I've driven through the desert before. I'll tell you now... there's probably nothing there.

[deserts are seriously the worst. when he thinks about leide, he's reminded that the only things there of any consequence are hammerhead and galdin quay. and there's a whole lot of nothing but sand and monsters in-between.]