Some people have it other people dont, though the road that we've paved still goes both ways [W5 Th]

[hydrokinetics]

[It's starting to wind down around the hotel, and Percy's making himself a sandwich before going on bat-watch. He's in the kitchen and finishing up easily enough before he makes his way out of the kitchen, nearly running into Shinnosuke in the process.

He thinks about what Damian told them and he tilts his head, keeping his tone light and friendly as he sidesteps him.]

Sorry, dude. I didn't know you were there.

Comments

[insincerely]

[Hey, what do you know.]

Good, it's you. This saves me the trouble of finding you—I want to talk. In private.

[hydrokinetics]

I. [What. He's just glad Shinnosuke can't see him because he's stupidly holding his sandwich and staring blankly at him.]

Okay...Town Hall's too far at this point, so where do you wanna go?

[insincerely]

[Just stuff that sandwich in your mouth, Percy.]

I don't care. Just anywhere that people won't overhear us.

[hydrokinetics]

[SIGH.] C'mon. The baths should be clear at this point so we can head out there. Follow my voice again? [He's already starting to walk, decisively not eating his sandwich so he can have his mouth clear.]

[insincerely]

Yeah, got it.

[Following! What do you mean you don't want to be having this conversation while mimicking a chipmunk, Percy.]

[hydrokinetics]

[He's gonna eat his sandwich while sticking his feet in the water tbh. But he's walking and leading.]

Where'd you just come from anyway? Or is that part of why you want to talk to me?

[insincerely]

[He smiles, even though Percy might not be looking at him while he's walking.]

I just came from the homestead with Milla and Noctis. A bit of an unusual group, don't you think?

[hydrokinetics]

Yeah, maybe. [Ah. So that's what happened. He's still walking heavily enough Shinnosuke can follow his footsteps as they approach the bathhouse. It's not long before he stops, a hand out so Shinnosuke doesn't, like, fall into the water before Percy moves to sit. He's also just flat-out shoving his feet in the water after removing his shoes and taking a bite of his sandwich.]

I'm watching the entrance to make sure we're alone, by the way. So...don't worry about that.

[insincerely]

[Thanks, Percy.

Shinnosuke remains standing, since he has Sei's sword attached to his waist and he doesn't feel like detaching it just to sit down.]

So you know everything, huh?

[hydrokinetics]

Uh huh. [Around his sandwich, even.] Who do you think put Milla in touch with your Bounty Leader? We suspected Noctis, too, so I gave him a heads up that she'd come find him as soon as he confirmed it with me. What'd they tell you?

[insincerely]

Hmm... you've been holding orgies, and after one, Milla came to you to ask about the Bounty Leader, aka Damian—shame on you, isn't he underage? And then, as you said, Milla and Noctis did it with each other.

[Just, uh, filter out Shinnosuke's brand of humour from that explanation.]

[hydrokinetics]

What's the matter, jealous I didn't invite you? [Why are they this way. No, it's just that he's getting better at speaking Shinnosuke's language.] To be fair, the meeting with Noctis and Milla and the others was the first one I had and everything sort of fell into place after that. Damian came to me during our second week here and told me what was going on because he thought I was a Bounty, or that I knew who he was looking for.

[insincerely]

Aren't you all so trusting of each other?

[He shrugs.]

This might be obvious by the fact that Mr. Sheriff had to tell you all about me, but I haven't approached anyone about my role. I mean, I did tell Yuna repeatedly not to trust me once [he might've been having a bit of a breakdown] but she knows that I say that kind of thing a lot in general, so she might've just thought I was being especially insistent then.

[hydrokinetics]

I already had my suspicions of you on Tuesday, you jerk. But it's not like Hal can really tell me much outside of what I already have ideas about since I'm not a Bounty.

Does Yuna know you're one then?

[insincerely]

Really? What gave it away?

[Out of curiosity, although now he's going to be 10x more paranoid than he already is.]

Nope, as far as I know. Due to the way Mr. Sheriff worded things to me, I was actually under the impression that admitting my role to anyone other than a fellow Bounty, unless I was about to die, would get me punished.

Looks like he just meant if I confessed to the public, since the others are fine even after telling you, but I kept quiet.

[hydrokinetics]

Hal told Damian that the last Bounty might have some permanent damage and dealt with machines in the last week. Plus, Natalie told me some stuff you mentioned to her and it seemed like a lot of information for just anybody to know. So I sort of guessed based on that.

[He huffs.] All of you have been keeping really quiet which made things complicated. Milla confessed to me, but I had to actually ask Noctis to confirm it. Damian admitted it to me, too.

Can I ask what else Hal's told you about the Bounty role?

[insincerely]

... What the hell? He might've as well just said my name at that point.

[Okay, he was wondering what kind of hints the Sheriff gave the Bounty Leader (beyond the first few) and now... he knows...]

How much do you already know?

[hydrokinetics]

Damian didn't get it until he asked, so maybe not. [He sounds amused, almost. Give him a moment for another bite of his sandwich.]

About the Bounty? I know that there's five of you, you guys had to find each other, you guys weren't given a ton of hints, you had to keep your head down, Damian has to find the Deputy and kill him to end the game, supposedly, uh...one of the five was killed by Nisha. And the Bounties are the ones who have to kill the Bandits if they don't kill that week. I think that's it.

[insincerely]

[He lets out a snort.]

To be honest, I don't really know more than that—though Deputy's the name of the role? Good to know. The Sheriff told me in the first week that I'd have to earn more merit to ask more about that role, but I never got around to it.

[He pauses, thinking.]

Anything else I know is just logistics. Stuff like if I refuse, then the Bandits will still die, one way or another, and I can expect to join them in the next week or so—through means he wouldn't specify. Unless he's feeling merciful, at least, in which case he might give me another chance.

In the event we do need to do our job, Damian gets the first offer, and if he refuses, it goes to one of the others, provided they haven't already volunteered to do it. And if he kicks the bucket, then we're screwed, since we can't replace him as leader.

Nothing eye-opening, in other words. [He shrugs.] Sorry if you were hoping that I had some big juicy secret.

[hydrokinetics]

Milla found out, it's why she came to me. She knew I knew about Damian but she didn't know he was the Leader. Also don't say that because I didn't know that Damian could refuse and then the job would go to one of you. I don't even know if Damian and the others know.

Unless you mean just about the Bandits and not the role Damian has to kill off. Either way, still something I didn't know. [A pause.] Also there's a way we can revive him if he dies...but it's kind of a hidden weapon.

You get the feeling that most of the people with roles around here are being threatened into it?

[insincerely]

I meant just the Bandits, yeah. [...] He can be revived? Seriously?

[Huh.]

... It's possible. I won't deny that the part about rewards wasn't unappealing, but even I'm not low enough to murder innocent people for something like that.

[It's because he's killed so many people in his life that he can say that he... really has no love for it, it, frankly.]

It's not like all the roles are designed to harm others, though.

[hydrokinetics]

There's a role that can revive one person in the game. Damian knows who it is. I don't. He was sworn not to tell me, but if he trusts them that's all I can do.

I don't think anyone's more glad to hear that than me, personally. I'd hate to have to worry about you, too. [But he gets it.] Hal told me something interesting about roles the other day. "Don't take account the character of people in the roles." That makes the game even harder, I think.

[insincerely]

Yeah... Damian's paranoid like that, isn't he?

[Not that he's spoken to him outside of the one time, but that one time left an impression.]

... If that's the case, then I wouldn't be surprised if he just drew the names out of a friggin' hat. But makes sense, I guess. I don't really see what Milla, Noctis, Damian, Mr. Ocelot and I all have in common.

You know what the other roles are?

[hydrokinetics]

Damian's not the one who was told not to tell me. But yeah, he's paranoid. It's a long story.

We tried to figure that out, too. Milla, Noctis and Damian are all people who have criminal records or bounties on their heads back home. I'm guessing you're probably wanted by a few people based on what you've told me? [He finishes his sandwich then, debating the rest.]

...dude. Sometimes I think I'm going to lose my mind with everything I actually know about this place. [So yes.] Eleven roles total, including the five Bounties.

[insincerely]

[He smiles wryly.]

Let's just say that I've spent most of my life in the underworld. [And because he figures Percy has some kind of weird mythology thing going for him—] The criminal kind, I mean. Yeah, I've pissed off a lot of organizations and governments.

[Things he wouldn't admit back home, but it's harmless info in this place, as long as he doesn't tell random people that he's used to killing.]

What're the other roles?