I always put myself in destructive situations [W5, Friday]

[hydrokinetics]

[It took time. Everything took time as it always did. It took time for them to all calm down, it took time to heal physical wounds, it took time to properly remove the evidence of obscene crimes...but in the evening they were able to gather in one place away from everyone else. It hadn't been easy coordinating everything, but it was necessary.

And so here they were. All seven of them.]

...I don't really know where to start. [His voice is tight, but determined.] But we need everybody on the same page. Who wants to go first?

Comments

[elemancy]

...Yeah, I don't think it's a good idea to tell her right now.

[thatsthespirit]

. . .

[EVERYONE IS HITTING THE BETRAY BUTTON ON XION]

I see.

[annnnd that's all she's saying about that]

[insincerely]

... Along those lines, though, I can confirm that Xion's letting this place get to her. She's admitted to me that she plans on playing the game properly, even if it means having to manipulate people.

[...]

She wasn't sure if she was willing to kill people, but... she wasn't sure that she wouldn't do it either.

[Sorry for spilling your secrets (?), Xion. He feels bad, but.]

[thatsthespirit]

[UUUUH XION???]

[her gaze narrows, but it's more out of concern than anything else]

We need to keep an eye on her. That sort of rhetoric is a bit concerning.

[insincerely]

[Shinnosuke's quiet for a moment, because it doesn't... really feel right to be talking about Xion, knowing how much she cares about him, but in the end, this might be important.]

... She comes to me for support a lot. [Seriously, he doesn't know why, beyond:] I think she has a crush on me, or something. It's stupid, but it is what it is.

In any case, I might be in a good position to monitor her, but honestly, even I don't know how much she might be hiding from me.

[hydrokinetics]

She does, you dumbass. [But onto something more serious.]

...you think she's already started manipulating us then?

[insincerely]

Well, shit.

[God, he doesn't want this??? Why do girls keep on crushing on him, it's weird.]

... She told me about that back at the end of the third week, so if she decided to make a move, she's probably already made it, yeah. [...] She's given up on trying to stop the murders, but she told me that her end goal was to win the game and revive everyone. I don't think she was lying about that. But...

[hydrokinetics]

Great. Perfect. [There's a sad sigh.] I don't think she'd lie about the goal, but I also didn't think she'd be trying to manipulate people. This isn't the right way to win, is it?

[insincerely]

Well, she didn't explicitly say she was going to, from what I remember. Just... that she acknowledged that people were lying to and manipulating each other as part of the game, and that she wanted to start playing the game too.

[... so she might as well have said it really]

[hydrokinetics]

Watch her when you can. Be careful. [That sounds really really bad.] So...we have to keep in mind that she might be stringing some people along and playing the game like a bunch of other people around here.

Has she said anything else about this place to you?

[thatsthespirit]

[SHE??? REALLY LIKES XION??? SHE DOESN'T WANT TO THINK LIKE THIS??? but at the same time. . .]

[she can't let blind trust get in the way again]

I suppose all we can do is monitor her for now. Though I don't think any of us are too happy at having to do so.

[insincerely]

... Yeah.

[Especially when Xion is his closest remaining connection here... it really, really sucks.]

[thatsthespirit]

I've always encouraged Xion to remain strong in light of the circumstances. But if she takes that the wrong way, and loses sight of herself amidst the chaos. . .

[shakes her head]

I don't know exactly how to keep her from doing that.

[robitussin]

[She hates a lot of things about this conversation, but.]

I can keep an eye on her, too. I think she trusts me.

[insincerely]

Yeah. From the way she talked about you—not that you really came up often—you're one of the people she trusts most.

[After, um, him.

God, someone get Xion away from him, he still doesn't know how this happened.]

[robitussin]

...I'm going to punch you again if you ever hurt her, by the way.

[Xion, have better taste, signed Natalie and Shinnosuke??]

[insincerely]

[He lets out a sardonic laugh.]

Too late—well, you might as well punch me right now. I tried pretty damn hard after Riku's death, but it obviously didn't work past that one day.

[robitussin]

Tempting, but I think I'll save it for when we don't have important business to get to. Still not here for your self deprecation, though.

[insincerely]

[He just shrugs, smiling.]

[hydrokinetics]

It's why I didn't tell her what the roles do or how they operate. I thought she knew about them outside of the Bounty role, but she didn't. She knows that Damian's the leader though. So...there's that.

[impulsiveness]

[not writing anything but

stares @ the abyss like why would you do this damian wayne]