NEW AND IMPROVED STEPH CATCHALL

[psychedelica]

Comments

[psychedelica]

You don't have to sleep alone.

[ It sounds lascivious, but for once, he's being completely straightforward. ]

I'll make room for you. [ and his roommates can choke if they have a problem with it - he doesn't care for them. ] ... I can't make things better. But I can make the ones who did it pay. Together, with you.

[vigilantics]

... I'll be okay. The gremlin wouldn't let me hear the end of it.

[ damian is there, and he is already judging steph enough without her adding more fuel to the fire. ]

But I appreciate the offer.

[psychedelica]

[ damian is, indeed, there... Hikage could always go to her room, though. He doesn't really care. ]

I thought so.

[ he also knew she would say no to him. It doesn't hurt too much... ]

Are you... okay? [ he's not good at this, still, but he remembers the advice he got back in the stupid castle. ] Be honest.

[vigilantics]

[ she spins the basketball in her hand, before bouncing it once, thinking what to say. ]

Not really. But I'll figure it out.

[psychedelica]

[ a nod. he's with her!! ]

... I learned something that might interest you. You probably could guess it yourself, but the people who died aren't gone. They're being held somewhere else. Our jailkeepers are able to contact them in some way. In other words... it's the same as before. We just need to find out what our "victory conditions" are.

[ so there's no need to mourn... not yet, at least. ]

[vigilantics]

I hope the condition includes punching whoever that voice belongs to in the face.

[ she deeply wants to punch someone but the people she hangs out with the most are twinks. ]

... thanks. For looking into it.

[psychedelica]

[ the fact that she stops at just punching is also indicative of the difference between them... Hikage would offer his gun if he didn't know she'd hate the suggestion. Being thanked indicates that he's done at least one thing right, though, and he nods. ]

It's the least I can do for you.

[vigilantics]

[ thank you, hikage, for not offering the gun. ]

You do a lot for me.

[psychedelica]

I still haven't done enough.

[ he doesn't know if he ever will. Does she know how much she saved him? Not just in the castle, but in the span of his strange existence -- if it wasn't for her, he's scared to think of where he might have ended up. Misery was the only thing waiting for him at the end of that path. ]

You deserve better than this. [ all of it. ]

[vigilantics]

... we all do. None of us should be here.

[ she can't really feel sorry for herself, when it's evan who suffered. he suffered and she couldn't even do anything for him while he was killed. it's like the castle all over again. ]

[psychedelica]

[ well, i probably deserve this, he thinks, but, again, he doesn't say that. ]

That's right. You should be back home, fighting robbers in your bat costume.

[ he smirks, just a little bit. ]

[vigilantics]

... my super cool bat costume.

[ she refuses to let anyone roast it. ]

[psychedelica]

[ he can't bring himself to roast it when her mood's finally lifting a little. even hikage has situational awareness (when he cares to, at least.) ]

It probably looks better in action. [ well. not completely roast it. ] I'll have to see it to believe it.

[vigilantics]

I'm kind of bummed I didn't get to have it here...

[ because it's armor rip ]

[psychedelica]

It wasn't in your bag?

[ he sounds surprised. ]

You had it with you before...

[vigilantics]

Well, I'm missing a bunch of stuff I had by the end of the castle, so I guess they just didn't think to give that to me here.

Which is annoying.

[psychedelica]

... That reminds me.

[ he wasn't even going to bring this up, but maybe it'll make her smile. He fishes around in one of his pockets for a second before finding what he was looking for. ]

You didn't get your costume, but I got this? What a joke.

[ in his palm, he holds a ring - one that's probably familiar to Steph, except it reads "BITCHES" instead of "BEST." ]

[vigilantics]

[ she peers at it... and immediately bursts into laughter. she actually seems surprised at her own reaction. ]

Aw, best bitches...

[psychedelica]

[ he smirks a little, too. ]

The worst part is that I almost put it on just in case.

[ Hikage assumes she knows that Belph was behind them, and that they're more than tacky accessories... or they were. Now? Probably not. ]

[vigilantics]

It would be kind of funny if it worked.

[ she knows it wouldn't, since everything got nerfed.

but while she dislikes the whole process in which they got the rings, she cannot deny that the rings are comedy gold. ]

[psychedelica]

It would be convenient.

[ one less thing to worry about. In any case, it goes safely back into his pocket, where he will keep it for sentimental value, possibly forever. ]

Are you going out to play?

[ he's pretty sure that's a basketball... it was invented in another country long after his death, but he'd seen glimpses of the game in the manor. That said, he's not going to risk trying to name it in case he's wrong. ]

[vigilantics]

I'm trying to find something to do, yeah.

[ and there are so many sports here, so steph is going to spend her time going through all of them. ]

So shooting some hoops it is.

[psychedelica]

... [ awkwardly: ] ... Do you need a partner?

[ can you play basketball alone?? he literally has no idea, but. ]

[vigilantics]

DO you know how to play?

[ she is. genuinely curious. ]

[psychedelica]

I...

[ here's a conundrum. On one hand, Hikage absolutely hates letting people know that he's not infinitely wise and up with the times, and it's sort of even worse with Steph, because he wants to look cool and knowledgeable in front of her - plus, he knows she'll make fun of him if he doesn't know. On the other hand, she's already well aware that he's not actually a Cool Modern Teen and is actually a Crotchety Old Ghost. Plus, he knows she'll make fun of him if he pretends he knows and then screws up. He hesitates for a long second, looking conflicted, before sighing moodily. ]

... don't. [ a beat. ] But -- I know what a basketball is, and I've seen it played. Once in a while.