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[ someone is knocking on your dormitory door!! who could it be!! ]
Oh, it's you.
[ thanks for opening the door, Lili. Standing there is Hikage, looking like the weird goth kid that he is in his soul. He looks at her, then looks over her shoulder, apparently unfazed by her rudeness, judging by how rude he's being in return. ]
Belph lives here, right?
[ thanks for opening the door, Lili. Standing there is Hikage, looking like the weird goth kid that he is in his soul. He looks at her, then looks over her shoulder, apparently unfazed by her rudeness, judging by how rude he's being in return. ]
Belph lives here, right?
[ long-suffering sigh. ]
That bastard is slippery.
[ he shoves his hands in his pockets, then, seeming to realize something, looks at Lili suspiciously. ]
Wait. How did you know that?
That bastard is slippery.
[ he shoves his hands in his pockets, then, seeming to realize something, looks at Lili suspiciously. ]
Wait. How did you know that?
No. [ sounding a little surprised. ] I didn't know he talked about me.
[ having friends is a trip ]
[ having friends is a trip ]
[ he politely steps back! he can be polite sometimes.
if Hikage was more of a bully, he'd use this information to tease Belph later. As things stand, he just feels sort of touched by it. Friend... ]
Huh. I thought it would just be Steph.
if Hikage was more of a bully, he'd use this information to tease Belph later. As things stand, he just feels sort of touched by it. Friend... ]
Huh. I thought it would just be Steph.
[ belph...
it's nice to have those be his standout qualities - there are certainly plenty of other things he could have said. ]
... He's really annoying. [ just facts ] But he's more reliable than you'd think. Without him, I probably would have died there.
it's nice to have those be his standout qualities - there are certainly plenty of other things he could have said. ]
... He's really annoying. [ just facts ] But he's more reliable than you'd think. Without him, I probably would have died there.
[ there's no tactful way to say "i was unhinged and trying to sabotage the game and he helped change me" so he decides to say something else ]
He's smart. Not only is he smart, he's embarrassingly lazy, so he solves problems efficiently. He figured out how things worked.
[ in spite of his vagueness and his backhanded compliment, Hikage can't help but look a little soft at the recollections. ]
At the time, I didn't understand things there... Or, rather, I didn't care to understand them. But Belph did, and he used that knowledge to protect me when he could have been protecting himself. He's that kind of man.
He's smart. Not only is he smart, he's embarrassingly lazy, so he solves problems efficiently. He figured out how things worked.
[ in spite of his vagueness and his backhanded compliment, Hikage can't help but look a little soft at the recollections. ]
At the time, I didn't understand things there... Or, rather, I didn't care to understand them. But Belph did, and he used that knowledge to protect me when he could have been protecting himself. He's that kind of man.
Edited 2020-06-12 04:40 (UTC)
[ please let him live lili ]
... Maybe.
[ saying it is embarrassing, though! so he won't. he's already thanked Belph in person; he doesn't need to go showing some outsider his vulnerable side. More than he just did - he seems belatedly aware that he gave more of himself away than he'd like, and he goes quiet for a few seconds, sticking his hands in his pockets. ]
There's a teenage boy living in there with you, right? Chuuya or something?
... Maybe.
[ saying it is embarrassing, though! so he won't. he's already thanked Belph in person; he doesn't need to go showing some outsider his vulnerable side. More than he just did - he seems belatedly aware that he gave more of himself away than he'd like, and he goes quiet for a few seconds, sticking his hands in his pockets. ]
There's a teenage boy living in there with you, right? Chuuya or something?
[she's so fucking tired and she needs to take a fucking nap - but she probably ends up encounter hikage at some point walking around in the camp. she thinks about not saying anything. she does.
but.]
... are you familiar with him? ... Evan.
[she's willing to give out apologies to all of his friends]
but.]
... are you familiar with him? ... Evan.
[she's willing to give out apologies to all of his friends]
[ she most definitely does - Hikage is sitting out by the bonfire, idly poking at it with a stick and looking like he's waiting for someone. That someone is not Lili; nonetheless, he doesn't seem all that bothered by her appearance. ]
No. We were barely acquaintances. We just happened to both be trapped in that castle.
[ after a moment, he tosses the branch into the flames, then turns to look at her just slightly, right eye red in the firelight. ]
... You need comfort more than I do.
No. We were barely acquaintances. We just happened to both be trapped in that castle.
[ after a moment, he tosses the branch into the flames, then turns to look at her just slightly, right eye red in the firelight. ]
... You need comfort more than I do.
[ well, he wasn't expecting that. ]
Why is it your responsibility? He made a stupid decision. It got him and an innocent person killed. Unless there's something you're not telling us, it's got nothing to do with you.
Why is it your responsibility? He made a stupid decision. It got him and an innocent person killed. Unless there's something you're not telling us, it's got nothing to do with you.
Because he's my friend. I'm not going to give up on him because of this.
[and she's - honestly going to help herself to a seat? she feels like even if she doesn't stay for a long time, she owes this conversation something]
He was stupid - but he was with me before everything happened. He'd never even survived a Thursday night before and while that isn't an excuse for being reckless, it at least partially explains why he was extremely dumb about everything.
Even though he's capable of making his own decisions, and it was an accident - I should've done better by him. And he's not here anymore, so I have to make sure everything is set right.
... though - that might be more of an answer than you wanted.
[but admittedly lili's thoughts on the matter, while straightforward, can easily be construed as self-blame which... is not what it is.]
[and she's - honestly going to help herself to a seat? she feels like even if she doesn't stay for a long time, she owes this conversation something]
He was stupid - but he was with me before everything happened. He'd never even survived a Thursday night before and while that isn't an excuse for being reckless, it at least partially explains why he was extremely dumb about everything.
Even though he's capable of making his own decisions, and it was an accident - I should've done better by him. And he's not here anymore, so I have to make sure everything is set right.
... though - that might be more of an answer than you wanted.
[but admittedly lili's thoughts on the matter, while straightforward, can easily be construed as self-blame which... is not what it is.]
[ she must have been waiting to tell all of that to someone. He's been there before plenty of times - not in these "games," but in his own manor, listening to people and baiting out their stories with bits and pieces his eye had already shown him. Now he's wondering if there's just something about him that makes people want to tell him things. This time, at least, he's not listening with ill intent. ]
It's ridiculous to feel that responsible over a man ten times older than you are. He should have been the one looking after you. [ hikage is now even less impressed with tsurumaru because of this conversation ] If he was still that clueless after that long, there's nothing anyone could have done.
[ bluntly. ]
The ones that need to take responsibility are our three jailkeepers. That's it.
It's ridiculous to feel that responsible over a man ten times older than you are. He should have been the one looking after you. [ hikage is now even less impressed with tsurumaru because of this conversation ] If he was still that clueless after that long, there's nothing anyone could have done.
[ bluntly. ]
The ones that need to take responsibility are our three jailkeepers. That's it.
[listen she's been questioned a lot on her position today but she's also stubborn - and there's, uh, something that she can respond to that with, in particular that tsurumaru's only had a human body for a few years max but.
she's picking her battles and choosing to keep her friends' secrets on this fine day.
instead, she selects the easier topic:]
So you're not take the Akira 'they're just as trapped as us' stance, I take it?
she's picking her battles and choosing to keep her friends' secrets on this fine day.
instead, she selects the easier topic:]
So you're not take the Akira 'they're just as trapped as us' stance, I take it?
[ a snort. ]
They obviously aren't. They have power over us. They know things we don't know, and they're hiding things, too. If that's what he really believes, then he's naive.
[ he feels lingering resentment towards the idea that someone could appear in a place like this and feel such unconditional sympathy towards their captors. he certainly never got any of that... ]
You're smarter than that. What do you believe?
They obviously aren't. They have power over us. They know things we don't know, and they're hiding things, too. If that's what he really believes, then he's naive.
[ he feels lingering resentment towards the idea that someone could appear in a place like this and feel such unconditional sympathy towards their captors. he certainly never got any of that... ]
You're smarter than that. What do you believe?
Well... they sound a lot like my old hosts - and I directed a lot of my anger at them at first. But it turned out they were just working with only slightly more information than we were, and didn't mean to deceive us. It's not fair for them to promise us things like safety or anything like that - that's stupid.
[like the directors never said explicitly 'you are safe from all murder here' but they sure did understate the problem]
I don't believe them as entirely as Akira does - but right now, I need things from them. They know where Tsurumaru is, and I need answers. So I'll take what they say with a grain of salt, and test everything myself at the same time.
[like the directors never said explicitly 'you are safe from all murder here' but they sure did understate the problem]
I don't believe them as entirely as Akira does - but right now, I need things from them. They know where Tsurumaru is, and I need answers. So I'll take what they say with a grain of salt, and test everything myself at the same time.
Hmph.
[ he still thinks it's naive to assume that they even might be on the same side, after what happened with Tiger and Dragon, but he can see there's no point in arguing this. ]
If you can actually learn anything from them, share it. The one I talked to wasn't good at giving straight answers.
[ he still thinks it's naive to assume that they even might be on the same side, after what happened with Tiger and Dragon, but he can see there's no point in arguing this. ]
If you can actually learn anything from them, share it. The one I talked to wasn't good at giving straight answers.
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