bittybat | W3, Monday-Wed (look i kept forgetting to add the dates)

[ Stares at him, apparently unfazed. ]

Riku. ... hi, Damian. [ Somewhat softly. ] Did you want to talk?

[FUCK!! RIKU, WHY.]

Dammit. Did he tell you anything else about it other than what you told everyone at the trial?

[ Ah. That wins an uncertain look and she glances away as she tries to remember. ]

Do you mean about the roles? No. And the Sheriff said he was wrong, anyway. I guess it turns out Nisha fills the role he thought was the leader, anyway.

He wasn't wrong. [Damian frowns.] There is a leader.

I'm trying to find more people like Riku.

What? [ That visibly startles her, and she starts to frown. ] How do you know that? Damian.... what's going on?

The Sheriff told me. I need to find two more people with roles like Riku. One of them is a woman.

I--

[ Xion's confusion sharpens, her frown deepening. ]

Riku didn't have a role. He told me so himself. Everything he knew, I think he just asked the Sheriff about. What kind of role are you talking about?

[Confused, Damian's brows pinch at the center of his forehead. Wait...] At the trial...

Bandits. You said Riku said the Bandits had a leader. [Oh--shit.] Not them, another role. I don't know if the Bandits have a leader.

The other role--they do. There's a leader, but I don't know who it is. Yet.

[ Xion pulls in a slow breath. ]

Like ... a mastermind?

[ There's a long pause as Xion lowers her chin, thinking hard. ]

... Riku left some notes for me. I don't know how useful they'll be, but I can show them to you. You have to promise you won't tell anyone what you learn about me.

In a way. [He nods, stern.] Show me. I won't mention having spoken to you to anyone else.

Edited 2017-02-06 01:38 (UTC)

... okay. Come with me. [ She'll beckon, and lead him back to the hotel. It's not quick going with her, not anymore, given the way she hobbles with her walking stick, but she tries. ]

So, what role did you think Riku had?

[Carefully, he'll follow after her. He doesn't mind the slow pace. He's all for action and doing, but he isn't the type to be go-go-go necessarily. There's a great deal of patience learned in his training.] That he was one of the Bounties.

The Sheriff wouldn't say how many of them there are, only that they are there to finish the jobs the Bandits decline.

Bounties...?

[ She looks thoughtful, and troubled, too. ]

So, there are Bandits, whose job it is to kill. There's the Coal Miner, who kills the bandits if they fail. And then there's ... Bounties, who finish what the Bandits started?

[ Musingly, softly: ]

Maybe that's why there were three killers.

[ Though ... Nisha's guilt was cleared, it could explain at least two of the kills.

At least the hotel wasn't far. It's tiring and painful just making her way up onto the porch, but she'll lead the way inside. The thought of going all the way up to her room makes her look ... a little unhappy, to say the least, but she'll do her best. ]

The notes are in my room. ... sorry, [ she says, somewhat shamefaced about her own incapacitation. ]

Possibly. There could be more roles; however, I haven't learned what they are, if any. [He watches her struggle along for a bit without moving to follow her. Oh my God. Please, stop before you DIE of natural causes in murderhell.

Sighing, Damian again catches up to her, but instead takes her stick and then squats down with his back facing her.]

Get on. You're too slow.

I'm sure there must be. There are roles to help and roles to hurt, right? Those all seem like roles to hurt, so there must be a few of the other kind. The item picking role is probably one of those.

[ ... what

what

damian no

Xion looks taken aback, and then groans. ]

I'm sick of people carrying me!

[ ... but she still acquiesces. She has a feeling he'd insist, and she doesn't want to argue. It does kind of annoy her, though. Regardless, she'll dutifully wrap her arms around his neck and settle against his back. ]

Be quiet and get on. [Deserved. This is what she gets for being a hero!!

Surprisingly, Damian is a hell of a lot stronger than he looks. He stands up with her on without any issue, loops his arms carefully under her knees and clasps the stick in each hand behind his back, using the length of it as a support for her.

This is child's play to the training he's done.] If there are roles for helping, we need to find who they are. However, there's only so many people we can protect. I doubt the Sheriff is going to give someone the ability to protect everyone. [Is it any surprise he knows exactly where her room is at? Maybe...]

Have you asked the Sheriff anything about how this place works? The town, not the game.

[ HUFF PUFF. Whatever small child!! Who is!! Somehow smaller than she is!!

It doesn't really seem to surprise her that he's able to lift her weight. She hasn't got a great metric for what people of different ages should be able to do in the first place, and for another, she knows a great deal about appearances being deceiving. With a sigh, she just settles against him and lets it happen. At least this isn't as bad as getting princess carried by Sara. ]

... maybe not everyone, but you could protect a few people, right? I wonder if there's a role that lets you do that. [ Thoughtful. ] Like ... keep them safe, even from Bandits.

[ Though, she's not sure how that would work.

Xion peers at the side of his face as they move. ]

... not really. Though... I've actually been pretty curious about it. It's pretty strange. Have you?

Some. [But he doesn't explain right away. Instead, he stands in front of the door to her room without shifting positions.] You'll have to open the door. [Which he'll give her free reign to do by turning slightly, offering room.

When she opens the door, he carry her inside.] We're in a separate pocket of space and time. That's why everyone is different, and why only a few people know each other. Time is likely continuing back home at a slower rate than it is here.

[Carefully, he squats back down, lowering the stick away and letting Xion off his back. He'll hand the stick back to her once she's up, and he'll stand, too.] Everything here is fabricated as a setting, and we were pulled in as potentially good "candidates" for their ridiculous game.

[ Opening the door is no problem, but being in here is. Given that he's still carrying her, he'll be able to feel the way almost her whole body subtly tenses, though she doesn't give any other indication of being bothered, much less what's bothering her.

She has to focus on getting down safely, without putting weight on her heel, so she can't reply right away. Once she's standing on her own power, she gives him an unhappy and thoughtful look, her mouth pulling into a line. ]

From the very beginning I knew this was a different world. I've just ... never been to a world I couldn't leave. It made the town feel ... eerie. Like there was no end to it, or like ... somehow, it got disconnected from all other worlds, even though I don't think that's supposed to be possible. A ... pocket? [ This she says more softly, and then she shakes her head and moves towards her bed. She places her walking stick on it and braces her thighs on the bed frame so she can lift the mattress. It doesn't require much force. Besides, her copy of her rulebook - which serves as her journal, and a place to keep loose notes and papers - isn't far beneath it.

Once she's got it, she sets it on the bed and lets it fall open, flipping through the pages until she can pull out a few notes. Glancing through them, she hands the first to Damian, though she hangs onto the second and closes the rulebook. ]

... I wonder what makes us good candidates. That ... we're entertaining? [ It's cynical, but she seems to remember something to that effect. ]

[Well, shit.

Studiously, Damian looks over the paper that she hands to him once he takes it. The further he gets, the deeper his frown becomes. Honestly, he reads over it twice; once slowly, a second time more quickly. Just to be sure he didn't miss anything.

And then he hands the paper back to her. He's still frowning.] What he left you is true. I can't verify whether the Bandits have a leader. I can ask the Sheriff and see if he will tell me.

[He pauses, thoughtful. His eyes skim the paper in her hand, the book, the bed, looking through them, then return to Xion.] Yes. We were chosen because we would provide the most entertainment.

What else is there?

... if you find out, let me know, Damian, please.

[ She takes the note back with a faintly sad look, briefly running her thumb over the paper.

On handing over the other note, she hesitates. ]

I don't know if anything here will help. A ... lot of it is about me. [ Her voice has dropped to something very soft. But, after a few more beats of hesitation, she'll hand over the second note, which definitely reads more like a series of journal entries. ]

[Hilariously, Damian seems indifferent to news about Xion in a way that says he's seen a lot worse--or weirder. He reads this note twice, too, and then he hands it back to her.

Riku would have been a good ally.] Do you think the person who killed him targeted him because they knew he not only had information like this, but perhaps he was telling more people than merely you?

[ Given how anxious she feels about it, his total lack of reaction is both a relief and sort of jarring. The number of people who have taken her secrets in stride is astounding to her. What she was was always.... such a problem, back home.

With a small shake of her head, Xion puts both notes back in her rulebook, and gets that back under her mattress. She obviously doesn't seem to mind Damian knowing, but it still makes her feel better to keep it otherwise away from prying eyes. As she does this, she considers his question with a shuttered expression. ]

I'm sure he was talking to people aside from me, [ she murmurs, and she sounds sort of conflicted about it. With the rulebook away she straightens and picks up her walking from the bed. Then looks at Damian, then at the door.

And then she'll take a seat on her bed. This is as good a place as any to talk. ]

But the people I knew he was talking to were people I trust, too.

[ Tarvek, Noctis, Percy, Harry. ]

Still, I can't know everyone he was talking to. Riku was ... really smart, and a good planner. I guess ... I wouldn't be surprised if someone saw him as a threat.

[ very subdued. ]

Or they saw you as a threat, and they wanted to send you a "warning." [Doubtful, he thinks. Someone probably found out Riku knew too much, or perhaps Riku just got terribly unlucky in the murder roulette.]

How many other people have you told all of this, or how many others have you shown what you just showed me?

I need to know their names if there are any, so I know who to be careful around.

[ For the first time, she hesitates. Not out of doubt over herself, or fear, but ... out of doubt over him. ]

Damian...

[ Xion sighs, lowering her gaze to the floor. ]

I think you want the right things, and I believe you're trying to help. But other than that, I don't ... really have any reason to trust you.

[ She looks up at him again, and though her expression is apologetic, there isn't much give in it. ]

I don't really mind you knowing it was Riku who told me all of that, and I even don't mind you knowing about me. But you're asking me to trust you with more than those things, and... how do I know you won't hurt them?

[ She's been too trusting. All along.

Her friends are dead and she is running out of ways to accept and forgive. ]

[Dammit. Trust can go to hell. He has his own problems with it, and he gets it from his father, and he hates it, but also he doesn't mind it. Fuck trust.]

I can't trust you any more than you trust me. You could mean well, but you could have also been the one to have Riku killed. Intentionally or accidentally.

[A sigh.] I need to know because I'm the Bounty Leader, and I need to remain alive to end this game for everyone.

[ That accusation makes her go quite still. If he wanted to win her over enough to get her to admit what she knows, that was not the way to do it.

So instead, Xion just stares at the floor with a blank and intense look. ]

What does being the Bounty Leader mean? What do you do?

I'm the leader of several other Bounties. I don't know who they are yet. If the Bandits refuse their role when picked, we're the ones who have to do it for them.

Additionally, I am looking for another role. If I can find them, I can end the game permanently.

[ Now she looks up at him, still blank-faced. If the idea that he's willing to kill the people that the Bandits won't bothers her, it's at the very least not apparent.

After a long, long pause, she finally says: ]

Noctis. He was with me when I went to find Riku's notes. Everything I know, I've told him.

[ A pause as she hangs her head again, this time in thought. ]

I haven't shown the notes to anyone but you and him, though Shinnosuke knows it was Riku who told me what I said at the trial.

[ In she pulls a slow sigh, and just as slowly, she lets it go. ]

So... end it permanently, huh? How?

[Noctis and Shinnosuke. The latter: the guy with Jason, but he won't know that until later. He'll remember, however.] I'm going to have to kill them.

[It's spoken bluntly, but there's a strange expression on Damian's face.] But I'm not going to do it. That's only one way to win, and I'm not going to be goaded into playing by the ridiculous rules of people who won't even show their own faces.

The end result of the game isn't important to the Sheriff or his employers. They only care about entertainment. I'm going to find another way to win instead.

The Sheriff claims he is the final judge for everyone. People will go back home, even the supposed dead, if he's satisfied by how the game is played. All we have to do is give them a good show.

[ The shock and panic on her face are immediate, but she ... doesn't otherwise react. She takes a few slow breaths and stares at him like she's never seen him before. ]

... I remember, [ she finally whispers. ] About what happens if you win. But...

[ Xion's jaw tightens and she looks away from him. ]

What is it ... you're actually suggesting? What will you do to them?

I haven't decided. [He's loathe to admit it.] I'll find a way.

I want you to ask the Sheriff if you can send a message to Riku through him. See what he says, and then tell me his answer. Can you do it?

[ .... she nods, slow, her expression not much changing from a concerned kind of fear. ]

Uh-huh. I was gonna talk to him this week anyway.

[ ... ]

Damian ... if you have to kill them for knowing what they know, why not ... me?

[Again, Damian frowns.] I don't have to kill anyone for knowing.

I have to kill a special role to end the game. As a Bounty, I'll potentially be required to kill someone when the Bandits refuse their positions. The rules state someone has to die each week. I don't have to kill the Bandits, only a new target.

No one has refused so far. [He doesn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed in others.] I offered to be chosen because I don't trust that the other Bounties wouldn't kill someone.

... it's because of what they might use the knowledge for, [ she murmurs, trying to figure it out for herself. Well ...

The thought of it, the terror, claws at her chest like hot knives. The idea of Noctis or Shinnosuke getting killed because of this--

Well, it would really be because they had a role, wouldn't it? And if killing either of them would end the game, and send them all home...

Xion is thoughtful for a long moment, a kind of pensive unhappiness overtaking her. Finally, she just ... nods. ]

I don't have a role, [ she says softly, with a strange little smile. ] The more we find out about them, the more I think I can see why. I don't think I could ever do what you're doing, even though ... someone has to, to put a stop to all this.

[ A deep breath, and she tries, very, very hard, not to imagine the heads of the two boys she named propped up, bloody, on pillows. ]

I'll help you as much as I can. [ She looks up, her brow pinched tightly over a searching expression. ] People here, they ... trust me. I don't really get why, but no one here seems to think that I could be capable of committing a murder.

[ Shinnosuke might. Damian himself might. But most people, well...

The fact that not a soul accused her during the last trial was proof enough. ]

If that means I can help you get answers, I will. I'll talk to the Sheriff and I'll let you know what he says as soon as I can. I was going to talk to him about the roles, too, so... maybe I'll learn something else.

[ She is .... so tired. ]

Just, please, Damian ... tell me what I can do.

[Frankly, he hates the way she looks at him. It feels too much like promises, and he hates making promises. Mostly because he's too worried he can't keep them like he wants.]

Don't tell everything you know, even to people you might trust. Tell them just enough. Keep a list of people who you've spoken with about anything like this in private. If something happens, we may have some suspects to investigate. I'm going to do the same.

In that regard, you can talk to Jackson, Papika, and Todd. I can't say whether they are one-hundred percent trustworthy, but I trust them enough.

[ Given that she's had a habit of being quite open with the people she trusts ... that will be a strange and difficult shift for her. Her expression clouds, but she nods nonetheless.

A list ... not unlike what Riku had done. Well, she can do that, if she must. It would help her keep track of all that's happened anyway. ]

Percy...

[ Said very soft. Well. Yes. The two of them have become quite close now, given What Happened. ]

Okay.

[ For a moment, she presses her face into both of her hands. The strain of this, of knowing what she now knows and trying to do what she'll be trying to do, makes her feel physically sick. If anything happens to Shinnosuke or Noctis, she already knows she'll blame herself, and she's already wondering how she can possibly live with it.

But these are her problems to figure out. Given this moment to calm herself down, she uncurls again, and everything about her is just ... neutral. Held in, and quiet.

Xion pushes off of her bed and gets on her feet. ]

I'll come find you as soon as I know anything new.

[Even when Xion stands up, Damian doesn't stop frowning. Despite rigorous training in all manner of things, he can't say he enjoys or likes any of this.] Fine. If you can't locate me, you can tell Papika, and she will get the message to me. Unless it's private.

Don't do anything stupid. [Which has been, so far, his way of saying, "Be careful."

He turns around and makes for the door, but then stops when he's almost there. He doesn't look back.]

Do you want help getting back outside?

[ For what it's worth, she'll try to smile at him a little. She can read the underlying concern of that message. ]

I'll try.

[ His offer gets her to blink at him, and then...

even though he's not looking at her, she smiles for real. ]

Sure. It'd take me forever on my own.

[ So she'll join him at the door.

It's too bad his warning for her comes before she'll really need to hear it, after Shinnosuke and Jason get themselves blown up and she starts reevaluating her priorities all over again. ]

[Stupid!

But anyway, he at least doesn't force her to get on his back again.

They don't have to rush anywhere, so he's content to just offer his arm and shoulder, to help her down the stairs to keep her from flying past and landing on her face near the bottom.]

W3, Monday-Wed (look i kept forgetting to add the dates)

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