and it takes, and it takes, and it takes

[acherontiastyx]

[It... definitely takes a while for the weekly after-execution note to arrive, but it does --- kind of scrawly and on ripped paper rather than nice stationery.]

EY. YO. WE GOT EFFIGIES IN THE DINING ROOM AND WE'RE GONNA BURN EM.

FOOD TOO. THE USUAL AND HOT COCOA. GOOD FOR THE SOUL. GET SOME. MAYBE TAKE IT BACK TO YOUR ROOM IF YOU HAVE TO. JUST GET SOME.

[Anyway, in the dining room, there's plenty of mugs set out, with a janky looking arrow sign pointing into the kitchen to where you can get your hot cocoa. On the table, there's Vichyssoise, a pot of green tea, and some booze. There's also a cookie tray on the floor away from the table on which to burn the Wordsmith and Kimbley effigies, which are handily placed near the food on the table.

...also if you go in the kitchen without shoes on just. Watch the northern corner. There's no kidneys, but there's a lot of broken plates there for some reason...]

Comments

[plegia]

[Knock, knock. Actually, the knocking is going to keep going until Jasper answers, because Gangrel's really damn determined to talk to her right now, so uh. Open up!!]

[iaspis]

[Gangrel, oh my god. She pulls the door open hard.]

What do you want?!

[And then she sees who it is.]

...Oh. Hello, Gangrel.

[plegia]

[Hi, Jasper. Gangrel motions with a hand to her room.]

Well? Are you going to let me in? I doubt you want to have this discussion in the hallway.

[iaspis]

...No. Probably not.

[She moves to allow him inside.

Thankfully her room is not a complete disaster like Kimbley's was, um. It's very sparsely decorated-- the only thing of note is her helmet sitting on her desk.]

[plegia]

[Well, that's understandable. His room isn't decorated either. The helmet is something he looks at for a moment before he moves to take a seat at the desk.]

This certainly was a terrible trial, wasn't it. How are you holding up?

[Normally he doesn't care. Normally he wouldn't bother. But after all of this, he's willing to make an exception.]

[iaspis]

...About as well as I can, I suppose.

[She didn't do anything stupid at the trial, but that's about as much as can be said.]

[plegia]

You're one of the few who actually managed to keep their head. Good job.

[He rests his hands on his knees for a moment in silence before speaking up again.]

I'm sure you're going to hear quite a few people saying terrible things about Kimbley now. "He tried to kill us all" and "Gold saved us" and other irritating things like that.

[Surely Jasper already knows that, but it's worth saying anyway, in his opinion.]

[iaspis]

Yes.

They'll say it as though Gold and Silver weren't trying to throw all of them to the wilds. Kimbley did what he thought he needed to do to escape.

I can't blame him.

[plegia]

I'm glad I'm still alive, I'll say that much. But Silver would have killed us all if it meant Gold could walk free. I can't consider what they did heroic. They acted for themselves and their world, which is fair, but that doesn't make them any better than Kimbley.

[iaspis]

Trying to escape by killing the group is selfishness, no matter who is doing it.

If they didn't act like they were better than him, when they were looking to kill as much as he was.....

Their world isn't special. Entire planets fall all the time.

[plegia]

...I can understand why they'd put their world over everyone else. Everyone they care about is there. I wouldn't do the same, but I'm not a "save the world" kind of man.

[Hell, he'd destroy it if he'd benefit somehow. But then he wouldn't be a king, so.]

I'm surprised they told us the truth though, that they didn't do this to save us. It takes guts to admit that you're not some kind of saint people are building you up to be. Did you see how quick they were to try to excuse Silver and Gold? It was disgusting. Yes, Kimbley was trying to kill us all, but that doesn't make him any better or worse than Kira or Alani or what's-her-name that killed first!

[...you know that was almost going somewhere until he hecked it up.]

[iaspis]

How do you define a "world", anyway? It's all relative. An entire universe, just one planet... Maybe some small part of that planet.

[It's ridiculous, and she doesn't believe the Wordsmith would keep a promise to begin with.]

I'm more surprised that some of the others believed it. They said it themselves, they were out to kill someone that night. They were just fortunate that Kimbley was, too.

[plegia]

They were. If there hadn't been anyone else, I wonder what they would have done? What would they have done if it had been someone they liked?

[His grip tightens on his knees for a moment, at least until his nails dig in and he forces himself to stop.]

I knew someone would go after Kimbley, but somehow I didn't think he'd actually die.

[iaspis]

...I would have picked him as someone who decided to kill, not the other way around.

[Not that she was expecting him to try to poison the entire group except for the alien that doesn't need to breathe because holy shit.]

At this point, I believe anyone who trusts anyone else is taking their lives in their hands.

[plegia]

Agreed. Trusting anyone in a game like this is stupid to begin with, but this far in... Well, between the incentives and our dwindling numbers it really is only a matter of time before trust breaks down completely. Everyone will realize it soon.

[It's kind of amazing that people can trust to begin with in a place like this.]

[iaspis]

...Yes. I suspect things will get difficult.

I wonder how much longer this game will last, now. Or if Silver will attempt something else, now that his friend is gone.

[plegia]

He's got nothing left to lose now, so I certainly wouldn't be surprised. If it isn't Silver, it'll be someone else. I'm sure we'll keep going until there isn't anyone left who would act on a motive.

[iaspis]

I wonder what will happen when it comes to that. Maybe the Wordsmith will get desperate.

[plegia]

I'm sure he will. If we can't be budged with his "incentives" then he'll resort to more drastic measures.

[iaspis]

...It makes you wonder.

What sort of "drastic" measures would he take? Because so far, he's only ever given a few vague threats or impossible promises.