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

[elepe]

...Oh.

[...that...makes more sense. Still, Lusamine looks around the room a bit before starting to stand.]

Sorry, I'm...not of a very good mind right now.

[firstaid]

I really have no doubt you are. This trial was... difficult on everyone.

[She sees her standing, and--]

You can remain sitting if you so wish. And if I may, I would like to sit next to you.

[elepe]

...I'd like that.

[Lusamine goes back to sit down, then, but...she doesn't look up.]

I know I must get over this, if we're to proceed. But... [She pauses.] I didn't want to send Gold to his death. I didn't want him to die.

[firstaid]

[And sitting next to Lusamine is exactly what she does. She just looks forward herself, especially given her words. That... was difficult, to send Gold to his death.]

I-I know. I don't believe any of us did. [He was such an energetic person in the group...]

...but--

[--that's the game they're playing. She doesn't say it, though. She just cuts off and stays silent.]

[elepe]

...I know.

[Lusamine...kind of gets where Estelle would've gone with that, tensing up immediately. This was a sick excuse for a game, and they were all pawns to it. Pieces. Cogs of a mechanism filled with blood or some other pretentious shit.]

The reality of the situation is that this will continue until two are left, if we keep going like this. And we're all left to pick up the pieces at the end of it all...

Could anyone possibly adjust to this?

[firstaid]

I honestly don't think anyone could. Because in the end, what you've said, we're playing until two of us are left. We're... probably all going to die. All but two of us.

[She gulps. It's probably not a conversation to have right now, but it's something she feels like she needs to say out loud, as if to accept that. Unless they find out a way to stop this... they're... going to die.]

[elepe]

...Perhaps Kimbley's way would have been more merciful.

[A tad tactless? Certainly, but...]

But...we either keep going, or we sit here and die. I don't think the latter is much of an option.

[firstaid]

No, it really isn't. I don't think any of us want to accept it so easily.

[Or at least not go down without fighting.]

[elepe]

If we did...we would have let Alani escape. We value our own lives over letting someone win.

[...]

I suppose if we put it like that, it makes us incredibly selfish, doesn't it?

[firstaid]

Maybe so, but also... most of us don't want to die.

[They definitely value the group over the individual.]

[elepe]

Yes. And our continued existence come at the cost of others, each week.

[They needed the reality check via Varric today, or perhaps they wouldn't even be here.]

It's a weighed trade-off.

[firstaid]

It is. I just continually wish it didn't have to come to this.

[She pulls her knees up to her chest.]

[elepe]

[Lusamine...tentatively puts a hand on her shoulder. She'll retract it if it's clear that it's unwanted, but--]

...As do I, sweet Estellise. But...

[...]

We'll keep moving. We have no choice.

[firstaid]

[Hardly, it's a reassurance she really needs.]

I agree. No matter what, we have to keep fighting, even if it's getting more and more difficult to do just that.

[elepe]

Where there's a will, there's a way. It may not be so obvious at first, but...

[...Oh Estelle.]

There's no point. We'll run out of time before we find another way...

[firstaid]

[She figured as much. It's... nice someone decided to just be blunt with her.]

Perhaps so... I'd still rather keep fighting until the bitter end, though. Maybe.

[She sighs.]

I don't know anymore.

[elepe]

[...]

Tell me. Is there something that you have never been able to do at home, that you could possibly do here?

[firstaid]

Um...

[She has to think on that one. Eventually, she shakes her head.]

...I really can't think of anything. Honestly, I feel like things have been taken away from me here. Like... my freedom. Again. Unless you're speaking of the technology, then that would be something.

[elepe]

...Perhaps you could start familiarizing yourself with things you've never seen. Learn about them, and master their use.

[It wouldn't be much, but it'd be a far more effective use of time than something that's probably just gonna lead to heartbreak.]

[firstaid]

I could do that.

[Or just read more books. That's been something she does often.]