[ PLURK NEVER PINGED ME FOR YOUR PC IM FULL OF RAGE THIS BEAUTIFUL WOMAN!!! I MISSED HER
anyway virtuosa can find strohl after everything because she can probably hear him? there's a loud: ] Damn it - damn it! [ and the thunk sound of something hitting into a wall.
rounding the corner, there's strohl, fist slammed into the closest wall, half leaning against it, shoulders visibly trembling. it's fine! it's so fine. this is a two week i hate it here ]
[ the voice sounds like it's coming through water - strohl jumps, sucking in a sharp breath, and whirls around like a wild animal, tense and startled, all wet eyes and fury.
... virtuosa's not coming at him in any manner except asking if he's alright, and it's many years of his upbringing that check his temper enough to suck in a breath as he curls his fist in the paper apollo put up on the wall, his voice taut like an unplucked string as he tries to keep himself together. ]
She was murdered. Fushiguro, too. Not killed in a freak accident, murdered.
[ he makes a noise like a scoff, startled out of him. ] What, the higher management coming out of the place to kill us, because we're not dying off fast enough for their liking? That'd be great. They can come down and speak with me, next.
[ okay karen calm down
anyway. when he gets the sense she's looking at his hand, he pauses and actually looks down... his knuckles are red and probably a little bruised now. ]
That won't do. We need to be in our best condition for whatever lies ahead of us. Like you said, we have reached a point where it is no longer freak accidents, after all.
[ unless these two were also, somehow, freak accidents. which is entirely possible in a murdergame but they are not genre savvy enough to know this yet. ]
[ thank god for apollo justice being genre savvy otherwise we wouldn't even know it's a murder ]
...yeah.
[ he ducks his head a little, a tiny bit scolded, voice rough and heavy, and looks down at his hand, rubbing his thumb over the top of his knuckles. you sure you can handle yourself? ]
We were together last night. Everything was - as fine as it could be, then, I don't... some kind of spell, or something. I didn't wake up. I don't - I don't know why I didn't wake up.
The same happened to me as well. I felt fully awake, and then suddenly... since we were in two different places, then it must have been outside interference.
[ ...
she pats his shoulder. ]
Something likely stopped you from waking up. It was not a failing on your part.
[ isn't it though? (it really isn't.) just one more unbroken promise, one more day in the life of a useless noble who can't and could never protect his people.
he's silent, for a long moment, swallowing back whatever tide of bitterness that buries itself in like a tick. focus, strohl. focus. ]
But what? And why? Not like anything here so far's stopped anyone from dying. 's no magla or magic around, either. [ mumbling through his thought process: ] The food...? But we've all been eating all week, and it's not like it was isolated - like you said.
hey girl. strohl's outside somewhere, just kind of... standing, arms crossed. he's shed his fancy yellow coat and his bloody cravat, at least! haha...yay...
he glances over when virtuosa addresses him, and then ducks his head. ]
...In a manner of speaking. [ no but he's calmer than he was before now, and much calmer than he was on friday, so there's that. ]
Shouldn't have lost it like that. [ ... ] I'm sorry.
...No. No, it can't. [ never has, never will. it doesn't bring back vi or fushiguro or apollo, it doesn't bring back miyu or anyone else. it doesn't bring back halia, either. ]
[ he won't disagree - there's a little nod. he is so full of big baby feelings. it's just this was extra targeted. people here die indiscriminately, but it's nathalie's words that stick with him like glue, that rankled him beyond any form of composure.
soft, staring out at the distant horizon: ]
... My father always taught me that a noble ought not place themselves upon an ivory tower - that when they stop caring for the well-being of their people as people, and instead see them from a distance as a possession or an abstract concept, they are no longer deserving of the title.
Those are very smart words... and admittedly, not one you would normally hear from a noble.
[ no matter where you go... rich people are the worst, it seems? ]
Lets say that she really did what she believed was right. I wonder why she kept it a secret? Perhaps she worried she would be a more obvious target, considering she's apparently terminal. But it was taking things out of our hands.
No. [ agreeing bc yeah. rich people do pretty much suck. but, there's a soft smile on his face as he finishes, here and gone. ] My parents were good people.
[ true nobility. the sort that imparted their values onto their son.
he considers the question after, thoughtful. ]
... That escapes me, too. [ like, why. ] Anyone with any sense between their ears would've told her that was insane to believe. And hearing of something like that - we could have tried to use that information to find out what the hell's actually happening here.
[ this is metaphor louis guiabern's doing, thinks strohl, which is an insane thing to think
scowling ]
... Right. People lose sight of their logic if they're appealed to. Easy for people just to lie and make it seem like a situation's going to benefit them. [ nnrnrhghghf he hates it ] So whatever convinced her's probably sharp enough to put together this whole fiasco, too.
[ gesturing wildly out in general at this place. ]
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week 1, monday
virtuosa is holding a golf club and staring at it like someone just handed her a bomb. ]
week 1 friday
anyway virtuosa can find strohl after everything because she can probably hear him? there's a loud: ] Damn it - damn it! [ and the thunk sound of something hitting into a wall.
rounding the corner, there's strohl, fist slammed into the closest wall, half leaning against it, shoulders visibly trembling. it's fine! it's so fine. this is a two week i hate it here ]
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she just watches this for a moment, tilting her head at the scene... before walking over. ]
I would ask if you are okay, but I think I have my answer.
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... virtuosa's not coming at him in any manner except asking if he's alright, and it's many years of his upbringing that check his temper enough to suck in a breath as he curls his fist in the paper apollo put up on the wall, his voice taut like an unplucked string as he tries to keep himself together. ]
She was murdered. Fushiguro, too. Not killed in a freak accident, murdered.
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[ she walks over to him, but she's mainly peering at the hand that he hit against the wall. ]
Be more careful. We can't have any more people injured.
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[ okay karen calm down
anyway. when he gets the sense she's looking at his hand, he pauses and actually looks down... his knuckles are red and probably a little bruised now. ]
... Barely even noticed. [ muttered. ]
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That won't do. We need to be in our best condition for whatever lies ahead of us. Like you said, we have reached a point where it is no longer freak accidents, after all.
[ unless these two were also, somehow, freak accidents. which is entirely possible in a murdergame but they are not genre savvy enough to know this yet. ]
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...yeah.
[ he ducks his head a little, a tiny bit scolded, voice rough and heavy, and looks down at his hand, rubbing his thumb over the top of his knuckles. you sure you can handle yourself? ]
We were together last night. Everything was - as fine as it could be, then, I don't... some kind of spell, or something. I didn't wake up. I don't - I don't know why I didn't wake up.
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[ ...
she pats his shoulder. ]
Something likely stopped you from waking up. It was not a failing on your part.
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he's silent, for a long moment, swallowing back whatever tide of bitterness that buries itself in like a tick. focus, strohl. focus. ]
But what? And why? Not like anything here so far's stopped anyone from dying. 's no magla or magic around, either. [ mumbling through his thought process: ] The food...? But we've all been eating all week, and it's not like it was isolated - like you said.
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[ instead of just talking amongst themselves... but it's too late for that. ]
I think we are still mostly strangers to each other, which may make things difficult.
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[ after everything that happened. she's right - it's frustrating, and he scrubs his hand over his face, exhausted and mad and full of emotions. ]
...This has to stop. All of it.
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[ she is really just thinking about finding a body with sasaki, who is so normie. ]
week 1, saturday
sometime after trial happened, ]
Sir? Are you doing alright?
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hey girl. strohl's outside somewhere, just kind of... standing, arms crossed. he's shed his fancy yellow coat and his bloody cravat, at least! haha...yay...
he glances over when virtuosa addresses him, and then ducks his head. ]
...In a manner of speaking. [ no but he's calmer than he was before now, and much calmer than he was on friday, so there's that. ]
Shouldn't have lost it like that. [ ... ] I'm sorry.
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No, I think people should be honest about what they're feeling. It is good to know how to control it, but I don't think your anger was something bad.
[ just... being directly improperly for the time. ]
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If you say so. I don't want to put my problems onto the rest of you. [ ... ] Whole thing just... hit too close to home.
What'd you say to her? At the end.
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[ she sighs then shakes her head. ]
Regret cannot change the past.
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...No. No, it can't. [ never has, never will. it doesn't bring back vi or fushiguro or apollo, it doesn't bring back miyu or anyone else. it doesn't bring back halia, either. ]
Always too little, too late.
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You feel a lot, don't you? Difficult to not have your heart on your sleeves. This kind of situation is difficult for that.
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[ he won't disagree - there's a little nod. he is so full of big baby feelings. it's just this was extra targeted. people here die indiscriminately, but it's nathalie's words that stick with him like glue, that rankled him beyond any form of composure.
soft, staring out at the distant horizon: ]
... My father always taught me that a noble ought not place themselves upon an ivory tower - that when they stop caring for the well-being of their people as people, and instead see them from a distance as a possession or an abstract concept, they are no longer deserving of the title.
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[ no matter where you go... rich people are the worst, it seems? ]
Lets say that she really did what she believed was right. I wonder why she kept it a secret? Perhaps she worried she would be a more obvious target, considering she's apparently terminal. But it was taking things out of our hands.
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[ true nobility. the sort that imparted their values onto their son.
he considers the question after, thoughtful. ]
... That escapes me, too. [ like, why. ] Anyone with any sense between their ears would've told her that was insane to believe. And hearing of something like that - we could have tried to use that information to find out what the hell's actually happening here.
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[ she goes quiet again. ]
... she seemed intelligent though, is the thing. So, what convinced her had to sound rather believable, I think.
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scowling ]
... Right. People lose sight of their logic if they're appealed to. Easy for people just to lie and make it seem like a situation's going to benefit them. [ nnrnrhghghf he hates it ] So whatever convinced her's probably sharp enough to put together this whole fiasco, too.
[ gesturing wildly out in general at this place. ]
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Plus, they had the foresight to only approach one person. If more were told, then word would have spread. Much more risky.
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[ ughghghg. his foot taps, annoyed. ]
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[ they can really sit here theorizing but. it feels like going in circles without any actual confirmations.
... ]
... do you think fate is predetermined?
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Fate? [ ... ]
No. No, I don't. What sort of a life is that to live?