[ WELL. that was not what ash expected or wanted to find after finally getting out of his room. but he doesn't linger long after Haruka's body is moved.
he's in the lounge for most of the day, with a book in his lap and a frown on his face. it looks like he's reading, but after a moment or two it'll probably be apparent he hasn't turned the page since he got here. ]
[Guess we all cope in our own weird ways. Lio is pacing! It's probably super annoying, because he's circling the entirety of the house they have access to over and over. He's probably come through the lounge at least two or three times already, glancing at Ash every time. Finally, he stops.]
Or used to it. [ He makes a face though. ] I'm not naive enough to think this shit wasn't a possibility, but you'd kinda hope nothing was leading to this. Even if most of us did spend most of the first weekend all kicking the crap out each other.
[Raised by wolves!!!! Anyway, if Ash wants to talk about it, Lio will just take a seat. Manspreading somewhere on a table nearby.]
Becoming numb to death is insanity. [Hm!] As for the fighting . . . that isn't the same as killing each other. We don't know if one of us did it - the staff seemed accustomed to it.
Or overexposure. Depends on the person and the situation, probably.
That, or they were expecting it in advance one way or another. Monobun did mention something about there being other surprises here, but she'd also been told she couldn't elaborate.
Nah. They're set on one thing - that we RSVPed to come here, but other than that she's keeping pretty quiet. Not sure about the others, whether they'd be more open with information or not.
[UM well he's not exactly pleased with how that went down! If Ash gets in his way when he's stomping around at any point that night, he'll get one very nasty:]
[ they’re all in the best and brightest of moods! it’s!! lovely!! lio is just going to get the sort of look that could melt steel but his voice is weirdly light and pleasant when he talks: ]
I dunno, did voting for someone else and risking 34 lives work out for you?
We know jackshit about this whole situation and didn't never know murder was a thing here until Friday. [ even if some of them were savvy enough to wonder. ]
Now we know about that at least.
Get info, make plans, and try and make sure we aren't forced into a corner with our arms up behind our backs and the countdown clock on zero again.
[ he just rubs a hand over his eyes before elaborating: ] I sure as hell would rather that girl wasn't gonna die, you know? But right now we're playing catch up in a game we didn't know had started.
[ha! hahaha! That went so much better than last week. That's crazy. Anyway, Ash, wherever you are, Lio is roaming around the house in his usual post-trauma anxiety walks - and if he runs into Ash, he'll actually stop.]
[ he just. picks it up and looks at it for a moment? hello? what’s this? zemuria does not have twinkies. ]
Somehow.
[ he’ll put up his hand — they’ve earned a high five here lio don’t leave him hanging. ] But it was still a clean sweep. I’ll take it, even if it was damn close for a minute there.
We can only plan so far ahead. It seems this place is known to disrupt plans - we tried to capture Meltryllis before the night of the murders, and had no luck. Next week will be more difficult. We have no idea who will be acting.
No luck? What did she do, run from you for 24 hours?
And we don’t have a handy little cure to save at least one of the victims. If there’s more than one and we don’t catch both of them we can’t help them or stop them. [ well the sense of victory was fun while it lasted ]
I have written so many starters I think my brain is beginning to leak out of my ears? This one will be. Listen, they just, at some point, run into one another. Let's go with that. Lio is losing his goddamn mind at this point, so the second Ash accidentally steps too close, he just YELLS. Sorry about it!]
Yeah, that's the other thing -- why were you just chilling [ literally ] -- in a volcano--
[ and while he'd love to get the answer to that question, it doesn't quite work out like that. In the same way he'd just been overwhelmed by the dragon memory, Ash's own memory takes over with about the same amount of subtlety and suddenness--
There's fear, and pain and confusion that lasts for a good few minutes as awareness slowly filters back into Ash's mind. There's panic too, slowly creeping up from his stomach, and it's overwhelming, making it hard to breathe.
There's a smell as well - smokey, and ashy. Like something's been burning. A lot of things have been burning. It's overwhelming, a mix of burnt wood and -- something else. Sweet, like decay and overwhelming like burnt... something else. Ash starts to scrabble to his feet, through broken wood and shattered pieces of what was once a home. From the first person point of view Lio's seeing, Ash's hands look much smaller than they are normally. They're child's hands, not the older ones he has now.
Wherever Ash was had been beautiful ones. Surrounded by trees, and beautiful views of nature. Small and quaint stone buildings, in an equally small and quaint village. Or... it was, at some point.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
WEEK 0, FRIDAY post body
he's in the lounge for most of the day, with a book in his lap and a frown on his face. it looks like he's reading, but after a moment or two it'll probably be apparent he hasn't turned the page since he got here. ]
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. . . You haven't moved.
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[ He just kinda leans into the couch cushions, and shifts to prop his head up with his fist. The book just kinda drops, pretence dropped. ]
Feeling unsettled? [ He's not been reading, Lio hasn't stopped pacing... they're all great. ]
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Anyone claiming they aren't is lying or insane.
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Or used to it. [ He makes a face though. ] I'm not naive enough to think this shit wasn't a possibility, but you'd kinda hope nothing was leading to this. Even if most of us did spend most of the first weekend all kicking the crap out each other.
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Becoming numb to death is insanity. [Hm!] As for the fighting . . . that isn't the same as killing each other. We don't know if one of us did it - the staff seemed accustomed to it.
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Or overexposure. Depends on the person and the situation, probably.
That, or they were expecting it in advance one way or another. Monobun did mention something about there being other surprises here, but she'd also been told she couldn't elaborate.
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[She gave him a very ugly sweater!]
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[ Thank you, thank you, he'll be signing autographs later. ]
She didn't seem happy about it, but wasn't willing to drop any hints about what the surprise was.
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Did she reveal anything else? Any hint as to where we are?
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Nah. They're set on one thing - that we RSVPed to come here, but other than that she's keeping pretty quiet. Not sure about the others, whether they'd be more open with information or not.
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Fine.
[But, moving on:]
Where were you last night? When the doors locked.
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My room. Not very exciting, but there's that. You?
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[Is that . . . vague embarrassment on his face. What a fucking mess!!!!!]
Are you feeling anything unusual this morning? Different from the rest of the week.
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Nope.
Why, do you?
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[Commital!]
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I'll go ahead and assume that's a yes.
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[what]
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Did they hit you guys who got locked in rooms that weren't your own over the head with something special, or something?
[ WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL OF YOU. ]
WEEK 0 - POST TRIAL
And? Did that work out as you had hoped?
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I dunno, did voting for someone else and risking 34 lives work out for you?
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[ he's dealt with enough martyrdom back home, thanks. ]
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I do not intend to become a martyr either. I just don't see how this works-- what do we do? Keep playing their games until they decide they are bored?
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Now we know about that at least.
Get info, make plans, and try and make sure we aren't forced into a corner with our arms up behind our backs and the countdown clock on zero again.
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[Huffing, because he knows he's not getting his point across well. On account of angery.]
I can't-- I don't want to put anyone's lives at risk.
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Sometimes you don't have a choice.
[ he just rubs a hand over his eyes before elaborating: ] I sure as hell would rather that girl wasn't gonna die, you know? But right now we're playing catch up in a game we didn't know had started.
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There is always a choice. We just have to find what it is.
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[ but, he shrugs. ]
Might do now though.
WEEK 1 - POST EXECUTION
. . . Are you alright?
[At least he's not as mean as last week.]
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... as much as you could expect. Guess it’s the same for you?
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Mm. It feels a useless question to ask. I suppose no one is alright with it.
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[ shoulder check him anyway some day, he'll probably have done something to deserve it. ]
WEEK 2 - POST EXECUTION
. . . Putting a twinkie in front of him, wherever he is.]
We did better. This week.
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Somehow.
[ he’ll put up his hand — they’ve earned a high five here lio don’t leave him hanging. ] But it was still a clean sweep. I’ll take it, even if it was damn close for a minute there.
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It's good - a moment of victory.
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Then the question becomes how do we keep it up.
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We can only plan so far ahead. It seems this place is known to disrupt plans - we tried to capture Meltryllis before the night of the murders, and had no luck. Next week will be more difficult. We have no idea who will be acting.
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No luck? What did she do, run from you for 24 hours?
And we don’t have a handy little cure to save at least one of the victims. If there’s more than one and we don’t catch both of them we can’t help them or stop them. [ well the sense of victory was fun while it lasted ]
WEEK 3 - TUESDAY - MEM SHARE
I have written so many starters I think my brain is beginning to leak out of my ears? This one will be. Listen, they just, at some point, run into one another. Let's go with that. Lio is losing his goddamn mind at this point, so the second Ash accidentally steps too close, he just YELLS. Sorry about it!]
DO NONE OF YOU--
[oh what's happening]
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[ holy shit though. ash just backs up and stares at him. ]
...
DO NONE OF I WHAT? [ he shouts it back though, which is impressive considering he just looks pretty bemused. ]
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well then. how does one subtley bring up that you've just seen one of their memories? ]
Dude, you turned into a dragon? [ Nailed it. ]
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Yes.
[Yes.]
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...
You do that often?
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[It was stressful.]
I had just been in a volcano. It seemed the correct course of action at the time.
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[ and while he'd love to get the answer to that question, it doesn't quite work out like that. In the same way he'd just been overwhelmed by the dragon memory, Ash's own memory takes over with about the same amount of subtlety and suddenness--
There's fear, and pain and confusion that lasts for a good few minutes as awareness slowly filters back into Ash's mind. There's panic too, slowly creeping up from his stomach, and it's overwhelming, making it hard to breathe.
There's a smell as well - smokey, and ashy. Like something's been burning. A lot of things have been burning. It's overwhelming, a mix of burnt wood and -- something else. Sweet, like decay and overwhelming like burnt... something else. Ash starts to scrabble to his feet, through broken wood and shattered pieces of what was once a home. From the first person point of view Lio's seeing, Ash's hands look much smaller than they are normally. They're child's hands, not the older ones he has now.
Wherever Ash was had been beautiful ones. Surrounded by trees, and beautiful views of nature. Small and quaint stone buildings, in an equally small and quaint village. Or... it was, at some point.
It doesn't look that way anymore.
There's a pause before Ash just swears. Loudly. ]
The hell is wrong with this damn mansion??