[WEEK 1: FRIDAY EVENING, AROUND ROOM 112; DAVE]

[nowyouseeit]

[WELL THAT SUCKED. we're down a roommate and a doorknob, and someone wound up dying in this place after all. Kaito's probably hanging around Room 112 sometime in the evening before curfew, just kind of. piddling about, trying to see if there are any more clues he can find]

Why would he just. . . get up a leave the room? If that's what happened?

Comments

[nowyouseeit]

[his hands ball into fists]

. . . I can't make myself okay with the idea of even forty-one survivors.

[but. it looks like they kind of. . . have to]

[parodeity]

I'm...used to people dyin', but even so. I'm not really okay with it, either.

[ it's a quiet admission. ]

Looks like we're not gonna have that talk with Jay about our roles or anythin', though.

[nowyouseeit]

[he's used to people dying, too. has been on one too many murder scenes. lived through eight years of the shadow of his father's death, thinking it was an accident when it was really murder]

[it's not something one ever gets used to. it's just something they try to cope with]

. . . we briefly touched onthe subject before he died. But whatever his role was, it isn't about to help us now.

[parodeity]

Can't say mine is, either.

[ so that's Brilliant. ]

I guess we might not find out what the fuck he had, anyway. It doesn't even matter - I'd rather he just not be...you know. It's not like a kiss will bring him back, or anythin' else.

[nowyouseeit]

[another pause, before he asks slowly]

. . . is that how people were brought back from the dead where you come from? You 'n Jason both mentioned. . . that.

[being. a thing]

[parodeity]

It was one option for us.

[ there's no point in keeping it Secret, so: ]

I've died a lot, but I remember two times, because the other times were...things I got to witness instead of experience. Once I got shot, and a friend kissed me. Back home, that sends you to another you in certain circumstances. The body you use when you're dreamin', only it becomes your real body. The second time I got blown the fuck up with my sister, and we just happened to die in a way that met a different set of circumstances that allowed a revive, because we were standin' on specific stone slabs.

[ but. like. ]

If I die here, that's it, though.

[nowyouseeit]

[slumps against the wall]

Where I come from, nobody ever comes back from the dead. Nobody.

[there's an odd. . . sharpness in his tone, that he can't quite hide. death is final. you kill someone, their blood is on your hands. forever]

. . . based on what Jason was saying and his appearance, I kinda thought that he. I dunno. Maybe died once before coming here, too.

[parodeity]

It's...only in really specific circumstances, back home. The time we exploded I thought I was dyin' for good, but I had to go. It was a suicide mission.

[ a gesture. ]

All our guardians died and stayed dead, though. But yeah - I think Jay might've been...through some of the same shit?

[nowyouseeit]

[he nods]

Yeah. . . s'not like anyone deserves to die, but. Y'know. . . he really didn't deserve it.

[let Jason Todd live??]

[parodeity]

If someone had to go it could've been one of the people who like, has murdered, I guess? But even then I wouldn't wish it on 'em.

[nowyouseeit]

Yeah.

[even if the darkest parts of him would wish death on the men who murdered his father, he decided a long time ago not to let those dark parts win. he's going to be better than them. he's going to refuse to stoop to their level]

This is just all so stupid.

[parodeity]

I don't disagree.

[ it's quiet, but. ]

None of it's okay, but I guess...freakin' out does no good. We have to actually do shit.

[nowyouseeit]

I know.

I've known that from the beginning, but I still reserve the right to grumble about how much it sucks.

[just because being bratty helps him feel better sometimes]

[parodeity]

Dude, I'm one thousand percent behind that.

[ like. A LOT. ]

I complained sometimes back in the game - sburb, it was a thing - when I had to like. Well. Do things that were...yeah.

[nowyouseeit]

[offers him a slightly lopsided smile]

Coping mechanisms, right?

[he pauses]

What's sburb? And what kinda. . . stuff. . . did you have to do?

[parodeity]

Sburb was...a video game, I guess, except not that. It's like. It was supposed to be a computer game, but we played it, and everything changed. The game took us inside? Like...it also created our universe, and the point was to create another new universe as ours ended or. Whatever.

[ he waves it away. ]

I was - am - the time player. So. I ran a bunch of stable timeloops and some unstable ones. We fought a lot of enemies. Killed some. Died a bunch. There were...always things that needed doin', I guess.

[ a pause. ]

I realize it mostly sounds insane, but yeah.

[nowyouseeit]

. . .

"Insane" sounds like an understatement.

[BUT YOU KNOW WHAT??]

I think I'm at the point of believing it despite how crazy it sounds, though.

[parodeity]

Yeah, my life is...very weird? I don't mind, like, answerin' questions, but. Sometimes it is better not to ask.

[nowyouseeit]

S'okay. I'm not one to pry.

[a wave of his hand]

If you wanna tell me something, you will. That's how it works.

[parodeity]

I mean, same here, dude.

[ dave is like willing to spill about his weird life it's just the #child abuse he won't get into. so. ]

I think it's pretty important to...stick together? I dunno. People are gonna splinter, because people do that.