AUDIENCE FOR: Clementine

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[guestservices]

And there's the Clem I remember. [lmao. they bump their should against hers.] Come on. Be a little more optimistic about it for once.

[stillnot]

[ she nudges back. ]

My optimism is usually "I'll probably live through this," but it's hard to keep that up after dying.

[ this is? a joke? ]

[guestservices]

Hey. Some of us can still make it work after dying, you know.

[you should both maybe stop joking about the fact you're varying states of dead.]

...how are things over there right now anyway?

[stillnot]

[ yeah she doesn't love that joke as much from them but also it's. fine. dead apparently can mean so many different things! ]

It's kind of like home, honestly.

[ which is to say: everyone is very chaotic and immature. she lives with children. these are adults. why. ]

[guestservices]

[at least :) she didn't :) have to watch them die :) unlike someone :)

but that does get them to laugh slightly.]

Yeah? Considering who's there...maybe that shouldn't surprise me as much. [there's hesitance to the question.] How mad is Bucky?

[sometimes...you watch a dude get scapegoated twice.]

[stillnot]

[ IT'S NOT LIKE IT'S MY FAULT? (it is 99% my fault) ]

He's handling it okay. I think.

He's picking fights with Virgo, though. And we all voted for him at a fake trial on Monday.

[ scapegoat............ 3! ]

[guestservices]

[:unamused:]

Doesn't surprise me. He picks fights with all of us. [...what the fuck are the dead doing, actually.] Why...was there a fake trial?

[stillnot]

Well. So do I.

[ that's not entirely true actually gemini was the only one she picked a fight with, for some reason?

and as for why there was a fake trial........ she just..... shrugs! who knows. ]

[guestservices]

Do you? [lightly, calling her out. it's fine, they're holding hands and watching the beach go by.]

It still doesn't make sense, but at least you're busy and...you know. Not going on weird adventures.

[. . .]

Wait, why did you keep fighting with me? [hey!!]

[stillnot]

For now. But if it's not me it might just be someone else.

[ and she's not sure how she feels about someone like... kazunari getting stuck in a cyoa. ]

It was funny.

[guestservices]

I really, really hope not. [they are so tired, it would be awesome if people stayed in one spot. but she can almost imagine them making a face.]

You're the worst. And I gave you nail polish and everything.

[stillnot]

[ yeah. YEAH. luckily there are some good fighters among the dead but... still. ]

... And that was very sweet of you. But it didn't really tip the scales on how bad this place is.

I guess it... [ hrm. how to say this in a nice way? ] It felt easier to deal with the ones who didn't seem like they were taking their 'job' here that seriously.

[guestservices]

[but still, jae really fucked y'all up.]

Yeah, I know. [...at least they don't seem offended or anything when she says that. it's not like they aren't aware of how this looks, after all.] ...I get it. I'm not, like, mad or anything. I don't know how to make this easier either.

[a pause.]

...you and Hope are the only ones who know on this side of things. And it has to stay that way for now. I do have to keep doing my job.

[stillnot]

[ she. she really did fuck us up.

but good, clementine does look a little relieved that he says he's not mad. even if she still feels... very conflicted about all of this. like she can't decide if it means she can relax or if it's just a new stress factor.

her strategy right now is to not really address that. ]

Do more people know on the other side?

[guestservices]

[valid strategy.]

...Lup and Cloud both do. But I don't know if they've told each other they know and that's probably better, too. Cloud told me on Monday he knew it was me. Lup remembered me last Saturday.

[stillnot]

Why is it better?

Does anything... Happen if people know?

[guestservices]

...I don't know. But it's better that as few people know as possible right now. And I don't know, I think...they have a different relationship right now. And Lup's still Lup, but she's a different Lup still. So it's fine if they haven't told each other. I don't expect them to.

[stillnot]

Huh.

[ she thinks about this for a second and decides she doesn't want to try to figure out what's going on with lup and cloud. ]

... I'm glad you remember me.

[guestservices]

[mood.]

Why would I ever forget you? [they sound so surprised.] I've, um. Kinda thought about you a lot since we left.

[stillnot]

[ ... embarrassing. but it makes her happy. ]

Well, if you weren't the same you... I guess. Since that's a whole thing that can happen.

[ but, actually ]

How long has it been for you, anyway? Because Bucky said it's been years for him, and for me it's only been a couple of weeks.

[guestservices]

[they wisely do not tell her that they have remembered memories from another game they don't entirely recall.]

I'm always going to be me, even if...[even if they very clearly are not acting like themselves.]

It's been years for Hope, too, so I think that might be something that happens for certain people. I don't know how long it's really been for me. Time's really confusing where I was before this. But I don't think it's been years, or even months.

[stillnot]

[ good to know. like everything they say, no idea what to actually do with that. but good to know. ]

And you're just... Here now.

[guestservices]

So I am. [they don't really know how either.] ...I understand that not everyone appreciates my job, but I am slightly grateful for the employment opportunity.

[which is really just "i get people are pissed, but i'm kinda glad to be alive again and here."]

[stillnot]

[ she'll just have to trust them that it's something worth appreciating. ]

Better than the alternative.

[ like at least they're not. a guest instead??? ]

[guestservices]

Yeah. It's...I'm making it work. Obviously there's stuff I'd change, but this part isn't too bad.

[at least they can still talk to her, and the others who have gone, they mean.]