[Yeah, very funny. I should have made him lose but it’s fine.]
I could ask three questions, but couldn’t break character. Did I mention I had to be an actor for an audience, otherwise we’d probably all die? [He sort of… shoots a sidelong glance at them that’s maybe curiously pointed.] Yuri seemed… the least… genuine, I guess. The most embellished.
So I just took the risk. [A pause.] Dunno. A while, I guess. Had to get through the dating game—and the bullshit after—before getting to Hua and Harrow.
[stop i hate you. anyway aquarius is aware of that look, but they don't acknowledge it because it's jason hours and jason hours mean listening to him explain this cyoa.]
I've heard acting's a tough gig, but that's a little extreme. What came after the dating game? You and Yuri stuck together after that? If you were an actor I'm guessing everyone else had to be, too, somehow.
We “won,” but they didn’t like our choice of getaway. The hotel. Thought it was boring. So they dropped the floor out from under us. We ran into an injured girl Yuri knew from home. When she sighs, apparently monsters are attracted to her.
Never seen it before. Looked like a giant lizard. A dinosaur. I grabbed the girl so we could run. I didn’t think we’d be able to fight it. My arms were full and Yuri had, what? A pipe. The thing was at least fifteen feet tall or more.
We ran down the other side of the tunnel, but it was a dead end except for two doors. One to the hotel, one to a mansion where we could see Harrow and Hua Cheng. I didn’t know if it was a trap, so I gave the girl to Yuri and told him to go into the hotel door because the monster had injured his leg.
He followed me, though. The monster had been charging something, some kind of beam. It got us across the back as we ran in.
[aquarius, thinking about all of the random garbage people have used as weapons before and going "you could have made it work."
they do not say this. instead, they continue to listen and try to suss out what the hell kind of monster this was.]
Why would he follow you? [like fair but COME ON.] So you got hit and burned with a laser beam from a dinosaur's mouth and were thrown back into a mansion where Harrow and Hua Cheng were. Is that what you're saying to me? On top of this injured girl, Yuri's leg, and your shark-bitten and drowned body.
Okay. Sure. Why wouldn't that happen. [GOD!!!!!!] Was there like...a point to all of this, or did someone just really hate you guys and wanted to see how you'd do on your show?
Eh. [He sort of shrugs.] Beats me. [And then he takes one of the last few drags of the cigarette.] I think the gist of it was we were all entertainment for an audience of skeletons.
Harrow found a note that read like a list of a show's plot details for different seasons. Things that may be interesting to happen, blah blah. We figured we should do the opposite. The audience started leaving. Oh--the car.
A woman drove into the house and hit most of us with a car, then got out to berate us about how she pays us and we're ruining the show. I don't think she saw me because I rolled over the hood. So I tried to sneak into the car.
[Don't like that! But sometimes you have no choice. He's still thinking about how this is about four weeks out from how he would have been finished in his last game.]
Probably would've been trapped for longer. There was something at the end of Harrow's note. It said, "End the show to go back." [He snorts a bit and finishes the cigarette.] Yeah. I'm great at breaking and entering.
They kept her distracted until I could run her over.
[Please stop just saying shit and leaving it at that.]
...was it a note you could trust though? [but they don't seem to think their opinion means much on it, because they're moving on. jason just says things, and for a second they pause before they nod.]
[...now they just feel sort of stupid, so they don't respond and stubbornly look somewhere else.
sometimes? people you like go on quests weird adventures and just never come back? but this isn't like that. so maybe they are just overreacting a little.]
...right.
[...they should say something else. give them a second to pick.]
[Well. He can sort of tell this is about something more and, maybe, something about him, but he doesn't know what it is exactly. And he thinks Aquarius wouldn't tell him anyway.
Since that has been sort of what happens most other times.]
Hey. I brought something for you. Not just a picture of me as a kid.
[He leans up off the mausoleum so he can dig in the inside pocket of his jacket. Don't @ me I haven't submitted this yet because I didn't know if he'd do it here. Anyway, he pulls out some of the paper from the concierge.
It's all been folded a few times like this to form a sheath and a box. He has two of them! In Memory of a Beloved Sister and In Memory of a Beloved Mother has been written on one side of each of them.]
they're sort of just. kind of staring at them blankly like they aren't sure what to say. this goes on for a while. they're pretty much not moving while they process this.]
[He does the thing where he twists his wrists so he shakes them from side to side playfully. Lil tombies. He turns around to slip down away from the mausoleum. Gonna hunt a place to put them.]
Where do you want them? Got a hole in the top to stick the flowers in.
Yeah, but people say things and don't actually do them all the time. [pointing that out. but jason gets away from the mausoleum and aquarius follows after him.]
...somewhere in the back maybe where they won't be disturbed if this happens again.
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I'm assuming scrambled eggs was Yuri. Did you match with any of them? [...hang on a sec.] How long were all four of you split up?
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I could ask three questions, but couldn’t break character. Did I mention I had to be an actor for an audience, otherwise we’d probably all die? [He sort of… shoots a sidelong glance at them that’s maybe curiously pointed.] Yuri seemed… the least… genuine, I guess. The most embellished.
So I just took the risk. [A pause.] Dunno. A while, I guess. Had to get through the dating game—and the bullshit after—before getting to Hua and Harrow.
no subject
I've heard acting's a tough gig, but that's a little extreme. What came after the dating game? You and Yuri stuck together after that? If you were an actor I'm guessing everyone else had to be, too, somehow.
no subject
We “won,” but they didn’t like our choice of getaway. The hotel. Thought it was boring. So they dropped the floor out from under us. We ran into an injured girl Yuri knew from home. When she sighs, apparently monsters are attracted to her.
Well, she sighed.
no subject
they seem to just kind of. pause. and focus a little more when jason mentions monsters.]
What kind of monsters showed up? That means you had to fight, didn't you? What happened to the girl?
[they have a lot of questions sorry jason.]
no subject
Never seen it before. Looked like a giant lizard. A dinosaur. I grabbed the girl so we could run. I didn’t think we’d be able to fight it. My arms were full and Yuri had, what? A pipe. The thing was at least fifteen feet tall or more.
We ran down the other side of the tunnel, but it was a dead end except for two doors. One to the hotel, one to a mansion where we could see Harrow and Hua Cheng. I didn’t know if it was a trap, so I gave the girl to Yuri and told him to go into the hotel door because the monster had injured his leg.
He followed me, though. The monster had been charging something, some kind of beam. It got us across the back as we ran in.
no subject
they do not say this. instead, they continue to listen and try to suss out what the hell kind of monster this was.]
Why would he follow you? [like fair but COME ON.] So you got hit and burned with a laser beam from a dinosaur's mouth and were thrown back into a mansion where Harrow and Hua Cheng were. Is that what you're saying to me? On top of this injured girl, Yuri's leg, and your shark-bitten and drowned body.
no subject
Yeah. That’s the first half of it. Then we got attacked by wraiths and hit by a car.
no subject
they are. so exhausted.]
Okay. Sure. Why wouldn't that happen. [GOD!!!!!!] Was there like...a point to all of this, or did someone just really hate you guys and wanted to see how you'd do on your show?
[what is the connection, help.]
no subject
Eh. [He sort of shrugs.] Beats me. [And then he takes one of the last few drags of the cigarette.] I think the gist of it was we were all entertainment for an audience of skeletons.
Harrow found a note that read like a list of a show's plot details for different seasons. Things that may be interesting to happen, blah blah. We figured we should do the opposite. The audience started leaving. Oh--the car.
A woman drove into the house and hit most of us with a car, then got out to berate us about how she pays us and we're ruining the show. I don't think she saw me because I rolled over the hood. So I tried to sneak into the car.
no subject
Wasn't that similar to what happened at that school, too? Everything was sort of like a TV script that the players and the dormheads had to follow.
[they ponder this.]
...what do you think would have actually happened if you followed the plot? Did you actually get in the car?
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[Don't like that! But sometimes you have no choice. He's still thinking about how this is about four weeks out from how he would have been finished in his last game.]
Probably would've been trapped for longer. There was something at the end of Harrow's note. It said, "End the show to go back." [He snorts a bit and finishes the cigarette.] Yeah. I'm great at breaking and entering.
They kept her distracted until I could run her over.
[Please stop just saying shit and leaving it at that.]
no subject
...was it a note you could trust though? [but they don't seem to think their opinion means much on it, because they're moving on. jason just says things, and for a second they pause before they nod.]
Good. Did she survive?
[DON'T JUST ASK QUESTIONS LIKE THAT.]
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[About the trustworthiness of the note.] Yeah. [SHOCKING.]
She started getting back up. I'm not surprised. But it gave us enough time to get out of there in the car together, through the hole that opened.
[He puts the cigarette out on the top of his thigh and then slides the filter into his pocket.]
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[stop.]
...but at least you got out. All four of you. I'm glad to hear that much and that it wasn't as bad as it could've been.
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[He peers over at Aquarius.]
Why, you worried?
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[. . .]
Of course I was worried, dumbass. [HELLO? but they also don't, like, elaborate on that.]
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Well, so far, everyone has come back from them. So even if we get brutalized to hell, we should be alright. Right?
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sometimes? people you like go on
questsweird adventures and just never come back? but this isn't like that. so maybe they are just overreacting a little.]...right.
[...they should say something else. give them a second to pick.]
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Since that has been sort of what happens most other times.]
Hey. I brought something for you. Not just a picture of me as a kid.
no subject
...not that I don't appreciate the picture. But like what?
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It's all been folded a few times like this to form a sheath and a box. He has two of them! In Memory of a Beloved Sister and In Memory of a Beloved Mother has been written on one side of each of them.]
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they're sort of just. kind of staring at them blankly like they aren't sure what to say. this goes on for a while. they're pretty much not moving while they process this.]
...you...actually did it.
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[He does the thing where he twists his wrists so he shakes them from side to side playfully. Lil tombies. He turns around to slip down away from the mausoleum. Gonna hunt a place to put them.]
Where do you want them? Got a hole in the top to stick the flowers in.
no subject
...somewhere in the back maybe where they won't be disturbed if this happens again.
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