[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.
Well, those people are stupid. And also? I am not those people. I keep my word. You made a deal with me, didn't you? If I say I'm going to do something, I do it. Wish the bad guys would learn that a little better actually. Like when I say I'm going to punch them in the face or shoot them.
Yeah, I appreciate your honesty more than anything. [they just say that and begin to walk forward, heading to a back corner of the cemetery. the spooky noises follow, slightly, but it's nothing dangerous. they eventually stop by a tree that's largely out of the way.]
Maybe here. Near the base where they're less likely to get crushed.
[He follows them to the back edge of the cemetery under the tree with all the spooky noises. For some reason, the fact they aren't freaked out about the noises makes him... less freaked out too.]
Not a bad spot.
[He kneels down and sets them carefully aside so he can
start digging in the ground with his hands. Not far. Just a little on the top.]
[it's just nice ambiance. but jason drops down into the dirt, and after a moment aquarius does the same. they use one gloved hand to start brushing aside dirt to help make the hole a little bigger.]
...hopefully it'll stay out of the way. Or people won't desecrate this place again on Thursday nights.
[He lets them help! Even if he wants to point out how wary they were before about getting in trouble. It's fine. Aquarius can do the second one while he takes the first origami tombstone and situates it in the groove.
He packs the dirt back around it to make sure it doesn't get toppled over.]
Who the hell took all the time to do that out here while I'm trying to do my job? To people's graves, too. Just shoot them like normal people. Is it the shadows? [It sounds mostly like he's talking to himself here.] I can't stand this place.
[listen they think that maybe if they're "helping a guest" it won't be so bad. so here they are in the dirt and digging holes for origami tombs.]
It's the graves that really pisses me off, actually. [they're? not happy? not happy!!] Seemed a little excessive though, didn't it? Should've left them buried and just dug other holes if you were hiding evidence.
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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.
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Yeah. That’s the first half of it. Then we got attacked by wraiths and hit by a car.
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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.]
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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.
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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.]
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...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.
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...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.
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...somewhere in the back maybe where they won't be disturbed if this happens again.
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[He sort of jerks his head in a beckoning way.]
Alright. Show me where.
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Yeah, I appreciate your honesty more than anything. [they just say that and begin to walk forward, heading to a back corner of the cemetery. the spooky noises follow, slightly, but it's nothing dangerous. they eventually stop by a tree that's largely out of the way.]
Maybe here. Near the base where they're less likely to get crushed.
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Not a bad spot.
[He kneels down and sets them carefully aside so he can
start digging in the ground with his hands. Not far. Just a little on the top.]
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...hopefully it'll stay out of the way. Or people won't desecrate this place again on Thursday nights.
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He packs the dirt back around it to make sure it doesn't get toppled over.]
Who the hell took all the time to do that out here while I'm trying to do my job? To people's graves, too. Just shoot them like normal people. Is it the shadows? [It sounds mostly like he's talking to himself here.] I can't stand this place.
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It's the graves that really pisses me off, actually. [they're? not happy? not happy!!] Seemed a little excessive though, didn't it? Should've left them buried and just dug other holes if you were hiding evidence.
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