[KNOCK KNOCK BINCH. WHERE THE HELL IS LEO. He can run, but he can't hide. Riku is looking for him. In the Wiffle House, in the store, in the trucks, get out here.]
I was talking through the fuel station with someone else. Everything was bloody. I had a mask on; the person with me had one on, too, shaped like a rat. We were in uniforms. The person asked me, "Do you think we'll be able to" something "him?"
Looking back, it's almost like we were... sneaking? We saw other employees, but they didn't feel friendly.
We looked in every room we could. We went into the arcade, and on the way out, we heard a lot of crazy squeaking. Then something rushed us, and it felt like I was being bitten a bunch of times. Whatever it was said, "You don't work here!"
[Hmmm. He lifts a hand, tapping his chin as he thinks this over.]
...It's only a hunch, but I think it's likely that we're seeing what happened here in the past. [That's the best theory he's got, anyway, because he's sure as hell hoping these aren't creepy premonitions of the future.] I would guess that your vision took place after mine.
[It says a lot about the circumstances they're in that he doesn't respond right away, looking down at his lap.]
...I don't know. If someone attacked me first, I likely would. But of my own volition... [Left or right. You have to make a choice.] People don't come back to life so easily, where I come from. It's a difficult thing to adjust to.
[And--well, he'd said it at the beginning, didn't he? Better them than their loved ones. It would be better if it was me. To go after someone just so that he can survive feels absurd, but at the same time... could he really let go of Elliot so easily? After everything he'd done to him? Wouldn't that be just a little too cowardly?]
[He is also haha quiet for a long moment even when he's given the question.]
I don't know just yet. But... the car wash. I can get inside it. I've been able to get in since I've come back. I can't tell you why, or I'll start squeaking apparently. Don't laugh.
[He gives Leo a somewhat playful unamused LOOK.]
I'm not the only one there. I can't say who else, or I'll start squeaking again. Anyway... one of us got something from the register. It has a picture of some of us in there, and it says, "thanks for doing the right thing." And then... it has a picture of you, and it says, "not you." We were trying to figure out why. We thought it might be an example, since what we assumed was the reason... you aren't the only one.
He doesn't start laughing--and he also doesn't look surprised.]
I know. I was told. [Well--not about the car wash part, but. The rest of it.] I suspect it's something other than that theory, but if you're right... [Sigh.] I'm more concerned for people like Miss Kairi than for myself.
[Ultimately, if it was truly do or die... he probably could take a life. He's got the capacity for it--that much he knows for sure, even if it's only come out as a reflex response. But forcing people like Kairi, or Sei, to spill blood... that, he really doesn't like.]
Did you hear about what happened to me, Miss Jester, and Mr. Campbell?
Of course, but that doesn't mean she should have to kill someone.
[Elliot is strong, too. And Leo would do just about anything to stop him from having to dirty his hands. It's not about not trusting their strength--it's just about keeping their light undimmed.]
...Explaining the whole thing would take too much time. But we were forced into a choice--to kill 500 strangers, to kill the people we loved, or to kill the fourth passenger with us, a kind stranger running from a monster.
I had hoped it wouldn't mean anything significant. [But.] ...I don't understand what any of this has to do with that rat, though.
[They probably need to gather everyone up and try to fit the pieces of this puzzle together. But not everyone would be so quick to share, or to be honest--would it even be worthwhile to try?]
[Leo is so pure. Not that Riku really wants Kairi to have to do any of that either--he spent so many dumbass, hormonal teenage years trying to keep her from that.
But also? He's aware Kairi can and will cut a bitch. And he just has to nod and accept it. Can't believe the Kingdom Hearts have killed...........]
I was trying to find that out myself. [He's not sure what the link is between the rat, the supposed squirrel, and the living and dying.] So... what choice did you make? The passenger?
Do you think that's something that happened here before?
[There's something very dry and pointed about the way he says--]
Mr. Campbell chose left. The 500 strangers.
[He didn't choose anything. This is probably related to the fading bruise on his forehead, though Riku probably can't see it that well under Leo's thick bangs. It's fine.]
I don't know... I don't think so. It specifically mentioned our loved ones by name. If it weren't for the rest of it, I'd say it was intended to be a sign--implying that we have to choose between the people here, and the people from our homes.
[BUT THEN WHERE DOES THE RAT COME IN.]
Edited (me forgetting he didn't say the directions) 2022-01-06 21:51 (UTC)
This place was testing you... [Norton would. Then again, can he really blame Norton for the 500 strangers? (He will a little but not entirely.)] ...He killed 500 people instead of a single person just because he didn't have to look them in the face when he did it?
...Are we really just rats in a cage?
[TERRIBLE.]
Hyuse said when he and Nabiko tried to get into the room in the garage, they ended up opening the back of a truck. They saw the corpses of people they knew. The cut-outs, too. Why...? Is it just to scare us? Or to make us angry?
You'll have to ask him. I thought it was a bad idea to invite a stranger to join us in the first place. They seemed quite determined to protect her.
[But haha!! Hey!!! HE HATES THAT LAST PART.]
...We need to put all of the pieces of this together. Finding a way to locate and kill that rat would be ideal--Mrs. Nott seemed to think something like that was the key, but I have no idea how to locate it.
[He props his chin on the backs of his fingers, looking thoughtful, and then he crosses his arms.]
I don't know if I can blame him for that. Sora would probably do the same thing. I'm not sure if he would kill one person over the people he loves, or 500 strangers either. But that's okay. If I had to do it for him, I would, so he didn't have to.
[Sora has gone through enough. And, well, he might have had a redemption arc, but he still thinks his hands are a little dirty so it wouldn't matter.]
Sora and I have seen a robotic rat. It surprised us in the security room, so I had wondered if it was some kind of guard. If I go by my vision... maybe that's true. So do we kill it?
None of us were going to kill our loved ones--I was concerned there was some sort of trick to it, however. [That "500 strangers" didn't really mean "500 people you've never met and don't care about". Maybe he just reads too much, though, since apparently it was... well. As fine as such a choice could be.] But it seems there wasn't. [...] We did try to avoid choosing any of those options--but doing that simply trapped us in a tunnel that seemed endless. There was no way out without bloodshed of some kind.
[Norton could also be lying, of course. Maybe there was a trick after all. But Leo's acutely aware that he's only fourteen, not even an adult by his world's standards--if Norton didn't listen to him in the truck, he sure as hell isn't going to change his story now, so whatever. What's done is done.
If I had to do it for him, I would, so he didn't have to--and that's it, isn't it? That's all people like them really want, at the end of the day. To do what they can to make sure the people important to them don't ever stop smiling. To make the hard choices, so their loved ones don't have to. "If you had to kill someone, would you?" Riku asked earlier, and... for himself? It's hard to say. But for Elliot? Absolutely.]
We'd have to find it first. You'll want to speak to Mrs. Nott, if you haven't already--she mentioned "Squeak-ee"?
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w2, thurs
Leo!
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Anyway /throws dart he's in the Wiffle House sure. He's also not wearing his glasses! Hm.
But if Riku is looking for him then he isn't gonna bolt at least.]
What is it?
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LEO, YOUR GLASSES? Riku is looking at him kind of suspiciously, but doesn't say anything about that right yet.]
There you are. [HE'S LOOKED EVERYWHERE.] Hyuse told me about your vision.
I had one, too.
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And yeah look that's the point of avoiding people. But, oh--he's definitely 100% attentive now.]
What did you see?
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I was talking through the fuel station with someone else. Everything was bloody. I had a mask on; the person with me had one on, too, shaped like a rat. We were in uniforms. The person asked me, "Do you think we'll be able to" something "him?"
Looking back, it's almost like we were... sneaking? We saw other employees, but they didn't feel friendly.
We looked in every room we could. We went into the arcade, and on the way out, we heard a lot of crazy squeaking. Then something rushed us, and it felt like I was being bitten a bunch of times. Whatever it was said, "You don't work here!"
no subject
...It's only a hunch, but I think it's likely that we're seeing what happened here in the past. [That's the best theory he's got, anyway, because he's sure as hell hoping these aren't creepy premonitions of the future.] I would guess that your vision took place after mine.
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[Dislike.]
There was a lot going on. [Murder.] Leo--
If you had to kill someone, would you?
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...I don't know. If someone attacked me first, I likely would. But of my own volition... [Left or right. You have to make a choice.] People don't come back to life so easily, where I come from. It's a difficult thing to adjust to.
[And--well, he'd said it at the beginning, didn't he? Better them than their loved ones. It would be better if it was me. To go after someone just so that he can survive feels absurd, but at the same time... could he really let go of Elliot so easily? After everything he'd done to him? Wouldn't that be just a little too cowardly?]
Do you think it will come to that?
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I don't know just yet. But... the car wash. I can get inside it. I've been able to get in since I've come back. I can't tell you why, or I'll start squeaking apparently. Don't laugh.
[He gives Leo a somewhat playful unamused LOOK.]
I'm not the only one there. I can't say who else, or I'll start squeaking again. Anyway... one of us got something from the register. It has a picture of some of us in there, and it says, "thanks for doing the right thing." And then... it has a picture of you, and it says, "not you." We were trying to figure out why. We thought it might be an example, since what we assumed was the reason... you aren't the only one.
Just... be prepared, I guess. In case.
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He doesn't start laughing--and he also doesn't look surprised.]
I know. I was told. [Well--not about the car wash part, but. The rest of it.] I suspect it's something other than that theory, but if you're right... [Sigh.] I'm more concerned for people like Miss Kairi than for myself.
[Ultimately, if it was truly do or die... he probably could take a life. He's got the capacity for it--that much he knows for sure, even if it's only come out as a reflex response. But forcing people like Kairi, or Sei, to spill blood... that, he really doesn't like.]
Did you hear about what happened to me, Miss Jester, and Mr. Campbell?
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Kairi is a lot stronger than people give her credit for. [...] Including me and Sora sometimes.
[They are SO rude to their girl.]
I heard you went on an adventure? I think. But I didn't hear any of the details. What happened?
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[Elliot is strong, too. And Leo would do just about anything to stop him from having to dirty his hands. It's not about not trusting their strength--it's just about keeping their light undimmed.]
...Explaining the whole thing would take too much time. But we were forced into a choice--to kill 500 strangers, to kill the people we loved, or to kill the fourth passenger with us, a kind stranger running from a monster.
I had hoped it wouldn't mean anything significant. [But.] ...I don't understand what any of this has to do with that rat, though.
[They probably need to gather everyone up and try to fit the pieces of this puzzle together. But not everyone would be so quick to share, or to be honest--would it even be worthwhile to try?]
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But also? He's aware Kairi can and will cut a bitch. And he just has to nod and accept it. Can't believe the Kingdom Hearts have killed...........]
I was trying to find that out myself. [He's not sure what the link is between the rat, the supposed squirrel, and the living and dying.] So... what choice did you make? The passenger?
Do you think that's something that happened here before?
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Mr. Campbell chose left. The 500 strangers.
[He didn't choose anything. This is probably related to the fading bruise on his forehead, though Riku probably can't see it that well under Leo's thick bangs. It's fine.]
I don't know... I don't think so. It specifically mentioned our loved ones by name. If it weren't for the rest of it, I'd say it was intended to be a sign--implying that we have to choose between the people here, and the people from our homes.
[BUT THEN WHERE DOES THE RAT COME IN.]
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...Are we really just rats in a cage?
[TERRIBLE.]
Hyuse said when he and Nabiko tried to get into the room in the garage, they ended up opening the back of a truck. They saw the corpses of people they knew. The cut-outs, too. Why...? Is it just to scare us? Or to make us angry?
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[But haha!! Hey!!! HE HATES THAT LAST PART.]
...We need to put all of the pieces of this together. Finding a way to locate and kill that rat would be ideal--Mrs. Nott seemed to think something like that was the key, but I have no idea how to locate it.
[Rat? Squirrel? Whatever.]
no subject
I don't know if I can blame him for that. Sora would probably do the same thing. I'm not sure if he would kill one person over the people he loves, or 500 strangers either. But that's okay. If I had to do it for him, I would, so he didn't have to.
[Sora has gone through enough. And, well, he might have had a redemption arc, but he still thinks his hands are a little dirty so it wouldn't matter.]
Sora and I have seen a robotic rat. It surprised us in the security room, so I had wondered if it was some kind of guard. If I go by my vision... maybe that's true. So do we kill it?
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[Norton could also be lying, of course. Maybe there was a trick after all. But Leo's acutely aware that he's only fourteen, not even an adult by his world's standards--if Norton didn't listen to him in the truck, he sure as hell isn't going to change his story now, so whatever. What's done is done.
If I had to do it for him, I would, so he didn't have to--and that's it, isn't it? That's all people like them really want, at the end of the day. To do what they can to make sure the people important to them don't ever stop smiling. To make the hard choices, so their loved ones don't have to. "If you had to kill someone, would you?" Riku asked earlier, and... for himself? It's hard to say. But for Elliot? Absolutely.]
We'd have to find it first. You'll want to speak to Mrs. Nott, if you haven't already--she mentioned "Squeak-ee"?