[Week 2, Saturday: Max]

[purrtagonist]

[HEY MAX I KNOW THIS ISN'T OUR WEEKLY PC, BUT--]

Seven?

You were kidding, right? That was a joke, to throw off the Players?

Comments

[concertmaster]

I would aim straight for your face if I could reach.

[purrtagonist]

That's disgusting.

[he's ten, of course it is]

[concertmaster]

That's the point.

[purrtagonist]

[an amused huff]

Sometimes, you really do act your age. . .

[concertmaster]

[ with his own annoyed huff ]

See, that kind of talk is why I remind you assholes I'm a kid.

[purrtagonist]

World-weary but inexperienced.

[he echoes those words from before, reaching out to ruffle Max's hair. SORRY HE'S JOINING THE HAIR RUFFLING TRAIN]

But that means if you're a kid, I get to do that.

[concertmaster]

[FLAILING TO GET HIM OFF and then ruffling his own hair back into normal messiness :/]

I will end you, Joker.

[purrtagonist]

Do you have authority to do that?

[HE KIDS. . .]

[concertmaster]

Theoretically? Sure.

[purrtagonist]

[. . . um]

Please don't, there are only two of us left. . .

[at least give him time to try and. salvage this??]

[concertmaster]

[lmao]

Relax, you're not first on my list for erasure. [darkly] Yet.

[purrtagonist]

Yet.

[slightly amused, before he sobers up]

It's the person you planned on buying the poisonous snake for, am I right?

[concertmaster]

I mean, obviously? But the jackass isn't in this Game. You're low on the list even without him.

[no he won't entertain your fishing!!! this isn't even week 4 officially!!!!]

[purrtagonist]

[MAYBE HE'S TRYING TO CHEAT??]

Who is he, anyway? You never told me.

[concertmaster]

[DO YOUR SOCIAL RANKS PROPERLY, AKIRA]

Yeah, because there's no point namedropping some guy you don't know.

[purrtagonist]

[LISTEN :/ HE MIGHT DIE SOON]

You don't have to give me a name.

[concertmaster]

[no cheating!!!!!!]

Great! It's some jackass.

[purrtagonist]

[FINE. . .]

Some jackass. That's descriptive.

[but. he backs off]

Anyway, I'm still glad to know I'm pretty far down on your Erase list.

[concertmaster]

Don't act so shocked. You have seen the rest of the idiots playing this Game, right.

[purrtagonist]

[HA HA. . .]

They're. . . trying.

[except then he thinks about how nobody cared who murdered Ranpo because he may have been a Reaper, how everyone ignored the evidence that pointed to Caren and Chuuya because they weren't Junko, and. . .]

[yeah]

Sort of.

[concertmaster]

We've got wildly different definitions of trying, you and I.

[he shrugs]

I did tell you: people love a narrative.

[purrtagonist]

[when he smiles, there are twinges of bitterness lacing the edges]

You're right. They sure do. I've known that all along.

[. . .]

I think I see what the Composer is trying to prove, now.

[concertmaster]

[there's no triumph in max at akira looking biter, only a raised eyebrow at the follow up]

You do?

[purrtagonist]

Yeah.

[well]

Maybe. I don't know for sure.

[folds his arms and leans his back against the wall]

Maya told me that as long as I kept questioning the setup of this game, she thought I would be okay. You told me that as a Reaper, I knew better than to treat this game like everything was black and white. You told me that if I didn't like my own narrative to change it. And that's what I want to do.

But if the actual Players, or the other Reapers, never try to alter the narrative either, then. . . things play out just as outlined.

One side wins, and "only a handful" of people are given their second chance at living.

[concertmaster]

Hm. That's an interesting theory.

[he doesn't say one way or the other whether it's right, of course, because. yea.]