[WEEK 1 GY POST: Bring out your dead]

[purrtagonist]

[he awakens with a start in his bed in the House of Hearts, long after the investigation has concluded. the first thing he does is bolt upright, hand flying to the side of his head where Croix's blow knocked him unconscious, then to his right eye which is. . . huh. completely whole again. his heart hammering madly in his chest is evidence enough that he isn't dead (he. . . thinks?), so after one or two steadying breaths to reorient himself, he slips out of his bed and through the front door]

[he meanders for a bit. everything in the Hare's Abode looks exactly the same, and there are people milling about everywhere, talking about the evidence they found, the bodies they found. it's probably a good thing he has yet to go to the market and see his own, uh. head, honestly. but no matter who he runs into, no matter how hard he shouts and waves his hands, no one seems to notice him, which is. . . well. disconcerting.]

[for the fellow dead? Akira can be found standing outside the Timeshare, staring at the bloody footprints as he twirls his cat mask around his finger. look ma, no mask!!]

[his expression is blank. unreadable. shoulders tense, posture stiff. let's dead person party guys!!]

Comments

[headingsouth]

[Croix doesn't seem to be interested in talking to Akira, or doing anything at all --- when she awakens, she spends the next few minutes clutching herself protectively, particularly at her chest. The air of confidence she'd been displaying from day one is absent -- even her hair is drooping]

[if Akira or Ferim or anyone want to confront her, she'll be watching Ursula, her expression morose and---- something else?]

Chariot.....

1/2

[purrtagonist]

[that--]

[that voice. . . that semi-solid form. . .]

[purrtagonist]

[. . . hahaha holy shit]

[there are a few things that keep him from rushing her immediately: the fact that she's here, like this (which means she. . . died, right?), the morose expression, the way she watches Ursula mourn outwardly and openly. he's angry, but he isn't cruel. if anything? Croix is lucky this is how they met again after. . . well. she knows]

. . .

[there's a little thing called karma, and he can tell but wonder spitefully if it was at play, here. but even then? for everything she did, it wasn't as though he wanted her to die, too]

I take it things didn't go as planned.

[he addresses her coolly]

[headingsouth]

[He could, if she wants. Hilariously, without her ax and... whatever power the Queen or the Rabbit or whoever exerted on people, she's pretty powerless in this place, wither neither magic nor her technology. It's not like she was as physically capable as Chariot -- he could easily take her down.]

[She keeps clutching her chest protectively (if he takes a peek at the scene, he'll see that her heart has been ripped out, so maybe that's why), but she glances over when he addresses her.]

[Of course.]

It seems there are even crueler people here than I.

[so yeah, it blew up in her in face, oopsies]

[She completely deserved it]

[purrtagonist]

[yeah, that. . . that sight is another thing in her favor, another reason she isn't a target for all of his anger just yet, deep breath in, deep breath out]

Who?

[headingsouth]

[She's actually waiting for the anger, so she turns away from her mourning notgf momentarily to look at him dully.]

Mejojo. [HER FELLOW SNAKE.... WHAT IRONY] It seems like I'm truly a heartless, wicked witch now.

[It's not really an apology but the way she says it, it's almost like she's inviting him to take out his anger on her]

[too bad you can't steal her heart anymore :/]

[purrtagonist]

[surprise flickers on his expression, momentarily overtaking his anger. Mejojo. . . who had saved his life, and tended to his wounds after their romp in the timeshare. he knows, though, that even a small but of kindness can be a mask for cruelty.]

[and the gears are clicking, the pieces sliding together like a puzzle]

. . . and? Was he the the one to whom you were supposed to bring justice? [oops his words are harsh] The one who got away, because you were too preoccupied with your own selfish desires? So preoccupied, you were willing to waste your advantage on two innocent people?

[ah. there's the vitrol]

[headingsouth]

One of them. [She just sounds tired] I didn't know who had a role and who didn't, who was innocent and who wasn't. Whoever I picked, I was expected to kill. The Queen isn't a woman to be trifled with, and my role was bloodshed. That is her "justice".

[She could have let them go, but she had no guarantee that they wouldn't out her -- or kill her in return. Her motivation was never justice, but----]

What I said to you about justice was to test you. The truth is, all the living and the dead will return home once we're finished -- the rabbit assured me of that. It isn't over for you.

[it's not an apology, but maybe it'll bring him some comfort]

[purrtagonist]

[that-- actually is some small bit of comfort, since the thought of being unable to return home is what had caused him to struggle so much. he lets out a deep exhale, eyes slipping shut]

None of that absolves you.

[he says it, but he also thinks she already knows]

None of that changes your choices, and the consequences for same. You need to take responsibility for your own selfishness.

[headingsouth]

I know. [She closes her eyes, too, she wasn't expecting anything else.]

Well, here I am. This is your opportunity for my consequences. [she says that, but she's still clutching herself where Mejojo tortured her, hands protectively over her heart. It's pretty pointless, since she's not even really solid, but mang she got fucked up]

[purrtagonist]

[and that's when he reaches out, grasps the front of her shirt, and steps right into her personal space. he's much taller than her, so the way he towers above is probably kind of intimidating! especially as his gaze narrows, and that latent anger starts to swirl in the gray depths of his eyes again]

[he grips her shirt so tightly his knuckles are white, and for a moment? it seems like he might do something. but then--]

Mejojo got to your heart before I could.

[he roughly lets go of her shirt]

But it's up to you to change it from here on out. Live with your sins, and do fuckin' better next time.

That's a better punishment than anything I could ever come up with.

[headingsouth]

[She is pretty passive as he does so, though she's clearly tense... she barely looks him in the eye, accepting of her fate. Chariot is mourning her, and that makes her heart ache.... she should be concerned about saving herself, not Croix herself. And here's this boy - the one Chariot took a liking to - a foolish teenager basking in his ideals and dreams, like Akko.]

[No, maybe she was the foolish one.]

You--- you don't have any desire for revenge? Even after what I took from you?

[purrtagonist]

Not revenge. Justice.

[distinct difference]

Having you acknowledge your crimes and take responsibility for them? Tthat's my justice. I could hit you, kill you, do unto you what you did to me.

But that wouldn't make me any better than you.

[headingsouth]

No... I suppose it wouldn't.

[......]

[she smiles, but it's sad rather than smarmy]

[AND I DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT ICON FOR IT]

I was foolish to doubt your resolve, mister Akira.

[purrtagonist]

You were.

[hahahaha]

But what's done is done. I don't forgive you, but--

[. . . exhale, and with it, fades some of his rage. he'll forever hold that against her, but right now?]

We have another bastard to catch.

[nonidentity]

[Huh.]

This is unexpected.

[As passive as ever.]

[headingsouth]

[There's the other boy -- creature too-- and even here, even now, he barely seems to be reacting to anything. She'd almost laugh, if she could find it within herself.]

[But she feels too empty right now.]

Mmm. It turns out I'm not the worst threat here.

[Her head droops. She's still staring at Ursula]

[nonidentity]

What happened?

[Ferim isn't exactly one for tact. Sorry, Croix.]

[headingsouth]

[she's kind of waiting for yall to get back at her, so she's expecting way worse]

It looks like the snake masks were apt. Mejojo went out looking for me as soon as you and I were finished.

[she completely deserved it]

I suppose it's only fair.

[she says that but she's pretty obviously unsettled by how she was killed]

[nonidentity]

[Ferim literally doesn't care that she killed him??? So we're good.]

It seems you are affected by your death. [...] Does he have a role as well?

[headingsouth]

[Ferim why are you so chill]

[stop smoking weed]

I think so. He had an axe, as I did.

[nonidentity]

I see. And was he aware of your role, or were you merely another victim of fate?

[headingsouth]

[He had axe body spray]

I doubt he was aware of it, but it's possible. He likely saw me as a threat and wanted to take me out.

[nonidentity]

So it seems you acted "suspiciously" as well.

[Even if Ferim still. Doesn't understand how he himself came off as fishy.]

[headingsouth]

No, I think that he decided it based off of my mask. Based off of the fact that were housed together.

[but it's not like she knows for sure]