[ this place is terrible, why are you here... ]

Hey...

[best brooding spot tbh

she startles a little when she hears him, bringing a hand up to rub at her face briefly before smiling at him.]

Oh - hey, pics. You alright?

Is that my name now...

[ sighs and nods ]

Yeah, just... you know. Suddenly a whole lot of new things for all of us to be worried about.

if you hate it, I can workshop it.

[she says, tail waving.]

... But yeah. No kidding. Didn't think this is what I was going to do today when I woke up.

[ ...hand waggle. what if someone who hears it assumes there's a k in there and thinks he's being accused of being a nose picker...

anyway. ]

The trial thing wasn't that big of a surprise to me, but... I thought if anything we'd be trying to find a killer who did it because they wanted to. Not because the cult basically brainwashed them into it.

[yeah that's exactly what people are going to think, totty]

... Really? [she seems surprised.] This made loads more sense to me. Why the fuck would anybody want to kill someone on purpose here? We're all in the same pile of shit.

Honestly, I thought it was Akabane on a revenge kick. I mean, the hand? After his tiny hand rage and how much he talked about wanting to take someone else's??

Yeah. There was bitten nails, too.

I don't know. The goats said it was the greater cult's doing when I talked to them. I don't see why they'd lie about that.

Well, yeah, but they couldn't say that until after the trial. So that was my theory at the time.

[ and he's MAD that it was wrong because he wants that kid GONE ]

Fair enough.

... Me and Aerith are trying to keep him in line. [roped into being hanako 2's handler]

I hope that works. I do not feel great knowing he brought a gun from home.

With any luck it hasn't got - bullets? Is that what's in those?

Yeah... I don't trust that he won't manage to find a substitute somehow if that's the case, though. Or that the rest of the cult won't just give him some as a present.

[ hhhhhh. he liked this so much better when he thought the cult had an investment in keeping them alive until the final ritual. ]

Just going to keep my distance, I guess, since I don't know what the hell else I can do myself. I'll leave it to you guys.

Probably a good idea. [she reaches to pat his shoulder.]

... You can stick close whenever he's fucking with you. He behaves around me, mostly.

Thank god he does around someone. Thanks.