week 6; saturday ( stephanie )

[axilium]

[so. if steph happens to approach the lounge.

she might hear the sound of glass breaking! which is nothing to be suspicious of. definitely not.]

Comments

[vigilantics]

[ her expression crumples for a second, but then she smacks her own face to snap out of it. ]

Don't say you should have confessed.

[axilium]

It would've solved a lot, wouldn't it?

[vigilantics]

You don't actually know that.

[ zelos still got votes even after akechi and varian were confirmed. ]

[axilium]

Zelos and Nico definitely would've voted for me, at least.

[vigilantics]

And there are a lot of people who wouldn't have.

[ people care about him a lot, whether he accepts that fact or not. ]

We can do the "what if?" scenarios all night. What if you confessed, and then it still ended up in a tie?

[axilium]

... Aren't you the least bit bitter over this? Damn it, Steph—why do you have to be so freakin' gracious all the time!?

[vigilantics]

Belph, I'm so angry that I could explode.

[ she doesn't even blame him for breaking those bottles. ]

But we're not done yet. We just have to keep going.

[axilium]

I know that!

[he makes a move to sit down somewhere. he feels like he's going to collapse if he's on his feet for much longer.]

I've been running around, making as many plans as I can! I'm doing what I can. Damn it...

[vigilantics]

I didn't say that you're not. I know that you're trying.

[ even if he doesn't tell her half of it.

she needs to do something. she bends down and just starts picking up glass from the floor, even though it'll just get cleaned up later anyway. ]

So you can't just... go out and confess like that.

[axilium]

[...

he doesn't know what else to do. he just buries his face in his hand.]

[vigilantics]

[ she drops the glass at that, and moves to close the distance between them. ]

Belph, I'm sorry. I know that what I'm saying is really... really selfish.

[axilium]

... I don't even want to live, Steph. If we don't gather enough ink to get what I want, then...

[god. he shouldn't be saying this to her. she won't even have any idea what he means. what is he doing?]

[vigilantics]

[ she's silent, looking back down at the glass. ]

Then?

[axilium]

[he shrugs, smiling helplessly.]

I'd rather die than go back home.

[vigilantics]

[ the worst thing is that this news doesn't even surprise her as much as it should. ]

So... what is it that you want?

[axilium]

I don't know. I asked the Crafters about going to another world after this, but that's only possible if we gather enough ink.

[and he's not banking on that.]

Guess I'll go back and see what happens.

[vigilantics]

I want you to come to my world.

[ she blurts it out. ]

I'll drag you with me if I have to.

[axilium]

[honestly... that's exactly what he was thinking when he asked.]

... That'd be nice. We could bring Hikage with us, too.

[...]

But that's only if we have enough ink left over. And I'm not going to encourage anyone to complete any more objectives, in case anyone gets the wrong idea.

[and murders.]

[vigilantics]

We'll figure something out. Hell, I could even try to finally complete my objective if it helps with...

[ whatever sanji is doing. ]

[axilium]

What is your objective, anyway? Still the same one? Natsuo did cause me and Melloi some trouble, you know...

[vigilantics]

Oh... did he?

[ whoops. ]

It's still the same.

[axilium]

I can't say having to sneaking past him was a great start to murder night.

... Huh. So it failed?

[vigilantics]

Yeah. I never told him that it did.

[ her? really, it'd feel weird to start using female pronouns considering natsuo did so much to hide the fact that he's a girl. ]

I'm kind of surprised they never sent an Editor after me for ignoring my objective?

[axilium]

I mean, from what I gather, they were more concerned if you'd pose an active threat to the war, somehow. Being incompetent probably wasn't a concern.

[vigilantics]

...

Call me incompetent again.