week 0; friday ( shirasu )

[axilium]

[by the time belph trucks on back to his and shirasu's room, he's tired, because wow, today sure sucks.

anyway, whenever shirasu gets back, belph is at his piano, playing a song. when he notices shirasu's presence, though, he pauses.

hey, partner.]

Comments

[wagashis]

You don't need to stop.

[hey to you too, partner. shirasu takes a seat on the edge of the bed-- he's largely left it to belph and set up a spot on the floor for himself, but that doesn't mean he's going to leave it completely alone, apparently.]

[axilium]

[best roommate.]

I'm fine.

[a beat.]

Guess a sneaky ninja like you would probably be used to this kind of thing, huh?

[belph honestly has no idea what shirasu does besides "probably involves stabbing people in the dark", so who knows if he's actually a ninja or not, but.]

[wagashis]

Have I seemed that sneaky to you already...

[given that first conversation and the things that tapestry says? probably, and he's aware enough of it.]

Death isn't new to me, no. If you aren't used to it already, it sounds like this game might change that for you.

[axilium]

... I've dealt with a few murders before, but I will say that I am very glad Sharpay didn't turn out to be a corpse.

[actually confronting a dead body? that would be new for him.]

[wagashis]

I'd have been more concerned if it were a corpse that grabbed you.

[can we not have living dead besides the one skeleton that's already present? thanks.]

But you might not be so lucky next time.

[axilium]

Yeah, let's not turn this into a zombie story.

[fane doesn't need friends.]

Next time, huh... Well, first we have to make it through this week.

[wagashis]

Do you have a reason to think we won't?

[not that he necessarily thinks they're safe, himself. she was paired with sousei, wasn't she? and shirasu has no idea if he's said anything to others in the week they've been here...]

Beyond the fact that we all need to be concerned for ourselves, in a place like this.

[axilium]

[yeah, belph's hoping sousei didn't go announcing to people that shirasu could be sketch.]

Well, I meant it both in the "yeah, we need to survive" way and also the sense that I have no idea what's in store for all of us tomorrow, so my mind's kind of on that right now.

[wagashis]

[they're both hoping, tbh.]

If nothing else, we're not likely to be at any more of a disadvantage than anyone else will be, unless they've managed to get information we don't have.

[axilium]

Who knows? Maybe they have, considering these titles we have.

[wagashis]

...it's a possibility. Are any of them familiar to you?

[guess who doesn't recognize basically any of them, it sucks]

[axilium]

I wouldn't consider myself a fairy tale expert, but yeah, I know some.

[wagashis]

-at least we aren't both in the dark, then. Which do you recognize?

[axilium]

Let's see... I'd say that A Singular Bear, King's Man, The Goose Girl, The Little Match Girl, Sorcerer's Daughter, and The Red Shoes are the ones I don't know.

Though for a few of the others, I could be wrong about my guess as to where they're from. Plus, fairy tales usually have variations, so that complicates things further.

[wagashis]

I didn't expect it to be simple to connect them to anything, but that still makes it more complicated than I'd like.

[given that they're partners, maybe he should suggest they share, for their own mutual benefit-- but would it really be? even if they're tied to each other, that doesn't mean his partner won't end up sharing that information with anyone else.

it's not a trade he especially wants to risk making.]

Do they usually vary enough to change the meaning?

[axilium]

Well, it depends. For instance, the Little Mermaid, if I recall correctly, varied pretty significantly. Something like Cinderella, on the other hand, followed the same general plot among mainstream versions.

[wagashis]

Then some will be less helpful than others.

[... well. he supposes it confirms nothing to say this much, so:]

I know that my own seems... related to the name, but not entirely. Is yours the same?

[axilium]

[...]

You can see the connection if you're familiar with the fairy tale in question, yeah.

[wagashis]

Is it something someone might come up with, based on the tale alone? Or do you believe they'd need to know what you could do to guess the name?

-I won't ask you to reveal yourself, but it would be useful to know if we can guess at which titles might be able to do what. Having only my own isn't too much to work with.

[not knowing the stories makes it harder.]

[axilium]

The second case. I doubt they'd guess correctly based off of the name alone.

[rip shirasu.]

[wagashis]

...well, that at least works in our favor. That will have to do.

[axilium]

If it's any consolation, I'll admit my ability has zero use in a murder. If I'm ever forced to reveal my title, it won't implicate me as a suspect, at least.

[wagashis]

The same is true of mine. That may turn out to be a common thread, so I believe it's worth keeping an eye on.

[axilium]

Going to try and figure out people's titles, are you?

[wagashis]

Why not try? It's something to occupy myself with, and it could prove useful enough.

[axilium]

True enough. Seems like it'll be tricky, though—people don't exactly have a lot of incentive to confess.

[case in point: these two.]

[wagashis]

[why are they the way they are.]

Tricky, but not impossible, especially if we share our observations.

[axilium]

Yeah. Too bad neither of is the popular type with everyone else, huh?

[wagashis]

Have you not been making friends? And here I thought you seemed pleasant enough.

[axilium]

Remind me to use you as a character reference.

[wagashis]

[that isn't a term he's familiar with, but--]

If it would help, then I don't suppose I would mind.

[axilium]

It was a joke.

But don't worry, I'm doing my best to be buddy-buddy with the people here. [especially now that, apparently, the killing part is real.] I hope you're getting along with people not named Sousei as well...?

[wagashis]

Of course I am. There are a few who have been more helpful than I expected, even here.

[axilium]

Like who?