week 10 | wednesday afternoon

[jackhole]

[ okay, time to face the honey badger from hell. rhys needs to talk to buddy, he has things he wants to share with her and thinks she deserves to know but... it's buddy. he's not sure she'll listen to him or not try and attack him in the process. he's going to try really hard not to instigate here because this is for morrigan, of all people. they have that common ground, he'll use that to get her to just hear him out.

so wednesday afternoon, after sans and everything, rhys finds himself at buddy's door and giving it a knock. ]

Buddy? It's me, Rhys. I need to talk to you for a moment.

Comments

[lastgirl]

[She pauses at what Rhys says, expressionless and without reaction. Finally she inhales and lets her breath out.]

It's fine. [She shrugs gently, the admission not coming without surprise. Getting confirmation is nice, even if it isn't what she wants.] If they come for me, I'll fight them until I die.

[She won't go down without a fight, even if it may be fruitless.]

Honestly, when we found out about the demons -- I had a feeling. Retiring protects me from the players, but doesn't mean I'm immortal. Life is always dangerous no matter where you are or what you do.

[jackhole]

[ rhys just lifts a shoulder in a shrug and gives a sigh. ]

That's life, kid. Still, you've proven what you're willing to do to survive, I don't doubt you'll take them on. Might not win but... honestly, I don't think any of us can. You saw Undyne's fight. She came close but she was cheated and her and Astrid are like, the strongest people here.

[ he lifts a hand then to run it through his hair as he looks off to the side and considers the next thing he wanted to share with buddy. ]

I also... found out about why we're dying. It's not a really good reason though.

[lastgirl]

...Tell me.

[jackhole]

[ rhys rubs his hand over his face and... right. okay. this sucks but if anyone deserves to know, he thinks it's buddy.

but first, he projects a quick image from his hand, three small words in a flash for buddy to read and quick enough that no one else will be able to see. what are those words?

people are listening. he quickly moves his hand to run over his hair after the message disappears before letting his arms rest at his hips. ]

It took some digging, so I might be totally wrong here. [ he looks at buddy then, meets her eye so she knows he's not. that this is the truth. ] But here's what I think happened. I think Miata and Katerina know each other and have known each other for a long time. I don't think Miata's a victim in this as much as it sort of looks like, I think she's just a coward who never stood up for herself. I think wherever they're from was destroyed in a war, probably this town itself and they're the only survivors. I think this is Katerina's revenge against those who started the war for killing her town, revenge out of some weird way to cope with grief. And I think we're just sacrifices to the demons to give Katerina power for that revenge.

[ after that, he grits his teeth and here's his final opinion on that whole shit: ]

So, basically, I think we're all just coal for the fire of some piece of shit psychopath's revenge. This has nothing to do with us. None of this matters and no one died for anything noble or good. It's not the end of the world, it's just some idiot who doesn't know how to deal with her shit.

[lastgirl]

...

[Well that's just. Great. So great. People are being killed because some stupid fucking bitch wants to take revenge, but instead of just taking it into her own hands she's dragging others into it. Dragged her into it. And Morrigan, and Hanyuu, and Clover and Undyne, and Yoite and fucking everyone here.

That's just. Great.]

Fucking bitches.

[Buddy has never had much violent inclination toward another woman before, but Miata and Katerina are now second and third after Satan on her kill list.]

[jackhole]

[ rhys is right there with you, buddy. he's literally a war profiteer, he doesn't care about this kind of thing at all! and yet here he is, dying for it? pfft. ]

Yep.

[ he just lets that agreement hang in the air for a moment before adding a bit more here. ]

I've been trying to share my... theory with as many other people as I can but not everyone believes it, obviously and I can't really just go around shouting it. I just think it's fair that everyone knows the stakes here -- and that they're not high. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong... but if I'm right, the picture painted isn't really a good one.

[ he bites his lip a little as he wonders how to word this request -- buddy and his relationship is obviously not a very good one, but if you're gonna trust anyone... might as well be the one that hates you the most? ]

If there are survivors, you're probably going to be one of the only ones just to keep up the facade of "retirement" -- though if I were you, I wouldn't trust any happy ending they're promising you. Still, I've been the most direct with you about it because of that. If I die, which is probably likely since A) just look at me and B) I've maybe kind of been actively working against Katerina in secret, a-ahaha... er. So, if I die, people should know why they're dying. It's a bitter thought but I don't want anyone to believe this was anything more than it was -- a disgusting farce by two assholes who couldn't deal with their problems.

[ god, that was direct and rhys sort of looks around for a moment as if he's just about to get smited out of nowhere. when no smiting comes, he'll finish. he grins, kind of wry and kind of sad. ]

It's my last petty revenge for dragging us all into this mess. Everyone knows the truth and no one's happy. We share someone who would appreciate that, don't we?

[ morrigan, of course. ]

[lastgirl]

[She wants to say that she doesn't trust in happy endings period, but she had at the least felt she was promised safe passage out. And she was willing to take it and forsake everyone here after Morrigan died, but now... it's different. If what Rhys says is true, Morrigan may not really be dead -- not yet. That goes for everyone else too. They're all alive. But they won't be for long.

Brad forsook all of Olathe to make it back to her. Good and bad, enemy and friend, even his own son... he gave up everything in the name of a single goal. Can she really do the same and claim to be better than him?

What does being better even fucking mean though?]

...This is so shit. [She inhales deeply and lets it out, exasperated at everything. Why couldn't things be simple for once in life?] Now if you die, I won't be satisfied at all.

[It's a mix of honesty and a bitter joke, the way her voice chides disappointment and defeat. She won't be sad if he goes, but now she can't imagine being satisfied with it. It would just validate everything he said to her.]

But hey, don't worry. If what you say is true, no matter how crazy it sounds, I'll fucking carve all of them into pieces on my way out of here.