[Dist pauses to mull that over, squinting and rubbing his chin. Something about this is odd...]
By "vessels", I assume he meant our bodies. Didn't Hyoubu mention something about vessels tonight? If we die here, our souls go into Zero-State- whatever that means. But they don't leave. Perhaps there is something strange going on with the Twilight that isn't severing our souls like Rembrandt is used to observing.
[But they still don't even know what the hell the Lady actually needs from them. Is it their souls?! But then where are they actually being kept, if she doesn't know about the Twilight? So many questions, still...]
But yes, that is certainly not a bad plan to keep on the backburner should we need it. We can also continue to encourage those in the Twilight to keep powering things on this side, as apparently it can end up causing a lot of problems for the Lady if it gets bad enough.
That's a good point. I'm honestly not entirely sure what he meant by... most of what he wrote.
[hyoubu please, not all of us understand chatspeak.]
There's much we don't have answers for just yet. For the time being, we should focus on doing what we can to learn more; keeping these sorts of things in mind is important, but if we do too much, we risk upsetting the Lady or Rembrandt and possibly dying.
[So like everything else here, it's a balancing act. Yet another challenge to overcome.]
For now, we need to worry about the incentive and whatever death comes next. [sigh!!] Ah, speaking of that, I was wondering if you would be fine with Cumore staying with us tomorrow night. While an alibi from the three of us may not hold much weight with the others, it would be better than leaving him on his own.
[not that he's still mad about almost everyone not believing him!!! nope!!!!!]
Of course. For right now, I believe we have made significant progress. Thank you for working with Rembrandt and the Lady as much as you have. Compiling our information has worked out splendidly, and I can feel us getting ever-closer to the truth.
[He's so proud.
As for that last bit...]
Oh, but of course! That would be just fine with me. Have you asked him about it yet, or was he the one to bring it up?
Ah, yes! [He turns Iago's attention to the table.] First, I want to craft a mechanism for the robot to absorb the force of one of those pulses so it doesn't shatter on impact. Then, I will want a device to read various aspects of the pulse...
[Legit, he can go on for ages about this thing. He goes over the blueprint draft that he sketched out earlier, talks about what pieces of scrap will go to which parts of the robot, what tools he's going to need to fish out of drawers, and so on.
All of the awkward stuff is forgotten about. For now.]
[After a very enjoyable evening in which Dist proved once again that he is the smartest person here and did the very dangerous thing of teaching Iago more about robots, Iago slipped out to go speak with Cumore. It doesn't take long.
When he returns he looks like he's somewhere between trying to fight off a headache and about two seconds from just flinging his circlet into the wall again.]
Why did I think that would work.
[He at least has the decency to get the door closed and lean back against it before that but ughhhhhhh.]
Cumore is - as always - entirely too abrasive for his own good.
[Ugh, just let him move over to sit on his mattress. As he continues, he gets the mask and circlet off and starts working a brush through his hair.]
He's having something of a crisis about what it is he really wants. He specifically stated that his friendships here don't matter, and that the things he hoped for back home don't matter either. He's on-edge to the point where it's very likely he'll kill someone. He doesn't need the incentive - but he has been interested in killing someone for weeks now.
[His gaze darts at that.]
I attempted to reassure him that we could find a way to proceed from here, that we aren't all going to die here, but he wasn't in the mood to listen. He pointed out that even if he did stay with us, that alibi wouldn't mean anything.
[Which is true, but also extremely agitating. He's also not going to mention the other part about the two of them fawning over each other, that's not important and also it's dumb!!]
I can't pretend I'm entirely blameless; I did say something that... was a bit too harsh, I believe. I saw no reason to be kind about it, but it wasn't exactly what I meant.
[That's what he said, not what he meant, basically. He usually isn't one to mess up like that, but gods it's complicated when someone tells you that nothing matters anymore.]
[...Oookay, it's time to put down his drafting for the night. He pushes himself up from his desk and joins Iago on the floor.
He's very bothered by what he hears, but isn't even sure what to say to all of that at first.]
Not terribly long ago, I spoke with him at the bar. He was clearly struggling with this very thing even back then- convinced that he was going to die here. But I felt I was able to reassure him that we would make sure he didn't die. [He frowns, looking down at the floor.] I...didn't realize he has spiraled even further since then.
[Ugh.]
While it's true that staying with us wouldn't provide a solid alibi, at least it would keep him safe...
I told him weeks ago that if he wants to kill, that's his decision to make. I can't protect him, but I have no intention of throwing him to the wolves unless it becomes necessary.
[It's frustrating because he does like Cumore, and if Cumore dies here then that's just one more person he has to worry about trying to save. Once again he finds himself wishing he never got attached to anyone here.]
I hadn't realized things were getting this bad for him. I should have sought him out earlier, but even then I doubt I could have said anything that would help.
[And just like that, the irritation flickers out like one of the many candles they've all been using since the start here.]
I'm worried about him, but there isn't anything more I can do. It's possible that he's just angry and lashing out at everyone around him and that he'll calm down soon.
[But it's also possible that "lashing out at everyone" means he will kill. There really isn't any way to know for sure.]
Mm... And I sincerely doubt that anything I say would help matters either, if even you couldn't get through to him.
[He doesn't want to stir the pot even more. It's clear that Cumore has something against staying with both of them, so maybe he should keep his distance until things blow over. It's such a shame...
He shakes his head.]
As much as it bothers me, I believe waiting and seeing is all we can do for now. I...truly don't believe he would actually kill- not after everything he has been going on about with regard to keeping ourselves useful. It could have been a facade, but...
[Maybe he's being way too optimistic about it. Maybe it's worse than he thinks. He doesn't really know.]
Well. It is as you say. If the worst case scenario should occur, perhaps we can do what we can to avoid a vote forming around him.
[Iago nods, but after a moment he speaks up, still not looking at Dist.]
If it comes down to it, we have to let him die. We can't risk having them turn against either of us. I don't want to sacrifice him, but...
[But if Cumore kills, he's on his own. They established that weeks ago and Cumore confirmed it tonight. Somehow, it was easier to think about it this way back then.]
That's only if he does kill, and only if they do get close to working it out. It's possible we won't have to worry about it at all.
[Possible, but he's not sure if it's likely at this point.]
[That is said after Iago initially trails off. He knew it might come to this as soon as he started feeling connected to some of the people here- that one day, he might have to prioritize his life over one of theirs.
The fact that death isn't the end only helps by a margin. Rescuing them isn't guaranteed, after all. They don't even know what to do to save those in Twilight.
...
He shakes his head again, and reaches up to gently guide Iago to look at him.]
We can keep all of this in mind, but let us not dwell on it. Tomorrow, we will get back to work. That is the best thing to do.
[He allows the touch and looks at Dist; the shyness from the first time he stayed in here and removed his mask has abated quite a bit since then, but he still finds it sort of difficult to make direct eye contact so easily.]
I know. [One of his hands comes up to rest over Dist's; tentatively, like he's worried the touch will get Dist to draw back. He leans into Dist's hand without thinking about it.] We keep moving forward, regardless of what happens. We don't have much of a choice anymore. I'm not going to die here, and neither are you.
[Dist has been nothing but patient- if anything, seeing Iago shy about anything is very endearing. His hand doesn't budge when Iago touches it, but it does make Dist smile ever so slightly.
And if Iago happens to fight his way into some eye contact, he might catch the smallest flash of surprise on Dist's face when he leans into his hand- like his heart might have just fluttered and it caught him off guard.]
Of course. We are on the cusp of blowing this case wide open. The others will be absolutely amazed by how much we have come to learn and deduce. They will regret ever doubting us.
Of course I do. I wouldn't have gotten anywhere without spite to motivate me. I had the freedom to do as I wanted in Nohr, which is likely the only thing I'll miss about it.
[as you said before, we petty af]
But don't worry, you'd have to try very hard to end up on the receiving end of one of those grudges.
But you know what? Keep fueling that fire if it keeps you going. I mean that, truly.
[Because even though he did manage to smooth things over with Rideaux...somewhat...he's actually still incredibly furious about what the asshole said during that conversation. He's ready to rejoin the petty brigade in full force.]
[If it was just the words alone, he'd continue being exactly this obnoxious about the whole thing; that's just what Iago does, he embraces how petty and spiteful he is and it's everyone else's problem if they don't deal with it. Rideaux just so happened to to get on his bad side by trying to force everyone to reveal their powers and things have only gone downhill from there.
But it isn't just the words and even that brief, playful touch gets his gaze to dart immediately and when he laughs, it sounds more startled than confident.]
But of course. At this point, there's nothing that will stop me.
[...He's definitely not turning pink or avoiding eye contact, that's just your imagination.]
[The laugh that gets out of him this time is almost breathless, and it's definitely doing nothing to help with the blush.]
You're terrible. What am I going to do with you?
[It's a rhetorical question, obviously, since he continues easily enough afterwards.]
I'm simply not used to it, that's all. I'm not an easy man to fluster, you know.
[Well, not usually. There have definitely been some exceptions here. Despite how confident and easy the words are, he still isn't making eye contact. He's certainly not pulling away, either.]
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By "vessels", I assume he meant our bodies. Didn't Hyoubu mention something about vessels tonight? If we die here, our souls go into Zero-State- whatever that means. But they don't leave. Perhaps there is something strange going on with the Twilight that isn't severing our souls like Rembrandt is used to observing.
[But they still don't even know what the hell the Lady actually needs from them. Is it their souls?! But then where are they actually being kept, if she doesn't know about the Twilight? So many questions, still...]
But yes, that is certainly not a bad plan to keep on the backburner should we need it. We can also continue to encourage those in the Twilight to keep powering things on this side, as apparently it can end up causing a lot of problems for the Lady if it gets bad enough.
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[hyoubu please, not all of us understand chatspeak.]
There's much we don't have answers for just yet. For the time being, we should focus on doing what we can to learn more; keeping these sorts of things in mind is important, but if we do too much, we risk upsetting the Lady or Rembrandt and possibly dying.
[So like everything else here, it's a balancing act. Yet another challenge to overcome.]
For now, we need to worry about the incentive and whatever death comes next. [sigh!!] Ah, speaking of that, I was wondering if you would be fine with Cumore staying with us tomorrow night. While an alibi from the three of us may not hold much weight with the others, it would be better than leaving him on his own.
[not that he's still mad about almost everyone not believing him!!! nope!!!!!]
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Of course. For right now, I believe we have made significant progress. Thank you for working with Rembrandt and the Lady as much as you have. Compiling our information has worked out splendidly, and I can feel us getting ever-closer to the truth.
[He's so proud.
As for that last bit...]
Oh, but of course! That would be just fine with me. Have you asked him about it yet, or was he the one to bring it up?
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[praise!!!]
No, I haven't asked him just yet. I'll do that tonight before I go to bed; he's been acting a bit odd, so I want to check on him.
[and it goes poorly, but that's fine.]
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That sounds like a wise idea. I've been rather concerned about him, myself... Will you let me know how it goes?
[Oof is how it goes.
But don't worry, Dist will comfort Iago afterwords.]
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[hahahahaha that's gonna be fun.]
Anyway, tell me about what you're working on. I am still very interested in learning, after all.
[let's be nerds and never ever talk about what pizza said or what cumore says in a little while it's fine.]
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[Legit, he can go on for ages about this thing. He goes over the blueprint draft that he sketched out earlier, talks about what pieces of scrap will go to which parts of the robot, what tools he's going to need to fish out of drawers, and so on.
All of the awkward stuff is forgotten about. For now.]
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When he returns he looks like he's somewhere between trying to fight off a headache and about two seconds from just flinging his circlet into the wall again.]
Why did I think that would work.
[He at least has the decency to get the door closed and lean back against it before that but ughhhhhhh.]
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What happened...?
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[Ugh, just let him move over to sit on his mattress. As he continues, he gets the mask and circlet off and starts working a brush through his hair.]
He's having something of a crisis about what it is he really wants. He specifically stated that his friendships here don't matter, and that the things he hoped for back home don't matter either. He's on-edge to the point where it's very likely he'll kill someone. He doesn't need the incentive - but he has been interested in killing someone for weeks now.
[His gaze darts at that.]
I attempted to reassure him that we could find a way to proceed from here, that we aren't all going to die here, but he wasn't in the mood to listen. He pointed out that even if he did stay with us, that alibi wouldn't mean anything.
[Which is true, but also extremely agitating. He's also not going to mention the other part about the two of them fawning over each other, that's not important and also it's dumb!!]
I can't pretend I'm entirely blameless; I did say something that... was a bit too harsh, I believe. I saw no reason to be kind about it, but it wasn't exactly what I meant.
[That's what he said, not what he meant, basically. He usually isn't one to mess up like that, but gods it's complicated when someone tells you that nothing matters anymore.]
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He's very bothered by what he hears, but isn't even sure what to say to all of that at first.]
Not terribly long ago, I spoke with him at the bar. He was clearly struggling with this very thing even back then- convinced that he was going to die here. But I felt I was able to reassure him that we would make sure he didn't die. [He frowns, looking down at the floor.] I...didn't realize he has spiraled even further since then.
[Ugh.]
While it's true that staying with us wouldn't provide a solid alibi, at least it would keep him safe...
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[It's frustrating because he does like Cumore, and if Cumore dies here then that's just one more person he has to worry about trying to save. Once again he finds himself wishing he never got attached to anyone here.]
I hadn't realized things were getting this bad for him. I should have sought him out earlier, but even then I doubt I could have said anything that would help.
[And just like that, the irritation flickers out like one of the many candles they've all been using since the start here.]
I'm worried about him, but there isn't anything more I can do. It's possible that he's just angry and lashing out at everyone around him and that he'll calm down soon.
[But it's also possible that "lashing out at everyone" means he will kill. There really isn't any way to know for sure.]
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[He doesn't want to stir the pot even more. It's clear that Cumore has something against staying with both of them, so maybe he should keep his distance until things blow over. It's such a shame...
He shakes his head.]
As much as it bothers me, I believe waiting and seeing is all we can do for now. I...truly don't believe he would actually kill- not after everything he has been going on about with regard to keeping ourselves useful. It could have been a facade, but...
[Maybe he's being way too optimistic about it. Maybe it's worse than he thinks. He doesn't really know.]
Well. It is as you say. If the worst case scenario should occur, perhaps we can do what we can to avoid a vote forming around him.
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If it comes down to it, we have to let him die. We can't risk having them turn against either of us. I don't want to sacrifice him, but...
[But if Cumore kills, he's on his own. They established that weeks ago and Cumore confirmed it tonight. Somehow, it was easier to think about it this way back then.]
That's only if he does kill, and only if they do get close to working it out. It's possible we won't have to worry about it at all.
[Possible, but he's not sure if it's likely at this point.]
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[That is said after Iago initially trails off. He knew it might come to this as soon as he started feeling connected to some of the people here- that one day, he might have to prioritize his life over one of theirs.
The fact that death isn't the end only helps by a margin. Rescuing them isn't guaranteed, after all. They don't even know what to do to save those in Twilight.
...
He shakes his head again, and reaches up to gently guide Iago to look at him.]
We can keep all of this in mind, but let us not dwell on it. Tomorrow, we will get back to work. That is the best thing to do.
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I know. [One of his hands comes up to rest over Dist's; tentatively, like he's worried the touch will get Dist to draw back. He leans into Dist's hand without thinking about it.] We keep moving forward, regardless of what happens. We don't have much of a choice anymore. I'm not going to die here, and neither are you.
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And if Iago happens to fight his way into some eye contact, he might catch the smallest flash of surprise on Dist's face when he leans into his hand- like his heart might have just fluttered and it caught him off guard.]
Of course. We are on the cusp of blowing this case wide open. The others will be absolutely amazed by how much we have come to learn and deduce. They will regret ever doubting us.
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It's about time they finally realize how useful we are.
[Not that they've really had any reason to doubt Dist, but still!! Validation.]
Perhaps I'll even get a chance to get Rideaux killed.
[It's obviously a joke, but also oh my god. This does not seem to have impacted the mood at all on his end. Dist, you can do so much better.]
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...
As much as Dist wants to give Iago a Look for that, he'll humor him with a chuckle.]
You hold grudges about as astoundingly well as I do. Bravo, Iago. Bravo.
[Said entirely with fondness since they're not being terribly serious.
Not...too terribly.]
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[as you said before, we petty af]
But don't worry, you'd have to try very hard to end up on the receiving end of one of those grudges.
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[He playfully strokes Iago's cheek.]
But you know what? Keep fueling that fire if it keeps you going. I mean that, truly.
[Because even though he did manage to smooth things over with Rideaux...somewhat...he's actually still incredibly furious about what the asshole said during that conversation. He's ready to rejoin the petty brigade in full force.]
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But it isn't just the words and even that brief, playful touch gets his gaze to dart immediately and when he laughs, it sounds more startled than confident.]
But of course. At this point, there's nothing that will stop me.
[...He's definitely not turning pink or avoiding eye contact, that's just your imagination.]
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...
He sees why Iago likes this sort of reaction now. It's so strange to see him doing it, but it's also...really cute.]
What's the matter? Was that a bit too much?
[He doesn't sound sorry, though.]
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You're terrible. What am I going to do with you?
[It's a rhetorical question, obviously, since he continues easily enough afterwards.]
I'm simply not used to it, that's all. I'm not an easy man to fluster, you know.
[Well, not usually. There have definitely been some exceptions here. Despite how confident and easy the words are, he still isn't making eye contact. He's certainly not pulling away, either.]
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I suppose neither of us are, really. Used to this, that is.
[Because even Dist can admit that he is very easy to fluster.
But since this seems to clearly be working, with a low laugh, he leans in a little closer and once again guides Iago to face him.
Then he pauses, as if considering what he's doing.
...
He starts to turn pink.
...
And decides to just do it before he gets too nervous to move. He hastily closes the remaining distance to press his lips against Iago's.]
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