Not Again | Catch All for Magnus

[applechemist]

Comments

week 4; saturday

[ruffboi]

[Phew. Sitting by the bonfire, petting Evan after trial. Having a drink. When he sees Escha, he'll - he won't smile, actually. He just nods.]

[applechemist]

[ Escha just comes over and hugs him, if he'll let her? ]

[ruffboi]

[Giving her a hug right back. She'll feel - well, mostly he's just exhausted. Worried for Taako, and a little angry at Taako, too. Otherwise, it's just a well of sadness and guilt.]

[applechemist]

[ She is also just exhausted through and through. Frustrated and scared, all of it right on the verge of overflowing but carefully suppressed just below that boiling point. ]

I'm sorry. I - don't know what I should have done, but I'm...

[ Should she have focused her attention on protecting him, instead? Should she have - found out in advance, somehow?

Escha sighs. ]

[ruffboi]

Hey. You don't have anything to be sorry about.

[He won't let go, so she'll feel that he means that. Escha didn't let him down at all.]

If it weren't for you, maybe we wouldn't have been able to vote for that guy. So. Look. I never could've voted for somebody if it would've hurt Lili.

[applechemist]

[ She offers a weak smile, grateful for that press of emotion, even if it didn't sway her own feelings that much. It's wild that this week's effect has been a mostly positive thing for her.

She draws back from the hug and sits down nearby. ]

I was really scared that they would vote for you. And now... I'm scared of what the punishment is going to be for Taako.

[ruffboi]

I know. [He lets go of her, and rubs his jaw.]

I'm worried about Taako, too,

[applechemist]

I don't... Want to jump to any conclusions.

But whatever happens, if my team wins, he's getting saved. At the very least, we have that.

[ But it's frustrating because it's not enough. It doesn't make any part of this easier, and her team winning isn't even a guarantee, anyway. ]

[ruffboi]

I know. He told me that.

[That's part of why he was so instantly loyal to her.]

Knowing Taako, he always has something up his sleeve.

[applechemist]

[ She's not so sure, in this instance. Which shows on her face, but at least she doesn't say it. ]

...

[ruffboi]

You don't know him like I do.

[But. He gets why she doubts it, too.]

Look, just - don't worry about me. I'm gonna be okay. Was kinda funny, when you came and asked if I'd used my power on Beau. But, y'know. I didn't.

[applechemist]

[ Escha nods... That's fair. ]

I'll just put my faith in both of you, then.

[ ... ]

Then that means it was probably Minako's power that was used on Beau. Then... [ Even after everything she's still too frazzled to make sense of all the details. ]

[ruffboi]

Yeah, seems like, huh?

[He kind of. Thought so. The entire trial.]

But if she did, guess the real question is - why?

[applechemist]

I don't know... We're all on the same team, so it's only hurting their own odds if they went after her...

[ ugh. ]

I... Don't know if I did the right thing.

[ruffboi]

I don't, either. But I don't think you did the wrong thing.

[applechemist]

It's the same, isn't it? Not doing the right thing is doing the wrong thing.

[ruffboi]

I don't believe that. Sometimes there isn't a right thing to do, and you have to pick from a few bad choices.

I don't think your choice was a bad one.

[applechemist]

... Do you think that's how this game is going to end? Just... Bad choices where there is no right answer?

[ruffboi]

Haha!

[There's a laugh with a lot of exhaustion behind it.]

God, I hope not.

[applechemist]

I keep coming back to that.

That some people think there's a better ending, different from the one we know about. And that the best chance we have at something like that is to believe in it, but...

[ruffboi]

I feel like I've gotta believe in that ending. 'cause - if there's not, I'm sacrificing somebody I care about either way. I don't wanna think about that.

[applechemist]

Yeah. Even if I try to accept that I could only save a limited number of people, the math never works out in a way that I'm satisfied with.

I just wish we knew how to work towards that better ending, instead.

[ruffboi]

Maybe there's something there, in the combining teams? I wanna think so.

[applechemist]

Even that's just so... Conceptual.

We don't have any steps to actively start taking.

[ruffboi]

Yeah. But we're learning more every week, right?

[And starting to run out of time.]