15strangers | IT'S MY PARTY! AND I'LL CRY IF I WANT TO, CRY IF I WANT TO

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*round 3

IT'S MY PARTY! AND I'LL CRY IF I WANT TO, CRY IF I WANT TO

[One hour after the execution, prisoners who have gone back down to the dorm floor will find Angela waving outside the mess hall.]

In honor of what Akira definitely would have wanted and Vita probably at least would have laughed about, we're all having dinner together.

[There's pots of coffee, and glasses of soda, and something like garlic bread, and spaghetti, and it sounds like there's even more food cooking in the kitchen.]

This would be a great time to share anything you got from playing ET, too, you know? [She's just trying to start conversation about literally anything else...]

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[And then Nagisa does that thing again, where he just suddenly is in a place you could have sworn he wasn't before. He's here, he's next to Jonathan, one hand expertly catching the older guy's wrist and the other gently pressing fingertips to the pressure point in his neck. It's not enough to knock him out, but....Nagisa remembers a slimy tentacletip pressing against his own, bringing him back to a proper state of mind.]

Calm down. This isn't helping anyone.

[Naoya makes to move again, but then... Nagisa's there, calming Jonathan down. Naoya sighs and steps around him carefully, gathering the things from the table and moving to walk away. He's not dealing with you right now, Jonathan.]

Oh no you don't!

[Sorry bud, a teenage girl is in your way.]

What was that? Why were you two fighting?!

[Barbara he will shove you! Or. Well. He doesn't. But he could. Probably.]

None of your business. He just refuses to accept the truth and is far too emotional right now.

What do you expect? Two of his friends just died!

[Everyone expresses at least SOME emotion with death?]

Even if it's the truth, some people just don't to hear about stuff like that right now. So just...don't do that again. Please.

[He stares at her and sighs.]

It's best to not get attached here, given the nature of this place. I don't do 'comforting' very well.

[She lets out a frustrated sigh.]

Fine, then just...don't let it happen again, okay?! We need to at least try to trust each other here, if we ever want to get out of here.

[Trust each other... look how far that got him. Tch.]

... I don't intend on making enemies.

[It just. Happens.]

Then how did that happen?

[Just. Points at the pile Jonathan and Nagisa are in.]

Just...if there's something that you have to think about on weather it's a good idea or not, there's a good chance it's not. So please...think. I don't want to lose any more friends.

And that goes for you too!

[Pointing back at Jonathan.]

[He just shakes his head and sighs.]

Too many things, I think. But I suppose you're right. Most people are still riding too high on emotions to deal with things logically.

As long as you just try. At least.

... I'll do what I can.

[He flinches. That's a really familiar tone of voice.]

Yes, ma'am.

[And that was completely sincere. Yes, really and truly. He knows he fucked up.]

[She was...expecting more backlash from him? But she can still work with this.]

Thank you.

[On the one hand, he kind of just wants to... hide behind Nagisa, if that were actually possible. On the other... he nods, meeting her gaze with a confidence he doesn't really feel at all.]

You're welcome. I can't promise I'm better, but... I can try to be?

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earietale - 2018-07-29 06:21 (UTC) - Expand

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backuphero - 2018-07-29 20:26 (UTC) - Expand

It's a mess. I'm a mess. Gonna-get-people-killed mess.

[What the hell is he doing? She'd be ashamed of him, both shes would, Vita and - the girl not here. And Akira, God -

He doesn't want to yank Nagisa down with him, by any means, but his knees buckle anyway. Hopefully that isn't enough to knock him over.

He's steadied, whatever Nagisa just did to his neck and his wrist has cleared the haze of rage from everything, but now everything is in focus and everything hurts. He hasn't cried in years. He taught himself how not to. Forced himself to learn that. It was easier to just be angry, but now he's had that anger taken away, and all that's left is the agony of loss that was underneath it. He barely knew them. He barely knew either of them, and now they're gone, and it hurts worse because he barely knew them.]

[Down they go. With Nagisa's size, there's really no helping that. He wasn't expecting Jonathan's knees to give out, either, so he didn't brace himself for it.]

Keep thinking like that and you'll get yourself killed. It's something that can be worked on.

I'm supposed to be working on that already. She always tells me I'm too reckless, and then I see her brooch here and I just... I'm sorry, I knocked you right down, didn't I.

[It's dizzying. He's not angry. For the first time in years, he's not angry at all. Not even in the back of his mind while he's thinking about other things. It's just... gone.]

[Good, he's already working on it. Education isn't a one-and-done thing, there is always more to do.]

Everyone gets overwhelmed sometimes. It's a work in progress. ...it's alright. I'm small and weak, so it's pretty easy to knock me down, and I'm kind of screwed if I get in a fight. [Only kind of, though.]

[Oh, Nagisa. That girl Jonathan's missing so bad would adore you.]

In a fight, maybe, but... you're not weak, Nagisa. You're not weak at all!

[That came out a bit more vehemently than intended, but this is the first time in a long time Jonathan's had no background rage filling up his head. It's... kind of overwhelming, having room to think.]

[This whole last year has been a lesson in never giving up. In matching adversity with an even greater killing intent.]

I'm....really not that impressive. Karma-kun is much better. [It's not 'was'. It was never 'was'. It wasn't fair.]

[And suddenly, something clicks into place in Jonathan's head. That bizarre question, earlier, in the... he refuses to call it a courtroom, even mentally....]

Is that who you meant? When you said "He's alive", is that who you meant?

[He nods.] Akira-senpai met him, in the place he was before - a mall, with similar rules to here. He said...Karma-kun was fond of me, even though we're.... [Headshake.]

After that cook-off, he came to find me, and told me about...the motive. He got pictures of everyone from the mall. As far as he knew....all of them had been killed.

God....

[He closes his eyes, and shakes his head slowly. He's no idea what "senpai" means, but it's close enough to "sensei" that it's probably some kind of indicator of respect... right?]

He said last time the dead could... the dead and the living could keep in touch somehow. We'll find a way to let him know. We will. And... if they're alive, even though he thought they all died, maybe we're all going to make it out of here too, yeah?

We'll have to...we'll find a way. For now, we need to learn all we can. We can't let up, not for a moment, because as long as we're here we're in enemy territory.

[There's a lot to do still. And everyone has a weakness.]