WEEK 2

[strangerpeople]

WEEK 2

[It is again early morning when the train docks next. This time, however, the dock is not as busy. There are few trains to be seen, and even fewer people. Only a man stands at the dock, teeth sharp in his smile, scelera a deep gold as he stares beneath his fedora.

"Unexpected," he said with a smile. A two-dimensional dog with the head of a scribbled black cloud hops by, ignoring him. "But not unwanted. Do make yourselves comfortable."

This new place is known as Victoria's Chasm, named after an Empress. No, not that one. Her Thrice-Renewed Majesty is quite comfortable on her Throne, and rulled for much longer than 99 days, thank you very much.

In the distance, black begins to erupt like tendrils. Lightning flashes through the clouds. This is the land of monsters; tread carefully. And do not despair, whatever you do.


There are fifteen strangers left in this place.]

Comments

[unwittingking]

Thanks. I appreciate it.

[And he means that. It’s...kind of nice, to not be the only one worrying about them.

He can’t help but be confused for a moment, though. Who should he be happy to know is-

...oh...]

Do you...do you mean who I think you mean?

[higanbana]

[A nod.]

I suppose they were fairly limited in their options of who they could take for me, given that he is all there is. All there has ever been.

So, yes. My master— the doctor sits imprisoned.

As RGB so helpfully put it last night, he is very much "off the rescue list."

[unwittingking]

[King’s just gonna sit in silence for a moment cause he needs to think about this. On one hand, that is horribly sad that the only person they could find for Ris was him of all people. On the other hand, the guy very much deserves this, no doubts about it.

He resolves to sigh again, this time more of letting out some stress.]

To put my feelings simply, I agree with him.

[higanbana]

[A tiny smile.]

As do I.

[unwittingking]

[Okay, she seems fine with it, so...]

Any chance I can see him in there?

[Let him see the doctor suffering]

[higanbana]

Certainly.

[She has the chip in her pocket, so she'll just plug it into her own cuff and hold out her arm so they both can see easily.

There he is, a lanky man in glasses with long, grey hair and, despite the time that has clearly passed for the prisoners, surprisingly little in terms of facial hair. More like stubble, really. He must just have trouble growing it.

His hair falls, rather conspicuously, over his right eye.]

[unwittingking]

[King can sort of...see something about the man that worries him, but lets that go for now. He just smiles at the sight on the screen.]

Am I bad person for being happy about seeing him there? And not feeling bad about that happiness?

[higanbana]

Ehehe. I am the wrong person to answer that question.

I was using this as my entertainment during dinner Tuesday night. It made everything else feel slightly less terrible. [♥]

[unwittingking]

[He lets out a small snort and gives a little eye roll.]

Well, it's nice to know at least one good thing came out of this.

[higanbana]

Mmhm. I thought you would appreciate it, as well. Now you don't even need to bite him.

[She sighs, though, and it's... bittersweet, at best.]

So, I suppose now I really am "free." Despite everything... I have to admit, there is a part of me that is glad that I am still aboard this train with you all for this. It... might be easier to adjust to, with the people I have learned to care for about.

[unwittingking]

[He notices that sigh, and lets his smile drop when looking at her.]

It's...probably not going to be easy, adjusting to a normal life after this, I won't lie, but, if you give it enough time, I'm sure you will.

[And he's willing to help, if she needs some.]

[higanbana]

Almost certainly not. Even when just this is... overwhelming, sometimes.

But... I will put in my best attempt. It is all I can do.

[unwittingking]

And that's all you need to do.

[He's not fully sure how it will go, but he does have confidence in her being able to do it. If she was able to deal with that doctor for so long, a normal life shouldn't be as hard.]