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15strangers2019-08-11 10:55 am
strangerpeople) wrote in 15strangers2019-08-11 10:55 am
Entry tags:
FINAL WEEK
[Well. What else can be said? The Little Courtesy is over. You have all survived. You are now going to your final destination-with invitations to boot. And Charlotte will be getting that private audience, as promised.
But it's not over. Everyone knows it. Confrontation is inevitable. The question is what, exactly, will happen when that confrontation happens-or if anyone will in fact be able to go with Charlotte when it happens. But you've gone this far. There's no turning back. There has to be a way.
Nothing has been certain, or simple. Whatever happens will be no different from the horrors of the Little Courtesy. Perhaps the saying might still hold. Will all be well? Will it?
It must. God help everyone if it isn't.
Seven is the Number, but there are nine strangers left in this place.]
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More petting for the robokitty! Who's a good kitty? Is it you, Tango~?]
Yes, and then would up getting distracted by this handsome boy. A friend of yours, or is it simply too much of a pain to shoo him?
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At least nothing else will be knocked over from the other tables, if there's anything left from the kitty's reign of terror. ]
Nah, not really either of those. [ ...As surprising as that may sound. ] Protoman asked me to look after him. Seemed to be a last request from him.
[ And he's...honoring that. ]
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But he seems to be doing well enough. Causing havoc, aren't you, kitty? [Purrrr.] I don't know that Proto Man would be pleased to see him up on the tables, but I'm sure he would be glad to know he's happy.
[But turning conversation back to McBurn.]
What's got you so distracted today, though?
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[ Yeah, he's still a bloody troll too apparently.
At the question, though...he opens his mouth, thinking to protest but then he just feels like he doesn't care. Par for the course for him, really. But he did care enough to consider brushing it off for like .05 seconds. ]
Thinking about after being on two trains this is finally coming to an end. And there better be a good fight by the end of this.
[ He has his priorities straight, apparently. Also, getting back powers but he doesn't feel the need to say that. ]
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[She's smiling a little, but even so. Come on, Proto Man was a dork, but he was a good guy. Be nice.]
I should hope for some entertainment. This has been the worst cruise known to man. But the idea of it ending fills me with more trepidation than excitement, I admit.
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[ He'll be .00001% nice.
Okay, actually 5% nice. And troll Protoman anyway. ]
Since you don't really know what's going to happen?
[ ...Admittedly, the unknown part has been getting at him too. Now that's something that he won't reveal easily. But, after the conclusion of how the previous train went, even he's wary in his own way. ]
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[But yeah, okay, tease-time is over.]
Precisely. It may be boring, but you have to admit there is a comfort in the routine. The unpredictable may become exciting, but it also opens up the possibility to be hurt by the new.
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...Maybe, maybe not.
[ McBurn's not sure if he likes to admit that he found comfort in how things were. He hasn't felt completely like himself in a long while, and it's...complicated.
...even if there was definitely at least some sort of comfort to things like sparring, chatting up people, and just agitating others from time to time. ]
Guess there is a difference in how we feel about it. If getting hurt by the new meant putting an end to this, then I'm all for it. At least then it'd be worth it.
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[But she nods.]
But even so, I can agree with that. While I owe this hellish trip for a great many things, I am quite done with being Her Thrice-Renewed Majesty's little puppet.
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Granted, he's not aiming to die, it's just it is what it is. ]
Pretend that I added "in our favor" somewhere, then.
[ Because bad ends are called bad for a reason. But, that being said, he's a little curious about something. ]
...What're some of those things?
cw: abuse, dehumanization
[A little smile before a sigh.]
...Before I arrived here, that miserable man who calls himself a "doctor" was all I had in my life. And while there can be comfort in the routine, there is little with a man who will beat you bloody for the slightest provocation. For making any moves "unbecoming" of the perfect little porcelain doll he said you were supposed to be.
Arriving here granted me freedom. It granted me, on some level, a deliciously ironic revenge, given the cell in which that man now rots.
It granted me people I've grown to care very much for.
[And she's going to keep eye contact as she says that, because he might as well know.]
But it has taken them away, just as well. Those that remain are hurting, those that remain yearn for freedom. So even if I could live in this gilded cage forever and find comfort in it, in the end, it is the wishes of you all I'd rather devote myself to now.
Not because it is my place as a servant, but because I genuinely desire your happiness.
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[ McBurn does have some standards, even if he wouldn't visibly flinch at even the worst things in the universe. It's just not very obvious.
But, the implications held in those words are interesting, and so there's a rare moment of plain silence in conversation which doesn't mean he's left or checked out of it. He never thought someone would spare him any real thoughts of camaraderie, if at all. Even the kindest person would know that he wasn't really worth their time - in times of making some actual bonding with.
Mind you, it's not self-deprecation or anything. McBurn believes and honestly knows that he has little to nothing to offer people in any sort of relationship - friends or otherwise. So, he wasn't very aware of anyone even thinking of him seriously as a friend - an ally, at best. ]
...Being here wasn't just a complete pain in the ass, I guess. Even if I'm one of those who'd like their freedom since I can't and don't want to stay here longer than I already have. [ He'll actually kind of...laugh a little? It's about as rough around the edges as it is usually with him, but with some actual mirth. However, it's also neither condescending or mocking. ] And I don't think anyone's expressed before that they'd desire anything like my happiness since that usually wouldn't be anything good.
But, seeing as we're on the same side, I can't say there's anything wrong with it.
[ It looks like this place has changed Ris for the better and in the end, McBurn supposes that isn't so bad either. There seems to be more fight in her now, after all. ]
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[She listens to him, but quirks a smile when he laughs.] Oh, really? You desire freedom? I never would have guessed~. [And letting him continue further...]
We are on the same side. I can promise you that much.
[Ris does not make promises lightly.]
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Yeah...as things as they are now, I haven't had much reason to think otherwise. [ ... ] So, it shouldn't be something impossible for us—seeing this through to the end, that is.
[ It'd take a lot more to deter him.
Hell, it's probably impossible for someone like him to truly be deterred from meeting a challenge head on. ]
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[She offers what of a smile she can.]
We will see this through to the end, whatever that end may be. We have no other option.