THE THIRD TRIAL

[strangerpeople]

THE THIRD TRIAL
(~SK. 17-18)


[When the investigation ends, the D O N G rings throughout the ship, followed by Zero's voice.]

It is time. Everyone, come to the theater. Time is...wasting.

[And so it is. The seating has once more changed to reflect the fallen-Moriarty and now Brain's podiums are draped in black. And, of course, there is no food-

The screens come up, and the mask of Zero appears, ever inscrutable. Their instructions are brief.]

Your Brain is gone, I'm afraid. Cut into pieces and cast aside...and someone here knows why. Now, it's time for you to discover the truth as well...if you can.


[The trial for the murder of Brain, the Blue, has begun.]

Comments

[godspiousjasper]

[ There's a definite pause, then he sighs. Hiding things wasn't going to do anyone any good.

So he undoes the high-neck of his cassock and all it's buttons, slipping it off his shoulders before working at undoing his shirt and undoing it too. Once that's done, several things will be inherently obvious.

There's a square of gauze on his neck, some small bruises there and a lovely set of fresh scratches going down his back... though he's not really aware of those ones. ]

It's fine. This is necessary to find the killer, after all.

[ Y'all may be imagining it but there's a soft touch of color to his cheeks this time. ]

[superstylishsquid]

I can confirm that all of those came from me, and the only one that bled is the bite that I bandaged right after.

[godspiousjasper]

[ Just quietly nodding. There needs to be no words said here more than necessary. ]

[superstylishsquid]

[Awkward shoulder pat. He didn't want to embarrass him like this, but...yeah, they kinda need to pin down who might have bled.]

[exequte]

.... Gosh, Roland.

[godspiousjasper]

[ There's a hand that comes up as if he wants to cover that bandaged bite mark. He's plastering on a smile, to pretend nothing's wrong. ]

Hmm? I know they're a little much... which is why I was hoping things wouldn't come to this.

[exequte]

...

I mean, it has been pretty lonely in here.

[godspiousjasper]

T-That is one way to put it, yes.

[ A shift and he realizes Durandal was about to tip over where he'd set it, allowing her to have a brief glance at his back. ]

We're all trapped here together so things have been quite dire.

[exequte]

[O MAI]

Oh! I didn't think Alastor's fingernails were that sharp!

1/3

[godspiousjasper]

Hm? He does have claws, but...

[ Wait. ]

2/3

[godspiousjasper]

3/3

[godspiousjasper]

[ Realization clicks into place and immediately his cheeks flush a deep crimson. Followed by him immediately hiding his face. ]

Pour l'amour de Dieu. Il en reste des marques ?!

[ Sorry. He's dying a little inside now. ]

[superstylishsquid]

[Rubbing the back of his neck. Sorry Roland...]

That was actually me being careful with them, since...yeah, I have claws that I can fight with if I have to.

[exequte]

I guess I thought you would be able to choose which, um, mode you wanted.

[superstylishsquid]

Well, I can choose how long they are...

[He removes a glove to show his hand, with sheathed claws just slightly poking out of where fingernails would be on a human hand.]

But without my shapeshifting, they're always sharp.

[exequte]

Have you ever tried filing them? If, um, if this is the kind of thing you want to be using them for....

[exequte]

Oui, je suis surpris que tu ne puisses pas les sentir.

[godspiousjasper]

[ It's a pleasant surprise to know she not only can understand him but can speak it just the same. Since he can't word in anything other than french right now. ]

Eh bien... ils ne me causent pas vraiment de douleur. Je ne pensais pas qu'il y aurait quoi que ce soit...

[exequte]

Je suppose que c'est à cause de la façon dont vous les avez eus, hein?

[valkavian]

Oh my god.

[somuchshipping]

Uh... Do you two need a safe word...?

[GENUINE CONCERN.]

[godspiousjasper]

A... A what? Why would there be something like that?

[ This is a foreign concept to him. ]

[superstylishsquid]

In case I get a bit too rough and you can't really form a sentence well enough to say so normally.

[godspiousjasper]

A-Ah... Understood. I... suppose I will keep that in mind going forwards.

[superstylishsquid]

Yeah. 'Stop' has been pretty unambiguous so far, but...well, we'll have to talk before it's ever not.

[And he'll just...leave it at that. No need to embarrass Roland too much by getting into detail about bedroom roleplay.]