fishingforcompliments | [suite dreams] catchall for dimitri

[help so many of the statues in the courtyard are of npcs flayn didn't see on the screens back at the camp. roxas and mikazuki are familiar from the theater, though - and of course junpei, veronica, and wen ning are npcs they dealt with in person - but the rest of the statues...

are they more recent? or are they older ones they simply didn't know about?

regardless of what the answer is, she looks troubled as she explores the courtyard and familiarizes herself with the statues. troubled and a little distracted, as she rounds a corner and nearly bumps into someone.]

Oh, my apologies—

["someone" is "dimitri". she pauses.]

...Dimitri...?

[gods. why can't he catch a break.]

[ he's been on-guard, on-edge, with already too much on his mind at home to deal with another murder game. but there was no saying no to the summons here, no matter who else was brought along.

it is unfortunate, in that way, to meet any familiar faces. he takes a quick step back to avoid running into her, eyes blinking large for a moment.

but he shouldn't be surprised. they really can't get away from this. ]

...You as well?

[they really, really can't.

she nods.]

Yes.

[this really sucks, she thinks, except it's that sentiment expressed in a more flayn-like manner. can dimitri please just have a moment's peace?]

[ they'd left off on an awkward note, but they were also never going to see each other again anyway. instead, there's... this. he crosses his arms. ]

That makes four of us, at least.

[ four out of thirty-five is pretty terrible, actually. ]

That is four too many.

[her hands are clenched into fists. she breathes out and tries to relax them. it doesn't really work.]

[ he doesn't know how to set her at ease, or if he wants to. he's not sure what to make of this situation; his emotions flicker in a few different directions with no set path. ]

...It is. [ or do the four of them deserve this, somehow? after a moment, ] I do not intend to cause you harm, unless given an excuse to.

[ in case that's why she's so tense. ]

[well - that startles the tension out of her.]

I never thought that you did...

[...]

I was... trying to figure out how best to assure you that I mean you no harm, either.

[ he raises a brow—there is, unfortunately, only so far their words can take them here—but then nods stiffly. ]

Tell me the circumstances that brought you here.

[ the sooner they figure out what's going on, the better. ]

I... had a dream.

[her brow furrows.]

There was... Seteth was... [she looks down.] ...I was offered a chance to save him. And - someone wanted me to... sign something. I know it sounds crazy, but... on the chance that it was true, I could not simply ignore it...

[ he furrows a brow at her wording—as far as he's heard, there are those, like him, who stand to lose a dead person a second time, or those who hold a living captive.

seteth was well in his world, but... ]

It is not a risk any of us are willing to take.

[ that's why they're here. ]

It sounds as though everyone stands to lose something very close to them.

[who knows how seteth is faring in her verison of fodlan! ha ha.]

That does seem to be the case...

[she looks away from him for a moment, back to the statues. there are so many she doesn't recognize, and so many other people in the hotel that she never once saw on the camp's theater screens.

her hands tighten back into fists. looking at the proof of how many other people have gone through this sort of thing makes her want to hit something.]

But as of yet, we have no information about how to get them back, save that we are to... "provide entertainment".

[ he was never close to the camp advisors, but he knows they're amongst the statues. each of the faces here has a story, its own game—it's sobering to think about, enough to make him restless with agitation. ]

It is not so different from what Pandora wanted.

...no, it is not.

[her gaze lingers on the statues.

there isn't anything representing the island here, so she can add one to the number of experiences represented by the statues - and add the number of them that were on the screen in the camp, too.

even one of these things is too many, and yet...]

I had not realized there were so many beings who wished for this sort of thing.

[ it's all enough to wonder if there are as many 'games' as there are universes, just another alternate timeline in an apparent multitude of them. or maybe this is some sort of purgatory, where the most conflicted souls are left to be tested again and again.

they did escape pandora, but could it really be called a victory? is being here with flayn some extended punishment for the both of them? or maybe there is no reason at all.

he finds a vine that's spindled up one of the statues and pulls it off. ]

I am no longer surprised.

[ there is so much cruelty out there. ]

...It does not matter. In the end, what we must do has not changed. Find the source, and compel it to meet our demands.

Yes.

[or just kill it, honestly.

flayn thinks it, and then is angry with herself for thinking it. would she be so quick to jump to violence before all of this? what she wants more than anything is for all of them to be at peace, but -

between the island, and the camp, and then the war back in fódlan, it's become apparent that peace must be won at the point of a sword. will that be the case here as well?]

I would be interested in seeing the exact terms of the agreement we signed in our dreams. Surely that would provide somewhere to start, with figuring out a strategy...

[ if there is a person he can question at the end of a blade, he will. if he can end this with a dagger, he must. more than anything, by the end of their last 'game,' he'd just wanted to believe that they could achieve a kinder ending.

but more and more, he wonders if that's even in the cards for them. perhaps peace and kindness are things for other people—things that they must fight for. ]

I do not know if contractual loopholes will be our way out, but it is a place to start.

[ even if he doubts the terms will be in their favor. ]

Is that what you intend to do, Flayn?

[ what is her plan here? ]

I do not yet know. I suppose it depends on what is written, and on how much room there is for loopholes.

[if the contract is airtight, there won't really be much they can do, will there? but... she'd like to think they can find some way other than the obvious (or what feels like the obvious, now that they're on round three of murder).]

I want to get us out of this mess. Us, and... the people they took from us. As quickly and as safely as possible. But I do not know how.

Edited 2022-06-09 15:13 (UTC)

[ some idiot is out here setting the jail cabin on fire! it doesn't stay ablaze, but he sure is doing his best, even with HOOLIGAN stamped on his head. ]

[flayn, who has ended up in the camp by mistake (she was really, really not intending to go through the door at all but here she is), blinks as she sees the hooligan at work.]

...did Shinobu advise you to burn things that displeased you as well?

...We are burning things that displease us independently of each other, apparently.

[ sometimes you are just both angry hooligans. ]

It does not last long.

How frustrating.

[the isolation cabin should remain in ashes :/ ]

Shall we take it in turns?

[she can set it on fire again after it starts to repair itself maybe... dimitri can wander off to commit more wanton acts of destruction... and then he can light it on fire again once the effects of her arson are reversed.]

[ he pauses, as though measuring what to say to her, before deciding on this: ]

...Only if you would like one of these.

[ he taps the HOOLIGAN on his forehead. ]

[she considers it]

There are worse things to be branded with.

[picking up something to light things on fire with...? help.]

Is it permanent, do you know?

It faded earlier, when I took some time to rest.

[ not sleep, because he sleeps like an hour a week, but presumably he just sat and stared into the abyss for a while. ]

I would allow it to be permanent if I could raze this place to the ground properly.

[ his tone is Hateful, without any effort to mask it. ]

[dimitri please take a nap.]

I see. Well, if we do manage to properly destroy this place and it does become permanent, you could always cover it up with makeup, or style your hair to hide it, could you not?

[unless he would wear "HOOLIGAN" with pride at that point.]

[suite dreams] catchall for dimitri

weekend zero, friday

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w0 ; monday

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