The night before, they'd sworn that they would find the person responsible for Tsurumaru's death. That they would identify them, and stop them from hurting anyone else, and that it would be alright.
But there is nothing alright about this.
Everything feels mixed-up and ugly - she's so angry about the situation. Furious, even. But she doesn't know who to direct that anger at, because even though Evan was responsible, it wasn't as though it had been intentional. And likewise - if the directors are to be believed - this had never been their intention, either.
What she's feeling settles itself against her heart, knotted up and heavy, and it doesn't lighten when she sees Yin Yu, though she tries for a smile.]
[ yeah. this is garbage! actual, complete garbage.
how much easier would it have been, if there was some great and powerful overlord that said "make this happen"? the cruel gods of that island had been a force to unite against. here, it feels like everything just spiraled out of control.
an accident. it was an accident. it tastes so bitter on the back of his tongue, because he knows how evan must have felt, that entire time, sitting on that, knowing that death could have been avoided, if maybe actions were different, if the circumstances were different. over and over he's sat in that same position and wondered, could i have stopped that? but he--he was an adult, then, and when things spiraled out of his hands, it ruined his life. this young man was just that. a baby, in the grand scheme of things, who must have been terrified.
the small, not quite smile just hurts, because he can tell flayn is hurting, too. he's going to ask her if she's okay, at first, but it feels stupid. he wants to say something -- kind of wants to run, too, but none of that is right, either. ] Lady Flayn. [ he greets, quietly, bowing his head.
there's a pause, and what comes out of his mouth is not anything near a platitude or comfort. ] ....Would you like to take a walk?
[ because he knows how to battle his own feelings, how to force them out of the way, and this is too close for comfort. this is decades of buried, looming bad decisions, that bottled once until they exploded. since then he's learned; it is much easier to do something than it is to sit and think. ]
But it's hard to just rest when she thinks of how everyone else must be feeling. All forty of them - they know now that they're trapped in the jaws of something murderous once again. Some of them have already lost a dear friend.
Others may very well lose one tomorrow, depending on what the travel guide means by excluding someone from camp activities.
Staying in her cabin, staring up at the ceiling, alone with her thoughts - that would not be true rest. But a walk with Yin Yu?
...even if they're both tired and angry, that is worlds away more restful than anything she could do alone. She nods immediately.]
It would not. [ even just that eases a little bit of tension, and he gives her a small, not quite there smile of his own. it's been a long, long day, and knowing that they've been pulled into one of these games --when they didn't have to be--is weighing as heavily on his shoulders as anything. right now, they've all been thrust into danger again, and there's nothing they can do about it. tomorrow is a new day, but tonight is too quiet, and the longer he spends restless, the longer his thoughts threaten to eat him alive.
he makes his way over to flayn, and offers her his arm, if she'd like to take it. his manners are rarely lost, even at the worst of times. yin yu doesn't have much of a destination in mind--there is little about this place in the dark that screams "a nice walk", considerin everything that's happened, but... for once, to have the company seems really, really nice.
it's a strange feeling, to not want to be alone. ]
Where they're walking to, she doesn't know. And as long as she's with him - as long as neither of them is alone tonight - it doesn't really matter. They aren't walking to go somewhere; they're walking so that neither of them has to pass this time with no company but their own thoughts.
...somehow, it would be easier if the death hadn't been an accident. If it had been intentional, at least there would have been someone to blame, but no one had wanted this, and now they're all stuck in this cycle.
She wants to talk with him, to chase away the thoughts that keep cycling over and over again in her mind, but she can't seem to find the words. For now, sticking close to his side will have to be enough.]
[ for a little while, it's a walk in silence. around the perimeter of the camp, winding between the cabins. it feels extra quiet after everything that went down, and even the bugs and beasts of the night seem to have gone silent. there's much to think about, and with what can only be assumed as an execution coming tomorrow, it is only just beginning.
it's a quiet, easy walk, avoiding the public baths, avoiding the ostensible scene of the crime in the woods, slow steps on muddy ground. it takes a long time for yin yu to be the first to speak, but with flayn, he feels comfortable enough to do so, and asks, quietly: ] How's your side?
[ now that things are calmer, it's easier to remember that such things happened; the initial mission of "catching a killer", if you could call it that, is done. ]
[They certainly figured out who was involved in Tsurumaru's death, at any rate - though Flayn isn't sure she can think of it as catching a killer. She doesn't think an accidental death like this should count as a murder at all.
...but in the end, it's not what she thinks that determines how they'll be proceeding.
Flayn looks up, startled out of her thoughts, when Yin Yu speaks; a moment later, she looks back down at their feet.]
It does not hurt. ...much.
[She has to add that, because she doesn't want to lie to him, but she doesn't look happy to be admitting it, either.]
I'm glad. [ not much is better than nothing. now that the dust has settled, some of the other concerns of the evening are starting to come to light. he doesn't want to focus too much on flayn's injury - observation is his best skill if anything, and in the few weeks that they've known each other, it feels like he's started to learn the kind of person that she is, at least a little. there's no need to push, no need to smother.
(but, on the flip side, it had been a scary moment, and he is, if nothing, the type to worry, the type to care. cautious and kind, though you'd be hard pressed to get him to agree with the latter.)
besides, it leads to other questions about their strange hosts. ] The first time, it hurt Purple Heart, and the second, you. I wonder if it was random, or because you were somewhat nearby.... or if it hurt Black Shadows at all, as well.
...I went to speak with them before I came out here to think. [instead of, uh, properly resting. oh well. don't worry about it.] Black Shadows did not seem to be injured. In fact, they were very apologetic, and seemed to expect me to be upset with them over what had happened.
[She wonders. Had they been injured as well, wouldn't they have shown her their injury immediately to head off any complaints she might have had? It would have been difficult to blame them for her injury when they had been injured too.]
Most likely, it was random. I would believe that it was intended as a deterrent of some kind - so that we do not ask to many questions, and so that they do not attempt to answer them or divulge information unprompted, as no one will know who will pay the price for it.
...It does make me wonder, if they're as trapped in this cycle as we have become.
[ well considering what they get to watch tomorrow :)
anyway. it's frustrating, if nothing. he's never been the person to ask questions--if hua cheng tells him to jump, he says how high--but this place just begs them. there are so many different mysteries to solve here that it makes the island feel like nothing in comparison.
they'd warned the paranoid ones, supposedly, about what not to do. the way black shadows seemed uneasy when talking about the fog. and then, that fourth one, that wandered through and vanished no matter how well yin yu tracked it... it's just vastly, immensely complicated. ]
They may be. It... certainly seems as though they are.
[Is there something they can do for them? Flayn doesn't think any of them should have to be caught in this situation, but she doesn't know what to do about it.
There is success behind us, already. [ yin yu makes a quiet noise of agreement before he answered, trying to keep that same level of resolve. he's realistic, and has, in the past few hundred years, been a little bit cynical, but he's trying to find a hint of optimism. everyone here is logically, prepared for this, in some way, shape or form.
he lifts his other hand. it hesitates, for a moment--but, then, he covers the top of her hand with his own. it's not for long, but, the gesture is meant to reassure, the best that he can. ] We'll just have to keep striding forward, no matter what happens.
[ it is really hard to look flayn directly in the face when her expression looks like that. yin yu turns pink, almost instantly, and turns his head back to where they're walking, flustered. sometimes, he doesn't know what to do with people being nice to him. seeing who he was was bad enough.
yin yu makes a soft noise of agreement, though, and lets the silence fall back between them as they walk, peaceful. he also needs a minute to not be embarrassed, okay? ok. ]
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fishingforcompliments) wrote2020-06-06 12:53 pm
w0, saturday
The night before, they'd sworn that they would find the person responsible for Tsurumaru's death. That they would identify them, and stop them from hurting anyone else, and that it would be alright.
But there is nothing alright about this.
Everything feels mixed-up and ugly - she's so angry about the situation. Furious, even. But she doesn't know who to direct that anger at, because even though Evan was responsible, it wasn't as though it had been intentional. And likewise - if the directors are to be believed - this had never been their intention, either.
What she's feeling settles itself against her heart, knotted up and heavy, and it doesn't lighten when she sees Yin Yu, though she tries for a smile.]
no subject
how much easier would it have been, if there was some great and powerful overlord that said "make this happen"? the cruel gods of that island had been a force to unite against. here, it feels like everything just spiraled out of control.
an accident. it was an accident. it tastes so bitter on the back of his tongue, because he knows how evan must have felt, that entire time, sitting on that, knowing that death could have been avoided, if maybe actions were different, if the circumstances were different. over and over he's sat in that same position and wondered, could i have stopped that? but he--he was an adult, then, and when things spiraled out of his hands, it ruined his life. this young man was just that. a baby, in the grand scheme of things, who must have been terrified.
the small, not quite smile just hurts, because he can tell flayn is hurting, too. he's going to ask her if she's okay, at first, but it feels stupid. he wants to say something -- kind of wants to run, too, but none of that is right, either. ] Lady Flayn.
[ he greets, quietly, bowing his head.
there's a pause, and what comes out of his mouth is not anything near a platitude or comfort. ] ....Would you like to take a walk?
[ because he knows how to battle his own feelings, how to force them out of the way, and this is too close for comfort. this is decades of buried, looming bad decisions, that bottled once until they exploded. since then he's learned; it is much easier to do something than it is to sit and think. ]
no subject
But it's hard to just rest when she thinks of how everyone else must be feeling. All forty of them - they know now that they're trapped in the jaws of something murderous once again. Some of them have already lost a dear friend.
Others may very well lose one tomorrow, depending on what the travel guide means by excluding someone from camp activities.
Staying in her cabin, staring up at the ceiling, alone with her thoughts - that would not be true rest. But a walk with Yin Yu?
...even if they're both tired and angry, that is worlds away more restful than anything she could do alone. She nods immediately.]
I would, if it would be no trouble to you.
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he makes his way over to flayn, and offers her his arm, if she'd like to take it. his manners are rarely lost, even at the worst of times. yin yu doesn't have much of a destination in mind--there is little about this place in the dark that screams "a nice walk", considerin everything that's happened, but... for once, to have the company seems really, really nice.
it's a strange feeling, to not want to be alone. ]
no subject
Where they're walking to, she doesn't know. And as long as she's with him - as long as neither of them is alone tonight - it doesn't really matter. They aren't walking to go somewhere; they're walking so that neither of them has to pass this time with no company but their own thoughts.
...somehow, it would be easier if the death hadn't been an accident. If it had been intentional, at least there would have been someone to blame, but no one had wanted this, and now they're all stuck in this cycle.
She wants to talk with him, to chase away the thoughts that keep cycling over and over again in her mind, but she can't seem to find the words. For now, sticking close to his side will have to be enough.]
no subject
it's a quiet, easy walk, avoiding the public baths, avoiding the ostensible scene of the crime in the woods, slow steps on muddy ground. it takes a long time for yin yu to be the first to speak, but with flayn, he feels comfortable enough to do so, and asks, quietly: ] How's your side?
[ now that things are calmer, it's easier to remember that such things happened; the initial mission of "catching a killer", if you could call it that, is done. ]
no subject
...but in the end, it's not what she thinks that determines how they'll be proceeding.
Flayn looks up, startled out of her thoughts, when Yin Yu speaks; a moment later, she looks back down at their feet.]
It does not hurt. ...much.
[She has to add that, because she doesn't want to lie to him, but she doesn't look happy to be admitting it, either.]
...thanks to all of you, it was bandaged quickly.
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(but, on the flip side, it had been a scary moment, and he is, if nothing, the type to worry, the type to care. cautious and kind, though you'd be hard pressed to get him to agree with the latter.)
besides, it leads to other questions about their strange hosts. ] The first time, it hurt Purple Heart, and the second, you. I wonder if it was random, or because you were somewhat nearby.... or if it hurt Black Shadows at all, as well.
no subject
[She hesitates for a moment, but then continues.]
...I went to speak with them before I came out here to think. [instead of, uh, properly resting. oh well. don't worry about it.] Black Shadows did not seem to be injured. In fact, they were very apologetic, and seemed to expect me to be upset with them over what had happened.
[She wonders. Had they been injured as well, wouldn't they have shown her their injury immediately to head off any complaints she might have had? It would have been difficult to blame them for her injury when they had been injured too.]
Most likely, it was random. I would believe that it was intended as a deterrent of some kind - so that we do not ask to many questions, and so that they do not attempt to answer them or divulge information unprompted, as no one will know who will pay the price for it.
no subject
[ well considering what they get to watch tomorrow :)
anyway. it's frustrating, if nothing. he's never been the person to ask questions--if hua cheng tells him to jump, he says how high--but this place just begs them. there are so many different mysteries to solve here that it makes the island feel like nothing in comparison.
they'd warned the paranoid ones, supposedly, about what not to do. the way black shadows seemed uneasy when talking about the fog. and then, that fourth one, that wandered through and vanished no matter how well yin yu tracked it... it's just vastly, immensely complicated. ]
no subject
[Is there something they can do for them? Flayn doesn't think any of them should have to be caught in this situation, but she doesn't know what to do about it.
There must be something.
Her hold on his sleeve tightens a little.]
...we will break this cycle. We must, somehow.
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he lifts his other hand. it hesitates, for a moment--but, then, he covers the top of her hand with his own. it's not for long, but, the gesture is meant to reassure, the best that he can. ] We'll just have to keep striding forward, no matter what happens.
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...yes. You are quite right - thank you for reminding me.
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yin yu makes a soft noise of agreement, though, and lets the silence fall back between them as they walk, peaceful. he also needs a minute to not be embarrassed, okay? ok. ]
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flayn settles back into the walk, too. they don't really need to speak if he needs a moment - just being in his company is enough to relax her.
(when did that start happening, she wonders? ah, well.)]