[not again] catchall for shinobu

[fishingforcompliments]

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w0, sunday arrival

[fishingforcompliments]

[Flayn has escaped the profiles, made it to her cabin, and found a change of clothes - so now she's making her way through the camp to familiarize herself with her surroundings.

Where she encounters Shinobu is up to you, but wherever it is, she seems to have a lot on her mind as she walks around.]

[wisterin]

[ Shinobu is in her own change of clothes. Even if it restricts movement a little more, it's more comfortable.

They can run into each other at (throws dart) the bonfire. Shinobu is walking around, looking at the different animals. ]

Flayn-san, what's troubling you?

[ Besides the obvious. ]

[fishingforcompliments]

Oh, Shinobu...

[it's mainly the obvious, if she's being honest.]

I was just wondering... how long we are likely to be here.

[wisterin]

I hope it isn't the six or more weeks that others have experienced. I heard the hosts say they don't want it to be that long, but...

[ Who can say? ]

[fishingforcompliments]

I doubt they wanted us to show up here, either, and they did not get that. So I suppose we ought to prepare for the possibility.

[Which, uh, is not great.]

[wisterin]

It is better to keep expectations at a manageable level.

[ Not too high, not too low, so yeah, she's going to expect it to be A While. What does she know of portal malfunctions? Not much at all. ]

I apologize if this is too forward, but you seemed a little distraught about what you read in the Mess Hall. Are you all right?

[fishingforcompliments]

...yes. I was merely surprised by what was written there.

[wisterin]

Were they falsehoods?

[fishingforcompliments]

Was anything written on yours false?

w2, friday

[fishingforcompliments]

[flayn will come across shinobu some time after checking out the lake, wherever she happens to be. she looks troubled, but like. a man is dead, so that isn't surprising.]

...Shinobu? Could I speak with you?

[wisterin]

[ Shinobu is coming out of the nurse's office, and when she looks at Flayn, she squints a little. ]

Yes, of course.

[ Shinobu doesn't look unhappy, but she doesn't have her usual smile either. ]

Did you find something?

[fishingforcompliments]

[She nods, and without really thinking about it, reaches over to pat Shinobu on the head.]

Yes. There were drag marks by the lake.

[wisterin]

[ That's a little surprising, and all Shinobu does is try not to. Okay. ]

As if from a body or from a piece of equipment?

[ She sounds a little more clinical than concerned. ]

[fishingforcompliments]

[try not to what, shinobu??]

I am not certain. But there were two marks, spaced widely apart from each other.

[only one dead person, though...]

...where did you spend the night last night?

[wisterin]

[ Wince in pain, that I somehow forgot to finish typing.

She looks pensive but in a muted way. ]

Tomorrow's investigation will make it more clear. I was in the medical cabin. My eyes will be fine tomorrow.

[fishingforcompliments]

I am glad to hear that.

[shame about her eyes]

...oh! You are the person who invited Zenitsu here, then?

[wisterin]

[ She nods. ]

I was worried about him. I don't think it helped.

w6, saturday

[fishingforcompliments]

[RNG says they are meeting in the kitchen, so. I assume they're both here to get something warm to eat or drink? Flayn, for her part, is looking for tea.

(...too soon?)

When she sees her there, though, she pauses.]

...Shinobu?

[wisterin]

[ Has Flayn changed into dry clothes yet?

Shinobu defaults to tea as a drink of choice at all times, but the tea does remind her of one question she had. ]

I am still sorry I left you behind.

[ That will remain true for all that her choice said otherwise. ]

And I was surprised you agreed to choose him last week.

[fishingforcompliments]

[She has! It's still chilly, but. She's changed into dry clothes.

...she shakes her head when Shinobu speaks up.]

You were braver than I - you made that choice knowing it would mean your life.

[She couldn't have known someone would then be stepping into her role.

Flayn doesn't need to ask who she means by "him".]

...I am the one who suggested him. [...] We were trying to think of someone who would... understand, if we could find a way around what we were not able to say, to explain it.

[wisterin]

[ Enough have said that it was a brave choice, but was it? Even if Shinobu doesn't regret making it, can she herself call it brave?

She shakes her head but drops it after that. While she didn't know someone would replace her in her role, it still weighed on her. Everything about the role weighs unimaginable on those that held it. ]

And you were right, in the end, but still, it must have hurt to suggest him.

[ After all, with the loss if Yin Yu the week before— ]

You are stronger than most could ever think to be.

[fishingforcompliments]

...I think it probably hurt him, more.

[Dimitri is, after all, the one who died. The one who - because he trusted her - ended up leaving behind people that he cared for.

It must have felt very much like a betrayal. No, it didn't just feel like it - it was one.]

I kept... hoping, that we would be able to find a way to end all this before it had to happen, but... we were not. [...] Now all I can hope for is that we did end up finding a way to end this after all, and that you and the others who are sleeping will be safe.

If that is what happens tomorrow, then...

[She won't really say that it will be worth it, because no one should have died in the first place - but it would be the best possible outcome that she can think of, short of finding a way to go back in time and ensure that no one died at all.]

[wisterin]

I can't say it didn't hurt him, but I don't want this to be about who's hurting more. We've all been hurt.

[ She's gentle in pointing that out, but it's not that she doesn't understand. It's just she doesn't want this to be some comparison. An acknowledgment would be better even if Flayn doesn't want to talk about it more. ]

I am sure you were all hoping it would come to a close like this sooner. Week after week of killing like that— [ How much it would have weighed on all of them. ]

If tomorrow meets us safely, we will all have a chance to make things better, in a way that isn't forced.

[ It will still be a lot of work, but they will all have more of a choice. ]

[fishingforcompliments]

[We've all been hurt -

That's definitely true. This has hurt more than Flayn knows how to even begin to say. What she does know, though, is that people were hurt because of what she did. She doesn't really feel like she has the right to complain about how much it hurt, because the very things that hurt her also heaped suffering onto everyone around her.

...but it might be okay to admit it to Shinobu. She was her original partner, after all, so after a moment - Flayn nods once.]

It hurt terribly.

[The words come out very, very quietly, and then she's moving on, because she feels a little uncomfortable just having spoken them.]

...tomorrow must meet us safely. If it does not... [Her brow furrows.] It did not look as though attacking that creature would do us much good, but there must... be some way.

There has to be a way to make this better.

[wisterin]

[ Shinobu won't press after that. Her expression softens, and she puts a gentle hand on Flayn's arm. There is no erasing or excusing what they've all done, the suffering they've caused, but she doesn't want to say she doesn't understand that pain. She doesn't want to say they can't feel pain just because they also caused it.

This camp was crafted to generate suffering for everyone ]

The gifts that they responded to well— We'd have to suggest something more in a similar vein.

[ Give Pandora all the villains. ]

If they'd even take more "gifts" after today.