Della Duck (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
nothingcanstop) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
unknownseas2020-05-16 03:57 pm
nothingcanstop) wrote in unknownseas2020-05-16 03:57 pm
hey mom, dead mom, i need a little help here
[ ...All of that happened, huh. That's the sentiment each and every week, and it's no different this time. Except, this time they've lost more people than before. Five.
The gathering invitation is slipped under everyone's doors, but it specifies something a little different. ]
[ That's a good two hours or so of difference. Enough time to wander around, for sure.
But, in the garden, at the appointed time, there's a variable arrangement of fresh-cooked food. A good amount of beef stew, some Chinese hot pot, and...watermelon? Just, an absurd amount of watermelon, cut up and set on plates. All the food's set on tables that seem to have been moved from the library, and the ground is littered with blankets, for those who don't want to sit on the grass.
And yes, she did not lie. There is, indeed, a variable fuckton of alcohol. (And coffee, for our underaged.)
This has become routine. But, we're still here. We're still alive. ]
The gathering invitation is slipped under everyone's doors, but it specifies something a little different. ]
[ That's a good two hours or so of difference. Enough time to wander around, for sure.
But, in the garden, at the appointed time, there's a variable arrangement of fresh-cooked food. A good amount of beef stew, some Chinese hot pot, and...watermelon? Just, an absurd amount of watermelon, cut up and set on plates. All the food's set on tables that seem to have been moved from the library, and the ground is littered with blankets, for those who don't want to sit on the grass.
And yes, she did not lie. There is, indeed, a variable fuckton of alcohol. (And coffee, for our underaged.)
This has become routine. But, we're still here. We're still alive. ]
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We'll either come up with something to use in our situation, or ... we'll all meet our ends soon as an eventuality to one another.
[ How many of them were left could now be counted easily on both hands. ]
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Just like the Professor said, huh? If we keep going at this rate, we'll be gone in just two weeks.
But I don't plan on dying here. Call me naive, but I can't accept that, after everything.
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I can't let the Professor get away with what he's done. I want to see with my own eyes him paying for what he's done, and I won't accept anything else.
[ It's said quietly, but defiantly with his own air of stubbornness. It's a sudden fire that rose to the surface that's always been there but hidden. ]
If your words are considered naive...then my own might be thought of as the same. Or foolish.
But, I think in the end there's nothing wrong with either of them.
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I think most of us here feel something like that, one way or the other. Either we can't kill but we don't want to die, or we have something we want that's worth surviving for. That's why we've lasted as long as we have.
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[ An almost smile made its way to his face, though. ]
There must be something to it. But, it's not like I'm unused to struggling against difficulty.
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[ Sometimes, there are other people with her. But it hasn't been that way for months now. Even before all this...
The rhythm of it isn't unlike the Holy Grail War, she realizes now. Every week, they all step into an elevator and let it carry them down to a battle that will determine their fate. And, every week, she has come out on top or die.
Just two more weeks. Just like the Holy Grail War. One way or another— ]
But I said thanks because I wanted to, Valentine. Don't worry, I'm not polite enough to do it out of obligation.
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[ Maybe there was a little tilt of his head at that. That said, it's been a long while anyone had said or expression any sort of gratitude to him. It felt like such a foreign thing. ]
...Alright, but I can't remember the last time someone's called me by my last name.
Just Vincent is fine.
[ Even if before he hadn't made it exactly a policy to get close to people, he kind of would like to hear people say his first name. Or at least, some of the remaining people here. It made him feel more human than what he really was. ]
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Is- Is it really? We're all just... We're just working partners, so I thought...
I... I'm a mercenary, you know! [ among other things, but ] Whenever I had a temporary partnership with someone, we just...!
[ Kept things formal. Maybe. ]
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...?
We just what?
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[ The word squeaks out. ]
We should all be trying not to get too attached or anything, right?!
[ rin you were literally JUST SAYING how you all need to be a cohesive group at this point-- ]
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[ And this was why his expression managed to look even more confused.
He's too blunt to not point it out. ]
...That sounds like the opposite of what you were implying not too long ago.
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...I guess. Sorry, I'm just used to...things working a little differently in a team.
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[ ugh!!! ]
I'm not saying that teams can't be like that. Sometimes, it's... It's okay to have a relationship like that, when you've worked with someone for a long time and trust them. But... It's a stupid idea to get attached here, isn't it?!
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[ He'll frown, the confusion still there. Well, it was just a simple request. But, he did feel like he was missing something, though part of him just says that maybe it's fine this way too.
He'll pause, wondering again at her words. ]
I suppose it doesn't matter to me all that much in the end.
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[ aaaa ]
It's not the same as when you call someone by their last name out on the field.
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[ Or...mercenaries not from his world. ]
Didn't mean to cause such a misunderstanding.
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Not... just mercenaries, necessarily. A lot of military jobs, I think... Well, I guess that's to be expected. A lot of us are ex-military in some way, so it's not really a surprise that certain quirks would carry over like that.
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...I used to be around a lot of ex-military due to the nature of my previous job. But...even then...interaction with others has never been my specialty.
[ ... ]
I also understand that we just had a discussion about distance from each other...but can you tell me what made you decide to become a mercenary?
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[ She almost says she had no choice—but that's never true. There's always the option to give up, and that's something she prides herself on refusing, every time. ]
It's not like I don't have any scruples, if that's what you're thinking, or that I'll take any job for the right money. But there's... something I need to do, and it's not something I can accomplish without someone else giving me the funding. I'm just lucky, in that my enemies have a lot of people who hate them just as much as I do.
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...I see. I appreciate you answering honestly.
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No problem. People are quick to judge me when they see I'm called a terrorist and rebel and whatever else, so the best I can do is set the record straight when the opportunity presents itself.
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After all, people are quick to fear and make judgments, but slow to consider the big picture first.
[ He'd have made a comparison with views on AVALANCHE here, but people had more reason to think badly or good of them. Not to say he believed that this was a black or white situation either. It was never that easy. ]
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[ With Rhea, during the first trial. But she's talked shit about her enough times already, so she'll let the thought go. ]
Well, I guess it doesn't matter, as long as nobody left does the same thing. Vincent.
[ she's TRYING ]
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And he appreciated it along with her trying her best, judging by that little smile. ]
Mm. You're right about that.