Week four

[letsplayamod]

Two more of your fellow gods, your companions, your friends, have met their end together. As you turn in for the night, and a new week dawns upon you, it's starting to be a bitter experience. Just how much of this will you be forced to take?

But all isn't just despair. The morning is brighter than the last. The storm clouds that previously plagued almost every day have dissipated, and this week brings plenty of sun and a friendlier breeze. Not to mention, another floor of this strange temple has revealed itself. Whatever lies within is your domain, not Typhon's. Keep it tight in your grasp, because you never know when you'll lose it.

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Quark's Bar

Comments

[stringup]

[ A don't think she doesn't remember what you said back when they all first met Athena, Ferdinand! ]

I'm pretty sure none of you promised to end the fucking world in exchange, though.

[markofnobility]

And we did not agree to butcher each other either. Yet here we are.

[stringup]

[ Touche. Velvet's gaze turns down to the hands in her lap. ]

...Anyway, it looks like even here I'm still bound by that oath.

[ Even if there haven't been any new major incidents after that first one. ]

[markofnobility]

So it is not just not causing death, but preserving life that causes this reaction.

...then why did you help me?

[stringup]

...I just didn't want you to die an idiotic death to some undead creature.

[ Which is technically true, but... ]

[markofnobility]

[He laughs softly at that]

You are certainly too late to stop me from dying an idiotic death. Still... it is clear to me you do not believe in these oaths you are bound to.

[stringup]

[ "An idiotic death", said with that laugh, huh. ]

...I don't know. I think I did, just not enough.

[ In a way, it would've been so much easier if she had. ]

[markofnobility]

[he frowns at that, a mix between sadness and fear in his guts and eyes. What did Velvet do, before they met? What horrors? Surely any beings who would want the end of life would not use anything but the most detestable methods.

And even believing in that a little suggests it's own horrors. He can't imagine it- he is suddenly very aware of a vast gulf between them; even with his own very unclean hands.]

Why?

[Why believe in it? Why not believe in it enough?]

[stringup]

[ She starts and stops once, twice without managing to get a word out. Surely whatever answer she has would only disappoint Ferdinand. Maybe even make him hate her, because nothing she can say will change the fact she was complicit in terrible things. It would be the right thing, the easier thing; she is not likeable, shouldn't be liked by someone who can still hold on to such idealism, and shouldn't let herself be attached to such a person, anyway. She shouldn't even acknowledge the life she had before except to disavow it; she gave up all right to it the night she swore that oath.

She still finds herself afraid of how Ferdinand will react. If even he forsakes her, then what hope does she have that anyone will believe in her here in the face of Typhon's trials? ]

I thought that...a world where everything I had could be taken away from me due to some petty, selfish, or greedy whim was better off gone. I just—couldn't stomach how miserable the work was.

[markofnobility]

Ah.

[It's not an unfamiliar concept to him. A bitterness that burns until you have to lash out at everything around you.]

To fall without any satisfaction... I think I can understand, to a degree. And how do you feel now? Are... are we in danger from you?

[stringup]

Uhm...remember how my plaque mentioned I quit my previous employment?

[ She's not going to answer the last question yet because even she isn't exactly sure how much danger or lack thereof she poses. ]

[markofnobility]

[He huffs a laugh that has little humor in it]

That it does. Then... for you too this place is a second chance.

[stringup]

...I suppose so, yeah.

[ Even if she hadn't really thought of it that way at the time. She isn't sure if it feels like much of one, either. ]

[markofnobility]

[he nods, more to himself than her. Taking a deep breath]

I... am not sure I fully understand. But... if you say you will not kill to hide this or undo it... I will trust in you.

[he glances up, eyes wide with a desperate hope]

Please, do not make me regret that. I am not sure I could bear it.

[stringup]

[ Velvet wasn't expecting understanding to begin with, so it's a surprise to her that Ferdinand is saying all this, even knowing his tendency for idealism.

...Honestly, the fact someone is deliberately placing trust in her for something like this is both surreal and makes her afraid to disappoint. ]

I won't.

[ Never mind getting away with murder, there are too many people here that she doesn't want to ask herself if she could condemn them to death if she succeeded. Especially with one of them right in front of her.

...Well, if that moment ends up being shown to everyone else in the end, then at least being mistrusted wasn't already unexpected. ]

[markofnobility]

... and if you do, do not think I will offer you any mercy either.

[ Even his raging crush will not strip him of his sense of justice.]

Still... I understand your hesitation. After Wendy... Well, you know.

[She killed for family and love and out of fear, but that judgement was brutal. Not unwarrented, exactly. But having such viciousness as your final sight is too much]

1/2

[stringup]

[ Now that gets her to laugh. It's not quite humorless so much as it is filled with a very bleak sort of humor. ]

I wouldn't expect anything else! [ She knows very well she hasn't earned it nor does she deserve it. ] If you did, then maybe we're all well and truly fucked by then.

[stringup]

[ But after that, even the dark humor subsides. Velvet sighs. ]

I mean...they'd be right to. [ It's a reasonable reaction to this knowledge. ] Can't say I want to deal with everyone being suspicious of me, still.

[ Yeah, that's how pessimistic she is about this. ]

[markofnobility]

I think if you told them, honestly and openly... they would be more accepting than you think! None of us here seem like the innocent types- for that alone they may understand your position. Even after his explosive entrance Omega has managed to make grounds with the others, I know you can as well.

[stringup]

[ Velvet, internally gazing at last weekend's trial: ]

I'm not so sure how that'd go when the scale is a mite different.

[markofnobility]

... in the end it is your choice what you do. No word of it will pass my lips, I will swear to you that at least.

[stringup]

...Ivll think about it [ And probably go through one more anxiety trip before she makes a decision. ]

To be honest, you're the first person I've told this to.

[ Not even just here, but at all. ]

[markofnobility]

I... well it would maybe be a bit gauche to say I am honored, considering. But... thank you. For trusting me.

[stringup]

I should be thanking you for trusting me.

[ Because she knows she wouldn't have if it had been her! ]

And...if it does turn out to be too much for you to deal with, I won't blame if you decide not to spend time with me any more.

[ That is to say, that out will always be available to him, as far as she's concerned. ]

[markofnobility]

[he gives a surprised noise at that]

Velvet, unless my presence is harming you through this oath, I do not think you could stop me from doing so.