AQUA.

[tactic]

WAIT HERE

Comments

[tactic]

Well...

[ He takes another drink of his sake. ]

I've been here the longest. And these days, I'm wondering if I've become complacent.

[keeper]

[ she takes a moment to quietly think about that, and sets her drink down for a moment. ]

...It's not easy being trapped in one place for very long. It wears on the heart.

What do you think you should be doing differently?

[tactic]

Hmmm, everything?

[ Maybe it's all the drinks he's had, but he chooses to be honest in this moment. ]

I didn't share in everyone's excitement over the mail room changing. The thought of sending letters to the other side... All I've been able to think about is the cult discovering our existence.

[keeper]

Everything is a pretty tall ask... You've been helping out tirelessly, from what I've seen.

[ with the notebooks, with first aid, making sure nehan is in one piece, etc. ]

...I don't think it's wrong to be cautious, when we're still in no uncertain danger. If anything it's probably a good thing that someone remembers.

[ but... it seems to be more than that, maybe. she's also had plenty to drink, so she's being more direct than usual. ]

...Are you afraid to hope for something better...?

[tactic]

[ It's going to take him a few moments to answer, because he's thinking very hard about this question. ]

... It's funny, you know. We're trapped in this town and forced to live out our nightmares, but I've never been this free before.

[keeper]

[ ...she's mulling over that, too. she thinks she understands a little, but she wants to hear from him, first. ]

...Tell me, what happened to you? After your sister. And that tattoo you had...

[ 34. she knows fragments of details from his past, and the overall whole does not seem to tell a happy story. ]

[tactic]

[ The smile he gives her is tired, wane and uncertain. ]

It's a difficult story to hear.

[keeper]

I'd like to hear anyway.

[ she tops off his cup of sake, in case it helps. ]

[tactic]

[ WELL... He'll stare at his filled cup for a moment, and then immediately knock it back. ]

I was on my own for a time, up until I was captured and sold into slavery.

[ He puts the cup back down, tapping on the table with a finger as he loses himself to the memories. ]

A man bought me. You see, I had made something of a name for myself back then because of my luck. The day he bought me, he decided to test out my luck.

[keeper]

[ returns after mini-event, tears in my eyes.

her own drink remains untouched, as she regards him quietly. there's an obvious, distinct sadness in her expression, if not a little recognition, but again she keeps her thoughts to herself instead of interrupting. ]

What did he do?

[tactic]

He placed me and thirty-four other slaves in a maze. We were in there for two days slaughtering each other.

[ He sounds detached as he describes it. He's not here. ]

I was the only one to come out alive, proving my luck to him.

[keeper]

[ gazes into the abyss icly and oocly.

'luck'... what a twisted definition of the word. ]

...I'm so sorry for what you were put through.

[ every time she thinks she's seen the worse, she's proven wrong. the idea of two days of slaughter wiping out so many lives—impossibly worse than even two weeks, here.

she'll take that drink now, and wait once more for him to continue. ]

[tactic]

[ In some ways, he's glad to be the one telling her. It had felt worse when the memories had come, unexpected and gruesome. Out of his control. ]

He put me to work after that. I generated a small fortune for him.

[ He twirls his cup for a moment, thoughtful, before stopping its motion. ]

It didn't take me very long to kill him, [ he says this quietly, casually. ] After that, I joined the IPC. I told you about them, right?

[keeper]

[ ...aqua doesn't outwardly react too strongly to that, either, brow furrowing mildly. good riddance. ]

...You did, briefly.

[ he'd mentioned the word "preservation" ]

...So did Boothill, though. I know that's why you were at odds with each other at first.

[ but there are no stray thoughts or questions here. if he has an explanation, she'll hear that out, too. ]

[tactic]

[ Ah, of course. ]

Mm, yes. I didn't understand his animosity toward me for a time. But we spoke.

[ ]

What has he told you?

[keeper]

...He told me quite a bit about his past, when we first met.

And that the IPC was responsible for razing down his planet.

[ he lost everything.

...but so did aventurine. it's her guess that's where they found common ground. ]

...I didn't quite make the connection back to you until it was too late.

[ boothill had already killed him. (read: i waited too long to pc you about it and then you MCDIED) ]

[tactic]

That's right.

[ WHOOPS ]

The IPC is made up of many departments. The Marketing Development Department is who he's specifically targeting. They also happen to be... something of a rival to my department.

[ And before his thoughts can outpace him, ]

They played a part in the massacre of my clan as well.

[keeper]

[ she frowns deeply, hands tracing the edges of her emptied cup.

your family... her expression is genuinely sad for a moment, before it resolves itself into something approaching anger. ]

...Is there any way to take down that department?

[ she's not one for politics, nuance or compromise. she just thinks they should be flat-out eradicated, and would hop over to their world to do it personally if she could. ]

[tactic]

[ aqua you are an angel....... of executions ]

Please don't worry about it, Aqua. Boothill and I... We'll take care of things.

[keeper]

[ she will beat the icp marketing development department to death. (no she will not interrupt their buddy-cop revenge arc.) ]

I trust that you will. But best of luck, anyway.

[tactic]

... Thank you.

[ WHERES MY HOSPITAL THREAD OMO ]