The Eleventh Trial

[catcophonous]

Who: everyone
When: Day 23, evening
Where: The Trial Zone

[Just as twilight darkens the clearing, you hear the train's customary shift, the sign of a Trial.

Outside in the clearing, a brick building has appeared. It's shabby, paint peeling from the heavy door, but the windows are full of neon signs advertising various brands of liquor. From inside you can hear the thumping of bass, and the faint sounds of a rowdy rock song.

A voice chimes in, lazy but amused.]

You all know what this is. I'm not "come hither"ing you. Just get in here.

Comments

[bad_crowmance]

That's very respectful of you.

[ Also not a surprise, considering her usual behavior.

And he really did luck out that his navigation strategy worked out for him in his attempts to do a dungeon blackout. ]

[voreaciously]

It is, but I also simply do not wish to cause conflict if it can be avoided.

[omnomnom]

[bad_crowmance]

Normally I'd say a little conflict is fun, but it's not really as much when you're trying to navigate a maze on a time limit.

[voreaciously]

It was not that sort of conflict. However, this progressed smoothly, so perhaps there is hope.

[it is impossible to tell if she is being sincere or sarcastic

she is just going to absently cut a second slice of cake and start eating it with delicate primness.]

[bad_crowmance]

So you guys don't get along?

[voreaciously]

[lightly.]

We have had minor disagreements in the past.

[bad_crowmance]

[ He's going to interpret that as "we sure fucking do" once he translates from "80H" to normal-people languages. ]

And here I've always found both of you easy to get along with. [ He shrugs slightly. ] Well, that's between you two.

[voreaciously]

[And she knows that Crow really doesn't want to know about it, so whatever.]

You do?

[That actually catches her by genuine surprise.]

[bad_crowmance]

[ She knows him so well. ]

Yeah...? Is it really a surprise?

1/2

[voreaciously]

W-well, um, I had not really. [Shit what does she do--]

2/2

[voreaciously]

[eATS MORE CAKE.

~*delicately*~]

[bad_crowmance]

[ He can't help it, he laughs at the obvious avoidance. ]

[voreaciously]

[Wow!!!

she's just gonna like swipe a forkful of his cake, thanks.]

[bad_crowmance]

[ He taps her hand with his fork. ]

Bad! That's my cake!

[voreaciously]

I am repossessing it.

[bad_crowmance]

You can't do that!

[ He swipes a forkful of her cake in retaliation. ]

[voreaciously]

Doing it.

[sorry crow this is a time for android reflexes and even if she weren't, she saw this retaliation coming.

she's moving her plate away and the rest of the big cake before he can get smart.]

[bad_crowmance]

Robot reflexes are cheating!

[ It's a theatrical whine, playing up the reaction-- it doesn't bother him that much but he enjoys being a dramatic shit. ]

[voreaciously]

Android! And it is not cheating, it is winning.

[she knows he's being dramatic and she's feeding off it, very much projecting a git gud scrub mentality for fun.]

You should try it, sometime.

[bad_crowmance]

You mean like I just did in this trial?

[ The grin on his face has edges-- playful ones, but edges nonetheless. ]

[voreaciously]

[she doesn't miss a beat, because she was expecting it.

rather, she laid the groundwork.]

I meant against me.

[bad_crowmance]

Is that a challenge?

[ He's DELIGHTED. ]

[voreaciously]

It cannot be if winning is a foregone conclusion.

[bad_crowmance]

Foregone nothing! I can win against you.

[ In bed maybe. But he says it with complete confidence. ]

[voreaciously]

Oh? Do you have something in mind?