The Nineteenth Trial

[hot_mess_express]

Who: Everyone
When: Day 43, evening
Where: The Mermaid's Beach

Come on, come on heroes...! Come hither!

[ There's a playful giggle and the sound of splashing as the Mermaid's beach appears in the clearing. ]

Let's play a game...!

Comments

[schrodingerscockroach]

I was in the war. A chap learns to drink what's offered because they've certainly drank worse.

[But he's certainly grinning like a madman even through the poshness.]

[time5kip]

I scavenged for food and drinks for 40 years and even I wouldn't have drank that shit. You're just disgusting.

[schrodingerscockroach]

Twas worth it for the look on your face.

[time5kip]

Right.

[ He needs to get back in character and he sighs after crossing his arms at his chest ]

I forget what a jester you are sometime. You deserve congratulatory petting.

[schrodingerscockroach]

Good lord, no one has been able to segue to that without it being peculiar.

[First the begging, now this.]

[But he'll sit down because he definitely needs to sit down for Five to reach.]

I suppose I could talk about my most important person.

[time5kip]

[ He's giving him a look at that, kind of like "are you sure you want to do that while I'm petting you", but he does initiate the petting regardless ]

I'm listening.

[schrodingerscockroach]

A way to keep the mind of things.

[Will let him pet because he just gets pet a lot, he doesn't even know why, really.]

[He has to actually think a minute because who IS his most important person???]

[Actually, it may be a reprieve because it does take him a minute of thinking, so don't need to do the acting.]

I suspect this answer may change. I have a number of friends and family back home, but it can be hard to pick amnogst them when most things are so far apart. If I was a betting man, it might very well be Tucker. We seem to be closest, though I can't quite pin down as to why.

Here, there's a few people. At least one I don't remember, and another whose quite suspicious. [Because 80H ain't fooling him.] But putting aside the maybes and what ifs, all that supposition a proper gentleman shouldn't use for importance.

I'd say Rean. I don't know if you've met him yet, but he's a delightful chap. He has this way of making things seem more hopeful and while he can be worryingly optimistic, he has a sensible head. At least for situations and how he interacts with people. Mostly. Kind of person prone to heroics, but also a very good friend.

[time5kip]

Seems like your aggressive socialization is working out for you.

[schrodingerscockroach]

At least some of the time.

Though I'm quite the asshole sometimes back home, to the Reds and Blues specifically, so who knows how that all works out, quite the mystery.

[time5kip]

You've mentioned your fear of being a jaded asshole.

[schrodingerscockroach]

Correct. So less aggressive socialization there.

More than likely some presumptuous nonsense.

[Probably getting close to the five minutes for roleplaying now.]

[time5kip]

You, presumptuous? I can't even begin to imagine that. I just see the good in all people and nothing else. You know, like the good fun loving lad I am.

[schrodingerscockroach]

I am a refined gentleman with a discerning eye for character and situations.

[Pretends to adjust a monocle.]

[time5kip]

[ That actually gets him another smile so good job there ]

I'd say I've been a presumptuous asshole myself, and I've been. But, you know. Kind of a natural consequence of being smarter and more capable than most people. I've met my match from time to time, sure, but not often.

Guess that counts as something I like about myself. I can rely on me more than I can rely on anyone else.

[schrodingerscockroach]

[....you know, that might have been why he was an asshole to the Reds and Blues after hearing Five say it like that.]

[Also concerning it's not just self reliance, but more than other people, but that's a thing to work on.]

Being self sufficient is very good.

[Yeah, probably been five minutes now for roleplaying.]

I like having the mental fortitude to do what needs to be done. Let's me keep the people important to me safe.

Or throw my dignity under the bus.

[time5kip]

The more we talk with any degree of sincerity and the more annoyed I get with how similar we are.

[schrodingerscockroach]

I was just thinking the same thing.

Well, not the annoyed part, that's more bemusement.

[time5kip]

You'd be more annoyed if you had your actual memories. Makes it easier to go full self-deprecating when you see yourself on someone else.

[ There's a long pause as he considers his next plan of action and then, eventually ]

I can talk about the most important person in my life and tell you a secret afterwards. They're tied.

[schrodingerscockroach]

...maybe.

[Listen, there is a lot of anger and frustration in his memories, and he's had issues with guilt. It's pretty easy for him to believe it.]

Okay.

[time5kip]

You already know about my family. Obviously they're important — but I've only spent the first thirteen years of my life with them. Everything I know about their adult lives I've read through a book that my sister wrote about how messed up our family is.

Pretty ballsy, by the way. Never though Vanya had it in her.

We didn't have all that much bonding time when I came back to try and save the world, so. There's that.

[ There's a pause and he realizes he's stalling ]

The most important person I've had in my life was Delores. We spent 40 years together in the apocalypse. We had our arguments from time to time, sure, but she's the only one who ever understood me. And she's been by my side through it all.

I've never loved anyone like I love her.

[schrodingerscockroach]

[He nods as he listens.]

It's always the ones you least expect.

[That gets him a pause though. Because didn't Five say he was alone for all that???]

Anyone to help get through that, pretty understandable you would.

[time5kip]

She's a mannequin. I found her under the rubble while I was looking for survivors.

I've been with her ever since.

[schrodingerscockroach]

[W E L L]

.....

[He very much does not say the first thing that pops into his head because that is definitely proof Five went off to crazy town.]

[No, saying anything like that would be terrible and even in his social awkwardness, he knows better.]

[But]

[But....]

[Grief was a funny thing.]

[As was loneliness.]

[And he needed something. If anything, it was proof how much Five could survive through. And how much better he honestly deserved.]

[It takes several long moments for him to talk, but he is sincere.] I'm glad you found her then. [Because who knows what would have happened if he hadn't, but it probably wouldn't have been good.]

[time5kip]

[ He was expecting the silence and the surprise, so he doesn't even blink an eye at that. And while he didn't think Dusk would flat out mock him for it, he didn't exactly expect him to simply take it at face value without questioning any part of it. ]

So am I. I wouldn't have made it without her. It's the loneliness that breaks you, in the end.

[ He pretty much confirms Dusk's thought process right then and there, unsurprisingly. ]

Should have gotten some coffee for myself.

[schrodingerscockroach]

[It's easy to understand. Very easy. He's always been of the opinion going at it alone was bad. Both for results and for a person's own sake. And....]

[The thought of loneliness hurts. It just does in a way he can't really put into words, but it makes it so easy to empathize with it.]

Yeah. Seems like it would. Luckily she was there.

[He wonders if he should say anything else? He's not sure if there is anything he CAN say.]

Should be about five minutes for the petting. Drink break sounds good.