week 2, friday

[seaclipsed]

[ some time after the trial ends, katara and zuko are going to hunt neku down. they at least wait a bit to give him some time alone??

so wherever he is, he is suddenly no longer alone. ]

... Hey.

Comments

[soloremix]

[yeah, he's not too pleased about that. he was trying to isolate himself for a reason!]

What do you not understand about leaving me alone?

[cuedoves]

Look. We both understand what it means to lose people.

And we're both angry about Joshua. [JUST MAYBE.. NOT AS ANGRY]

[seaclipsed]

Listen... I know that you said you don't care about finding his killer, but... I don't think that's what he would want. The reasons why he disliked this game seemed different from the rest of us.

[ she says, as if joshua even tried to hide it. ]

Even if solving this does nothing for you, we should still do it for him.

[soloremix]

You know why he hated this game? Because this isn't our first time in a "game" for our lives. It's not the first time we've basically been given a death sentence. Just this time, he lost.

[...normally he'd be more secretive about this stuff, but emotions are running high right now. plus, zuko had asked him about the reaper's game previously, so he at least knew that much.]

[cuedoves]

Yeah, I know. He told me.

[and it sucks. Zuko's terrible at comfort, but he looks... angry....... that's helpful for Neku, right]

But you haven't. You can win, for his sake... and for yours.

[seaclipsed]

He told me, too. We had a long conversation about... stuff, the other day.

[ she does not elaborate. ]

... You can also get revenge, if you want.

[soloremix]

Great. More pressure on me. Just what I wanted. You guys are great.

[...ok, enough of him being a bitter asshole. at least for now.]

... What do you mean, "stuff"?

[cuedoves]

It isn't just pressure. We're going to do what we can to help you. [also it's so he doesn't give up??]

... Things.

[Very specific, Zuko]

[seaclipsed]

At least when I walked with him, it wasn't really anything specifically about you.

[ ... ]

Aside from the fact that you were both in a game together, and that you had a mutual friend.

[soloremix]

(Ugh, I thought I was done with the cagey crap now that he's dead...)

Look, I don't need or want help. And if your idea of "helping" is avoiding questions and being vague, why the hell should I want to work with you in the first place?

[cuedoves]

I basically told you what he told me. It was about the game. How it worked, the roles, that's pretty much it. I asked him to get a better idea of what we're up against, like I asked you.

[there u go he's not being vague anymore, let him live]

We all want the same thing. And if you're seriously considering giving up, then you do need help.

[seaclipsed]

And we just talked about the game as well. He gave me his... uh, opinions on how it was being handled.

[ more like criticisms but w/e josh ]

And we discussed what could be done differently to make ourselves more effective. So, no, we're not avoiding anything. or do you want a more detailed list.

[soloremix]

Well, yeah. The game we were in didn't involve murdering other people.

[this just gets more and more frustrating for him as the conversation wears on. his next line comes out almost defensive, snappy.]

Okay, then why do you want to help me. What good am I going to be for you?

[cuedoves]

[bitch just wait until week 3]

I know. But it's still more experience than we've had with it.

You know more about the system than we do. We all want Joshua to have justice -- or revenge -- for our own reasons, and unlike most people here, you aren't an idiot.

[that last one's kind of debatable but]

[seaclipsed]

And... it's just kind of terrible to be alone in a situation like this.

[ katara isn't stupid. she can tell that neku would prefer to be by himself. but... he probably won't last long here like that. ]

[soloremix]

...you guys sure are stubborn.

(And whether that's a good thing or not, I don't know.)

Fine. I'll humor you. But if this just paints a bigger target on our backs, then I'm saving my own ass before yours.

[cuedoves]

I doubt that. And I wouldn't expect you to prioritize our survival over yours, when you barely know us.

We've been in a similar position to you before. That's why we're stubborn.

[just volunteers their tragic pasts nbd]

[seaclipsed]

[ also they're just stubborn people in general. both of their personalities can be summarized by the word stubborn. ]

Right. Working together is for the best, but if you ever think that we might potentially make you a target, you're free to back off.

[ she says, as if either she or zuko are the type to let up that easily. ]