NICO

[foreverphantom]

Comments

w2 saturday

[resumed]

[ in tarkea...they are just wandering like two people who want to wander after being inside for 9 hours. ]

...you don't have to actually come with us next Thursday if you don't want to. But the offer's open. [ first and foremost. ]

[foreverphantom]

[ Danny does not respond at first, because he is currently busy absolutely smashing the bejesus out of every piece of wooden furniture in this section of tarkea with a steel baseball bat

when he hears nico, he actually freezes up for a second. ]

...thanks. I'll probably take you up on it.

[resumed]

[ i like to think he truly stood here and watched him do this because actually he would. so he's letting danny beat the shit out of furniture and doesn't even think to ask where the bat came from. his arms are folded over his chest, and he's letting this go. ]

Sure. One of us will either text or come find you to let you know where we're going. [ there's a pause though...and he gestures to the furniture. ] Don't stop on my account.

[foreverphantom]

[ yeah in retrospect i really should have started this one huh

anyway, he nods, and then continues smashing furniture apart. that desk is reduced to splinters now. so is that cabinet! and oh, absolutely fuck these mirrors.

he takes a break again, panting and sweating just a little. ]

...thanks.

[resumed]

[ farewell, furniture. hello, property damage. he just kind of raises an eyebrow as he goes but it's not really judgy? he's just vaguely concerned. ]

...so what is it? That we screwed up the vote? That it's your teammate again? Or something else entirely?

[foreverphantom]

[ he laughs a little, like it can be so easily summarized, but... ]

...I guess that's it. That it's a teammate. That we're down to just two now.

[resumed]

[ he's mostly just monitoring him, leaning against the wall carefully to make sure nothing else happens and danny doesn't hurt himself. ]

...Hans wasn't doing himself any favors in today's trial, but we should have caught a lot more about Satan earlier while we had time to focus on both cases instead of panicking back to one with more evidence. [ those are his thoughts on it. ] ...nobody's going to let anything happen to you or Nimona. We can't.

[foreverphantom]

Like you can do anything to stop someone who's out to kill?

If you could, you already would have.

[resumed]

[ he's not sure how to feel about that and it shows. ]

...okay, that doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying though. And with some of the information people found on the other trip and ours, too, I think things are probably going to change.

[foreverphantom]

...How so?

[resumed]

[ give him a second to pull his phone out of the pocket of his hoodie so he can read something. ]

"If any one of these teams would be entirely wiped, those teams will become part of this world. Every member will believe they have always lived in this world, forgetting where they hail from. They'll become citizens who will be powerless and clueless during the next cycle."

I would sincerely hope people are taking that into consideration.

[foreverphantom]

...and you think people will actually go out of their way to avoid that?

[resumed]

Ideally, that's what I'd like. Realistically? [ ... ] I'm going to make sure people know and see what I can do to make sure we actually avoid doing that. Nobody wants to be stuck here forever.

[foreverphantom]

Well, that's a nice plan and all, but I can't just sit around hoping I don't get picked off!

[resumed]

[ hm. ]

Then what are you going to do about it?

[foreverphantom]

I--I don't know. [ grips his hair in his hands ] ...I don't know.

[resumed]

[ he vaguely wonders if this is how he looks when he's having a mental breakdown, but he pushes that thought aside. right. okay. what would... ]

Okay. Look...everything's bad, I get that. But don't do anything rash yet. I know you're probably not going to like this suggestion, but maybe talk to Tiger and ask if there's anything you guys can do to protect yourselves. See if they know about the new notes, too. That's a start.

[foreverphantom]

...right. Right. Yeah, that's...it's something. There's not much else I can do, anyway.

[resumed]

Think less about what you can't do and what you can instead. Which...is really hypocritical coming from me, I get it, but it's about the only thing I can focus on without losing my mind here.

[foreverphantom]

I know. I should.

I just...there's not enough I can do. There's still too much that's just...totally out of control.

[resumed]

I know. Believe me, I know. [ there's a tiny edge of frustration in his tone because he feels similarly. there's too much here that they can't control themselves, and too many things they can't even start to look into to fix. ]

But focusing on those parts means we might miss something smaller that we can work with to get to the bigger picture. That's what we have to try and think about even though it's hard.

[foreverphantom]

[ his expression twists unhappily for a moment before it smooths out again ]

Smaller...right. The way we are right now, the only thing we can do is look for...chinks in the armor.

[resumed]

[ bro. mood. ]

...sometimes that's exactly where you have to start. A small crack that you split open wider when they least expect it.

[foreverphantom]

It's just not usually my style.

I'm much more of a...go in fists blazing type of guy.

[resumed]

You don't say. [ dryly, as he gestures to the property damage around them. ] Not that I don't get that. Usually it's a lot easier to solve my problems when I can use my sword to shut people up. I didn't really get...good, I guess, at the whole biding my time thing until recently. And it still sucks.