You open the door and find yourself in an old-fashioned looking arcade, with a faded carpet that was once probably very colorful. There are several cabinets with video games such as Mortal Wombat, Road Brawler, and Sirtet, among others. Among the game cabinets are also pinball machines, janky-ass DDR machines that only work half the time, and one of those FPS games with a real attached gun, except one of the guns is missing. Your attention is drawn to one of the fighting games, and you suddenly feel compelled to play it. The character you pick looks strangely like you. Every blow that is landed on your character, you feel on yourself. Once the round is over, you find yourself back in the hallway, disoriented. You sport no bruises, but you are sore in the areas where your character was hit.
[ hey after all those shitty rooms this one actually looks pretty fun?! what's road brawler, does he get a cool biker outfit... ]
[ Okay, well, Sebastian is kind of ready to just get out of there when the trial's over, but Sheila was nice, so... he can thank her for that quick before he runs away. ]
Hey. Um... thanks. For listening to me back there.
[She smiles a little and gives him a sympathetic look.]
Aw, you don't need to thank me for that. I thought you were making total sense. [SWEET CHILD...] Are you okay, though? Things got pretty intense at the end.
O-okay, that's good. That happened at my last one too, so I wasn't sure if that was like, a secret rule or something... Well, I mean, that time it was just the killer throwing a broken plate shard rather than stabbing, but. It was still my cheek!
[ If he had a nickel for every time the first trial of a murdergame he was in ended with the killer cutting someone's cheek with two minutes left on the clock... ]
Oh. [She makes a face.] Are you okay? That sounds scary.
[Sebastian and his two nickles... Sheila shrugs, though.]
Well, I can't speak for the other groups. But in our case... we only got it totally wrong the first time. Then, the other two times were kind of on purpose? Like, one was a murder obsessed robot who framed the first person we scapegoated. And then the other was a psycho serial killer who thought he was doing people a favor by drilling holes into their heads. [A beat, and then, thoughtfully:] Huh. We had a lot serial killers on the station. Yikes.
Oh, yeah, it was all just a virtual thing anyway. So all the scars I got there didn't really happen.
[ allowing him to more easily repress his vampire trauma when he doesn't have to look at the bite mark!!
but just yikes at the rest of that??? ]
Oh... um, well, I guess those sound... kind of justified...? ...Were they like, really obviously serial killers? We don't have anyone like that here now, do we?
[she is but a simple mom who does not understand vr but that does not sound great for your mental health anyway]
God, I wish. None of them were super obvious, but once you got them really going about murder? Holy shit, they were insane. So, who knows? But we do have a tiny dicked gunslinger with daddy issues and a temper, so that's not great either.
[ let's not... comment on the quality of the movie... ]
...A-anyway, how about you? I... kind of feel like maybe they picked you for that because of how you felt about that stuff I said, which I guess was... less right than I thought...
W-well, they made it all about the divorce thing, and they probably picked you for it because you had really strong feelings about that! But that only even came up at all because I brought it up during the trial! Really loudly...
Hey, I'm a grown woman and I made the choice to get all judgey over his love life. We can both play the blame game all day long. But the only one who's actually at fault is the bi— big jerk who decided it would be funny idea to kidnap all our loved ones and film questionable movies about men getting thrown out the window.
[ yay this party is mostly fun and sebastian is definitely not teetering even more precariously than usual on the edge of an emotional disaster precipice thanks to this alcohol!! ]
Do you think they're gonna do something like this every week now?
[ oh... he'll open it up pretty quickly for her, at least. his eyes are very red and his lashes are still wet and it's just... very obvious that he's been crying pretty much ever since the trial went to a vote. ]
Hey... sorry for looking gross. [ again. she's seen him being a mess too many times this week. he rubs his eyes. ] D-did you want to come in?
[ the room visible behind him is... something, but it's pretty cute. ]
It's okay, you don't have to be sorry. [Sebastian has really been going through it this week... But she nods when he asks if she would like to come in.] I wanted to talk to you— and I brought tea! I thought it might help.
[ IT'S VERY CUTE BUT ALSO IT SUCKS CLIMBING INTO IT RIGHT NOW ]
Ah— yeah, sure. Thanks.
[ he holds the door open to let her in and sort of manages a bit of teary smile. ]
Um... there's not really a good place to sit, sorry...
[ clearly whatever subconscious thoughts they pulled from to make this place looked at his lack of friends at the time and decided he'd never need a sofa. there's a little table and two chairs, but the table has a fake chessboard with glued-on pieces permanently attached to it, so not great for cups. ]
...I can pull another chair up to the judge's bench?
[She plops down on the judge's chair, passing one of the tea cups to wherever he sets the chair.]
So... I have the notebook we found on Thursday if no one has shared it with you yet. But before we get into that, are you okay? That last hour was rough.
[ he takes the cup of tea and looks down into it, and his already weak attempt at a smile fades. ]
...Not really. I... I wonder what would've happened... if we'd gotten that other clue instead. O-or if we'd checked some other piece of evidence for prints, even.
[ ...instead of the one he'd been rooting for when everyone else was initially talking about checking a different weapon. ]
Would we have caught one of the other ones instead?
[She glances down at her tea, holding it in her hands but not taking a sip from it.]
I mean, in my experience, it's all just so unpredictable. Maybe we would have caught someone else. Maybe we wouldn't have caught anyone at all. If we asked other kinds of questions, or focused on some other evidence, then maybe we would have caught more than just the one and it all would have come down to a popularity contest. At least, until someone got the idea of a revenge murder stuck in their head.
[A small shrug, and she offers him a tiny smile.]
... What I'm saying is, it's okay to wonder about these kinds of things. But don't torture yourself with them, you know? At the end of the day, we don't know who we missed, or... how much it would have hurt us to find them.
Yeah... I know thinking about that stuff doesn't help anything.
[ he blows on his tea a little and then takes a sip, though there's a lump in his throat that makes it hurt to swallow. ]
But... it just sucks! It was already bad enough losing Zuko after everything that happened this week, and we still don't know who killed him! And now I'm losing my best friend too, because some stupid shadow forced him into doing something he didn't want to do! Again!
week 4, saturday... looks at my last tag here and laughs sadly
[ well, this sure sucks. he's sure sheila's going to have lots of visitors, but he can't not come see her. so, here he is, even if it's only for a little bit. ]
Hey.
[ he raises a hand in a halfhearted wave. ]
...It must have been really hard for you, being forced to do something like that.
[She offers him a little smile, obviously sad to see him like this.]
I guess? I mean, I feel awful now. But when it happened, it just felt— right? Like it was something I had to do. And... I don't know. [...] I guess this isn't what you want to hear, but... shadows, man. Fuck them.
I didn't. Or I don't think I did? Admittedly, I was a liiiiittle busy playing the world's most violent game of tag at the time. So... [The mods did not mention anything about running into people curfewing there.
Sheila trails off, now looking at him in concern.]
Hey, I'm sorry if this is a touchy subject. But is your dad...?
[Okay? Alive? Currently being held hostage? Yikes.]
... Hey. [She looks him over like ahhhh, who allowed CYOA 2 to happen.] Looks like you and Bradley went through the wringer again. Did they take care of your injuries?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
week 0 tuesday - door #4
[ hey after all those shitty rooms this one actually looks pretty fun?! what's road brawler, does he get a cool biker outfit... ]
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... Huh. At least it's not Olive Garden again.
week 0, saturday
Hey. Um... thanks. For listening to me back there.
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Aw, you don't need to thank me for that. I thought you were making total sense. [SWEET CHILD...] Are you okay, though? Things got pretty intense at the end.
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[ Since his own arguments clearly weren't cutting it, and he was right for, uh, probably the wrong reason. He should probably thank Munechika too.
... ]
...Um, someone doesn't always get cut in the face at the end of these things the first week, right?
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[She. Does have to pause and try to remember if someone got attacked midtrial last time? Help.]
... Not cut in the face, no. This was a little wilder than usual. But, hey, no scapegoats!
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O-okay, that's good. That happened at my last one too, so I wasn't sure if that was like, a secret rule or something... Well, I mean, that time it was just the killer throwing a broken plate shard rather than stabbing, but. It was still my cheek!
[ If he had a nickel for every time the first trial of a murdergame he was in ended with the killer cutting someone's cheek with two minutes left on the clock... ]
Do they really get the wrong person that often?
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[Sebastian and his two nickles... Sheila shrugs, though.]
Well, I can't speak for the other groups. But in our case... we only got it totally wrong the first time. Then, the other two times were kind of on purpose? Like, one was a murder obsessed robot who framed the first person we scapegoated. And then the other was a psycho serial killer who thought he was doing people a favor by drilling holes into their heads. [A beat, and then, thoughtfully:] Huh. We had a lot serial killers on the station. Yikes.
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[ allowing him to more easily repress his vampire trauma when he doesn't have to look at the bite mark!!
but just yikes at the rest of that??? ]
Oh... um, well, I guess those sound... kind of justified...? ...Were they like, really obviously serial killers? We don't have anyone like that here now, do we?
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[she is but a simple mom who does not understand vr but that does not sound great for your mental health anyway]
God, I wish. None of them were super obvious, but once you got them really going about murder? Holy shit, they were insane. So, who knows? But we do have a tiny dicked gunslinger with daddy issues and a temper, so that's not great either.
week zero, sunday.
Hey... So, I heard you all had to watch my involuntary big screen debut. Are you okay?
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[ let's not... comment on the quality of the movie... ]
...A-anyway, how about you? I... kind of feel like maybe they picked you for that because of how you felt about that stuff I said, which I guess was... less right than I thought...
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[She appears to be shocked at first. And then her expression morphs into one of concern, her tone more gentle as she continues.]
Oh, sweetheart, no. It's not your fault. What gave you that idea?
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week 2, wednesday night
Do you think they're gonna do something like this every week now?
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Meanwhile, Sheila, who is apparently a black hole and doesn't look even slightly tipsy? She's mostly just giddy from the ambiance.]
I hope so. It's always fun when everyone gets together, you know? We could use the downtime.
week 3, saturday
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Sebastian...? It's Sheila.
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Hey... sorry for looking gross. [ again. she's seen him being a mess too many times this week. he rubs his eyes. ] D-did you want to come in?
[ the room visible behind him is... something, but it's pretty cute. ]
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It's okay, you don't have to be sorry. [Sebastian has really been going through it this week... But she nods when he asks if she would like to come in.] I wanted to talk to you— and I brought tea! I thought it might help.
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Ah— yeah, sure. Thanks.
[ he holds the door open to let her in and sort of manages a bit of teary smile. ]
Um... there's not really a good place to sit, sorry...
[ clearly whatever subconscious thoughts they pulled from to make this place looked at his lack of friends at the time and decided he'd never need a sofa. there's a little table and two chairs, but the table has a fake chessboard with glued-on pieces permanently attached to it, so not great for cups. ]
...I can pull another chair up to the judge's bench?
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[She will move to set the tea down on the judge's bench, though.]
How's your shoulder? I can grab the chair if you need help.
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Mm, it's okay, it rolls anyway.
[ bless this office chair. he pulls it over with this better arm and will sit down in that while sheila gets to be the judge. ]
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So... I have the notebook we found on Thursday if no one has shared it with you yet. But before we get into that, are you okay? That last hour was rough.
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...Not really. I... I wonder what would've happened... if we'd gotten that other clue instead. O-or if we'd checked some other piece of evidence for prints, even.
[ ...instead of the one he'd been rooting for when everyone else was initially talking about checking a different weapon. ]
Would we have caught one of the other ones instead?
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[She glances down at her tea, holding it in her hands but not taking a sip from it.]
I mean, in my experience, it's all just so unpredictable. Maybe we would have caught someone else. Maybe we wouldn't have caught anyone at all. If we asked other kinds of questions, or focused on some other evidence, then maybe we would have caught more than just the one and it all would have come down to a popularity contest. At least, until someone got the idea of a revenge murder stuck in their head.
[A small shrug, and she offers him a tiny smile.]
... What I'm saying is, it's okay to wonder about these kinds of things. But don't torture yourself with them, you know? At the end of the day, we don't know who we missed, or... how much it would have hurt us to find them.
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[ he blows on his tea a little and then takes a sip, though there's a lump in his throat that makes it hurt to swallow. ]
But... it just sucks! It was already bad enough losing Zuko after everything that happened this week, and we still don't know who killed him! And now I'm losing my best friend too, because some stupid shadow forced him into doing something he didn't want to do! Again!
week 4, saturday... looks at my last tag here and laughs sadly
Hey.
[ he raises a hand in a halfhearted wave. ]
...It must have been really hard for you, being forced to do something like that.
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[She offers him a little smile, obviously sad to see him like this.]
I guess? I mean, I feel awful now. But when it happened, it just felt— right? Like it was something I had to do. And... I don't know. [...] I guess this isn't what you want to hear, but... shadows, man. Fuck them.
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Yeah. Kazunari said it was kind of like that for him too. That it made him feel like saving his hostage was the only thing that mattered.
I really hate those things.
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...A-anyway, um. Can you... when you guys went into the chapel, did you not see us there at all? Me and Rin and Claude...
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Sheila trails off, now looking at him in concern.]
Hey, I'm sorry if this is a touchy subject. But is your dad...?
[Okay? Alive? Currently being held hostage? Yikes.]
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[ he blinks; he's already forgotten about concerningly trailing off on that line twenty seconds ago. ]
Uh, he's... a hostage here... i-is that what you mean?
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[ he shifts uncomfortably, looking at one of his gloved hands. ]
It's... kind of complicated.
week 5, thursday
he still looks kind of relieved every time he sees her alive, even now in spite of everything else. ]
Ah... Hey. Good to see you.
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