toyska | catchall; gideon

Nah. I mean, she was there sometimes, but most times we didn't stay at the dorms at all.

Oh? Where'd you go?

Wherever the newest place had. If it didn't we stayed in the dorms in her room, but the onsen and the resort we kept to a lot.

[a little shrug.]

I don't really sleep a lot.

Mm, makes sense. We got access to the island with the cabins the day after Chandra, Scaramouche, and I woke up, so I only went back if I had to.

[Like to find hotspots to send voicemails and such.

He's quiet for a minute as their food arrives, waiting for the waiter to leave--once they're more-or-less left alone again, he props his chin in his hand, looking at her.]

So, what's your plan?

[nodding...

she picks at her food a bit, and then:]

What, if everything goes the way we want? [...] Bixing offered me and Harrow a place.

[He doesn't seem surprised to hear that, really. He just nods, taking a few bites of his own.]

Are you going to take it?

Yeah. [she watches him for a second.] Harrow keeps insisting that it's just for a bit, but if I've got my way it won't be.

We don't have to stay there, but we're not going back to the Ninth. [...] Why?

[He winks at her.]

Just making sure you weren't planning something stupid.

[More like making sure she didn't think he forgot their conversation at the start of Week 2--about considering alternatives to their circumstances.]

[she makes a face at him.

but, like... she takes a couple of bites, and then after that, she rubs at the back of her neck.]

No, I know - I know what I want. [...] For the first time in my fucking life I know.

[it's why she was so distressed, earlier.]

[Good!! He looks pleased to hear it.]

Just make sure you get a room far away from those two.

[IMAGINE BEING NEXT DOOR TO THE NEWLYWED SPACE DADS. PLEASE. SAVE YOURSELVES.]

[SHE LAUGHS fuck]

Augh. Yuck. Ew. No, I'm getting a different house, we're not living where they're about to be boning.

[HELP he's also laughing. Terrible.]

I'm sure they'll get you set up with something good. [One of the perks of your space dads being in charge of their planet or whatever]

Yeah.

[she peers at him.]

What about you? What's your plan?

To head home, of course.

[He figures that's pretty obvious; he hasn't been shy about how much he loves his family, and he's content serving the Tsaritsa.]

I have a few things to take care of first, but I don't anticipate any problems anymore. [Meaning: What caused his death the first time won't be an issue a second, now that he knows what'll happen.] After that, I'll catch the first ship home. I might need to track down Scaramouche again eventually, but I know where he'll be.

[So even though he has his doubts that this will work out, and they'll actually get out of here--he has his plans in place for if they do succeed.]

Edited 2023-04-02 05:13 (UTC)

[obvious, sure, but she's glad to hear it anyway, just because don't do anything stupid goes both ways. she picks a bit more at her food.

she opens her mouth - and then closes it. and then opens it again.]

Try not to send him right back to hell. [she says, first, and then:] You're not going to be mysteriously unable to interact with me if I come looking, are you? Because if I hear that one more time I'm going to scream.

[LOOK... he died to soap this game but it's because I, Pixi, refuse to let him win for too long, okay. It's fine.

And he would make some playfully shitheaded comment but he's distracted by the rest of what she says. He frowns, confused.]

What? No, of course not. Not outside of being busy, that is. [Since he has a job and all, but ???] Who said that?

[she shoves food in her mouth.]

Scaramouche. [GRUMBLE.] Zagreus implied it, King too. Akira.

[LIKE, EVERYBODY]

[Oh, well. He sighs, taking a drink of his tea and leaning back in his seat.]

It's a little complicated with Scaramouche. [Sometimes... you have god things to do...] I can't speak for the others, though, since I don't really know them. But no, as far as I'm aware, I'll be myself.

[Who knows maybe he gets kidnapped and body-swapped or something in the future??? But he has no weird plans to Become As Gods or Die Again or whatever else people are doing.]

[she has heard some things about scaramouche and she's so grouchy about it.]

Why are you the only normal person in hell? Serious question. [like he's not, but he kind of is.]

[THIS IS SO SAD. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!!!!]

Because we'd make a horribly boring show if there were more normal people around, probably.

[assigned normie in hell...]

No, that's a good point. [she says, dryly.

she finally leans back, reaching up to scrub at her face, kneading at her eyes. she's very, very tired.]

God, if this doesn't work... I've gotten my hopes up and I shouldn't have.

[She's valid, it's been a long day. He finishes off the rest of his food, then pushes his plate aside, leaning on his arms.]

Hey. If it doesn't work, we'll figure something else out. It just might take a little longer.

[Simple, confident. Like it's easy, even though he's never claimed it would be.]

Edited 2023-04-02 06:28 (UTC)

[like it's easy - like they could just figure out how to stroll out of here eventually. he pushes his plate aside, and gideon does the same to her own before leaning forward and resting her head on her folded arms. her voice is a little muffled.]

You don't have to bullshit me. [there's no heat to it. it's almost halfhearted, even. like cursory protesting that she barely even cares to give.]

I'm not. If I thought it was hopeless, I'd be reassuring you that I'd help you get settled in.

[Because Childe may not be a scathing pessimist like Scaramouche, but he's hardly a bright-eyed optimist, either. He is simply ruthlessly devoted to his goals, and meticulously cunning when he puts his mind to it. He escaped one impossible place as a child, why not another? Even the strongest barricades have cracks somewhere.]

We know she [She being Satan] has the ability to bring people back to life. We know she claims to want to make things better--to be able to extend this kind of offer to more people. I still think it's ridiculous that she acts so bound up in rules and chains when this is her domain, but what matters is that it's not a question of ability or will. So, all we have to do is figure out another way to make this work. It might take much longer than a few weeks, but it's not impossible.

[And it might not work out into some dreamy, ideal scenario where everyone goes where they want, but. It would be something. A start.

He doesn't bother reassuring her that Harrow will stick with her no matter what, because that's obvious--instead, he just shrugs.]

And if the boss can't or won't do it, then we figure out whatever's more powerful than her and we handle that. Either way--I don't plan to give up anytime soon.

[at the very least, she believes him when he says it. he's always been fairly realistic about the situation they're in, and so she thinks she can trust that he's not trying to make her feel better, so much, as he's laying out the options.

she stays where she is curled up on the table because she's very tired, but.]

... No, I won't either.

[it's not terrible down here. it doesn't always suck, and she's probably enjoyed it more than she enjoyed any place she lived in while she was alive.]

Give up, I mean. I'll go with you. I'll help figure it out.

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toyska - 2023-04-02 16:38 (UTC) - Expand