vigilantics | week 2, saturday

[ it sure has!! Hikage's seemed a little bit off all week, ever since he got that memory back from her, and spending 9 long hours talking about a murder (that, frankly, he still barely understands) has not helped him feel more stable. It's almost tempting to flop down next to her... but he doesn't. ]

Stop doing that. You'll make your leg worse.

[ she lifts her head up enough to look at him. ]

I don't even know how it could get worse.

You'll jinx yourself if you say that.

[ he's had a long night after this long day. a long week, even. At least he's calm now - although he also seems weirdly distant. As he sits there, in his chair, he remembers something she said to him the other day.

Tentatively: ]

... Are you okay?

I guess. [ ... ] Not really, but I never am on Saturdays.

[ she figures that's the general consensus for most of the people here though. even if you're not emotionally attached to any of the people involved, it's still an exhausting experience. ]

What about you?

[ yeah, nine hours of high-stress, high-stakes discussion of murder will do that to you. Hikage wonders if he should comfort her. He doesn't really know how, though, or if it would even be worth it. Just because some of his memories came back doesn't mean he's alive. He's still "Hikage." ]

There's a lot on my mind. [ the trial's events are playing in the background for him more than anything. ] I'm trying to decide what to do going forward. I thought I had a plan, but now I don't know anymore. Things didn't go the way I thought they would this week.

Edited 2018-06-24 06:08 (UTC)

[ that actually makes stephanie sit up more. she starts to regret just flopping face first onto the mattress, since now it's kind of a pain to properly correct herself. ]

I don't think anyone expected things to go this way. [ but. ] What plan?

[ he shakes his head. ]

... It's not that exciting. I meant... I thought I knew what I wanted if I got through this. They said they could grant any wish for us... Back in the old manor, it was the same, so I was just going with what I had in mind back then. But that was before I remembered anything. [ running a hand through his dark hair. ] Now... my confidence is wavering after all this time. Honestly, it's pathetic.

[ a wry, self-deprecating smile. ]

It's not. You're now working with new information that you didn't have before. Of course your priorities might change a little based on that, it's normal.

[ he went from knowing nothing to realizing he had someone he loved very much, after all. stephanie would have been more surprised if that didn't change anything. ]

... It's not just a little. The person I am now and the person I used to be - they're two different people.

[ he doesn't say more than that, though. He looks up at her and meets her eyes again. He can trust her, because she's his partner; she's not going to put him in danger, because she needs to protect her own life. That's the only reason he can talk about these things with her. Because there's nothing she can do. That's got to be the only reason. ]

What would you do, Stephanie? Would you try to remember, even if you couldn't go back, or would you just give up on it?

I'm not sure.

[ she's not in his situation. she can try to guess, but admittedly stephanie has done a lot of things that surprised herself over the years. saying something now is different than being in the actual moment of when it happens. ]

Finding out about your past probably won't turn you back into that person. So... you can try to remember, and do what you can with what you learned.

[ he opens his mouth slightly, as if to protest something - but he shuts it a moment later. It would be shooting himself in the foot to say something, so he doesn't.

The fact remains that he thought about it. ]

... You wouldn't know. I don't know why I'm asking you. [ the words are cold, but his tone isn't - not more than usual, anyway. he sinks into the chair a little more, sighing. faintly, he recalls some things jae-ha said to him earlier this week. ] How... is your leg feeling?

[ she makes a face at him at his comment, because yeah, you asked for her opinion, hikage!! shut up. ]

One day you will ask for my opinion on something and then not tell me my opinion is wrong. [ she just had to get that out before addressing the question. ] And it's fine. My leg, I mean.

[ NO!!! ]

I don't know what's wrong anymore, [ he sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose, but he lets it go... as painful as it is to move onto something he's even more uncomfortable with: trying to figure out what she's thinking and feeling. People were easier to deal with when he was clairvoyant. Marginally. ]

... Good. If it hurts, tell me. Or... if you need anything. We're partners, so I'll help you.

[ stephanie shrugs her shoulders. she doesn't say anything right away after that, but she has been playing off how severe her injuries have been this entire time, so she might just not want to admit that it hurts.

... ]

I have something I need to tell you.

[ that gives him pause. he looks up at her, cautiously, a little uncertainly. ]

What is it?

[ he might have something to tell her, too. ]

[ well. ]

I have a role. It's... not the Historian thing, but something else.

[ she glances at him, then looks at the wall. ]

... Me too.

[ he doesn't seem particularly surprised by this revelation... but he does seem a little sheepish. The reason for this is about to become obvious. ]

Do you remember when everything smelled like sulfur a week or two ago? That was my fault... Well, it was more their fault, but still.

[ there's a pause. and then a longer pause. it seems like she is trying to decide what to address first and is having an internal battle here. ]

Hikage did you cause a gas leak.

[ let him LIVE!! ]

No! I don't know what it was! They gave me a list of words to pick from, and I picked "sulfur" ... I didn't know it was going to make everything stink, or I wouldn't have picked it.

Ohhhh my god.

[ she covers her face and actually just starts laughing. that's hilarious? ]

[ oh my god!! he immediately flushes, folding his arms over his chest and looking remarkably pouty for a grown-ass man. ]

Don't laugh at me! I'm being serious!

Sorry! Sorry, I just... can't believe that mystery had such a cute explanation.

[ she manages to stop giggling, at least, but she still looks extremely amused, like she might start up again at any second. ]

[ he huffs... but one gets the sense that he isn't actually that upset with her. at the time, he'd been irritated, but it is kind of funny in retrospect. ]

So? Yours has to be better than that.

I can just check to see if people have an extra role and if they're a villain, civilian, or hero. I don't know what the role is or their title, or what I'm... actually supposed to do with this information...

[ she sounds slightly annoyed by the vagueness of the instructions. ]

[ his eyes widen a little bit, interested. ]

That actually sounds useful. Even if you don't know what everything means yet, you have a method of getting information that people won't normally give up. [ a pause. ] Who have you checked?

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