week 3, friday

[vigilantics]

[ she waits a little bit before going to find evan, mostly to not overwhelm him too much. she'll knock on his door, waiting patiently for him to open it.

or for dazai to open it?? she never knows what to do if the wrong person is the one in the room when she goes looking for someone. ]

Comments

[vigilantics]

Yeah. And knowing us, it'll take us eight hours to figure anything out, but we'll do it in the end.

[selfinserting]

...Yeah. And then more people will get killed. That's - great.

[He takes in a breath.]

Sorry, I don't mean to... S-Sorry.

[vigilantics]

... we have to do the best with what we got here. No matter what, it's going to be a bad situation, but...

[ she looks down at her leg. ]

We still need to try.

[selfinserting]

...Why?

[He swallows, looking down.]

So some of us can live another week and then more people can get killed?

[vigilantics]

So that someone who went out there and killed another person doesn't get off freely! The people who died at least deserve to know that we care enough to figure out what happened to them. Anything less is... disrespectful.

[selfinserting]

[He looks there's something else he wants to say, but he has to think of how to phrase it.]

You're making it sound like, like a good thing, but it's not. It's not. Even the, the people who killed someone here don't deserve to die. They didn't, didn't create this situation.

[vigilantics]

[ for a second, she actually looks genuinely mad, but the moment passes. ]

I know that. I don't want any of this. But you can't say that there isn't any point because someone else will just die. You need to give every person the attention they deserve, or else they just turn into statistics instead of people.

[selfinserting]

[He opens his mouth, but then just deflates slightly, shaking his head.]

That's not... what I meant, Steph.

[vigilantics]

Look. I get that this is all-- bullshit. I know, I really know, everything about this goes against... everything. I don't think voting for someone and executing them is good. But we have to keep moving regardless until we figure out some way to stop all of this.

[selfinserting]

No, that's - that's not what I meant. I wasn't saying there's not a point in the trials or finding who hurt people, I meant...

[He sighs, frustrated, but the frustration is over his inability to communicate this effectively rather than anything she's said or done. He shakes his head after a moment.]

...It doesn't matter. Sorry. I shouldn't have said anything. I didn't mean to - make you angry.

[he has the emotional intelligence of a rock and i'm sorry steph has to deal with this]

[vigilantics]

No. Don't-- don't apologize. It's not you, it's me.

[ or both. but it's easier to accept the blame. ]

[selfinserting]

No, it's - you didn't do anything wrong. Seriously.

[He sounds sincere even if he pauses again, looking towards the ground.]

...But if you want to leave, it's fine.

[He thinks she might want to, but he doesn't want to force her out if that judgment isn't correct. He doesn't sound angry or like he wants her to, at the least.]

[vigilantics]

I'll only go if you want me to.

[ that's genuine. she got mad, but that's more on her than him; stephanie has a temper, even if she's gotten better at controlling it. ]

[selfinserting]

[He has trouble articulating what he wants or needs, even if it's simple, so it takes him a moment. All the same...]

I, I don't. Um, I don't want you to, I mean. But - only, only if you want to stay. T-That was probably obvious, but... You know.

[vigilantics]

Then... I won't leave.

I don't mind.

[selfinserting]

Okay. You can, um, sit down if you want to.

[He gestures towards the bed, then pauses again. In an effort to clear the air:]

What do you, um, want to talk about...?

[vigilantics]

[ she feels bad for making it awkward, but she figures that apologizing for it again will just restart the cycle of them trying to claim ownership of the blame. ]

Tell me about... anything.

[selfinserting]

Anything?

[It takes him a few moments to decide what to talk about. Something good, definitely, because he wants to lighten the mood.]

Last summer I worked as, as an assistant park ranger in one of the state parks back home. It was, um, it was really cool. Sometimes when it wasn't crowded, I'd have time to climb up one of the trees and watch, watch the sky and the sunset.

[vigilantics]

Where did you live exactly? You mentioned who were close to an orchard before.

[ it sounds like a lot more nature than she's used to. ]

[selfinserting]

Um, upstate New York. Right near Rochester, if you know where that is.

[He glances towards her.]

How about you?

[vigilantics]

Gotham. It's in Jersey.

[ APPARENTLY!!! ]

[selfinserting]

...It's kind of weird to think that we were only, only a state away, huh? I could've driven down to New Jersey in a day if I wanted to.

[vigilantics]

I know, right? It would be cool if it turned out some of us were actually from the same place, but... I'm pretty sure alternate universe stuff is going on here.

[selfinserting]

...Yeah, probably. I've never heard of Gotham. What was it like there?

[vigilantics]

I love it.

... but uh. It's. Special.

[selfinserting]

[A pause, before he prompts:]

Special...?