week 3, saturday

[vigilantics]

[ it's long enough after trial that most people have scattered off to do their own separate thing. stephanie is, like presumably everyone else, tired. she would definitely prefer to go straight to bed, but there are a couple of people she wants to check on first.

sanji is one of them. she... does not know where he might run off to, so her first attempt to locate him is the most obvious location: the kitchen. ]

Hello? [ she pokes her head in. it's still crispy rip. ]

Comments

[concasse]

[A nod. He doesn't think there's anything else he can do.

And he hates it.]

How are you holding up after all that, by the way?

[vigilantics]

[ she's quiet, wondering if she should just say she's fine like people normally do after these things. ]

I'm really, super pissed. At all of us and at... this whole pointless war. [ she frowns. ] Although I guess I'm always angry at the second thing though. The first, not so much.

[concasse]

[Cracking a small, brief smile. He can empathize with both of those points.]

Yeah, we... really dropped the ball on this one. I'm guessing enough people heard Yasusada threaten to kill and so decided if they couldn't pin down a murderer, they'd just get rid of one who might be a threat.

[Even though Rapunzel and Souji had calmed him down.]

[vigilantics]

I guess so... I don't think he would have though. He didn't seem like he would have done anything that would make Souji upset.

[ it's still odd that they didn't just go with akechi, but... admittedly steph is a little relieved that people aren't immediately scapegoating him at every turn. ]

[concasse]

I don't think so, either. He was loyal above all else. And Rapunzel was able to calm him down, too.

[Basically? The group at large sucks for jumping the gun.]

[vigilantics]

Even Natsuo got votes... I assume it's because how he was acting.

[ which was... very concerning, but steph wouldn't vote for him for that. ]

[concasse]

[Expression tightening; Sanji is still pissed about that.]

He's confused and afraid and is shit at showing it, that's all. ... And maybe we underestimated what dying did to him.

There was no reason to give him votes.

[Muttering irritably]

[vigilantics]

I really doubt that anyone who voted for him actually thought he was the culprit so... why? Trying to get him killed just over that is so--

[ she takes a breath. ]

[concasse]

[He feels it, Steph. He knows that frustration.]

It proves that there are people more than willing to throw someone under the bus out of fear.

[Not a surprise. Just a disappointment.]

... We gotta get better at pinpointing who the killers are. Or this'll just keep happening.

[vigilantics]

It normally takes us an entire trial just to solve a single murder, much less three.

[ and that was when they received help. ]

We should probably like... do better at dividing our attention between victims if there's multiple ones.

[concasse]

Maybe literally splitting us up to focus on different victims?

[That would be nice but Sanji also has... limited faith in that every working]

[vigilantics]

We can try. If anything, we have to change things up from how we're currently doing it or else we're just going to mess up again.

[concasse]

... Yeah, you're right.

[That he can at least agree with.]

We can't afford to mess up after this, either. So anything different might give us an edge.

[Running a hand through his hair.]

[vigilantics]

... I can tell you're really beating yourself up over all of this, but a lot of people seem to put a lot of faith in you. So, I think you're doing okay? Overall, we're a mess, it's good that you're around.

[ look, she's noticed how many people seem to go to him in trials and how much he fusses. ]

[concasse]

[Secret's out, Sanji's the mother hen of the castle. No one escapes his aggressive concern.

... Still, he looks... almost sad.]

You think so?

[...]

I hope you're right. So long as I can be useful to you guys...

[vigilantics]

You're as useful as anyone can be in a situation like this. Even more-- you're obviously reaching out to people whose lives aren't tied to your own.

[ it would be very easy to care only about you and your partner, in this type of setup. ]

[concasse]

... Never thought of it like that.

[It's second nature to him; it's how his crew has always been, done for the simple reason of keeping the people they like alive and well]

Well, I'll do what I can.

[...]

And you take care of yourself, too, Stephanie-chan. The castle would feel a lot emptier without you here.

[vigilantics]

... I'll do my best!

[ she can't really say she'll do her best at staying alive, considering they seem to have less control over that than they would all like. ]

Thanks, Sanji.