The Special Special Special!

[Sunnybunny]

Much like she'd hoped, the sun came out to play with them.

The trip to the cliff was slow and shambling, which fit because of their potential status as zombies. They could have their throats blown up any moment, beeps the only forewarning before the end. More notice than some here, less than others. A deeper person would have a moving point to make about this, but it had been well established that she was wearing her clown shoes until the very end.

((Sakurako A. Jackson continued from They Couldn’t Buy A Fucking Toaster. They’re Broke, John.))

She sat between Sean and Thomas, draping herself over them as much as her body would allow. Her eyes kept drifting back in the direction of G... no, Dane's body. Her mind threatened to dwell on killers and the people they'd taken from her. There were so many depressing, morbid topics she could bring up, killing any potential peace they could snatch from this moment. They'd passed a memorial on the way up, maybe her classmates deserved a few parting words. They definitely did. There wasn't even a Class President to take up that task, anymore.

Or an angry hopeful. That Lucas had died the same way Nathan had, just self-inflicted.

See, shit was beyond sad! Yuka-chan losing both her sisters and Quinn and Erika racing to kill the most people she cared about and even freaking Bret Carter was dead and he benched so much more than her and and and

Shaking her head, she lifted her hand. Ran her fingers through Thomas's hair, still surprised that was a thing she could just do now.

"Hey Sean. Hey. I've got a question for ya!"

Why weren't we friends sooner, buddy?

"Who'd you have the hots for back at school? I'll spill my guts if you will, even though it's so embarrassing now. 'Sides Zee I had absolute shit taste before Thomas saved me from myself."

But hell, she was wearing an orange narwhal kigu now, zipped down a bit too much in an attempt to beat the heat. There was no going back to the private thirsty but publicly fashionable ways of the past. There was no undoing The Plan they'd set into motion. There was no helping Aditi and Charelle any more that she already had.

"If you want to talk about anything else, even if the subject's a bummer, it's all good."

[Catche Jagger]

((Thomas Buckley continued from They Couldn’t Buy A Fucking Toaster. They’re Broke, John.))

Thomas Buckley was well aware that this might be the day that he died. Well, every day could be the day that anyone dies, but the odds of death had increased significantly even by death island standards due to his complicity in certain anti-terrorist plots.

They’d also gone up through the increasingly sparse student population on the island and the fewer people that were out and about meant that there was a greater chance for him and his allies to be the next people encountered by one of the island’s spree killers. Indeed, the last couple of announcements in particular had shown Quinn Abert and Erika Stieglitz (the same one that had killed Desiree) to be the most ruthless of all.

However, though such matters as the likelihood of his impending doom, either by the hands of some killer or by the bomb strapped to his neck or whatever else might happen, did weigh on him, Thomas tried to let himself hope.

He thought of home, of his family for the first time since the beach. Even if he was debatably the closest to death he’d been since then, he was also the closest he’d been to getting home, right? Mom, Dad, his brother Liam… would they think he was brave for doing this? They’d be wrong, but…

Nevermind, thinking about them was still a bad idea. He could already feel his throat tightening like he was going to cry or something again.

Thomas returned to the present, sitting with Sakurako, feeling her fingers run through his hair. It felt nice.

Strange that such a fucked up present could be more comforting than a hopeful look at the future, but that was clearly the way his mind was working at the moment.

In the past day, Thomas had swapped into his change of clothes, a short-sleeved button up and a pair of shorts, for fear of wearing the other set down. It was better dress sense than he usually had, but the outfit also felt a bit more comfortable in the heat of the island.

Sakurako then directed a question at Sean, along with a little comment about Thomas saving her from her bad taste. He briefly considered saying something to the effect of “Well, I think I had pretty good taste all all along.” But perhaps that was a bit too… flirty to throw out right in front of Sean.

Additionally, Thomas really did want to hear Sean’s answer, whatever it might be. He was curious, but it also felt right for him to listen right now, and so Thomas let himself laugh a bit at Sakurako’s remark, gently placing his hand against her back and leaving it at that.

[Ohm]

((Sean Leibowitz continued from They Couldn't Buy A Fucking Toaster. They're Broke, John))

They had arrived at the cliffs. Normally a place that he would be apprehensive to be near due the heights and in particular the body of Dane that laid nearby with a hole in the head. His face told a story and it wasn't a pleasant one. Sean grimaced at the sight before trying to put it out of his mind as he looked elsewhere.

Around him were his travel partners, Thomas and Sakurako. One that had been with him since the beginning, but having taken a transformation of sorts since from a nervous wreck to seeming at peace with what they were doing. Huge difference from the guy who seemed so concerned earlier. A glance over to his right told him exactly what caused it.

Sakurako who tried her best to keep their spirits up during this time. None of them knew if they were going to die any second now, if beeping would be last thing they'd hear before the end or from any random fuck in their class taking a chance to get a chance. Even with these morbid thoughts floating around, his mind didn't erode with it. And while that fear that permeated his very being continued from earlier, he didn't want to die after all. He felt calm at the same time. He had chosen this fear for himself and that somehow alleviated it in a way.

It helped that Sakurako kept him distracted from thinking too hard about it. Specially once that question entered the air.

Sean hadn't thought of that in ages now. Were there anyone he did think of in that context? That a passing thought of this person would enter his mind and make his heartbeat the only sound he could hear and feel? That he'd have to pause himself so the thought would pass away so he could continue his day.

There was one, maybe more. But he couldn't talk about those. Not in front of the camera's. He wasn’t sure if his family was watching or not.

It was a silly question, one that felt more fitting back in high school than here. That was probably the point, he thought to himself as he strained to find an answer that wouldn't kill this fun mood they were trying to set before the potential end.

"I guess there was one recently...." Once, when times were simpler and there were no voices in their ear telling them about the terrible things they were doing to people. Snuffing out their lights for their own selfish benefit. There was a part of him that wished to believe that it wasn't so, that were was a simple explanation to it all. Maybe self defense? Maybe it was an accident and they were lying to him to spread the fear.

But there could also be truth to it. He'd seen one of his own friends run away from him after the announcements named him a culprit. It was hard to hold onto that hope after that.

It was easy to picture her in front of him. It was a such small thing at the time, but there weren't many who'd shared that with him before. He'd seen her in the halls since. A wave of the hand and a greeting as they pass. He never got to properly thank her for the gift or tell her his thoughts.

It made the name leave a bitter taste.

"You remember Violet? Schmidt?"

[Sunnybunny]

They could probably feel her shiver the moment Thomas's hand touched her back, and she tugged the lock of his hair she was playing in lightly in playful revenge. How dare he make her smile so hard? What a criminal!

"Princess's g-... no, you mean Scooby Gang Violet!"

She didn't really run in the same circle as that group, but she'd never had a problem with them at all. They liked spooky things and minded their business, which probably put them as some of the nicer people at George Hunter.

Were ghosts real? Would they become the shuffling undead when this was over, instead?

Her smile at Sean was gentle, coaxing, even if her eyes were a bit too eager. He hadn't seemed happy to admit her name, and if she had to guess why it would center on the announcements... well, the blackened chicken. Even the important details faded at the thought, how and who she'd killed, because hearing about real food drove her a little crazy every fucking time.

"She hasn't gone full Eriquinn, so..."

Hand gestures, ones that didn't really mean much of anything. At least she wasn't making murder a habit? Talking about the levels of horrible people, when killing was maybe understandable, was a UCLA-level topic. No sense in even entertaining the thought here and now.

"Was it the freckles? You probably have a better story than that, but you guys gotta admit that freckles are super freaking cute. Right? I know it's not just me that thinks so!"

A world away, several days later, Sakurako's aunt Minako burst into a laughing fit at that passionate statement.

[Catche Jagger]

Thomas felt Sakurako shiver as he placed his hand her back and that smirk made its way back onto his face. She made sure he got his comeuppance, though, with a light tug at his hair. He wanted to pull her in close to him like they’d been back at the house, but now was not the time. Still, having to parse out the appropriate degree of intimacy or gross teasing between himself and a beautiful girl was certainly better than spending days ruminating over how he might get himself killed.

He turned to the girl at his side, raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips in expression meant to indicate that, actually, he was above simple teasing like hers. What was it about this situation with Sakurako that was making him all smug about himself? Well, it was a pretty good feeling.

Sean did eventually answer with the name of his apparent crush and boy, was it a doozy: Violet Schmidt, named twice now on the announcements as a killer.

Thomas couldn’t actually put a face to the name until Sakurako mentioned freckles and it clicked in his brain and he remembered who Violet Schmidt from back at school. He’d never really dealt with her personally, but she seemed to give off a weird sort of vibe. Now Thomas was kind of weird himself, but on the spectrum of eccentric/offbeat to maybe actually maybe a bit fucked up she’d always given off a vibe more akin to the latter. Then again, he’d been certain that Sakurako wouldn’t be into him just a day ago, so perhaps he wasn’t the best judge of character.

Still, Sakurako seemed to know exactly what to say to keep the mood light, and Thomas couldn’t help but smile as she declared her admiration for freckles. She was better at this than him, but still Thomas felt that he should say something.

After a moment, he looked to Sean. “You know, if we run into her, you should tell her. After all,” Thomas transformed his free hand into a deadly fingergun and lowered his voice to a gravelly register of some 90s action star, “Speaking as somebody who barely knew you five days ago, you’re a pretty cool dude.”

His gaze shifted out to the horizon as some sincerity returned to his voice. “And… you’re a good person. And I’ve got to assume that she’s some kind of good too, if you like her.” He gave a little nod, more to himself than the others, hoping that made some kind of sense and wasn’t just some strange word-vomit.

What he was trying to get at, what he probably should have simply said, was that he trusted Sean and his judgement.

[MethodicalSlacker]

The last twenty four hours were a haze. She continued to fall apart at the seams. The dark magicks she invited into her soul did little to lift the feeling of decay from her skin. Instead, they acted like a seal, like the greenhouse clouds on planet Venus, keeping the vile parts of her from escaping into the atmosphere. Her hair twisted and tangled into knots and loops. Her robe had torn on a piece of metal laying on the ground earlier, and was now missing a good patch from the side. Her legs felt too big for her jeans. Violet hadn't bathed in six days. The closest she got was standing under the rain, fully clothed, several days before. Letting herself be vulnerable was to invite suffering onto herself. The universe would seize upon such an opportunity and use it as a knife put a smiling tear through her throat.

There was a dry blood stain on her forehead from the wound she suffered days ago. Surprisingly, it had closed on its own, bleeding much more than it actually threatened her life. She hadn't slept in the past day. The circles under her eyes had turned to holes, craters, pockets deeper than the night. Her eyes, slightly bloodshot. Violet avoided the temple as she came, not wanting to unearth again that memory. Instead, she went around through the trees on the other side.

As Violet slowly started to creep up to the edge of the trees, taking long, long steps, she looked and felt more monster than human.

Why was she here? She needed to get away. Everywhere she turned, there were people, people, people. At the cliff, all she could imagine finding were people debating taking the easy way out. Violet didn't mind pushing. Birthing them into the afterlife, as it were. A rush and a push and the land that we stand on is ours. She came on pilgrimage, then, in search of solitude.

It stopped her in her tracks when she heard voices coming up from the edge of the cliff. She peered through the treeline and saw a few people idling there. Talking. Having a roadside picnic, as it were. She felt her eye twitch. There was no place, then, where she could be alone with her twisted gnarled thoughts. Violet raised her gun and looked down her sights, crouching in a low bush, trying to get a better look at who was there. Two of the faces she found were loosely familiar, but unremarkable. If it was just the two of them, she would have turned around and left. There was nothing to gain from consorting with them.

But the third face changed all that.

Violet lowered her gun and stood up from her bush. She held it low, pointing towards the ground, as she started to silently walk towards the distracted group. Soon enough, words were audible. The group was not making an effort to stay quiet. They were speaking about some girl. Violet hadn't caught who.

She figured,

[Violet Schmidt continued from i see u.]

that she'd know soon enough.

[Ohm]

Sean's face felt warm as Sakurako jokingly asked him what about Violet made him feel this way. Her appearance was a part of it and the freckles, no doubt, but it would be lie to say it was just that. It was just trying to say why out loud that was the hardest thing for him.

"She uh… we met in the record store back home." He said as a nervous right hand shot up and scratched at the side of his neck. "She bought me an album, just off the cuff." A grunt made its way from his throat as he cleared it and his hands went down into his jean pockets. "That started it."

"It wasn’t that big of a thing, y’know? It was just...like...it feels nice to think about her." He managed to say with a smile edging on the side of nervous and without the quiver in his voice, but he had to look down to keep his composure. A part of him wanted to say used to after hearing of her on the speakers, it would be a lie. Maybe it was the fact he hadn’t seen her since this started. Maybe his memories was coloring that perception of her so vividly in his head.

She had a reputation for being weird, in the same way he had one for being a stoner. Sometimes he could tell when people cared more about that part of him than the rest as if it validated a sense of being superior than him. Usually that wouldn't bother Sean, but there were times it nagged in the back of his mind. That people would talk down about it. He didn't get that from her.

"And uh, yeah, the freckles were a part of that." He forced himself to laugh at that, but it came out as a chuckle that died down real quick once Thomas started to speak and Sean tried to hide his face down his collar at the words.

"...Thanks...Tom." Sean wasn't used to getting the kind of compliments Thomas was giving him, he was more used to ones like "Sick shirt." or "Good music." or "nice art you made there, let me draw a dick over it real quick."

It felt nice though, it was something he could get used to it. And he appreciated that the two were trying to help him with that feeling. Reassurances that she wasn't far gone. A trust in his choice.

Maybe he did want to see her and those freckles again. For a last time.

[Sunnybunny]

Luckily for Thomas's smugness, Sakurako was a bit too caught up in the discussion to debunk his faux dignity. It was hard to tell what was cuter, Tomtom backing up Sean with goofy impressions or Sean himself being so incredibly flustered. His tale was simple, kindness being the seed that planted other emotions.

Her smile was a bit bigger for hearing it.

"You probably shouldn't start with your feelings right off the bat, but if confessing's something you wanna do then you got to got to try a little tenderness~" Bursting into song wasn't a normal thing for her, but music and crushes were a concept that went hand in hand for her. Because reasons. "In any case, we've got your back. As someone you barely knew a few days ago, you can trust me on that."

Clout Gang forever, even if forever was only as long as the next few hours.

"But I did say I would share my shame... well, it's not all shame! It's about fifty percent. Fifty-five if you count the fact I'm talking about people I crushed on while my boyfriend's literally right here." Her boyfriend.

Did the temperature go up or something? Tugging the hood of her kigu over her eyes, she shook her head and took one of Thomas's hands in hers. This whole "being yourself" thing was fraught with dangers, huh?

"So apparently I'm a huge cliché because I'm grossly attracted to popular people even though they're the worst and I avoid the lot of them like the plague. Like Ivy? She's like, cotton candy if cotton candy looked at you like you were toilet paper on the bottom of it's foot. She doesn't even have a sense of humor if you don't count talking shit about people. Thinking about her is like having Crazy Frog on repeat in my head."

Ivy wasn't even into girls, so she couldn't try to get it out of her system that way. But saying that out loud had felt relieving, in the way that spewing bile would eventually make you feel better if you were sick. Zee and Yuka-chan had heard a longer, drunken version of this rant before, but it had ended with her actually throwing up. Cheers to her misspent youth, she guessed. It was a good thing they were alone here, she'd be tempted to fling herself off the cliff if this got out to anyone else.

( )

"But I did have a crush that I'm not completely ashamed of. It wasn't a huge deal at all, I accidentally locked eyes with him during the freshman talent show. It was probably my wonderful singing voice I really liked. But his locker was three doors down from mine so I saw him all the time, repetition builds habits, you know the drill."

She thought about him like she thought about Hoe Cakes, a song that she'd forget about for months then have on repeat for a week straight. Nice to look at, nice to people, nice to listen to while she built towering, spiraling Lego builds... but a guy surrounded by crowds, with friends that people founded anti-bullying committees over? Zee had been a bit of a social butterfly too, but there were levels.

The point was, some daydreams didn't need to meet reality, plus he'd started dating the kind of girl her grandmother wished Sakurako was. Intelligent, talented, beautiful, probably not mixed...

Passed away.

The point was acceptance would have been just as terrifying as rejection.

[Catche Jagger]

Sean’s story of Violet was a sweet one, kind of like something in a romcom or something of the sort. Maybe that was a good sign, right? That there was come kind of connection there? Maybe seemed a good enough place to start, at least.

Thoughts of Sean’s feelings for Violet left him, though, as Sakurako called him her boyfriend.

Because, yeah, holy shit.

Thomas’s face was hot again, his hands a bit tense. Luckily, Sakurako looked about as flustered as he felt, which made him feel a bit better about his own embarrassment (plus she looked pretty cute trying to hide her face away, which helped cut some of the tension). So, he let the new relationship status slip but without further comment from him beyond him smiling and gently rubbing Sakurako’s back.

But wow. He had a girlfriend now. Cool. Cool cool cool.

Sakurako soon managed to change the subject back to crushes, mentioning one that she had on Ivy Langley back at school, which, you know, maybe threw her taste into question. Like, not only was Ivy widely understood to be a pretty bad person, but she also bore a physical likeness most akin to a young child. Not exactly a stunner in Thomas’s mind.

If they were going to dig in for horrible people that were still physically attractive, one didn’t even have to go outside of the cheer team. There was Madison Springer who was, like, one of the more beautiful people at the school, but was known to be quite the asshole well before everyone got sent to murder island and she eventually managed to brutally murder the disabled class president (at least according to the announcements.

Regardless, discussion of which bad person was more deserving of praise was definitely not the spot to dig his heels in, and the Ivy remark passed without comment from him.

Sakurako also mentioned another crush, but neglected to mention the name, but from context… a few lockers down from hers, sung at the talent show… Ace Ortega? Well, that was certainly a little intimidating.

Ace was very much cool in a way that Thomas couldn’t really measure up to and was, by what knowledge Thomas had of him (they weren’t really friends or anything) he was not an asshole. Beyond all that, Ace was, like, a good looking guy, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

Well, there was a “but.” That but being, “But Ace isn’t the guy she just called her boyfriend.” No reason to be insecure about it, there really wasn’t enough time for that.

Thomas decided to slip in with his own crush nonsense, even if there wasn’t so much to bring up.

“I think I had a thing for Beryl earlier this year. Nothing came of that, of course.” He shrugged, laughing a bit, looking back at how poorly he handled that whole thing.

“The only other crush business of note… well that turned out pretty good for yours truly. I guess I just have good taste.” He decided to slip the cocky remark in after all.

“So what I’m saying Sean- I’m not saying just go up when you see her and say ‘Oh hey Violet, I’m into you, by the way.’ I’m just saying, if you both get to a point where it feels like a good moment for it you should tell her how you feel about her.” Thomas concluded, bringing things back to his original point.

[MethodicalSlacker]

Violet approached, picking up more and more of the conversation as she walked down the way leading to the cliff's edge. It was hard at times to make out some things over the sound of the waves crashing against the side of the island. In some sense, Violet was trading signal strength for interference; what she heard was clearer, but it came less consistently. Only when Violet was at the source would she know what the small group was talking about. She tried her hardest to withhold her judgement until she crossed that threshold, until she finally was sure whether they were engaged in idle chitchat or in conversations that were more important. Ones that it was in Violet's best interest to be a part of.

She kept her approach slow, trying to make as little noise as possible. Somehow they hadn't yet noticed her, despite the beanpole-like stature towering over them. A feeling wrinkled in her, and she felt uneasy. If they were this preoccupied with their conversation, then the chances that they were talking about something inane, something entirely earthly and base, were low. Violet was already walking towards the edge of a cliff, but now she felt like she was walking into the jaws of the Hells as well. There were three of them, and one of her. She could wipe them out whenever she wanted, anytime, from where she was standing. All she had to do was raise her gun. One of them would fall before the others could even react, another as they stood up, and the third as he ran. The trees were to Violet's back—there was nowhere to run.

But she was curious.

And it was this curiosity that kept her moving forward, step by step, towards the group, each new quiet footfall worsening her fear. At this point she felt close enough that if she ran forward a couple steps and took a dive, she could take one of them over the edge of the cliff with her. Still, she tried her best to keep silent. They'd notice her eventually. She'd figure out what to do then. It was besides the point that she let instinct carry her this far. Invocations could work myriad wonders. There was a sigil of dried blood smeared on her chest, under her shirt, last evening's work wrought under cover of moonlight. Violet could call upon what lied within at any point. She would, at first sight of trouble, and let those that lay in the Hells steer her away from its precipice. Violet's left bicep twitched. A snarl began its struggle towards the corners of her lips.

Then Violet took a step forward and heard too much.

"What?" she said. Violet couldn't help but let the words out of her mouth. Suddenly the distance between herself in the group looked much larger than it had before. It hadn't taken very far for her to be able to hear their words. The step size was too small. It was where she was standing that made the water too loud. Violet didn't need to be right next to the group to hear them at all; as soon as she was reminded she existed in the corporeal world, the distortions of the astral fell away.

Violet approached, picking up the pace until the threshold was crossed and she stood now at the edge of the circle.

"What?" she said again, more dumbfounded than anything.

[Ohm]

His group continued the mood Sakurako had setup. It was different from how he would talk to his friends when they were messing around, rarely did this come up. It was nice even though it made Sean’s face feel like he’d pressed his close to an open oven.

Sakurako confessing having felt for Ivy which got a raised eyebrow from Sean, even as flustered as he was that felt like something he struggled to imagine as Sakurako was nice and jokey and Ivy was...Ivy. He didn't associate there for a reason.

That and Zach had pissed off Wyatt so good reason to steer clear there.

Thomas continued his encouragement and Sean was tempted to go with it. "Would you be up for that?" An uncertainty crept into his voice as his eyes glanced from one to the other. At this point, these two were the closest people Sean could call friends. Getting them hurt confessing to a potential crazy person... "I mean... I don't want either of you hurt." He said with a glance towards Sakurako's leg.

Whatever words that were on their way were swallowed by the waves as a familiar voice rang out across the cliffs and Sean shot up on his feet. The fastest he'd ever been in his life.

She was here. Like bloody mary, her name said a few times out loud and she appears, gun in hand. She looked so different from what she used to. It was a given due to everything around them, but there was another reason for her appearance, it was more haggard than almost anyone he'd seen so far.

There was blood.

There were so many things that he wanted to ask. Are you ok? What happened? Whose blood is that? Why did you murder those people? Did you hear what I said and is that's why you're here? But none would come forward. His throat had a sudden lump in it that made it hard to swallow or speak as he looked at the girl across.

At that moment, all the encouragement and possible excitement of telling her went down the cliff as the possibility of death stared him in the face.

"Hey." Short and simple. That was his excuse as it was all he could say without a stutter in his voice. He raised his hand and gave it a limp wave. All force that would have gone in it had shot downward into his legs to keep himself steady, it was all he could do to stop himself from sprinting. Toes curling inside the shoes as if they themselves were trying to escape. His other hand found it’s way into his jean pocket to hide the sudden shake it had gotten.

[Sunnybunny]

Her heart was pumping nearly as fast as it had been when she'd chased Cheridene, but without the inherent fear that had gone with that moment. She mused for a brief second on who the other girl might have thrown into this chat, but then Thomas mentioned another girl on their basketball team.

"Tooooomtom, you should have told me before! I would have totally helped you shoot your shot."

Beryl Mahelona was out of everyone in the world's league, more of a fairy tale character than a real girl. She even had a curse, if you wanted to think of it that way, that made being around her a rather scary experience. It hadn't stopped most people from being in her presence, which was good.

But even back then, Sakurako didn't want anyone's hurt on her hands.

Shrugging in response to Sean's totally valid raised eyebrow, she'd been ready to reassure him, then to comment on Thomas's good taste, when someone out of the blue said-

"What?"

Sean shot up like a rocket, making Sakurako tip against Thomas more, and then-

"What?"

But the hood over her eyes kept their identity obscured from her, until she slid it it back.

Scooby Gang Violet looked like she hadn't even been trying to take care of herself at all, like murder had wiped out all her sense of personhood. It was actually just sad, the gun nearly being the most pathetic of all.

Dane had a gun, and what had it done for him?

This was her first time running into someone who'd killed on the island before, and that fact made her luckier than most even when you took her messed up leg into account.

"Hi. No offense, but I really wish Sean had used his summoning powers to bring us a military escort to a private jet."

Or like, Rambo or something.

"You can have some of my water if you'd like, you look like you've had a rough time of it out there."

It was hard to panic when there was a chance she was a dead girl sitting either way. Besides, if worse came to worse, she could probably get enough momentum to launch herself at Violet's legs so the boys could get out of here.

Speaking of boys, she hoped Thomas didn't pull out his gun right away, but it would be hard to blame him if he did. As much as she was starting to loathe the damn things, it would make this situation a little more balanced.

[Catche Jagger]

“I mean, I’d say I’m pretty happy with where I ended up, all things considered.” Thomas remarked in response to Sakurako’s comment on an alternate timeline where she helped him out with the Beryl situation, nudging her gently as he did.

Sean still seemed to be unsure about the prospect of confessing to Violet, though, and that was starting to make Thomas second guess his assumption that it would be alright if Sean thought it was alright… because Sean wasn’t looking all too sure himself. Still, it might be best to let him be the one to make the decision on this one. After all, if things did turn a bit hairy, he could-

Thomas’s thoughts were interrupted by the voice of a fourth party cutting into the conversation.

Violet Schmidt, rifle in hand.

Shoot. Now.

What? He couldn’t just shoot someone unprompted! He was just talking about how giving her a chance wouldn’t be so bad.

That was theory, this is practice. Look at her! She’s clearly all fucked up and you know she’s killed already. What do you need to prove that she’s dangerous? Do you need her to blow Sean’s head off? Actually, maybe she’ll go for Sakurako first...

What was he supposed to do, though? Just whip out his gun and start firing off? Violet had an advantage in positioning and already held her gun in her hands. She could definitely get a shot off before Thomas.

So you’re just going to sit there and let them die? Sit on your damn hands? You have the gun, so you have the responsibility.

Thomas's mind was racing and the sides of his head felt like they were about to split open again. Why was this happening? Things had been going so well, but right now was a whole mess. Thomas hated right now.

He wasn’t going to just shoot Violet, he couldn’t just shoot Violet, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to do anything, though.

Sakurako and Sean tried to speak with Violet amicably, and hopefully they would cut through the tension. Still, Thomas moved the pistol to the center of his lap his keeping his motions slow and steady so as to not seem too aggressive, but did not aim it at the newcomer. If she had the human fucking decency to not directly aim her gun at them, he’d return the favor.

“We were just talking about things from back at school. Reminiscing.” Thomas said with a smile, his tone light, inviting. It was most acting he’d done in what felt like ages to keep his voice steady and calm.

One hand held Sakurako’s tightly.

The other pressed the safety off.

[MethodicalSlacker]

"I-"

Violet wanted to press both of her hands to the sides of her head and scream. This was an incredibly expensive mistake she was making. She hadn't led with the gun and now she was paying for it—a shifting in Thomas' lap clued her in that he was armed and dangerous, just as much as she was.

Her head was swimming. There was too much going on. This was the path she chose. Down and off a cliff. Sean, for his part, barely reacted to her arrival. He shot up like he was scared, greeted her, waved at her, and proved his worthlessness to her all at once. This is how they repay you when you do nice things. Violet felt like how vomit looks. She wanted to draw her knife from her belt and stab him in the throat. Throw him over the cliff. This was the trial. In his mind she had been ritualized, and that meant there was Sean had at least a slight pull over her aura. Sean was a powder keg of astral influence waiting to explode, and it was better of Violet was the one to set him off.

Before anything else could happen, Sakurako butted in with a damnation and then a donation, offering up some water. Violet had plenty of water. She was still carrying her bags. There was probably a couple bottles in there still. It'd be foolish to decline the offer, though, simply because she wasn't entirely sure. It'd be foolish to not just kill all of them. There was no hatred in her heart for Sakurako. Not even for Thomas. They didn't deserve the suffering the next few days would bring, and they'd find their place back on Earth or possibly even in higher realms after she released them. But that wasn't her responsibility.

Thomas had the happiest tone and the clearest route to her death. Perhaps she did need to kill him. Before he killed her first. His tone was too cheerful. All of their tones were too cheerful. Were there more hiding somewhere? Had she not seen them, in the trees? Checking over her shoulder would let Thomas shoot her. He—

He was holding Sakurako's hand. Right there, out in the open.

None of these people had kills to their name. None of them except her. They feared her. She had no reason to fear them.

"Thank you," Violet stammered out. Right. Take the water. Talk to the people. Ignore the spectral elephants floating over the edge of the cliff.

"School, yes. I haven't, um, thought about school in a while."

She'd take the water when Sakurako handed it to her. Right now, she was looking right at Sean.

"You, uh, had something to say to me?"

[Ohm]

Things seemed to calm down. The tension easing up as Saku and Tom spoke up to Violet and she seemed to respond in kind. Slowly looking more like the Violet he met in that record store who’d give a record away.

At the same time, none of this felt right. It reminded him of days past, of the infirmary in the village with a dead girl shot from miles away by a killer that didn’t dare face them. Now he's face to face with another one. She seemed friendly to a degree anyway, but it was unsettling still. Violet had killed and they didn't know the reason why. The names were hard to recall in the haze of mornings after with their parade of killers and praise for their achievement in murder.

But he couldn't ask about those now, could he? Now that the mood was even somewhat like earlier? Now that she started to resemble the one he cared about and not the murderer he heard as he grabbed the water given to her?

Especially not when she asked him what he had to say.

Was it still worth it? To say those words and seeing what happens? It was easy to build up that courage when she wasn't here and it felt like a faint idea floating through the stream, but now she was and that courage bravely fled and left Sean standing in place like a statue.

"Well, uh..." He held onto it like a note as he scrambled for a way to say something, anything that wouldn't immediately anger her or give her that sudden urge for anything drastic. He had more than himself to think of here. A quick glance to his friends before it turned back to her. A quick cough before he continued.

"Y'see, I...I care about you, Violet." A slow movement from his hand as it went down from the wave to his head as he scratched away as if to stop that feeling that permeated his chest. He couldn't tell what it was. Fear or caring. "I have for a while." It was a struggle for the words to form in his mind, but it was a fight against himself to let them out.