ZERO;

[crashout]

Comments

[fleuris]

[ it's called being pragmatic and resourceful, thank you very much. ]

... You mean this arm? [ lifts her left arm. you know. the big, black, armored one with sharp claws for fingers. ]

[crashout]

[Thank god he's not stupid enough to say that isn't a real arm, but uh. He's eyeballing it before he takes a sip of his drink like this isn't weird.]

Okay, so maybe not that arm. Are you thinking of another arm? [Willfully ignorant or just unaware? Cast your votes now.]

[fleuris]

[ he doesn't get to call it weird when he hasn't seen how it works. ]

There's a guy with someone else's arm. He was yelling about it when we got here.

[ is it both? it can be both, can't it? ]

[crashout]

[Don't tempt him, he will ask? But ah. Ahaha. He just kind of...shakes his head.]

Oh that. Yeah, I'm probably not gonna use that one.

[fleuris]

[ come on, ask, you coward, she ain't shy. >:) ]

Why not? The guy made it clear he didn't want it. [ a pause. ] Unless he was lying about that. Fucking perverts...

[ i'm sorry. ]

[crashout]

[Is there a polite way to ask "why do you have a monster arm?" because...]

He's probably not lying about that, and I'm not even sure why he as it. But it's not. A weird sex thing or whatever you think is going on there.

[fleuris]

[ yeah you say "what happened to your arm" and get a vague answer and keep asking more and more questions until you figure it out. ]

Oh, so you know each other? [ amazing. she's glad she's not in that situation. ] Either way, it's a spare arm no one needs. What's the problem?

[crashout]

[That's fair.]

The problem is it's my arm? So, I'd rather not use it as ghost bait. [So that's like a bunch of answers in one shitty info bomb, enjoy.]

[fleuris]

[ ...

she critically eyeballs Junpei's arms. the arms that are both attached to his body and working. she looks back at his face. ]

... You're not using it either.

[ what is the Hang Up here she doesn't get it. ]

[crashout]

That doesn't mean I don't want something coming after me because we used my scent or whatever. [Is. Is that how ghosts work? Okay.]

[fleuris]

Wimp. [ oh that's a grin with a lot of teeth. ]

If you're that chicken, we can use my blood too. That'll probably piss them off.

[crashout]

[Wow that don't shouldn't have been there, whatever. Anyway like...he makes a face because he's not chicken but he's also not stupid? Except?]

You really think it'd work? [He has to wonder, and given what he saw in the room that's actually both an intriguing and terrifying prospect.]

[fleuris]

[ Zero is... not stupid either. probably. but she's impatient and bored as hell already, so might as well try something.

the question makes her pause though, grin fading. ]

Fuck if I know. Maybe? Like I said, ghosts and spirits came after me, not the other way around. But they were usually hanging around places that a lot of things were killed in.

[crashout]

[Wild.]

Which would mean you were hanging around places a lot of things were killed in. What for? [But he's staring at his own arm like he's contemplating that choice so there's that.]

[fleuris]

[ junpei the entire point of this tiff was to use a detached arm, not chop it off. ]

Looking for my sisters. Not my fault they'd send their armies after me and I'd have to kill them.

[ there is. so much to unpack there. ]

[crashout]

[Is he really prepared for this? No, but here we go.]

Which is where the claws come out? [Haha, stupid jokes. But yeah, there's another pointed look at her own arm.]

[fleuris]

[ closes my eyes in drakengard melee weapons. ]

Sure, sometimes. Usually I'd just use a sword.

[ siiiiiiip, what's wrong with his face this time ]

[crashout]

[A lot.]

And yet you came here with that instead of a sword. Are we to believe our captors were kind to let you keep it?

[fleuris]

[ oh no, is it worse than a flower out of the eye ]

What's your problem? It's a pain in the ass to try and get around with one hand.

[crashout]

[Pinching the bridge of his nose, he sighs a bit.]

It's not--calm down. [Explain then, Junpei.] I'm looking at what people woke up with to figure out if there's a reason or pattern. And it's not like I'd expect our captors to care if they made things harder.

[fleuris]

[ wow she wasn't even mad? you drop some swear words and accusational questions and people just jump to conclusions. ]

I can't really afford an impromptu vacation, so trust me, this is definitely an inconvenience. And the arm's a joke - if I wanted something really useful, this wouldn't be my first pick.

How do you even know what everyone has?

[crashout]

[He's tired, mildly traumatized all over again and buzzed, he's doing his best.]

You haven't looked at your clamshell, have you. Everything's right there. [Has he been reading everyone's profiles? Yes.] It's not like anyone's happy with what they woke up with. We're trying to locate a storage facility or something our stuff might be held.

[fleuris]

[ now do it uphill both ways, in the snow. ]

Hm. [ she hasn't bothered, tbh, because she's Lazy. ]

Why did you think there's a storage room in the first place? It'd be easier to just chuck anything extra.

[crashout]

[Fine, fine...]

Because they'd want to keep something here to bribe us with, wouldn't they? What's the point of throwing away our stuff when they could use it as leverage?

[fleuris]

What's the point of bribing us when they could just take things away? I'm sure plenty of us would cave when the choice was giving in or starving.

[ why bother with a carrot when you've got a big ass stick, after all. ]