[His vitals are fine and aside from the burns on his neck and his wrists and ankles, he seems to be in pretty okay shape. Except the thing is, Junpei doesn't wake up. He's unconscious for most of the time that Dick tends to Nikkari and Edelgard, somehow staying asleep even when Dick picks him up and carries him back to their room. At some point he tries to wake up and finds he's too exhausted to do anything but shift just slightly into Dick's chest.
The bright side is that he sleeps through most of the night, breathing shallow and curled up into a ball on his side. The downside is he finally finds himself waking up somewhere in the neighborhood of five in the morning and the room's dark. He wakes with a start even if he doesn't move, eyes wide and briefly panicked before he recognizes the shape of another person. With that said, he moves just enough to tentatively curl up against Dick as usual and lets his eyes close again. But the fact that he's trying to burrow is promising?
[ Dick's quiet, but it was probably a bit much to expect him to be asleep, considering everything. he'd spent most of the night worried-- he's not a doctor, and there was no telling if he was right to think this was even something they could wake up from on their own.
he'd still ended up settling down in bed next to junpei not too long ago. he has invested in pajama pants, for some reason, and he's halfway sitting when he hears junpei wake up enough to burrow into his side. some tension leaves him, though not all, even though he brings a hand up to brush through junpei's hair softly. ]
... Still miss video games?
[ it's wry and quiet, in case he'd fallen back asleep already. ]
[His movements are slow like it physically pains him still to move, sluggish and unsteady as he tries to tuck his face into Dick's side. The fingers in his hair get a soft shiver of a response because even that feels like a lot, but his arm moves to drape over Dick's waist. Human pillow get. ]
Info. [It's a very quiet word, voice low and sleepy and a little disoriented. His fingers curl into Dick's shirt.] Nikkari...Edelgard?
Burns and slashes on both of them, and Nikkari had a broken leg. Took care of it. They're fine. [ a beat, and then-- ] You're all fine, despite your best efforts.
[ it's a joke, even though his tone is dryer than the desert, but he doesn't stop petting junpei. ]
You can go back to sleep.
[ dick knows he won't, but he probably needs the extra time. ]
[His eyebrows furrow together because none of that sounds good in the slightest, but his eyes are closed even though he's awake for now.]
Shit. [That's in regards to the news, but he's still trying to get himself back up to speed.] I just took like an eight hour nap. [And should absolutely sleep more.] When'd you last sleep?
[The tiniest and most pathetic glare follows that statement.]
Can we use a different word? Faint makes me sound...delicate. [That's his problem? He still hasn't explained anything but a hand slowly moves up to grab at Dick's shirt near his shoulder and try to pull him down. Lay down, asshole.] And drunkenly passing out doesn't entirely count either in that case.
That's worse, no. [But he pulls back enough so Dick can lay down but seems to be sticking closer than usual, shifting to curl up directly against him again as soon as they're both down. It's fine. Sometimes you just...have a lot of shit going on in your head and something familiar is nice to have.
But he hears that question and...winces a little.] ...fair enough. [....there's a small sigh.] I'm fine, by the way. I'm just...exhausted. And sore. [And maybe looking like death warmed over because it happens when your energy is physically drained from you, but sure.]
Who do you think they got to look you guys over? [ he's glad for the reassurance-- that it's only exhaustion, nothing else-- but it comes out a bit wry even as he continues brushing through junpei's hair ] What happened in there? All we saw was a game over screen and you guys slumped over a bunch of machines.
...guess you are the only medic so that makes sense. [The burns are still a thing but those were already addressed, too. The way he's playing with Junpei's hair is almost enough to make Junpei go back to sleep, but he's keeping himself awake to try and give a status report.]
Room was completely empty except for the three games. We didn't exactly have a choice when the cables came out and plugged us in.
Fake-medic. Medic-passing, whatever. [There's a whine at the loss of Dick's fingers but it's quiet enough to miss.]
...Nikkari and Edelgard were hooked up to what kinda looked like Street Fighter. I had Donkey Kong, and a breaker box. [A gesture to his neck to indicate the four marks on his neck, the main reason he had double the burns.] Only happened after we put our names in, but the door was locked so it was the only way. Cables came out to strap us down and other ones plugged directly into us.
We heard a recording, too. H and our narrator, I think? H was really mad... [There's a long pause like he's maybe falling asleep again, but it's Junpei trying to remember what he heard word for word.] "Hah-- Of course you don't. You think everyone on this fucking ship loves you, right? You don't think anyone talks about you behind your back. I'm such an idiot for thinking we were friends, when it's your fault that my brother is dead. I've been talking to M. You know what she told me? That she and the other two"--I think Cockblockers--"planned to"--probably protect or save--"my brother, and you said no. And you know what else she dropped along the way? That you specifically told them to keep any information they found away from me. Don't waste your breath. It's midnight and we're both awake. So either you're possessed, and here to kill me... Or they've given me their blessing to put you in your place."
Nikkari and Edelgard had to mime the whole thing out before the game could even start. They had to fight each other, that's why they took the critical hits. They were being controlled. My machine had another bar on top displaying player power and power source. Started with 100% player power and 60% power source. Donkey Kong kept glitching out...every time I took a hit, my power depleted and the breaker box's power enhanced. But I had to get to the top to save the princess because she was being guarded by a giant eyeball.
...by the time it hit 20% the breaker box hit 100% and we were electrocuted, I think, before we passed out. I think we lost. [And that's the most upsetting part.]
[ WELL THIS IS A LOT??? This is kind of a lot. dick doesn't brush against the burns he treated because he knows it'll, you know, hurt, but it's a near thing. he's not sure how to address the whole thing-- the loss and injuries, anyway-- so he concentrates and prioritizes: mission first. ]
Not much we can do about that now. We're lucky you guys made it out alive, so let's concentrate on what you did find out. ...Our Narrator lived. Going by what else we've heard-- if it was between him and H, H didn't make it. So... was he possessed?
[Mission first. There's a noise when Dick says they're lucky they made it out alive because, sure, 20% isn't great but it's passable.]
I don't have proof it's the narrator but it's always involved them somehow. But it's possible H was possessed, given that we know that H was already struggling because of what happened to his brother. Demons could've gone after him, too. We don't really know. It sounded like H was attacking the other person with a lance, or trying to. [Thinking.] "Are you seriously asking me to calm down? You must think I'm a moron. I bet... I bet you always think you're the smartest guy in the room, don't you?"
There was the implication that the other person was still in contact with A, too, which is why I think it's the Narrator.
[ I can't believe the narrator is junpei, wow? Which is unfortunately not why dick is frowning in thought. ]
Maybe it was H. Either way, the Narrator got H. I think the more damning question is... what if neither of them were demons? [ he lets out a sigh ] Think about it. We don't know why we have the forced sleep. Couldn't have been demons, since we started that before those showed up. But it sounds like maybe these guys had an idea. "They're letting me put you in your place"? Who's they? And-- even if it is demons, you ever think about how everyone who's been awake those nights has assumed they'd die or face a demon? What's stopping them from using those assumptions against us? The reason everything went wrong, supposedly, is they stopped trusting each other. Maybe it was the point.
...so what, if someone's awake maybe we just convince them not to go anywhere because it's paranoia that's driving us insane? I've thought about it, too. [His fingers are busy curling into the hem of Dick's shirt again mostly to keep himself awake.] "Them", I think, is the giant eyeball. That thing's everywhere. Maybe that's the overseer that was watching the first group.
Hizamaru said this place reminded him of a stage. And I've been saying there's someone out there orchestrating everything, and we know our hosts are listening to higher-ups or something. Maybe something like that.
[...there's a frown.] Edelgard said something like that to me the other day. Accusing me of thinking I'm the smartest guy in the room. Kind of also makes me wonder if the conversations we're hearing are even real.
Maybe. Isn't there some like horror bullshit monster that's an all-seeing eye? It...was in the game. It was holding the princess hostage. It makes me wonder if it's always there somewhere in each room watching us and making us see the things we want to see, or the things we'll respond to.
[He's lost because he's. Himself.] What was the context for what?
[He sort of squints at the name but ultimately decides it does not matter right now and picks one conversation to have.]
Mm...last week. We were talking about the Dimitri thing and I confronted her on having her role. Or, more like, she asked if I knew about the special rules and I told her I knew she was one of the Cockblockers and knew about Escha. [Escha :(] Started talking about it, threw out some guesses of how it worked and when I was wrong she said "You’re used to feeling like the cleverest man in the room, aren’t you?"
It was before I realized she had Escha's old role. And then I said I knew someone who could see if someone's possessed and that was the meeting I set up last Thursday I had to leave for. Edelgard and Kagachi.
[ that's fine he can explain later, first he nods along to that story, closing his eyes at the mention of escha before he hums ]
Right. Kagachi told me about that one. [ the meeting, not the. quote. ] Think Edelgard's point was at least a little less antagonistic than the version our Narrator got, but ... it is kind of a weird coincidence.
Yeah I pretty much stopped giving Kagachi progress reports because I figure you'll tell him everything anyway. [There's something a little :T in his tone but he doesn't explain. Instead, there's a nod.]
It's weird because...I don't know if it's because Edelgard was with us, or because...[...he frowns.] Never mind, that probably doesn't make sense. Edelgard being there fits the idea that we're being watched at all times.
[There's a questioning look.] I don't mind talking to him. It's not that, it's just...usually he seems to know everything I have to say because you've mentioned it to him.
[But he doesn't care enough to argue and instead pulls the covers tighter to burrow.]
It's that thing on the back of the dollar bill, right? The pyramid with the eye. The all-seeing eye of God, or something.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
W4, EARLY THURSDAY
The bright side is that he sleeps through most of the night, breathing shallow and curled up into a ball on his side. The downside is he finally finds himself waking up somewhere in the neighborhood of five in the morning and the room's dark. He wakes with a start even if he doesn't move, eyes wide and briefly panicked before he recognizes the shape of another person. With that said, he moves just enough to tentatively curl up against Dick as usual and lets his eyes close again. But the fact that he's trying to burrow is promising?
Good morning.]
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he'd still ended up settling down in bed next to junpei not too long ago. he has invested in pajama pants, for some reason, and he's halfway sitting when he hears junpei wake up enough to burrow into his side. some tension leaves him, though not all, even though he brings a hand up to brush through junpei's hair softly. ]
... Still miss video games?
[ it's wry and quiet, in case he'd fallen back asleep already. ]
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Info. [It's a very quiet word, voice low and sleepy and a little disoriented. His fingers curl into Dick's shirt.] Nikkari...Edelgard?
[Status report please.]
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[ it's a joke, even though his tone is dryer than the desert, but he doesn't stop petting junpei. ]
You can go back to sleep.
[ dick knows he won't, but he probably needs the extra time. ]
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Shit. [That's in regards to the news, but he's still trying to get himself back up to speed.] I just took like an eight hour nap. [And should absolutely sleep more.] When'd you last sleep?
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[ still dry, though he has to pause and think at the question ]
Whenever I drunkenly passed out on Tuesday, I guess. Hasn't even been a full twenty four hours.
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Can we use a different word? Faint makes me sound...delicate. [That's his problem? He still hasn't explained anything but a hand slowly moves up to grab at Dick's shirt near his shoulder and try to pull him down. Lay down, asshole.] And drunkenly passing out doesn't entirely count either in that case.
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[ :T. but he gingerly moves to lay down, as if afraid to jostle junpei too much. ]
I fell asleep and happened to be drunk, it counts. You seriously wanna turn this on me right now?
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But he hears that question and...winces a little.] ...fair enough. [....there's a small sigh.] I'm fine, by the way. I'm just...exhausted. And sore. [And maybe looking like death warmed over because it happens when your energy is physically drained from you, but sure.]
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Who do you think they got to look you guys over? [ he's glad for the reassurance-- that it's only exhaustion, nothing else-- but it comes out a bit wry even as he continues brushing through junpei's hair ] What happened in there? All we saw was a game over screen and you guys slumped over a bunch of machines.
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Room was completely empty except for the three games. We didn't exactly have a choice when the cables came out and plugged us in.
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...Nikkari and Edelgard were hooked up to what kinda looked like Street Fighter. I had Donkey Kong, and a breaker box. [A gesture to his neck to indicate the four marks on his neck, the main reason he had double the burns.] Only happened after we put our names in, but the door was locked so it was the only way. Cables came out to strap us down and other ones plugged directly into us.
We heard a recording, too. H and our narrator, I think? H was really mad... [There's a long pause like he's maybe falling asleep again, but it's Junpei trying to remember what he heard word for word.] "Hah-- Of course you don't. You think everyone on this fucking ship loves you, right? You don't think anyone talks about you behind your back. I'm such an idiot for thinking we were friends, when it's your fault that my brother is dead. I've been talking to M. You know what she told me? That she and the other two"--I think Cockblockers--"planned to"--probably protect or save--"my brother, and you said no. And you know what else she dropped along the way? That you specifically told them to keep any information they found away from me. Don't waste your breath. It's midnight and we're both awake. So either you're possessed, and here to kill me... Or they've given me their blessing to put you in your place."
Nikkari and Edelgard had to mime the whole thing out before the game could even start. They had to fight each other, that's why they took the critical hits. They were being controlled. My machine had another bar on top displaying player power and power source. Started with 100% player power and 60% power source. Donkey Kong kept glitching out...every time I took a hit, my power depleted and the breaker box's power enhanced. But I had to get to the top to save the princess because she was being guarded by a giant eyeball.
...by the time it hit 20% the breaker box hit 100% and we were electrocuted, I think, before we passed out. I think we lost. [And that's the most upsetting part.]
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]
Not much we can do about that now. We're lucky you guys made it out alive, so let's concentrate on what you did find out. ...Our Narrator lived. Going by what else we've heard-- if it was between him and H, H didn't make it. So... was he possessed?
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I don't have proof it's the narrator but it's always involved them somehow. But it's possible H was possessed, given that we know that H was already struggling because of what happened to his brother. Demons could've gone after him, too. We don't really know. It sounded like H was attacking the other person with a lance, or trying to. [Thinking.] "Are you seriously asking me to calm down? You must think I'm a moron. I bet... I bet you always think you're the smartest guy in the room, don't you?"
There was the implication that the other person was still in contact with A, too, which is why I think it's the Narrator.
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Maybe it was H. Either way, the Narrator got H. I think the more damning question is... what if neither of them were demons? [ he lets out a sigh ] Think about it. We don't know why we have the forced sleep. Couldn't have been demons, since we started that before those showed up. But it sounds like maybe these guys had an idea. "They're letting me put you in your place"? Who's they? And-- even if it is demons, you ever think about how everyone who's been awake those nights has assumed they'd die or face a demon? What's stopping them from using those assumptions against us? The reason everything went wrong, supposedly, is they stopped trusting each other. Maybe it was the point.
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Hizamaru said this place reminded him of a stage. And I've been saying there's someone out there orchestrating everything, and we know our hosts are listening to higher-ups or something. Maybe something like that.
[...there's a frown.] Edelgard said something like that to me the other day. Accusing me of thinking I'm the smartest guy in the room. Kind of also makes me wonder if the conversations we're hearing are even real.
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That eye thing? So what, it's some kind of... demon god? And it's still in charge of whatever's happening around here?
[ but dick's distracted by the plot because. he tilts his head ]
What was the context for that one?
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[He's lost because he's. Himself.] What was the context for what?
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Uh... The Eye of Providence?
[ he does not explain that because instead he clarifies: ]
Your conversation with Edelgard.
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Mm...last week. We were talking about the Dimitri thing and I confronted her on having her role. Or, more like, she asked if I knew about the special rules and I told her I knew she was one of the Cockblockers and knew about Escha. [Escha :(] Started talking about it, threw out some guesses of how it worked and when I was wrong she said "You’re used to feeling like the cleverest man in the room, aren’t you?"
It was before I realized she had Escha's old role. And then I said I knew someone who could see if someone's possessed and that was the meeting I set up last Thursday I had to leave for. Edelgard and Kagachi.
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Right. Kagachi told me about that one. [ the meeting, not the. quote. ] Think Edelgard's point was at least a little less antagonistic than the version our Narrator got, but ... it is kind of a weird coincidence.
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It's weird because...I don't know if it's because Edelgard was with us, or because...[...he frowns.] Never mind, that probably doesn't make sense. Edelgard being there fits the idea that we're being watched at all times.
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[ and since they're back on the being watched thing-- ]
Do you know what the Eye of Providence is?
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[But he doesn't care enough to argue and instead pulls the covers tighter to burrow.]
It's that thing on the back of the dollar bill, right? The pyramid with the eye. The all-seeing eye of God, or something.
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