rupert

[unrecked]

Comments

[agleam]

I wouldn't, but it wouldn't matter. Sieghart said no and it still did whatever it wanted.

[he sighs.]

And in the end, it made him do things he wouldn't have done ordinarily.

[unrecked]

Clementine said no, too. Which is partially my point.

[His tail swishes a bit more sharply behind him.]

It made him more likely to kill when he probably wouldn't, yeah. But it was still something he was capable of doing. We could stand here all day and argue semantics. But let's just agree none of us have control over whether or not we would or wouldn't kill in this place.

[agleam]

I'm not arguing that we don't have control. We don't. What I'm saying is that the fact we don't have control when it happens means that it wasn't us doing it.

[to him, that's an important distinction.]

[unrecked]

[He is quiet for a long moment, but doesn't look away from Rupert.]

Taking the blame off people isn't going to help you when it comes time to vote for them, you know.

[agleam]

...I know it doesn't change what's going to happen to them, or what happened to the person they killed. But if I were in their shoes - I think I'd at least feel less guilty knowing it wasn't a choice I had made. I hope that's the case for them, too.

[unrecked]

You're picking the best petals trying to pretend you're not destroying the flower, Rupert. I could probably argue this with you all day, but it won't change either of our minds.

I'm just not going to say it wasn't my fault when I did with with my own hands whether or not it was my choice.

[He tilts his head.]

Who'd they take from you?

[agleam]

I'm not destroying anything. The only person doing that is the person who forced us into this situation.

[he sparks a little bit as he says that, something like static electricity moving over his skin in quick waves, before he takes a breath.]

The monster I was talking about, you mean?

[unrecked]

[The irritation doesn't startle or bother him. He keeps looking at Rupert.]

No. I already can tell that monster took almost everything from you probably. This monster. This hotel. The Nightman. Who'd they take?

[agleam]

[ah. he pauses for a moment, static growing more intense before it fades down to a concentrated buzz dancing across him. his expression grows tighter.]

My fiance.

[unrecked]

[Hm. Bad. Not that he didn't thin it wasn't bad. His lips thin.]

Were they alive?

[agleam]

[quietly, after a moment:]

No, he wasn't.

[unrecked]

[The thick, scaled tail behind him slows to a stop.]

Shit. This place can get the dead. [He hates that actually.] Sorry.

[agleam]

[he hesitates for a moment.]

Before, I had no reason to think I was ever going to see him again. Now I just need to make it through the end of this.

[assuming the conditions they presented are honest, but - he doesn't voice that fear.]

[unrecked]

[He just regards Rupert quietly for a moment. It's clear why when he finally asks,]

Would you kill for him? To get him back.

[agleam]

[fairly quickly, and firm:]

No.

[unrecked]

[Whether he is satisfied or not with this answer, it doesn't show on his face. He looks away again around the room. How quiet he is makes it seem like it's hesitation. His lashes lower over his eyes when he looks at the floor.]

They took someone from the island.

[agleam]

[he pauses for a moment, surprised and concerned, before he continues.]

Who?

[unrecked]

[He continues to look away, but not rudely.]

A man named Royce.

[agleam]

[he pauses for another moment.]

Are you friends, or...?

[unrecked]

I don't know if I would call us that. We were just two guys on an island where people murdered you, not trusting anyone else.

[Birds of a feather...!]

[agleam]

...Pretty sure that's called friendship.

[maybe.......]

Especially if you care enough to come here for him.

[unrecked]

No.

[HE IS DEFINITELY LOOKING AWAY NOW. Not at the floor, but definitely looking away.]

I came because he has a woman and a friend at home. Some people here know him. They said... he had a daughter. [A pause.] And that the woman died. But he fixed it.

But it's probably not the same Royce as the one I know.

[agleam]

Sounds complicated...

[to say the least! but, also:]

You realize that it's kind of you whether or not he was a friend, right?

[unrecked]

[His sigh sounds frustrated, but not at Rupert. Maybe at himself. At the fact he refuses to call it friendship at all.]

...He was supposed to play in the hunts again. Like a Zaroff, the ones who are stuck playing until they get their freedom. [...] I made a deal with The Judge to take his place--because he should've gone home.

[For the woman and the friend.]

But we "won," and Ivan said I didn't have to worry about the deal because there wouldn't be any more games. Apparently, that isn't true.

[agleam]

[he pauses, surprised, but before he comments...]

The hunts? Is that what your past group was trying to do, win their freedom?