Week 6.

[trustfelling]

WEEK 6 Only two died this week; it still feels strange, maybe, but with the deaths of Mozu and Yang Xiao Long, it's difficult to ignore that your numbers are lower. You're almost down to half of the group you started with. Saturday is given to regrouping and sleep; on Sunday morning the clock chimes as it always has, but at least there are no bodies to find today. The night before wasn't necessarily a peaceful one, however; you'll probably feel a bit groggy when you wake up, and it seems you've regained something that you didn't realize you'd lost... As before, another set of doors has opened up, this time branching off of the eastern corridor toward the north. Feel free to explore as much as you like; perhaps you've earned it. COMPETITORS REMAINING: 17

SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY | SATURDAY

[OOC: Welcome to week six of Trustfell! Don't forget to save your threads for coins and the activity check, and don't forget to submit this week's activity check and memory regains!

If you'd like to get in contact with the Adjudicator, you can do so here!]

Comments

[gorira]

[ SHE COULD LET GO AT ANY TIME but she just??? refuses??? ]

I mean! Obviously I don't know for sure! But, well...

...

L-look, I think we should maybe talkaboutthisinprivate!

[ If her legs were working the way they should, she probably would have bolted out right now, but she's still sort of wobbling, so instead she just...almost falls flat on her face.

Dexterous. Right. ]

[didntgetdadslooks]

[Will they ever disengage WHO KNOWS actually we all know unless Angel is hanging off of her for the entire debriefing log.

Angel has a little more strength than she used to! So she's able to hold Chitoge up, but just barely.]

Private! Right, uh... do you think you can make it somewhere private right now?

[gorira]

[ I mean I never said that Angel wasn't draped over her like a koala it's very likely that she's giving the whole meeting with a cute girl joined to her at the hip! ]

Y-yeah! I-I'll be fine, I swear, just...I don't know, walk with me?

[ So she doesn't make a spectacle of herself and woah, Angel can hoist her, that's impressive... ]

Have you been working out?

[didntgetdadslooks]

[You've heard of shoulder angels BUT NOW...

FOR THE RECORD SHE'S NOT... CARRYING HER IT'S MORE THAT SHE ISN'T FOLDING OVER LIKE A PAPER TOWEL WITH HER LEANING ON HER FOR SUPPORT, BUT. Walking together she can do.]

A little, yeah. Can't stay scrawny forever, right?

[gorira]

[ EVEN SO Chitoge's not a small girl, the fact that she isn't tumbling over is impressive to say the least!! ]

Color me impressed...keep that up and I may show you how to tumble a bit. It's really useful, to know how to do cartwheels and somersaults...and, honestly, it's a lot of fun.

[ The fact that she can say that to her is nice. She never really thought she'd be able to talk to her, let alone show her how to do gymnastics, so, far be it for her to let the opportunity pass by. ]

I'm following your lead, by the way, you know this side better than I do...

[didntgetdadslooks]

That'd be cool, yeah.

[HM, WHERE TO GO...]

Right, uh... we could go to my room? Even I'm not usually in there.

[gorira]

Ah...yeah, that makes sense. Who have you been staying with, then? Someone nice, I hope...

[didntgetdadslooks]

Katniss! She offered the day you... left, and it's been really nice. Just me and her and Amalthea. [...] Whoooo is a stuffed animal thing and not a person, don't worry.

[gorira]

She's a good person to have around during a tough time, I'm sure...

[ And she's the kind of person who would do a great job protecting her, too. That's good. She's glad she's safe...

But God, a stuffed animal... ]

You'll have to introduce me. I wish I could show you my stuffed animal, too, it's a cute little gorilla...I'm sure they would make great friends.

[didntgetdadslooks]

Mmhm. And I've been able to help her through some stuff too.

["Protect Angel" continues to be a priority, apparently.]

Definitely! I got her out of the vending machine, she's great.

[But it's not exactly long between the courtroom and the rooms, so after a bit...]

Here we are. [And Angel will set about getting her room unlocked!]

[gorira]

Good. That's always the best sort of friendship, where you can both be there for each other...

[ And, well, leaving Angel again is most certainly not on the cards for her.

...Of course, she completely forgot just how barren Angel's room looks without a goshdarn mattress. Hopefully she managed to get some help lugging that thing back to Katniss's room...

But, well, for now, she'll plop herself down on the trunk, at least. Still kind of getting the hang of being alive again...but at least the blood starting to rush back to her head is familiar enough, as she fiddles with her hair... ]

So, like I said, um...a-actually, I don't want to put words in your mouth, and I don't want to be presumptuous, so, I'd rather you say what you wanted to say...

[didntgetdadslooks]

[Yup, there's just the... mysterious blanket-covered stuff pile on the bedframe.

But oh god okay uh let her just. Close the door behind her here.]

Okay, right. Um. [It feels like it shouldn't be harder to get out this time but Chitoge's? Right there??? And she had time to prepare last time!] So um I don't... I've never really known how to do this, but I sort of realized that week that you're uh. You're great? Like, really great, and hot, and cool, and um. I really really like you in a romantic... way. But I spent too much time trying to figure out what it was or if it was real or whatever, and it was pretty clearly the worst possible time for you, so... I never got around to even trying to say anything.

[gorira]

[ ...So it's one thing to hear that Angel likes her from someone else's mouth. But looking at poor Angel, her pale cheeks rosy as can be as she gets her feelings out in the open, Chitoge can't help but be taken a little aback. ...Mostly because, she realizes, this is actually the first time anyone's ever said that they like her in a way like this.

She was going through a lot of her own troubles that week, especially on the romance front; that much was certainly true. She can't help but think back to all of the crap that Raku's said about her, even in jest, because all of it is true. Chitoge's got a temper. Chitoge's a brute. She's a loudmouth, a girl who lashes out without a second thought the things don't go her way, who bellyaches and gets upset over even the most minor inconveniences. The kind of girl who speaks her mind regardless of what other people have to say, who doesn't get when other people are trying to tell her something unless they say it to her face like a child. She's too cowardly to even take a goddamn rejection. She runs away at the first sign of trouble. Angel's only known her for a few weeks; she doesn't know all of that. She doesn't know what she's getting into.

And most importantly... ]

Angel, I'm so sorry...to think that I left you alone, just as you were starting to feel that way...

[ God, she's despicable. How could she have been so stupid? If nothing else, to her, it just confirms the idea that Angel deserves someone far better. Someone who won't let her get hurt... ]

[didntgetdadslooks]

[Angel shakes her head.]

You didn't know. I barely knew. You were trying to save all of us, and you went out fighting. Trust me, I've figured out how to be angry at people, and I've known how to resent them for a long time. I'm not angry at you.

[gorira]

But I should have known! Angel, you...if you're gonna fall in love with someone, you deserve someone who's there for you! Someone who'll hold you when you feel like you're alone, not someone who goes off on a fucking suicide mission and leaves everyone else to pick up the pieces! You should have a person who makes you happy, not someone who leaves you with a broken heart!

I'm...my love life back home is a goddamn disaster, I know that much, but more importantly, I just...I don't want to hurt you again. You understand that, don't you?

[didntgetdadslooks]

I told myself so many times that I should have figured out what you were doing. I thought so many fucking times about when I could have stopped you, but no matter what I always came back to the same thing, and that's that my whole life was a suicide mission mission before I came here, and you're... you're the one who made me think I didn't deserve it.

[She sniffs.]

I'm not... some princess in a tower. I don't need a knight or a prince to come sweep me off my feet. That's not what I've ever wanted. You're loud, and you get violent, and you say what you're thinking, and you're stubborn, and most importantly you care. And I love all of that. You were there for me when I didn't want to sleep alone in my room anymore, and when I remembered my plan working back home, and I know you left but... I was going to, before I came here. And that's in the past now.

[gorira]

You didn't find out what I was doing because I didn't want you to find out. ...I knew that if you knew, you were gonna try and stop me, or worse, you would've tried to go in my place. That was something I couldn't let happen. You've spent too much of your life in too shitty of a fucking circumstance to throw it away here.

And from what it sounds like, that was a good move, because if you saw what happened to me and said "That should've been me," I'm not going to forgive you as easily as you just forgave me. You deserve so much better than that. I told you in my letter to get your damn happy ending, and no part of a happy ending for you involves you doing what I did. You're right, you're not a fucking princess in a tower. I'm sure as fuck not a good prince. And I make a really awful Juliet, so you better not try and be a goddamn Romeo.

...I want you to be happy, Angel. And I want you to be with someone who makes you happy. Being with me...I'm a real pain in the ass. You realize that, right?

[didntgetdadslooks]

["Rules question - and this is a regret, not a plan..."]

I... I thought about it, at first, when I was trying to make sense of everything, but... it wouldn't have accomplished anything. You'd just feel bad, and I know how much guilt can tear someone apart on the inside. And then people talked to me, and I read your letter, and... your letter was right. You were right.

[She wipes her eye with the palm of her hand.]

You make me happy. Being around you makes me happy. You may not be a good prince, but you're a great you. And that's what I want.

[gorira]

Angel...

[ God dammit. Chitoge's tearing up, herself. Bites her thumb. Don't explode. ]

You're goddamn right I was right. If anything happened to you, I'd...I don't want to think about it.

[ It's fucking ridiculous. At last week's meeting, she was the one to insist that whoever laid a finger on anyone else would suffer for it. But if anyone dared to lay a finger on Angel, if anyone was stupid enough to try and end her life, no one would be more upset about it than Chitoge would.

And on top of that, here's Angel right now, laying her heart bare in front of her. When Chitoge had gotten herself killed, she had wanted to do everything she could to make sure Angel, and everyone else, got a chance to get out of here and get their goddamn happily ever afters.

Right now, Chitoge is alive. She's breathing, and here, and she has a chance to help Angel get to just that. Her love life back home, whether or not Angel deserves better than her, that almost doesn't really matter when you consider that fact, does it? Love triangles, love squares, the whole thing is such a fucking mess, but... ]

...And if I end up getting you hurt again? Then what? You...is it worth that? A rash gorilla girl like me, you really think I'm worth that?

[didntgetdadslooks]

[Angel doesn't have much of a love life to look back on at all, mostly because it was never even a possibility. It's sure weird, going through puberty and adolescence in a sealed chamber with only your dad for company. Your dad, who still only sees you as he did when you were eight and your mother was still alive and not dead because of you. But Angel's background does give her a sense of just how much things can change, and where things can go. And what it really means for someone to hurt you in a way you can't forgive.]

Of course you're worth it, Chitoge. And I trust you not to hurt me. I always trusted you.

[gorira]

[ Well, if that's the case...there are still tears in her eyes, but, at the very least, she's smiling, now, as she looks up at Angel.

Fuck it. She's alive. So she might as well live. And if she's going to live, she might as well love, too.

Life's too short to worry about playing games. ]

...I'll do my best not to. That's a promise from me.

[didntgetdadslooks]

Then you...?

[Angel's in the same boat on the tears and smile front, but... she's almost afraid to say it. Even after all this.

And besides, Chitoge didn't put words in her mouth. She ought to extend her the same courtesy.]

[gorira]

Yeah. If I were you, I'd start giving some thought to first-date ideas. It might not be the best place for them, but, I mean, with an arcade and a pool, and a nice dining hall, I guess we can muddle through somehow, can't we?

[didntgetdadslooks]

[!!!!]

Right! There's, uh... there's all kinds of places. We can figure something out, definitely.

[gorira]

Also, I hope you don't expect my boxed lunches to taste very good; all these years and I still can't get the hang of it. And I'm awful with laundry, because I can't use the washing machine, and you already know how much I snore...