[i truly forgot this was alpha week and really thought this was just normal. that is to say, he looks at his one good arm and there's a confident nod.]
You're on. [he'll lead them over to the cafeteria probably and enter the building, kicking out two chairs for them before easing down into one and propping his arm up.] Think you can win?
[his other wrist is broken and he was half-tempted to use that arm, but it's fine. they are here! he is going to win! the vibes he's busy giving off are also just flat-out competitive it's fine.]
Fine then. On the count of three. One...two...three!
it does take effort though because, like, he's a soccer player. he doesn't use his arms the way kainé uses hers by wielding a weapon, and it might just be sheer stubbornness and luck but he does push through and pin her arm to the table.]
[ Kainé doesn't feel that disappointed at the loss, more pensive, as if wondering if that would be good enough, but for not being disappointed, she puts her arm up again. ]
You did. One more time.
[ If a tentative please could be an emotion, it'd be here. ]
Taichi wins again! There's notable surprise from Kainé this time. This is just going to make her think Taichi is unreasonably strong or just really good at arm wrestling somehow. ]
... Huh.
[ She won't challenge him again. ]
This week is better than last week.
[ To answer his first question.
She will change her mind on Thursday after seeing the CYOA groups. ]
[again, he will just accept that she wanted to do this and nod.]
Yeah, I'll definitely take it. We'll probably have something tomorrow like usual but if it's just a date auction then no big deal. And this week's tasks don't seem too bad either.
[i'm losing it. he just...blinks a little before there's a slight smirk.]
I can't say I blame you. We were all pretty bad off when we got back and...[...his emotions flicker to something a little quieter and uneasy.] ...don't worry about it. I don't think I would've been great to talk to until everything went back to normal anyway. I'm fine though. I'm just glad we could save you.
[there. sincerity!! but then he relaxes a little more.]
I've never done a date auction or anything but it doesn't sound so bad. You just have to make sure you outbid people for other people. I think.
[ There's a small spike of concern and vague annoyance, but she respects his privacy not to push it. She is mostly sure that he is as fine as she is, but she doesn't think she's the right person to push it. ]
[he wants to ask her a few things because he's been thinking a lot about the memory of hers he got, but likewise, he's not sure it's right to push it.
talking about something stupid like the date auction's easy for now. even if there's a slight flare of uncertainty with the question.]
Maybe one or two people just to make sure they're taken care of. Anybody who might need a boost or doesn't like what their highest bid is. And it could be fun. Not like the dates have to be serious.
[everyone should be blind to the energy just like taichi is.]
Yeah. It's kind of like...it's the same reason stuff like the winter formal didn't bother me. We need something to keep boosting everybody's morale while we're here. If we wait around every week for Thursday to come it just gets depressing.
[and then people have a harder time keeping hope in the face of doom, basically.]
Exactly, see, you get it. I don't want to let people give in to despair or anything like that if we can help it.
[...but he pauses to think.]
It's hard to say. In the paper we got and the paper from the other group, they mention things like the formal and spirit week, so it's possible that those things would always happen no matter what. Plus there's the way everything seems to be set up overnight without a lot of effort. Like it was just waiting for the right time.
[bless nier. but also he pauses...to laugh a little.]
If fraternity parties are anything like in the movies, that actually doesn't sound half-bad. It'd be a little less formal than, y'know, winter formal or anything.
[but he frowns.] The scripts can't be matching word for word because things don't add up. You saw the papers someone left in the lockers yeah? About how they point to more than just murder.
[ what does a casual party look like... Kainé doesn't know. He can feel her swath of ignorance. ]
Yeah, I was thinking about that. If they also were pointing out to anything connected to... the fucking why that Byleth and Rupert couldn't say anything somehow.
[ Which is tangentially murder still, but!! Everyone wants some answers. ]
Do all the whos and someones and yous mean something? Because some of the things written on the dorm head applications had meaning.
[let kainé be a sorority girl actually. he thinks about explaining that part and then...decides it's not important.]
The only thing that made any amount of sense to me was the order of the episodes for ours. It was listed as Spring, Fall, Summer and Winter. The seasons are usually listed as Spring Summer, Fall and Winter. It's a stretch, but if you go from the bottom up it's the order of the people who have been...I don't know, assigned to kill? Whatever's going on. Rupert was a Winter. Byleth's a Summer. Her accomplice is a Fall. So there's probably a Spring that will kill this week.
[he seems to realize that's not what she was asking though and he frowns.]
If you only half-read it, it looks like it's filling in the blanks. So unless the "you" is directly talking to us...it was positioned under "great success." Maybe that doesn't mean much, but what if it does?
They don't know that now in this thread. It's fine. She frowns as she thinks. She doesn't see anything that would go against that theory now. ]
If they're working in pairs, do you think they all know each other? If there's going to be one from each dorm.
[ It's what makes sense to her. ]
It could mean something. I'm not great at thinking through shit, but I know we're supposed to be taking away something from it. Otherwise, why the fuck do we have it? So if it's something that will lead to success, what is it? And if the people who are assigned to kill are casted, how many are in this cast?
[MY THEORIES!!! but since they're still vaguely optimistic in this thread, he just nods.]
I think so. It wouldn't make sense for them not to know who they all are if they're working together.
It's...that's where I'm uncertain, too. How many people in the cast, how many people are going to rotate in and out of their roles and how many people we're actually supposed to find. Maybe we just have to keep going until we find all of the people in the cast.
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You're on. [he'll lead them over to the cafeteria probably and enter the building, kicking out two chairs for them before easing down into one and propping his arm up.] Think you can win?
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they're both stupid jocks, and she props her own up and grasps his hand. ]
I know I will.
[ but yeah her vibes are alpha. please don't make me describe it more than that. ]
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Fine then. On the count of three. One...two...three!
[they are truly stupid jocks, ara flip a coin.]
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anyway, three!
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but, however, he is using his good arm, so!
it does take effort though because, like, he's a soccer player. he doesn't use his arms the way kainé uses hers by wielding a weapon, and it might just be sheer stubbornness and luck but he does push through and pin her arm to the table.]
I win. [smugsmugsmug.]
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You did. One more time.
[ If a tentative please could be an emotion, it'd be here. ]
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Okay. Count us down this time.
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With a firm grip on his hand: ]
Three, two, one!
[ roll a d20, ty. ]
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i hate rolling! but he will at least seem to be concentrating harder this time.]
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Taichi wins again! There's notable surprise from Kainé this time. This is just going to make her think Taichi is unreasonably strong or just really good at arm wrestling somehow. ]
... Huh.
[ She won't challenge him again. ]
This week is better than last week.
[ To answer his first question.
She will change her mind on Thursday after seeing the CYOA groups. ]
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Yeah, I'll definitely take it. We'll probably have something tomorrow like usual but if it's just a date auction then no big deal. And this week's tasks don't seem too bad either.
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She pulls out her phone and looks over the options. There is a small sense of dread before it feels like she's steeling herself.
For her sincerity. ]
Yeah. I was worried about you last week, too. I didn't ask after you enough, but I hope you're feeling better.
[ Anyway!!! ]
I don't know a lot about date auctions.
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I can't say I blame you. We were all pretty bad off when we got back and...[...his emotions flicker to something a little quieter and uneasy.] ...don't worry about it. I don't think I would've been great to talk to until everything went back to normal anyway. I'm fine though. I'm just glad we could save you.
[there. sincerity!! but then he relaxes a little more.]
I've never done a date auction or anything but it doesn't sound so bad. You just have to make sure you outbid people for other people. I think.
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Are you gonna bid on anyone?
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talking about something stupid like the date auction's easy for now. even if there's a slight flare of uncertainty with the question.]
Maybe one or two people just to make sure they're taken care of. Anybody who might need a boost or doesn't like what their highest bid is. And it could be fun. Not like the dates have to be serious.
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I guess so. People do need that kind of lift.
[ A little fun amidst all the murder. ]
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Yeah. It's kind of like...it's the same reason stuff like the winter formal didn't bother me. We need something to keep boosting everybody's morale while we're here. If we wait around every week for Thursday to come it just gets depressing.
[and then people have a harder time keeping hope in the face of doom, basically.]
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We'd ask for the fucking earth to open up and swallow us.
[ Hope is hard to come by, but it is easier for other people to hold onto. ]
I wonder if all those things were planned before....
[ All the murder. ]
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[...but he pauses to think.]
It's hard to say. In the paper we got and the paper from the other group, they mention things like the formal and spirit week, so it's possible that those things would always happen no matter what. Plus there's the way everything seems to be set up overnight without a lot of effort. Like it was just waiting for the right time.
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She makes a face. Her annoyance is clear in her emotions as it is on her face. ]
More matching a fucking script shit, huh? Hope we don't have to go a fraternity party.
[ She doesn't know what a fraternity means in this context. ]
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If fraternity parties are anything like in the movies, that actually doesn't sound half-bad. It'd be a little less formal than, y'know, winter formal or anything.
[but he frowns.] The scripts can't be matching word for word because things don't add up. You saw the papers someone left in the lockers yeah? About how they point to more than just murder.
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Yeah, I was thinking about that. If they also were pointing out to anything connected to... the fucking why that Byleth and Rupert couldn't say anything somehow.
[ Which is tangentially murder still, but!! Everyone wants some answers. ]
Do all the whos and someones and yous mean something? Because some of the things written on the dorm head applications had meaning.
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The only thing that made any amount of sense to me was the order of the episodes for ours. It was listed as Spring, Fall, Summer and Winter. The seasons are usually listed as Spring Summer, Fall and Winter. It's a stretch, but if you go from the bottom up it's the order of the people who have been...I don't know, assigned to kill? Whatever's going on. Rupert was a Winter. Byleth's a Summer. Her accomplice is a Fall. So there's probably a Spring that will kill this week.
[he seems to realize that's not what she was asking though and he frowns.]
If you only half-read it, it looks like it's filling in the blanks. So unless the "you" is directly talking to us...it was positioned under "great success." Maybe that doesn't mean much, but what if it does?
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They don't know that now in this thread. It's fine. She frowns as she thinks. She doesn't see anything that would go against that theory now. ]
If they're working in pairs, do you think they all know each other? If there's going to be one from each dorm.
[ It's what makes sense to her. ]
It could mean something. I'm not great at thinking through shit, but I know we're supposed to be taking away something from it. Otherwise, why the fuck do we have it? So if it's something that will lead to success, what is it? And if the people who are assigned to kill are casted, how many are in this cast?
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I think so. It wouldn't make sense for them not to know who they all are if they're working together.
It's...that's where I'm uncertain, too. How many people in the cast, how many people are going to rotate in and out of their roles and how many people we're actually supposed to find. Maybe we just have to keep going until we find all of the people in the cast.
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