week 3, sunday w/ steph

[alchemenace]

[ SO I ASSUME SHE'S IN HER ROOM OR SMT. but Varian is going to go see Steph to reassure himself that she is not dead.

and then he's going to awkwardly stare at her because what the fuck does he even say. stares at lack of leg. ]

It. Does it hurt a lot?

[ perfect nailed it absolutely what he wanted to say why did he even bother coming here ]

Comments

[vigilantics]

[ that gets a smile out of her. ]

That's now officially one of my favorite things to do.

[alchemenace]

Well, I'm, I'm here for it. ... Always.

[vigilantics]

... and back at ya. If you ever need it.

[alchemenace]

I think, I think I've cried enough for today. ... But I'll keep it in mind.

[vigilantics]

Yeah I definite hit my tear quote for the week.

[alchemenace]

It's been... a day.

[ he rly wishes he could quantify it as his worst ever ]

[vigilantics]

[ honestly same. somehow losing her leg is not the worst thing to ever happen to her. ]

Do you wanna talk about it?

[ rapunzel, she means. ]

[alchemenace]

[ GOD no. ]

Not really. We talked about it yesterday, but I...

[ it's weird. ]

[vigilantics]

[ steph isn't entirely sure of how close rapunzel and varian actually were to each other. she knows they know each other from back home, but when she actually thinks about it, they didn't really talk as if they were best friends. ]

No, that's fine. It's... a lot to process.

[alchemenace]

[ that's because at all times Varian was too busy imagining Rapunzel suffering in various ways to make himself feel better.

And now he can't even have that anymore?? Rude??? ]

... Yeah. I don't... She...

[ he licks his lips before he leaves out a sigh and leans away from Steph a bit ]

She gave me a bunch of letters. To make sure I don't get in trouble if I come back without her.

[ and he's stuck on that. like those letters would make a difference. ]

[vigilantics]

Oh. Right, because she's a princess.

[ she has no idea what their relationship was like back home, but stephanie can assume that a princess disappearing and the only person who knows what her whereabouts were is some peasant kid might not go over so well. ]

That was... really kind of her.

[alchemenace]

I guess.

[ it's a lot more concern than she'd ever showed before, Varian thinks because he's a petulant brat with issues,

... but he shrugs ]

I don't know. It's. It's a lot. It's ... been a lot.

[vigilantics]

It's... it's different, when you have someone from home here.

[ stephanie has grown attached to people here, but she knows there's added background if you knew each other before you came here. it makes things slightly more complicated. ]

[alchemenace]

Yeah.

[ ... ]

They executed her Corona style. I'd never seen a public hanging before, and they're not common, but. They happen.

[ unless there's a daring rescue last second, Flynn ]

[vigilantics]

[ that's...

actually, now that she thinks about it, it's odd that they electrocuted 2b. she's an android, so they... short-circuited her?

steph frowns at the implications. ]

That's even worse.

[alchemenace]

[ he shrugs ]

I guess now we know partners get ... personal executions.

[ yaaaay leaaarniiiing ]

[vigilantics]

I kind of wish that was a lesson we never got to learn...

[ and now they definitely must never have more than one victim. ]

[alchemenace]

[ i cant wait until we get 4 victims ]

... Yeah. Me too.

[vigilantics]

... we'll do what we can to bring her back.

[ since it seems like... they might be able to. ]

[alchemenace]

[ he knows it's true, and it's something he needs to do, but. He turns his stare to the ceiling. Tell himself from four weeks ago that he'd be helping save Rapunzel from anything and he'd have laughed.

He still kind of wants to laugh, but. It's not funny. ]

Right. I know. We... Already wanted to go for that, anyway. [ ... ] But what if we don't make it? What's... We don't even know how much ink we need, and we're not doing. Great. On the solving.

[vigilantics]

We can't go in thinking that we won't make it. If we start every trial going, "this is impossible," then no one will make any effort. Even if the odds are low, you have to keep aiming for the chance that it'll work out.

[ it's how hope works. no one would try anything if they didn't think there was even the tiniest fraction of a chance of it working out. ]

[alchemenace]

[ varian's view of that is less hope and more desperation. he'll cling to the slightest chance because he has to. calling him a realist is silly, but part of him has been stifling in worry for a while now.

But there's something more than that that makes him frown at the ceiling after Steph speaks. ]

... Even if that means doing things that are... bad?

[ Varian is firmly aware of how far he'd go for a chance, but he's realizing he's not sure about Steph. ]

[vigilantics]

We'll see.

[ the reason she's even in her current mess is because she refused to do something she considered bad.

but you have to adjust your strategy depending on the current situation. and they're in a place where they are not entirely sure what twist will hit them next. so, she'll see what happens and decide from there. ]

[alchemenace]

...Right.

[ hm. well, maybe he'll never find out, if he's lucky. ]

I should... probably let you rest, huh?

[vigilantics]

... yeah, I guess.

[ she doesn't sound too excited at the idea of resting. ]