Day 2: The Motives

[pandatrash]

[Your first "chillaxin day" comes and goes. No exits are found, no help has come, no real explanations are given. But all of a sudden, the tablets reboot and start showing... a spreadsheet. Well, that's something, at least.]

[Tycoon is out in full force today, dashing up to everyone he meets and handing each of them a cute envelope with their name written on the front in crayon. If they should look inside, they'll find their murder carrot written there, as well as, "FOR YOUR EYES ONLY." If your character is one of the ones who has no bribe for which they would kill an innocent person, they will instead find a picture of dickbutt, but with their own face crudely drawn on it, and helpful "DIS U" with an arrow, just in case the point was missed.]

((🔪 Setting
🔪 If you haven't filled out the character list and IC profiles yet, please do that. Until those are done, we have the aforementioned spreadsheet the raccoons are still fixing their tablet software, okay).
🔪 Trust sheets are due Sunday, 6pm PST
🔪If you decide to drop but would like to play out a death scene, you can comment here to volunteer to die.
🔪 We had two last-minute drops: Hiyoko, who did not intro, and Kaito, who would like to retcon having intro'd. The original sign still said 32... well, lbr, raccoons aren't that good at counting.

SOME THREAD LINKS:
McGonagall gives a speech
Oops the library is on fire))

Comments

[purrtagonist]

Sometimes, it isn't.

[personal experience, here]

Everyone has an opinion on what you do, solicited or not.

[afailedmurder]

Of course I know that. I'm only worried about what people think of me every single minute of my waking day.

[shooting him a lopsided grin, as if that were a joke]

But you never let the opinions of the public hold you back. So why should I?

[do you ever get the feeling Akechi admires you for exactly all the wrong reasons?]

[purrtagonist]

[. . . at this very point in time, absolutely]

You shouldn't. But that doesn't mean you should burn the bridges between yourself and the rest of the world. Nobody can survive completely alone.

[HE HAS A LOT OF THOUGHTS ON THIS. . .]

And there's a difference between harnessing your anger as a weapon against an unjust system that should be torn to the ground, and letting it run wild so it burns everyone caught in its path.

[afailedmurder]

I can. I have. If I hadn't been so desperate for people to like me, or so obsessed with Shido, or if I could have just left you alone — wouldn't I be better off right now?

[he, too, has a lot of thoughts on this, even if all of them are kinda dumb and bad]

And that's easy for you to say, but going psychotic is my power. It's the only worthwhile power I have. Or should I say had?

[purrtagonist]

[buddy!!]

Do you really think that's all it would've taken? That loneliness and isolation isn't the whole reason you fell into that obsession with Shido in the first place?

[if only we had met a few years earlier--]

That was how you handled things then. Who's to say you can't take this opportunity to make different choices?

[afailedmurder]

[deflates, because he damn well knows it's true]

Of course it was. But even if I meet somebody like you, I'm just making your life worse. Maybe I wasn't supposed to be around people to begin with. Maybe... my strength is in doing the things that you can't.

[purrtagonist]

[a h . . . . .]

[. . .]

What does that mean? [he starts off with a question] "Doing things that I can't?"

[afailedmurder]

You know exactly what it means. What this could come to.

[Shifting his ice pack to his split lip.]

Mekking th'tough dethisionsh.

1/2

[purrtagonist]

[. . . what]

[MAKES A FACE!!]

Sorry to say, Akechi, but I don't speak jibb--

[purrtagonist]

[and then it clicks]

[. . .]

[his expression hardens, and his words are cool. even. a bit dull]

Making the tough decisions.

. . . like the decision to take a life.

[afailedmurder]

Omryff—

[removes the icepack]

Only if it becomes necessary.

[purrtagonist]

[he lifts a hand, idly rubbing at his wrists]

What counts as "necessary," Akechi?

[afailedmurder]

I want to destroy this game and whoever's behind it. I'm going to need to survive until I can accomplish that.

[and then, a little begrudgingly:]

...ideally, I would also like to see you make it out alive.

[purrtagonist]

[. . .]

[some of the tension leaves his shoulders, like he's uncoiling from a pounce, a stance he hadn't even realized he had taken. his hand drops back to his side]

Ideally, I'd like to see you survive this too, Akechi.

[he says that earnestly]

[what goes unsaid is, "so please don't make me or anyone else have to vote for you as a killer."]

[afailedmurder]

[let's just quietly not address that]

...Anyway, I don't expect you to trust me, but I'm not going to do anything tonight. I never even got around to getting my motive from the raccoon.

[purrtagonist]

[his smile turns a bit wry, fingers once again slipping into his pocket]

You're better off ignoring it. Or, like I said earlier. . . [pulls the snowflake out again]

Arts and crafts.

[at least that probably makes sense, now]

[pandatrash]

EXPRESS DELIVERY!!

[Suddenly!! A raccoon dashes in and throws an envelope like a ninja star, directly into Akechi's hair.]

[afailedmurder]

[Startled, Akechi jumps in his seat, dropping his ice pack with such force that he may as well have flung the thing.]

[purrtagonist]

[OH MY GOD]

[Akira jumps back too, just barely swallowing a surprised yell, just barely avoiding slipping on the ice that is now scattered on the floor]

. . .

Are they spying on us??

[afailedmurder]

Of course they are. They probably have the whole place bugged.

[Idly reaching up to pull the thing out of his hair, though he freezes once he actually grabs hold of it.]

[purrtagonist]

[thanks, raccoons]

[at least his frazzled expression fades when Akechi freezes. his hand dips into his pocket again, and. . .]

[ccccasually slides the pair of safety scissors towards him]

[afailedmurder]

[slowly takes the envelope, eyes flicking down at it and then back up to Akira]

[then grabs the scissors and makes like he's going to chop the thing in half, but stops before he can make a cut]

[retracting the scissors, he holds out the envelope]

...show me how to fold the paper.

[purrtagonist]

[there's. . . a flicker in Akira's expression. something relieved and maybe just a little proud, all at once. he reaches out to take the envelope, which he easily folds in half]

Start like this. And then--

[traces his fingers along the folded edge, showing Akechi where to cut to make a pretty paper snowflake]

[afailedmurder]

[Snip, snip! Though far more exacting and methodical with his cuts than is necessary for the task, he still manages to botch the "A" he tries to add to the design. Still, it's not a bad little snowflake when he unfolds it.]

There.

[purrtagonist]

[THUMBS UP OF APPROVAL]

Looking good there, Crow.