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[oraculi]

Comments

[oraculi]

Yes.

[Thank you, god.]

And I can't tell anyone unless they confront me on it. You know those marks those people had last trial? The bitemarks and shit? They broke the rules, but only a little. I wasn't gonna push it.

[polyapathy]

[Yikes. Her mouth is still pressed into a hard line, but she nods.]

Smart. So what fun perks do you get?

[She's still over here sucking dick to get lighters, that's all she's saying.]

[oraculi]

[He grimaces.]

Same rules as before.

Tell me what I do. I can confirm or deny it.

[polyapathy]

[She sighs. Apparently they're playing twenty questions, and she's not in the mood, but fine.]

...How'd you find out about the other roles?

[She needs more INFO first.]

[oraculi]

Talked to Junpei. I had a feeling I wasn't the only one, and a few of the things he's said during trials tipped me off. We talked.

Then four of us got summoned to a meeting. You can tell anybody about somebody else's role, so we shared what info we had. That was about an hour ago.

[polyapathy]

Fucking Junpei.

[She's gonna punch him, too.]

So now you're all outing each other. Summoned how?

[oraculi]

[He gestures a little helplessly.]

I walk through a door to go anywhere and end up there.

[polyapathy]

[That gets the eyeroll of the century.]

Nathan keeps pulling that shit on me. Girl's gotta piss and then I've got an upright mop looking for a squeezer.

[No one is safe from Katy's obscenely petty annoyance over secret-keeping.]

So one of the hosts is, what, your team mascot?

[oraculi]

Chuuya. He's the one that walks us through it, anyway. You understand I couldn't tell you, yeah?

[polyapathy]

[Well, that's not helpful. Of the hosts, she knows the least about him.

She ignores the question, instead moving to make herself comfortable on the couch. In some ways, that's answer enough.]

How much do you know about the demon? Demons. Whatever.

[oraculi]

Nothing more than you do.

[God, but he wishes he did. He takes a seat next to her, leaning back against the arm of the couch.]

They don't tell us shit unless we sleep with them for it, and even then, it isn't much.

[polyapathy]

[She balks. That's disgusting.]

What's the fucking point, then? Can you learn shit that'll actually help us?

[oraculi]

[He waits for just a moment.]

You gonna actually listen, or you gonna keep acting like a brat?

[polyapathy]

[Her nose wrinkles.]

I'm listening. It's an honest question.

[She shoves at his leg.]

You're the one that said you can't learn much, and it's not something to do with the demon. You're working with Chuuya, but all I know about him is that Nathan says he's a dick, so that doesn't help me. But, Beck told me she's only talked to Carlos, so if you're all sorted into little teams... Nikkari's likely with Nathan based on what he can do, and Polly's probably heading up the ones who can learn shit about demons...

So, you're with Junpei, given he's the one that got your attention. It's got something to do with people and information, and you're not sold on how useful it is, meaning it's a crapshoot, likely in that you've got to pick, what, one person to use it on?

[She pauses to chew on her lip. There's got to be a hole in that list he gave her. What the hell else would be useful, but not that useful?]

You can tell who someone's slept with each week.

[oraculi]

[Ahh . . . that gets him to smile, however briefly. Good.]

Yeah. That's not the only only thing, though. So keep going.

[polyapathy]

[Oh, she sits up a little straighter, quite pleased with herself. But, hm, what else is there to that?

She squints at him like that'll help. The view is nice, though.]

...You can tell who someone's hung around with each week.

[She's bristling with confidence over this guess (she's not, that kind of just sounds like existing in public while having eyes).]

cw: implied incest

[oraculi]

Two for two.

[And thank god, now he can talk about it fully.]

Past two times I could only see who people talked to. This week, turns out if you . . .

[He scowls, and it's genuinely uncomfortable.]

Anyway. First week I asked for Dick Greyson. Second week it was Edelgard. This week I asked about Higekiri, who slept and talked with a lot of people.

[He passes her a piece of paper, because like fuck is he remembering all this. SPOKE WITH: Shiraishi, Grune, Junpei, Zero, Beck, Taako, Hizamaru and Dick, Hizamaru and Junpei, Tamamo, Kagachi, Wei Wuxian-- and then Hizamaru and he talked to Chuuya, he talked to Chuuya himself, and Carlos too.

He slept with Kagachi, Grune, Beck, Taako, Chuuya, Dimitri, Shiraishi, Tamamo, Illumi, Hizamaru, Dimitri and Hizamaru, Chuuya and Hizamaru, Illumi and Hizamaru, and Wei Wuxian.

Gross.]

We also know that Muzet isn't host this week, and Zero bought a scythe recently.

[polyapathy]

[She notes the discomfort and her mouth tightens briefly, but she won't ask about it. That's not a reaction she's seen out of him before, which means it's something serious. So. Moving onto this fucking list good lord.]

Jesus. And I thought I'd been busy.

[Wait.]

Hizamaru? Are you shitting me? Eugh.

[That creeps her right the fuck out, so, moving on in a hurry. She passes the paper back.]

Are there any other roles out there you guys haven't found yet?

[oraculi]

[He grimaces right back at her.]

Yeah. Not too many more, though. That's eight out of thirteen total.

[polyapathy]

[She nods. Not bad.]

What's the point of keeping this shit behind closed doors? We'd have an easier time of finding the demon if we were all on the same page.

[oraculi]

Who says they want us to be?

It's a game, Katy. Just a game. And it's more interesting to see who can figure out what and when than to give us all the facts-- hell, you might as well not even play at that point.

[polyapathy]

A game for who? And who gives a shit? This isn't the Hunger Games, Haymitch. It's just a bunch of us literally in the same boat with a demon on board. Seems to me we ought to be making our own rules.

[oraculi]

Like hell it isn't like the Games.

[Ooh, that comes out as a growl, low and intent, as he leans in closer.]

Listen to me. It's us on a boat, sure, but there are rules, and shit happens if you don't obey. Bitemarks and bruises? They broke the rules a little. You know what happens when you break the rules a lot? People die, Katy. Believe me when I say I know that, all right?

[polyapathy]

[She's quiet for a moment, studying him.]

I got it, okay?

[She... thinks she does, anyway. What's not to get? There are stakes here. That's been made clear ample times.]

But what's to stop us from trusting each other with this info? Why are you dragging me off like this is some big secret?

[oraculi]

Because I care about you, girl. First and foremost. And you know what keeps people safe? Being two steps ahead of the others.