the one with junpei;

[oraculi]

someday i'll put gifs or something here but not right now!!

Comments

[oraculi]

[He snorts. Was he someone taking those bottles? Yes. No regrets. But blessedly, there's scotch left, so at least one thing's gone right here.]

Don't take it the wrong way, but I was pretty impressed you kept it together in there at first. It's hard, having one hellish situation in your life and going through another, as I personally can tell you. You didn't miss a beat. But then I realized . . .

[He turns, offering the glass.]

You never had any off time, did you? You went straight from winning to this. You haven't switched off at all, right?

[crashout]

[He takes the glass, and he's nodding along because yeah, no, of course someone like Haymitch would get it considering what little Junpei knows from that first day, but it's the second part that catches him off-guard. He holds the glass suspended in mid-air, blinking in surprise before he pulls his hand back to take a long sip.]

I wasn't even sure I won until Carlos told me what happened. Even then, I wasn't sure he was telling the truth or if it'd be the same for me. And there's still something else to go after next whenever we get back. [There's a tilt of his head, curious to the thought process.] Was it that obvious?

[oraculi]

To me. Not to others, probably.

[But it's a very specific circumstance, so yeah, nobody else probably noted it or cared.]

How many people died in yours?

[crashout]

[Hmmm...]

The game I came from, or the one before that? It's kind of a complicated answer for both of them.

[oraculi]

Take your pick.

[crashout]

In the Nonary Game, it was three for revenge. There were nine of us playing, two more victims, and two people who orchestrated the whole thing. In the Decision Game, it was all of us multiple times until we found the right timeline. There were ten of us playing that time, but one of us set the whole thing up.

[A complicated answer for both of them. Wild.]

[oraculi]

[There's a long few seconds, and then he scoffs softly. Multiple timelines? Way above his paygrade. Does he want to know? Kind of, but much like the sword people, he just plain doesn't have enough energy to ask.]

Who set it up? Anyone you knew?

[crashout]

[Mood, Haymitch. Even Junpei himself has a hard time wrapping his head around it. There's a pause...and he nods.]

The Decision Game was a trap set up by someone we met days before we woke up in the bomb shelter. [...he takes a longer drink, more hesitant with this answer.] And the Nonary Game was...someone I thought I knew really well. But after all that, it felt like I didn't really know her at all.

It's kind of why I'm almost sure there are people among us helping with this whole thing.

[oraculi]

Huh.

[That's a kick in the gut, but it's one he thankfully isn't familiar with. Still: he can at least feel for the guy.]

It's possible. But it seems like you'd wanna get out of here when the killing started. You'd think they'd leave with Nathan and the others, yeah?

Any suspects?

[crashout]

You'd think, but if they left who would be here to make sure the game was running as smoothly as it should? Steering people off-course when they get close to an answer, spreading false information...there are all sorts of ways you can look completely helpless while being a mastermind.

[Suspects though...there's a defeated sort of sigh.] I've been trying to pinpoint somebody but it's still too early. Which is impressive since we've been here for two weeks. There are definitely people I don't trust, and people that seem like they'd do anything for their own gain, but I don't have enough proof.

[oraculi]

Sooner or later everybody here's gonna be selfish.

That's not exactly a list of names, though.

[crashout]

It's not. [But he thinks on that carefully.] Sometimes I'm not sure what side of things Shiraishi's on. I don't really trust Illumi not to be easily swayed and assigned a job he can't say no to. Maou's too over the top to ignore. And...Aizawa's hard to get a read on, too.

But obviously without proof I can't very well go around and ask them about it. But I'm keeping an eye on things.

[oraculi]

[WELL WE SURE KNOW ABOUT AIZAWA NOW DON'T WE]

You got a place you write it all down?

[crashout]

Yeah. I keep my notes as up to date as possible and keep them out of the way. The most important ones are usually kept in my pockets though.

[oraculi]

Be careful.

It's not like you can't be searched, or your notes stolen.

[crashout]

Believe me, I know. [But he does appreciate the advice even if the words are a little stilted.] It's...my job isn't exactly the most safe. Or legal. I've picked up a few tricks over the last year that I've been keeping in mind.