Kara Catchall

[ruffboi]

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week 3; tuesday

[ruffboi]

[On Tuesday afternoon, Magnus is coming into the mess hall to get out of the rain and grab something to eat. And maybe Kara is there!]

[unfriendliest]

[ he is! he's cooking, actually - yakiniku with rice and roasted veggies. he'll offer some to magnus, if he's looking for munchies! ]

[ruffboi]

Oh, for me? Thanks!

[He'll take it, then, and grab a bite.]

Hey, pretty good!

[unfriendliest]

[ he shrugs off the compliment. ]

It's not much.I just thought it would be good for a rainy day.

[ruffboi]

It is!

[Magnus gives him a grin, and then, as soon as they make eye contact, a memory plays (starting at 2:20).]

[unfriendliest]

[ and at the same moment -

You dream.

And then you wake, and follow the urging from the armory to the main hall, dread welling in the pit of your stomach with each step. You won't believe it until you see it for yourself, you refuse - but the doors open, and four glass boxes await you and the other survivors, the lanterns just light enough for you to read four names. Your eyes see one, and stop reading.

Lili An.

The last, fading notes of the koto ring in your ears as you remember last night, and the promise you made. The kitchen. You're supposed to meet her in the kitchen, not - not in the meeting hall. She isn't supposed to be - her name shouldn't be on that scroll. She - she promised she'd find a way, that she wouldn't -

A wave of grief, cold and familiar, rolls over you. Lili was never your master, but it feels much the same as losing one of them. It leaves you missing her, feeling... well, a little lost now that she's suddenly gone. And, if you stop to think about it, a little betrayed, though you know you have no right to that. You knew it was coming, after all. Even without the conditions of the game, Lili is mortal, and you are not. And even though Lili had promised she would never leave you behind, but you were enough of a fool to believe her.

The dread turns to anger, roiling violently with the grief in your heart as you turn on your heel and storm from the hall. The corruption is at fault, and so is whoever had chosen Lili for their target. You have to find Kaoru, he's the smart one, and between the two of you, you'll be able to find the culprit. He'll know what to look for. Then your sword can "cleanse" the corruption, send it to whatever hell might await, with or without a proper execution. It's that fury that guides your steps, leads them back toward Lili and Kaoru's cabin.

Before you can even get halfway there, you falter. Suddenly, it's all gone.

You feel no grief. You feel no anger. The urgency that quickened your steps is gone in an instant, and you find yourself wondering why you'd ever wanted revenge, because it doesn't matter. So when you start walking again, it's at the same casual pace as always, the white-knuckled grip on your sword loosened.

You don't care anymore.

You feel nothing.

...ookurikara struggles to breathe for a moment, as the memories end. he doesn't say a word. ]

[ruffboi]

Oh.

[His voice is soft, for a second, and he puts a hand on his shoulder.]

Aww, bud. I'm sorry.

[unfriendliest]

[ he immediately shrugs magnus off, biting out an answer: ]

I'm fine.

[ the past is already past, and anyway, lili is alive. it shouldn't matter anymore. ]

[ruffboi]

Yeah. I mean, she's here, now.

[He's still sympathetic.]

But I bet it makes you feel even more like you gotta protect her, huh?

week 3, friday.

[unfriendliest]

[ hey! kara is here now, quickly averting his eyes from magnus and balling his hands into fists at his sides. please ignore. ]

[ruffboi]

[Well, I have difficult news for you, but Magnus is walking towards him in a very obvious way, because he keeps shaking his hips. Bad.]

Hey. Whoa. You okay, there?

[unfriendliest]

[ hm.

kara holds up a hand to stop him, still refusing to look at him. ]

Fine. Just - trying to fight the effects. If I look at you, I won't be able to.

[ruffboi]

Oh. Well, you probably don't wanna look at me anyway, bud. My effect is pretty wild.

[Weird, though.]

What's yours?

[unfriendliest]

It makes me want to draw on the face of whoever I see. [ . . . ] The room had permanent markers.

[ruffboi]

[Snorting.]

You can draw on my face if you want. I don't mind.

[But more seriously...]

You did a break-in this week?

[unfriendliest]

I'd rather not.

[ keeping! his eyes! averted! it's the perfect angle to show off the neon green flower drawn on his jaw, though. ]

...Yeah. We didn't learn anything useful, though, if that's what you want to know.

[ruffboi]

Yeah. Neither did we. No clues at all? Nothing weird?

w5; saturday

[ruffboi]

[Well. He's going to go find Kara in the isolation cabin. And he's not going to waste time trying to make nice.]

I need to talk to you.

[unfriendliest]

[ kara doesn't move, simply glancing at magnus through his peripheral vision. ]

What.

[ruffboi]

This shouldn't have happened.

[He's so tired, but he's not intimidated by Kara's anger.]

. . . But I did vote for you. [He laughs a little, humorless.] Just 'cause I couldn't vote for myself, and you pissed me off. I never in a million years thought anybody else would.

I tried to do the right thing, but instead I helped cause this clusterfuck.

[unfriendliest]

Voting for spite never helped any of us.

[ there is a trace of anger in his voice, but. it drains in an instant. ]

I don't care who voted for me or who didn't. I care about Lili. If I break, she will, too.

[ruffboi]

Yeah, it sure fucking didn't. I wish I could take it back. It's the last thing I wanted. But. . . I can't.

[He sighs.]

I'm going to do my best to help Lili. But I also have to tell her the truth about this, so I don't know how much use I'll be there.

[unfriendliest]

[ ookurikara sighs. ]

All that matters now is that she has enough support in my place. Apologies and regrets won't change anything, and I'm not stupid enough to believe that even if I walk out of that ring tomorrow, someone else won't come after me.

[ruffboi]

Nah. No revenge kills. That's the number one rule. Whatever happens tomorrow, no one's coming after you while I'm around.

[unfriendliest]

Do you really think anyone will care, if it's someone they like? You all always tell the innocents you've voted for to fight, but every time, there's been someone willing to kill, as soon as they do.

[ there's no malice in his voice. just simple facts, from watching these wretched executions.