[but. at being called a "good person," he turns away and gives a hapless shrug]
I wouldn't call myself a good person. But my remaining partner definitely is. [and that, he says emphatically] Even Ranpo and Terra were good people, although Ranpo was more of a pragmatist than anything. Truthfully, Dahlia and Junko were the worst of us.
[SPEAKING OF JUNKO, to Taako]
Fire girl was a force to be reckoned with, by the way. None of us could rein in her. . . everything.
[and then, more seriously, turning back to Magnus]
Speaking of my partner-- I'm supposed to mention "mahogany" with your something? I don't know your secret code language, but. . .
Don't think anyone's out here proclaiming to be good people - very human centric terminology there by the way, buddy boy. I mean, uh, I don't consider myself a good anything. Magnus likes to think he is but I saw him rob a bank once, soooooooo.
[Just, raising an eyebrow at the second part. He's not aware of this, but that's a very Magnus codeword.]
[Yeah. He definitely knows what mahogany means. He'd had a suspicion, when he was having that conversation, but - ]
You guys are just kids. [Considering that for a second.] Or, maybe not. Since you're, uh, dead, I guess, I don't know how old you really are. But this is starting to feel especially sick.
I robbed a bank once. And a castle. And a museum. And a casino.
[hm]
[. . . at Magnus's comment, he gives another shrug]
I'm sixteen. [yep] This is the first Game I've been in as a Reaper. Second Game total.
[the first being the one he participated in as nothing but a Player. the one he won. so, yeah. out of all the Reapers in the Game. . . this one is the least experienced]
She and I. . . we're doing our best with what we've been given. It's all we can do, at this point.
Hey, I wanna go on this dude’s adventures. Sounds like a friggin’ blast.
[Softening just like. A little. He knows he’s been a little harsh in this conversation, but the fact that it’s clearly just two kids who have no idea what to do either kind of hits him in the gut. The Ducks really are the underdog team. Quack quack quack.]
I know. I fought an eel with his buds, too. They're all pretty rad.
[He gives Akira a grin - he's still a little shaken, in part because of bad feeling about this. All along, when they've argued about killing Reapers, it's been a couple of kids hiding out and trying to stop the game from falling apart. But that feeling comes with a sense of relief. He hasn't felt good about a lot of the choices he's made here, hasn't been able to tell right from wrong or feel comfortable in his own skin. But this is the right thing. He doesn't feel any doubt about this.]
Keep doing your best. But you guys don't have to do it alone.
[please excuse him while he pushes his glasses up and scrubs at one eye furiously. these past few weeks, the only people he had heard that from were his partner, his friends from home, and the last remaining Reaper on his side. struggling to survive against popular opinion isn't anything new for Akira, but just knowing that two more people out there are willing to have his back is enough]
[in other words both Taako and Magnus just jumped up on his list of Very Good people]
I-- [okay his voice is shaky. he sucks in a breath to level it out] Thanks. It's actually pretty nice to hear that.
[they can do this. they can end this Game the right way, and save the Erased in the process]
There are Players who don't feel the same, though. Chuuya was one of them.
Shin is another.
[people who want Akira dead regardless of how it affects the outcome of this Game, for personal reasons]
[Oh my god don't cry Taako is no good at emotions and he's had to deal with a lot recently. Why are all these teens crying at him. Please!!!!! Not really making a move, and just pretending he didn't see. Have your dignity, Akira.]
We'll, uh, see what we can do about reining in some of the murder boners around here.
[Trying to direct this back to the No Feelings Zone though, just briefly.]
Listen, gotta know a couple of things. Reapers: know it got said at some point that you don't pick your own victims? That true or nah? If we're going to be trying to organize a complex hail mary here, need to know the deets.
[IT'S OKAY!! HE'S FINE!! he's. . . put together. . .! no seriously he is; the one hitch in his breathing aside, he's managed to rein in how touched he is pretty quickly. and although he gives Magnus a grateful nod because someone needs to try to talk sense into Assassin, his next response is for Taako]
No, that's not true. Terra told that lie to protect the rest of us.
[so people wouldn't know h. . . how they were picking. . .]
If you're worried about the player population dipping below that of the Reapers, don't. My teammate and I are keeping a close eye on it so we don't accidentally trigger our win condition.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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I wouldn't call myself a good person. But my remaining partner definitely is. [and that, he says emphatically] Even Ranpo and Terra were good people, although Ranpo was more of a pragmatist than anything. Truthfully, Dahlia and Junko were the worst of us.
[SPEAKING OF JUNKO, to Taako]
Fire girl was a force to be reckoned with, by the way. None of us could rein in her. . . everything.
[and then, more seriously, turning back to Magnus]
Speaking of my partner-- I'm supposed to mention "mahogany" with your something? I don't know your secret code language, but. . .
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[Just, raising an eyebrow at the second part. He's not aware of this, but that's a very Magnus codeword.]
Yeah, uh. That's not my wood joke either.
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[Yeah. He definitely knows what mahogany means. He'd had a suspicion, when he was having that conversation, but - ]
You guys are just kids. [Considering that for a second.] Or, maybe not. Since you're, uh, dead, I guess, I don't know how old you really are. But this is starting to feel especially sick.
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[hm]
[. . . at Magnus's comment, he gives another shrug]
I'm sixteen. [yep] This is the first Game I've been in as a Reaper. Second Game total.
[the first being the one he participated in as nothing but a Player. the one he won. so, yeah. out of all the Reapers in the Game. . . this one is the least experienced]
She and I. . . we're doing our best with what we've been given. It's all we can do, at this point.
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[Softening just like. A little. He knows he’s been a little harsh in this conversation, but the fact that it’s clearly just two kids who have no idea what to do either kind of hits him in the gut. The Ducks really are the underdog team. Quack quack quack.]
Just, uh, hang in there, alright?
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[He gives Akira a grin - he's still a little shaken, in part because of bad feeling about this. All along, when they've argued about killing Reapers, it's been a couple of kids hiding out and trying to stop the game from falling apart. But that feeling comes with a sense of relief. He hasn't felt good about a lot of the choices he's made here, hasn't been able to tell right from wrong or feel comfortable in his own skin. But this is the right thing. He doesn't feel any doubt about this.]
Keep doing your best. But you guys don't have to do it alone.
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[please excuse him while he pushes his glasses up and scrubs at one eye furiously. these past few weeks, the only people he had heard that from were his partner, his friends from home, and the last remaining Reaper on his side. struggling to survive against popular opinion isn't anything new for Akira, but just knowing that two more people out there are willing to have his back is enough]
[in other words both Taako and Magnus just jumped up on his list of Very Good people]
I-- [okay his voice is shaky. he sucks in a breath to level it out] Thanks. It's actually pretty nice to hear that.
[they can do this. they can end this Game the right way, and save the Erased in the process]
There are Players who don't feel the same, though. Chuuya was one of them.
Shin is another.
[people who want Akira dead regardless of how it affects the outcome of this Game, for personal reasons]
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We'll, uh, see what we can do about reining in some of the murder boners around here.
[Trying to direct this back to the No Feelings Zone though, just briefly.]
Listen, gotta know a couple of things. Reapers: know it got said at some point that you don't pick your own victims? That true or nah? If we're going to be trying to organize a complex hail mary here, need to know the deets.
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Yeah, that doesn't shock me. I can handle that guy. We'll talk to him.
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No, that's not true. Terra told that lie to protect the rest of us.
[so people wouldn't know h. . . how they were picking. . .]
If you're worried about the player population dipping below that of the Reapers, don't. My teammate and I are keeping a close eye on it so we don't accidentally trigger our win condition.
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Sure, sure. How do you pick, then?
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[kind of. looking away at that, guilt flashing across his expression as he rubs the back of his neck]
Majority vote. There was logic behind each of our picks.
[. . . do they want to know. . .]