Teenagers Scare the Living Shit Out Of Me etc. etc.

[dyingtohealyou]

[Characters passing by the bulletin board may notice a new message tacked to it!]

Drinking party at the bar at 8pm. Under 21 only. Adults will be persecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Fun and games included, party hats optional. Don’t be late!

[Sure enough, there’s a gathering of teens (and maybe some not-so-teens?) to be found in the bar! While the posting mentions this is a teen only event, adults are in fact allowed as long as they are cool. OOCLY please be aware there are going to be teens drinking alcohol and possibly smoking! Also additionally, please let the teens/players have fun; again, adults are allowed but only if they’re cool enough to play along without snitching them out!

All party game top levels are going to be made under Ahito’s account but please assume ICly that Akira instigated/explained them! Once the game toplevels are up you can also post your own toplevels to mingle freely if you like IDK IT’S A PARTY HAVE FUN]

Comments

[fellheart]

... One way or another, destiny has a way of catching up. Running likely would have only delayed it, at best.

[ claimed, one way or another, and then removed from their families, though ... there's a number of directions his thoughts can go from there, none of them particularly kind.

do such earthly ties cease to matter, when this second breath of theirs is taken? do those collecting up these lost eggs wish for more easily molded tools, when they reclaim their little lost lambs and usher them into their new families-to-be?

perhaps he is too much a cynic. or perhaps he simply knows exactly what motives some might have in encouraging that kind of isolation. ]

Well. I believe it's your turn to ask again, though I've already given you my answer as to which.

[troublereduction]

[ Unfortunately, Robin is more right than he would ever want to be, though not entirely. ]

Funny how destiny has a way with things even 'fore I became a professional.

[ A dry joke. Day goes quiet after, however, mulling over a question and wondering if he should even ask it. ]

...You got any plans what you wanna do after all this is over?

[fellheart]

[ a blink goes long. then for a few heartbeats more. he's ... resisting the compulsion, at least as long as it takes for him to try to find the best way to word his answer. least committal, least weight.

when his eyes reopen the rest of his expression is blank. ]

... I thought I had.

[troublereduction]

[ ...Day slowly sips his drink. ]

I see. So it's up in the air now?

[ Is this an improvement? Day can't tell. ]

[fellheart]

You make it sound like such a nebulous thing. But I suppose that's not wrong.

[ ... ]

I am not a kind creature. There is a role I am expected to play. The worst that people have to offer still sickens me to the core. The fact of the matter is, I've done things I cannot take back.

But at the same time ... I do not belong in the world I was summoned from. Still, I cannot simply abandon it, or run from the things that have already come to pass.

[troublereduction]

Until it happens, it is kinda nebulous, isn't it?

[ (Day, who has no idea:)

...But he looks contemplative for a while. ]

What's gonna happen if you do go back? [ Day has an inkling, but in the end, he isn't entirely sure what the latest situation is there. ]

[fellheart]

You know what the dragon once prophesied in its final breaths.

[ it. the wings of despair, the breath of ruin. the end of all things. ]

Had I not been summoned here, I would have worked to bring the current age as anyone knew it to an end ... or.

[ or. his tone is calm, impassive, as if delivering simple truths, but what exists of his agitation is betrayed by the way his fingers tap out a steady rhythm on the countertop. ]

Or. The world would have proved itself suited to continue on on its own, misery and ugliness and all, and declared its intent by striking the dragon down once more.

tmw you thought you tagged but find out you imagined it

[troublereduction]

[ It's moments like these that Day is suddenly reminded of what he concluded during his first meeting with Robin: that Robin reminded him of something that would qualify as an enemy of fate.

That said, Day also understands having a sense of responsibility that means one couldn't simply abandon something, even if, perhaps, it might be better to do so. He still frowns at the idea that Robin (or Grima?) will either end an age or be ended himself. ]

...And that's how it has to be? [ Which he realises must sound hilarious from an agent of destiny, but. ]

[fellheart]

What else is there? Trying to pretend to be someone who I no longer am? Taking up the throne that in theory belongs to me, and ruling through the terror everyone has of me? Simply leaving? My absence has hardly done the world any favors either, because without a clear, final ending, my shadow remains.

[ even after a thousand years, people believed in his return whether in fear or in anticipation.

it's one thing if the world tears itself apart on its own. it's another if it does so because of him. ]

Put aside your sympathy. I have done and will do terrible things. Terrible things have been done in my name. I am the harbinger of a fate that has already come to pass, threatening the present of another time with the inevitability I represent.

Short of meting out everyone's endings, which I imagine you and most everyone else here would disapprove of, I am the one thing I can control in its entirety. [ a shrug, then. ] Don't think I haven't considered the circumstances. I can admit that perhaps I am the piece that needs to be removed from the board.

[troublereduction]

[ He knows that Robin has almost certainly thought through this, which is part of why it doesn't feel great to Day: the sense of inevitability about this, because there are only so many possible choices that align with whatever principles Robin has about the matter. He still finds himself wondering if there's a way to handle this situation that doesn't involve Robin's eventual demise. ]

...I know. But I ain't the kinda guy who can stop sympathizin' that easy once I start.

[ And he likes Robin well enough, is the thing. ]

[fellheart]

Hmm. I suppose that was my mistake, wasn't it? Indulged myself just a little bit too much in this game of pretend, and happened to fool others with it.

[ ah, what a pity. it isn't as if he were working to be liked. perhaps even in this, he is meant to usher in despair. despair, after all, is the reassurance of inevitability. if there is and was no other way, then there's no need to feel sorrow for what wasn't meant to be.

but that's not what someone who chose a name like joyous day would make of it, is it? cynicism or no cynicism. acceptance is resignation. ]

Perhaps I should call it here? End scene, curtain call. Shall I wear another skin for our remaining time here? It's not too late for me to remember my cruelty.

[troublereduction]

The hell are you talkin' about?

[ Sir? Just because he doesn't like the idea of the inevitability of your ending doesn't mean he is ready to submit to the despair. ]

It's a lil' too late if you ask me. And it ain't a mistake, even if it was "pretend".

[fellheart]

You weren't supposed to like me, much less sympathize. That's my miscalculation.

[ if he were someone else he'd apologize for it.

a sigh. ]

... Short of tampering with your memories, though, I suppose it is too late to do anything about it.

[troublereduction]

[ If Robin apologized, then Day would seriously wonder if someone had come and replaced him. ]

Can't say I'd like anyone messin' with my memories. [ Lol, lmao, ] So I guess you're stuck with me.

[fellheart]

[ a roll of the eyes. ]

I'd imagine not. And what a dubious honor it is, attaching yourself to someone like me.

Are we calling the game done, then, or do you still have a taste for it after this discussion?

[troublereduction]

[ All things considered, it could be a lot worse, which Day feels says a lot more about his world than it does Robin. ]

You ain't tryin' to sup on my soul, at least. [ The bar, ladies and gentleman. ] And more seriously, it ain't bad talkin' to you.

That depends. You still wanna play?

[ Day can take it or leave it, really. ]

[fellheart]

[ amicably, as he pours himself another glass of mana rock encrusted wine, since he's been neglecting it for a while now: ] How do you know I wouldn't have tried if we weren't all altered when we arrived here? Feeding off of the spirit is something I'm capable of, after all.

And on that note ... Fine, so we'll operate on the premise that you may for some reason like the me that you've seen here thus far, all the harsher edges sanded down under the banner of cooperation. Will you say the same, I wonder, when I have to remind everyone that I am specifically a god of destruction?

[ honestly, robin can take it or leave it too. he's not particularly fussed about the game at this point— refraining out of a fear of saying too much seems somewhat ridiculous. ]