So, you're dead. Shame, that.
But on the other hand, it's actually kind of nice.
When you "wake" in some odd version of it, you'll find yourself lying on a rather plush bed. It's cozy and warm and just soft enough to tempt anyone back into sleep. The room is equally nice, if small, and when you turn and open the curtains to look out the window, you will see... wait, is that the town?
It is, actually. The town is laid out quite simply across the window and no matter how many times you may bang or wave through the window, no one seems to notice you. If you're smart enough to give up the venture and leave the small bedroom, you will notice that, of course, you are on the train.
The train that, is actually pretty fancy.
Moving through it, past the sleeping cabins and through to the main carts, you will find a dining car with fine dishware and meals of all kinds made at a push of a button or a request given to the air. They'll appear, freshly made and ready to eat at the table of your choice with any drink you could want. There truly doesn't seem to be any limits when it comes to the luxury of the meal.
There is also a bathhouse car with private bathrooms and saunas to fit up to four. Even one rather large room containing a small pool/hot tub of sorts is available for just about anyone to take a dip. It's kind of outlandish, honestly.
Then the lounge car, with its library and plush armchairs and couches. A pool table, a darts board, even a small area dedicated to painting. There's a bar too, fully stocked and ready for anyone who needs a drink. All it would require is a request from the bartender who... looks surprisingly familiar?
The Sheriff is there, much cleaner cut than his counterpart outside of the train. He looks up mildly at any arrivals, giving them a nod of greeting before going back to organizing bottles or setting cigars out for a smoke. He doesn't seem to be surprised at all by anyone who appears. Just... ready to serve them, whatever they may wish.
It all sort of seems okay for a moment, until you realize you're just here to wait for the game to end. Awkward. |
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sheriffexe) wrote2017-01-13 11:14 am
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It's senseless, pointless. She knows that, is at least self-aware enough now to know that it is beyond pointless to be angry at this man. That it's personal betrayal, not some greater sense of justice, that's driving her right now, and that alone should be enough to make her stop. She can practically hear the voices of her friends telling her not to bother.
For one reason or another, though, she can't stop. She has never once felt quite this betrayed. ]
You put Shinnosuke in the stocks!
[ It's the first thing she thinks of to say, and it seems to ... occur to her, that it was, because she gets a little flustered. She gives her head a rapid little shake. ]
I don't ... how am I supposed to believe you really care about me when you so willingly put everyone else in danger?
no subject
I did. I also put Jason, Annabeth, Russell, and Damian in the stocks. I know you speak out of affection for him, but Shinnosuke survived, as I recall. Annabeth did not. Russell did not.
[ Hannibal sighs lightly, just a breathed out pause before he continues. ]
My care and my willingness to put others in danger are not mutually exclusive. If they were, I would not have ever revealed the fact that I have enough medical experience to save lives. I would have let all of you die of your injuries. Technically, that would have been better for me.
no subject
I just ... I'd been thinking about that for a while. Since he ended up in the stocks the same week I told you...
[ ...
She gives her head another shake, frustrated and upset and. Many things, really. ]
... I don't understand. [ This time her voice is much softer, and she braces her face in her hands, leaning her elbows on the table. Hannibal, of all people, will probably get that this particular complaint isn't about any single action of his. It's everything. It's all of him. Someone with motives like his is pretty much utterly beyond her ken. She can't begin to understand why he'd want to do any of this. How you can reconcile caring with also being willing to let others die. She herself is too straightforward a person to really grasp this level of psychological nuance.
And right now, she doesn't even know he killed Riku. ]
no subject
It was ironic, but unrelated to that, Xion. By the time you told me, I had already picked Shinnosuke.
[ Just as every time before, there's a sort of easy honesty to how Hannibal speaks, though she may doubt it now. Hannibal is deceptive, and she's learned that quite harshly. Yet confusingly, he's also quite honest. ]
You probably never will understand, however. There are people who have made careers out of understanding others who do not. [ He considers his own words thoughtfully, then pauses to glance to the window. His expression is briefly wistful, and it's not very hard to guess just who he might be thinking of in that moment, though he looks back to her after without speaking to it. ]
It is a area where I will fail you. I meant every word I said—Offered all my advice in earnest. But where I may be able to explain your heart, I cannot explain my own. You are missing the context to understand it, and that is no fault of your own. You will be happier not to understand.
no subject
For a very long moment she just .... looks at him. Remembering the person who cupped her face in his hand and stood by her while she fell asleep, and the person who sought her out after Riku's trial and hugged her while she cried. That person is also this person, this person who put her friends in the stocks and risked their lives and she's not even sure who he killed. He certainly knowingly contributed to Annabeth's and Russell's deaths, as he said.
He's right. She won't ever understand his heart, and if she's honest with herself, she doesn't want to try. ]
... when I found out who you were ... I said that I wanted you and Will to go home, and then I never wanted to see you again. I ... still feel that way.
[ ... despite herself, despite the fact that for the first time the idea feels like justice to her, she does not want either of them to die. ]
Hannibal, I ... wanted to thank you. For helping me. [ She swallows thickly. Hannibal. Not Dr. Lecter, anymore. ] I really ... owe you a lot. I'm going to live, and ... find my own way.
[ Soft, and very serious. ]
But after this, I hope I really never see you ever again.
no subject
You're welcome. I hope you live. You have struggled here, but would you not agree? You are more now than you were.
[ Which may be what he was trying to inspire in her, though his methods were the kind that would send a chill up anyone's spine. In his way, Hannibal truly thinks he helps people, but he has no illusions about the harm he causes along the way. It's simply necessary. But as he hears Xion confirm her want to live, he feels satisfied, and genuinely glad that she decided that much.
He picks up his knife and fork again, cutting off a piece of meat. His attention turns to that, and he continues casually, but his words are incredibly cold. ]
I wish the same. You see, if I see you or anyone else here again, I will have to kill you.
[ Without looking at her, he takes a bite of his lamb, and he truly seems to savor it in that moment. ]
no subject
That is, she barely responds at all. She just watches him, her expression serious and even. ]
You could try.
[ Xion never did get blood on her hands in this game. She never killed. She's not sure how to feel about that fact. But she knows now that the capacity to do so is within her - she knew that the moment she volunteered to execute Felix and meant it.
She would kill him, if she had to. She would not go down without a fight.
And it's with that quiet threat of her own that she'll stand to leave. ]