hypertoxic | [week two

[week two - saturday]

[ So, like, anyway, today sure happened a lot.

A few hours into the evening and Vriska is just ... chilling by the bonfire, staring pensively into the flames as she rather mechanically brushes her hair. It is looking a lot better than the hornet's nest full of secrets (and also hornets) it was looking like this morning. Like, not totally fixed, but better.

Honestly, she seems pretty lost in thought, but as Newt passes by on his way back to his hut, Vriska will actually wave at him with the brush. ]

Hey. Tired?

[ They all are, probably. ]

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[Truth be told, he's surprised that Vriska is even talking to him. She sounds relatively chill, too. W...eird...? But good. He pissed off a lot of people in tonight's trial, and he's not sure how much of it is going to stick. Usually, he doesn't give a shit about ruffling feathers, but tonight struck a nerve and he can't afford to start turning people against him.

For now, he just kind of stops where he is, squinting at her.]

Yeah. What're you still doing up?

[ Well, she certainly doesn't seem mad at him. She does, indeed, seem pretty chill.

His response will get a snort and she'll go back to her brushing. ]

What, you think I sleep?

[ Her voice drips sarcasm. ]

Trolls are nocturnal. I usually sleep in the afternoons.

[ Which ... you know, means she skipped sleep for the trial today, but it's fine, probably? ]

Oh. Cool.

[He relaxes a little, though he's still mighty unsure.]

And you're not tired after all of that?

Don't get me wrong, I am tired as fuck. [ ... ] Just wanted some time to think, I guess. Why aren't you asleep, nerd?

[He nods, dropping his gaze to the sand.]

Some time to not think. After all that, I need some time to just shut my brain off.

Yeah, I get that. See! There are perfectly good reasons for being awake right now.

[ it's an attempt at levity. ]

... I will leave you alone if you just want to wander or whatever it is you're doing.

[ She's nnnnot? really certain how he feels about her right now, either. ]

[Okay, screw it.]

Why aren't you pissed at me?

[ That wins a sort of bemused look. ]

Should I be?

[ A slight smile. ]

Tensions are going to run high every trial! If I got legitimately pissed off at everyone I argued with, I wouldn't have anybody left to talk to.

[ And, lastly, a shrug. ]

You're a nice guy. It's not like I'm surprised you went to bat for her, even if I think she's pretty much just an enormous piece of shit. An entire pile of shit! Rancid shit as far as the eye can see, all thanks to Austria.

[...Fair. Newt can respect that. It's not like he's prone to holding grudges, either. Usually.]

I didn't go to bat for her. [Yes he did??] I know what she did was stupid, and it's gonna screw us over from here on out. But dogpiling her like that wasn't going to help anything.

[...] She knew she was dying anyway. She was scared and pissed off and made a stupid mistake.

[ ... that whole ... thing ... just kind of gets a slow sigh. ]

You can think she was innocent all you want. I don't feel the same way. Everything she did at the trial today just felt like a sad and desperate attempt to get revenge! On the wrong people, no less. Or maybe to her, we're all Joshua's killers, and thus we killed her! Who knows. Either way, she was doing her best to get back at us. I guess in the end it didn't matter, but it was a lot of really needless drama.

[Ughhhh. Newt lets out a sigh of his own and then joins her by the fire. He may as well get comfortable.]

I know. I know all that. She messed up, and then she kept messing up, and... That's the thing, y'know? She was so adamant that we get justice for her and Josh, but then everything she did just threw us more and more off track. I don't know that we could've found the killer even if she'd stayed quiet, but... It didn't help. It just, yeah, it created needless drama. So then I'm wondering, what's the point? Why would she do that? She's not a bad person.

[ quiet, for a moment. ]

Where are you going with this? There's only two real options. One is that she martyred herself, and the other is that she knew who the real killer was and chose to protect them.

[He scoffs.]

Come on, she wouldn't hide that from us. She wanted to catch the killer more than anyone. [A beat.] So, sure, I guess she martyred herself. She knew it was hopeless and decided to piss everyone off to get them to vote for her, which prevented two other innocent people from dying with her.

[That... Is that better? He's not sure.]

[ ... ]

The only problem I have with that is that we were all definitely going to vote for her anyway, [ Vriska says rather flatly, ] but I can see it, I guess. If that was really her purpose, she did a great fucking job!

[Newt just huffs out a breath and sinks into his chair. He's so tired.]

Yeah... Man, I don't know what her motivations were, but I don't want to believe that she'd throw all of us under the bus intentionally. I, like, know her... Kind of. She's not that heartless. Or spiteful. There's no way.

You believe that because you are a nice person, Newt. It is one of your best qualities. All I am going to say is that you should be careful. Believing in everyone just because it strikes you as the right thing to do could get you killed in a place like this, and I don't want to see that happen to you.

That's not it. I don't believe in everyone, and knowing Austria's not evil doesn't have anything to do with me wanting to do the right thing.

[Does it? Whatever, he'll puzzle over that later.]

I'm not naive, Vriska. I know one of us killed Josh, and Austria by proxy.

[ ... ]

Good. I am glad to hear that. Well ... fuck. You know what I mean.

[ another pause. somewhat indignantly: ]

And I never thought Austria was evil! I just thought she was a bitch.

[He sighs. He's not really in the mood to be arguing about this right now.]

Whatever. She's still my friend, and she's still dying tomorrow.

That she is. [ With a certain drawl that isn't blasé so much as it is resigned. ] Prussia will take good care of her. I'm sure it's a small comfort, but at least her death will be relatively painless! That is more than most of us will probably get. And then we get to go through this whole freakish circus again next week. Bluh.

[He chews on this for a moment.] I suppose that's comforting, yeah. I guess if I had to pick, I'd rather go out by execution. At least we get some say in things, y'know? I wouldn't want to be, like... Mm. I wouldn't want to end up like Haru or Josh.

[He scrubs his hands over his face, careful not to knock his glasses into the sand. That has been happening a lot lately.] I don't know how we're supposed to keep this up for two months, Vriska.

[ Vriska will stay quiet for a long moment. ]

I don't know if we will keep it up for two months. Can you see this group surviving that long?

[ Cups her face in her hands, looking thoughtful. ]

I have been thinking there has to be another way to end this game.

[He frowns at that.]

I... What choice do we have? Yeah, Austria's stunt tonight guarantees us, um, four bodies a week, but... Do you think we're going to start killing each other with abandon or something?

[...] Where's your head at?

That's not what I mean, though I guess that would be pretty efficient? [ gives him a kind of incredulous glance. ] Another way out, Newt. You really think killing is the only way to do it? I don't.

Efficient. [His frown deepens.] That's one word for it. And, I don't know. I've been entertaining some theories as to how we're even here in the first place, but... If there's a way out, I doubt it's something that'll be accessible to us. Current running theory is that this is an incredibly elaborate simulation, and if that's the case, I think we're pretty thoroughly stuck.

Who knows. Maybe? Breaking down the constraints of reality is pretty ambitious! Maybe in other circumstances we could afford to think that optimistically. My goal from the start has been to find a way to break the rules. It's what I do! I will find a way. I always do.

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[week two - saturday]

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