[Junior slides the pawn into position for if Hickey wants to try and aim a second time.]
Do you think it'll go well, the negotiations? If you get sent back, you'll still have your wish, won't you?
[Since Ish did say that he'd honor them even if the killer was caught and executed. At the time, there hadn't been any expectation that you'd get another chance to live again, in that case. It changed the perspective, a little.]
[None of them deserved to be dead, really. No matter how mad they were at Hickey or at anyone else, none of them had signed up for this in the first place. It was only right that they'd be allowed to be put back where they came from.]
I have the feeling he wouldn't have lied about that. He clearly operates by his own set of rules and didn't feel badly providing information that pointed the finger at you, but at least with his magic, I think he'd keep his word. Even if you were found out, you still did kill someone, and he needed that to happen.
[It was a difficult question. Junior considers how much he wants to say, knowing what had happened between Hickey and Hwylryn. Quietly, he puts down another chess piece.]
I haven't, no...
[It was too hard to pin down what he wanted. He felt like he wanted too many impossible things, but at the same time, that he didn't deserve to ask for them.]
But I think I'll still be killing someone this week all the same. Maybe he'll give me until after I do it to decide.
[ He says this with certainty. Another piece shoots into the air, again missing its target. ]
Have you decided on a target yet? I don't know how much help I can be in my current condition, but I'm still learning the rules of this realm. And now that I can talk...
[ He's sure he can think of some way to meddle in Junior's favor. ]
[He doesn't feel too badly admitting this much. It's obvious that Hickey isn't popular, so he doubts that Hickey will go around spilling his secrets. After all, Junior hadn't ever betrayed him.]
I don't believe an exact decision has been made yet, but whoever I'm told to execute, I will.
[ A clue indeed. The cigarettes are silent as Elias works it out in his head: An Lili, Clover, and Hwylryn, Junior's list of untouchables when they first made their alliance official. An Lili, unlikely. Clover... certainly possible. Hickey's never trusted that girl.
But, if he were a betting man... ]
Hwylryn is not your friend, Junior. The man tried to crack my skull open with a bottle of whiskey, which he then stabbed me with. He surely would have killed me had Ish not intervened.
[ If he sounds bitter, that's because he is. But there's more to the anger in his voice than petty annoyance. ]
All that, after we happily shared a drink together after the carnival. Do not trust him. He's more than capable of killing for himself, if he's so eager for bloodshed.
[No, Hwylryn wasn't his friend. He was something...more than that. But saying that out loud, even to himself, felt too risky. And certainly Hickey wouldn't understand--would just scoff.]
He only attacked you because he thought he was defending me. And I'm sorry about that--I didn't want him to go after you. I wish he hadn't. When I told him about our agreement, he decided he was going to be angry even when I said it was my choice.
[His shoulders slump slightly as he thinks about the fallout of that entire debacle. So many things were said that night.]
...he's just impulsive, and sensitive. I'm neither of those things, so it's better if I do it.
[ He doesn't care that Junior told Hwylryn of their arrangement. It hadn't impacted Hickey's trial and it won't change anything for him now. If anything, it's riskier for Junior to out himself as friendly with a murderer. ]
You owe him nothing. Why should you risk your life for him? Are you giving him your wish then, too?
[ Elias hasn't much minded being separated from the land of the living up to this point, but god is this conversation all the more frustrating with him stuck puppeteering this stupid cigarette case... ]
[Somehow, even with Elias being reduced to a cigarette case, Junior finds a way to avoid meeting his "gaze". He knows how foolish and risky his feelings are, and that he doesn't deserve certain things. That he's opening himself up to people who are otherwise untrustworthy. But...wasn't he just as deceptive? Maybe these were the only kind of people who would ever understand him.
[ There's another long, long pause. Anger bubbles up in his chest, though he can't quite place the source of it. It makes no difference what happens now. Whether or not Junior gets caught is of no consequence—Elias has a plan, as he always does, and for once that plan does include others.
And yet, somewhere friendlier. There's a thousand things to hate about this, but he takes the callback personally. Perhaps it's for the best that they're not speaking face to face, frustrating though it is. ]
Giving into a rabid dog's manipulation doesn't strike me as any more respectable than killing for a country you hate. Suit yourself, then.
[ The cigarette case slides across the table, its lid popping open repeatedly to punt a line of chess pieces onto the floor. He thought he was done with such childish displays, but sometimes, needs must. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
spotsalone) wrote2025-03-11 02:26 am
no subject
Do you think it'll go well, the negotiations? If you get sent back, you'll still have your wish, won't you?
[Since Ish did say that he'd honor them even if the killer was caught and executed. At the time, there hadn't been any expectation that you'd get another chance to live again, in that case. It changed the perspective, a little.]
no subject
The negotiations, yes, I expect they will. As for my wish...
[ Somewhere, Elias sighs. ]
I don't know. I would be surprised if Ish were to honor his word. He set me up, after all.
[ That little frog ex machina at the end of carnival. Ugh, he was so close... ]
no subject
[None of them deserved to be dead, really. No matter how mad they were at Hickey or at anyone else, none of them had signed up for this in the first place. It was only right that they'd be allowed to be put back where they came from.]
I have the feeling he wouldn't have lied about that. He clearly operates by his own set of rules and didn't feel badly providing information that pointed the finger at you, but at least with his magic, I think he'd keep his word. Even if you were found out, you still did kill someone, and he needed that to happen.
no subject
Perhaps, though I know better than to rely on the word of those in positions of power.
[ He's been betrayed far too many times. He certainly hopes Junior is right, though. ]
And what about you? Have you decided on a wish yet, or have you abandoned that plan altogether?
[ he'll just continue to make a lot of assumptions, thanks. ]
no subject
I haven't, no...
[It was too hard to pin down what he wanted. He felt like he wanted too many impossible things, but at the same time, that he didn't deserve to ask for them.]
But I think I'll still be killing someone this week all the same. Maybe he'll give me until after I do it to decide.
no subject
[ He says this with certainty. Another piece shoots into the air, again missing its target. ]
Have you decided on a target yet? I don't know how much help I can be in my current condition, but I'm still learning the rules of this realm. And now that I can talk...
[ He's sure he can think of some way to meddle in Junior's favor. ]
no subject
[He doesn't feel too badly admitting this much. It's obvious that Hickey isn't popular, so he doubts that Hickey will go around spilling his secrets. After all, Junior hadn't ever betrayed him.]
I don't believe an exact decision has been made yet, but whoever I'm told to execute, I will.
no subject
Hold on. Who is making the choice?
no subject
...it doesn't matter. I was asked to do it, so I want to help.
no subject
But, if he were a betting man... ]
Hwylryn is not your friend, Junior. The man tried to crack my skull open with a bottle of whiskey, which he then stabbed me with. He surely would have killed me had Ish not intervened.
[ If he sounds bitter, that's because he is. But there's more to the anger in his voice than petty annoyance. ]
All that, after we happily shared a drink together after the carnival. Do not trust him. He's more than capable of killing for himself, if he's so eager for bloodshed.
no subject
He only attacked you because he thought he was defending me. And I'm sorry about that--I didn't want him to go after you. I wish he hadn't. When I told him about our agreement, he decided he was going to be angry even when I said it was my choice.
[His shoulders slump slightly as he thinks about the fallout of that entire debacle. So many things were said that night.]
...he's just impulsive, and sensitive. I'm neither of those things, so it's better if I do it.
no subject
[ He doesn't care that Junior told Hwylryn of their arrangement. It hadn't impacted Hickey's trial and it won't change anything for him now. If anything, it's riskier for Junior to out himself as friendly with a murderer. ]
You owe him nothing. Why should you risk your life for him? Are you giving him your wish then, too?
[ Elias hasn't much minded being separated from the land of the living up to this point, but god is this conversation all the more frustrating with him stuck puppeteering this stupid cigarette case... ]
What do you get from this arrangement?
no subject
He shakes his head.]
Somewhere friendlier.
no subject
And yet, somewhere friendlier. There's a thousand things to hate about this, but he takes the callback personally. Perhaps it's for the best that they're not speaking face to face, frustrating though it is. ]
Giving into a rabid dog's manipulation doesn't strike me as any more respectable than killing for a country you hate. Suit yourself, then.
[ The cigarette case slides across the table, its lid popping open repeatedly to punt a line of chess pieces onto the floor. He thought he was done with such childish displays, but sometimes, needs must. ]