gocirclegogo | "this is a sham," cries free! cast

"this is a sham," cries free! cast

[As usual, in the wake of the old turf war-church explosion, life continues. The relic that caused the problem is likely lost forever or otherwise nowhere to be found, but on the bright side, it's definitely cold enough this week to cool its molten remains, and it might still have some juice left. The interesting thing about modern London and modern Londoners is that they produce so much heat, snow usually doesn't accumulate. And then you have situations like the Thames freezing in the 60s, or the snow earlier this year. Three inches is enough to shut down the trains.

Today is a day not unlike any of those. There's a light blanket descending upon the city today. In its frozen form, it feels a lot less inherently disgusting than the water in the Thames, and smells a lot less -- not at all, even. Almost like it's perfectly normal water, but we wouldn't recommend trying to catch it in your mouth. Or ears. Or eyes. It's maybe better if you try not to absorb too much of it in general. Don't say we didn't warn you.

After all, freezing water removes some impurities. Not all. And there's no such thing as a rain of boiling water, maybe fortunately. If you wouldn't drink water out of the river or a local lake, why would you eat the snow?

Anyway. Trains can't run in weather like this. The city is in the panic you'd expect, but that doesn't mean you have to be -- if you've got somewhere to go, I'd recommend hoofing it immediately. If you were on the run from some religion bent on sacrificing you to resurrect their god, or a scientist trying to fill you with brain parasites? Walk faster.

But, well. That's up to you. Some local cults are out and about today offering safety from the weather and faster transportation (but it's probably in your best interests not to ask the details if you're not a member), for various prices. What do you do?]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

["I've behaved very poorly" she says as she strangles her friend. There's a half-hearted attempt to speak, but it's an attempt. One that's given up on after a few seconds. She can't break him. Ah, that's a shame, it would've been poetic.

He's tired of helping. Of trying to help. But this doesn't require effort and it still fixes the narrative ball that Elaine fails at.

There's no expression, or a mildly disgusted one, when both of his hands move to fix hers. It takes kneeling down to make sure she's higher (a position only earned by one other), thumbs resting over a pounding artery (too fast compared to the serene expression), and pulling her just enough to show her all she has to do is lean.

If you can't break what you wish, then slowly crush it instead. And holding her hands in place makes it easier to hold back that reflex to rip her eyes out.]

-- Oh, I see... thank you, Kumagawa.

[She's at least nice about it. If he looks, because he's one of the few who would notice, her expression is slightly sheepish. Geeze, Elaine, you can't even strangle anyone right. This is how you crush someone's throat. He's so helpful. He's a good friend.

But she gets an idea then. She's creative. This is too bare-bones, too intimate. He probably expects better from her. If she's fast enough with it, then...

She puts on about medium pressure for just a couple of seconds, hard for a couple more, watching his face carefully -- then lets go.]

... But, I've changed my mind.

[She's not strong enough to make it immediate. There's a few voices that sing to teach her on bystanders, but they're droned out by the world losing a bit of its contrast and feeling. It's a dark deafening static rather than the illusions of peace people try to describe suffocation as. His expression stays blank the entire time.

It's only when she lets go does it turn into mild surprise. Changed her mind? Did time change her that much how long has it really been here, but they sing that They know the right answer. It's disgust isn't it? It's always disgust, you betrayed them for a higher purpose and failed both of them so why should she even bother putting out even the effort to kill you?

There's a deep breath here, exhaled as a sigh, and that's all it takes for the expression to die again. A hand passes over his missing eye to put the illusion of both back up and it's no effort after that to have the bright smile back in place. But there's no effort to repair the aura that's oddly missing.]

『 I UNDERSTAND. BEING BORED IS HARD, ISN'T IT? GO FIND SOMETHING MORE INTERESTING TO DO WITH YOUR TIME! 』

[All of those things are noted and filed away in a subsection of the mental cabinet he's earned -- up to the last. He'll notice it, the most minute of grimaces passing over her face, that seeming almost completely like himself but not manages to disturb her even more than the rest. It's sort of funny, honestly. Wasn't that what she did to everyone else? Almost totally human, but not quite enough.

But she pastes over it with a neutral expression and puts a few inches of less intimate space between them. Concentrate. Give it solid form. Humerus, ulna, radius, carpals, metacarpals, proximals, intermediates, distals one, two, three, four, five all on the right, then from the inside out. Repeat on the left --

Some scientific law or another dictates she can't snap his neck, because she doesn't have the strength to do it. All she could possibly do is crush his larynx or strangle him normally, but neither of those are good enough. So she'll just snap that law holding her back along with his neck. Causality represent.

In other words, it's totally likely that he'll catch a whiff of that magic as it happens, but she'll be grabbing him a second time, in the same place, with renewed vigour. See, she's a good kid.]

I'm afraid that I'm not interested in any other things at the moment. I lied. In return for telling you such a dreadful lie, Kumagawa, I shall certainly save you soon.

[She'll see exactly when he senses it, or when They tell him it's sensed, because the smile immediately snaps back to neutral. The posture remains apathetic, the aura remains frighteningly absent. In fact, the only real change is the voice losing a bit of its strength. Except the tone is still just as flat.]

『 LYING THEN? OR LYING NOW? YOU SHOULD WATCH YOUR FALSEHOODS, ELAINE. SOMEONE WHO CAN'T EVEN MANAGE TO BE HONEST WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO SAVE ANYONE, AND THAT'S NOT A LIE. I GUARANTEE IT. 』

[There may or may not be a spike of some kind of genuine emotion at the end, like a change in the air or a slight glare, but that's a lie. It's all in her head and she's left to her neck-snapping fun.]

This was my first time lying to you, I believe? I do dislike lying -- so I'll certainly be able to save you.

[She notices that change, though, whether it's a sudden chill in the air (it's winter, after all) or a change in his presence or a glare or whatever, and she spends a good moment trying to figure out if it's her imagination or not. She can't really tell anymore.

But the sound his neck makes when it breaks is very real, fortunately. That's a relief.]

[What positive thinking from the all-loving Elaine. Almost positive enough to believe it. The faint smile when that last pain comes is just a coincidence.

She probably remembers his revival trick. Stay dead for thirty seconds, flick back to unharmed, gain the ability to hold sane and civil conversations for up to two days before They get too much leverage and someone kills him off again. A predictable cycle.

Thirty seconds pass, and he stays dead.

A minute passes, and it's still a corpse.

A minute and enough time to get concerned passes, and the usual scathing static and abusive aura never return. But he does revert to normal and stare at nothing.]

『 AHHH, MUCH BETTER. 』

[Not attempting to get out of the snow though. It's dubious but whatever, it's comfy.]

『 I KNOW YOU'RE MAD, BUT THANK YOU. 』

I am very angry.

[She's pissed he left and pissed he came back the way he did and pissed she couldn't enjoy killing him just pissed pissed pissed pissed. Which is interesting to her because as feelings go, she can identify it pretty well as being pissed. A year works wonders.

But mostly glad he's feeling better. She desperately wants to take his word for it, so she will until something proves she shouldn't have, and then she'll fix everything. Hashtag shounen. Normally this is the part where she would extend her hand to help him up and the touching music would swell to a crescendo and they'd use each other's first names and we'd have pretty screentone work, but

fuck that

she just flops down in the snow beside him.]

Welcome home, Kumagawa! Your punishment is that I shall likely fall ill with fever from prolonged exposure to this weather. Please speak to Liam on your own.

『 I'M SORRY. 』

[He actually does sound sorry. It's why there's no justifications or explanations or denials or regrets. It was a choice that had to be done, hurt others in the process, and he feels honest remorse for it.

The silence afterward is him expecting to get kicked by the angry friend, but the flop in the snow and alternate punishment is a new choice.]

『 IS MY PUNISHMENT JUST YOU GETTING SICK OR DO I HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF YOU TOO? 』

[Let us not mention Liam because that conversation is going to be terrible and he may or may not have visited Elaine first to avoid it, but that's secret.]

It's going to be all right.

[Not "it's all right," not "I forgive you." As for the rest?

She didn't think that far. There's a long, pregnant pause.]

I -- shall decide that once I have fallen ill!

『 NO IT WON'T. 』

[It's not stated in any kind of self-demeaning or miserable fashion. Just a statement of fact, because it is. Things may get close to all right, but it'll never really get there. That's what happens when you have one year for your feelings to fester.

Part of being human really.

The second part means she just gets a flat stare. ...Elaine why.]

『 YOUR FORESIGHT IS AMAZING. 』

Yes, it will.

[Or else. She's still sort of annoyed it even happened, honestly, but she's not going to let that change their relationship and she won't let Liam let that change their relationship either. When she said she'd save him, she meant it. If she could be that kind of leading side character, wouldn't that be cool? In true leader/protagonist fashion, she intends to stumble around blindly, probably angry sometimes, probably killing people, until her goal's reached.

Everything can go back to the way it was if they'd just let it.

Anyway, not unlike a dog or small child (and she is both as we know), she rolls around in the snow for a bit, in place.]

My capability for logical thought is hindered somewhat by the intensity of my feelings, I believe. I was not lying the last time that I killed you.

[He's like her best friend so she missed him a lot and it's making her stupid, in other words.]

『 ...IF YOU SAY SO. 』

[Translated: He heard the 'or else'. If she wants to stumble about like a blind protagonist, then he's not going to trip her up on purpose. He's entirely of the belief that she'll trip up enough on her own.

He watches her roll a bit, apathetic in the face of her words for a beat. Two. Three. Then rolling over to be face-down in the snow, head propped up on closed arms.] 『 THIS TIME OR THE TIME BEFORE THAT. YOUR MURDERS ARE ALWAYS SO EMOTIONAL! 』

[There's something in the tone that makes it pretty obvious that he knows exactly what time she meant, remembered it perfectly, and doesn't want to admit to it. So he takes a page from Elaine's book and just acts like it never happened, kicking his legs and playing with a stray strand of her hair and it's like a girly sleepover of old friends, just like before.

Almost.]

『 I'M NOT SURE HOW MUCH VALUE IT HAS ANYMORE, BUT I WON'T BE LEAVING AGAIN. 』

[Okay it's kind of hard to hug someone when you're covered in snow and you're both lying down but. She's gonna do it. The fact that she is occasionally to often dumb as shit despite being a high mark student proves she's the main character.

So while he's playing with her hair, he might find it snatched out of his grasp -- not by her hand, more like she just kinda. Rolls over on him with her arms open. Yes. There we go. We hugging now.]

Your new quotation marks are lovely. White is my favourite colour!

[She says, pointedly refusing to address anything he actually told her, even though the remark makes it pretty obvious she heard. He knew which murder she meant and she's a) still kind of mad he left to begin with and b) pretending nothing happened and c) good. It's a quiet kind of acceptance.]

[Oh god hugs nooooo- except he doesn't screech and roll away and cry like before. There's only a muffled noise of surprise at the sudden weight on his spine and nothing more.

She didn't address the latter part. But she heard it, which is all he needed done. Shifting enough to make sure he's not eating the snow here, turned just enough to see an avalanche of black.]

『 AWW, THANK YOU! THEY'RE EASIER TO USE, TOO! YOU SHOULD TRY THEM ON SOMETIME. 』

Hmm...

[Ah yes totally platonic lying around on. If he were even slightly younger it'd be hilarious probably, but on the other hand, she's not a girl. She's just Elaine.]

Yes, perhaps 『this style of speaking 』 would work best? Or 『THIS, RATHER THAN THE OTHER? 』 Which do you believe sounds best, Kumagawa?

[It's a loser sprawled on top of another loser in the middle of a snowdrift, during a snowfall, and both of them are underdressed for their respective immune systems. It's always hilarious.]

『 HMMM, I PICK CHOICE ONE! YOUR VOICE IS TOO SWEET TO UNDERGO THE KIND OF ABUSE TO KEEP UP CHOICE TWO FOR TOO LONG. WHEREAS WITH ONE, YOU DON'T CHANGE YOUR VOICE THAT MUCH, -AND- YOU'RE STILL SHOWING OFF! 』

[If she squints, there was a compliment in there and he didn't naturally recoil in fear. Maybe the timeskip did some good.]

『Sweet? Oh my! I can scarcely recall the last I received such earnest compliments. In what manner is it sweet? Sugar, honey, or perhaps lead acetate? The Romans of antiquity would boil grape juice in lead pots, allowing it to pick up the sweetness of the lead acetate. The resulting syrup was referred to as defrutum, which was then concentrated further into the sapa syrup. This was used to sweeten wines and fruits. 』

[But ok Elaine get to the good part, many readers might be thinking. Sure, you're sprawled out lying on top of this guy talking about your sweet voice but you're also making it boring.]

『This lead to many cases of lead poisoning. Pope Clement II, according to studies conducted in a time closer to yours, Kumagawa, show that he had been poisoned with lead sugar. 』

[Well the readers can shove it, because the person currently being used as a pillow has no issue with the rambling and listens through the whole thing with the type of whole-hearted attention span only They ever gave each other. She even gets a few seconds of silence when he actually debates it to make sure it's a right answer.]

『 I SAY LEAD ACETATE IF WE'RE JUDGING BY OTHER PEOPLE'S REACTION TO YOU. IF NOT THEEEEN... PEACH SCHNAPPS. 』

『Neither of us is of age to consume alcohol! Kumagawa, that is illegal!』

[And despite the brackets, he knows her. So he also knows she, for some reason or another, is legitimately concerned about the legality of underage drinking.

She won't unless there's literally no way for her to be punished for it.]

『 I REFUSE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR WHAT I DON'T GET CAUGHT DOING! 』

[Which is to say he is legitimately concerned about the legality of underage drinking, except that's a lie and he's freely ignored that law and done what he wants. He still can't be tamed, nor shamed!!!]

『 How can you be so certain that you won't be punished? Perhaps I would punish you for breaking such a law, Kumagawa! 』

[Fat chance.]

『 AS IF! 』

[Though being arrested for underage drinking out of every other horrible thing he's ever done. .....Yeah, sounds like the kind of terrible luck that follows him around.

........]

『 I WON'T DO IT AGAIN. 』

『 What? 』

『 Are you all right, Kumagawa? Seldom does a threat of punishment from me ellicit such a reaction -- has She truly changed you so much? 』

[She says it like it's a joke, but. If she can avoid thinking about the possibility? She'd like to.]

[He wants to say She didn't change him. She had a part of what to do with it, only a small part, otherwise it was his own choice ~~(why does no one believe it-~~ BUT. Elaine has made a point not to acknowledge that yet, so he goes for the other truthful answer.]

『 I JUST DON'T WANT TO BE ARRESTED FOR SOMETHING STUPID. IF I'M GETTING REFORMED, I WANT IT TO BE FOR BEING HORRIBLE! LIKE GENOCIDE! OR CANNIBALISM! OR JAYWALKING! 』

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject