laudna catchall

[sonorant]

i love her already

Comments

[sonorant]

[ bursts into tears i know ]

At this rate, near everyone here will become afflicted and kill someone. It's only that ritual timeline that will stop it from becoming everyone.

[ if laudna is okay being blunt, robin will be a little more blunt than usual. ]

I am fine with that outcome. I do not want anyone to come after me. It will be better if no one has my blood on their hands.

[undread]

[it's refreshing to talk openly about these things!]

I think you're right. Monster or not, it's a matter of surviving that long, in the end. You're a bit cleverer than the ones who get angry and act out.

[sonorant]

I don't know if I would call it cleverness.

[ only daan's thoughts betrayed him. he didn't act out besides that. it's a coin toss if daan would have cut karlach like that unafflicted. robin is undecided. ]

But it'd be better for morale overall if our numbers don't sink faster.

[undread]

[i think he definitely would have, but he wouldn't have been so rude about being suspected.]

Yes. Though that may not be an option in every case. Someone who would go on a rampage, the way Aqua did...

[sonorant]

Because the monster was agitated and provoked. There must be a vote, and she was - the more logical choice because of her rampage.

Seeing how Camille was targeted, even if the votes were switched, I suspect it would have ended the same way even if Aqua didn't pick up Cloud's sword.

[undread]

Well. I certainly provoked Camille that night.

[she's not proud of it, exactly, but she also doesn't blame herself for it. she just lost control of herself.]

I do think there are differences, but I know you're not wrong. If Karlach had been kept calm, it might have ended very differently.

[sonorant]

You did. They both were provoked, but you acknowledged what needed to adjusted after in the next trial.

[ she understands people being emotional and stressed, so she's not angry about it. it just hurts to see and watch. ]

There are differences. No one person afflicted and situation will be the same because of how people feel about those involved, but I do think we're getting better at how we approach it. Even if it didn't end with less violence as we would have liked tonight.

[undread]

I think we're getting better, too. I hope so. It's so many.

And Daniël and Karlach were the two new ones, which says something rather terrifying about Kanda.

[sonorant]

[ she nods. ]

That it wasn't someone new, right?

[undread]

No. It was either you or the other one.

[sonorant]

It wasn't me, Miss Laudna, but you can continue to believe what you want.

[undread]

Oh. I don't really think it was! I think it was the other one, which is a bit more troubling.

[sonorant]

Do you have any guesses?

[undread]

Not particularly, no. Though I still think it had to be someone who spent the evening at the house.

[sonorant]

I think so as well. There was glitter going up the campsite, and there wasn't any on Mr. Kanda.

It's still a sizeable group.

[undread]

Yes. And even though everyone had a bit on them, cleaning that much off in the night would be rather difficult. Let alone even knowing who else was still there.

But we had a rather large crowd gathered.

[sonorant]

I want to think the black stain left on his sword meant something, but I don't know what.

[undread]

It made me a little nervous, because my blood is a little...

[she did not join in the calls to test people's blood for a reason.]

[sonorant]

Is it an unusual color?

[undread]

Well, my heart doesn't beat. So it is a bit sluggish - it can look black.

[sonorant]

That would raise suspicion. I understand. Does your heart not beating cause any discomfort to you at all?

[undread]

No! I'm quite used to it. It's been this way for a very long time. I died, but then I just sort of kept going!

[sonorant]

A revival, of a kind? Is it what you wanted?

[undread]

...Not, not really.

[she smiles a little, though it's not very nice.]

I died thirty years ago. That old life of mine - part of me will always mourn that I didn't get to live it, but it doesn't belong to me anymore. [she twists some clump of hair around her hand.] What I have now is... alright. Some people might think I'm a monster or an abomination, but the ones who matter to me understand.

I just don't want to lose them, you see.

[sonorant]

[ her expression softens, saddened by what laudna has lost. all right is not terrible, but it is not great.

at least she has found something to hold onto. to want to hold onto. ]

It is the ones who understand you most that make it better. They're who make you belong and give you a life to belong to.