you gotta be so cold to make it in this world

[scythegun]

[It's been exactly three weeks and three days since Yeager woke up in an unfamiliar location, surrounded by twenty-eight unfamiliar individuals and one very familiar face he'd really rather forget. Being here on his own would be preferable to being here with Alexei.

But somehow - against all odds - they've managed to play nice with one another for three weeks and three days. There have been three murders, three executions, and as of yesterday, three motives. Someone else will die at the end of the week and the cycle will repeat until they're all dead.

Yeager can't really say he cares all that much about the outcome. Dying hasn't scared him for a long time, after all.

The real killer here is boredom. The building they found themselves in prevents escape, but despite being laid-out like some kind of fancy manor (not like his, more like what he'd imagine the nobles of Zaphias to own) there isn't anything interesting to do here. He'd initially thought the first week was the worst, if only because they got a new floor the second week, but there hasn't been anything interesting on any of these floors.

(Never mind the question of "how big is this manor and why does it have so many floors", that's something he'd rather not think too much about. It doesn't really matter, does it?)

The most recent floor they've gotten access to is home to a gym and strangely an indoor garden of some sort; the others call it a "zen garden" and it held Yeager's attention for all of five minutes, which is probably a new record for any of the rooms on the new floors, sadly.

Needless to say, he's been very bored.

He doesn't bother heading up to the top floor today, instead he makes it up to the second before deciding the library's a good place to go. It's not that he has any interest in the books - he certainly doesn't - but it's still early and he's probably got a little while before Alexei comes in. Alexei surely will come in; the man practically lives here, after all. He's presumably done with his cataloguing and all that by now, but there are plenty of thick, boring books for him to study.

If Yeager's sense of time isn't completely screwed (and he's fairly sure it isn't), he's probably got a little less than an hour before all the clocks in the building chime, signaling the start of the day. That's more than enough time for him to rearrange the books. He doesn't move too many of them, of course! Just four of them, picked at random and moved to random places throughout the shelves. Once he's done with that, he selects one of the (many) murder mystery books and takes a seat, biding his time until Alexei shows up.

(It's not a terribly interesting book, but he can be patient when he needs to, and waiting for an hour or so really will be worth it. Surely this will get Alexei to do something with his face.)]

Comments

[ideismo]

[Alexei isn't precisely a stranger to playing nice with those that really don't deserve it.

It's the way of the Empire, really - more civilized than the Union, but demeaning in its own way. Keep your head down and all criticisms bitten back; when the Council slaps you across the face you not only apologize for whatever transgression they've imagined up, but you make sure to bow and thank them politely for exerting the effort to correct you. It isn't precisely ideal, but it's a familiar game, and one he's proven acceptable at playing over the years.

He isn't particularly fond of being here with Yeager, but it's manageable. Decent, even, when the man isn't making a nuisance of himself. Otherwise, the patterns he falls into are predictable - checking resources before morning starts proper, and generally living in the library if it isn't a day where incentives to kill have been meted out.

(Incentives tend to lead to a different sort of tension within the building, one he likes to try to dispel as much as possible - he can't prevent murders, but he can certainly try, and he likes keeping himself available to the rest after they're handed down just because it's easier on his conscience when the weekend comes and someone is dead for all their efforts.)

As it stands, incentives were yesterday, and it was rough as always, and this morning he retreats upstairs; Yeager is...already here for some reason, and that's enough to be suspicious in some way or another, but if he finds it to be such it doesn't show in his expression - he barely glances the man's way, really, before moving towards the shelves. Making a selection, maybe, who knows.]

And here you've been acting as though you'd written off this place entirely. Too boring for you, wasn't it...?

[scythegun]

[Ah, there he is. It took a little longer than Yeager would have thought (which means he's further into the book than he'd really like, but it isn't really boring enough to put down and exchange for something else entirely), but he glances up and waves a hand at Alexei's question.]

Oh, it is. But it's doing a bit better than the new rooms. Have you looked those over yet? I don't understand the point of that "garden".

[It's idle talk though, and he flips a page as if he's still interested (he isn't).]

[ideismo]

It's something to do with meditation and self-reflection. Or so the others have told me.

[That latter purpose is probably why you hate it so much; he has the general decorum to not say it.

To your face.

At this exact moment.

Anyway, it's obvious from his tone that he doesn't really "get" it either, but at least he's willing to humor the concept of it being there.]

I don't mind it if it keeps tension down.

[scythegun]

[what the fuck is self-reflection]

It doesn't really seem like most people are interested in it.

[Understandably so. It manages to be even more boring than the damn library.]

[ideismo]

Of course. But it also has a lack of improvisational weaponry, which is a more immediate concern.

[He supposes someone could pull a Cumore and get drowned in sand or something, but that would be fairly difficult to orchestrate.]

[scythegun]

It certainly would be a bit difficult to kill someone with those harmless rakes or the sand.

[Please let someone get murdered in there this week. That sounds hilarious.]

The gym's certainly got some equipment that could prove dangerous, though. Hopefully no one's stupid enough to go up there late on a Thursday!

[ideismo]

I'd prefer it if people would stop doing that as a general practice. Everyone knows by now that there's only one reason to be out on a night like that... But I suppose that's giving the lot of them too much credit.

[...He tries to avoid being cynical in front of the others. But it's early morning on a Wednesday, it's not like anyone is around for it to matter; either way, there's a light sigh behind it, even if he's keeping his gaze focused on the shelves for the time being.]

[scythegun]

[It gets a laugh out of Yeager, anyway.]

It certainly is giving them too much credit, ja? You'd think they would have learned that after reading the rules - or at least after the first murder, if I'm being generous. Anyone out that late - especially on a Thursday! - is either looking for trouble or just plain stupid.

It's not often I hear you sound so cynical, though! Is today a particularly bad day or am I just special~?

[ideismo]

[Really.]

If I were keeping up the usual pretense in front of you, you would just call me endlessly optimistic until I dropped it. This way is a bit less insulting to everyone's intelligence.

[He's so fucking tired, Yeager.]

[scythegun]

You really are frustrated with things, aren't you?

[For good reason, of course. Still, it's fun to actually hear it instead of the endless optimism.]

[ideismo]

[There are a lot of things to be said here, about how it's apparently just in everyone's nature to refuse to save themselves. After all, it evidently holds true no matter what world we're in.

He settles, eventually, on a less harsh version of that.]

It's what I expected of them, more or less.

[scythegun]

Mm, true. People are a bit predictable like that. If there's one thing you can count on, it's that they'll be stupid.

[There's nothing harsh about it despite the wording. That's just sort of how things are as far as he's concerned.

He shrugs after a moment, though.]

What a wonderful topic to start the day with! We don't even have to worry about anyone dying horribly until tomorrow night!

[ideismo]

[Mm.]

I wouldn't call them stupid.

[No comment on what he would call them, apparently. But they're not stupid, by his standards.]

Perhaps we'll be fortunate this week. I have my doubts, but maybe they'll surprise me.

[scythegun]

I wouldn't get your hopes up. There's that incentive, after all. There seemed to be a few of them who looked interested.

["Interested" is probably not the right word here. "Upset" is probably a better description of it, but that's apparently just how Yeager's going to be today. There's no need to pretend he cares about what bothers any of them around Alexei, after all. It's entirely too much work to pretend around everyone else, and even then he avoids it whenever he possibly can.]

[ideismo]

I spoke to some of them yesterday. Of course someone is going to do something.

[He was able to gather that much, at least.]

[scythegun]

I imagine that's how it'll be until either someone succeeds or until our captors run out of incentives.

[Neither are likely, of course. The much more likely option is that things will end when there are entirely too few of them left, though Yeager at least doesn't mention it.]

[ideismo]

[That gets a quiet assenting noise out of him, but very little else; that does seem to be how it's going to go, and he isn't inclined to argue it.

That aside, however, he'll take a couple of those books Yeager moved and put them back where they belong; he doesn't comment on it, or even seem terribly exasperated by it - it's just what we're doing today, apparently.]

...Two victors, once our numbers are down to seven. Perhaps nine, if they're ambitious. That's how I see this ending, if the game is allowed to progress unchecked.

[That, also, is apparently just what we're doing today. But it would be the most strategically prudent - two people take out two or three each, leave one to screw the vote. Cold, but pragmatic; generally possible for most, if they're determined enough.]

[scythegun]

[Well, that's disappointing. Yeager's expression dips momentarily into something that might be mild irritation, but Alexei's picked an interesting topic, and he bounces back easily. Sure, the books might not have done what he was hoping for, but at the very least this conversation is holding his interest.]

There are a few here who might be smart enough to figure for that. I could certainly see someone attempting, though I wonder if anyone would actually be capable of managing it...

[He hums a bit before continuing.]

Of course, if they did attempt it, they'd at least have to kill one of us. I'd be a bit surprised if that happened!

And then there's the matter of trust... I don't know if anyone here could really believe that this wouldn't end with someone getting stabbed in the back!

[ideismo]

You would be surprised what people are willing to believe in situations like this.

[Just saying.]

Besides, it isn't as though they're asking for trust, just mutual assistance to get out of the situation. It wouldn't make sense to betray your partner once the plan itself is underway... As for killing one of us, that's assuming we're both still alive at that point.

[scythegun]

[He dismisses the first part with a shrug; trusting someone to that extent just doesn't seem possible in a situation like this, but he supposes people here might be willing to risk it. Maybe it'll even work. Who knows!

The second part is more interesting, and he'll focus on that.]

So what do you think will happen to us, hmm?

[ideismo]

I'm not predicting anything; that's tempting fate.

[Maybe we'll be here, maybe we won't. Who the hell knows.]

[scythegun]

That's no fun.

[He doesn't sound annoyed though, and instead he shrugs.]

I suppose there isn't anything we can do but wait and see! The boredom will probably kill me before anything else, though.

[ideismo]

Well, that will solve at least one of the problems in that scenario we're discussing, won't it.

[...While that is entirely true, Alexei, for fuck's sake.]

[scythegun]

[It gets him to laugh, anyway.]

Well now I can't let that happen, can I? Besides, dying would make things far too easy on you. Who would pester you when you spend all day in here? You'd be entirely too happy if I died, and I certainly can't have that, now can I?

[ideismo]

Please. You didn't even let me start my day in here before making a nuisance of yourself today.