lucretia

[katzepaw]

Comments

week 5; sunday

[katzepaw]

[He is having a coffee somewhere out near the gardens Sunday afternoon, sitting at a bench and lost in thought a little bit.]

[ambiography]

[she's out here as well, just-- getting out of the dorm for a bit, really. but she's not exactly trying to be alone, either, so once she comes across him she takes a seat on the bench as well, propping her staff against it.]

...Caleb?

[katzepaw]

[Glancing up at her and giving her a small smile. He seems tired, but.]

. . . Hello, Lucretia.

[ambiography]

[that's a mood.]

It's been-- an exhausting few days, hasn't it.

...will she be all right?

[katzepaw]

I'm sure she will.

[Because everyone will, eventually.]

. . . I hear it is rather miserable over at your dorm.

[ambiography]

-well, I don't know about miserable. We do all right for ourselves, still, but it was-- pretty quiet, for a while there.

[it'll be quieter again after tomorrow, but.]

[katzepaw]

. . . I didn't mean in general? You are all lovely people.

[He meant because your tree died?]

[ambiography]

Ah- right. Sorry, it's... been discussed a few times, over this last week.

[a slight shake of her head, there.]

In that sense, though, yes. It is.

[katzepaw]

[He smiles a little ruefully.]

You are all making Mollymauk feel very sorry for abandoning you. But I don't think you can make him feel sorrier than Beauregard can. The same thing happened to me.

[Fall gave him the puppy eyes, but so did Beau, and she won.]

. . . I was very sorry about it, what happened. I know he and Beauregard fought but he was always very, uhm, sweet to me.

[ambiography]

We'll miss having him there, but... we all have our loyalties. I wouldn't ask him not to be with people who are important to him.

[and she gets others not being willing to leave their own dorms. she's not leaving hugo behind, either.

the last part has her going quiet for a few moments, though.]

I knew it would be one of us, at some point. I didn't... I hadn't wanted to pursue any of them.

[katzepaw]

It's the circumstances, more. He didn't want to hurt anyone. But, you know, just a wedge in there, that's all it takes. A lie can do that to you.

[He gives a disgusted huff.]

[ambiography]

It can. And it drove that wedge in a way that was going to harm us more.

[god. the fact it specifically made him think he should kill her, after the message this week. after everything.]

Though- some of us, more than others.

[katzepaw]

It. . . didn't like that we'd decided to spare her.

[ambiography]

And I expect it'll feel the same about any other ways we try to do the same.

[katzepaw]

Yes.

[After a moment, though, he'll reach into his pocket and hand her two letters]

. . . I received these today with my vouchers.

[ambiography]

Oh- Claude mentioned that he had, too.

[she'll take those and read them over, quiet for a minute as she gives them a second look as well.]

Nothing useful in his, he said, just a personal message-- I haven't had a chance yet to ask the rest of Spring if they received any.

[katzepaw]

From Byleth?

[. . . That would make sense, at least.]

I might poll Winter Dorm about it later today?

[ambiography]

Crow, actually.

I don't have any myself, either, but the others might, so-- I think it's worth polling both. He mentioned he wasn't the only one in Summer.

I don't expect they'll have been allowed to say too much, too directly, but some of this is more or less what Sieghart said to me.

[katzepaw]

Mm. So we're nearing the finish line, and the tone doesn't seem. . . it doesn't appear that we're on the wrong track.

[ambiography]

Then we just-- we have to keep going, and bear in mind that if we are on the right path, it's going to get harder to stay on.

[katzepaw]

[He scratches at his arms a little.]

I'm, uhm. I'm worried it will be all like Tsuyukusa from now on.

[ambiography]

...it may be. We're going to have to talk in advance about what we're going to do about that, if it is.

[katzepaw]

The person it happened to before - as far as I'm aware, they confessed after to their friends, and have not hurt anyone else. Sparing them is an option, but that would mean. . .

[He grimaces a little.]

Either volunteers, or we kill whoever is left of Otome's little group.

[ambiography]

That's-- more or less what I was told of that person, too. It seems to only happen to them once, so if we do spare them, they aren't a continued threat. On the other hand, Otome's group would be, but I think that we need to leave them alive, based on the message we were sent.

So it comes down to either... voting out those who become influenced despite the circumstances, or-- volunteering, yeah. And that's not going to be easy to agree on.

[katzepaw]

Selfishly, the idea of volunteers is a little alarming to me. The very people who would volunteer are ones I don't. . . want to lose.