[She may be playing it a little dumb, leaning into their expertise - hoping to hear a framework before she has to betray whether she's thinking of one of her own.]
Won't remembering each other just make us more emotional in response to death?
Yeah. But it also means that we'll be able to keep whatever he says, on purpose or by accident, and won't forget it again. We'll keep being able to find leads until we figure out how to break the loop. We won't be at square one again, and again, and again.
[ Which
can maybe drive someone a little up the wall. Just maybe. ]
... Unlike every other loop, [ every other week, ] we have a chance to change things.
[ And if deaths stick... what else might? Could there be anything? Siffrin thinks of the bird they'd given him for Yoonhee's cigarette and wonder if The Witch still has it, or if he lost it in the reset too. ]
mental image of all of siff's birds in storage somewhere like the end of the prestige
[Good that she listened, actually. This brings her to nod, even as a shadow, like the moon in eclipse, passes over the curious twinkling lights that make up the bulk of her emotional responses. Again and again and again... What that might have already done for them.]
And see what persists. I lost everything except for what the snake brought me. [Her knife, the bird, everything else... all gone. But no one had anything else belonging to them last week, had they? There was no indication they'd been around at all...]
I was rather cross for him for that. The bird wasn't his to take.
[She'd torn the wardrobe up a bit in searching for it.]
You had already planned to make her another one, since she'd seemed to like the first one... but you definitely will now.) ]
Maybe it's because it's from him that it stuck. Like... it kept a piece of his essence. Um, his magic. We don't know if he's given rewards before, or if parts of the palace might've been it before.
[She doesn't ask the question that should be asked. It almost seems like it's on purpose. Is that what he did? Withholding it is almost like denying some satisfaction.
Instead, Andrew is surrounded by a strange and unexpected pocket of coldness in the middle of the solarium. It isn't enough to wilt the tropical plants, but maybe it forms the finest layer of steam as it humidifies.]
... I never regretted helping my family members be the best version of themselves, even if it didn't help break the loop in the end.
[ (They loved you, after all.
In that moment, they loved you.
Even if you forced them to.) ]
But that's different than here. I already... like the company of people here, so I don't think I can do it. It's just what I think someone I know might suggest.
[ As a heated jab at Siffrin's mutual frustration, leading into a quiet moment where neither of them apologize. ]
["I already like the people here," Sifrrin says, so without the same emotion for herself, Andrew offers,] I hope you continue to remember them, then.
We should see what else carries over. Biding time is boring, but if we last another week, we'll know to look for anything that remains.
[Notes, things hidden or carved into the building around them... there's little that probably escapes Ish's powers or the ticking of the clock. Finding out that much should be easy.]
(If you think about the equipment and memories you obtained while in the House of Change as the rewards The Witch offers you here, then that lines up.
... But otherwise, during full resets...
Nothing remains. Only what knowledge you gained, and even then... you had to follow in the right order, so your family members wouldn't be suspicious. You don't have to worry about that here, though.) ]
... Wanna carve into a tree and see if it sticks?
[ Like.
It probably won't. But it'd be a small thing to see if certain changes remain, or if it's a full wash. ]
That works. And I wouldn't mind somewhere to vent my frustration.
[It would be preferable if her feelings didn't pop up as storms or sunshine or starlight when they are one of very few things that truly belong to her and her alone.
She lifts her head in realization, bangs messy around her face.]
[Oh. There's a small exclamation point of light. She takes note of the ease with which they withdraw the knife from their cloak. It might be a workshop blade, but the movement isn't really striking Andrew as that of an amateur.]
First stop you made?
[She gracefully reaches out for the offered knife.]
[Though Andrew doesn't point out the obvious: that if Chu's words are all to be believed, one can be armed, one can even fight, and one might still die.]
I wonder at what point someone becomes capable of killing.
[ For a variety of reasons, but... the base is that, in Siffrin's eye. ]
... Everyone is capable of killing someone. But it's easier for some than others, I think. The, um. Threshold. Is lower, as... Odile might say. She said that about bargaining too.
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no subject
[She may be playing it a little dumb, leaning into their expertise - hoping to hear a framework before she has to betray whether she's thinking of one of her own.]
Won't remembering each other just make us more emotional in response to death?
no subject
[ Which
can maybe drive someone a little up the wall. Just maybe. ]
... Unlike every other loop, [ every other week, ] we have a chance to change things.
[ And if deaths stick... what else might? Could there be anything? Siffrin thinks of the bird they'd given him for Yoonhee's cigarette and wonder if The Witch still has it, or if he lost it in the reset too. ]
mental image of all of siff's birds in storage somewhere like the end of the prestige
And see what persists. I lost everything except for what the snake brought me. [Her knife, the bird, everything else... all gone. But no one had anything else belonging to them last week, had they? There was no indication they'd been around at all...]
I was rather cross for him for that. The bird wasn't his to take.
[She'd torn the wardrobe up a bit in searching for it.]
ahfnjsks i think limon would do it
You had already planned to make her another one, since she'd seemed to like the first one... but you definitely will now.) ]
Maybe it's because it's from him that it stuck. Like... it kept a piece of his essence. Um, his magic. We don't know if he's given rewards before, or if parts of the palace might've been it before.
i do too... i don't trust her
[She's not disagreeing with their assessment, but she does think there's a hole in the logic.]
We may be able to use this, but won't he? We care more when people we know die, don't we?
[...Don't we? The way she asks is a little distant, though, like there's something to the attachment she can't quite wrap her brain around.]
neither do i... and yet... let the birds continue
[ ... ]
We just don't get too close. That way, it doesn't hurt.
[ But that sounds pretty lonely, not to mention impossible, doesn't it. ]
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Instead, Andrew is surrounded by a strange and unexpected pocket of coldness in the middle of the solarium. It isn't enough to wilt the tropical plants, but maybe it forms the finest layer of steam as it humidifies.]
I wonder if doing that makes us already dead.
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The ponderment that does get posed just earns her a shrug, on the other hand. ]
If we're dead either way, then I guess it's just a matter of picking the way you want to go. Full of regrets... or standing alone.
KIDS CAN YOU LIGHTEN UP A LITTLE
She had felt it even then; how could Andrew have even been sure she was ever living when not a single mark was left behind in her hand?]
That's the question. Can you live with those regrets? Or die with them. [As the case may be.]
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[ (They loved you, after all.
In that moment, they loved you.
Even if you forced them to.) ]
But that's different than here. I already... like the company of people here, so I don't think I can do it. It's just what I think someone I know might suggest.
[ As a heated jab at Siffrin's mutual frustration, leading into a quiet moment where neither of them apologize. ]
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We should see what else carries over. Biding time is boring, but if we last another week, we'll know to look for anything that remains.
[Notes, things hidden or carved into the building around them... there's little that probably escapes Ish's powers or the ticking of the clock. Finding out that much should be easy.]
no subject
...
(If you think about the equipment and memories you obtained while in the House of Change as the rewards The Witch offers you here, then that lines up.
... But otherwise, during full resets...
Nothing remains. Only what knowledge you gained, and even then... you had to follow in the right order, so your family members wouldn't be suspicious. You don't have to worry about that here, though.) ]
... Wanna carve into a tree and see if it sticks?
[ Like.
It probably won't. But it'd be a small thing to see if certain changes remain, or if it's a full wash. ]
no subject
[It would be preferable if her feelings didn't pop up as storms or sunshine or starlight when they are one of very few things that truly belong to her and her alone.
She lifts her head in realization, bangs messy around her face.]
Ah, but I'll need another knife.
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Siffrin produces one from their cloak. There's undoubtedly a holster beneath it, for knife related purposes. It's from the workshop. ]
You can have mine.
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First stop you made?
[She gracefully reaches out for the offered knife.]
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[ Siffrin gave it a shot!
It felt empty not having a knife of some kind resting at their hip. Never again. Also, because I will remember this time if it kills me, Peace. ]
Though... I'd be surprised if more people didn't carry something, now. Just in case.
no subject
[Though Andrew doesn't point out the obvious: that if Chu's words are all to be believed, one can be armed, one can even fight, and one might still die.]
I wonder at what point someone becomes capable of killing.
no subject
[ For a variety of reasons, but... the base is that, in Siffrin's eye. ]
... Everyone is capable of killing someone. But it's easier for some than others, I think. The, um. Threshold. Is lower, as... Odile might say. She said that about bargaining too.