week 3, wednesday

[ninjay]

[ jay returned to the room tuesday night extremely late and covered in what appears to be blood and guts. the left sleeve of his shirt was also torn, as if something clawed or bit through it. if jake had tried to get anything out of him, he would only have answered with a "not now" before immediately going into the bathroom to get less fucking gross and then he promptly went the fuck to sleep.

on wednesday he spent the day primarily holed up in the room, sleeping for most of the day. he does not explain what the hell happen until about evening when he finally looks towards jake. ]

Hey. I need your help with something.

Comments

[ninjay]

She called it a dog. It had a collar, like a dog.

[ it was not a goddamn dog. ]

It was this gigantic beast that almost ate Kaito. I don't even know how to begin to describe it other than it's a miracle we made it out of there alive.

[potentite]

[Oh, well, he's both glad and sad it's not a dog.]

I'm concerned that despite doing away with her, she seems to have shown up with a pet.

[ninjay]

Her pet's dead, which she didn't sound thrilled about.

[ he winces as jake works on his wound. ]

She knocked us out immediately after and we woke up in Kaito's room.

[potentite]

Oh! You managed to slay the beast? Excellent! That is one less creature at least.

[Jake finishes cleaning it, seeming satisfied finally, before he starts to wrap it, slow and careful and firm.]

[ninjay]

I was wearing it when I came in here yesterday.

[ he's referring to all the blood and guts that was on him. ]

[potentite]

How did you manage it? [He isn't trying to pry but he's still a little concerned about the fact that the sewer goddess doesn't seem to want to stay dead.]

[ninjay]

I... can't say.

[ he at least looks apologetic. ]

I wasn't told how much about that I'm allowed to reveal. I'm sorry.

[potentite]

[He shakes his head, smiling.]

It's all right. I'm glad you're both safe at least. Is Kaito injured as well?

[ninjay]

His arm is, it's in a sling. He also fell from pretty high up, so he's probably bruised.

[ a pause, and then, ]

Yukina was with us as well. I don't think she's going to be out much the next few days, but... well. You'll see either on Friday or Saturday.

[potentite]

[He frowns.] Well... as long as it's all things that will heal soon enough...

[He'd feel awful for them having to deal with being at the same disadvantage as he and Andersen are now.]

Did you find anything that might help us?

[ninjay]

We didn't have any time to explore, really. When we came in, we discovered the creature was asleep so we had to move quietly. But the acoustics of the place was damn awful, so it woke up anyway.

[ who builds libraries to be so noisy holy crap ]

But... The woman, she said something that makes me think that we'll be able to look through the library starting next week, since we killed its guard.

[potentite]

That would be nice. I'd like to take a look myself if there isn't any danger next week.

[Since, well, he can't fight very well like this. And Jay knows he has a weapon but he'd rather not reveal that to everyone.]

A library has to have something of note.

[ninjay]

Just know that it'll probably be messy.

[ at least they didn't accidentally burn it down like the people who explored the church did. ]

[potentite]

It's okay, I'm used to gore. The important part is that you slayed the beast and we're free to explore and plumb the depths of archaic knowledge.

[ninjay]

I hope it wasn't a complete waste of time.

... Although I can't say I regret going. I'm sure if someone attempted to go in by themselves, they would have died.

[potentite]

[He finishes securing the bandages and nods.] I'm really glad you had each other's backs. No one should do anything alone here, no matter how simple it seems.

[There's a slight frown on his face. He's kind of mad at Dave but. Dave is dead, so.]

[ninjay]

[ jay can... follow that line of thinking. he's quiet for a moment, like he's heavily debating what to say next. ]

Do you have any idea who the Copycat might be?

[potentite]

[He hesitates.] I think I know, yeah. I'm not... sure, though. But... it just seems probable.

[ninjay]

I'm asking because whoever it is copied either Dave's or Kaito's role before Dave died. And given what Dave's role is, it's more likely to be his. Which is why I'm concerned.

[potentite]

Emily told me that Dave told her he had a different role once.

[ninjay]

What role did he tell her?

[ jay isn't surprised, even if doing that is risky because the moment people find out you're lying you'll be in a bad position.

not like it matters for dave, since he's dead. ]

[potentite]

[Honestly Jake can't believe how easily Emily told him that either.]

He didn't say or... if he did she didn't mention that part. I was speculating on roles and she said that much but what she said he said was interesting? "I was for a while." She didn't pin it on the Copycat.

[ninjay]

That's... interesting. It's a shame we can't ask him.

[ or ask him... anything at all... since he's dead. ]

Is it bad that I'm annoyed with him for dying like that? If he wasn't by himself, he probably would have lived.

[potentite]

Unless it's bad for me to be, too. I haven't said as much to Dirk, since, um, well... [It seems very rude to tell him his dead brother made him mad?] But... he refused to let Dirk help him. It's so pointless. He didn't have to die. He could have at least asked Kaito or... or Velvet maybe or... I don't know.

[ninjay]

I understand not wanting to rely on others. I really, really do, but... it's suicide to explore by yourself here. Your venture with Andersen proved that.

[ he inspects jake's work to make sure he did everything properly. ]