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

[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. ]

[potentite]

Me too. I like being able to do what I want but... [He sighs. He has a lot of complicated feelings on this.] Well, I don't think anyone too reckless is left, maybe, so hopefully we'll all pair up at the least from now on. Do the bandages feel all right?

[ninjay]

They're fine, thank you.

[ there's a bit of a pause, before, ]

I'm the Explorer, by the way.

[potentite]

[He gasps and it's not because Jay finally trusts him.] You're so lucky! I wanted that one! Is the map cool?

[ninjay]

It could be better.

[ HE SOUNDS SO DEFLATED ]

[potentite]

That's such a shame. I thought it would be like that map in Harry Potter... where you can see all the secret passages and where everyone is and all that.

[ninjay]

All it really does is tell me what everything is. So I know what all the locked and burnt places are already, but other than that it's been a pretty useless item to have.

[potentite]

Oh! Then you know that one room on the first floor?

[ninjay]

It's something called a curio shop. I have no idea why something like that would have to be kept so secret though.

[potentite]

Oh, well huh. A curio is a knick-knack, like, um, antiques and trinkets, souvenirs, that sort of thing. We could probably find out a bit more about the town from seeing a shop like that but... I'm not sure why the secrecy.

[ninjay]

There might be more to that room then... not like we'll ever find out now.

[ since a certain SOMEONE with a KEY just had to go and DIE ]

[potentite]

Ah, that's right. You made it sound like you don't think the Copycat is on our side? [He was going to suggest maybe they could ask them but.]