15 Strangers r7 PC: Week Five, Hubert, Wednesday/Thursday

[jinglebros]

(CW: blatant murder planning)

[ Aoi shows up at Hubert's door without even a note, knocking hard and frantically. He's a mess and it shows, he's not even thinking through his usual subterfuge. ]

Comments

[pegasinister]

[hes slow enough to answer that it's clear he's sleeping. Not that it's hard to wake him, as the door opens before overly long. Hubert, barefoot and stripped to the waist, hair sticking up at unflattering angles. He eyes Aoi for a bare moment before yanking him inside and closing the door.

If he's being this loud something must have Happened]

[jinglebros]

[ If he's not immediately flirting with Hubert when he looks like that, something must have happened! And that's not what's happening here. Aoi roams around the room, pulling at his hair, barely glancing at Hubert. ]

What the fuck, what the fuck...!

[pegasinister]

[and Hubert catches him as he's paced by him, turning him so they are face to face]

What? What happened?

[jinglebros]

[ Aoi lets himself be caught, chewing on his lip as he looks into Hubert's eyes. ]

I SHIFTed. That's not supposed to be possible, I'm a receiver, I can't do that, I can't - !

[pegasinister]

['Tell him' his conscious screams. 'Tell him about Zeta'

But he can't]

Are you sure? Sit, start at the beginning.

[jinglebros]

I don't want to sit.

[ Aoi is gonna have to be guided to sit if Hubert wants it. ]

I was going along fine, then I found myself at the beginning of the game again. Except things were different. I found myself writing letters to myself...

[pegasinister]

[He was starting to do just that, but stops at the revelation]

...you became the you that told you about me.

[jinglebros]

Exactly.

And then - everything went so wrong and terrible - is that what you went through?

[pegasinister]

Possibly. I would hate to think there was a third loop.

Everything... fell apart at the end. We did not have nearly as many visions or messages from other groups. Not until it was far too late to change anything.

We were doomed from the start.

[jinglebros]

Yeah, I know. I...

[ He pinches the bridge of his nose. ]

I know.

But do you know what I have to do now?

[pegasinister]

...I don't.

[Dread]

[jinglebros]

I've been cultivating a victim since the beginning, just in case.

I'm going to have to kill Zack.

[pegasinister]

[It feels like his heart stops]

Absolutely not.

Post-murder

[jinglebros]

[ Aoi is bleeding from the head as they come into Hubert's room, post committing the deed. He's swearing a lot. ]

Why the fuck did that go so wrong?! It was a simple murder!

[pegasinister]

[Hubert is just as tense and stressed, eyes narrowed to nearly slits]

Was that the advanced version of his power as the One?! Damn him, he had to make this more complicated than it needed to be-!

[Any guilt or grief he had for the poor man was erased by his own anger and fear. The hadn't planned for this at all]

[jinglebros]

We're gonna get caught, we're gonna get caught -

[ Freaking out like this is not like Aoi at all. He'd be tearing at his hair again, but his head is bleeding enough already. ]

[pegasinister]

Aoi. Stop.

[He takes his hands and pries them away from his hair]

You're bleeding.

[jinglebros]

[ Aoi stops and tries to take a deep breath. ]

Is it close enough to the old injury that we can hide it?

[ It is. ]

[pegasinister]

It seems to be. I can stitch it if we need to.

We can salvage this. All we need to do is put on an acceptable show, the ending is the same either way.

[jinglebros]

Maybe that's why it's bleeding so much, it triggered the old injury.

[ He exhales. ]

You're right. Should - should we leave something behind to guide them once we're... gone?

[pegasinister]

...I think so, yes. There's no way of knowing what will and won't come out at trial. Moriarty... was proof of that.

[jinglebros]

We need proof that we know what we're talking about.

[pegasinister]

[He tilts his head back in thought]

Proof... that may be difficult.

[jinglebros]

Will my notes to myself help?

[pegasinister]

They might. Certainly can't hurt.

... but in the end, once it is done it is done. They will flounder or flourish on their own.

[He walks away a bit to grab his holy water flask and his handkerchief, wetting it before coming back]

Let me see the wound.