It's... Things didn't end that great for us last time. Not as bad as for you, don't get me wrong, but - not great. [...] So since then, I've been thinking - it's horrible if things end the same way as last time, but it happens.
[Her usual way of thinking if that you should try for the best but assume the worst will happen, and that's always applied here. People dying is awful, certainly, but as long as they're all revived at the end - given her past experience, it would be acceptable even if it's abhorrent. The details they've been offered, though...]
Not everybody I came here with is on the same team. And I don't... I'm not accepting an outcome where we don't go home together. Not after what we just went through to get to this point.
[Wei Wuxian breathes in and sighs it back out, glancing back toward his pan and the contents in it. The smile on his face, which had softened to almost nonexistence, fades in its entirety for a moment - but he's already turned to look at his food by then.]
—It's an unacceptable outcome.
[But, you know. So was leaving behind two-thirds of the people they'd arrived with on the boat. The only thing they could do was abandon their dead with desperate promises to return.]
There are no inescapable situations. No way into something without there also being an exit. And no one being that holds supreme power over everything and everywhere else.
[Which is to say, despite his pessimism and the outcome of his last game, he refuses to accept a deadend scenario so soon.]
[From somebody who's lived through the worst outcome possible and still found some hope to grasp onto - who is she to say no to that, even if she were inclined to in the first place?]
I - just found them. I'm not leaving a single one of them behind.
[People who love her. People who always refused to leave her, no matter what she did. To put it simply - her family, after an entire life of begging for one.]
[(muffled sound of both of them laughing like the people in the paranoia agent opening)
He hums a little at that, though - a soft and lilting sound. Just the fact that he can make a difference with any hope he might have because of where he came from is a powerful thing, honestly. He'll chew on that a little more later.]
Mm. We'll all need to work together to have our best chance at overturning the outcome they want us to think we're looking at, here. [He turns back to face her then, and smiles.] Speaking for myself, at least, I'll do whatever I can to make sure no one is left behind.
[They sure aren't, and he sure hopes they don't squander it because they're panicking and have no idea how to utilize it properly! Haha.
But now isn't the time for pessimism or those sorts of concerns. He knows how much it takes out of someone to talk about the things that make you itch in your core. He understands the vulnerability she's showing him. Reaching out, he gently places a hand against her arm. Not for long, since he's sure she's just as discomforted by tactile gestures as she is prickly about emotional ones - but long enough that he hopes he can convey his gratitude and reassurance through it.]
It's a hard thing, to look at situations like this and believe there's hope when you've been shown that things are hopeless before. [There's a softness to those words, and to the smile he gives her.] There's a lot of strength in being able to recognize that. Deciding you don't want to keep thinking that way isn't always easy, but sometimes it's the best thing for you.
[There's a little tremble in her voice when she answers, even as she steels herself against that honestly terrifying sense of hope, of purpose.]
It's not about believing, or - trusting in anything at all. [Hm.] It's about how I'm going to rip that pink asshole's tongue out and choke them with it if they think they're going to ruin this for anyone I - love.
[That gets a laugh from him, bright and genuine. Violence is okay when it's violence against demonic voices, after all! Actually violence is okay in a lot of cases, but especially this one.]
Well said! Well said. For all of this, it's only fair that we give them hell, hm?
[Sometimes you just gotta kill a man to keep people safe, it happens.]
Mm, that's a good thing to hear. It's still early in this "game" of theirs, but you know? It says a lot about the people here that we can start off on this kind of foot even after everything.
[Even if it's just a coping mechanism so they don't fall into chaos and madness!!!]
[First off i hope she blew on it to cool it off first because potatoes are fckin nuclear with heat PLEASE DO NOT BURN YOUR MOUTH FROM SOMETHING FRESH OFF THE STOVE NATALIE!!!
Second, it will probably not go well...... He made it for himself so he didn't hold back much on the spice, beyond whatever limitations he has thanks to this place not having like, Sichuan levels of peppers. He also tried not to get too much of the sauce since then she'd have Concentrated Pepper with nothing to cut it. IT IS STILL VERY SPICY, THOUGH. But also tasty, if she can get past the burn!]
[She probably blew on it but also, she's suffering. Please save her and end her suffering. It is very clear from her expression that pain has entered her life, but the only response he gets is a very slow:]
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[He's quiet after that though, waiting patiently for her to find her words. And when she doesn't, he just smiles.]
Yes?
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[Her usual way of thinking if that you should try for the best but assume the worst will happen, and that's always applied here. People dying is awful, certainly, but as long as they're all revived at the end - given her past experience, it would be acceptable even if it's abhorrent. The details they've been offered, though...]
Not everybody I came here with is on the same team. And I don't... I'm not accepting an outcome where we don't go home together. Not after what we just went through to get to this point.
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—It's an unacceptable outcome.
[But, you know. So was leaving behind two-thirds of the people they'd arrived with on the boat. The only thing they could do was abandon their dead with desperate promises to return.]
There are no inescapable situations. No way into something without there also being an exit. And no one being that holds supreme power over everything and everywhere else.
[Which is to say, despite his pessimism and the outcome of his last game, he refuses to accept a deadend scenario so soon.]
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[From somebody who's lived through the worst outcome possible and still found some hope to grasp onto - who is she to say no to that, even if she were inclined to in the first place?]
I - just found them. I'm not leaving a single one of them behind.
[People who love her. People who always refused to leave her, no matter what she did. To put it simply - her family, after an entire life of begging for one.]
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He hums a little at that, though - a soft and lilting sound. Just the fact that he can make a difference with any hope he might have because of where he came from is a powerful thing, honestly. He'll chew on that a little more later.]
Mm. We'll all need to work together to have our best chance at overturning the outcome they want us to think we're looking at, here. [He turns back to face her then, and smiles.] Speaking for myself, at least, I'll do whatever I can to make sure no one is left behind.
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[But now, the biggest gift they've been given is time. She suspects that none of them are used to having enough of it.]
I've never really... been the type to think that things are going to change for the better. You know?
[It's an uncomfortable admission, an explanation of why this is so hard for her to clearly express, as she looks down.]
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But now isn't the time for pessimism or those sorts of concerns. He knows how much it takes out of someone to talk about the things that make you itch in your core. He understands the vulnerability she's showing him. Reaching out, he gently places a hand against her arm. Not for long, since he's sure she's just as discomforted by tactile gestures as she is prickly about emotional ones - but long enough that he hopes he can convey his gratitude and reassurance through it.]
It's a hard thing, to look at situations like this and believe there's hope when you've been shown that things are hopeless before. [There's a softness to those words, and to the smile he gives her.] There's a lot of strength in being able to recognize that. Deciding you don't want to keep thinking that way isn't always easy, but sometimes it's the best thing for you.
[Sometimes, it's all you can do.]
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It's not about believing, or - trusting in anything at all. [Hm.] It's about how I'm going to rip that pink asshole's tongue out and choke them with it if they think they're going to ruin this for anyone I - love.
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Well said! Well said. For all of this, it's only fair that we give them hell, hm?
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[The things that she did last game to keep them safe are nearly incomparable to their current situation, but she’d do them again all the same.]
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Mm, that's a good thing to hear. It's still early in this "game" of theirs, but you know? It says a lot about the people here that we can start off on this kind of foot even after everything.
[Even if it's just a coping mechanism so they don't fall into chaos and madness!!!]
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[Praise is hard.]
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Did you come here to make yourself something? You can have a share of mine, if you want. I made it to my own tastes, though.
[If she looks at the pan, whatever's inside is an eye-searing shade of red...]
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[She may be able to pick up some notes of garlic and ginger beneath the Heavy Pepper Smell.]
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[squints]
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[Wrong, actually, wrong and bad.]
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Can I try a bite first?
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[So he can go fetch a little spoon for her! He will pull up a little piece of potato which looks just as red as everything else.]
Here you go.
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Second, it will probably not go well...... He made it for himself so he didn't hold back much on the spice, beyond whatever limitations he has thanks to this place not having like, Sichuan levels of peppers. He also tried not to get too much of the sauce since then she'd have Concentrated Pepper with nothing to cut it. IT IS STILL VERY SPICY, THOUGH. But also tasty, if she can get past the burn!]
So? What do you think? How is it?
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...Good.
[she ain't weak]
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Ah! Really? You think so? I'm glad! Most people don't like this level of heat, haha.
[HE CAN TELL FROM HER EXPRESSION THAT SHE DOESN'T EITHER but he won't call her out. It's a kindness for the compliment.]
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