QUASIPLATONICROMANTIC NOT-MESS

[chanteuser]

i'm still wheezing y'all

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[robopriest]

...Oh come on, would you really allow him to do that? What if it doesn't work? You can't just...

[He shakes his head. EMET...PLEASE.......]

[chanteuser]

There's a chance it'll be either Archer or me, Hansa. A pretty high one.

[ she can't really say why, but -- ]

At the very least, we need to be prepared for the possibility. On both sides.

[robopriest]

...

[He swallows, reaching out to grasp her hand.]

Let me guess. Your team doesn't have...a lot left.

[chanteuser]

No. We're fine, numbers wise.

[ she squeezes his tightly. ]

But... there's still a pretty high chance, if someone knows who all of us are.

[robopriest]

Are there people who know who the other teams are? If so, then you both have a target on your backs.

[And he doesn't want to think of it like that. His hand trembles.]

[chanteuser]

There are. If... I'm right about which team needs to kill, then I know a person in each, and they know me.

... I don't know if they'd use that, or find an alternative, but it's always a possibility.

[ she shifts so she's holding his hand with both of hers. ]

I'd rather all of us knew where we are right now, with the rules and what's happening. Rather than being blindsided by it on Friday. It's not just us who are at risk, you know. If someone's worked out who's on other teams then...

[ it really could be any of them ]

[robopriest]

...I wish I could do something. But our team already has two kills, and its not like...not like me deciding to stand in the way of whoever might go after you will help everyone else, and...

[He shakes his head, over and over.]

I don't like...feeling so helpless.

[chanteuser]

Same. Our team can’t get involved anymore now either.

[ she moves up, letting go of his hand so she can wrap her arms around his shoulders instead, one hand cradling the back of his head. ]

We’re... a bit trapped, aren’t we.

[robopriest]

Mmm.

[He embraces her, sighing as he rests his head against her.]

So we are. Its terrible, really. And that in and of itself is an understatement.

[chanteuser]

[ she kisses the top of his head. ]

A little, yeah.

[ ... ]

I wonder if we were all like this every other time we went through this.

[robopriest]

Hm?

[He glances up.]

I don't know. All four of us...? It seems a bit of a stretch, but...perhaps?

[chanteuser]

[ hmmm ]

Maybe? But it feels pretty normal now. It’s weird to think it might not have happened. Any of this.

[ depending on what happened, who spoke to who... ]

[robopriest]

Haha, well, regardless of what happened...I think its just good fortune we all found each other this time.

[This OT4 makes him very happy. He loves all of them so much.]

[chanteuser]

[ hey poison can you be gone so she can kiss her boyfriend properly? he’s being soft and she doesn’t know which parts of him aren’t actually metal and not immune to poison ]

Right. [ the last time’s the most important — they have to make it stick ]

It’s... good. That this all worked out the way it did. [ this... knowledge of not being alone and having it be firm and steady, and not riddled with doubt. that’s so incredibly precious to her. of being surrounded by people and never feeling like she shouldn’t be there. ]

[arkitect]

And if it does not work, then what recourse will we have left to us anyway? If none can be saved, then what will it all have been worth to you, Hansa?

I understand well enough when concessions must be made for the sake of the whole.

[if anyone went behind his back to do this, however, he might just kill them over that.]

[robopriest]

...

[He just puts his head in his hands and sighs.]

I know that too, Emet-Selch. I mean...if it's our only option...

[But he hates it, all the same.]

[arkitect]

[...he sets a hand on hansa's shoulder.]

My people gave of themselves believing in the purpose for which they offered their lives. In the rest of us, for our ability to see it through.

[hey guess who has NO idea how reassuring this isn't.]

There are-- times where it is necessary to place the path forward in others' hands, and there are times it is necessary for those given that burden to carry it in their place.

[robopriest]

[Yeah. Maybe weeks ago, he would've offered his own words. Said something about the Lord, and how great sacrifice is necessary. To die for other's sins, to do something for the many.]

[But of course, he has nothing now. No words to fall back on. Just him, and his emotions.]

I understand.

[He says, after a long moment. Sure, he hates hearing all of that, especially from Emet, of all people. He saw the end. Sacrifice in the end for him was...]

[He frowns, but he raises a hand to place over the other's. He won't go into it, now. He can't.]

I just wish I could do something to make sure that path others are taking isn't in vain.

[arkitect]

[this is one of the instances where he'll give a little more-- his fingers curl around hansa's.]

All we can do is what we have already done thus far. We must continue.