week 2

[airlockedmods]

Week 2

[It's been about a week since the Champions woke up in their new consumerist hellscape of a temporary home and, despite a few odd goings on and the bomb incident with Church and Nari, things haven't been as bad as they could be. No one is even dead yet! But let's see how long that lasts.

Enjoy your week, Champions.]

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

(( Also, don't forget to submit your AC and item rolls! You can also bother your Overseer here. ))

Comments

[serrata]

It's chocolate. To say thank you, for everything you've been doing for me.

[ And it's as simple as that, apparently. ]

[burninglight]

Are...you sure about that?

[Ardyn moved as if to take it, hand stopping short like he expected the box to catch fire and burn him.]

[serrata]

Absolutely sure. I wouldn't have made them if I wasn't.

[ she gives the box a tiny shake as if to try and further entice him into actually taking them. ]

[burninglight]

[Hesitating a second or two more, Ardyn reached out almost cautiously to accept it.]

I-...thank you, I suppose?

[serrata]

No, I should be the one thanking you. This last week... god, it's not even been a full week, has it? But it's been awful and I'm not going to pretend otherwise. And I don't know what sort of shape I'd be in if I was dealing with it all by myself. So.

[ She's not really sure what she intends to do. The polite thing to do would be to bow, wouldn't it? But for once, Yuuri doesn't find herself doing the polite thing.

She finds herself stepping forward to give him a hug. ]

Thank you. So much.

[burninglight]

[Ardyn froze solid at the contact, as if all thought processes and functions had completely crashed. How long had it really been since he'd had any meaningful human contact? Since he'd felt anything other than the chill of death in an undead body made of pure malice?]

[...How long had it been since someone had so much as pretended to care for him?]

[serrata]

[ She doesn't hold on for too long -- partly because she can sort of tell he doesn't know what to do and mostly because she doesn't want any of the rampant shippers in this mall to get the wrong idea.

She steps back and gives him her best attempt at a smile. It's certainly more sincere than the ones she's been wearing most of the day. ]

There. Now I feel like I've done Valentine's properly.

[burninglight]

...

[He was back to staring at Yuuri like he had no idea what to make of her, struggling to process what had just happened.]

I-I...why did you...?

[serrata]

... it just seemed like the right sort of thing to do?

[ Though now she's starting to look a little worried. ]

I'm sorry, should-- should I not have...?

[burninglight]

I...didn't mean-

[ardyn.exe has encountered an error]

You...didn't do anything wrong. I just...don't understand why.

[serrata]

[ A little more reassured now she hasn't committed any major social faux pas, Yuuri manages to crack another smile. It's a sad sort of smile because... well, no one should react like that just to getting a hug and some chocolates. But apparently, this is what happens when anyone bothers to show the Champion Patriarch that they care. ]

I just wanted to say thank you. Do I really need any other reason for it?

[burninglight]

...Yes?

[obviously???]

I don't understand. We've been over this, I'm a monster and a supervillain and all manner of unpleasant things. Why are you doing this?

[serrata]

Really?

[ She just tilts her head. Her smile looks a little satisfied, almost and there's something challenging about her expression. ]

You haven't been very monstrous so far.

[burninglight]

So? Why take the chance at all, knowing that I could be?

[serrata]

If you're going to start that, why take the chance at doing anything?

[ She holds her hands out, gesturing as if to encompass the whole idea of this, the situation they've found themselves in. ]

That rule seven was there from the very start, so why bother trying to keep ourselves together, when there's a chance someone might take the bait? Why bother taking food from anyone this week, when we've all been given secrets they think we'd kill for? Why trust anyone, when it would be the easiest thing in the world to slip someone poison?

[ Her eyes are bright and fierce. ]

I don't want to live like that. I don't want to shut myself away and just survive when it only takes a little bit more effort to live.