duel 5. ( anon text. )

[puzzlingly]

You know what fucking sucks?
The Speakeasy
The owner is never around.
Just Who Does SHE Think She Is?!?!?!
She can't do shit right around here.
WE HAVE NEEDS!
HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO STAND THIS HEAT WITHOUT MY BOOZE?!

「Hey, hey, Rey's friends... yeah, he's calling you out, come defend your friend, come show you care about her! He needs you... She needs you. Please.
The clock is ticking.

Yep, this is ruse. It WAS HARD, OK?! He feels terrible. It had to be done.」

Comments

[puzzlingly]

「Oh Shit. He sees her enter and the gun. Well, it's not subtle!

No worries, breathe in and out and all that, but damn he brings a hand over his deck, just to reassure himself. Yeah, you can bet he's going to summon a dragon on her if this gets out of hand. She can be spicy.」

Over here, Ellie.

「Surprise, surprise.」

[survivorsguilt]

['She can be spicy' is the understatement of the century.

Ellie half deflates when she spots Atem, confusion marring her features- until the fire springs back in them again, accompanied now by outrage and betrayal.]

What the fuck? Did you say all that awful shit?

[She strides over, doing her best to get all up in his face from her less than impressive height.]

[puzzlingly]

「Ellie, please, she's taller than he is. Her built might not be impressive but the attitude is, he remains as calm as he can anyway.」

Because I was trying to call the attention of people like you. Rey is not doing okay.

[survivorsguilt]

[Alright, now she's confused. Ellie scowls at him, but stutters over her words.]

I- what? What are you talking about?

[puzzlingly]

「He lets out a little sigh.」

She lost someone important and she's not taking that well. She's heartbroken.

「Depression is such a new term for him to use, so he won't use it.」

Look, the state she's in is not for just anyone to handle, I didn't want to ask for help in a regular fashion, I needed to call the attention of people who would really care about her.

「She's not only been hurting herself, she's unpredictable and not everyone likes getting yelled at when they are trying to help.」

[survivorsguilt]

[Ellie's expression crumbles. She takes a seat, suddenly feeling very heavy.]

Fuck. How bad is it? You make it sound like-

[She doesn't know how to finish that sentence.]

[puzzlingly]

「From the reaction, it seems she knows what he might be implying. It's not reassuring. It's a bit of an eye opener. Is this something people do often? His coping mechanisms are completely different.」

She's... given up, I guess.

「He's not sure what she would say, but that pretty much summarizes it.」

She's been hurting herself, she's not eating... I'm not sure what else to do for her. I'm not sure if you'd be able to help her either but, there must be something we can do.