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]

「By the Gods, she gets it. He seems to lose some of the tension he's been holding though he makes no comment on it, and at the obvious sarcasm, there is a bit of a forced smirk.」

I think... We should team up.

「Teamwork is infallible, right? He's seen it work in so many different occasions and circumstances, why wouldn't it work now? Besides, Lance suggested it, in a way, right? What could possibly go wrong?」

[hasitsthorns]

[ ... Hm. He's got a point. Two of them working to get Rey back to her former self is definitely going to be better than them doing it separately. This was they can stay on the same page and not counteract each other. Maybe. It can be hard to tell with Rey sometimes the way that things will go. The unpredictability was sometimes almost admirable. Part of why she was such a good fighter, Rose is sure. ]

How do you propose we do that?

[puzzlingly]

I'm not sure... How strong are you? 「Is he for real? Maybe? Look, he's desperate.」

[hasitsthorns]

[ Uh. Rose blinks. That's a random question, but- ]

About as strong as like... three dudes, I think. Usually. Might be a little rusty, these days.

[puzzlingly]

「What kind of dudes, dude? Look at him, he's a dude, and he's like half her size and weight...

Anyway.」

Rey, she can get... kind of difficult.

「Though, that's something that makes him wonder. Rey could have thrown him away forcefully, she could have hurt him, maybe she truly didn't have the energy to throw him away, or she didn't care, but in the end, she had the choice.」

[hasitsthorns]

[ ... Dudes bigger than Atem, that's for sure. The average muscular male. ]

You're telling me. Drives me crazy, sometimes.

[ Maybe that's why she can't seem to stay away though. Rose always found the bad decisions a lot more fun than the sensible ones and that rings true here too. ]

What do you wanna' do about it?

[puzzlingly]

「Okay, phew.」

... What can we do? 「He might sound a little desperate there, despite of the incredibly forced tone of, everything is fine.」 She hasn't left the floor for weeks now...

「Forcing her to take a bath or eat shouldn't be a conversation topic, but hey... 」

Can't force someone to live if they don't want to...

「:(」

cw: mention of past suicide attempt

[hasitsthorns]

Of course you can, [ she counters. Rose, as some people know, has a bit of personal experience. ] Hiruma did it to me and I'll do it to Rey.

He got my ass up and in shape when I tried to off myself in Haven. And when I tried to do it here, it was Rey who made me come to my senses. So the least I can do is return the favor. It's not gonna' be easy and she might not appreciate it, but-

I'll do what I have to to lift her back up.

cw: mention of past suicide attempt

[puzzlingly]

「You can...? He supposes that shows the little experience he's got with this sort of thing.」

Please do it.

「He'll have to wonder later why she'd even think of death as an answer, mind you, only because it was something he had done before. He gave up his life for a supposed better future, not even knowing if it would work or not. Didn't it make him look like a hero or so? There is much more than simply sacrificing oneself altruistically, there is no such thing, he wanted to live, but not even he was devoid of monsters inside. He will never say it, even dare to think about it... How desperate he was then, how he chose death not only because it was the only option they had left, but because he didn't know how he'd go on without the people he loved. He couldn't save them, they made his choice easier.」

How can I help you?

「With Rey, of course.」

[hasitsthorns]

[ Rose wishes she didn't have personal, first-hand experience with wanting to die. But she does and it's proven... strangely useful. While she'll never be glad for it, she can't deny that it's come in handy recently. ]

Just be there for Rey as best as you can. That's really all any of us can do. Even if she hates it, we gotta' get her up and doing stuff and... finding a reason to go on again.

[ An idea, then. ]

Your post had a point, you know. Maybe we should remind her about the Speakeasy. Set up another dance night or something. I could help. It'd be cool.

[puzzlingly]

「That's actually reassuring, for the first time in weeks he believes something can be done, enough for him to relax 」

I will.

「She can bet he will do all he can.」

You think she'd be interested in that again?

[hasitsthorns]

[ Rose is happy to help however she can. Genuinely. ]

I don't know, but it's worth a shot. Rey seemed to enjoy it before... everything went to hell.

[puzzlingly]

We'll bring her back from there.

「He gives her little smile. Not quite there yet, but it will be.」

It will be hard but together, we can do it.

「He's just trying to reassure himself. And he slides off the booth.」

There is a lot to do, we better start, right?

[hasitsthorns]

[ The only way to go is up. As someone who's been at complete rock bottom, Rose should know. ]

I think so. And I'm sure it won't be only us going it either. Rey's got a lot of people lookin' out for her, whether she likes it or not.

[puzzlingly]

「Whether she likes it or not is something that he cannot still get totally behind, that's how he used to do things but now when he had learned not to do that, it seems a little contradictory, but she seems to know what to do, he'll trust her.」

If you can manage to make her drink more than alcohol it'll be a start.