DAY 6 (POST TRIAL) ALFENDI & SHIJIMA & BIGBY & ELIZABETH & ALICE

[selfdenying]

[Well, what a trial. Back and forth accusations between several people, a search for wounds, inquiries galore, the discovery that Bigby has weird kinks, Adam's sudden confession...it was one giant rollercoaster, but somehow, they've all made it. Somehow, this apartment is still ticking away with its strange inhabitants, now plus one in the form of Elizabeth.]

[Alfendi seems pleased by the whole affair- outwardly, at least. Once they've all gathered, he pulls out Bigby's whiskey bottle from last time, offering it to his fellow roommates (and Liz) with a devilish smile. It looks like his nicer side still isn't ready to come out - and honestly, he still looks sickly, but he's in a good mood.]

[He lets out a laugh.]

Well, I'm pretty sure I'm going to die. I don't suppose anyone is going to help me write my last will and testament?

[Another laugh as he sits on the edge of the couch, smiling wide,]

Anyways, never mind that, we're not out of the woods yet. We may have caught the guilty party, but there are still a few rats running around. What are everyone's thoughts on the matter? [A beat, as he glances to their newest occupant.] Also, before I forget, I just wanted to give a warm welcome to Elizabeth. You definitely came to the right place.

Comments

[selfsufficiency]

...I wonder if there are other ways to remember things like that, too. Maybe behind one of the locked doors.

[It might be better if they could regain their memories other ways because sooner or later they're going to run out of people to put in the execution room...]

[selfsufficiency]

Like Elizabeth said, just do us a favor and don't reopen your wounds.

[Alice winks.]

It would be really annoying if you actually did die, so you're not allowed to do that. [In other words, she's also glad he survived? 10/10, would leap to his defense in a trial again.]

I've decided to think of all of you as my comrades, so don't you go abandoning us.

[tearable]

Not sure, but I wish I didn't get this memory back.

[ Its distracting her and taking her mind away from what matters: finding the staff members. ]

I'm going to go try and find Angel, give her time to rest before talking.

[selfsufficiency]

Oh? It's that bad?

[...huh. If they're bad memories, that might explain why the other executioner hasn't talked about it, either. Idly, Alice wonders if they all have bad memories or if Elizabeth is just unlucky.]

That's a good idea. Even if Rhys seems shady and Jacky's sort of weird, Angel herself is probably trustworthy. If she says she remembered something too, she'll probably be telling the truth.

[tearable]

There's a lot at stake and I need to keep you - [ It's almost... odd how she emphasizes that. ] and the others safe. We're all trying to get the staff members on stage but Adam - I don't know. I feel like there was more to this than I'd be lead to believe. Numbers, Alice, that's where our fault is. We're dividing our numbers.

[ Please stop her. ]

I'll tell you all what I find out, see if I'm some poor sap for more muddy complications in this by getting a memory back.

[selfsufficiency]

[Any other time, Alice would probably pick up on that emphasis - but it's late, she's sick from that stupid water, and there's so much going on that her head is spinning. She vaguely makes note of it, but she'll ask Elizabeth about that later, assuming they both live through the night.

So far there's been a day between each kill - she hopes it stays that way.]

...it's easy to divide us when there are people we can't really trust hanging around. [She sighs.] It might be a numbers game, but who says we're not outnumbered already?

[It would be a scary thought, if Alice was the type to get scared.]

Thanks, Elizabeth. You're not too bad, you know. ♡

[She'd already decided that, of course - she would have thrown a fit about Bigby inviting her here if she hadn't - but it's worth saying it out loud, at least.]

[tearable]

Mob mentality.

[ Elizabeth readjusts her focus. She takes a seat onto the floor now, careful with her back hitting the wall. ]

Psychologists believe it's a loss of self-awareness - you become greater than the individual. They lose sense of their own morals and instead, feel an emotional excitement that sparks them. A rush, if you will. Besides Bigby's unfortunate luck of the draw with Kei, I believe this room - and a few others - exhibit the same alignment of goals: to truly get out of here alive. If we have that sway, it'll crack through like electricity among us. I'm not saying... we'll always be accurate...

[ Elizabeth just doesn't believe in herself enough right now to be for certain. ]

But there is no doubt they're able to sway the votes with four or just bringing up theories.

[ And on a serious note: ]

I kept my vote for Ciel, just as a by the way.

[selfsufficiency]

[Alice's ultimate goal has been to get herself out alive, but for the time being, she doesn't mind making sure these other four get out along with her. So she nods. What Elizabeth is saying makes a certain amount of sense.]

...if it is just the four of them left, then with you, this apartment outnumbers the staff members, at least.

[But then, with the other six - or five, now that Franziska is dead... well, maybe if they can find them, they can get them more firmly on their side than just being anti-staff would make them.]

But it's not just staff members we need to worry about. Cici's already suspicious of me and Shijima because we get along. [Then again, he did bring that up after he was on the chopping block, so that should be taken with a grain of salt.] As things get worse, people will panic and start to point fingers at anyone who presents a unified front.

Which is pretty stupid. They should just beg for us to protect them, instead. ♡

[She shrugs.]

...I still think Cici's pretty suspicious, but Adam had decided that he was going to be useless, so I felt like it was better to get rid of him than to go about making a point. But, if nobody else seems more suspicious next time... I'll try and point out the things that make him suspicious again.

[tearable]

Then we make sure the staff can't rally anymore to their cause.

[ She thinks calculative, wondering if this is how Rosalind Lutece had to look at situations before she made a damn city fly into the atmosphere. She hopes, in some weird way, she's making her proud. ]

I believe Ciel has something to hide - perhaps the one who equipped Kei? He can't seem to fight his own battles, after all.

[ Despite Alice going forth and sounding ominous with the protection line, Elizabeth agrees. ]

Painting a target on our backs for pushing the subject after Adam confesses... it would be bad, yes. So, we play off each other. It's like poker - wait for them to show their bluff and then call it.

[puffing]

The fact that I can tempt you into throwing up is both fucked up and weird.

[ is he going to shove a finger down his throat?? because really. ]

You can, yeah. And I can also find something worse than a shoe to throw at you next time. Sit down and shut up. You're already going one part, so handle the rest.

[liven]

Whatever the case, there's nothing to do but watch and wait and refine our arguments until the next time. And hope that the lot of us survive to trial once more, I suppose. We cannot actually rely on one of us waking and killing the threat on the regular.

[ UNFORTUNATELY. ]

[puffing]

I'll take Angel looking at it over Rhys, yeah. But she may or may not be for it depending on how well she handles killing someone.

[ a shrug. everyone takes to it in different ways. Sakyou seemed to be indifferent, Elizabeth was... scarred, to say the least and he hadn't talked to Angel enough to see how she would react to it at all. they'll find out by tomorrow. ]

Surprised Judy let you do that. Better than him getting shocked to death because he couldn't vote, though. Here's to hoping he wasn't partial to Adam or anything...

[ oops ]

[puffing]

Don't get a big d― ehhh, nevermind.

[ grumble, grumble. at least he's trying to mind his mouth around her more. ]

I didn't keep anyone. This all some kind of... natural development.

[puffing]

Of course you do.

[puffing]

I guess. Wouldn't hurt if at least one of you wasn't so damn confident about it.

[ including him. hypocrite. ]

[puffing]

Do you even know how to use a whip? Should I be comforted by the fact that you might know how to use a whip of all things?

[ because really. it is a whip. ]

[liven]

Don't pretend like you don't. At least our room is full of useful people.

[puffing]

You're so sweet.

[ she is! in her own, unique way. Bigby almost sounds halfway genuine. ]

[puffing]

I don't know. I'm sure the staff was intent on seeing one of them die. Could have very well been a kill-or-be-killed situation. If that's the case, Adam had even less of a reason not to do what he did.

[ he's all for killing under the right causes, okay. Bigby's done it here and he's done it more than enough back in Fabletown. ]

Mm. The only thing I didn't like was how confident he was that we were all fucking up. You obviously had the right idea from the get-go, but I guess people had a problem with believing things to be too expected.

[liven]

He simply didn't want to admit that Alice and Alfendi and I were correct that he was a killer. And everyone else who concurred...but if he wanted to die believing he'd pulled the wool over our eyes or whatever, what of it. At least he won't be a nuisance any longer. He was only going to be a liability with his mindset at the end.

[ shijima is a dick, news at eleven ]

And perhaps the staff was intent on that. However, he still chose to play their game. I do not think much of that.

[tearable]

Still benefitted you. Be thankful you have someone.

[selfsufficiency]

...that's true.

[Alice imagines that after Kei's botched assassination gave Bigby the chance to kill him instead, anyone else who gets sent out to do their own killing will be instructed to go for the lethal blow immediately. It's how she would do it, after all, if she was the one doing the killing.]

The stabbing woke him up, but I don't think we have the resources to keep patching ourselves up even if we could rig something to drop at a certain time of night and stab one of us so we'd be awake...

[Alice?? that's extreme.]

[selfsufficiency]

I hope she'll be alright.

[Because it would be boring if having to kill someone broke her, honestly.]

I'm sort of surprised too! But technically, he was the one who voted. I was just the one moving his hand on the screen. ♡

[selfsufficiency]

I had to use something to keep my pets in line when they were too big or too far away for my riding crop, didn't I? ♡

[please stop her

immediately]

[liven]

I'd say we should set up a trap for intruders, but if Judy works for those people and monitors us, she might tell them about it. It might be worth doing anyway.