TERRACE Draft - Remaining Days

[lucetimods]

Who: All Draftees
What: All hell breaks loose
When: From the 27th to the 1st.
Where: TERRACE!
Summary: Information post here
Rating: Varies on thread, please mark explicit material.

This post covers the second to sixth day! Be sure to check the info post on the timeline to know what's up. At 2AM on the 27th, the attack will break out while most people are sleeping. Be sure to use the above info post for any plotting needs you might have. Enjoy!

Some random NPC quotes about the island itself.

Be sure to tag this post appropriately: [canon] character name

Comments

[gleamed]

[ She doesn't hesitate this time, reaching out to set a gentle hand on his knee. Her hands were shaking, but not because she was nervous. She was scared, for him. What had happened that he wanted to forget? Whatever it was, it had clearly taken its toll. ]

No, it can't. [ Reflexively, her other hand tucks her hair behind her ear, a note of regret in her voice. ] Though...I'm starting to wish it could.

[ If her hair could heal minds, maybe Asch wouldn't be suffering right now. And maybe...she could forget the horrors she had seen here.

But... ]

...But is forgetting really better?

[dissonates]

[He does nothing for a long moment, then quietly opens his eyes, glancing down at the hand on his knee. There are a select few that he'd accept comfort from that, even after changing so much in the last few years; it's honestly surprising, that she'd be one of them. He wonders if she has any idea.

Finally, finally he looks over at her again, trying to will his emotions back to the corner of his mind, the way he'd always done - where they belong. Where they're safe.]

It can't possibly be worse.

[gleamed]

[ She wanted to have a sound response to that, a piece of hopeful advice she could give. But in all honesty, she was feeling the weight of everything come down on her, too. On the one hand, she regretted that, the fact that she couldn't say something brimming with hope and encouragement. But on the other hand, the thought of such words felt false on the back of her tongue. He didn't need to hear how everything was going to get all better. He didn't. ]

Maybe. [ It could or it couldn't. Maybe it depended on the person. That was beside the point. ] But memories make us who we are.

[dissonates]

[He wants to laugh at that, bitterly and without humour, but doing that to her would be cruel. She's just trying to help him; it's not her fault that he's someone who really can't be helped at all.]

That's no comfort to people who don't like who they are.

[gleamed]

...I like who you are.

[ The words are softly murmured, said more on instinct than on thought. ]

Do you want to talk about it?

[dissonates]

...Not at all.

[Honestly, he can't think of anything he'd want less than that just now. But it was kind of her to ask.]

I understand what you're trying to do. It's not that I don't... appreciate the effort. [He can't look at her, though, so he's not sure how sincere his words may seem. They feel hollow in his mouth.] But I'm too close to it right now. I'd rather not discuss it.

[gleamed]

[ She nods, understanding. Talking it out wasn't everyone's way of coping; she'd learned that well, especially from Asch. ]

Okay. But if you ever need to, I'll be here for you.

[dissonates]

...Yeah. I'll remember that.

[He can't thank her again, not right now. He can't think of a good reason to be kind or comfortable with anyone at this moment, when he'd had so little hesitation in killing the one he knew he loved the most in the world. He doesn't feel particularly grateful for anything.]

[gleamed]

[ If he didn't want to talk about it, maybe she could try the opposite - distracting him from what was plaguing him. It was tempting to talk about what she'd been going through, but that seemed shallow. She thought they'd need something far removed from this draft altogether. ]

Have I ever told you about the Snuggly Duckling?

[dissonates]

[There's a pause, and then he glances up, quietly surprised. The topic change isn't unwelcome, though, so after the moment passes he shakes his head.]

I don't think so, no.

[gleamed]

[ She takes that as an invitation to keep going. ]

It was the first place I visited after I left my tower. Don't be fooled by the name - it was a pub full of scoundrels and thugs. [ A light smile plays at her lips as she says it, though. ]But I ended up meeting some amazing people there.

[dissonates]

...Amazing scoundrels and thugs?

[It earns her the tiniest of eyebrow lifts; it's a reaction, if nothing else. Conversations with Asch tend to be a series of small victories when they go well.]

[gleamed]

[ At least she's got his attention, if only marginally. ]

I wasn't expecting it either. My mother spent so many years telling me about how awful people were out in the world that I was terrified at first. But it turned out a little understanding goes a long way.

They had dreams, just like I did.

[dissonates]

[...Hah.]

Even terrible people have dreams sometimes.

[He's been there, he knows it well.]

[gleamed]

That's true. They do. [ Gothel had been one of them. Her dream was nothing but selfish, and Rapunzel saw it for what it truly was now. ]

But sometimes terrible people have good dreams, too. They just don't know how to reach them.

[dissonates]

...Hn.

[He has no particular opinion on that, one way or another. It's just been a long time since he had a good dream.]

So what happened?

[gleamed]

Well? We all sang a song about our dreams.

[ Are you really that surprised. ]

[dissonates]

[....

You know what?

He's not surprised at all.]

And that actually... accomplished something?

[gleamed]

Well, yes, it did! They didn't hurt us. In fact, they helped us escape the guards who were looking for Eugene. So we could follow our dreams.

[dissonates]

Who's Eugene, another ruffian?

[He doesn't recall that part of the story.]

[gleamed]

He was my guide. And my friend.

[ One came before the other. ]

But! He was a thief, too.

[dissonates]

[...Good grief.]

You keep very strange company, you know.

[gleamed]

[ A lopsided smile. ]

I suppose I do. But those things...they just don't matter to me. What's important is what's in someone's heart.

[dissonates]

[....that's so...

...sappy. He's honestly not even sure how to respond.]

I shouldn't be surprised to hear you say something like that.

[gleamed]

You're right, you shouldn't. [ A kind smile. ] But it's true, regardless.