catchall for shess

[leaberator]

Comments

[leaberator]

[ it is. lea hands it over ]

When did you get it?

[nonbelligerent]

Around mid-week.

[jan cannot give an exact day because the mods forgot to tell her until sunday]

[leaberator]

[ ... ]

It's still possible it could be her, but... I don't think Mary wrote this. [ in this instance mary standing for a nebulous "the darkness", but he leaves it implied. ] The way it's written is definitely a clue, but I'm not that familiar with those pictograms myself. [ ... ] My question is, why send it to you?

[nonbelligerent]

I have no idea, especially considering I'm one of the least applicable people for its message.

[he's never cried here?? and he's literally only eaten and slept once???]

[leaberator]

So can we guess it's someone who didn't really know that much about you when they sent the message?

[ which doesn't like. really. narrow things down, but. ]

[nonbelligerent]

I'm not sure. If it's someone I haven't spoken to, then that would mean they likely picked me at random, wouldn't it? But I don't know why they'd do that either.

[leaberator]

... What if it didn't have anything to do with you at all? Could the goal have just been to announce their presence?

[ he's thinking out loud, not sounding completely convinced himself ]

[nonbelligerent]

Surely there are better ways.

[leaberator]

There were better ways to write their message, too, and they didn't do that.

[nonbelligerent]

If they wanted to make their presence public, they should've just sent it to someone like Kazuaki. We'd all be hearing him scream about a threatening letter by now.

[leaberator]

Maybe they were afraid the sheer terror would kill him.

[ but, no-- ]

I didn't mean public. Who's to say they're not sending off these threatening letters to people at random to make 'em feel targeted? Or just to make you wary of everyone around you? [ he pauses ] For a few seconds, before they partnered me up with Hisoka, I felt the corruption. It was like... everything bad I'd ever felt was there at the surface, tenfold.

[ he's quiet, for a second. ]

The darkness we fight back home is something like that. If you spend too much time in it, you lose yourself. It takes over. Maybe they're just trying to make its job easier.

[nonbelligerent]

[uh]

I'll keep that in mind, but if that's their goal, they did a rather poor job. I was more confused than anything. My partner likewise just seemed exasperated.

[a beat.]

You wouldn't know if Hisoka might be behind it, would you? When I showed him, his reaction suggested otherwise, but it's not like I can expect honesty from him.

[leaberator]

I didn't say they were smart about it.

[ the darkness picked pete the cat? like damn of all dumbasses ]

... I asked him. He said it'd be a waste to do that to you. [ life is terrible, because god he wishes that were him ] He also said he convinced you to show him.

[nonbelligerent]

That was the main reason I doubted it was him. I don't think he particularly likes me, so he'd have no reason to single me out.

[sorry axel]

Yes, I suppose that's one way of putting it.

[leaberator]

[ #wishthatwereme

hm. ]

Yeah? You didn't strike me as the kind to be easily convinced by that guy.

[nonbelligerent]

It's a long story.

You wouldn't happen to know his element, would you? Though don't tell him I asked that.

[leaberator]

He wouldn't tell you?

[nonbelligerent]

He did. I just don't trust that he necessarily told the truth.

[leaberator]

... Yeah, that tracks. What did he say?

[nonbelligerent]

[he pauses, but since it's hisoka's partner and also because it's hisoka and shess is more cool with potentially doxxing his secrets:]

Water.

[leaberator]

Yeah, that's what he told me, too. Made a big deal about how that meant we fit... somehow.

[ lea does not think hisoka knows what basic elements are. ]

[nonbelligerent]

Aren't water and fire polar opposites?

[leaberator]

Yeah.

[ just. yeah. ]

[nonbelligerent]

He probably would've come up with something no matter what your elements were.

[sorry for your life,]

[leaberator]

... I don't wanna think about that.

[ it's true but you SHOULDN'T SAY WRITE IT ]