[ it's okay sometimes you have a wee breakdown because your friends come back completely fucking mangled. he blows on his drink, fins fluttering. his energy is a little low, subdued but polite. ]
If you like. I'm not sure how helpful it would be... but it was something pulled from Lucien's memory, I believe.
Luke will settle on the ground nearby, though, resting his arms on his legs.]
Some, but I'd like to hear it from you too. [Partly for information, sure, but also because he'd like to think Sidon is a friend, and Luke isn't so callous that he'd leave him alone without checking in.]
[ he takes a sip of his drink, but then mostly sets it down so he can hold the cup in his hands, sapping the warmth from it. lizard behavior. ]
Mm... [ he lets out a soft laugh, halting, and one of the eyes blink. ] I never know where to begin with these things.
[ at least his last cyoa was hilarious? after a moment, ]
We were a treasure hunting crew in a very cold place, searching for treasure in a lost civilization. Margaret was carrying a strange book that was meant to help guide us, but—it touched our minds with madness instead. [ sad fin droop ] I think it was turning us against one another from the very beginning.
It's no longer affection week, so Luke doesn't reach out to pat him comfortingly, even though he feels sympathetic. Sidon's kindness is so broad, his warmth well-known amongst all of them; of course he would be deeply hurt by something like this.]
[ there's a moment's pause, because he doesn't know how much margaret has shared. ]
Ah, no, we... killed each other. Or rather—I killed Owner, and Guy. Then Lucien killed me.
[ which he visibly looks pained by, but hurting his loved ones is kind of a nightmare scenario. ]
...When I say we went mad, it was beyond recovery. Like the rage that consumes people here, but more insidious. It drove us against each other over the course of days, and we were brought to strife by other... mishaps. I'm sure all of us genuinely believed we had to kill the others, for our own reasons.
[ they never figured anything out they just fucking died ]
...That's happened to others too. [Being manipulated into killing each other, he means, though he won't provide further details, since it isn't his story to tell. Still, he says it gently--trying for a reassurance that it was no personal failing on Sidon's part, even though he knows that words can't really fix this. Sidon killed Owner and Guy: That is a fact that can't be erased, even if he was out of control. Like Sidon says, it's essentially the same struggle they've been grappling with here all along.
And normally, Luke is one for the facts. He can be sympathetic, even understanding, but very rarely will he let those emotions hinder justice, or coax him into turning a blind eye to harm done. That holds true here, too--but Sidon's kindness makes it so difficult to be unrelenting.
So instead, firm and, again, reassuring:] You're back now. It's over.
[ said on a sigh. he is not a bitter person by nature, but this has happened to so many of them that it's hard not to be frustrated. how many people have managed to escape without killing... someone or other, at some point?
but he listens, squaring himself in the present, in luke's voice and the warmth of the drink in his hands. ]
It's difficult to feel like... I'm free of that place. As though it's watching me still. But you're right—I need to put it behind me. This place wants so badly to break out spirits. [ if he mopes around and wallows it's just playing into the whole thing. ]
[It certainly is frustrating--especially when their returnees are so injured that temporary death is the only reprieve. More than once, Luke's wondered what they'll do if their healing abilities fail them--worse, if they notice themselves starting to fade, until they're nothing but remnants, just like the ghosts they continue to encounter.
And though Luke tends to be a realistic person for these sorts of things, he is also very good at adapting his roles, and right now, Sidon needs reassurances and support.]
Mm... but I don't think you need to rush. [To feel better, he means] You went through terrible things. We'll all be here for you for as long as you need.
[Sidon's brought a type of brightness and cheer that so many of these dumb little nerds don't have; forcing him to get over himself, instead of allowing him time to process the horrors, would be a terrible way to repay him.]
[ the way i'm doing backtags shaking as half of you come back from your own cyoa
even if maybe luke is just shifting from one role to another, the reassurance feels genuine. he blinks out of the grim stare he's been holding at nothing in particular, warming up into a smile. he'll bounce back. ]
Thank you, Luke.
[ it's not really in his nature to make people worry, so he rallies some positivity, sighing out. ]
...You're a good friend, you know? You'd barely known me and Margaret any amount of time before we got here, and you're still so ready to protect us.
It's my job to protect people, and to help get justice for those who've suffered. [So he was willing to do whatever it took for everyone from day 1] I'm glad we're friends now, though, even if I wish you guys didn't have to end up down here for it.
[At the end of the day, what he wants has always been very simple: minimal loss of life, and a safe return home for those on the ship. All the rest was secondary--it was only after people with strong futures started to joint hem that he added resurrection to his goals, and even then, it took a while to warm up to the idea.]
Besides, I think I'm a pretty good judge of character. I could tell you were good people, and I was right. [He would've wanted to save them anyway, but it's different now, in a good way.]
That's a talent of mine as well! A necessary one. [ for a prince, who is supposed to be good at delegating. ] I can spot good character right away—and you've always struck me as a good man, Luke.
[ he did help him pretty much right away, despite thinking he was a guy in a fish costume for a minute there. luke has his secrets, his facets that he'd rather play off, but even if he can only guess at luke's whole character—to sidon, he's still clearly a good person who means what he's saying now. ]
Whatever this place insists on doing—I'm grateful to know that you'll... protect us. [ which is weird for him to say, as someone who prefers to do the protecting as well, but still. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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If you like. I'm not sure how helpful it would be... but it was something pulled from Lucien's memory, I believe.
I don't know how much Margaret told you already.
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Luke will settle on the ground nearby, though, resting his arms on his legs.]
Some, but I'd like to hear it from you too. [Partly for information, sure, but also because he'd like to think Sidon is a friend, and Luke isn't so callous that he'd leave him alone without checking in.]
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Mm... [ he lets out a soft laugh, halting, and one of the eyes blink. ] I never know where to begin with these things.
[ at least his last cyoa was hilarious? after a moment, ]
We were a treasure hunting crew in a very cold place, searching for treasure in a lost civilization. Margaret was carrying a strange book that was meant to help guide us, but—it touched our minds with madness instead. [ sad fin droop ] I think it was turning us against one another from the very beginning.
no subject
It's no longer affection week, so Luke doesn't reach out to pat him comfortingly, even though he feels sympathetic. Sidon's kindness is so broad, his warmth well-known amongst all of them; of course he would be deeply hurt by something like this.]
How did you figure it out?
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he pauses in an awkward little grimace. ]
Um—I wouldn't say we ever did.
But we were lucid again once all of us died.
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Luke frowns.]
Like, when you got back here?
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Ah, no, we... killed each other. Or rather—I killed Owner, and Guy. Then Lucien killed me.
[ which he visibly looks pained by, but hurting his loved ones is kind of a nightmare scenario. ]
...When I say we went mad, it was beyond recovery. Like the rage that consumes people here, but more insidious. It drove us against each other over the course of days, and we were brought to strife by other... mishaps. I'm sure all of us genuinely believed we had to kill the others, for our own reasons.
[ they never figured anything out they just fucking died ]
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And normally, Luke is one for the facts. He can be sympathetic, even understanding, but very rarely will he let those emotions hinder justice, or coax him into turning a blind eye to harm done. That holds true here, too--but Sidon's kindness makes it so difficult to be unrelenting.
So instead, firm and, again, reassuring:] You're back now. It's over.
no subject
[ said on a sigh. he is not a bitter person by nature, but this has happened to so many of them that it's hard not to be frustrated. how many people have managed to escape without killing... someone or other, at some point?
but he listens, squaring himself in the present, in luke's voice and the warmth of the drink in his hands. ]
It's difficult to feel like... I'm free of that place. As though it's watching me still. But you're right—I need to put it behind me. This place wants so badly to break out spirits. [ if he mopes around and wallows it's just playing into the whole thing. ]
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And though Luke tends to be a realistic person for these sorts of things, he is also very good at adapting his roles, and right now, Sidon needs reassurances and support.]
Mm... but I don't think you need to rush. [To feel better, he means] You went through terrible things. We'll all be here for you for as long as you need.
[Sidon's brought a type of brightness and cheer that so many of these dumb little nerds don't have; forcing him to get over himself, instead of allowing him time to process the horrors, would be a terrible way to repay him.]
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even if maybe luke is just shifting from one role to another, the reassurance feels genuine. he blinks out of the grim stare he's been holding at nothing in particular, warming up into a smile. he'll bounce back. ]
Thank you, Luke.
[ it's not really in his nature to make people worry, so he rallies some positivity, sighing out. ]
...You're a good friend, you know? You'd barely known me and Margaret any amount of time before we got here, and you're still so ready to protect us.
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He smiles, then, shaking his head slightly.]
It's my job to protect people, and to help get justice for those who've suffered. [So he was willing to do whatever it took for everyone from day 1] I'm glad we're friends now, though, even if I wish you guys didn't have to end up down here for it.
[At the end of the day, what he wants has always been very simple: minimal loss of life, and a safe return home for those on the ship. All the rest was secondary--it was only after people with strong futures started to joint hem that he added resurrection to his goals, and even then, it took a while to warm up to the idea.]
Besides, I think I'm a pretty good judge of character. I could tell you were good people, and I was right. [He would've wanted to save them anyway, but it's different now, in a good way.]
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That's a talent of mine as well! A necessary one. [ for a prince, who is supposed to be good at delegating. ] I can spot good character right away—and you've always struck me as a good man, Luke.
[ he did help him pretty much right away, despite thinking he was a guy in a fish costume for a minute there. luke has his secrets, his facets that he'd rather play off, but even if he can only guess at luke's whole character—to sidon, he's still clearly a good person who means what he's saying now. ]
Whatever this place insists on doing—I'm grateful to know that you'll... protect us. [ which is weird for him to say, as someone who prefers to do the protecting as well, but still. ]