flippity | (no subject)

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[ SHOCKINGLY, papika is having difficulty going to sleep after the events of the trial. perhaps she had too much pizza and now has an upset stomach? maybe she is traumatized for life after the cannibal reveal? who knows.

either way, she's going to quietly leave her room. she's not entirely sure what she's looking for, but she still ends up poking her head into every one of the hotel's common rooms until she reaches the lounge. spotting percy inside, she realizes that it wasn't a what, but a who.

somewhat shyly, papika walks over to where he's sitting. ]

Hi Percy.

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[Who needs sleep in the town of Whole Ass? Not them! He found he couldn't sleep either given what's coming tomorrow and so he's tucked himself in the lounge for the peace and quiet. Mrs. O'Leary's asleep and snoring softly next to him as he stares at the ceiling. It's when Papika enters and speaks that he looks at her, giving her a quiet smile instead.]

Hey. You're up pretty late, aren't you?

[ time is fake percy ]

Am I? I'm not keeping track. [ of the time.

she's also just going to sit down without asking if he minds because she is still trying to conquer the concept of manners, sorry. ]

Have you been out here for long?

[Manners are also fake so. She sits down and he doesn't even bother asking before he pulls her to his side again. Look, shut up, he could use a hug and so he's going to take one from somebody who could probably also use one.]

I don't know. I'm not keeping track either. [A lopsided smile.] Most of the days start to bleed into each other after a while. You know you can expect certain things on certain days, but the hours are trickier.

[ she will, once again, not object at all because seriously everyone needs a hug now. ]

It was easier in the beginning. [ more people to occupy your time with, less... everything, really. speaking of time though, ]

This isn't going to last much longer, is it?

[He doesn't know what to say at first. He should tell her that they'll be fine, but...Papika deserves a real answer.]

No, it's not. I wish I knew how this was going to end, but I'm not sure myself. [He looks down at her.] Are you worried?

Um... I'm not worried about dying? [ unfortunately, after several weeks here, that is something you have to come to terms with. ] I'm worried that whoever wins this won't make it better, or that something else might happen that'll make things worse.

[ although it'd be hard to top cannibalism, at least, so there's that. ]

[That's definitely something to worry about.]

Papika...there's a group of us that're working together so that all of us keep each other safe and that if someone has to win, it'll be someone who gets us a good win. With everyone left, almost everyone wants to protect each other don't they?

[ she looks surprised. ]

Yeah. I think so. [ ... ] Who's the group?

You promise not to tell? [He trusts her, and at this point he wonders if it even matters anymore.]

Of course I won't tell!

[ she sounds insulted that he would even ask that. ]

[A quiet laugh.]

Sorry, I'm so used to asking that. ...you know how Damian's the Bounty Leader? We found the rest of the Bounties. And...Natalie and Shinnosuke were helping us. So's Jason. The other two are Milla and Noctis.

You can trust these people.

[ that leaves barnham, ash, and rin. papika is quiet for a moment. ]

Do you guys have any ideas then?

Our biggest idea was to work together and not kill each other but now that Hal's spoken up we're sort of back to square one. We've kicked around a lot of ideas including some less than happy ones. [A frown.]

Did Damian tell you about the train, Papika?

[ she shakes her head. ]

No. I haven't really been told much, you guys like to baby me.

[Oh. This conversation with a different pure. He just sighs.]

It's not about babying you, Papika. It's about keeping you safe because...I mean, Dr. Lecter and Will are crazy. Will knew everything about this game, and we figured the less people who had information, the safer they'd be.

[He frowns.] The train is where all of our friends are. When we die, we show up there. That's why some of us are getting letters and stuff. Xion told me once. Milla did, too.

I don't really like not being able to help.

[ she doesn't anything after that for a good few seconds. when she does talk again, it's to tackle the other topic. ]

That explains why more shadows kept appearing.

I know, I know. But you've been helping in other ways, you know? You're the one I asked to stay outside with me and Damian. That's pretty big stuff. You're also one of the only ones to know about Damian, too. It was pretty important.

But you're right. That's why more shadows kept appearing. All of our friends are hanging out in there waiting for us. We just have to figure out a way to be with them again. That's what we're working on now.

[ she just shrugs.

also wtf everyone else just hanging out in a train sounds so much better than sitting in whole ass? unfair?? ]

I'm sure you'll figure something out. You're very smart, Percy. And so is everyone else, but... if anyone can think of something, I think you can.

That's putting a lot of faith in me, Papika. [He rolls his eyes fondly.] Annabeth usually comes up with the plans. I'm still trying to figure out her letters.

Let me ask you something else. What would you want in the end?

[ shut up percy you're a protag ]

I just want everyone to be able to go back home. Whatever home is for them. [ ... ] Asking for something like this to never happen again is probably not possible, huh?

[He didn't ask for this???]

I think that's what I want, too. There are a lot of people here that home probably isn't an option for them anyway. After everything, we should have the choice. [But there's a shrug.] I don't know. What would hurt in asking though? I've asked for bigger things at home before and that worked out weirdly well.

We'd have to be careful how we ask, I think. Wording is everything.

How would you ask?

[ since... true, she wouldn't put it past hal or his employers to screw them over just because they phrase their request in a certain way. and papika is fairly aware of the power words have. ]

Probably something like...send everyone to the place they would consider home once they got there. Home is where your friends and family are, so why shouldn't we be allowed to go home with other people?

Hm... I think that sounds about right!

[ and she's not sure how else they could word it, anyway. ]

I need to go back home to Cocona.

[He blinks in surprise.]

Who's Cocona?