flippity | (no subject)

(no subject)

[ 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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Nope! I found a nice... um...

[ give her a second as she struggles to find the right word. ]

A big pipe? To live in.

...okay last time I checked you weren't a piranha plant from a video game. [What in the fuck.] A pipe? Really?

What's a piranha plant?

[ because that topic is far more important than living in a pipe. ]

Oh, uh. [He leans over then to reach toward the bookshelf, picking up a book and opening the back cover before pulling a pen out of his pocket, quickly drawing a shittier version of this.]

As far as I know they aren't real, but I didn't think grain monsters were real either and I've definitely fought those.

Those are definitely not in my pipe! I would have noticed.

[ she would have also tried eating it, tbh. ]

I don't even know if you would have fit in your pipe if something else was living in there. Which we're going back to, by the way. The pipe. Why a pipe? [And then because it makes sense:] Was Cocona with you?

Nope! But the pipe is on her school's property, so it's convenient!

[ it's like, in a little woods-y area on the premises, so people don't go there. ]

Do me a favor and look into living somewhere not a pipe when we get back, okay? That just sounds really uncomfortable.

I brought a lot of pillows and stuff inside it.

[ it's a mystery where she got all the pillows. ]

... but okay! I'll do that for you.

That's all I ask. It'll be better for you, I think. Especially with...whatever's next when you get home. A safer place.

Mm... it's going to be super hard when I get back home, but...

[ at least it'll be the kind of "hard" that she's expecting. whole ass has been something else entirely. ]

But being here made you a lot stronger. Do you realize that? I see it in a lot of people, but you especially.

... Really?

[ she sounds genuinely surprised at that. ]

Yes, really. Have you ever known me to say something I don't mean? Is it that hard to believe?

I guess not, but... the rest of you are so much stronger!

Maybe physically, but I can't think of many people that could go into the theater, see what you saw and still survive after that. [Just pointing that out.] That's a whole different kind of strength and I don't know if anybody would have been capable of it when we first got here.

[ most people tend to avoid the whole theater topic with her, so she shifts slightly at the mention of it. ]

That would have been a really bad place to die, Percy.

[Sorry kiddo, he's gotta.]

Most places around here would be a really bad place to die. [But that's just because dying's bad...] Does that really change anything I said?

[ and yet not one single spot was sacred.... ]

I guess not. I didn't want you to find my body like that.

[Ah.]

...well. I think we all appreciate that. It's getting less and less fun finding people...not that it was fun to begin with, but you know what I mean. With as few of us that're left maybe it won't even be an issue now.

[ whatmakesyouhaha.mp3 ]

Maybe. At least we... probably won't find anyone else all chopped up?

[ papika has a dream and it's for these fuckers to learn the art of not dismembering everyone. ]

I'd say "don't say probably" but who am I kidding. This town's so messed up we don't even know what's next. [He doesn't like it but you know, sometimes you've gotta face the facts.] At least we know it won't be you and it won't be me or Damian or Mr. Barnham or Milla or Noctis or Jason. I'm going to make sure of that.

I'd prefer if it wasn't any of us at all...

[ but they've been here long enough (it really hasn't been that long though, when she stops to think about it) to know that won't happen. ]

I don't know what we would do without you, Percy.

...I'd definitely prefer that, too. Trust me. [But there's a long stretch of silence. Instead he's just staring straight ahead before a hand rests on the top of her head.] And don't say stuff like that. It's been a team effort, you know? None of us would have survived this long without each other.

Everyone has been very important.

[ except maybe manfred he died after two seconds but still

and also nui was kinda eh BUT STILL ]

But I'm talking to you right now.