horny bois on the loose

[chaoticlootral]

[Or, rather, not so horny and not really on the loose at all, just crashing into a hotel room. Taako flops face down diagonally on the bed, so, deal with it Magnus.]

Comments

[chaoticlootral]

[Okay, well, that analogy makes sense actually - stepping back and out of the way so he can do some test swings if he wants.]

You still busted?

[ruffboi]

[Practicing some axe moves. It seems fine - a little slower than usual, but fine.]

Nah. I think it started to wear off when she died.

[chaoticlootral]

[What the fuck. Giving him a bit of an odd look, trying to puzzle this one out.]

Know it's not your brand to, uh, reflect on your actions or whatever, but what were you trying to do?

[ruffboi]

Save her?

[It's Magnus. What do you think his plan was.]

She was nice, and she wanted to live, and I wanted to help.

[chaoticlootral]

[Trying to shuffle Magnus towards the door, maybe. He doesn't really want to be in the room anymore.]

Right-- No shit, no shit, but what was the plan? Who were you gonna chop?

[ruffboi]

[Letting himself be shuffled along out. Yeah, let's head back.]

Madara. I was going to clock him over the head, knock him out. Max said erasures have to be on Sunday, so I figured if I could knock the executioner into Monday, maybe that'd do it...? I dunno. I didn't think it through too much.

[chaoticlootral]

And? What if they'd just decided to toss a sword through you too, just for funsies?

[A little strained, because obviously they've just had to witness exactly what happens when your partner kicks it, and Taako isn't exactly feeling thrilled about the possibility.]

Shit, I don't know, my man. That was weird. I saw when you hit a barrier yesterday - it wasn't the same.

[ruffboi]

Hey, come on, I wouldn't of left you hanging without a partner. If he stabbed me, Maya coulda partnered with you.

[So apparently he gave that aspect more than two seconds of thought.]

No, I definitely didn't hit the barrier. Maybe there wasn't a barrier, maybe Max did that?

[chaoticlootral]

[Yeah kind of picking up on that.]

What, so you were just planning on kicking it? What happened to your whole, uh, we're getting out of here speech? What the fuck, Magnus, you can't just die for people we met a week ago.

[ruffboi]

No! I told you, I was planning to knock out Madara! Geez, you really think some scrawny kid was going to kill me? I'm just saying, I'd never leave you to get erased!

[Of course, he already confided in Anthy that if he didn't have Taako here, he might prefer to just move on. But he doesn't really want to have that conversation with Taako. He knows Taako won't exactly be impressed by that.]

[chaoticlootral]

No, I don't think he was gonna kill you, but they can freeze you in place and suck magic powers right out of me and fuckin' get us to perform murder tricks for cheap thrills, apparently, if they wanted to kill you for stepping out of line, they could have.

[Unimpressed would be an understatement. Taako is withdrawing a bit, pulling his hat down further around his ears and dramatically rolling his eyes. He's a bit less bummed out now that they're clear of the cathedral, but this conversation is . . . not going great.]

It's not fair. You don't get to leave me here to deal with this shit on my own.

[ruffboi]

Aww, man. I don't want to leave you here, either. [He means that - even if he found a good enough excuse he might feel too tempted. But it is a temptation; he knows he needs to go home with Taako. It's more important than just one girl's life.]

I don't think they would've killed me for that shit. They want us around playing their fucked up games, not dead.

[chaoticlootral]

And what if you'd actually killed the other chick? The ketchup stain one. You don't think they'd have been happy to put us on trial for murder right then and there? Right now, homie, there's too many of us to count on that - we're in the first weeks of a reality show where they're trying to figure out who's entertaining and who gets washed out. [Is someone considering . . . that he isn't a main character wherever he goes.] Four dopes kicked it at once, don't think they've got an qualms about adding another just for pissing them off.

[Sighing, dropping the anger. He doesn't want to be the dude who's trying to argue for following the rules of this shitty place.]

Listen, I'm not saying don't give them crap, just. I don't know, we have to figure out how.

[ruffboi]

Yeah, I know. We have to wait for the right time. It's just - they would've let Maya live if Anthy agreed to it, and if we'd killed Dahlia. So it just kills me. What a fucking waste.

[Sighing. He doesn't disagree with Taako. He's an idealist, but not really naive.]

I'll be more careful, okay? But I'm not gonna sit back if I think there's a way to do some good.

[chaoticlootral]

[Ugh, okay, he knows that Magnus doesn't mean that Taako wouldn't do any good, but something about it just makes his skin crawl. He did just watch three people die and . . . not do anything. He's hitting Forsake.]

I'm not-- I'm not saying don't do good or whatever. However you get your jollies. Ugh, fuck, listen. I'm not throwing my life away for any of these people. I don't know them. Don't trust them - you saw for yourself there's gonna be chumps milling around perfectly willing to pretend to be your buddy then stab you in the back for no reason.

[ruffboi]

Yeah, I know. I'm not judging you for that. There's important shit we have to get back to. I think we're just built different, and it's not a good person, bad person thing, it's like a, you're better at waiting for the right time and I don't feel like myself, doing that.

[chaoticlootral]

Okay, okay, I get it. Just try not to take us both out.

[Sure, makes sense, except for if Magnus fucks up then they both might die, despite Magnus' clearly well-thought out (:/) plans to save Taako with some last minute switcheroos.]

. . . This is all beside the point anyway. What happened in there was weird, right?

[ruffboi]

Yeah. Maybe I should ask Max about it. It didn't happen when I tried to kill Dahlia, but that was different. All I wanted to do was hurt her, because she was making fun of me. [Cool.] But I wanted to save Maya, so maybe that's the difference.

[chaoticlootral]

Cool, cool cool.

[It’s not like he can even judge, he’s totally fine with Magnus trying to hurt someone because they were bullying him. He gets it. He does have . . . a weird suspicion though.]

Sure, we can ask the Lollipop Guild Leader, just saying, he’s not great at straight answers. I’ve, uh, got an idea, but I don’t think you’re gonna like it.

[ruffboi]

What's that?

[chaoticlootral]

Could be something to do with your fee.

[ruffboi]

Ooh. Yikes. Like, I'm going to stop being strong?

[He gets that it's more than just that, but it's always been a little hard to explain his feelings about needing to be a meat shield.]

[chaoticlootral]

[Well, it isn't as if Taako is able to talk about his entry fee at all, so. Just shrugging.]

Don't think it's, uh, just that. I mean, you can still punch stuff.

[ruffboi]

Yeah, I know. It's because I wanted to protect her, huh?

[Wincing a little.]

So, about me promising to keep you safe...

[chaoticlootral]

Yeah, I got it, you don't have to spell it out.

[But, uh. Yikes? Taako was already feeling a little vulnerable after watching the execution, and now this? It's a little much.]