ONCE UPON | PC - ALEXEI

[scythegun]

Comments

week 1 | friday evening

[scythegun]

[So. That sure was a trial. It wasn't as much of a mess as it could have been, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a disaster anyway. Yeager's feeling restless this evening and he only stops by the gathering for a bit before he's off. Once again he isn't intending to seek Alexei out, and yet once again their paths cross by coincidence as Alexei's pacing around. It's quiet, and no one else is nearby, and perhaps if things had gone differently it'd be simple just to walk away.

But instead here he is, holding up a hand and greeting Alexei with the usual cheer.]

You seem to be a bit riled up this evening, milord.

[It's stating the obvious, but at least he isn't being sarcastic??]

[ideismo]

[...You know, if anything he's surprised that Yeager has chosen to address him rather than ignore him; it's easy enough to act as though they don't really know each other here, easier still when there's no one around. And yet here they are, and... Huh.]

Tonight seems to warrant it. I'm surprised you aren't in with the others.

[scythegun]

I tried that for a bit, but their little gathering is far too dull and depressing for me.

[That's not exactly it, but honestly, he isn't sure what it is exactly that's got him riled up.]

[ideismo]

I'm surprised that they have the nerve to behave as though they're mourning now that all of that is over. It seems their self-righteous anger only carried them so far.

[scythegun]

[It gets a short, sharp laugh from him.]

You certainly did cut right to the heart of the matter, ja? I won't pretend I'm outraged at what happened, because frankly, I don't care. But acting as though it's inconceivable that anyone would be willing to kill for a wish is rather silly.

[ideismo]

It's why I stopped pressing Zola on it, once it became obvious that she was going to talk. She had a point in suggesting that it didn't matter, because in the scheme of things it didn't. All that was important was that it mattered to her.

[scythegun]

Precisely. She acted on it and told us all we needed to know. We didn't need to know her reasons behind it, or her wish.

[Thanks for that, Hamelin!! Not that he's particularly bothered by it, but man, what an asshole move.]

I'm a bit surprised she was willing to talk at all.

[ideismo]

[He isn't sure how to put what he's thinking into words right away; it takes him a moment.]

Her situation seemed...difficult; I imagine that it mattered very little to her who killed her, in the end. Whether it was us or those she knew back home, she was going to die either way. At least this way she would die for something she did, rather than for something she failed to do.

[scythegun]

Hmm...

[Yeah, he doesn't really want to see if he can relate to that, actually. It's better not to think about it at all.]

She certainly did save us quite the headache. I can only imagine how insufferable everyone would be if we'd come to the wrong conclusion.

[ideismo]

More righteous anger and screaming, I imagine. Though I'm fairly sure that the others would have voted for Zola either way, simply because they didn't want it to be Yor.

[scythegun]

[He clicks his tongue against his teeth at that.]

Ja, that's certainly true. Clearly it couldn't possibly be someone like her, despite the fact that we all were brought here in the first place.

[Sure, some people seem like they couldn't kill anyone ever, but is that really the case? He doesn't buy that.]

[ideismo]

But you forget that she's a mother, and so she couldn't possibly.

[He's so fucking unimpressed with that? God, you can feel how unimpressed he is.]

[scythegun]

But milord, she dislikes "feeling like an inadequate mother" so clearly she must love all children and want to protect them no matter what! Harming a child is completely out of the question for a good mother!

[Yeah, that's a mood, Alexei.]

[ideismo]

[We're both bitching about the same thing at the same time, at each other, and that's weird to an extent that he's just not going to think about it.]

And of course it's the fact that it's a child that was harmed that made all of this reprehensible, not that someone died at all.

[scythegun]

[As long as you don't threaten to burn down any orphanages, it's fine!!]

I wonder who would be an acceptable victim. An adult who could clearly take care of themselves? An adult who could fight back? Someone they just don't like?

[ideismo]

[He didn't threaten to burn down anything- ]

The victim this time very much could fight back - she was a skilled fighter, from what she told me.

If anything, those at the trial were infantilizing her.

[scythegun]

Are you surprised, though? Evidently it doesn't matter what she was actually like or capable of, as long as they can be furious about the senseless murder of a child.

[ideismo]

She was old enough to be here. I imagine that means she was old enough to follow the rules to Hamelin's standards.

[scythegun]

Precisely. But why bother thinking about that when you could get angry and self-righteous about her death?

[ideismo]

I abstained from voting altogether, in the end.

[So yeah.]

There was no way to get justice for her death in this place and I saw no need to be personally offended by it. There was likewise no need to seek retribution against Zola.

[scythegun]

That's fair, ja.

[It's certainly not a surprise that it's what Alexei chose to do, but in this one instance, Alexei is right.]

It seems he didn't even mind you abstaining... I'm a bit surprised, I thought he'd at least make a show of pointing out the people who weren't playing along.

[ideismo]

He made it clear that he considers it a vote to let him do whatever he wants, so I wouldn't read too far into it.

[scythegun]

Well, when you put it like that, he might enjoy that...

[ideismo]

I wonder if he would actually enjoy it if we allowed him to choose who dies. On the one hand, he could select anyone he wanted, but on the other I'm fairly sure the story isn't supposed to play out like that.

[scythegun]

I imagine he'd be fine with it once, just to put us in our place and remind us who has the power here. A repeat performance would certainly irritate him. But then again, he is a tricky one, and I won't claim I understand exactly what it is he's looking for in all of this.