DAWON

[soulping]

[ You find yourself in a section of the maze walled off by hedges sporting glowing pink flowers. Several tree stumps with rich velvet cushions on them surround a much larger stump, upon which lie a number of cards... ]

Comments

Re: DISCUSSION

[pawper]

I don't need to rest! It's fine if it's me, Bengal, okay?

[Yanking harder, eyes gaining a touch of wild hysteria.]

Re: DISCUSSION

[secretbooty]

No it's not!

Re: DISCUSSION

[ofstormandsea]

It isn't. It isn't.

Re: DISCUSSION

[pawper]

[don't you give me shit too]

Why doesn't anyone understand....?! I can do it! I want to do it!

Re: DISCUSSION

[secretbooty]

[I can and I will]

I get that you want to protect us, but you don't have to do that kind of thing for us either! D'you think we're okay with you getting hurt?

Re: DISCUSSION

[pawper]

You guys aren't expendable like me! Just accept that and stop worrying!

Re: DISCUSSION

[secretbooty]

You're not expendable and I'm never gonna accept it! You're like my sister, why the hell wouldn't I worry!?

Re: DISCUSSION

[pawper]

[clenches her jaw....and then she smiles an awful, hysterical smile.]

My reason to live....is to protect you guys in games like these. If I can do that, I don't care about what happens to me.

Re: DISCUSSION

[secretbooty]

[oh jesus]

You can protect us, but not at the expense of yourself! If you're not gonna care I'm gonna care for you! Besides, you've got plenty to live for that's not just protecting us!

Re: DISCUSSION

[pawper]

[her voice drops back into that too-calm cadence, but stronger, empty and off and distorted because she clearly believes what she says with the entire force of her being]

No, I don't. This is all I have. Nothing else makes me happy.....and that's okay. As long as I'm useful, everything can work out just fine.

Re: DISCUSSION

[secretbooty]

You can be useful without getting hurt! It won't work out fine because when you get hurt it still hurts me.

Re: DISCUSSION

[pawper]

Not in games like these.

And it shouldn't hurt you, Ivy. You wouldn't cry over a broken spoon, right?

[she keeps smiling, so convinced]

Re: DISCUSSION

[secretbooty]

[did you just do that]

You're more than a spoon!

Re: DISCUSSION

[pawper]

[cheerfully

oh so cheerfully

shakes her head]

Re: DISCUSSION

[secretbooty]

Bullshit.

Re: DISCUSSION

[pawper]

It's true. So....just accept it.

It's not a hard thing to do.

Re: DISCUSSION

[secretbooty]

I don't care how many times you say it, I won't accept it!

Re: DISCUSSION

[pawper]

You accept that the sky is blue, that water is wet.

Re: DISCUSSION

[secretbooty]

That's 'cause it is.

Re: DISCUSSION

[pawper]

It's the same thing for me.

[absolute conviction]

Re: DISCUSSION

[secretbooty]

No, because you're not a spoon.

Re: DISCUSSION

[pawper]

I'm as good as.

Re: DISCUSSION

[secretbooty]

You're better.

Re: DISCUSSION

[pawper]

I'm not. I'm not better.

That's why it's fine to throw me away, if it means someone else can be spared.

Re: DISCUSSION

[secretbooty]

Holy shit—Hydra, what the hell!? It's never fine to throw anyone away, I don't care what you say! No one wants you thrown away, and I bet the rest of Dawon would agree! Bengal agrees! It's not okay, because believe it or not, you're worth a lot to us!