countermeasures | chroma | catchall for atsushi

[That's very sweet, especially since he is tensing up a lot with each pull of the bandaids. A few of them are over normal skin- he did try to cover up what he was doing, after all- but most cover either burns of some kind or fish-hook holes in his arms. And he's trying to sit still but he really doesn't like being in pain, even if this pain is nothing compared to how much he's been hurt in the past.]

[oof, atsushi.

well. she will try to numb the pain with the numbing cream as much as she can, and once that's done and the bandaids are cleared away, she'll allow the cream to settle so it stays numbed, and then once that's done, she'll pour some water out from her water bottle to clean off the wounds and his burns.

she's gentle, but she works quickly - she knows what she's doing.]

[She certainly does, and he appreciates it so much. By the end it's not hurting at all, and he finds it easier to keep his arms still.]

I really didn't expect to have to fight a fire-breathing lizard...

[next step: applying burn ointment and properly bandaging his arms... they're done loosely, though, so they don't aggravate the burn. it's more to make sure it doesn't come into contact with anything else.]

I... don't think anyone could possibly have expected that.

[They'll be fine until his fight tomorrow at least.]

It was really surprising! I've never even seen a dragon like that before.

I haven't, either. But... I guess there's a lot of strange things that happen here.

[it's weird enough to imagine that dragons like that actually exist! let alone that they're used in murder...]

...I know it must be painful to recall, but... what happened that night? You just found yourself awake, and...?

[It absolutely is painful to recall, and Jiuqing will feel that flux in his emotions as he starts to talk about it. He draws his knees up closer to him as he tries to push down those feelings of anxiety and regret.]

I was by myself in the apartment, and it just...I know it's sounds silly, but ever since that 'trip' I can't stand being alone for long.

[His trauma...]

So I went looking to see who else was awake. It was stupid, I should have just stayed put, but it was like...at the time it seemed perfectly logical. Like of course I should go looking for other people, that's what makes sense.

I ended up finding Vanille on the beach.

[gently:]

I don't think it sounds silly.

[to be honest - if her own cyoa had gone a little differently, she probably would have done something similar. but because of (redacted) she'd sort of started to do the opposite.

it's understandable, though. people are stronger when they're together, and jiuqing knows that atsushi wants to be strong, even if he beats himself up with self-doubt.]

...what was she doing there? She'd started out in the apartments, hadn't she?

I don't know. I didn't ask. I just looked up and saw the full moon in the night sky, and I panicked.

[right. weretiger. that's fair.]

...what did you do from there? [if he panicked - ] Did you try to leave, or...?

I should have, probably, but...

[He chews on his lip for a moment before continuing.]

It's...hard to explain...but it felt completely logical to go "she's going to die no matter what I do. But I can give her a peaceful death instead of forcing her to get mauled to death by a tiger."

[There's so much regret in him when he says that.]

I tried to tell her that, but I think I was screaming a bit too much to get the idea across. And then she used a gumball to summon that lizard and that made things worse.

...

[okay, he was definitely refracting. this isn't a "defended myself from someone who was refracting" thing. jiuqing nods slowly.]

That makes sense. [...] Not that - it makes sense for you to try to kill her. But... the way this place affected your thinking... that lines up with everything we know so far. Even on the "trips," it changed the way we thought and acted.

I'm so sorry you had to go through that. It can't have been easy for either one of you.

It's okay, I understand what you're saying.

[Ish. Maybe. It's hard to tell how much is 'him' and how much is 'something else'.]

Don't apologize though. It's terrifying, but at least if I'm the one going through it then it means the others aren't, right?

[Except for the other killer whoops hope they don't refract like Malik did.]

[she shakes her head]

None of us should have to be going through it at all.

[atsushi your self worth

i hope execution becomes goatmageddon. i hope jiuqing specifically gets killed by a refracted goat.]

Well no, none of us should be, but...

[Part of him still feels responsible. Because of the week 0 nonsense.]

No "but". None of us should be, and that includes you.

[if he's blaming himself for week 0 then he has to blame kumon too! and who could blame kumon for anything!

(smash cut to mira having him commit five murders next week.)]

chroma | catchall for atsushi

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