audience: aventurine

[mygod]

Comments

[tactic]

[ Can you please let go of ketchup.

Anyway, Aventurine stares at Nehan, then down at his plate of French toast, then back at Nehan. ]

... I'm eating. [ His plate is untouched. ] Nehan, your good eye.

[ IT'S NO LONGER GOOD :( ]

[wolftonic]

[ i won't and i meant that aventurine has clearly not slept a fucking wink, stop deflecting you useless fruit ]

I don't want your concern. [ He eyes the plate and takes a sip of his tea. ] You haven't eaten any of it.

[tactic]

[ Starts cutting into his soggy toast with the side of his fork. ]

I was distracted. [ By the sweet lull of sleep. ] I stayed up last night writing down what we know of this place for the newcomers.

[ Finally takes a bite of his food, chews, and swallows. ]

Time got away from me.

[wolftonic]

...Right. They should arrive soon.

[ After another person dies horribly. He wraps hands around the java jacket on his cheap mall tea, leeching off the heat of it. ]

So you're the type to work to escape your feelings.

[tactic]

That's what you're taking from this conversation?

[ Huffs out a small laugh, then stabs at his toast. ]

Well, I won't deny it. I like to keep myself occupied in general.

[wolftonic]

I like to take stock of people who might kill me in elevators.

[ He thinks it's reasonable. ]

Show me what you've been working at.

[tactic]

I'm not in the habit of taking lives, remember?

[ Pulls out the two cutesy notebooks and slides them across the table in Nehan's direction. ]

Their contents are the same. I have a third one in my room for safekeeping.

[ Looking inside of them will reveal a plain, but neatly drawn mini map of the town on the first page and carefully printed words in the following pages. ]

[wolftonic]

[ Aventurine's just waiting for him to die of natural causes in there. ]

You really needed everyone to see it in writing.

[ The Penthouse Clause... it's mentioned as a silly aside though as he reads everything over carefully. ]

...These are good. Thank you.

[tactic]

[ Mechanical failures in elevators are actually quite common.

Despite the horrendous dark circles under his eyes, Aventurine smiles brightly. ]

Your turn. What's got you looking so exhausted?

[wolftonic]

[ don't just say that?

He studies Aventurine's incredibly sleep-deprived face for a second before he taps the stupid tome which he has, along with some other notebooks that are less cutesy. ]

I remember some of these runes from the cult materials I've studied. So I've been trying to make sense of the lock. And even if it does open on its own, I don't want to be asleep for it.

I've told some people we need to be patient, but that doesn't mean sitting idly.

[tactic]

[ Laughs so unexpectedly in the middle of eating his toast that he almost chokes on it. ]

You're as hopeless as I am.

[wolftonic]

[ Help. He's sleepy enough that this evidently startles him, ears swiveling suddenly.

Though he catches his expression before it can give him away, too. ]

I'm not the one who's going to faceplant into his toast.

What else are we supposed to do anyway? Take more of Boothill's imaginary money?

[tactic]

[ Ah... His laughter immediately dies and Aventurine stares down at his French toast forlornly. ]

If it had been real, he would have never recovered financially or mentally.

[ Sounds regretful... It should have been real... ]

[wolftonic]

[ DON'T SOUND FORLORN ABOUT THIS. This is freak behavior.

Nehan is less judgmental because he's also a serious cards player, but still. ]

How sadistic...

[tactic]

[ It takes a second for him to snap out of it, and then Aventurine offers Nehan a piece of French toast speared on the end of his fork. ]

It's going to be a long day. New arrivals to welcome. Think we'll survive it looking like this?

[wolftonic]

[ He shakes his head. None food....... ]

I look terrible on a good day. [ He dresses nicely (questionable) but is like, falling apart. This is not deeply self-derogatory, just a statement. ] Besides, they've seen us as corpses. Can't get much lower than that.

[tactic]

[ A small crease appears between his brows as he glances down at that single cup of tea, then at Nehan, and then Aventurine pulls his fork back to eat the piece himself. ]

Even so, a nap would serve you well.

[wolftonic]

[ He takes a sip of his drink instead. ]

It's all right. I'm aware of my limits, and I have a stock of stimulants still, in a pinch.

[ He's young even if he acts ancient, he really can take some punishment. ]

But all right, how's this: I'll take a nap if and when you do.

[tactic]

[ Coughs around his half-chewed toast. ]

Whoa, a nap with me? That's quite bold, Nehan.

[wolftonic]

[ He does his best not to sigh because that would be losing their apparently neverending gay chicken. ]

Did I say it needed to be together?

[tactic]

I understood the implication.

[ Stabs his remaining toast a couple of times... He is getting full. ]

Unfortunately for you, I'm a terrible nap partner.

[wolftonic]

My implication that you're a hypocrite.

[ Oh well. At least he's eating. ]

Restless sleeper?

[tactic]

[ Observes Nehan for a moment and how tired he looks.

And then pushes his leftovers to the side. ]

Something like that. Hey, have you tried the coffee?

[wolftonic]

Do people usually just let it slide when you answer questions with nothing...? [ He does sigh now though, gently sloshing his cup of tea. Breakfast. Though it's probably just hot water in a cup. ] I have this.

[tactic]

[ Watch this neat little trick!

He ignores that first question and then practically leans his entire upper body over the surface of their table to get a look at what's inside Nehan's cup. ]

... Is that water?