tevinteriscoming | Monday; Week 11; Grell

[the woman that was Grell's had been there on the other side, and Grell had not paid a single shred of attention to anyone else. the sight of Angelina - alive, whole, uninjured - was strong enough to rip through some of her carefully crafted manners, and to see her and know she was in a game like this...

it's too much. it had been hard enough staying calm enough to tell them all about her, to let them know about who was probably serving as the Nuwa's doctor. going back with Dorian was welcome, to not have to look at everyone and to try to breathe.]

It will pass.

[that's what she has to believe to not have this be what causes everything to break. she can't, she won't allow herself to shed tears when someone else could see.]

You?

Hmm. [He can tell, at least, that this is having its effect on Grell. Someone dear to her, then. But if she doesn't want to discuss it, he won't pry.]

I'm well as one can be. I wouldn't want to see anything happen to my friend, nor to the Bull's young lieutenant. But Mae has survived worse dens of snakes than this. She'll figure something out; she always does.

[everyone else was likely to collapse into a mess. some of them have to hold it together and try to be carrying on.]

It's a relief to know there's some people there we won't have to worry about. They've got a better success rate than us, as well...perhaps they can solve their puzzle without getting to the last man standing.

[she exhales slowly, not looking at him.]

...that was an unsightly display of me, earlier. I'm sorry you had to see that.

[He actually laughs at that, though it's not funny.]

What, Clover? Thank the Maker someone finally said it to her. Apparently if one isn't driven to axe wielding madness, one cannot possibly have had a feeling worth remembering. I have grown very weary of those who can see shades of grey when their own lives and the lives of their loved ones are at stake, but are convinced of the righteousness of their fury whenever they should suffer a loss. But of course, I shall say so to you and you alone. I must be suitably contrite in public and not burden anyone by daring to suggest I too have lost someone I cared for deeply.

[That's all. A lot more bitter than he wants to sound, but god. Clover and Machias tried to kill him moments after Bull's execution for a man they hardly knew. He's grown tired of trying to be charitable about it.

A little more measured, with a small, sheepish smile:]

As you can see, you're not the only one angry and tired. Nor, I suspect, am I the only one to have people I care for. Your friend, I'm sorry they're making you worry for her. If it's any consolation I don't believe any harm will come to the other ship.

[this? this is why Dorian is someone she'd call a friend. why even if she had a shred of grudge held she'd drop it. he gets that it's a game of loss, that comparing it wasn't worth anything. some people had family. some had love. some had friendship. it isn't worth it, when one week someone can move to save their sister and everyone would shed tears, and the next someone would try to save their people and be scorned for it. there's no reason, only human impulse and emotion and a complicated fraying web of excuses and moments that end in grief that everyone moved through differently.

instead of saying anything for a moment, she reaches out to lightly, briefly touch him on the shoulder. it's a more sincere thank you than her words can do.]

I think they'll know her skillset is valuable to preserve and she's undoubtedly keeping herself in company whenever it seems risky. Even if someone kills, she'll be safe. I have to believe in that.

[even if there's no way she should be there. even if she knows Ann might remember and probably hates her for it. she prays that Ann won't kill this time.]

...I can't believe I'm hoping someone decides to kill this week.

[The brief gesture is enough to touch him; frankly, if he can provide her a little camaraderie and solace in this mess, he's grateful for the chance. After all, it seems to him, they have similar aims - to do the least harm, even if it means walking an unpopular path, but she's playing the game better than he is. She's a much more resolute person than he is altogether; he's always been good at playing the part of the pariah when he needs to, but poor at maintaining true emotional distance. He doesn't need a shoulder to cry on, but he's needed someone to understand, and she's been that for him, consistently.

It doesn't need to be expressed, though. Just a light smile, moving on to less fraught topics.]

Oh, someone will. You know, when I suggested we all ought to sacrifice ourselves, I meant, rather - there is no chance the souvlaki will allow this ship to be purged. [He doesn't want them to actually sacrifice the ship, just try to in order to force a souvlaki kill.] If none of us kill for the motive this week, it may be our chance to draw them out sooner than they intended. I'd much rather a souvlaki die to save the ship than one of our own.

Then again - I wonder whether Alice means what she says. From what Bull said of the Kampff, we have never had a choice to have a week without killing. What a joke it would be, if she forced our hand by making one of them kill this week.

That'd ruin the pretense of there being a prisoner's dilemma at all, wouldn't it? If all of the Kampff haven't been killed already one way or another. I can see why she'd use her safety net - if someone kills, we're saved, and she seems to want that - but the question remains if she even can.

[it's a better topic than discussing the hostages, discussing Ann. and it also reminds her that Dorian still has her notebook, if he didn't lose it after making sure Adrien didn't bleed out.]

Cheating has never stopped her before.

[He does have her notebook. He also hasn't peaked in it; he only wants to know her secrets if she trusts him with them, genuinely. But now doesn't seem the best time to bring it up.]

In any event, I don't believe the Kampff are dead. Since the Bull's death, we had Adelina, who only acted for a motive she genuinely cared for, and who clearly decided to act only that week, and Dave, an alien. That leaves our victims - Minako, who we know wanted the motive, Elizabeth, who we know was an alien. I suppose there's no reason Machias, Todomatsu, Roxy or Emily couldn't have been Kampff.

...I know I said previously I didn't wish to know their identity, but I find myself curious. I'd like to know what the Kampff are doing this week. Whether they'll be forced to act. Whether they intend to.

If you could figure it out enough to find one of them still alive, you could see if they're open to being questioned.

[at this point, who wasn't spilling information? who wasn't revealing things out of a desperation? she'd heard enough before her storming out to know that Dorian was making certain things public knowledge - if one of these Kampff was at enough of a loss...

still, she doesn't think Alice would cheat through this.]

Be your usual charming self, and perhaps they'll yield.

[Not the Kampff, though. Not that. But Grell couldn't no. Still, he takes the invitation at face value.]

How could I ever be anything but my charming self? Maybe it's only that coy isn't your type?

[Flashing her his most charming smile.]

Then I'll stop being coy. I believe you're one of them. I've no evidence, only a hunch, and yet I don't think I'm wrong.

Tell me about this hunch of yours, Dorian.

[unlike him, she isn't smiling, more contemplative, staring him down.]

Because that's quite the accusation you bring against me - heavier than the cry of murderer on this ship.

[Well, the smile was just for the charming joke, and also to be reassuring, so he'll drop it in favor of a raised eyebrow.]

Is it? Perhaps I'm the only one who thinks so, but if we count potential murderers as murderers, I think all of us are in the same ship.

The Bull trusted you. He told me to trust you. He's mentioned it a number of times - none of the others we'd talked to or gotten on with, or who I spend my time with. You. What you must understand is, the Bull doesn't trust anyone. He'd have been a poor spy if he did, but moreover, he is a clever enough man to know that personal affection means nothing when any one of us could be souvlaki.

But we always knew he, at least, was not souvlaki. Because he was Kampff. It was the only thing we knew for certain, when neither of us knew whether I could even be relied on. He simply wouldn't have told me so fervently that it was safe to rely on you if he didn't have reason to know. And he would only have reason to know if you were also Kampff.

[for a moment that feels longer than it is, she looks at him. keeps her expression neutral, salvages the threads of her self control to keep it together. she could say anything. call it ridiculous and invent a reason that she could pray sounds good enough to pass muster. scoff and say if she was she'd have been hunting aliens better than that. everything to reject, reject.

and then she faintly smiles, and there's a bitterness in her that she failed. there's no sense in secrecy when it's been shown through, and she failed at that secret, even though it was the Bull who did it - his reasoning is something she can guess at. keep Dorian safe. let him know there was someone who'd be an ally, who wouldn't sell out for these motives no matter how much they cut deep. the only way she'd move was by Lady Alice's command, and-]

I am.

[part of her precautions. her backup weapon. everything that the Kampff was, that Bull would have told him - she's part of it.]

And I yield for questions, so long as you let me ask one of my own - what will you do, now that you know? Will you tell the others?

[Well, that's a relief. He would feel very silly if he was wrong. Or maybe it's not such a relief. He didn't want any more dark secrets to carry, and now here he is again, back where he was only weeks earlier. He has made a number of poor choices, and hopes this won't have been one of them.]

No. [He answers that quickly enough.] No, of course not. I can't know what it is you have at stake, but I imagine it's the same as his - something you can't possibly risk coming to pass, no matter how likely it may be. [He can't know, of course, that her motive is something he'd agree with. He'd agreed with Bull on saving Par Vollen. He doesn't, wouldn't have agreed to the second incentive, had he known of it at the time.] When the time comes, you won't have to worry about me, either. I think I should cause something of a scandal if I showed up as accomplice again, but short of that.

Is she forcing your hand this week?

[she wouldn't make him. she wouldn't drag anyone else into the mess - even if going it alone means she's that much more likely to fail. there's no one she can twist to shoulder that burden who she wouldn't hate herself for after.

Dorian's assertion that he won't tell removes a degree of tension from her shoulders, at the least.]

No. She hasn't said anything yet. Still, it's only the first day of the week and I can't predict if that will change.

[and there's no guarantee it'll be her who's contacted. but if Lady Alice asks...]

...if she says nothing, and I do nothing, will she at least leave it all alone? Nothing changed for the better, but nothing worse than it is.

[With that all out of the way, he feels calmer about this, somehow. Grell trusted him, and he still feels he can trust her too. It's a nice feeling; the sort of trust he had in the Bull for those weeks that he knew.]

I think we ought to push to prevent a murder this week, if we can. I was going to suggest it to a few we can trust. But first, I wanted to know whether it would put you in an impossible position. If we work to try to prevent any deaths, we may force one of the souvlaki to tip their hand.

[she thinks about this for a second.]

It might not be as impossible as you think. She wants them gone, and this is a chance to flush them out. If she comes to me, I'll tell her that and do my utmost. It's a risk, but it's one I'm willing to take. There's no other option I'm willing to entertain.

[if Alice's desire to see the souvlaki wiped out was greater than the compulsion to carry out the game, it could work.]

How do you think we could try for a bloodless week?

Edited 2016-08-17 06:53 (UTC)

It wouldn't be easy. We should have to convince enough people to try it. We may have to tip our hand to those most likely to try to kill, or to be intractable - Jack, Luke, Adam. Perhaps Jason. Luke and Adam concern me, however - it felt too convenient, last week, that they both happened to be approached by Dave and Jessie. Speaking of Dave, he happens to be the one person besides you we can trust for certain.

Beyond that - [sighing] I've always been poor at thinking in terms of acceptable sacrifice. We need the buddy system. A two person system. And we have to enforce it, such that the souvlaki is forced to kill the person they're with, but would have difficulty finding anyone else to kill. But I should like to push pairings that will keep the children safe. You, Dave, perhaps myself ought to stay with Adrien, Marinette, and Yuno.

If Yuno keeps up her habits, she'll come to me before I have a chance to ask her to stay with me. Consider her taken care of.

[it helped that Yuno was used to her and her habits, and seemed to enjoy her company - it made keeping up their buddy system of the past few weeks nothing so much as a reflex.]

But if we must tell Jack in order to prevent a death, let me be the one to approach him. Perhaps it's because we're both killers, or perhaps it's because I try to play to his ego, but I believe without boasting that if anyone could convince him to stay his hand this week, it would be me. He won't like it in the absence of his weapon, but I doubt that anyone's going to give it back to him, and just leave that part to me.

Of our remaining number, there's only one who I'm near certain is infected, and if there's another, that would be pure guessing.

Of course. I'm not particularly interested in approaching him.

Your suspicions, then? [For the infected.] My estimation is the most likely infected are Jessie, Marinette, or Yuno. After that, Luke, Jason, or Fiona.

Jessie. Partly because of her outspoken hatred of Alice - it makes everyone else write it off as another aspect of her personality when it could be a clue. They have no reason to have love for Alice, and Adam may have been onto something when he said that those expressing their antagonism towards her needed to be watched.

[And after a conversation with someone else, coming to find Grell in her room. He's much less measured this time around, and when they talk, he gets straight to business.]

Jack. Apparently, he's been claiming to have some sort of alien hunter role to various individuals. I can't tell you who told me, as they rightly fear retaliation. But can you confirm this? I suspect it's something the Bull knew full well.

An alien hunter role?

[she frowns and shakes her head.]

The most I ever heard from him was that he intended on tracking them down and killing them, which I thought was simply his desire to play hero coming out. If this is true, he's practically painting a target on his back.

The person he told is someone who. [Hesitating. Though he trusts Grell absolutely, he can't in good conscience reveal the name when he promised not to.] Someone he wouldn't have told this to if he wasn't certain they could be trusted.

Is it possible he has a way to tell who they are? [It's. Probably obvious why that would upset him a lot.]

I...don't think so. If both the Captain and Alice couldn't find them, there can't be a way that Jack knows of them other than an intensive amount of logic and guesswork, and even then he could still be wrong. Whoever he told, he's deduced that they're clear for whatever his reasons may be.

[she knows, and she also knows that Jack would take the risky option of trusting his gut feelings on things without solid proof if he had convinced himself of it.]

We destroyed Rhys's body. He can't say he has some sort of medical test to prove it or anything - we have nothing to compare it to.

Monday; Week 11; Grell

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Afternoon Tuesday

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