WEEK 8 - Execution

[al2955]

the pygmalion. . . ONLINE CAPTAIN'S LOG: WEEK (7)

sunday EXECUTION (22) survivors As voting comes to an end, a song filters in played so loud that it becomes distored and fragmented. If a participant checks their datapad, they will see the the victim and suspect chosen by majority's pictures displayed. If they attempt to scroll, they will see a list of characters and their votes in alphabetical order.

victim




culprit



accomplice



Character Statuses
Setting
Rulebook
Votes

Comments

[tevinteriscoming]

I know that! [Anything reasonable in his voice cracks as he speaks. They may feel little sympathy for him, or believe he's made his own bed and must lie in it, and that may be true. But still, the man he loved died not minutes ago, and he can't stand to be lectured about this right now. Not about him. The grief is still too fresh to even really be raw.]

I know why he confessed. I don't intend to die here, not now, not if I've any say in the matter, but. Maker, she and others have the right to demand that! Can't you assure her something will be done? Fighting will solve my problem no less than it will solve hers.

[breakshot]

Enough!

[ Machias had silently watched the whole thing go down but had been too weary to step in himself, Grell having stopped him from nearly making a mistake earlier. Yet the more he listened on, the more he felt that flare of anger set off and boil to a point his fist was shaking. Especially when Dorian had mentioned the people who cared Arumat deserving their piece in things.

Is his shotgun out? Yes, but it's lowered at the ground, held by the stock and painfully clear he doesn't actually intend to shoot. His fist, however? That hasn't unclenched, even as he finally speaks up. ]

That's enough. Let her go. ... At least let her have her say. He made his choice and he damn well knows it. He can accept the consequences that come with that decision too.

[ He looks over to Dorian, his alarmingly cool expression deceiving his scathing tone as he addresses him. ]

You said as much yourself, didn't you? Killing you might not solve anything, but you know damn well you had a hand in it too. So, if nothing else? Just let her have her say.

[tevinteriscoming]

[Machias, are you fucking kidding? What do you think is happening here? Do you think Adrien and Marinette are holding down Clover because they don't want her to lecture him?]

She can have her say as soon as her say isn't being delivered via laser scythe! As can you, but at the moment, the interjection isn't helpful!

1/2

[missmaladroite]

[When Machias decides to throw his hat into the ring, she's just. Making. This face.]

[missmaladroite]

[She takes a deep breath, rubbing at her mask, and tries to calm down a little.]

Clover. I'm not speaking for him. [Except that you kind of were, Marinette!] I'm speaking to you. Arumat is gone, and there's nothing I can change that, but don't go down this path, please. You have every right to be angry and hate him - we're going to lock him away so he can't hurt anyone else again. I'm asking you to please stop, but even if you don't, I will not let you kill this man.

[AND THEN.... she's not going to admit to agreeing to Dorian, but he's right.]

When violence is off the table, we'll stop restraining her. So don't make this worse, Machias!

[monsieurchatastrophe]

[Adrien doesn't waste time going to pin Clover once again and this time he's much less careful about it. He's kneeling over her chest out of reach of her legs and keeping the staff pressed on her ribs so that he's pinning her arms down too. She can still trash, but she's far less likely to succeed in throwing him off now. His chest is heaving, but it's not in exertion-- it's in panic.]

Please just-- get a hold of yourself. Killing him isn't going to help anyone.

[and then Machias butts in and he's distracted for two seconds to swivel around and glare because not helping thanks

... and that distraction might cause him to loosen his hold on Clover a little.]

[socloverit]

[yeah no the only point Clover is interested in delivering right now is one made with a laser scythe but later she will appreciate the effort, Machias

but the distraction isn't enough for Clover to shove Adrien off her again, even though she struggles. Even if she did, she wouldn't get far; certainly not to the scythe and back, and without it, she couldn't break through Dorian's barrier on her own to come at him with the injection gun. She's lost. She's failed.

She's still thrashing, though, when she turns to Dorian, snarling.] You said—you said you regretted brushing him off, had the balls to call him a good man to his friend's face! And you—! [to Adrien, to Marinette,] You think you're better for defending him?!

[And something's breaking in her voice and the rage hasn't left her but there are tears spilling over her cheeks now.]

I hate you! I hate you! [It tastes venomous until she spits it out and she hates even worse how childish it sounds, but not that it's been said, even when she's shaking too hard to put up more than a token resistance, even when she's sniveling too much to shout anymore-.]

[tevinteriscoming]

[Well. He did say those things to Clover, yes. But they weren't untrue when he said them. Still, he doubts Clover wants to hear that from him. He was a good man, but he was also an adult, and a soldier, and for those reasons perhaps it was easier.

Clover's grief more than anything makes him feel sick. He wanted to avoid harming the (relative) innocents on this ship. He doesn't know whether Clover is one of them -- she wields a weapon in anger a little too readily for comfort -- but she's also a grieving, wounded girl who hasn't deserved to suffer the amount she has so far, and he's made her suffering so much worse. For that, he's truly ashamed, so he looks away and says nothing.

Instead, he speaks to Adrien and Marinette]

I think I will return to my quarters now. [He knows they may not like that, but. He can't do this anymore, he can't stay out in public and be confronted by others' emotions when he's so damn exhausted and miserable and angry himself.] I won't leave them for another twelve hours, after which you may do with me what you will. If you feel you must escort me so be it, but I won't give you any resistance or trouble.

[He's not going to wait for permission, or comments. It seems more productive to deal with Clover without his presence, and if he's too exhausted to do more than sleep, all the better, so he uses the last of his mana to fade step past Clover, Adrien and Marinette, right out the door.

If they want to go catch him they can - fade step only takes him a brief distance, and he has to stumble the rest of the way back to his room by himself. But he also isn't lying; if not stopped, he'll go directly there, and won't come out again for another 12 hours.]