Opening & mingling!

[guiltapalooza]

GAME START. Make your initial mingling comment, either in person or online.

Comments

[adamantly]

[You'll have to tell him about these roles some day, Otonashi. The confusion over why people would run around in swishy caps and not stab things would be endless.]

A pleasure. [Beat]

...I see. That's not very surprising. [His gaze drifts out over the tossing, endless sea.] An arrangement like this doesn't seem like it'd be an easy thing for anyone to accept.

[offthetrack]

[One day he will. As soon as he gets over the shock about it.]

[He nods in agreement]

I can understand that. This whole situation...sucks. But, why make it harder than it has to be?

[adamantly]

[Of course. Always good to take your reality-altering life events one day at a time.]

[A pause.]

Did your inmate say something? [Because Mordred is fairly perceptive, but this is... a little vague.]

[offthetrack]

N-not really... And that's the problem...

He's just so...abrasive. I really don't know what to do next.

[adamantly]

I ...see. That sounds difficult. [Suddenly very glad that his own inmate was polite and easy to confront.]

Perhaps he hasn't accepted his death? [He frowns thoughtfully.] If that was the case... he could warm to you after he did.

[offthetrack]

[He rubs his right temple in thought.]

He...seemed pretty accepting though. But then again, how do you get shot right in the chest and just be fine about that?

[adamantly]

Ah, did he? [And he will be casually assuming Otonashi meant shot with either an arrow or a bolt, because what are guns.]

It doesn't seem possible to accept that easily, [he agrees. A beat of thoughtful silence, and then;]

Your inmate is...?

It's gonna be great when he finally realizes when/where Mordred is from :D

[offthetrack]

Aragaki.

[Beat]
Tall guy. Wears a big brown coat.

Have you received your assignment yet?

I hope Otonashi's world will be well and truly rocked. 8)

[adamantly]

I don't think I've met him yet. [Aragaki doesn't ring any bells, anyway. After this conversation, though, Mordred will be keeping an eye out for him.

At Otonashi's question, he nods.]

My inmate is a [crouching Brit, hidden dragon] man named Arthur Kirkland. We met some time earlier. He's... interesting.

Oh, I imagine it will!

[offthetrack]

[He smiles a bit, and ruffles his hair.]

I hope it's a...different kind of interesting than Aragaki is.

[adamantly]

He was–– Or he wasn't "abrasive", at the very least, [he says lightly, smiling slightly. Arthur had been a little sarcastic when they'd first met, but Mordred had a) not minded that, and b) found it understandable given the "died and woke up on a ship" clause.]

I think he may be as confused as the other inmates to have woken up on the ship, though.

[offthetrack]

[He looks back out at that endless, churning ocean.]

It's a...hard thing to adjust too. [He says knowingly]

[adamantly]

[The knowing tone and caginess of that reply catch Mordred's attention, and he studies Otonashi's profile for a moment.]

You have experienced something like this before? [It's posited a little tentatively.]

[offthetrack]

I...was dead before I came here.

[He gives a little laugh. Not because what he said was particularly humorous, just that the weight and the oddness of this...situation finally hit him.]

Maybe I still am... I don't know for certain.

[adamantly]

[Wut.

Given where they are, Mordred can't immediately think of a good reason why Otonashi would lie about something like that, but it still serves to further highlight the strangeness of their situation. Both wardens and inmates might be dead.

Mordred says the only thing he can think of to someone dealing with the knowledge that they might be dead:]

...I'm sorry. [A beat of thought.] Is there anything I can do to help?

<-- My closest icon for this situation

[offthetrack]

[Otonashi was halfway tempted to reply - "Sure! Could you stab me through the chest real quick. Just to make sure I'm really dead." But that...was way too uncomfortably close to his first death in the Afterlife.

Also, he wasn't sure he'd come back this time.

But, he appreciates Mordred's concern about him and it shows in his voice. Even if he is a bit taken aback by his question.]

Um...i-it's okay. [A small smile as he ruffles his hair] Really, it happened awhile ago.

lmao beautiful

[adamantly]

[That Otonashi seems outwardly circumspect about the uncertainty surrounding his death strikes Mordred as strange; If it were him, he knows the matter would press him to resolution.

Perhaps, he imagines, there wasn't any possible resolution to be had.

But Mordred also recognizes when to grant space on a topic, and does so:]

This [the ship, the people in it] must not seem as strange to you, if you've already gone through death. [Leaning against the ship's railing, he looks sidelong at Otonashi.]

[offthetrack]

[A small laugh]

It's still a bit strange...it was just a regular high school where I came from. And all of...[us?] the dead were kind of...students.

[adamantly]

High school? I'm not sure I understand. [How does one shot formalized education.]

[offthetrack]

[He starts to explain the concept of high school...]
High school...is a place where you take classes with a bunch of other kids...
[...before he remembers that this guy is just a cosplayer from some video game. And is really, really good at staying in character.]