[ belph is gonna know every murderer again ]

[coastal]

Comments

week 0, friday

[coastal]

[lili wanders up to the second floor if only because she's literally never believed in staying in one place her entire life - and just wrinkles her nose at everything

including belph]

You're not even going to look for ways to escape then?

[axilium]

[he glances over at her. ah, one of those types.]

What, have you been stalking me? Sorry, ma'am, I'm not interested.

[coastal]

Don't flatter yourself - I have better things to do.

[but she can't help but notice people who aren't really bothering]

Do you just not care?

[axilium]

You've known me for all of five seconds and you think you know everything about me and what I've done?

week 0, wednesday

[coastal]

[where is belph, jan

anyway wherever he is, lili is going to notice, seem to consider something briefly, and then approach]

Hey.

I have something to ask you.

[axilium]

[uh mess hall or their cabin, probably]

Well, that's ominous.

[coastal]

[we're going to say their cabin then and she's just walking in!]

I couldn't figure out a way to lead into it that wasn't even more suspicious. [she probably did not spare more than 2 seconds thinking about it]

I'm going to ask a vague question about your power - but if you don't feel comfortable, you don't have to answer.

[axilium]

Glad to have your permission.

week 0, dieday

[coastal]

[well, at some point, lili is going to be lugging back the futon because beau needs a place to sleep. when she's doing that, she can presume that belph is present maybe.

and then she's going to look up and then, extremely counter to everything else that's going on]

Hikage was here for a few days ago looking for you.

[maybe she just doesn't want to talk about the murder at the moment, maybe she's delivering the message late idk]

[axilium]

[he's just sitting on his piano bench, though he isn't playing.]

A little late for the message, but thanks.

[coastal]

[she shrugs her shoulders

and will just move to stow the futon quietly then]

[axilium]

[well, with that done, he turns back to the piano to start playing.]

week 2, saturday

[axilium]

[in full honesty belph probably would've avoided the cabin and let himself die outside like he did yesterday, but after a lot of pained thinking, he's decided that he should talk to lili about something.

he doesn't know where the hell she likes to go after trials, so he heads to their cabin and hopes for the best?

good thing that, through the power of pc convenience, she's there, because if she wasn't then he might've taken that as a sign and just given up.]

[coastal]

[rip belph

lili is in the cabin, and she's moved past the point of incessant yelling by now. it looks like she's managed some level of calm, even if it's... eerie.

she's still unmistakably angry, but it's fine. she brushes her hair and looks up when belph enters - and she almost looks like she wants to say something.

... but she doesn't know if it'll be right. so she doesn't, falling quiet again.

she is just awkward.]

[axilium]

... It's not Friday, so don't punch me.

[despite the dry remark, though, belph looks tense—and not just because wow, was today shitty!]

You said you were struggling to find people on Black Shadows. Does that mean you haven't found any at all, or just a few?

[coastal]

[ . . . oh. she notices the way that he looks tense and settles for answering honestly]

None.

Because I try to trade my own power and team, out of fairness, for information. It just so happens that my trades have landed me no closer to what I need.

week 3, monday.

[axilium]

[there's something belph appreciates about the rain—it's one of things you don't take for granted when you come from a land with no weather. still, being out in a storm gets tiring after a while, so he'll take cover under the gazebo.

and oh, look, there's lili. belph's not going to just awkwardly pretend she's not there, so.]

Yo.

[coastal]

[lili is definitely out in the gazebo, nodding her acknowledgement at belph. and there's some part of her that, uh, is almost immediately getting down to business.]

I forgot to ask you yesterday. Did you get a new item?

And I owe you my team and power, too.

[axilium]

Yep. Won again, as usual.

week 5, monday.

[axilium]

[belph is playing piano inside deer cabin because i don't know where else they'd meet dana]

[coastal]

[honestly a fair point

but lili is going to head inside, blinking as she listens to the piano. she'll actually move to sit and listen, and then when he's done with the song - ]

... Belph. Have a moment?

[axilium]

[he pauses.]

Sure. What's up?

week 5, post-execution

[coastal]

[wow everything sucked.

lili is going to be back in deer cabin though, uh.... collecting all the stuff that she threw in after thinking kara was going to die. kind of awkward. but she'll pause when she sees belph]

Oh...

Hey.

[axilium]

[everything did suck!

belph is going to play the piano, as usual. though he looks a little like a deer in headlights, because he's just flashbacking to lili telling him not to go near her when she was in mourning. awkward!]

... Hey. [...] Moving back to Dragon, huh?

[coastal]

[ . . . . well, comparatively.

lili doesn't get to be in mourning.]

Mm.

[though that in and of itself is awkward because kara was not expected to live]

.... how's Steph?