[ iT'S JUST WATER ALIGNED FOLKS HERE ]

[coastal]

Comments

[hydrogenetic]

[He's not quick enough to muffle his laughter, but at least he doesn't look like he's going to make fun of her too much.]

See? They're comfy, right? [Give him a moment to shift around in his own beanbag to flatten it enough to lay on.] You can lay on them however you want.

[coastal]

[hmmm... she's going to attempt to do the same thing as him, pushing the material around and looking surprise at how pliant it is. she's really never encountered anything like it before.

stupid.]

Don't laugh at me - I've never seen anything like this before.

[hydrogenetic]

[He looks fairly relaxed in his beanbag so don't mind him.]

I'm not laughing. [He says with a grin.] They don't have beanbags where you're from, or is it something else?

[coastal]

The former.

[she pauses before frowning]

Is this... modern... too?

[she fucking hates that word]

[hydrogenetic]

Yeah, you could say that. I've been on a lot of buses in my life and this one's still a little fancier than New York public transportation. Do you recognize anything here at all?

[coastal]

... I've heard of the video games before....?

[tsuru played them in the graveyard]

[hydrogenetic]

Did you ever play any of them? They're kind of a fun way to pass the time. [He seems remarkably at ease with explaining stuff that should be simple.]

[coastal]

[she shakes her head]

They weren't invented yet in my time - and I was a lot more focused on trying to relay information when I died in the last place I was.

[apparently the graveyard is where the video games were, thanks roxas]

Did you have a lot of time to kill or something?

[hydrogenetic]

So you guys had a separate place for those who died, too. [He wouldn't fucking know what his was like!! But there's a shrug at her question.]

We did, but we didn't have video games in the town either. I've just played them sometimes before we were pulled to the last place I was in. [...but.] The town wasn't that big. And we couldn't really go anywhere so after a couple of weeks it was just a lot of waiting around for someone to die.

[coastal]

[ . . . . ]

It never gets easier, no matter how many different scenarios I hear about. It's all unfair, and all unacceptable. But I'm sure you know that too, so I'm just...

[repeating obvious things]

[hydrogenetic]

No, I get it. [He doesn't mind her repeating the obvious and his tone seems to suggest he wants to hear more of what she has to say.] You're right. The whole thing sucks and it's totally unfair. Especially if we really are on our way to do this all over again. Some people were really messed up the first time. How are they supposed to do this again?

[coastal]

[ . . . . she thinks briefly about the people she's with, and she frowns.]

Even if there is a place for the dead go afterward... they don't deserve to be stuck there. No one deserves to even feel the pain, or watch their loved ones leave them against their will.

You... were in the town with Natalie and the other boys, right? She told me. She said that your host was a horrible person.

I'm sorry - that sounds dreadful.

[hydrogenetic]

They don't. [Just as firmly as before, because he kind of feels strongly about that?] I haven't met everyone on this bus, but I don't think I need to to understand nobody deserved any of this.

[But he looks a little surprised then.] I didn't know she was sharing already. [He seems pleased, actually.] But she's right. Hal was an asshole and his employers were even worse. It...kind of felt like we had no other choice than to play along in the end.

[coastal]

I hope that they all get what's coming to them.

[she just sounds so fighty]

You didn't get a chance to pay them back at the end? Did you just have to leave after everything was over?

[hydrogenetic]

You and me both, but that's not likely. [Which is equally frustrating.] The way things ended was...complicated, I guess? The guy at the end of it all made some deals with the robot to make sure people got what they wanted after it was all over, but after that we were on the train home with no way of going back.

[coastal]

[ . . . . she just looks exhausted at this]

Robot.... I can't say that I understand it, but it sounds exhausting all the same.

I guess if you thought you were getting what you wanted, it'd be worth more than wanting to get revenge... even if you'd still like to.

[hydrogenetic]

Well there's no saying he's not responsible for putting us on this bus, so revenge is looking sort of good right about now. But in the end, we were promised enough. Even if it wasn't everything we wanted.

[coastal]

Between your story and the ones of the people who weren't able to have their friends revived, I think revenge and redemption both sound pretty good at the moment.

So I wouldn't take them off the table.

[why is she

bloodthirsty but like for moral karma]

[hydrogenetic]

I must've missed that. Which group didn't get to have their friends revived? [That said...] I wouldn't blame them for seeking redemption either.

[coastal]

The one on the boat. [with the sex demons]

I don't plan on letting that injustice stand - if it's possible for us to get more out of this, then I intend on helping them.

[no idea where she gets the idea that's possible, but okay]

[hydrogenetic]

Past experience has taught me that if you do something well enough, the people you're doing it for will reward you with whatever you want. So there's still hope for bargaining.

[coastal]

[ . . . hmmm.]

Is that from your experience in that town specifically?

[hydrogenetic]

Nah, outside. But it helped a bit in the town, too, even if it probably wasn't in the way anyone expected. The same might even apply here.

[coastal]

[ . . . she sighs]

I'll think about it. At least if I ever try to do anything, I'd like to do it well.

[hydrogenetic]

"If" instead of "when"? [He's not judging, he's just curious.]