week 5, post trial.

[robitussin]

[Another week draws to a close, but as more culprits are led away, something is different all the same. After this particular trial, perhaps it's not a surprise that there's no note or offer to meet in a specific place tonight. Can any of them say they have any energy or desire to do something like that at a time like this? The place they regrouped last Saturday evening stands there, burned nearly beyond recognition, and the townspeople look at them with the distrust that's been steadily building. Not to mention... Those are the least of the losses they've faced in the last few days.

Of course, even as so much changes day by day, the town remains, with plenty of places for people to go if they don't want to stay inside the motel. Where can you be found tonight?]

Comments

[marmoron]

I'm not beating myself up, Natalie.

[He's definitely getting defensive here. Doesn't want to be though, so he stops and tries again.]

Sorry. I'm -- sorry. You don't have to listen if you don't want to.

[robitussin]

You just said you thought it was stupid for you to care about it, and that you should've have been caught off guard. What else do you call that?

[She sighs, though, some concern leaking into her voice.]

You don't have anything to apologize for. If I didn't want to listen, I wouldn't have asked.

[marmoron]

It is pretty stupid to care about that. I'm over it. I've just -- [Never had the murder of two people pinned on him because he's part alien? Was already reeling from losing two people he cared about, one of whom he was actively trying to protect this week?]

Look. I'm really bad at talking about this stuff and I don't want to make a bad night worse.

[robitussin]

If it was anyone else saying this to you, would you tell them it was stupid?

[She sighs.]

Look, we don't have to talk about it, just... Know that you aren't making anything worse, okay?

[marmoron]

I ...[The question ...kinda throws him off for a second.] ... maybe? People don't usually come to me with their emotional problems.

[After saying that he goes quiet a long moment, glancing down at the street.]

How do you feel?

[robitussin]

...I just think you're being tougher on yourself than you would be on anyone else.

[She frowns, though, thinking it over as he asks her that.]

A lot.

[Which is... an honest answer, all things considered.]

[marmoron]

....I'm kind of the leader of my group. I have to be tougher on myself, you know.

[because when he wasn't, that came with lethal consequences. So no pressure or anything.]

Go on.

[See how fun and easy this is, Natalie?]

[robitussin]

Maybe back home, but it seems like more of a group effort here. Or... Okay, I'm not going to say there aren't people here who take the lead, but there's more of them than just you.

[She chews on her lip for a moment.]

I don't know. Angry for starters, I guess.

[marmoron]

I know. Trust me, I'm not trying to lead anyone here. But I am staying sharp for myself.

[And for some people around him, but that's neither nor there. Not a conversation he wants to get side trakcedb by now that they're talking about Natalie's feelings rather than his own.]

And you're angry about... what? [....] No cop out answers like "everything."

[robitussin]

Staying sharp doesn't have to mean blaming yourself for stuff out of your control.

[There's another sigh as she runs a hand through her hair.]

That any of us have to keep dealing with this bullshit.

[marmoron]

[He isn't going to address the first part of that.]

It's been five weeks since the start. We've lost a lot of people. Probably gonna lose a few more before we can put a real stop to any of this.

[His tone's soft, but his anger's running a little cold rather than hot at the moment.]

At least you've never been a suspect at those trials.

[robitussin]

[She notices that, and it's evident in the frown she gives, but she doesn't address it.]

What does a real stop mean? He's just going to do this again, and if we stop him, he apparently has a boss who can probably just send someone else to do it.

[His next words get a shrug.]

If I was, I'd just work harder to figure out who it was.

[marmoron]

He told me his boss might make an appearance at the end. I'm going to kill all of them if I can.

[Blunt. But it's a joyless declaration: determined but flat.]

It's just humiliating.

[robitussin]

[There's a long pause, and an expression that grows more tense.]

...Don't say that.

[marmoron]

[Turning to look at her with a raised eyebrow.]

Why?

[robitussin]

[She hesitates, but...]

You've seen what happens to people who try to hurt him. Imagine if there was a group of them.

[marmoron]

If I see a window of opportunity, I'm going for it.

[robitussin]

[She looks like she wants to argue for a long moment, but instead:]

...Right. Whatever. It's not like I've been able to stop anyone else from getting themselves killed, why start now?

[marmoron]

[That wouldn't have struck a chord with Keith before Friday, but with Cian's death it actually makes him pause for a bit, no longer able to hold eye contact.]

I'm....

[It hasn't really occurred to him before that maybe doing something like that ... mayne it's the same kind o\\f hurt that Cian left him with when she never woke him up and walked into an obvious trap on the roof by herself. Then again.]

...I'll think about it.

[robitussin]

Great. I'm glad.

[Even if she still sounds incredibly frustrated.]

[marmoron]

[There's nothing objectively funny about that, but it gets a faint-ish smile.]

I just don't think it's impossible to kill them. It's just a matter of finding the right weapon.

[robitussin]

[There's a pause, and while she doesn't sigh again, it's not hard to see she's troubled.]

I don't know.

[marmoron]

Then I guess you're gonna have to trust me on this one.

[Keith's not exactly a stranger to fighting the supernatural really.]

[robitussin]

[She pauses again, and though she tries to keep her voice neutral, some worry leaks into it.]

Am I? And what if you're wrong?

[marmoron]

You really think a bunch of guys who have a master plan that's this convoluted and reliant on the likes of Rose and Frasier really have it all on lock down?