cherrypuncher | week 5, tuesday afternoon

[Sometimes, Damian wishes he had some of the powers of the other metahumans roaming his world: invisibility. Just craft him into Diana's plane. Perfect.

He'd be invisible at this very exact moment.

But here he is, visible, plain as day, being accosted by a pink and bubbly girl. (That he got flowers for but IT ISN'T LIKE THAT AT ALL!!! SHE SAID THEY WERE HER FAVORITE IS ALL AND SHE LIKES TO PRESS THEM FUCK OFF.)]

If I was, would it matter? [At least?? He stopped to talk to her??] I'm not busy.

Of course it would matter! I wanna talk to you, and it's pretty important, but it could take a little while and it's not so important that it couldn't wait until later.

[She skips a few steps forward, peppy as always, then pauses.]

It's kind of got to do with what we talked about last week, so can we go somewhere else?

[For a moment, he pauses to consider this. Important, but not that important? Wtf.] Yes. [He motions for her to follow him.

A room would be the safest bet, but they're too far to walk all the way back without someone spotting them and asking questions.

So, instead, he opts for standing on the backside of a far building that's been boarded up; hopefully, no one is going to come snooping any time soon.] Here. Keep your voice low. [Good luck.]

What was it?

[And she does follow him along! There's a spot she's got in mind but she does a little snooping this way and that once they get here instead, and this seems secure enough so long as she's quiet. Believe it or not, Yuna is, in fact, capable of such a feat. She shifts a little so she's standing with her shoulder against the building's corner where she'll be best poised to hear anyone approaching without actually being seen herself.]

First, I have to apologize. [She's leaning in and speaking low.] I lied to you last week, and I'm sorry. There's someone else I have to protect, though, so I couldn't tell you anything else without asking their permission.

[She takes a slow breath.]

Mister Sheriff did speak to me. He gave me a role.

[She touches her hand to her chest.]

I'm the bartender. I get the chance to investigate a person every week, and Mister Sheriff will tell me if they have a role, and he'll tell me who they talked to all week.

[But now she's frowning, her fingers curling over her heart.]

So far, I haven't learned anything useful at all, though... I didn't have anything I could have shared with you last week, and I don't now, either, but that's one of the reasons I asked about who you were talking to before. But now that I have permission, I wanted to tell you, and I wanted to apologize for lying to you.

[There's an extremely long bit of silence on Damian's part. Like, long, and he's not doing much of anything else except probably staring right at Yuna.

What the FUCK?]

What did you say? [Despite hearing her loud and clear. It isn't even a legit question. Disbelief. Here, on Damian Wayne. You come into his fucking house.] What?

Why didn't you tell me earlier! We have been looking for you! We have been trying to figure out who has these roles! [HE'S DYING. INSIDE.

Yuna, you're killing him.] Are you lying to cover for someone else? Are you really the Bartender? [Luckily, his voice isn't loud so much as just a giant hiss.] Does that mean you know who the Madame is?!

[OOPS

Yuna takes a half-step back, startled, and the hand on her chest curls into a little fist. Her voice is soft when she speaks, apologetic, but firm. There wasn't a right answer, she thinks; she didn't want to have to lie, but...]

I am the Bartender, I really am, I promise. The Madame told me to keep what we did a secret, and since we work together, it wasn't fair for me to decide all on my own if it was okay to tell you. I'm sorry.

[She takes a deep breath, steadying herself. Being whisper-yelled at by a ten-year-old hurts!!!!]

When I asked for permission to tell you about my role, the Madame said that if I trusted you this much, they couldn't say no. It still wasn't right for me to keep that from you, but now I can tell you everything I know.

[Jesus CHRIST.

After a second of hesitation, Damian reaches out and grabs her by the hand. Turning around, he takes off at a somewhat fast jog, pulling her to follow.] Not here. [Fuck being outside.

He'll take them both in through the post office (despite the warning of "Bruce" having been there. It's fine if they stay just inside. Close enough to hear anyone else coming along the wooden porch.] Now. [He lets her go.]

I'm the Bounty Leader, and I want you to tell me everything.

[WELP!!!! She lets Damian tug her along, looking alarmed, and only very gently takes her hand back.]

Okay. [She's very, very quiet.] There's a room upstairs in the saloon we meet in... [just!! in case we want an alternative!!!! But she continues, careful:] Like I said, we get to investigate people. We get to pick someone every Thursday, and Mister Sheriff tells us who they've talked to and if they have a role or not. We only get to pick one person together... We're allowed to send messages anonymously through Mister Sheriff, too, and we can each send our own message, but we haven't yet.

The Madame suggested asking about the Sheriff's "employers" the first week, but that didn't tell us anything about the game... After that, we asked about Annabeth, because we wanted to see if we could find out why she was in the stocks that week. All she did that whole week though was talk to Percy, so we didn't learn anything. After that, we asked about Mister Keyes...

[THEY KEEP PICKING PEOPLE RIGHT BEFORE THOSE PEOPLE DIE IT'S AWFUL]

Obviously he didn't have a role, and he spoke to a few different people, but, um, none of it seemed important...

[She brings her hands up to her heart.]

That's it. We...weren't told about what other roles there are. I don't know what the Bounty Leader does and I don't know what other roles exist. Mister Sheriff told us there was a role that could end the game if we found it, but I didn't know they were looking for bounties or anything like that until you told me...

["i don't know what the bounty leader does" tells damian literally everything without asking questions regardless. yuna]

[HOLY SHIT... all this time........ Yuna.... Madame.... why....]

Just because someone else wants to do something stupid doesn't mean you should follow along with them! [Sorry. He's just... he's mad that none of them have thought to suspect Yuna and have them filled in with information. GOD!!] What I told you wasn't a lie.

The game can be ended through a role, or it can be ended other ways as long as they follow limiting parameters. [He sighs. His fingers massage the bridge of his nose and his eye sockets before he drops them back down.] I need to know who the Madame is, too.

There are five Bounties, including me. One of them has already been killed, leaving four. I've found two of them, and the Sheriff should tell us who the remaining Bounty is. Those were the rules.

Jackson is also helping us. [Honorary Bounty, Percy Jackson.] The other roles are the Deputy and the Doctor, not counting the Bandits. They are randomized. I know the Doctor.

We're all looking for the Deputy. That's how I can end the game; however... [He frowns.] I will have to kill them. We're looking for another way.

We were trying to find you both so you could help us. The Deputy is in charge of the stocks. They can put people in the stocks to potentially die or put them in the jail to spare. They choose the stocks, making the people vulnerable to Bandit attacks.

They're using their role to hurt others, not help them. It's going to be someone who wants to do that. I assume they are looking for me.

The common trait between Chase, Arisu, and Todd is they are teenagers. If the Deputy gets a hint, perhaps the Sheriff told them they should be looking for someone young.

That means you can't be stupid anymore. You can't stay outside by the stocks.

[GOD. LET HIM REST.] It's fine. I was the one who put the trap there to protect the person in the stocks. I'm going to trap it every night from now on.

[Yuna listens intently throughout the explanation, frowning pretty intensely. She doesn't like that Damian's been given all this responsibility, likes even less to see how stressed out he is about it. She opens her mouth to start to speak and ends up just sort of...sighing quietly. None of what she says is gonna help with that, huh.]

I didn't think you were lying. I believe you, and I'm really glad you told me all this. But I didn't think we were doing anything stupid...

[she's trying her best and mostly she is just sad that it isn't helping :(]

Can you tell me who the other roles are so that the Madame and I don't have to waste time investigating them?

[She pauses, folds and unfolds her hands over her heart. She isn't so stupid as to be blindly, entirely faithful in everyone here, but...given an opportunity to help, to protect people, the Deputy's chosen to hurt them instead. They're trying to find Damian. They want to hurt him, too. Yuna can feel her heart sink, finds something as close to anger as she ever musters.

It isn't enough for her to want them to die, whoever they are. It isn't fair for the responsibility of that death to be placed on Damian. It makes that feeling that might be fury bubble a little more fiercely.]

I...promised the Madame I wouldn't tell... Is it okay if I ask and tell you later today?

[and that's only the beginning of the bad news]

...I can't stop staying with whoever's in the stocks. I'm sorry. [SHE'S GOTTA BE STUPID but she's speaking so gently, knowing already that this isn't going to go over well.] I'm worried that a trap won't be enough. I didn't know about it, but I could still notice and avoid it, and even some of the coyotes almost got by when I was there with Shinnosuke-kun... I can't just leave someone all alone and put them at risk when there's a way for me to help.

[Naturally, Damian doesn't look too pleased about not being told who the damn Madame is, but... whatever! It's Yuna!] Then hurry and don't waste time.

The other two Bounties are Milla and Noctis.

I can't tell you who the Doctor is because-- [He grits his teeth and looks away.] Just ask Todd. He found her, but he made me promise not to tell anyone so she wouldn't get hurt.

She's able to pick items to help us, but only based on a collection of suggestions the Sheriff gives her. Aside from that, she can revive one person. [He looks back at Yuna again. This time, he's mildly angry.]

Don't be an idiot. You have a role. You're important to ending this game for all of us. Carelessly throwing your life away when there are better ways to protect whoever is in the stocks is ridiculous and stupid.

Do you remember what happened to Chase? That's what will happen to you if you are out there alone.

[Yuna pretty visibly perks up when Damian mentions Milla.]

We've been rooming together all this time and I had no idea...! [AAAA MILLA IS HER FAVE SHE CAN'T BELIEVE SHE DIDN'T KNOW!!!] Okay. I'll ask Jason. Thank you.

[But she takes a slow breath, and for a moment she avoids that angry look he gives her but it's fleeting, and she meets Damian's eyes.]

I wouldn't do this if I didn't think I could take care of myself. I can. I still have a lot to do here, and a lot to do at home, so I won't die for nothing.

[She's holding her hands at her heart again, though; she needs Damian to know how serious she is, how much this means to her, but she's still so stricken by the unfairness of him being left in charge of this.

(It didn't hurt so deeply when it was her at home, a Hero of the Taisha, but this doesn't occur to her now.)]

What would have happened to Shinnosuke-kun if I wasn't there? The trap couldn't have stopped all of those coyotes. I can't leave people all by themselves when they're helpless.

[She sighs, but it's light and small.]

I shouldn't have been there by myself with Shinnosuke-kun. I'm sorry. I still made it out okay, though, didn't I? [for...given values of okay......] I won't go out there alone anymore. Usually Milla comes with me, but I wanted her to rest since she was hurt so bad. I have to keep standing guard, but I won't do it on my own anymore.

[Don't be a stupid hero, Yuna. That's a job for Damian Wayne and Percy Jackson.] Maxwell said you promised not to split up. You shouldn't have been alone with him. Without the trap, you could have been killed. There were too many coyotes.

Even if Maxwell can't come with you, at least ask someone else to do it. [Why... Why does he sound like his father??? STOP.

This is not what he wants to sound like, but--UGH. Too much Wayne.] Just because you have the capabilities doesn't mean you can be a moron. You still have to plan, and you still have to think of the consequences.

We could have found two bodies by the stocks because of carelessness. We would have lost someone with an important investigative role.

[He sighs.] Whatever. Forget it. It's done. There's no use wasting time arguing. Next time, don't stay without someone else.

[There's argument left in her, because that isn't quite right and Yuna Yuki is a Hero and she's going to be stupid for the rest of her life try and stop her, but he's right; it's done, there's no use. Anyone else, she might insist on proving herself to, but Damian's got enough to deal with.]

All right. I won't go out on Thursday nights on my own anymore. I promise.

[And now she crouches a little, hands on her knees and meeting Damian's eyes at his height. It isn't very often that she's taller than people around here!!!]

Thank you for worrying about me. I'm going to work twice as hard, though, to keep myself and everyone else safe so you won't have to anymore, okay?

[????????????????? What the??

For some reason, Damian looks momentarily befuddled by Yuna's comment.] That isn't--

I'm not worrying. [He's absolutely worrying.] It's just ridiculous to act like an idiot in regards to protecting people! There are better methods!

I'm not relinquishing the duty of protection over to you!

[NOT THAT HE WAS PROTECTING ANYONE IN THE FIRST PLACE, LISTEN.]

[he's definitely worrying.]

I'm not asking you to relinquish anything to me. But you must be really busy, right? You've been looking so hard for me and the Madame, and you must be putting a lot of work into keeping everyone else together. You can't overwork yourself, though, so at least just let me borrow that duty for now so you can take a break!

Thank you for all your hard work, Robin.

[STOP??]

I'm not too busy to be unable to protect others! [Except, you know, like 9284928 people have died already. No big deal. Not busy.] This is nowhere near the work I do in my own world with my father.

I can do this without people thinking they can "help." You'll all just get in my way.

[There's the briefest flicker of a sad frown on her face but it's gone in an instant when she declares—] Hero Club tenet! If you're troubled, talk to someone!

That isn't true. There's a reason there are a bunch of bounties with a leader, and why we have a Hero Club. I know you must work really hard! I've had to do tougher stuff with my Hero Club at home, too, so I understand. Still, that doesn't mean it's going to be okay for me to keep going here on my own. It's the same for you. You can't do everything all by yourself, and if you keep trying, you'll get hurt.

[Her voice and expression soften.] I'm worried about you, you know. You've been doing so much since you got here, and I know you're really tough, but it's still no good to go it alone.

week 5, tuesday afternoon

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damian is shook!!!!

LMAO WHOOPS!!!

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im fucking dying irl bc this is exactly how jason and auger felt in shiptrap

SHIPTRAP 2 ELECTRIC BOOGALOO

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