[Everyone he's significantly interacted with in the last 3 years was already involved in some dirty business themselves-- save Bishop, and Travis knows all too well how that ended up.]
I saw what happened. [ Ah, the wonders of the internet. Even people not stuck in hell with you hear when you fuck up.] Listen, there's always a need for someone who's willing to do what no one else will. Normal people might not get it but...it's necessary.
Yeah, uh... that could've gone a hell of a lot better. [tO SAY THE LEAST.]
[he mulls that over, before answering:] Thanks, really. [the ghost of a smile.] It's weird, though, thinking like that-- like I'm not "normal people" anymore.
You stop being normal with the first person you kill. That's how it works. You can try to act normal, try to pretend you're still one of them, but it's no use. It's like acting in a play, you know? You can play the part for a while but eventually you've got to take off the mask and let everyone see who you really are.
[ uM this took a turn for the worst. never trust a vampire to give proper uplifting advice. ]
Well, shit. And here I thought I was actually getting good at putting that face on. There's no way to really cover all that shit up for good, then, is there?
Tch, yeah. Never fails. [Oh, Shinobu. 8( Travis is, as always, woefully inept in social matters and doesn't pick up on her tone-- that or he's too focused on his own problems to care.]
Hopefully nothing. [except the stability of his tiny group of friends, perhaps.] The short of it is that there's a pair of fuckheads who killed a kid, and it's not the first time they've killed for their sick kicks. And I volunteered to help. You know how we revive in these games, right?
Let's call it spawn camping.
...People who weren't supposed to know heard, of course, 'cause, again, the worst thing's always bound to happen.
Ugh. Reviving. [Truly an assassin's bane right there, as she's finding out.] I'm way too young to know what a mid-life crisis is, but I feel like I'm going through one here.
[Because when the people you kill don't stay dead, then what's the point?
But right, right, her face turns more serious when her mind returns to the issue at hand. Even she knew this wasn't the right time for banter.]
What's peoples' fetish of killing kids anyway? I mean, sure, we kinda kill people for a living, but a person's gotta have some kind of standards. [And considering she killed three classmates just to hide her identity, three years ago, that was a lot coming out of her. Even if she was a lot more chilled out now, then she was back then.]
You probably should have just dealt with the douchebags yourself, rather than try to work with anyone else.
[Travis shrugs.] It's got its perks. Protagonist, remember? Infinite continues. But I wish we could turn it off for the real nutjobs who need to stay down.
They weren't even making a point; they just did it to get a rise out of everyone. The absolute fucking lowest. ["You can't just selfishly use death as your tool", indeed. Travis grits his teeth and huffs before continuing.]
I'd be on their asses right now if they weren't so ridiculously goddamned OP! It doesn't work like it did back home.
[There's no guarantee he'll win, in short. And since someone's already died saving him once, he's gotten a good deal more hesitant about throwing his life around. Not that Travis Touchdown, Crownless King, would ever actually verbalize that, ever.]
It'd be nice, wouldn't it? It always has the be the biggest pains in the ass that's gotta be the overpowered ones that won't go down by conventional means. [Because yeah, Shinobu had some experiences with an especially bitchy troll before. Still pissed her off thinking about it to this day. Though there were also the annoyingly elusive people that ran the town she was stuck in too.]
All of these people can just hold us here, kill and torture people whenever they see it fit, then they can't even face someone in a proper fight.
Maybe I can find a cheat code or something. Bug the moderator enough to rewrite this so they get their just desserts. [Like that'll happen, but Travis is a stubborn idiot.]
Goes to show you. There's no such thing as good ol' fashioned sportsmanship anymore. [He frowns.]
That... and everybody who actually does this whole roleplay thing is fucking crazy.
Cheat codes? C'mon, Travis, that would be a totally lame way to go about it. [She thought you were better that that, seriously.] Even if some people are stupidly overpowered, you just gotta become better than them, right?
But I'll agree with you on one thing: these roleplayers sure do like inflicting pain and suffering on characters way too much for my liking. [She shrugs, exaggerating it a little.] And people say that we're the twisted ones.
[Travis hesitates. Simply beating them hadn't been his first thought: uncharacteristically, he'd been considering that there's, well... risks involved.
At what point during his stay in Haven did not simply becoming better actually become a possibility?]
Yeah, [he lies; need to save face for someone who knew him before,] you're right. I'll gut them just like I would anybody.
And hey, we don't got a choice in the matter: we're just following our script. They've got a choice to be sadists or not.
Well, I'm not saying that you should just walk in there and be stupid, even if that's, like, second nature for you. [Though can be kind of fun, every once in a while, but shh.] Just that you've gotta train harder and figure out their weaknesses and stuff.
[Because sure, most assassins would probably call it quits after losing an arm, but it was exactly that which got her to pull her head out of her ass and train somewhere where she could actually grow.]
Basically, you better not have beaten me in battle just to give up now. [Though secretly? She's got faith in him. Even if she still thinks his taste in women is horrible.]
Aren't we all a little sadistic anyway? But screw it, we still don't hold a candle to those guys.
Heh, that's the challenge, ain't it? [he grins.] On my shit list right now are a fat old French fuck who can turn into a snake-thing, this psychic asshole, and some bitch who gets off on suffering. The last one's gonna be a challenge, because how do you make somebody pay if they're too busy getting their jollies on it?
You're talking to Travis Touchdown here. I'm too stupid to quit. [even if being in a game about survival has taught him how to, well, survive better. he's not used to playing the long game, but he'll have to try, won't he?]
Ha. I hear you. If I could get 'em through the fourth wall, I would.
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This is gonna suck.
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[his actions have consequences what the hell? what are these mysterious foreign feelings of GUILT AND REMORSE????]
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Cat's out of the bag now, I guess.
[he casts newt a look of uncertainty. oh god he doesn't know how he's supposed to fix this.]
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[ He glances back up at Travis]
....I don't know how we're going to fix this.
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[Everyone he's significantly interacted with in the last 3 years was already involved in some dirty business themselves-- save Bishop, and Travis knows all too well how that ended up.]
...we CAN fix it, right?
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...yeah. [a little quieter now, more subdued, and he's just...going to lean into Travis's side a bit]
We're just gonna have to...talk. Or something.
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Shit. I'm, uh. Pretty bad at talking and feelings crap. You know that, right?
I'm not gonna give up or anything. But yeah, it's gonna suck.
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Hermann's mun wants him to help. Or at least get us talking.
I figure...that'd be a good place to start?
I mean, not that Hermann knows a damn thing about friends and interpersonal relationships but...[he shrugs]
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We're going to Hermann for help? Damn, this really is a mess.
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...yeah. Yeah, it is.
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Dunno how well that's gonna go, but thanks for the advice, I guess.
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[ there u go travis words of wisdom ]
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Yeah, uh... that could've gone a hell of a lot better. [tO SAY THE LEAST.]
[he mulls that over, before answering:] Thanks, really. [the ghost of a smile.] It's weird, though, thinking like that-- like I'm not "normal people" anymore.
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[ uM this took a turn for the worst. never trust a vampire to give proper uplifting advice. ]
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Well, shit. And here I thought I was actually getting good at putting that face on. There's no way to really cover all that shit up for good, then, is there?
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[A pause falls. Even if Shinobu still had some issues she needed to sort about Travis, there was still a good deal of concern she held about him.
Still, she tries to play it off as coolly as possible.]
So, what'd you lose?
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Hopefully nothing. [except the stability of his tiny group of friends, perhaps.] The short of it is that there's a pair of fuckheads who killed a kid, and it's not the first time they've killed for their sick kicks. And I volunteered to help. You know how we revive in these games, right?
Let's call it spawn camping.
...People who weren't supposed to know heard, of course, 'cause, again, the worst thing's always bound to happen.
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[Because when the people you kill don't stay dead, then what's the point?
But right, right, her face turns more serious when her mind returns to the issue at hand. Even she knew this wasn't the right time for banter.]
What's peoples' fetish of killing kids anyway? I mean, sure, we kinda kill people for a living, but a person's gotta have some kind of standards. [And considering she killed three classmates just to hide her identity, three years ago, that was a lot coming out of her. Even if she was a lot more chilled out now, then she was back then.]
You probably should have just dealt with the douchebags yourself, rather than try to work with anyone else.
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They weren't even making a point; they just did it to get a rise out of everyone. The absolute fucking lowest. ["You can't just selfishly use death as your tool", indeed. Travis grits his teeth and huffs before continuing.]
I'd be on their asses right now if they weren't so ridiculously goddamned OP! It doesn't work like it did back home.
[There's no guarantee he'll win, in short. And since someone's already died saving him once, he's gotten a good deal more hesitant about throwing his life around. Not that Travis Touchdown, Crownless King, would ever actually verbalize that, ever.]
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All of these people can just hold us here, kill and torture people whenever they see it fit, then they can't even face someone in a proper fight.
[Heavy sigh.]
It totally blows.
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Goes to show you. There's no such thing as good ol' fashioned sportsmanship anymore. [He frowns.]
That... and everybody who actually does this whole roleplay thing is fucking crazy.
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But I'll agree with you on one thing: these roleplayers sure do like inflicting pain and suffering on characters way too much for my liking. [She shrugs, exaggerating it a little.] And people say that we're the twisted ones.
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At what point during his stay in Haven did not simply becoming better actually become a possibility?]
Yeah, [he lies; need to save face for someone who knew him before,] you're right. I'll gut them just like I would anybody.
And hey, we don't got a choice in the matter: we're just following our script. They've got a choice to be sadists or not.
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[Because sure, most assassins would probably call it quits after losing an arm, but it was exactly that which got her to pull her head out of her ass and train somewhere where she could actually grow.]
Basically, you better not have beaten me in battle just to give up now. [Though secretly? She's got faith in him. Even if she still thinks his taste in women is horrible.]
Aren't we all a little sadistic anyway? But screw it, we still don't hold a candle to those guys.
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You're talking to Travis Touchdown here. I'm too stupid to quit. [even if being in a game about survival has taught him how to, well, survive better. he's not used to playing the long game, but he'll have to try, won't he?]
Ha. I hear you. If I could get 'em through the fourth wall, I would.
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[She grins a little herself, glad that at least the fire hadn't died down in the person she (perhaps regrettably) looked up to the most.]
Hey, as long as that stupidity doesn't get you killed permanently, what's the harm?
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