eisenundblut | week three - saturday, post trial (newt)

Can you just... keep an eye on Hiro? Katara, too, though she's got Zuko to look out for her. But Hiro's a smart kid, okay? He can get you guys out of here.

[He's starting to tear up again, so he reaches to wipe his eyes with his sleeve. Augh, screw it. He pulls his glasses off and shoves them into his shirt pocket.]

Aaaah....

[She sighs it out, pursing her lips and shaking her head.]

That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Before...

[Before everything went Wrong.]

Hiro... I dunno. Some of the stuff he said during Austria's trial, some of the stuff today... I'll keep an eye on him, yeah.

[Just. Maybe in a different context than Newt wanted.]

[He frowns, tilting his head to look up at her.]

What do you mean?

Mmmmm...

[She frowns uncertainly. This isn't the kind of stuff she's good at putting into words. And also she doesn't want to upset Newt.]

Aah, I dunno. Nevermind, don't think it'll make much of a difference anyway.

I'll look after him.

Edited 2017-08-27 05:54 (UTC)

[He sits up, eyeing her seriously but he looks more concerned than upset. What's she talking about?]

No, tell me. I'm not dead yet. I want to help if I can.

[Give him something to think about that isn't his impending execution.]

[She sighs through her nose, scrunching up her face.]

I like the kid, don't get me wrong. But the way he talked to Austria about individual versus collective good and making things safe for everybody... I dunno. Austria was never as smart as I was, but even she seemed to think something was weird. Not to mention when he just decided that from the beginning we all knew Yato was innocent when yeah, of course I knew he was being framed. It was obvious to me. But that wasn't what people thought back then. Then...

[She scowls again.]

Today, that absurd leap he made to the marks on my back and the marks on the tree. I dunno. But when he talks during a trial, he talks like a kid who's pretending not to know as much as he does.

Edited 2017-08-27 06:05 (UTC)

[Newt thinks about this for a long, long minute. That... Those are some fair points. But Hiro? Hiro would've told him if he was one of the killers.

Wouldn't he?]

I, um. Maybe he has a role? But that doesn't mean he's a killer. He could have a role like you.

Could be. Like I said, I dunno. But...

Just seems weird to me.

[She grinds her teeth for a moment with a frown.]

You think the robots are telling the truth? We win the game, they bring everybody back to us?

[Well, if Newt's learned anything today, it's that they can't exactly trust each other in the way he'd hoped. Not fully, anyway. He's sure that Hiro isn't a bad person, but...]

Look, I don't know if Hiro is up to anything, but if he is one of the killers, he's gotta have a damned good reason. The Chiefs wouldn't pick a bunch of cold-hearted assassins to do all the killing, right? It'd make sense for them to pick someone like Hiro, and he's too smart to go along with it just for the hell of it, so... If you're right, and he is behind any of this... Well. I'm not, uh... I'm not gonna be around to chime in after tomorrow, but you do what you have to do, okay? Just be sure. Don't sentence a kid to death on a hunch.

[He really, really does not want to believe Hiro is one of the killers... But it hurts to think that he's innocent too. There's no easy side of the equation for any of them anymore.

Hold up, though.]

Wait, what? They said that? When?

If I was in charge, I'd pick people you wouldn't think of. People who'd get objected to just 'cause of who they are. If I wanted to really win, that is. I never really liked playing fair.

[She glances at him, visibly taken aback.]

During Austria's trial... the loud red-headed noble, Yona, she asked. They said if we win, they bring everyone back. I don't know how, I don't even know if it's true. But...

[She hesitates, then grabs his hand to meet his eyes with a steely gaze.]

You're not getting left here, Newt.

[So much for taking his mind off of things. He needed to hear this, he thinks, but for once he's having a hard time hoping for the future. Maybe they'll manage to win the game, whatever that means, and he'll get to come back... whatever that means. Maybe he was right, and this world is some kind of virtual simulation, and dying doesn't actually mean dying. Maybe the Chiefs will pull the rug out from under them again and decide the verdict was a big joke, but that's the most unlikely of all the options, really.

But there's no proof. He can't think his way out of this. With the Kaiju, at least he had something to go by. He had specimens and a decade's worth of research and a real Kaiju brain to Drift with. He had hope. It's hard to be hopeful now. He's got nothing.]

You can't know that, Prussia. Not for sure. Don't make me that promise because if something goes wrong, you gotta live, okay? After tomorrow, I'm in the past. You need to focus on the future. [He squeezes her hand and tries to remember to breathe. Aw, dammit, is he crying again? This is embarrassing, but he can't help it.]

I saved everybody back home, y'know? Whole planet. Stopped the Kaiju invasion and saved, like, 8 billion people, or close to it. But I couldn't save the 42 of us here. That's some shit, isn't it? [He laughs. It's not funny.] I know you're, like, the best country ever, but I don't think that matters here. You can try, but that might not be enough.

[She actually laughs, a quiet kesesese that's not much more amused than his own laugh.]

I'll forgive you in case you didn't notice, but I'm already living in the past. Have been for decades.

...Never was very good of letting go of shit, you know? Me and that aristocrat both, we're selfish. I'm better than her at everything, so maybe I win at that, too. But...

[She squeezes his hand, tight enough to hurt as she locks eyes with him.]

I can buy you some time. I'm gonna buy you some time. I'm not ready to say goodbye yet.

...What? [He's caught off-guard by that. He knows about her role, yeah, but if she'd have chosen him this week, she would've told him by now. His heart sinks a little.]

Please don't try to fight the Chiefs or anything. I don't want you making things worse for yourself. It's okay.

[She shakes her head.]

That's not it. I go to them at midnight, before they bring people out... Americans start the week on Sunday, yeah? Until the Chiefs take that loophole away from me, I can pick a new partner to break.

I'm gonna try, Newt. If you want me to.

[Because even if it does work, the Sirens might kill him for being partnerless anyway. Or people will vote for him during the trial for the same reason.]

Edited 2017-08-27 07:19 (UTC)

[That... What? He's too stunned to process and is instead left staring at her blankly for a moment.]

I--I mean, yeah, I think so? [Newt, come on, you lived in America for years.] Yeah. They do. On Sunday. But... They already announced the verdict. Is that even possible?

[And then he pauses again.] Are you sure you want to pick me? A lot of people are going to die tomorrow, Prussia.

[As much as he desperately wants to live... He has to ask.]

...Talked it over with Lief earlier.

[While we're being honest--]

I'd pick you no matter what, but Lief... he's a smart kid. Good at planning ahead. I was always the type to just charge in and make it up as I go. Way it works, I can't pick anybody who was voted to get killed. Same way I can only save someone's partner from getting offed when the Sirens kill them, not the person him or herself.

Way Lief put it, that leaves you, Nino, Jaffar, and Battler. I'm not picking a Siren. And picking Nino or Jaffar... I can only pick one. And neither wants to go on without the other. They'd be a danger to themselves. Or in Jaffar's case, everyone else.

So I made my decision. Don't know if it'll work, if they'll let me, but... I'm gonna try.

I... [Newt trails off, dropping his gaze to the sand. Yeah, that logic checks out. The names are still fuzzy--he wasn't really paying attention to the full list when the Chief read it off--but she's right. She's right.

He pulls her into a hug, remembering at the last second that she's got those cuts on her back and he should be careful to avoid those. The last thing he wants to do is accidentally hurt her after she's just maybe saved his life.]

Thank you, Prussia. [He buries his face in the crook of her neck, assuming she hasn't been like whoa kid and shoved him off by now.] Even if it doesn't work. Thank you.

I gotta try. Maybe it'll just paint a target on our backs, but it's...

...?

Eh?

[She falters, going still at the sudden embrace. The movement does hurt a little, but just in the way that tugs at her skin, not the kind of warning sear of pain meaning another scab has ripped off. He's... hugging her? Even though it might not work?]

[She's still and quiet for a long moment before finally wrapping her arms around him, turning her head to press her nose into his hair and hug him tight. He's not her awesome little sister, he's not Austria, but he's one of West's citizens. He's her friend. And if she can do this for him... Maybe it's okay.

She closes her eyes and wraps her arms around him to squeeze tightly.]

You don't have to thank me for that.

Ah, but you can worship me as much as you want. Build statues in my honor!!

[She's trying to make him laugh. But also she wouldn't argue against worship and statues.]

...

[But she just nuzzles her nose back into his hair again and squeezes him too hard to actually be comfortable.]

I'll do everything I can. Really. So just... believe in me, okay?

[He does laugh, genuinely even, at Prussia joke, and he doesn't mind the tight squeezing. He welcomes it, actually. Being held like he matters is all he can really ask for on the night before his death... Other than this incredible deus ex machina that he doesn't even know how to begin to express his thanks for.

He still might die, yeah. But maybe not. Maybe not. There's hope, and he's damned good at clinging to hope.]

I do believe in you. Of course I do. And if it makes us targets... Well, we'll deal with that when we have to. If we have to. Who knows, maybe this week's shake-up will distract everyone, or something...

Yeah. Leave it to me.

[She reaches up and ruffles his hair without pulling back, kesesese'ing quietly to herself.]

I think I'm finally makin' the right choice.

[He shivers as she ruffles his hair. He doesn't get this kind of affection very often, and, well, it's nice. He relaxes against her, closing his eyes. Even if they're sitting kind of awkwardly and it's a little uncomfortable, he wants to stay here for as long as possible.]

What do you mean "finally"?

["Awkward and uncomfortable" is pretty much her middle name, really. But she'll shift a little, trying to stay close while also making sure none of her limbs fall asleep.]

Finally! Get to use my role the way I wanna use it, instead of just tryin' to guess ahead and guessin' wrong.

...If it works. If they let me get away with it. I gotta try. You're an important kid, you know that?

Mm. [In thinking about it, he realizes that actually, the odds of this working are pretty slim. Why would the Chiefs give her a role that she can use to spare someone from an execution after they've already been sentenced to die? That's much more of a guarantee than guessing before the weekend.

But he doesn't want to think about that right now, not when she's just given him some hope.]

Why? Because I'm German? [He laughs a little.] There's a lot of Germans out there, y'know.

More than eighty million of you, yeah.

[Prussia, on the other hand, is doing her best to think of it as a Guaranteed Thing, because to think otherwise would be too sad. So she boops his nose, trying to make him smile again.]

But you're my friend. You win the Awesome Me Award for coolness.

[He does smile, mostly because of the "you're my friend" thing but the nose-booping is silly and cute also.]

Hah, well, thanks. It's about time someone gave me credit for how cool I am. [...] I'm glad we're friends, Prussia. And not just because you're probably gonna save my life.

That's what I tell people all the time!!

[To give her the credit she's due for being awesome. She beams, honestly flattered that he's willing to call her his friend.]

But if it doesn't work out... well!! That doesn't matter. Just leave it to me, I'll take care of it!

It'll work. [He says it more to convince himself than her.]

...But what does that mean? You'll take care of it? [Please don't tell him you're gonna try to kill yourself...]

I'll figure something out!

[Clarifies nothing.]

Even if it's just yanking you out of the afterlife myself.

[As if for emphasis, she tugs his hair sharply. Violence is how she shows affection, really...]

Ahh! [He recoils, clapping a hand over the spot where she yanked at his hair. He's laughing, though.]

Jeez, be gentle with me. You'll have ample opportunity to beat me up tomorrow if, uh... [Wait. Bad joke.]

Never mind. Uh. Oh! Actually, I, um... [He pats himself down for a moment, not sure what pocket he put it in, but eventually he digs out the mp3 player he arrived with. He hands it to her.]

Hang onto this for me? You'll have to get more batteries from the Chiefs, though. I've been trying. Heh, maybe this week was entertaining enough.

[Wow is that not funny.]

[There are all kinds of Not Funny things happening right here, and she frowns, taking the mp3 player and turning it over in her hand.]

I'd rather listen to it with you.

[It's a moment of stark honesty as she closes her hand around it and meets his eyes. If anything, her expression looks somewhat petulant. How dare?? Her people get taken away from her like this??]

I don't give a shit about what they find entertaining. If... if it comes down to it, tomorrow...

[She reaches up, brushes her free hand through his hair and pokes the middle of his forehead.]

It'll be quick. I promise, if it's the only thing I can do for you... I won't make some fuckin' show of it. They don't deserve it. You don't deserve it.

[Newt is no good at talking to people even when he's not under intense pressure, so sorry, he's doing his best.]

I know. Me too. But, just in case, okay?

[He tilts against her hand, trying to focus more on the feel of her fingers in his hair than what she's saying. He doesn't want to think about "if it comes down to it".]

...Thanks. I trust you. And, um... If it doesn't work, it's not your fault. They're dicks.

week three - saturday, post trial (newt)

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1/??? i'm kelly now

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3/5 i lied i really am kelly

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i'm calling the police

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