i want to be your best friend, or just eat you whole [night 12]

[iote]

[Among all the patterns that may or may not have been seen by all those that have been brought here - the notion that sometimes shitty things happen to well-meaning people, the isolation that comes with not knowing what to do, the realization that we may not know ourselves as well as we thought we did, the thought and fear that love truly has no place in the world… Among all of that, there is one interminable truth, one universal constant that ties us together.

That being, of course, that Ladd Russo is an asshole.

Whether you liked him or not, that does remain a fact of life; Ladd Russo is an asshole, and it's a truth he may have laughed at and thanked you for noticing once. But then, perhaps it's for the best that the dead don't get to have opinions that affect the living.

Wherever you end up tonight, there's unfortunately one other truth to this place that seems to hold - almost no one sleeps well after trials. Perhaps you'll seek solace with one another; perhaps you'll find it at the bottom of a bottle or a highball glass at the bar. Perhaps you won't find it at all. But the reality of things remains as we perceive it - the days and nights aren't getting any cooler, and our numbers here are dwindling.

Rest if you can, but in the end, do what you have to.]

Comments

[worldchampofmartialarts]

L-Ladd, Ladd! I-I was talking about him- [He was not. Or maybe he was- but it was alongside himself. Like two peas in the same pod of "men that deserve the worst they can get in a place like this". But that's absolutely not anything he's telling Xander if he can help it.]

[...Xander's next words give him pause. Because... in a way, the concept of all this happening by pure coincidence scares him much more than it being deliberate malicious intent. He hadn't even vaguely considered the possibility that they could've been chosen at random at all. Why would he? There's just no place for happenstance in his mind. ...guess that makes him no better than those radio conspiracy theorists.]

[...that train of thought gives him a good topic to deflect to, at least.]

...I- ...if it helps, yesterday, Venk and me were looking into what might've gotten us here to begin with. The radio signals. Apparently, they're big on talking about aliens after some- event that happened, maybe whatever it is that got us here... So, if we- keep following their theories on... space travel, if we find out how we arrived, that should find us all a way to leave. H-hopefully, sooner than later...

[advancements]

[Oh. Well that makes much more sense. Anyway, moving on...]

Space travel... Interesting. I'm not very knowledgeable about that sort of thing, but I do hope you two are able to find more information. We don't have any leads at the moment, so that's certainly better than nothing. Thank you both.

[worldchampofmartialarts]

Yeah- you should really be thanking Venk about it, though- he's the one that started the whole investigation to begin with- I just... tagged along, to make sure he's safe. [But as it turned out, Venkman was the one that needed to help him, in the end. ...he diverts his attention back to the screen again, idly hammering at the buttons with no rhyme or reason just to occupy himself.] ...hope... hope everything turns out alright for you, too.

[advancements]

It was good of you to keep an eye on him. I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to push himself too hard.

[He nods at the second part, and he sounds just as confident as always when he replies.]

Thank you, I'm sure it will.

[...he hopes it will, anyway.]