Week 1, Tuesday

[vipmix]

[once the game is announced properly, Joshua decides giving Neku time to adjust to the setting and the people might be a good idea. Not to say he didn't keep an eye on his proxy-- if he's even his and not some alternate, but for the sake of keeping things in check he's assuming-- but he left him to his own devices for a bit. Now, though, he figures it's time to go ahead and "properly" ally himself with him.

(having to take a different approach to Neku is ... interesting and annoying at once, but he'll make do.)

so that's why he walks up to him in whichever secluded area he's currently occupying with this:]

Hello there, Neku. Could we talk?

Comments

[soloremix]

[look, this would be all well and fine if neku knew who josh was. unfortunately i wanted to be Difficult.

so playing fair has never been part of joshua's philosophy, even back during the reaper's game, neku notes. in a way, he can respect that—instead of helplessly playing by the rules and being at the hosts' whims, why not attempt to smash the cycle altogether? it's a very cat thing to do.

maybe they could have more than just acquaintance by association in common after all.]

Didn't strike me as the kind of person who plays by the rules, anyway. (And given that the rules straight up mean killing other people AND playing a murder mystery game...)

[he takes a second more of hesitation, but he's honestly made up his mind already. he just doesn't want to come off as eager, because he's anything but. if anything, it's for survival.]

Fine. Deal. Just don't expect me to automatically get involved in every crazy scheme you come up with. I get to choose what I do and what I don't, got it?

[vipmix]

[that came earlier than josh expected, so the surprise on his face is genuine for the second it's there. then it's replaced by his usual smile because CAN'T!! BREAK CHARACTER!!!]

I'm not sure if I should be grateful you agreed or worried you did while thinking I've got "crazy schemes" planned out.

[neku JUST accepted and can absolutely take it back but look. josh has to establish who he is as a person he can't lie that much.]

Don't worry about it. I didn't ask to rob you of your agency. I'm just self-aware enough to know as much as I'd want to go it alone, with everything being about "partnership", that's not going to be possible. [and then, wryly:] Not to mention, since a vote is apparently involved, half of this game is going to be a popularity contest, and I'd almost rather die than have to play nice.

[neku earned at least one truth]

[soloremix]

(Can you really blame me for being even the tiniest bit suspicious?)

[but joshua's got a point. there's no getting around the fact that survival on your own will lead to anything but an early or easy death. at least in shibuya, he knew the streets and the city, and he wasn't completely at a loss; here, literally all he has is a faint connection to home in the form of joshua.

that's great.]

I'm pretty sure popularity won't do anything to save your ass when there's enough proof to peg you down as a murderer.

[vipmix]

Hmmm... Let me give an example. Laura's a literal, shambling corpse. [a beat] Which in and of itself is disturbing, but ignoring that. Her partner-- that girl, Nino. She seems your typical nice, sweet girl, and has a few fierce protectors from what I've seen. Say Laura were to kill. Do you think people are more likely to try to see the signs pointing to her and condemn an innocent girl to death, or invent a potential culprit who's more... unsavory?

[s h r u g s]

[soloremix]

(Uh, need I remind you that we're both dead, too? Like, not corpse dead, I guess, but it still feels kind of hypocritical to say something like that...)

With as much "righteousness" and "justice" people have been talking about, I'd hope they make the smart choice. Sucks for her that her partner went and messed it up for the both of them. Otherwise, what, screw over an actual innocent person and their partner, too?

[HA HA... HA... things that are extremely ironic in hindsight when you're backthreading]

[vipmix]

People will see and believe what they want to. That only becomes truer when you take into account their personal biases. Pair that with life and death... [well. he waves it off.] But who knows. Maybe you're right and I'll be pleasantly surprised this weekend. [but he wasn't!!! ha ha!!! backthreading.] Though I didn't take you to want to be an advocate for the people.

[soloremix]

Look, I hate people too, but I'm not saying we should just kill for dumb or messed up reasons either.

(That's taking it too far, even for me... I'm not the greatest person, but I like to think I learned THAT lesson before I got pulled out of Shibuya.)

[vipmix]

I'm not advocating for it. ["shibuya is the worst" and "i am picking you to win a bet for me" are both valid reasons? come on. also he just meant. people in general. not himself] But when it comes to people, I've learned to keep my expectations low.