hadriel_logs | The Killing Game

Entry tags:

The Killing Game

Who: The Raven crew: Gansey, Blue, Adam, Ronan and Noah
What: Blue targets Gansey during the Assassin event
Where: The Raven House.
When: During Rage's Assassin event
Warnings: Attempted murder, the full list of swear words known by Ronan Lynch, teenage angst.

[ As far as Gansey knows, it's an ordinary morning in their house. He's yet to venture outside, and hasn't seen any of his friends emerge from their rooms. Given that his own is the living room these days, and also given that he struggles to sleep most nights, he typically finds himself wandering around alone in the mornings. This isn't a place with a great prevalence of cereal boxes, and his beloved car is still at home, so his usual methods of distracting a wakeful mind are unavailable.

That's why, on this particular morning, his friends will arrive to discover Gansey has built some approximation of the Eiffel Tower out of a range of the house's cutlery. There may have been one or two minor crashes, when his efforts collapsed on him, but really, that should just make everyone glad that he didn't decide to use the plates. This is a lot harder than it looks. He's in the kitchen, minding his own business, and setting this monstrosity up on one of the counters. There's also some indeterminate can of something being warmed in the microwave; let no one say he never attempts to cook for his friends.

Oblivious to what's started to happen around the city, Gansey goes innocently about his model building, and waits for the first of them to wake up. ]

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Ooohh, Ms Sargent.

[Noah's grin gets wider, which ends up causing more pain.

Worth it.

He steps inside anyway, gently closing the door behind him to make as little sound as possible.]

... It's the boat shoes, right? It was just too much and you snapped. I can't blame you.

[ Blue rolls her eyes as she goes to her bed, climbing onto it to take her seat back against the wall again.

He does have a point, though. She's so careful around all the boys now that she's living with them. It's not that she's afraid of doing things like this, it's that she wonders how each one will react to it. She weighs that mental draw up with what she's willing to risk and well... usually she ends up erring on the side of caution.

Her gaze darkens slightly as he mentions him and she sets her head back against the wall, eyes rolling up to the ceiling. ]

I don't know if it's any one thing. It's a lot of little things.

And the fact that I can't get away from him. He's always around. It's like I can't breathe.

That's the downside about living with him.

[Noah says this easily, and just as easily he flops down on his back onto her bed as well, legs dangling off the side. Look out Blue, you are in a bed with a boy again. A boy you have previously kissed. He gives a great sigh, turning his head to look at her sort of upside down.]

We could go out. There's no movies or gelato parlous, but we could manage a walk along the river probably. All the cave fish are really creepy though. Eyeless.

[he makes wiggle fingers near his eyes to indicate 'eyeless'.]

[ He did warn her that he wanted in her bed. She may have forgotten to watch out for him. He has this way of making her forget her defenses sometimes.

Even if she remembered, she couldn't bring herself to be angry with him.

A laugh escapes her lips as he tells her about the fish, diffusing some of the tension from having talked about Gansey again. ]

Really? That's so creepy.

[ Her smile is wicked as she lets him lead her further away from the anger that comes to easily. ]

You know I have to see that, right?

Uggghhh like this guy, Amos, he can talk to animals and he was feeding them. I fed some too but ugh ugh ugh.

[Noah grimaces in a very exaggerated manner, shuddering theatrically as well. He opens one eye to look up at Blue again, smiling now.]

Yeah you gotta see them. They're so gross. It'd be a great date.

[ Her eyes say Watch it, Czerny for her, despite her smiling. ] Friend date. [ She reminds him as she gathers herself off the bed.

The past couple of days have been filled with stress as the anger builds and she tries to stop herself. It's nice to have Noah to remind her not everything has to be so serious. Though, some things maybe.

She starts to gather her usual things she rarely leaves the home with, consisting of her antique mirror, phone, and switchblade at the least. ]

Come on. [ She doesn't add "before Gansey shows up again." ]

[Noah remains sprawled on her bed until she is done. It's a comfortable bed. He brings his phone with him like always, and quickly darts into his room to get his knife and water bottle, but that's all he brings with him when he goes out unless he's got a purpose in mind.]

Can you make out on friend dates?

[He asks oh so innocently. He at least waits until they're outside before he does.]

I don't kiss anything with a pulse. [ The answer almost comes too quickly, like she thought up the response in advance.

She did.

She knows he'll ask, though. He always asks. And she doesn't have many ways to stop him. Mostly because she's always had a soft spot for him. His smile ruins her. She doesn't yell as often at him, and as long as he knows the truth, then he's free to get shot down as many times as he likes. ]

Please tell me I'm not the only girl you're trying to kiss.

[Noah should be abashed or ashamed but he's neither of these things, instead stupidly pleased at how quickly she replied. Like she thought of it ahead of time.

She was thinking about it. ♥]

Ms Sargent, [There is the fake scandalized tone again, along with the crooked grin.] Are you asking me to be a man-ho? ... Is that what you're into? Because I can do that if it is.

That's not even a thing! [ Her voice rises slightly on that, caught somewhere between embarrassment at the insinuation, frustration at the use of the word "ho" (even with man attached to it), and amusement with his own scandalized behavior.

She lets out a frustrated groan, shoving her hands in her pocket and shaking her head. ]

That's not what I meant. [ Here eyes are daggers for him. ]

I meant that... you shouldn't be wasting all your time on me. There are plenty of girls here to kiss. You could pick one of them.

[Noah has to laugh at her frustration. He's the worst. He'd try to take her hand if he thought he could get away with it. He's considering it even so.

Blue seems to have her mind taken off what was bothering her, and that's what Noah was going for.]

Are you saying girls are interchangeable, Blue? Wow.

[Teasing, he's teasing.]

There's no one else like you.

I'm saying...

[ Saying what? That she's in love with Gansey? Is that even true?

Yes. She realizes. For now, the anger doesn't outweigh the love. In fact, maybe that's part of why she is so angry. She's too close to the situation. ]

I'm saying you know I love you. [ She glances at him out of the corner of her eyes. ]

But I don't love you like that. [ Though sometimes she wonders if there's a world where she doesn't know Gansey and Noah's not really dead that maybe that'd be different. ]

I know. [The words come just as easily as Blue's retort from before, and he shoves his hands in his pockets as they walk so he doesn't give into the urge to reach out and take her hand.]

So that means I've got nothing to worry about. I'm safe.

[He's thought about it too. He likes to imagine that maybe when he was alive he could have been Blue's true love, that's why Gansey has it now. They'd have to meet later - he'd be seven years older than her after all. Maybe when he was in grad school and she was in college and he'd calmed down a bit with age so she wouldn't hate him instantly.

If he died from the kiss, it'd be worth it.]

Mr. Czerny. [ She does her best to match his scandalized tone from before. She even adds a hand over her chest, protecting her innocent heart. ] Are you saying that boys are interchangeable now when it comes to kissing?

[ She shoots him an awkward smile.

Then, with a heavy sigh, she resolves. ] I don't want to kiss anyone else. [ She draws her eyes back up to him. ] That's why I don't want you to wait.

[ As much as she would like to keep both, she knows that's not how the world works. And it's not fair to Noah. He has an opportunity now that they don't know how long it will last. She doesn't want to see him waste it on her. The timing was wrong for them, it didn't have to be wrong for him and others. ]

[Noah does have other girls he'd like to kiss. The thing is all of them have boyfriends. It's apparently Noah's type - girls who like him, they just like someone else more.]

I don't mind.

[He genuinely doesn't. He knows it's Gansey for Blue, and it's Blue for Gansey, and it's just a matter of time.]

I'm okay with being a stand-in until whatever.

[ We need to work on your type, Noah.

But his response.... well.

At least he knows.

She sighs, stepping a little closer to him. She briefly touches her fingers against the back of his hand as they walk. Not quite holding his hand, but taking a moment just to reassure him. Or herself. Someone. ]

You deserve better.

Are you going to tell me about your face yet? [ Did he think they'd never come back to it? ]

[He wants to take her hand, to duck down and kiss her. It's okay. It's okay. He's not in danger, he knows he isn't.

It's her true love that's in danger. Noah's feelings aren't taken into account by her curse, so he'll be fine. It would be enough.

The moment's gone too quick, Noah only gets his fingers brushing against hers as well before she's asking about his face. He takes it as a request for reprieve and gives it as such, longing stomped down in favor of another easy smile.]

Oh, that? ... Someone tried to kill me. It's fine. I got away.

[And had been hiding out in Raven Haus since he came back with it, actually. And is just now leaving in an attempt to cheer Blue up.]

[ The same story as everyone else around here lately. Suddenly the whole city was lashing out at each other. For a moment, she makes the connection that she's doing the same thing to Gansey. That it can only escalate. But instead of tamping down that anger, she just feels it rise further. Yet another way he complicates their lives. Why can't anything ever be simple with him?

She moves closer to Noah. If the fingers weren't enough and the kiss too much, then her head on his shoulder should fall somewhere in a happy medium. ]

Who was it?

I need to know who to punch the next time I see them. [ Is she joking? ]

Or at least help look out for them for you.

[Hopefully she's okay with his arm going around her shoulder, because it's just easier if she's going to rest her head on his. He has to walk a bit slower, to make sure their legs don't get tangled up or anything. He can't remember doing this with anyone when he was alive, but he's certain he must have.]

No, she - she wasn't in control of herself. It was something else. I met her before all this. She gave me a book.

[It wasn't quite a 'she was my friend', but Noah knows how flimsy even that excuse is, when you've been murdered by a friend in the past. And even if he doesn't blame her, he's now sufficiently fucking terrified by her.]

Her name's Sharon. She... did something. It was like she was ... I don't know. Changing the buildings. Bringing someplace else here. Like Adam calling Cabeswater but... something darker.

[ That sends chills through her. Someone that can control the world around them like that? Bringing a place inside this one?

She wraps an arm around his waist, squeezing a little tightly. She's listened to him for too long. She hears the slight change in his voice. The drop from happiness before to the fear that resonates in him now. Whoever this friend was, her anger was something else. ]

I don't think whatever's happening to us is done yet...

I'll try to keep look for her. I don't want you to run into her again.

[ She swallows hard. ] I'm glad you didn't get hurt worse.

[Noah lets his lips brush against one of the spikes of her hair, not enough to really feel. He doesn't have the same danger there that Gansey does, and it isn't a kiss anyway.

As always, he's stupidly happy for her embrace, even if it came about due to him almost dying a third time.

Blue doesn't know about the second time, does she? He doesn't really want to worry her, but everyone else knows. Gansey arrived while he was still dead.]

Me too. ... I've already died here a second time, though.

[ She feels him lean close, feels his face near hers. She doesn't really know how to respond. What to say to it.

Then the moment is gone. Too brief for her to have even decided how to respond, should she have wanted to. She lets it pass instead. She doesn't want to let him go right now.

So she doesn't. Even as she looks up at him with wide eyes full of surprise. ]

You died? Here?

What happened?

[They're getting closer to the river, Noah can hear it in the distance, the water. He belatedly thinks he should have brought some bread to throw into it to see if he could make the fish appear in case they're shy.

In the meantime, story time.]

It was quick. I didn't have time to be scared.

[That's the more important part of the story, first off.]

There was a snowstorm. I got caught out in it. Which wasn't so bad but... there were things in the snow, too. Yetis, other stuff. A yeti was what got me. I didn't see it coming. I just got unlucky.

[ A yeti. Not even one of the locals turned monster. Just a straight monster.

She grips him a little tighter. She'd press closer, but they already have to manage to not tangle their feet. So she doesn't come too close.

But something in her heart tightens. ]

I know you come back but... [ She remembers the way he used to act out his first death for her. It makes her stomach twist this time. ]

I wish none of us were in this danger. Mom used to say that death wasn't always the worst thing that could happen to a person.

It's true.

[Again, there's no hesitation, Noah's voice quiet. Blue's mom knows this, Blue has been raised being told this, a lie is kind of pointless.]

You ever see 'Clue', with Tim Curry? 'What are you afraid of, a fate worse than death?' 'No, just death, isn't that enough?'. It's like that.

There are worse things. Being dead is plenty bad on its own, though. I was a ghost for a little bit. Couple months. I'd asked for it to be that way.

[Again, Adam, Ronan and Gansey already know. There's no point in trying to hide it from Blue. She'll find out sooner or later, and Noah figures she'll be less angry if she hears it from him.]

The Killing Game

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