completelycrazy | week 4 - mary - sunday, post-execution

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week 4 - mary - sunday, post-execution

[Newt makes himself scarce after the execution. He ducked out as soon as it was over, and it's not until a few hours later that he turns up again. He's hiding in the comic shop, sitting on the floor in one of the more out-of-the-way aisles, turning his tape recorder over in his hands. Well, in one hand. His left hand can't seem to grip it quite right, and his palm is wrapped tightly in black fabric. He's looking a little pale, too.

Hm! Weird!]

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...Akira?

[Where did that come from? Who...Akira? Who mentioned Akira?]

[Ah.]

He's one of the bad ones, apparently.

[Opens mouth. Closes mouth.]

Newt...do you know who all the Reapers are? Why did Izaya tell you all of that if he thought you killed Jacopo?

[He shakes his head.]

I don't know any of the last good Reapers, but... I know about Akira and Undine. I need you to keep that to yourself though Mary, okay? Especially about Undine. I really, really don't want anything bad to happen to her.

[He sits back on his heels.]

I'm not sure why he told me, but I think it's a testament to this whole truce thing. Izaya figured me out, but he said he didn't vote for me because he thought I was too valuable for the Players. So, I guess he told me because the Reapers we have left really do want the Players to pull this out.

[Mary looks stunned. She shakes her head from side to side.]

Of course I won't say anything! Friends don't tattle. And I like Undine too, she draws pretty.

[She pauses, smiling sadly, looking a bit comforted, if shakily. It is good to know that the "bad" reapers are names of those you already trust.]

You know what Izaya told me before he killed himself with Monika? He said that he hoped that I got to stay with you and Hermann for a really long time.

[That takes him by surprise.]

R-really? That's... [Man, Newt aggressively does not understand that guy.] Well, um, I'm glad to hear that.

[He sighs and finagles himself around so that he's sitting against the bookshelf again.]

So, um... Can I ask you something, Mary?

Of course you can. You can ask me anything, because we're friends! I'll always tell you the truth.

[He lets out a sad laugh. Oof.]

I'm really glad we're friends. You know that, right?

[He nudges her with his shoe. That wasn't the question, though.]

Uh, since we're friends, I wanted to know if... Well, I guess, would you stop being friends with me if you found out that I did something wrong?

[Ominous...]

...no, I don't think so. Everybody makes mistakes.

[She purses her lips.]

I told you about how I died, didn't I? It was because I made a mistake...and my friends stopped being my friends. I wanted to take it back and say sorry...but they didn't let me. So I wouldn't want to make someone feel that same way. I'd want to be nicer and understand better so I can keep all my friends.

Oh.

[That makes his heart hurt.]

Um, I'm sorry. That's a sh--I mean, that's a terrible way to die. Uh... Can I ask what mistake you made?

[Mary's expression slowly falls into something unreadable. It seems like she might not answer, but then she decides that she doesn't need to keep the truth from him. He already knows what she is. He's one of the only people she's told.]

They found out my secret, about me not being human. They got scared and pushed me down and ran away, so I chased after them. I chased them with a knife because I was angry and hurt and scared.

[She looks more sad the more she speaks, pulling her psych out of her pocket. The palette knife is as shiny as ever.]

This knife.

[Mary looks at it, eyes shining with latent tears.]

I didn't want them to leave me behind; I was alone for a really long time. I should have just used my words, because friends talk to each other when they're upset...that's what my book about making friends says. I guess I wasn't actually a very good friend at all.

Edited 2018-04-10 09:30 (UTC)

[Newt lets out a "mm" at the story, and then takes a moment to considering his wording. This matters.]

I'm sorry they did that to you, and that they wouldn't listen afterward. But it's like you said, right? It was a mistake. Everybody makes mistakes. You didn't mean to hurt them, y'know?

[He sighs and closes his eyes, leaning his head back against the bookshelf.]

I did something like that too. I tried to take it back, but there's nothing I can do about it now. [...] Hermann's gonna hate me for it.

But he's your best friend, isn't he?

[She sees things the way she sees them okay.]

I'm sure he'd be willing to listen to anything and accept it if you admitted you were wrong!

[Oh. Ouch.]

Um... It's really complicated. We're colleagues, not... Not friends. But I spend more time with him than anyone else. Our work is kind of, um, the only thing we have anymore.

[He gives her a one-shouldered shrug.] I don't think there's a word for what we are. And, uh, I don't think he would forgive me for this, even if I admit it was wrong ten times over.

How come?

[It's Newt. She can't imagine him doing anything all that bad. He's always been so nice! He draws tattoos for her!]

I, um... [He's not sure how to put this.]

I don't think I've told you much about the place me and Hermann are from. [He's avoided talking about it with pretty much everyone, so if he's mentioned it, he's forgotten.]

A few years ago, these massive monsters started coming up out of the ocean. There was this, um, portal? We call it the Breach. The aliens were coming up through that. From another universe. It's the monsters I have on my arms. [He shrugs a little to indicate, but she's seen them. He doesn't roll up his sleeves.]

If we don't stop them soon, they're going to wipe out our planet. They've already killed, like, millions of people. They can destroy entire cities in a few hours. And they keep popping up faster and faster and when me and Hermann died, they were, like... [He frowns, trying to remember.] Well, suffice to say we're in the eleventh hour back home. We died doing something that would tell us how to close the Breach, and we're the only people in the world that have or can get that information. It's really, really important that we, um.

[Get a second chance at life? No, not really. As much as he wants that to be true.]

We needed to get that information back to the people at home, you know? Otherwise, everyone dies with us. Like... Everyone.

[Mary shakes her head in affirmation to the fact that she doesn't know anything about where he's from. She listens, patiently, and...well, if what he's implying hits home, it's a little hard to say. But her stance does become...cautious.]

That sounds really scary.

[She watches his face.]

Right, that sounds really important. But you can't do that from here...can you?

[He nods. He doesn't notice her tensing up. He's preoccupied with his own self pity.]

Yeah, it is. It's both of those things. And... You're not supposed to be able to, I don't think, but Hermann and I made a deal with Max. I, um, well... Hermann thought we were doing it to send the message back home, you know? To make sure Pentecost would know, in case we don't get back...

[He picks at his bracelet. He's not sure why he's telling her this.]

But... I changed my mind. I told Max that I wanted something to help us here instead. Something to help us win the game so we can just, um, go home and tell him ourselves.

What was the deal?

[A natural followup question...and yet, she turns the palette knife over in her hands, growing more and more agitated.]

Oh, um.

[Shit. Why is this her takeaway?]

It's... not important. My point is that, um, I made a mistake. And... I guess I'm scared that, if Hermann finds out, he's not going to like me very much anymore.

[That's putting it lightly.]

It's not important or you just don't want to tell me?

[She closes her eyes.]

Miki said she made a deal with Max, too. That was why she killed Jonas.

[Her breathing changes, and she feels like she can barely get the words out.]

I can...I can keep your mistake from Hermann if you're afraid of what would happen if he finds out.

...I, well... Maybe a little of both, I guess.

[It's not important anymore. It's done with. They accomplished nothing, and he'll just have to live with that.

Maybe if he ignores the comment about Miki, she'll forget about it?]

...Thanks. I'll, um, tell him eventually, probably, I just... It's complicated, Mary. Like, really complicated.

[A little bit of both definitely means that he doesn't want to tell her. Mary hesitates, but the longer the silence stretches, the more uncomfortable she feels. And he probably feels it, too.]

Don't they say that the longer you keep something a secret, or the longer that you lie about something, the harder and the worse it gets to admit the truth?

[He does feel it. His heart is pounding. He shouldn't have said anything. Mary has already figured this out. She knows what he did. She knows that he lied to her about it.

So he should just admit it, right? He's admitted it to other people already. More will likely find out before the game ends. One way or another, Mary will probably find out eventually. It would best if it came from him.

Well, that's not true. It would be best if it came from Hermann, but he's not here, and he was against telling Mary in the first place. God. This is just one more reason for Hermann to be upset with him, isn't it? But he's already screwed this up. There's no going back now.]

I... I'm sorry I lied to you, it's just, um. If this gets out, you know? Hermann and I could be in real trouble. You have to understand that. We thought... We thought we were helping.

[He clears his throat. May as well start at the beginning.]

Max gave me a clue last week. He, um, he told me that Jacopo was a Reaper. We're supposed to kill them all to win, you know? After the trial, I guess maybe that's not really the case, but... I didn't know. I asked Max, okay? I asked him to make sure we were doing the right thing, and he said that, yeah, all Reapers pose a threat to the Players, so...

[He shrugs.]

But we didn't torture him, okay? The trial got a lot of details wrong, and that was one of them. He didn't suffer, I promise.

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week 4 - mary - sunday, post-execution

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