It's time to go.
Most people are on the train by now. Settled into their cabins and among friends and loved ones. There are only three new arrivals left to board and once they do, Hal pulls a conductor's hat out from underneath the bar, tugs it on, and steps around it to the middle of the train. He opens his mouth to talk, voice filling the train.
"It's time to go. Stops happen once a day until everyone's departed and I already have your stopped listed. If you'd like to be prioritized, let me know, otherwise we'll go in order of death. Settle in and enjoy the ride. If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask, folks."
This, of course, means that those who died earliest (Manfred, Higekiri) will depart first while those who died latest (Barnham, Damian, Percy) will depart last. There's a stop for everyone, though those who want to get off together are more than welcome to. Hal pulls a notepad and pen out of his pocket later and people will notice that he goes around the train confirming stops with everyone. Whatever feeling Hal may have had to a character back in town isn't noticeable here -- he is simply a robot assigned with a job.
After that, it's all a matter of settling in and enjoying the ride. If that's possible for you, at least.
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sheriffexe) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
robowest2017-03-04 12:02 pm
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You thought talking about someone I lost when I was kid and whom I've had no contact with for ten years, not of my own will, would make me happy?
[He loves his sister dearly (so yeah, understatement), and everything he's gone through he did of his own volition, but considering all the less than pleasant things he now associates with her, talking about her doesn't exactly bring him joy.
Bittersweetness, maybe. Homesickness for a better time.]
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[why wouldn't it, she thinks!!]
You don't have any happy memories with her? Ones that make you wistful and nostalgic?
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[If anything, it's a bit of a bitter reminder of the childhood that was stolen from both of them—his sister especially.]
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I see. . . in that case, I apologize for asking.
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Whatever. You're not exactly the first person to ask, anyway.
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[the feelings train won't stop until Shinnosuke gets off]
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Or maybe it just means that there's a lot of very bored busybodies in this place.
[Which, frankly, is easier for him to swallow than people actually caring.]
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Do you really believe that's the case?
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Because believing one thing means you're deluding yourself, while believing the other means you understand the truth.
[she's not clarifying which is which, because he should already know]
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[The way he looks away and remains quiet should indicate that yes, he does know. And he hates Milla's logic, because he can't refute it—can't claim he'd rather be deluded without seeming unreasonable.
But still, he can't see any benefit in believing that others here care about him. It won't save his sister, after all, and so he doesn't need it.]
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Take heart, Shinnosuke. In a few more weeks, you won't have to worry about me pestering you any longer.
You must be looking forward to that.
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I would be much happier if I could stop worrying about that right now.
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[she won't force him, but Sara convinced her to try and ask for ways to keep in touch with people. Shinnosuke would, of course, be one of those people]
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[Shinnosuke's not exactly the type of person most think of when they think, "Hey, I want a pen-pal."
Though his answer isn't an immediate no, so there's that.]
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Because I'd like to know how you're doing, once you go home. I wouldn't write you that often. Just every once in a while.
And I've also heard of this type of friendship humans call "pen pals," and I'd like to try it out for myself.
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[but, of course, she can't help but inquire into the meaning of his second statement]
Will you be too busy to write, then?
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Busy or dead. One of the two.
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Why the latter? Are you returning to a dangerous situation?
. . . does it have something to do with the Labyrinth Disease you spoke of once?
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Everything in my life has to do with that stupid disease, so yes.