open rp post

[curiously]

DROP IN PROMPTS, PICTURES, OLD THREADS, A POST OR EVEN TFLN BRING IT.
( cw: body horror, gore, violence & etc. in some threads + please label threads for such. )

<small>( ➵ from <a href="">here</a> )</small>

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look sometimes she brings a toolbox

[curiously]

Better your attention on me than the rest of the team when they're repairing or hiding. Though, most of the time I like it when you check the present I leave at a generator.

[ fish perk is great. ]

that's toxic?

[deathslinger]

[ he's caught onto fish perk by now! ]

that so
suppose i never did thank you for those
knowing youre hiding round somewhere doing nothing just lets me get back to looking for the rest of them all the quicker

working together is not toxic but first hook moris are

[curiously]

[ dang it; the slight delay of her message. ]

Are you looking for trials to go quicker? Keys can do just that.

that's a strat just like tunneling and camping, git gud zarina

[deathslinger]

now what happened to not leaving anyone behind?
unless you think you can get everyone out at the same time

angry penguin noises

[curiously]

Wanna bet again, then?

🤠

[deathslinger]

[ a delay. ]

if i do
are you going to bring a key into every trial from now on hoping its one of mine?
seems like a good way to get yourself killed

[ quicker if she's lucky, more brutally if not. He can think of several killers who'd take offense to a survivor even daring to make an attempt at a quick exit, never mind succeeding. ]

[curiously]

I don't really use keys so I have a stockpile of them in hand. Besides, a target on my back means the others can work on the objective.

[deathslinger]

[ there it is again. He's tempted—sorely—to take the bet. Let Zarina learn how difficult playing the martyr is while being relentlessly targeted for however many trials before the Entity decides to put them in the same one. But—he's equally convinced she'll just endure it. Stubborn to prove a point no matter what happens to her.

What a frustrating woman. ]

and how much time would that really buy them
you dont tend to stay on your feet for very long in a chase

[ at least, when she's facing him and the Redeemer. And when he's actually aiming for her. ]

[curiously]

[ meanwhile: ]

I know you won't believe me, but I've been practicing on my off time. I'd like to think it's been paying off whenever I find places to investigate. Need to put it into better action during trials.

It's not like you've seen everything I can do just yet.

[deathslinger]

dont need to when i can count on you to do what i have seen every time

[ putting the lives of others above her own, for instance. ]

ive got a few surprises in mind for our next trial too
you ought to keep watch for those instead of trying to think of new ways to fool me

[curiously]

[ not a lie, she can't deny her own habits and goals. still... ]

A few surprises, just for me? You shouldn't have. Can't wait to see what I can do to them after.

It's almost like exchanging presents with you. In a more morbid manner, of course.

[deathslinger]

[ like exchanging presents. He has to laugh at that. She's bold, all right. ]

for you and the other three
but if youd rather look forward to them instead of being careful then dont say i didnt warn you

[curiously]

I'd like to think people are allowed to both look forward to what they find while being careful at the same time. It's a daily reminder when it comes to my profession after all.

[deathslinger]

sure
but i doubt you were ever keen on dying in some awful fashion while out looking for your stories
seeing as how that might get in the way of actually writing them down later

[curiously]

See, if I knew I was going to get shot upon arrival I would have used my other jacket. Congratulations on being the first to take my life.

I always prepare myself for the worst, but this? It takes the cake.

[deathslinger]

nothing you wore couldve saved you then

[ a statement of fact and nothing more. His first trial isn't something he takes pride in. ]

so it stands to reason youd be less reckless with that experience under your belt
but every trial ive had with you since youve only been more
quite a marvel

[ sarcasm aside, he does understand that it's all she or any survivor can do, or lose hope altogether—but that still doesn't mean he likes seeing her throw her life away doing such foolhardy things. ]

[curiously]

If I have to be more reckless to save peoples lives, I'll do it. We've both been in trials together long enough for you to know it.

They don't deserve to be here and I'd like to help them in any way I can.

[deathslinger]

[ of course she will. But: ]

some dont help you nearly as much as you do them

[ Zarina might not always see who had the opportunity to rescue her from a hook but chose instead to go for the gates, the hatch, or even a locker—but he does. He remembers. And they pay for it the next time they're in one of his trials with a spear through their throat. ]

[curiously]

[ there's a delay in zarina's text because it's true. she's seen certain people's brand of survival — something she can't blame them for when ones first instinct is to run. sometimes she thinks of running herself once the doors are open, but she forces herself to push on. what would her father think if she only thought for herself?

if only she were there to help him that day. ]

I can't blame them when they want to survive. Besides, that's my main objective when it comes to a trial: Getting them out alive.

[deathslinger]

and what happens when you dont besides you feeling sorry for yourself
aint like any of you die for real even if its outside of trials

[curiously]

It still hurts to die, obviously. And sacrificed.

[ what do you mean she's completely avoiding his first sentence. ]

You've never been eaten by the Entity, right? It doesn't happen to killers?

[deathslinger]

[ that she ignores it says a lot on its own to him, and maybe to her as well. Caleb doesn't push her on it. ]

no
dont think it likes us in that way

[ but stabbed, cut, or lashed by its sharp limbs until his back's in bloody ribbons—that does happen whenever a trial ends without enough sacrifices to please it. None are experiences he's eager to repeat. ]

[curiously]

[ killers being tortured is still salt she throws over her shoulder solely because it's jed that tells her this and, despite the exchange of information they tend to have, she always second guesses them. notes them down, but doubts.

even though some of them, she believes, can be kind like the one who holds the bell. ]

Guess so.

[ her second text: ]

Do you think it have favorites?

[deathslinger]

[ he doesn't respond for a while. Then: ]

any jailer does

[ in Hellshire, "favorite" meant a better cell, more so-called privileges, less eyes on you—so long as you never, ever forgot who allowed you to have those and obeyed their every whim on top of that. Caleb had hated every minute of it. But that hadn't kept him from taking advantage of it, especially once the warden offered freedom in exchange for his work.

Here, there's no such promise. No end to the Entity's greed—which perplexes him even more that Zarina would so often let it have her in exchange for someone who'll probably be sacrificed in their next trial anyways. ]

why are you wondering?

[curiously]

I've been thinking... if it does have a favorite, maybe it's lenient to them. Probably someone that thrives working under it or enjoys being here. Maybe they wanted to go here instead of just being plucked off like me? Hard to imagine really. I've also wondered if we were handpicked with how varying our timelines are.

On the other hand, maybe I'm overthinking things. What do you think?

[ because caleb quinn is, despite all odds, someone to converse with on these things and her wandering thoughts that she jots down in her small notebook. ]