curiously | open rp post

[ 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.

[ 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

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.

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

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.

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. ]

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.

[ 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. ]

[ 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.

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

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?

[ 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. ]

[ 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?

[ 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?

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. ]

trying to figure this place out is as good a way to pass the time as anything else

[ and as aggravating as Zarina can be, at least she's got a sharp mind. ]

that things always hungry
if it knows the willing ones can and want to deliver then why not work them the hardest

[ because for all the Entity croons in the back of his mind about how he's its personal bounty hunter, it sure as hell doesn't take it easy on him. Even though he had wanted to come here—and enjoyed it too, for a time.

Does Zarina not count him among those who still do? That's... kind of her. ]

as for whether or not weve been picked you might have to talk to the others if you want a firm answer to that
i can only speak for myself
and i know ive got nothing in common with you except hellshire
could be that it looks for a place where a lot of deaths happened first before taking anyone from there

[ the conversation already has her thinking on which killers to ask. initially she wonders about the killers she wants to avoid, but maybe she can make amends with the huntress. trying with the doctor is impossible, of course. ]

Makes sense when you say so, and I still remember your answer to that too. Remembering everyone's stories including yours... it does add up. Either you're isolated or somewhere that reeks of death.

Thank you for the thoughts, Quinn.

Edited 2021-05-23 16:29 (UTC)

[ at her thanks, Caleb smiles—but it's a short-lived one, chased away as soon as he realizes. Not for the first time since they started talking in this fashion, he's glad she can't see his face.

That isn't why his reply takes a while though. ]

call me caleb if youd like
youve known me long enough for that

[ his next messages arrive immediately as if it doesn't matter to him what she does with his suggestion, if anything. ]

and when you say everyones stories
do you mean just those from the ones round the campfire
or from the other killers too?

[ "call me caleb if youd like"

a text that makes zarina smile. she hasn't forgotten the way quinn — caleb — gets angered whenever she said his name previously. it's one of the reasons why she sticks to cowboy in the first place despite the man call her by her first name for a while. finally, some fair share.

zarina replies immediately with: ]

Caleb. :) Thank you.

Mostly everyone else at the campfire. Not all of them, but I listened to a few who were willing to talk or needed an ear, or both. The other killers not so much. Thinking about trying to talk to a few of them again, like the Huntress and the Wraith.

Edited 2021-05-24 10:00 (UTC)

[ "colon right parenthesis," the phone reads out. What's that supposed to mean? He pushes it aside as something to ask about later, thinking over the rest of Zarina's words instead. The Huntress and the Wraith, huh. He's had only amiable encounters with the woman in the rabbit mask himself, their shared fondness for the hunt making for some worthwhile conversations. But Zarina seems to dislike her—judging from her answers during the game they played that one time, anyways.

He hasn't spoken to the Wraith yet. There was one time though, leaving Glenvale, when he could've sworn he heard soft snarling somewhere around him—but the fog had swallowed him up before he could investigate. It hadn't happened since, which is a shame; Caleb would've liked to ask the other killer about why he lets survivors go during his trials. And how he can afford to do so given the severity of the Entity's punishment for even unintentional escapes.

Going to the Wraith's part of the fog is an option, he supposes. But speaking of: ]

you go wandering round their places for those talks?
neither of them seem like theyd take kindly to being surprised

It's more of me trying to. I want to know more about them, what happened to them. Obviously I already ruled some people out like the Nightmare for instance. I did talk to the Wraith once and he was interesting.

I'd like to try and continue it when I can, or when they allow it.

so youre actually willing to be careful about doing something?
thought id never see the day

[ there's more dry humor in that than genuine surprise. Outside of trials, there's more choices than just living or dying. Of course she'd look out more for herself then.

—most of the time, anyways. He still remembers how she had to get drunk off stolen liquor before talking to him for the first time. ]

havent met the nightmare yet
but from what i heard tell of him [ and the dreams he has on occasion, unsettling enough for him to realize they're not completely his own. ] thats nothing to be disappointed about
i wouldnt try interviewing the clown or the doctor either if i were you
they aint very pleasant company even when theres no one around for them to kill

[ though she's probably already gathered as much from her trials. For a moment, Caleb considers putting forth Sally or Amanda as killers who might be agreeable to conversation. But no. Who knows if they'll be in a talking sort of mood if Zarina—or any survivor—paid them a visit, and one of the last things he wants to do is get her killed unnecessarily. ]

[ his text is able to bring out a chuckle from her throat as she reads it. of course he would say something like that — it's not as though he hasn't brought up her recklessness before. ]

Trials are different. People are in trouble, as we both know well.

You make it sound like you've dealt with the both of them before. Have you? And what happened?

[ he certainly knows Zarina's stubbornness very well. This conversation's only been more proof. Now that it's moved away from the trials though, he's not in a hurry to spend more time talking about them again. It won't be long until he's called to another one. ]

i have
the clown was one of the first killers i met here
came rolling in with his caravan and horse and didnt waste a minute before introducing himself
told me he missed the sun and asked if he could stay a little while
and seeing how i had a whole saloon full of drink wouldnt i be willing to trade some of it for information about the fog?

[ all of that accompanied by so much wheezing and coughing like the man was about to hack up his lungs along with his next word. Caleb remembers his incredulity. They had met when he still saw the fog as a sort of purgatory, and the other killers as like him, punishing people who'd wronged them in their own trials. Who did someone like this have to revenge himself on? ]

well i did learn some things but he didnt end up staying
wore out his welcome too quickly for that

[ and it wasn't just with the off-color jokes and the forced friendliness. Caleb also saw something he didn't like under the greasepaint, tipped off to it by years of being around and dealing with unsavory folk. Later—much later, after the Entity's influence faded—he realized he'd been right on the mark. Especially once he overheard survivors whispering in their true voices about what the Clown did to them in and out of his trials. What the other killer sought hadn't actually been sunlight and liquor. No, he'd wanted the survivors. The ones who'd be enticed into Glenvale by those very same things. The ones who already knew to stay well away from the corner of the smoke-choked realm he usually squatted in—but hadn't yet learned to approach the ghost town with the same caution.

As much as he detests the cage the Entity crafted for him, he isn't going to let someone like the Clown exploit it for his own disgusting desires. ]

met the doctor while i was passing through to somewhere else
he was more interested in asking me questions about myself and such instead of answering any of mine
but at the end he did offer to acquaint me with his research

[ and the machines that interested you so much, Mr. Quinn, he'd said in a voice Caleb never heard aloud. It buzzed and crackled inside his head instead, each syllable somehow splitting and not quite matching back up in time, quiet yet perfectly audible despite the deafening clanks from the many monitors moving above them. And beneath it all, a threat of laughter. ]

polite as he was i had to turn him down
if you tried talking to him i dont think hed give you a choice

I talked to the Doctor once when he sent me a text. Got a headache after five minutes, so I'm not bothering with that again for a while like the Huntress, maybe. With her however, I figure I might have a better chance after clearing things up.

Most definitely not planning to talk to the Clown. Observe, maybe. I still need to figure out a proper back up plan. I'm wondering if I can find a gas mask and if it'll help against whatever toxins he throws at us. Maybe it'll work in a trial.

[ for a while doesn't mean forever despite how the doctor has been with the last time they communicated with each other. not when zarina's curiosity is far too powerful to reel herself back in — she wouldn't be in the entity's realm if it weren't for that very factor. she wouldn't have met others stuck alongside her. she wouldn't have met caleb quinn.

maybe she would be home in her apartment working on a completely different project or with her mother instead of being swept away by cold fog, like it does now as she sits by the fire with several others. ]

Speaking of, I'm being called by the Entity for another trial. Thanks for listening, Caleb.

Edited 2021-05-29 05:17 (UTC)

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deathslinger - 2021-05-31 03:54 (UTC) - Expand