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ANTIGONE INBOX: username ANTIGONEIGUESS
PENDING INBOX: username ITSPENDING
KNIFE INBOX: nonexistent (for now)

Yes, that was my value to most.

[ The tone is far lighter than it should be for the implication of it, yet Dion is long accustomed to that truth. Foremost, what mattered was that he was Bahamut.

He knows his father would never have wanted him otherwise. ]

So it's no sweat then, huh. Lucky that. I guess. [she huffs, scowling at the ground ahead of her, pausing every few paces to check for traps.]

Aside from the assured early demise, I suppose.

[ Dion considers it an honor and a privilege to serve his people, but he's keenly aware of the toll. He had to be. ]

Except for the part where it's not taking here? Doesn't that mean staying here buys you time?

I was speaking of home... But yes, all of this is borrowed time.

[ In more ways than one. ]

I meannnn... [she's carefully stepping over upturned roots for the duration of that stretched-out syllable, picking back up once she's cleared it.] Think you can solve that bit of problem before you get back? While you're stuck here.

Somethin' to do. I dunno.

[ He's silent for a long, drawn out moment. ]

If my comrades succeeded, others will not have to suffer that fate.

[ There isn't more he can do, certain he has met his end, and Joshua after him. ]

Translation beinggggg...you don't give a shit about living there? Just do your job and poof, huh? [she hates that, honestly, but like...if that's his perogative, what is she gonna do? force him to think a different way? she can barely force herself to stay true to one course for too long beyond a sparse few!

he's not. one of those courses. won't be. shouldn't be.]

[ He knows he told Antigone, back when she had a crisis over chicken nuggets in his car. The last time he indicated that he recognized her led to something of a crisis though, so he merely huffs, a wisp of a breath from his little dragon body. ]

How I feel about it is irrelevant. My end had already come.

[that clenches at Knife's heart in a familiar and unwelcome way.

You aren't him, but you're talking JUST like him...!

just how many of these beautiful, sad-eyed, ill-fated men are gonna drop into their life - they can barely handle the one!]

If you heard me or someone talk like that, wouldn't that sound like some real horseshit to you?

...Er, birdshit?

I would mourn them, yet it isn't my place to argue with the choice they have made.

[ It pained him to learn that he'd bought Joshua mere minutes. He'd wanted to hope for more and better for him, despite everything.

Yet Joshua was every bit as committed as he had been, and chose to see their time here as time they wouldn't have otherwise. ]

[she scoffs, ducking some branches; dragon may need to smoosh to duck as well, given she's not accounting for the lizard hat.]

Not worth fighting for, huh. Got it. Right-- [she crouches near some bushes, picking at the leaves.] Lookin' for leaf-shapes like these? But with berries. So not these, but...looks like 'em.

[ He huffs, his flexible spines bristling at the comment... Only for that very thing to be what scrapes against low-hanging twigs.

There follows a small hiss of repressed discomfort. ]

What power have I to change what has passed, and what right to deny their agency?

[ But even as he expresses the thought, he's cautiously lifting his little dragon head to peer around. ]

Might those bushes to the northeast be what you seek?

[she doesn't speak to the agency ask, because as much as she likes to have the last word, she doesn't want to keep harping on it and show too much of her real feelings about it; he knows too much as it is, goddammit!

instead, she pivots her focus to the direction he's pointed out, meandering over to investigate. she squats, squinting. kinda hard to figure the details in the dimming light; darkvision doesn't retain color.]

Nnnnno, not these. Next. [she sighs, getting back on her feet and wobbling a bit. after a few rapid blinks, she starts off again, forgetting to check for traps along the way. this will in no way yield a problem.]

[ Alas, he tried. The quest continues.

But it is getting dark, so— ]

Are we far enough in your estimation to avoid unwanted attention?

Eh? [fancy words, always fancy...she has to process that a few paces.] Oh, I mean--shit, man, how should I know? Some of the trees might be snitches orrrRRRAAAAAAAAA-?!

[yoink.

everything goes upside-down as Scarlet's ankle gets hooked in a snare, throwing her up into the air to swing wildly.]

[ Her small dragon companion takes to the air when the air takes her, his ridiculous wings-to-body ratio very apparent as he flits close by but not quite in her face.

His little dragon body makes a small keening noise of concern. ]

It seems you've found a trap. [ A statement of the obvious, but before she can snark at him, he adds: ] I can get you down.

[ What is rope to a laser dragon? ]

[she's too busy flailing and trying to lift herself up to reach for her ankle without having to stretch her limbs, grunting, cussing.

at the offer, she wraps her arms behind her head to brace.] Hurry! Up!

[ All he needed was for her to be still. Now that she is, nothing's to stop him.

This means the odd, flexible spines along the bottom of his wings bend, light blazing to life at their points. A moment later these become beams, which intersect and form one concentrated little laser that cuts clean through the rope on contact.

Laser dragon. ]

DAH-!!

[whumph.

Knife knows how to take a fall, so no damage is done. even so, Scarlet opts to just lay there on her back, scowling skyward.]

...Hate this fuckin' place...

[ Dion's small Bahamut form lands lightly atop a nearby tree stump, wings folding primly so he can lean on them. They are his forelimbs after all. ]

Are you hurt?