haymitch

[polyapathy]

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[polyapathy]

[She tenses as his arm wraps around her, not because he's done the wrong thing, but just the opposite—this is what she needs, and he just knows, and it's exactly what Wayne would do, too.

She lets him pull her against him, readily pressing in to cling to his chest and nestle her head under his chin. He's warm, which is nice despite the stinging in her burns, and she takes a long few moments to just listen to him breathing, letting it soothe her.]

Do you have any idea how fucked I'd be if you weren't here?

[oraculi]

You'd be fine.

[It's not comforting, but it's not meant to be. Just a statement of fact.]

You think I was ready when I was sixteen? Please. You woulda broken my nose the second you met me. But people adapt. They learn. They either step up or they die, and I promise you, Katy, as somebody who's seen a lot of the latter: you'd survive.

[polyapathy]

[Despite his best effort to be a sourpuss, it is comforting, if only just a little.]

Surviving and being fine aren't the same.

[Her hand slaps lightly against his chest.]

Shut up and let me appreciate you. You were right again today.

[oraculi]

[He scoffs. Yes, he was, but at this point, it's far from comforting.]

For all the good it did, yeah. Fucking Edelgard . . .

[polyapathy]

Hey.

[She pulls up for a moment to look him in the eye. Listen up, buddy.]

That's twice now you've proven you're smarter than her. I don't know where the fuck half of these people get off, but we caught another demon. That's progress. That's another step toward getting out of here.

[oraculi]

Yeah.

[It's sighed out. He's very tired, but he can't be any more tired than she is. Staring at her for a few seconds, he reaches with his free hand, wiping away a trace of a tear.]

But if she keeps interfering and throwing all the accusations to you, I'm not just gonna keep it to arguing with her.

[polyapathy]

[She tilts against his hand, and it takes her a minute to catch up with what he's just said.]

What's that supposed to mean?

[oraculi]

[. . .]

This stays between us. You understand? You don't tell anyone, not Nathan or Junpei or anyone.

[But that's not such a hard clause to insist upon.]

I've murdered to get back home before. I'll do it here, too, if she's gonna keep trying to get you killed.

[polyapathy]

[There's a long moment where she just stares at him. This can't be real.]

No. No no no, you're not— No, okay, just... You're not putting yourself through that for me.

[Distantly, she recognizes that that's an odd detail to be number one on her list of objections to murder, but it's what comes out. Here's hoping he won't need more convincing than this.]

[oraculi]

I'm not saying I'm doing it, but I'm not gonna ignore that it's an option, either.

[polyapathy]

Um, yes, you are.

[She slides out from under his arm so she can face him more fully.]

You're putting that one to bed, and then some. What the fuck would happen if you got caught, huh? No.

[oraculi]

And what happens if she gets them to believe her one of these weeks, huh? What if she talks about this bullshit enough that she gets her way? It's not impossible!

[polyapathy]

That's not going to happen.

[He's right, though. That's what fucking sucks about this. It's not impossible, and Katy's already dreading the next trial more than she is next curfew.

But she does her best to sound sure anyway.]

She's not going to pull this shit again, okay? I'll make sure of it. Nathan told me there's no reason for us not to trust each other. Our only enemy is the demon, and god forbid you do this and they figure it out... You saw how suspicious Dick is already, and Junpei... We'd never be able to stop that domino effect, never mind the fact that they'd kill you for it.

[His safety is her biggest concern, truth be told, but apparently it doesn't hold much weight for him. Great.]

[oraculi]

The hell do you mean, you'll make sure of it? How? Katy, all that shit can happen to you.

There's no guarantees we both go home. There never was. But the chances are getting slimmer the more people die.

[polyapathy]

I don't know! I'll talk to her! I'll make sure she knows we need to fucking trust each other. It's better than killing her, fuck.

[oraculi]

[He pauses just long enough to make the is it? clear . . . but then deflates, sighing as he glances away.]

It's not gonna happen tonight, anyway. C'mere.

[polyapathy]

[God, but he's right. He's right, he always is, and she hates it so much in this moment.]

Everyone knows you fight with her. They'd figure you out in an instant.

[She shoves at him, biting back tears again.]

Don't make me sit through a trial like that, Haymitch. I can't do it.

[oraculi]

[God damn it . . . he glances away, hating the expression on her face. The sincerity in her voice in that moment, so raw he's aching.]

All right. All right. I won't. I promise.

But if she keeps this shit up, I'm gonna bring it up again.

[polyapathy]

Like hell you will.

[But it's said tiredly as she settles back against him, taking a shaky breath. The promise is good enough for now, and it's like he said: Nothing's happening tonight. Today is over.

She sniffs, wiping her face on her sleeve.]

...We have to get Nathan out of here, too.

[oraculi]

If we can.

[But god knows if they can even get out of here themselves. He likes Nathan, though. He likes him a lot more than he'd admit, because the guy reminds him too much of a mentor.]

[polyapathy]

We can.

[She says it firmly.]

More people are dying, but we're catching up. We know more than we did last week. We could still get ahead of this.

[oraculi]

Yeah.

[He's trying. He's really trying, but that's the most optimism he can summon. He sighs, tugging her in closer, and for a while there's nothing.]

. . . hey. That reminded me. I still don't know everybody you've slept with around here. Did you sleep with Junpei?

[polyapathy]

[She barks out a laugh, because how can she not? What a fucking whirlwind today has been.]

Yeah. Last week. Edelgard too, as a matter of fact, but that was on Monday.

[She pauses to think.]

Tuesday it was Catra, and then Beck... I guess snapper was in season this week. Otherwise, just you and Nathan.

[...]

And Monika that one time.

[oraculi]

[He pulls a fairly enormous face at Edelgard's name, but, okay, I guess.]

You, obviously. Nathan. Beck.

[So. There.]

[polyapathy]

[Oh, same here, bud.]

Hey, if I could take it back, I would. She approached me and said she wanted to get to know me better. I attempted—in vain, apparently—to broker an alliance between you two.

[...]

Well, I told her to fucking—actually, this was pretty good. So.

[She settles in against him, ready to weave the tale as she chases after his approval, honestly.]

I'm in the library, right, and she comes up to me to talk about Monika throwing me under the bus. She says, hey, if Demonika tried to frame you, that probably means you aren't a demon, so let's fuck. I'm like, of course I'm not a fuckin' demon, bud, Haymitch can vouch for me! Because she's gotta know we're close by this point, and I don't care for her laying into you all the time. Like, she's on her way to getting a box shot of her own, let me tell you.

So I give her shit about being BFFs with you, and she's like, ugh, Haymitch, what an asshole, and so on, and then she says, "What could he possibly see that I can't with my own eyes?"

[She's doing a mock Edelgard voice. It's not great.]

And I'm like, "Uh, well, he saw through Monika, for starters." Bam. Mic drop if there ever was one.