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[ He could make excuses—that one could wander for weeks without meeting someone inside the larger cars, that he's medieval and doesn't know what a phone is, that sorrys said over text don't count. But it isn't really a matter of whether it would've been difficult for him to make an apology: it's that she deserved one, and he should've made it happen earlier. So he lets her grouse, and does indeed follow with two more buckets in hand.

He sounds a little thoughtful as they go, his own boots clicking quietly against the stone. ]

Do you really think it will get worse?

[ And not just in a general, Minecraftia is terrible sort of way. ]

[There's no excuses, no protests or addendums. That Dimitri chooses to sit with his shame speaks far better to his character than any further words might. She'd never let on about it, though. He's still firmly on probation.]

What? L-like it hasn't already? [She deigns to give him a look then. It's another dead-eyed wonder, this time with a brow raised. Charming!]

These things always do. We're at the m-mercy of some kind of maniac. They've got the power to make this...this thing! [She frees a hand to make a harried little waggle at the sky, where there is presumably a roof somewhere.] Which means we're b-basically under their bootheels no matter what we do. Most people go mad with even a small bit of power. Imagine wh-what kind of psycho you'd become, playing god like this. We're just pawns in a game nobody kn-knows how to play yet.

[Just like in Towa City. Just like in Hope's Peak. Same shit, different pile.]

Edited 2021-09-14 02:47 (UTC)

[ She's cynical, but it's a reasonable assessment of their situation. He is from a position of reigning power: he knows just how easily aristocracy can fall victim to corruption and avarice, and how quickly men bend to their egos when they're afforded strength. There are so many who are privileged with power, only to use it to force others beneath them. ]

I won't deny the possibility.

[ Even so, part of him has started to see things differently. ]

But have you noticed that everywhere we go on this train, there is some sort of... chore for us to do? An objective or sorts? Even here, without clear directive, the denizens of this world have suffered greatly before our arrival.

[ It could be conditions to a game, that much is true. But if he turns his head and looks at it from a different angle... ]

Have you considered rather than being taken from our worlds to suffer the course of some psychopath, we are here to help the ones who reside in these cars?

[He's not the first one to posit such a theory. Ben — or rather, Obi-Wan, had much the same thoughts. She is leery of putting any stock in the name of the train. Existential Express, who came up with that? Alliteration doesn't indicate cleverness, it just sounds catchy. That had been a tentpole in his argument. Dimitri is going with a more empirical approach, which Toko can respect.

Too bad she's been around this block too many times to buy it.]

I can't accept that. [Her rebuttal is quiet, but resolute. She gives him a flicker of a glance, fishing for something, before her eyes fix somewhere dead ahead. Hardened.]

Sorry. I've seen that trick p-played before, too. With the right resources, it's easy to set up a course that l-looks like the right path, but has unexpected consequences. You can think you're saving people, and maybe you are for a while. But then there's a twist. The thing you were relying on to help one set of people in fact, hurts another. Or...or you're led to believe one party is innocent, and end up framing the wrong person.

[If Komaru had followed her heroic path to a tee, all the children of Towa City would have been killed. If Naegi hadn't miraculously survived his execution, or the group had turned on Kirigiri as planned, they never would have discovered the truth of Ikusaba's death. Nor the Mastermind's identity.

They've come upon the well now. Toko docks her bucket on the side and snatches the rope, threading it around the handle.]

Until we g-get more clues about this conductor, or see them in the flesh, it's stupid to assume this is some friendly sch-scheme to make us get along and help a bunch of weird animal people. Maybe one of us is right. Maybe we're b-both wrong. But...

[The rope gives a plaintive creak. She's cinched it too tightly. Toko pauses. Wets her lips and narrows her eyes, fixated on the black abyss at the bottom of the well.]

I won't fall into another trap.

[ He listens without interruption, frowning as he looks ahead, the sound of the bucket sloshing distantly into the fresh well water answering before he finds his answer. ]

...It sounds like you've had your trust wounded quite a lot.

[ His voice turns softer than before, open in its sympathy. He hates these stories—ones where people are forced into something painful, changed fundamentally into a harder person to withstand the cold and cruelty. Toko is irritable and over the top, but doesn't that just indicate a heart that feels much and prickles easily?

He does not begrudge cynics. If only the world were kind and its circumstances generous, a place where one might place their expectations higher without fear of hurt. But as for him... he grab the handle once the bucket is full and heavy, intending to wheel it back up if she prefers leaving the lifting to him. ]

But however right you may be, I must believe otherwise. [ He must—he has to. ] If we are attacked, we will withstand the blow. If we are meant to be made enemies, then we will find a way to be companions.

[ He does not want to believe in the inherent cruelty of anything, even if he knows it as truth. If there exists a possibility for something better, he has to put his faith in it. Whatever the case, the bright, glowing digits on his palm—636—don't budge at all. ]

Even if the truth winds up between our two expectations, I will not falter in that belief.

Edited 2021-09-19 08:23 (UTC)

[To use a cliche, understatement of the year.

She listens too. Dimitri aims for more brevity than she, and his argument doesn't suffer for it much. She can't stand blind optimists, and yet constantly finds herself surrounded by them. It's refreshing that he manages to make a case that isn't bolstered by ignorance.

Then he grabs the handle, too. Determined to do the heavy lifting. Toko regards him quietly from the side of her eye.]

That's g-good. [She notes, somewhat begrudging, but her head has dipped in shy deference. She's hugging her middle, staring at her feet.] I hope you can k-keep that promise.

[For all their sakes. It's the very faith she'd advised people to have, back in that ill-fated public address.

It's harder now to discount his good nature. Something noble about his willingness to help, even though she's done nothing but pierce and prod him. It's not the sickly sweet sort of kindness, thank god, but maybe Sylvain had a point about him.

Which gives them both an exit from this dismal topic.]

S-Sylvain said you grew up together.

[Give her some deets on that.]

[ It's more stubbornness than any positive character traits, but if that leaves a good impression, that's swell. At least she doesn't tell him off for his idealism, as some do—maybe they can both have a little faith in the best, even if it's not really likely.

But he takes the segue where it's offered. ]

Ah, he mentioned that, has he? I hope he hasn't been giving you too much trouble. [ Dimitri slept in the dorm next to Sylvain, and was his house leader, so he's given him about a million lectures on... proper behavior.

He finishes cranking up bucket number one, handing it off to Toko to wind along the next one. ] He was a good friend to me since childhood. Felix as well, if you've seen him about.

[ He says so with some fondness, not overstated but clearly there. They're medieval, so they did all live some distance apart, but as children it'd been a marvel whenever they were able to spend a summer together or visit each other in some shared manor. ]

We're all of different houses in the same Kingdom, and attend officers' academy together.

Trouble how?

[Sylvain was unusually decent for a good looking boy. In fact she was shocked he was still willing to talk to her. Toko cants her head curiously, debating.] H-he was one of the only people who d-didn't call me crazy or stupid. He even got me c-cookies from that annoying old bat.

[Though he did partake in corgi posting. Hmm...]

Felix? [She shrugs, and goes to move the now full bucket out of the way.] N-Never met him.

But...I guess that's nice. To have so m-many friends around. [Wow, having more than one friend, the absolute privilege.] You're all studying to be knights or something?

[Or lords. Either way, she can safely assume they're all from noble backgrounds. Peasants don't learn to read, natch.

Now that she thinks about it, maybe she can learn a few things from them for a new book.]

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