Airlocked R5 Case 5 Murder Log (CW: drug overdose)

[shikosuki]

[ It’s okay Choromatsu, you can do it... you can do this... That’s what he keeps having to tell himself anyway. Even though it’s not okay. It’s not okay at all.

His hands are shaking as he looks down at the plate of chocolate cookies. He made them earlier, iced them all cutely with various shapes, but also laced them with ground up oxycodone. If he’s right, it should be enough to kill someone with just one or two. All he has to do is find someone who will eat them, anyone, and the safety of his brothers and friends is guaranteed...

And yet his stomach is all in knots and he wants to vomit. Throw the cookies out and pretend none of this ever crossed his mind. But he can’t now, he’s too far along to back out. And he can’t risk his brothers or anyone else dying for real... so he has to stick to it. And look for someone still up and around to eat them... whoever he finds first... let them eat them and then just go to bed as if everything is fine. ]

Comments

[burninglight]

[Ardyn had been having trouble sleeping, on and off. It had been a problem back in the simulation once memories of Roland's case set in, and had continued here now that images of Lunafreya and the guilt that came with it settled in like poison. So he'd carefully disentangled himself from Church and went to take a walk around the spaceport to clear his head; that usually worked well enough.]

[Behind him trailed the same armor-plated roomba that had followed him since Wednesday, patiently quiet as ever.]

Choromatsu? [Despite his reasoning for being out, he met his fellow Champion in the restaurant with a small smile.] You're up late. Trouble sleeping?

[shikosuki]

[ Choromatsu jumps and nearly drops the whole plate. He wasn’t... expecting to find someone so quickly. That made it all seem almost too easy.

...Shit though. He likes Ardyn. Can he really do this...?

He gulps heavily. ]

Y-Yeah, couldn’t sleep a wink... too worried, I suppose...

[burninglight]

I suppose I am a little worried myself. But really, I don't think anything is going to happen.

[Ardyn shrugged, crossing the room to start making tea. As long as they were both there, that couldn't hurt.]

[shikosuki]

I... hope you're right...

[ he follows after Ardyn, gripping the plate a little more tightly, feeling his palms getting sweaty ]

...Are you making tea?

[burninglight]

Yeah--would you like some?

[shikosuki]

...Please. That'd be.... nice.

Um... [ come on, come on ] I made these earlier. Maybe we can have them with the tea...?

[burninglight]

That sounds fantastic.

[And, not suspecting a single thing (why would he?) Ardyn went along with it.]

I'd love to.

[shikosuki]

G-Great...!

[ yeah this is great, super great, it's just fantastic, pull it the fuck together Choromatsu...!!

He goes to take a seat at one of the tables to wait for tea. Despite offering the cookies though, he keeps the plate in his lap, staring down at the red and blue icing and trying to remind himself who he's doing this for... ]

[burninglight]

[Ardyn came back to the table, Son of Ruri trailing cheerfully behind, with two cups of tea. He set one in front of Choromatsu before sitting down with his own.]

[...Poor kid. He really was worried about his brothers and Yuuri, wasn't he?]

Choromatsu...?

[shikosuki]

[ He jumps. ]

Y-Yes?

[burninglight]

You seem awfully tense.

[He tilted his head, offering a sympathetic smile.]

...Also, I don't think the plate will float away if you let go of it.

[shikosuki]

--Oh! S-Sorry...

[ he lifts the plate up off his lap for a moment, about to hold it out and place it on the table but he stops a moment and casts his eyes down to the floor, debating backing out one last time. If you drop them then no one will eat them... ]

Can... Can you blame me though...?

[ for being tense he means ]

[burninglight]

No, of course I don't. [He took a drink before setting the mug down and folding his arms on the table.]

...I understand there's a lot at stake here. But we can't keep turning upon one another when we've no evidence they're doing anything but trying to force our hands with empty words. I have faith that whatever happens, it's naught but bluffing and lies--if they manipulated Xander so thoroughly, of course they'll try the same with us.

[shikosuki]

[ ...Why does it bother him so much? That Ardyn is so easily able to say that... that he can be so sure...

He finally puts the plate down in the middle of the table ]

...I wish I could have that much faith.

[ He reaches for his own mug, letting it warm his shaky hands ]

But I guess we'll see tomorrow.

[burninglight]

I know that it's hard--I'm worried for them too.

[Ardyn reached over and picked up a cookie--a blue one, contrary to his usual aesthetic.]

But I genuinely don't think they've spent however long keeping so many people in a simulation just to be done with it at the slightest provocation. We can't possibly even know all of them, there'd be no point in discarding the whole thing.

[shikosuki]

[ He watches as he picks up the cookie, feels that urge to stop this all over again, and silences it by drinking his tea, still watching carefully. ]

M...Mmm...

1/2

[burninglight]

...I'm sorry. Perhaps I shouldn't speak so much on it when I know I can't quite understand how you must be feeling.

[After all, it wasn't as if Ardyn knew what it was like to care about his brother. Shaking his head, he tried to set the idea aside and instead decided to eat the cookie in his hand.]

[It really didn't get completely tiring, having a sense of taste. It was one of the physical human sensations Ardyn enjoyed the most, next to sleeping. And given his trust of the people in the spaceport with him as well as an appreciation for anything sweet, of course he'd take something offered without question.]

[burninglight]

[Which...registered as a mistake, because that sense of taste was sharp enough to understand something was off just a few seconds too late.]

[...Ah. So this was how it would unfold, then. For half a second he remembered Lee, remembered how furious he had been that anyone had tried to sell all of them out.]

You know...it's quite funny. I should be utterly enraged right now.

[He didn't shout, didn't lash out or rage against an end he knew was coming--calmly, Ardyn reached for his cup of tea and took another drink.]

You really do love them, don't you?

1/2

[shikosuki]

[ Choromatsu's face turns completely white and his blood runs cold. Gently he sets the mug back down, staring blankly right at Ardyn. ]

[shikosuki]

[ And then he suddenly stands, doing so so fast that his chair gets knocked over. He reaches out and swipes the plate off the table, it and the cookies smashing on the floor away from them so no one can eat any more of them.

He can't. He can't do this. Not just because Ardyn realized what he'd done but he just can't. He can't just let him die...! ]

I'm sorry!! W-We have to hurry! I-If we can induce vomiting then y-you should be okay--!!

[burninglight]

Oh, Choromatsu...now poison's perhaps the one way I've never died, but I think it already too late for that. Besides, where are we going to find charcoal around here?

[Ardyn shook his head, placing the mug down with a shaking hand.]

I'm jealous, you know--Izunia would surely never have killed someone to protect me.

You really are a good brother.

[shikosuki]

[ He feels his heart drop into his stomach like a dead weight.

His eyes start to fill with tears. What has he done. What has he done. ]

N-No... I'm...

I can find something...! Th-There has to be something...!!

[ maybe if he runs quickly or call for SIS... ]

[burninglight]

Choromatsu, stop. It's...it's alright. If someone was going to kill for this--then I'm glad it should be me. Not Junpei or Heart or Arianna...just me in exchange for everyone else. I'm used to that.

[...It probably wasn't supposed to feel so cold in here? Reminded him a bit of Shiva, in a way he didn't care to linger on right now.]

Listen--I'll look after your brothers and Yuuri, so will you just do something for me?

[shikosuki]

[ He can't stop the tears now. Or the shaking but well... he's been shaking since this started.

"I'll look after your brothers and Yuuri" ]

Wh...What?

[burninglight]

When they find out-...and don't pretend they won't, for that's the one comfort I'll not offer you- [A little cruel, perhaps, but...Ardyn was still Ardyn.] -make some excuse if you must, but don't be standing near Leonard when they do. He'll kill you. And I don't want this to end any worse than it already will.

[He sighed heavily, less from exasperation and more in an attempt to catch his breath that felt terribly labored now.]

And...there's letters I concealed under the bed in our room, just in case something like this happened. Will you...just make sure someone knows about them?

[shikosuki]

[ ...Oh god he forgot about Church. Uh. Shit.

He sniffles but then shakily nods. ]

O-Okay...

[ He should leave and not... be here when he finally passes. Seeing that might break him (even though he'd deserve it), it was part of why he went this route anyway. So he could leave and be faced with the body... but he can't yet. His feet feel like lead. ]

...Will... will you tell Osomatsu-niisan and Karamatsu-niisan... that I'll be seeing them soon?

[burninglight]

I will. I promise you that. And don't dwell upon it too much--I've died so many times that I've grown quite accustomed to the feeling. This is at least far better than most other times.

[Ardyn laughed softly, smile faltering as he rested his head on folded arms.]

Everything will work out. This isn't the end. So just...have a little faith, Choromatsu. Even if they should be furious with you...the others won't let this be the end. Trust in them.

...Forgive me. I wish I could have...done something to make you believe that as I do.

[shikosuki]

[ The tears are hot as they run down his face in fat goblets but finally he wipes them away and moves to gather up as much of the mess of cookies and broken plate as he can into his hoodie.

He stands again and looks one last time at Ardyn. ]

No, I'm... I'm the one that should... I know they will, I just...

[ a pause. ]

...I love my brothers more than anything in the whole world. [ A belated answer to what he said before. ] I'm them and they're me.

[ He looks back down ]

I'm so sorry.

[ And then takes off running out of the restaurant ]

[burninglight]

...Fraternitas ante omnia.

[He wondered if the picture might still have been on his PIP even outside the simulation--wondered if it had ever been real. Had a pair of twins ever been so close before one fell to darkness and the other rose to be the bearer of the world's light? Had they ever...just been brothers?]

[Of all the people to think about at a time like this, he caught himself thinking of Noctis and that stupid hat. Bickering like...like siblings probably did. In another world, another reality, some timeline where Ardyn and Izunia hadn't ruined it all before it began, could the Lucis Caelum line ever have been happy?]

[He didn't really think so. But...that was okay. He'd entrusted Noctis with his salvation once, twisted as it had been. The others would help him, would look after each other where Ardyn no longer could. This wouldn't--couldn't break them, not now.]

[And he had truly meant what he said. If it came down to one life sacrificed versus however many saved...if it had to be someone, let it be him. Not Church, Heart, Junpei--not anyone else. That was the fate Ardyn alone had always been destined to bear; his life was nothing, had always been nothing next to the safety of those he loved.]

[And that was a strangely comforting last thought to have, as he fell asleep not to awaken in the next morning.]