Ah... [A little quiet for a second, and then:] To be fair, I don't know how much we can trust what people say when they're afflicted. But I did ask for her reason, and she said Karma merely happened to be the first person who came across the trap she set in the theater.
[Which by tone alone he still doesn't find a good reason to kill a young teen because there is no good reason to kill a young teen to him, but if true, it's at least slightly better than alternatives.]
I agree. The thought of him waking up in that barrel...
[It makes him more upset than furious to think about, and he glances back toward the pyre.]
...He wasn't a bad child. He was a hurt child who feared the pain that connections can bring, who liked needling and gauging reactions. No one deserves to die in such a way, but for it to have been him...
Yes! So nightmareish! I simply can't get it out of my mind!
[brightly!]
He was always rather a dear with me; I've never even been certain what everyone else was so angry about. But I do adore children, I hate to see them suffer.
[HE'S STILL SO CAUGHT OFF HIS GUARD BY LAUDNA... It's said in such surprising brightness that it startles a little laugh out of him.]
You and I and surely the others here can agree with that... [Except for Erin's monster apparently.] In any case, you do seem impossible to ruffle, so it may be that he gave up trying to poke and prod finding no reaction. Or perhaps he was simply charmed.
[Just a little assenting nod. Despite growing up surrounded by death, he's still sensitive to loss.]
It is. I want as many people to get out of here as possible, and... every person that we can't manage that with is another loss. But especially the children.
[And yet multiple teens and a dog just died THIS IS HELL.]
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[His head cants a little as he echoes it back.]
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[don't like!]
But I didn't speak with her. I suppose she may have some other explanation.
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[Which by tone alone he still doesn't find a good reason to kill a young teen because there is no good reason to kill a young teen to him, but if true, it's at least slightly better than alternatives.]
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[she frowns again for a second.]
...Even so, she ought to have made sure he was really dead, if she was going to do it at all.
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[It makes him more upset than furious to think about, and he glances back toward the pyre.]
...He wasn't a bad child. He was a hurt child who feared the pain that connections can bring, who liked needling and gauging reactions. No one deserves to die in such a way, but for it to have been him...
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[brightly!]
He was always rather a dear with me; I've never even been certain what everyone else was so angry about. But I do adore children, I hate to see them suffer.
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You and I and surely the others here can agree with that... [Except for Erin's monster apparently.] In any case, you do seem impossible to ruffle, so it may be that he gave up trying to poke and prod finding no reaction. Or perhaps he was simply charmed.
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[she seems impossible to ruffle? wowee! what a compliment. (was it one...)]
Well, it hardly matters any longer.
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Rather, it's perhaps a bit difficult to gauge when you're upset... But you do seem to have a higher tolerance for mischief than some here.
[Is what Karma did really mischief.
The rest of that, though, just has him quieting for a moment, somber again.]
...I hope that their souls are resting at peace.
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[she will frown for a moment.]
I cared about all three of them. I don't want to keep losing people from our house, or children. It's so depressing.
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It is. I want as many people to get out of here as possible, and... every person that we can't manage that with is another loss. But especially the children.
[And yet multiple teens and a dog just died THIS IS HELL.]
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I hope so, too. I do want to believe we can find a way to counteract this.
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I do, as well. Rather, in times like this, hope and belief in a better outcome is a necessity rather than a luxury.