[Yeah, a rifle isn’t something you can really conceal. It’s immediately obvious she did not bring it.
For his part, Ogata looks pretty haggard, already regaining that scraggly patchy full beard he’d ended up with by the end of Wonderland. He’s sat at the back of his cell, slouching against the wall. There’s no immediately obvious injury, but that cloak of his is pulled over his right side and there’s the unmistakable sharp scent of old blood in the air.
And then when he speaks, it’s dry and cracked like he’s either not slept in days or just woken up from sleeping for a week;]
I'm not dying. [Yet.] I just wanted to be prepared if it went that way. I know how to dress my own wounds.
[Granted, he hasn't been redressing it as much as he should because he only has so many fresh bandages on hand and he has to time it so no one else will notice. That's probably why it's healing poorly.
He gets up, hesitantly, slightly crouched over. Like some sort of feral animal. It becomes clear as he moves towards the bars that he's standing like that to keep the wound covered by his cloak, opposite hand shifting to press against it as he moves. He leans over, sniffing at the air as he inspects the berries.]
[ or like, listened to himself?? she makes a bit of a face when he makes his way over with this weird movements and sniffs at her hand, but he's probably acting crazier than normal because he's delirious from... whatever wound he's trying to hide. she can still smell it. ]
They're goodberries. They'll help with the healing.
[ so eat them already and stop sniffing like a weirdo!! ]
[So he hasn't, but like, y'know, he gets the point. He probably looks as bad as he feels. And he has felt worse, but not much.
He considers rejecting the help out of hand. But he hates asking for help, so to have it freely presented when he, honestly, could probably use it, is a good deal. So he reaches through the bars to snatch them out of Maya's hands. But then he stops, his shitty gremlin instincts taking over. He manages to fight them long enough to grab the berries before asking;]
Are you sure you should be offering these before you find out why I'm here? [He has them, now, but he's not eating them just yet.]
[Ogata laughs, sharp and wheezy, almost more like a cough, and winces because of it.]
The smell in the trenches was far worse than this. You just learn to get used to it.
[Still, he does as he's told. He's startled, visibly, when they immediately make him feel better.
He doesn't think the wound has healed, not entirely. But it hurts a lot less and he feels less unspeakably tired and achy. But now he has to tell Maya how bad and scary he is, as she said. Or well, he could just refuse and ignore her, now that he's been healed. She probably wouldn't leave, though. He considers taking a step back, out of her grasp, but decides not to.]
I think the point is not to sit around marinating in your own blood.
[ why didn't he tell anyone? did dr. tank refuse to heal him? there must have been other reclaimers willing to heal him. or was he just too proud to admit it? that's probably it, considering he only wanted her to bring him his gun in case he wanted to kill himself. ]
[ why is ogata like this. ]
[ she expected him to have gotten into a fight with another reclaimer, maybe wash (who may or may not be in this cell, schrodinger's wash), but alex--- ]
[Ogata's brows arch in an almost skeptical expression, not because that's not a valid question, but more because he has a very sparing concept of who cares about who around here, and didn't know Maya was one of Alex's friends. But really, of course she is. Maya is probably everyone's friend or something ridiculous like that.]
If that was my goal I would have said your sister, I don't keep track of who you're friends with. [He pauses, smoothing back his hair in that almost feline way he does. For once it's warranted because he does look pretty generally disheveled.]
... Has he not told everyone he was killed? [He would have thought so. Which would make his claim, in theory, incredibly plausible. As a bonus: If Maya was hoping the shot was non-lethal, she can be dispelled of that.]
[ it's worse that he says that, even though he's right. if he was just trying to get her mad, he would have said mia. how casually he points it out is really what gets to her. ]
[ but no. maya would never think ogata would shoot anyone non-lethally. alex didn't say anything. ]
[ this is the first she's hearing of this, and the fact that he's talking about it so flippantly just makes it so much worse ]
[ she's repeating it in disbelief, not because she doesn't believe ogata would kill someone, but that there is no reason in the world maya could ever think of for anyone to hurt alex. ]
[ alex is kind and empathetic and would never hurt a fly. he told her she was his best friend here, he's nervous, but he's smart, he's a dork, and he has a huge capacity for other people despite whatever situation he's in. he carried shinjiro's body with her. he was dragging ferran's and erika's by himself. he. ]
[ and then her expression darkens in a way he's never seen before, and will probably never see again. ... well, maybe. he's probably seen her puff her cheeks, clench her fists -- make other silly and cartoonish expression of irritation and exaggerated anger. ]
[ but he hasn't seen her anger. not really. not like this. her eyes are glassy but narrowed, there's a spark between her fingers, but it dies down pretty quickly. the fact is? as angry as she is, she doesn't want to hurt him. eye for an eye has never been her thing. but. ]
What is wrong with you?! [ that's rhetorical. she knows. ] He's just a kid! [ an innocent kid who never wanted to hurt anyone. an innocent kid who should have been hurt, let alone killed, ever again, after what he went through. ] What could he have possibly done to make you think shooting him would be okay?!
[ congrats, ogata!!! you saw angery maya. don't make it weird. ]
[Ogata’s initial reaction is surprise twofold. At both Maya and himself. For Maya, well, sure he’d expected upset. He expected her to be mad. But not like this, not this cold dark fury. He expected tears.
For himself is the fact that it feels bad. He’s used to people being mad at him. He knows how to make people hate him and it’s better to be hated than to be ignored. Anger is familiar and if someone else is upset then good, he wants them to be. Except now it just feels like a pain in his stomach. He thinks of that horrible roller coaster Maya had brought him on. He thinks the feeling is something like that.]
[He tries to shove that feeling down, ignore it. So what if Maya had been nice to him! Now she’ll just know better. Now it’ll just be like with everyone else. That’s fine. He’s used to it.
Really, “what’s wrong with you?” Feels like it must be a rhetorical question. She should know there’s plenty wrong with him. Really, he doesn’t know why she’s so surprised. He thinks about when he grabbed her hand. How she’d let him even though she was so clearly afraid, just because it was what he needed-
It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t. He was born to be scorned, not cared for. Just give Maya an answer so she can leave.]
He made me mad. [A simple, frivolous answer. Surely that will just make Maya angrier.]
[And now, for the aggravation wombo combo; smugness. Though somehow his smirk lacks it’s usually bite. As if it’s forced. As if that initial look of shock and reproach is still hiding under the surface of it, throwing him off his game.]
I told you, didn’t I? You should have asked before helping me.
[ the cold fury doesn't last long. it turns into something worse...... disappointment. hearing his reasoning doesn't help, even though it's honest. it's direct. it's exactly what she asked for. it doesn't help. ]
[ but then again, in her eyes, nothing could justify hurting alex. ]
So you'll just shoot anyone who makes you mad, is that it?
[ she grits her teeth, but her eyes are still glassy. funny, though, how she's not leaving. or trying to swipe the berries out of his hands. ]
It doesn't change anything, I just would have thrown them into your stupid mouth instead.
[ his stupid!! murder mouth!! that's probably closer to what he expected as a reaction. then, she takes a deep breath, and looks at him, really looks at him. ]
[He doesn't answer the first question, because it doesn't really matter. It probably doesn't even matter in Maya's eyes that he only did it because he knew Alex wouldn't stay dead. She'd probably have some sort of issue with that reasoning, too.
And he has to look away, then, away from the look she's giving him because somehow it feels even worse, worse than the expected anger and worse than the anger he actually got. He doesn't even know what that expression is, but he knows that he hates it. Hates her looking at him so intently like she's searching for something in him, in his face. She'll figure out what he's missing, looking that hard.
The second question, now... that's something to consider.]
... It's not about wanting. It's just something that happens naturally.
[ there's no reasoning that makes it better -- so whether or not he knew alex would come back (missing something, worse off than he was) or not doesn't make a difference to her. ]
[ whatever she's looking for, she seems to find. she looks more sad and disappointed now than angry. ]
No, it isn't.
[ ... ]
You just think it is because of what your dad said to you, so you act like this to get everyone to turn on you because you're afraid that if you tried, if you really tried, it would end the same and he'd be right. Isn't that it?
[More than anything else anyone's ever said to him, that really makes him look like he's been slapped in the face. Pure shock, mild affront. His memory of the conversation he had with Maya about the thing his father said to him is slightly vague through the haze of that mental breakdown. But he remembers well enough what thing she's referring to.
He knows exactly what's being talked about here. His shock shifts into something darker, angrier. Because deep down, he knows she's right. He doesn't think about it like that, he can't ever think about it like that. Because the Solitary Wildcat Sniper doesn't get scared. There's no room for fear. So he can't spare a thought to this. He isn't afraid. There's nothing to be afraid about;]
No. I already know he's right. That's what I'm telling you. [His tone, still raspy, has a hard edge on it. A defensive wall.]
[ she was listening, ogata. and she didn't forget. ]
[ and, well, good. she's getting through to him, even though she's hit a wall. he's listening. she moves closer, gripping the bars to stare at him through them. he could reach out and touch her, if he wanted to. ]
You're just like my family. You think because you were born into a cycle of hatred and betrayal and pain that's all you can do, just repeat it forever.
[ she may be projecting a little. her knuckles are white on the bars as she stares at him, maybe even through him. ]
But he's wrong about you. He doesn't know a single thing about you. [ how could he? when he left? ] And he doesn't get to decide what kind of person you are. You do. I know that you're not the heartless monster that he thought you are, even if you try to pretend you are to scare people away. You can fool yourself, but you can't fool me.
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[ this just makes her yikes a lot!!! ]
what the heck? you're DYING?
[ why didn't you lead with that, ogata???? ]
Where are you?????>
[ it seems like his plan worked, maybe. (no it didn't) ]
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I wouldn't put it that definitively.
I just want to have a way out if it gets worse than it is.
I'm in the brig. That's why they took it away from me.
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i'm coming
[ success ??????? ]
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[If he has to been witnessed in a compromising position it better at least be worth the embarassment???]
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[ she does show up pretty quickly --- not as quick as she could have been, because she had to negotiate her way past the guards. ]
[ but she does show. ]
[ she appears to be empty handed, though. ]
.... Mr. Ogata?
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For his part, Ogata looks pretty haggard, already regaining that scraggly patchy full beard he’d ended up with by the end of Wonderland. He’s sat at the back of his cell, slouching against the wall. There’s no immediately obvious injury, but that cloak of his is pulled over his right side and there’s the unmistakable sharp scent of old blood in the air.
And then when he speaks, it’s dry and cracked like he’s either not slept in days or just woken up from sleeping for a week;]
You didn’t do what I asked.
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Because you're in here dying and your solution to ask for your gun so you can shoot yourself?
[ that's so messed up, ogata!!! anyway, she approaches right away and thrust her hand through the bars, offering him... goodberries. ]
Eat this before you fall over, and then tell me why you're even in here.
[ what did he do??? ]
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[Granted, he hasn't been redressing it as much as he should because he only has so many fresh bandages on hand and he has to time it so no one else will notice. That's probably why it's healing poorly.
He gets up, hesitantly, slightly crouched over. Like some sort of feral animal. It becomes clear as he moves towards the bars that he's standing like that to keep the wound covered by his cloak, opposite hand shifting to press against it as he moves. He leans over, sniffing at the air as he inspects the berries.]
What are these?
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[ or like, listened to himself?? she makes a bit of a face when he makes his way over with this weird movements and sniffs at her hand, but he's probably acting crazier than normal because he's delirious from... whatever wound he's trying to hide. she can still smell it. ]
They're goodberries. They'll help with the healing.
[ so eat them already and stop sniffing like a weirdo!! ]
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[So he hasn't, but like, y'know, he gets the point. He probably looks as bad as he feels. And he has felt worse, but not much.
He considers rejecting the help out of hand. But he hates asking for help, so to have it freely presented when he, honestly, could probably use it, is a good deal. So he reaches through the bars to snatch them out of Maya's hands. But then he stops, his shitty gremlin instincts taking over. He manages to fight them long enough to grab the berries before asking;]
Are you sure you should be offering these before you find out why I'm here?
[He has them, now, but he's not eating them just yet.]
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[ if he's gonna play it that way!!! stinky. the smell of blood is making her faintly nauseous, but just like with wonderland, she pushes past it. ]
[ of course he's gonna be himself about it. at least he didn't reject them just to be proud. ]
Whatever it is, [ and she's sure it's bad ] I don't want you to die in here. [ that's the whole reason she came!! and it's honest. ]
You can tell me how bad and scary you are after I'm sure you won't bleed to death.
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The smell in the trenches was far worse than this. You just learn to get used to it.
[Still, he does as he's told. He's startled, visibly, when they immediately make him feel better.
He doesn't think the wound has healed, not entirely. But it hurts a lot less and he feels less unspeakably tired and achy. But now he has to tell Maya how bad and scary he is, as she said. Or well, he could just refuse and ignore her, now that he's been healed. She probably wouldn't leave, though. He considers taking a step back, out of her grasp, but decides not to.]
I shot that boy Alex.
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[ why didn't he tell anyone? did dr. tank refuse to heal him? there must have been other reclaimers willing to heal him. or was he just too proud to admit it? that's probably it, considering he only wanted her to bring him his gun in case he wanted to kill himself. ]
[ why is ogata like this. ]
[ she expected him to have gotten into a fight with another reclaimer, maybe wash (who may or may not be in this cell, schrodinger's wash), but alex--- ]
You're not.....
Are you just saying that to try to make me mad?
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If that was my goal I would have said your sister, I don't keep track of who you're friends with.
[He pauses, smoothing back his hair in that almost feline way he does. For once it's warranted because he does look pretty generally disheveled.]
... Has he not told everyone he was killed?
[He would have thought so. Which would make his claim, in theory, incredibly plausible. As a bonus: If Maya was hoping the shot was non-lethal, she can be dispelled of that.]
1/
[ but no. maya would never think ogata would shoot anyone non-lethally. alex didn't say anything. ]
[ this is the first she's hearing of this, and the fact that he's talking about it so flippantly just makes it so much worse ]
Y-You really.....
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[ she's repeating it in disbelief, not because she doesn't believe ogata would kill someone, but that there is no reason in the world maya could ever think of for anyone to hurt alex. ]
[ alex is kind and empathetic and would never hurt a fly. he told her she was his best friend here, he's nervous, but he's smart, he's a dork, and he has a huge capacity for other people despite whatever situation he's in. he carried shinjiro's body with her. he was dragging ferran's and erika's by himself. he. ]
[ no. not even ogata would do this. ]
[ would he? ]
[ he would. he did. ]
done
[ but he hasn't seen her anger. not really. not like this. her eyes are glassy but narrowed, there's a spark between her fingers, but it dies down pretty quickly. the fact is? as angry as she is, she doesn't want to hurt him. eye for an eye has never been her thing. but. ]
What is wrong with you?! [ that's rhetorical. she knows. ] He's just a kid! [ an innocent kid who never wanted to hurt anyone. an innocent kid who should have been hurt, let alone killed, ever again, after what he went through. ] What could he have possibly done to make you think shooting him would be okay?!
[ congrats, ogata!!! you saw angery maya. don't make it weird. ]
1/
For himself is the fact that it feels bad. He’s used to people being mad at him. He knows how to make people hate him and it’s better to be hated than to be ignored. Anger is familiar and if someone else is upset then good, he wants them to be. Except now it just feels like a pain in his stomach. He thinks of that horrible roller coaster Maya had brought him on. He thinks the feeling is something like that.]
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Really, “what’s wrong with you?” Feels like it must be a rhetorical question. She should know there’s plenty wrong with him. Really, he doesn’t know why she’s so surprised. He thinks about when he grabbed her hand. How she’d let him even though she was so clearly afraid, just because it was what he needed-
It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t. He was born to be scorned, not cared for. Just give Maya an answer so she can leave.]
He made me mad.
[A simple, frivolous answer. Surely that will just make Maya angrier.]
done
I told you, didn’t I? You should have asked before helping me.
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[ but then again, in her eyes, nothing could justify hurting alex. ]
So you'll just shoot anyone who makes you mad, is that it?
[ she grits her teeth, but her eyes are still glassy. funny, though, how she's not leaving. or trying to swipe the berries out of his hands. ]
It doesn't change anything, I just would have thrown them into your stupid mouth instead.
[ his stupid!! murder mouth!! that's probably closer to what he expected as a reaction. then, she takes a deep breath, and looks at him, really looks at him. ]
Why do you want everyone to hate you so badly?
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And he has to look away, then, away from the look she's giving him because somehow it feels even worse, worse than the expected anger and worse than the anger he actually got. He doesn't even know what that expression is, but he knows that he hates it. Hates her looking at him so intently like she's searching for something in him, in his face. She'll figure out what he's missing, looking that hard.
The second question, now... that's something to consider.]
... It's not about wanting. It's just something that happens naturally.
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[ whatever she's looking for, she seems to find. she looks more sad and disappointed now than angry. ]
No, it isn't.
[ ... ]
You just think it is because of what your dad said to you, so you act like this to get everyone to turn on you because you're afraid that if you tried, if you really tried, it would end the same and he'd be right. Isn't that it?
[ shots fired. ]
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He knows exactly what's being talked about here. His shock shifts into something darker, angrier. Because deep down, he knows she's right. He doesn't think about it like that, he can't ever think about it like that. Because the Solitary Wildcat Sniper doesn't get scared. There's no room for fear. So he can't spare a thought to this. He isn't afraid. There's nothing to be afraid about;]
No. I already know he's right. That's what I'm telling you.
[His tone, still raspy, has a hard edge on it. A defensive wall.]
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[ and, well, good. she's getting through to him, even though she's hit a wall. he's listening. she moves closer, gripping the bars to stare at him through them. he could reach out and touch her, if he wanted to. ]
You're just like my family. You think because you were born into a cycle of hatred and betrayal and pain that's all you can do, just repeat it forever.
[ she may be projecting a little. her knuckles are white on the bars as she stares at him, maybe even through him. ]
But he's wrong about you. He doesn't know a single thing about you. [ how could he? when he left? ] And he doesn't get to decide what kind of person you are. You do. I know that you're not the heartless monster that he thought you are, even if you try to pretend you are to scare people away. You can fool yourself, but you can't fool me.
[ ..... ]
You can do better if you just try.
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