spinatalltale | [WEEK 3, FRIDAY POST-INVESTIGATION: Akira]

[WEEK 3, FRIDAY POST-INVESTIGATION: Akira]

[it's a few hours after the investigation, and Magilou is-- well. THERE'S STILL A BIG CAT IN THE LONGHOUSE!!]

[. . . but she hasn't entered the building yet, instead sitting outside on its porch, book propped open on her knees. it's not an uncommon sight for her on Fridays, and honestly? Akira is more familiar with it than most]

[her expression is blank when he first approaches her, distant and lost in thought, but she seems to jump back to reality when she notices he's nearby. and then-- she grins]

Hey.

I wanna pet the cat again.

[#priorities]

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That sounds like them.

[he can't argue it, though he chooses his words carefully with cream soda there. just to be safe.]

I guess it's something that can be taken up with them tomorrow; maybe we'll actually get an answer.

. . . do you actually trust any answers they give us?

[serious question!! she doesn't. everything out of their mouths she takes with a pile of salt]

Not really. But the problem is that we can't totally distrust them, either.

[some things they've said have turned out to be true, even if they answered in vague ways.]

That's the problem. We can't trust them, but not everything they feed us is a lie. It's almost impossible to discern what's what.

[she distrusts them!! . . . mostly, despite having gone to them for some answers]

Part of the puzzle of this game is figuring out which one lies and which doesn't.

There has to be a method to do this. They can't expect us to solve that riddle without any clues.

If I had to guess blindly, I think Hal is probably the more honest one.

[but:]

I think it's possible they swap. At any given time, one is lying and one is telling the truth, but not necessarily the same one at all times.

Mmyep! That's my assumption, too.

[don't trust Pal 2k17]

[dropping her hand to poke at Cream Soda's toe beans]

Them swapping just makes things more complicated. If they're going to be obnoxiously cryptic, at least be consistent about it. Sheesh!

It just fits the pattern. They've both said things we can prove as true, I think. They both act purposely evasive, too.

[he'll shift to rub cream soda's belly a bit more, sighing.]

They always try to complicate things for us anyway.

I'm gonna ask for some tomatoes and throw them at their heads.

[Magilou, what]

A protest to get off the stage?

Somewhat.

It'll also probably make me feel better.

Huh. I guess that's fair.

Of course it's fair. I deserve it, at this point! Every bit of their performance has been tryhard and tacky. I'm going to leave terrible reviews once we get out of this place.

Zero out of ten, would not recommend.

[sage nod.]

Oho! Do you want to co-author this scathing review with me? I bet you'd add some really good zingers.

[she's back to aggressively rubbing Cream Soda's belly]

Count me in.

[though, he has to amend.]

One star. They get one star, because I like the cat. [cream soda is a good girl.]

Hm. That seems acceptable. Cream Soda is very much deserving of a single star. Aren't you girl?

[aggressively scratching behind her ears]

She's deserving of 5 stars. Everything just averages out to an overall one star.

Aw, Newt, I didn't know you had such a soft spot for man-eating wild cats. It's too bad we can't take her home with us.

I think I'm just weak to cats of all sizes.

[admittedly. he's a cat-like person and a cat person, it seems.]

[yeah, she's noticed. this is why, when he said he was a cat person, she told him it explained SO MUCH about him]

Let's just hope this one stays our friend long enough to not, you know. Eat us.

[will she stop calling Cream Soda a man-eating cat]