[Yeah? Well, who asked you? Whelk isn't impressed by a trembling chihuahua's apparent moral backbone. This kid doesn't look like he could hurt someone else, even if he did want to. And maybe he does! He looks like the type to get the shit kicked out of him at least five days a week. Apparently, that does shit to people.]
It's your answer. Only you know whether it's true or not.
[Any power he wants? 'How about absolute power?' he thinks, but he doesn't say it. He has to think of a more diplomatic way to word it, something simpler that still means the same thing. He pretends to think about it for a moment. Then, casually, as if he's not really committed to the answer:]
Whenever I want to pay for something, [Bills, food, cars, lives.] I'll have however much money I need.
[MaYbe soMeDaY iT cOulD gRoW oN trEes. If Whelk didn't hate the kid he was talking to before, he does now. How is he supposed to keep himself pleasant with people who go around saying shit like that?]
[Everything is okay. He’s just answering questions with a strange man in a strange place and he doesn’t know what will happen if they stop answering or if they answer wrong or if they don’t answer with the truth (but he has, hasn’t he?) and everything. is okay.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
pantheraliam) wrote2030-03-12 03:03 pm
don't...call him TIGHT LIPS???
[Whelk raises his eyebrows, pointed. He makes an 'onward' gesture with his hand.]
Speak up. Try again.
🤐
[Basil's hands wring tighter. The only person they could ever harm is him.]
I-I, um… I haven’t. T-to the question.
[He looks away. Nothing there. Next roll, any time now…]
Is that… a good answer?
meanwhile basil gets teacher!whelk
It's your answer. Only you know whether it's true or not.
how nice :)
[He refuses to meet the man's eyes. Swallows, forcibly.]
It’s true.
[Finally, the numbers roll again.]
Um… question thirty-seven. [A small laugh, nervous—though not from the question.] “If you could have any power you wanted, what would it be?”
no subject
Whenever I want to pay for something, [Bills, food, cars, lives.] I'll have however much money I need.
no subject
[Oh… that’s…
[Basil forces himself to nod. It’s polite. Acceptable. Money is hard to come by, even though there are some things nothing can pay for....]
Haha… M-maybe someday it could grow on trees, right…? [His grandma says that, sometimes. It didn’t help her.
[Basil wants that power, but he’s not sure how to say it. He falls quiet instead, still weaving his fingers between each other.]
no subject
And your answer?
no subject
[Sometimes Basil really hates talking with people. Adults. Anyone.
[A gulp. Is this game over yet…?] I, um…
I want to help people. [He flinches as he says it. But it is true....] M-Maybe, if I could… heal? them? It would be okay....
no subject
Are you quite alright? You're trembling out of your skin.
You're not being graded, so just relax.
no subject
[Everything is okay. He’s just answering questions with a strange man in a strange place and he doesn’t know what will happen if they stop answering or if they answer wrong or if they don’t answer with the truth (but he has, hasn’t he?) and everything. is okay.
[Basil continues to tremble out of his skin.]
Can… c-can w— May we go…?
no subject
I don't know any better than you do. All we can do is continue the game.
[Which indeed continues. The numbers roll: 93]
Would you sacrifice- [Sacrifice?
[Whelk's head jerks like there's a fly buzzing around it.
[Ahem. He starts over, slower.]
Would you sacrifice yourself. To save someone you care about?