[ it's okay, she's a white girl from underground who is going to burn to death from the deadly laser sun beams, they can sit under an umbrella.
when he grins at her, even with the tinge of something sad, she gives him a little smile back. he's right, it is a novelty, not losing everybody in your life to never see them again. woah!! murdergame is the first time that's ever happened!!!
she exhales a short, heavy sigh through her nose. ]
Yeah. I don't know if we're really even dead, which is weird. But - forget that, for right now. We don't have to be constantly figuring out the secrets of the universe.
[ he will plop down next to her once they get settled, trying not to get too much sand in his boots, and takes his drink from her - the last part gets a little more of a smile too, tugged unintentionally. it echoes of one of their first conversations, last week - that she can see through all the brains rattling around in his head and tell him to calm down.
looking at her, it all just kind of hits - he really missed vi, and this has been one hell of a week or two. there's a huff, soft, and he shakes his head, ducking it to hide the small smile. ]
...Guess not, yeah.
[ another longer, quieter moment. ]
I owe you an apology, Vi. [ it has to come off his chest, like a weight. ] For... I should've kept my promise.
and then after a moment, just punches him in the arm. not the one holding his drink, so he doesn't spill it all over the place, but she does punch him. ]
Like you had any control over that. [ she says, with a huff of her own. she takes a drink of her own. ] You don't owe me shit, but thanks. If it makes you feel better, I'll take it, even if I don't need it.
[ a beat. ]
I saw you go to bat for me on Saturday. That's good enough.
[ the ow is almost more reflexive than anything - he's been beaten up by girls twice today!!! girls and a bed!!! but it does hurt, and he bobbles where he's sitting, turning to look at her with an expression of indignance that rapidly disappears as she talks. just like that, the anxiety and guilt that has been sizzling low in his gut melts away, bit by little bit. he thinks briefly of will's desperately upset face at the end of that little trip, and shakes his head to clear the image.
saw him go to bat, huh. strohl huffs, too, and leans over to bump against her arm, too, rubbing his own where he got punched. dramatic baby. ]
...Course I did. I'd do it again, too. I just wish I'd - [ caught her before she got to apollo, but, he shakes his head. ] ... That part doesn't matter, I guess.
Point is... I'm sure you'd do the same for me, and besides. A madwoman killed you. You deserved - far more than just justice, but, I was glad for it that we were able to catch her.
[ she laughs a bit when he rubs at his arm, but when he bumps against her - she just leans. shoulder to shoulder, arm to arm. it's hard to rattle vi, honestly, she's - well, that's what prison does to a person. she takes a lot of things in stride, more interested in fixing problems than taking a second to examine her own feelings. she hasn't dealt with any of her issues with dying, and that's fine. doesn't matter.
what does matter is that she missed strohl more than she thought she was going to, and she wants to relieve him of any guilt he's feeling, because it isn't necessary. not when just being in the same space makes her feel a little less like she's going to ricochet up the walls. someone she can learn to trust a little easier. maybe this time it won't be the wrong choice. ]
I would, for the record. [ do the same. and then: ] Yeah, well. I'm glad you got her, too. Her whole reason for doing it was bullshit, by the way, she told me herself. Something made her think she needed to kill us to save everybody, but it wasn't true. Just some delusion.
[ the rage at nathalie has cooled very little since the first day they found her, but the way he handles it now comes from a very slow march of time, and from the camaraderie. from someone who he cared for very much, who he thought was stolen away (like halia, like everything) who now sits here beside him again. something in him's a little more settled, too, and it doesn't change the act, but it softens the blow. maybe now he can reach for empathy.
(months from now, he'll feel the same thing even facing down louis - a hint of bitter, miserable empathy.)
... not... today, though. no, today feels like a good time to be a little embittered again. in fact, the snort he lets out is derisive, annoyed, scowling. ]
Oh, I know. She told me so when I interrogated her, afterwards. [ and he'd nearly lost it at her again then, too. ] Told me a lot of self-serving bollocks I wasn't interested in, too, but I wasn't going to let her get away from me until I had an idea of what the hell happened.
She's not bothered you, has she? [ you want me to kill that guy for you energy ]
[ she exhales slowly, rolling her shoulders back, trying to get the tension out of them.
there's something crawling around in her ribcage, something bitter and angry and - afraid. sad. but she's so used to swallowing it down that it's instinct to do it here, too. she takes another drink, and lets it hang loosely from her fingers, manspreading a bit on this chair.
at the question, she half-grins. ]
No. She was sooo polite about it. Of course I've wronged you, do whatever you want to me. Like I was going to look like the asshole beating up a sick woman in a brace apologizing to me for fucking mind control or whatever it was she was claiming.
[ vi your emotions!! its a two week we get into deep feelings in the crau* *if we both go
anyway. strohl listens to this - snorts, softly, and shakes his head. there's a lot to unpack there, but he's not much for it, right now, either. ]
Good. Let her stew in her guilt, anyhow. Some people say the best revenge's a life well lived. I don't know much if I agree, all the time, but... maybe there's a little merit in both approaches. you know? [ which like. he chooses violence personally internally, strohl does not like nathalie for personal trauma reasons forever now. bolstering, though, he nudges her again and takes a big drink of his ale. ]
We'll have to keep moving forward. From what it sounds, we're going to find a way to flip this thing on its head. [ a beat, and then, with a just sly smile: ] One hell of a prison break.
vi exhales slow, finishing her drink. she wants another one almost immediately, but she doesn't get up, just stays where she is. ]
Yeah. I don't know that I believe in that, but I get what you're saying. [ she's with you, dude, live well after you violence response. there is not a single problem that cannot be solved with her fists? clearly? anyway, she snorts at that, glancing at him. ]
Please, you've never been in prison a day in your life, fancy boy. I've seen your hands. [ teases!! ] Guess the next thing we do is figure it out, though. Me, Wriothesley, and the blonde priss with the accent went looking for clues the other day.
All we got out of it was there's a thing in the cafe that's glowing red that we can't reach. Every time it pulses, something freezes or changes.
[ i haven't been to prison YET gimme like two in game months
anyway, ]
My hands - what're you trying to say, huh? [ HE'LL SHOW YOU HIS HANDS if he was more rowdy he might shove his hand in her face but he's too noble for this so he just jostles her with his shoulder again, messily this time, jocular, falling easily back into routine, into comfortable friendship, slotting into place with a click like they had on day one.
though as vi explains the more serious, the teasing subsides, and strohl starts to look thoughtful. ]
she laughs again, easy, taking the shove. based on what he's told her so far, she can't imagine he's not capable, she just bullies as her favorite pastime. as long as strohl doesn't ever seem to mind, she's sticking to it.
[ if he minded being bullied he'd have zero friends. he has like. three of them. but still!!! easy easy, though more serious now, he sets a hand to his chin.]
Mm. Kiruko asked the owl toy a question about surviving all this, surviving Death - apparently it answered a question truthfully. And the owl said...
[ wrinkling his nose as he recites: ] There is no surviving against Death, only beating it at its own game unexpectedly. Death comes for all, but the turnabout begins when all is whole and the alarm goes off.
So, that's what we were knocking our heads together about before... all of this. [ before sims. ] Where the alarm could be, and what it meant to have 'all whole'.
[ a little half smile. good for her. she tilts her head back, thinking. ]
When all is whole, huh. Do you think that means once all of us are here? Looks sort of like we're going to end up all together one way or another. [ ... ] Good guess at the red light being an alarm or something. It looked like every time it pulsed, stuff froze or broke.
I couldn't reach it, but I bet we could all figure something out.
Maybe. [ though the idea pissed him off because he didn't want nathalie to be right which is petty but its fine
frowning a little harder. ]
I think it's odd we can still go to the biomes, here. They're the same, just... not right - because they do that, they mess up, or at least that's what Gavin said, too. And then over there's the city with no people, but here, there are a tonne of people. Maybe the 'whole's' like that - one half, plus one half. Could be both - we get everyone here, and bring things together.
[ though...hmm.... ] Maybe this is where we were 'supposed' to end up, instead of where we were.
...Not that I've any idea how to fix that, but you're right. We could all figure something out.
The people around here are weirdos. They just talk back and forth about the same thing constantly, they're about as real as the floor tiles.
[ huff. ]
... Makes sense to me, though. Putting the two halves together seems right. The blonde guy made noise about us all taking about it tomorrow, so - I guess it's good you ended up here.
[ he frowns a little harder, but - the last part makes him smile a little bit, a touch roguish. ]
Like you said before - brains, rattling around. [ reaching up to tap himself on the forehead. lot of thinking going on up here in that noggin now that its not smashed in by a deathbed ] Not a bad idea to consolidate information.
[ WOW!! also you gotta ask otherwise, ] You are always underestimating me, aren't you?
[ mock pity and offence both in that tone - he's clearly playing, settling easy back into routine. a very quickly formed one, and as easy as breathing. a marked relief, from this week. from everything. ] Think I can't hold my liquor, either - I was a soldier, [ for five minutes ] you know!
Besides, someone has to get you off the ground from the heap you find yourself in if you're stumbling out in a stupor.
Hey, hey, I'm not underestimating you! I'm just saying there's no way you can match me drink for drink. I'd bet on it. [ starts leading the way to the bar ]
[ UP WE GET, he goes easy, unfolding from where he is just All Legs and getting up to his feet to follow vi over to the bar with a grin.
as for the rest - ] Yeah. That's where I met Will, actually. Everyone in our...[ hm ] ....Well. Ended up moving on to support him instead, after - much better cause, if you ask me.
[ WAIT I MISSED A QUESTION so he'll add on the way to the bar ] Also a bidou's a bird. Redgrass roasted bidou's the speciality of an inn in Grand Trad - I learned how to make it when I was there, It's bloody good, but it's spicy.
she can sense a story in that, but she doesn't ask. she's walking around some of the trigger points she's sensing, because she doesn't want to upset him two seconds after he came back from being dead. still, though... she walks with him in a generally easygoing way, hands in her jacket pockets. ]
Must be nice to have a cause. [ idly. ] Spicy's good. Anything's better than the slop from Stillwater - you think you could make it, the bidou? If we found a kitchen around here.
[ watching him... making sure he's walking okay, making sure he doesn't look too terribly sad - fussy, in a way, though she does a good job of hiding it. ]
[ eh it's fine. e doesn't seem too bothered by it beyond just the memory of the carnage itself, because ultimately - getting to meet will made everything worth it. ]
If we could find the ingredients, sure, yeah. Redgrass might be a hard sell. [ but why not, right. they might be dead. maybe some random tourist npc has redgrass on them.
anyway, he turns to look at vi when he notices her looking at him and gives her a bit of a smile, more reassuring than anything. he does seem okay - if he's kicking his own ass about dying, it's hard to tell. it may be because will was there, and because in a sense, he died protecting him. it's hard to feel bad when that was and has been now part of his modus operandi. a noble's death. (except for the bed part, but, well, he's convinced himself to forget about that for the moment, at least.)
he didn't forget, though, and softer: ]
You're right, though. It is nice. [ to have a cause. ] 's nice to even have a sense of purpose. Until I met him, I felt like I'd lost my way.
[ a lodestar, a shining light, and so on and so forth. he will go and open the door for her at the bar just out of habit. ] I wasn't sure where I was going, or what I was doing. Hulkenberg's the same, too.
...Sometimes, [ another sideglance: ].... sometimes, you get lucky and meet the right person at the right time.
[ she's quiet for a couple of moments, as they walk. listens - because despite everything, she is good at that. she's very good at hearing in general, listening to everything that comes her way. sometimes she ignores it, sometimes she doesn't follow through, sometimes she thinks she knows better. but there's not much that escapes her when it comes to understanding.
a lodestar. a place for a weary traveler to put their faith. she's not sure she's really got one of those anymore - in fact, she's pretty sure she doesn't - but she's glad he does. she's glad hulkenberg does too. ]
Yeah. [ she says, finally, sliding through the door when he opens it for her. ]
Sounds like you got that in spades. Something worth doing, changing the world. I think you guys have really got a shot at doing it, from what you've told me.
[ if the sideglance means anything it goes over her head entirely, because she's an idiot, ]
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when he grins at her, even with the tinge of something sad, she gives him a little smile back. he's right, it is a novelty, not losing everybody in your life to never see them again. woah!! murdergame is the first time that's ever happened!!!
she exhales a short, heavy sigh through her nose. ]
Yeah. I don't know if we're really even dead, which is weird. But - forget that, for right now. We don't have to be constantly figuring out the secrets of the universe.
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looking at her, it all just kind of hits - he really missed vi, and this has been one hell of a week or two. there's a huff, soft, and he shakes his head, ducking it to hide the small smile. ]
...Guess not, yeah.
[ another longer, quieter moment. ]
I owe you an apology, Vi. [ it has to come off his chest, like a weight. ] For... I should've kept my promise.
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and then after a moment, just punches him in the arm. not the one holding his drink, so he doesn't spill it all over the place, but she does punch him. ]
Like you had any control over that. [ she says, with a huff of her own. she takes a drink of her own. ] You don't owe me shit, but thanks. If it makes you feel better, I'll take it, even if I don't need it.
[ a beat. ]
I saw you go to bat for me on Saturday. That's good enough.
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[ the ow is almost more reflexive than anything - he's been beaten up by girls twice today!!! girls and a bed!!! but it does hurt, and he bobbles where he's sitting, turning to look at her with an expression of indignance that rapidly disappears as she talks. just like that, the anxiety and guilt that has been sizzling low in his gut melts away, bit by little bit. he thinks briefly of will's desperately upset face at the end of that little trip, and shakes his head to clear the image.
saw him go to bat, huh. strohl huffs, too, and leans over to bump against her arm, too, rubbing his own where he got punched. dramatic baby. ]
...Course I did. I'd do it again, too. I just wish I'd - [ caught her before she got to apollo, but, he shakes his head. ] ... That part doesn't matter, I guess.
Point is... I'm sure you'd do the same for me, and besides. A madwoman killed you. You deserved - far more than just justice, but, I was glad for it that we were able to catch her.
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what does matter is that she missed strohl more than she thought she was going to, and she wants to relieve him of any guilt he's feeling, because it isn't necessary. not when just being in the same space makes her feel a little less like she's going to ricochet up the walls. someone she can learn to trust a little easier. maybe this time it won't be the wrong choice. ]
I would, for the record. [ do the same. and then: ] Yeah, well. I'm glad you got her, too. Her whole reason for doing it was bullshit, by the way, she told me herself. Something made her think she needed to kill us to save everybody, but it wasn't true. Just some delusion.
[ ... downs half her drink. ]
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(months from now, he'll feel the same thing even facing down louis - a hint of bitter, miserable empathy.)
... not... today, though. no, today feels like a good time to be a little embittered again. in fact, the snort he lets out is derisive, annoyed, scowling. ]
Oh, I know. She told me so when I interrogated her, afterwards. [ and he'd nearly lost it at her again then, too. ] Told me a lot of self-serving bollocks I wasn't interested in, too, but I wasn't going to let her get away from me until I had an idea of what the hell happened.
She's not bothered you, has she? [ you want me to kill that guy for you energy ]
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there's something crawling around in her ribcage, something bitter and angry and - afraid. sad. but she's so used to swallowing it down that it's instinct to do it here, too. she takes another drink, and lets it hang loosely from her fingers, manspreading a bit on this chair.
at the question, she half-grins. ]
No. She was sooo polite about it. Of course I've wronged you, do whatever you want to me. Like I was going to look like the asshole beating up a sick woman in a brace apologizing to me for fucking mind control or whatever it was she was claiming.
Whatever. She's avoiding me, so good.
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anyway. strohl listens to this - snorts, softly, and shakes his head. there's a lot to unpack there, but he's not much for it, right now, either. ]
Good. Let her stew in her guilt, anyhow. Some people say the best revenge's a life well lived. I don't know much if I agree, all the time, but... maybe there's a little merit in both approaches. you know? [ which like. he chooses violence personally internally, strohl does not like nathalie for personal trauma reasons forever now. bolstering, though, he nudges her again and takes a big drink of his ale. ]
We'll have to keep moving forward. From what it sounds, we're going to find a way to flip this thing on its head. [ a beat, and then, with a just sly smile: ] One hell of a prison break.
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vi exhales slow, finishing her drink. she wants another one almost immediately, but she doesn't get up, just stays where she is. ]
Yeah. I don't know that I believe in that, but I get what you're saying. [ she's with you, dude, live well after you violence response. there is not a single problem that cannot be solved with her fists? clearly? anyway, she snorts at that, glancing at him. ]
Please, you've never been in prison a day in your life, fancy boy. I've seen your hands. [ teases!! ] Guess the next thing we do is figure it out, though. Me, Wriothesley, and the blonde priss with the accent went looking for clues the other day.
All we got out of it was there's a thing in the cafe that's glowing red that we can't reach. Every time it pulses, something freezes or changes.
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anyway, ]
My hands - what're you trying to say, huh? [ HE'LL SHOW YOU HIS HANDS if he was more rowdy he might shove his hand in her face but he's too noble for this so he just jostles her with his shoulder again, messily this time, jocular, falling easily back into routine, into comfortable friendship, slotting into place with a click like they had on day one.
though as vi explains the more serious, the teasing subsides, and strohl starts to look thoughtful. ]
Wait, a glowing red... Could that be the alarm?
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she laughs again, easy, taking the shove. based on what he's told her so far, she can't imagine he's not capable, she just bullies as her favorite pastime. as long as strohl doesn't ever seem to mind, she's sticking to it.
she raises her eyebrows though. ]
Alarm? Alarm for what?
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Mm. Kiruko asked the owl toy a question about surviving all this, surviving Death - apparently it answered a question truthfully. And the owl said...
[ wrinkling his nose as he recites: ] There is no surviving against Death, only beating it at its own game unexpectedly. Death comes for all, but the turnabout begins when all is whole and the alarm goes off.
So, that's what we were knocking our heads together about before... all of this. [ before sims. ] Where the alarm could be, and what it meant to have 'all whole'.
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[ a little half smile. good for her. she tilts her head back, thinking. ]
When all is whole, huh. Do you think that means once all of us are here? Looks sort of like we're going to end up all together one way or another. [ ... ] Good guess at the red light being an alarm or something. It looked like every time it pulsed, stuff froze or broke.
I couldn't reach it, but I bet we could all figure something out.
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frowning a little harder. ]
I think it's odd we can still go to the biomes, here. They're the same, just... not right - because they do that, they mess up, or at least that's what Gavin said, too. And then over there's the city with no people, but here, there are a tonne of people. Maybe the 'whole's' like that - one half, plus one half. Could be both - we get everyone here, and bring things together.
[ though...hmm.... ] Maybe this is where we were 'supposed' to end up, instead of where we were.
...Not that I've any idea how to fix that, but you're right. We could all figure something out.
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[ huff. ]
... Makes sense to me, though. Putting the two halves together seems right. The blonde guy made noise about us all taking about it tomorrow, so - I guess it's good you ended up here.
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[ he frowns a little harder, but - the last part makes him smile a little bit, a touch roguish. ]
Like you said before - brains, rattling around. [ reaching up to tap himself on the forehead. lot of thinking going on up here in that noggin now that its not smashed in by a deathbed ] Not a bad idea to consolidate information.
I'll try not to stew on it the whole day.
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Yeah, good. You'll start smoking out your ears. [ a little grin. ] If you're not going to think, I'm not either. Want another drink?
[ she has been drunk like every day she's been here it's been great ]
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[ strohl mutters to himself, but he returns he grin - brightening, a bit, at the offer. ]
There's an idea. Maybe two, actually - maybe a meal, while we're at it. Augh, what I'd give for one of Fabienne's redgrass roasted bidou right now.
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You looking to get wasted in the street with me, Mr. Noble? [ use his name you loser ] What's a bidou?
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[ mock pity and offence both in that tone - he's clearly playing, settling easy back into routine. a very quickly formed one, and as easy as breathing. a marked relief, from this week. from everything. ] Think I can't hold my liquor, either - I was a soldier, [ for five minutes ] you know!
Besides, someone has to get you off the ground from the heap you find yourself in if you're stumbling out in a stupor.
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Hey, hey, I'm not underestimating you! I'm just saying there's no way you can match me drink for drink. I'd bet on it. [ starts leading the way to the bar ]
No way you were a soldier, really?
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as for the rest - ] Yeah. That's where I met Will, actually. Everyone in our...[ hm ] ....Well. Ended up moving on to support him instead, after - much better cause, if you ask me.
[ WAIT I MISSED A QUESTION so he'll add on the way to the bar ] Also a bidou's a bird. Redgrass roasted bidou's the speciality of an inn in Grand Trad - I learned how to make it when I was there, It's bloody good, but it's spicy.
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she can sense a story in that, but she doesn't ask. she's walking around some of the trigger points she's sensing, because she doesn't want to upset him two seconds after he came back from being dead. still, though... she walks with him in a generally easygoing way, hands in her jacket pockets. ]
Must be nice to have a cause. [ idly. ] Spicy's good. Anything's better than the slop from Stillwater - you think you could make it, the bidou? If we found a kitchen around here.
[ watching him... making sure he's walking okay, making sure he doesn't look too terribly sad - fussy, in a way, though she does a good job of hiding it. ]
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If we could find the ingredients, sure, yeah. Redgrass might be a hard sell. [ but why not, right. they might be dead. maybe some random tourist npc has redgrass on them.
anyway, he turns to look at vi when he notices her looking at him and gives her a bit of a smile, more reassuring than anything. he does seem okay - if he's kicking his own ass about dying, it's hard to tell. it may be because will was there, and because in a sense, he died protecting him. it's hard to feel bad when that was and has been now part of his modus operandi. a noble's death. (except for the bed part, but, well, he's convinced himself to forget about that for the moment, at least.)
he didn't forget, though, and softer: ]
You're right, though. It is nice. [ to have a cause. ] 's nice to even have a sense of purpose. Until I met him, I felt like I'd lost my way.
[ a lodestar, a shining light, and so on and so forth. he will go and open the door for her at the bar just out of habit. ] I wasn't sure where I was going, or what I was doing. Hulkenberg's the same, too.
...Sometimes, [ another sideglance: ].... sometimes, you get lucky and meet the right person at the right time.
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a lodestar. a place for a weary traveler to put their faith. she's not sure she's really got one of those anymore - in fact, she's pretty sure she doesn't - but she's glad he does. she's glad hulkenberg does too. ]
Yeah. [ she says, finally, sliding through the door when he opens it for her. ]
Sounds like you got that in spades. Something worth doing, changing the world. I think you guys have really got a shot at doing it, from what you've told me.
[ if the sideglance means anything it goes over her head entirely, because she's an idiot, ]
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