Rufus Catch-All

[misstrust]

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[soulus]

[He regards her quietly.]

You look worse.

[misstrust]

[ It takes her a minute.

... Right, he'd... ]

I pretty much collapsed for a while. But I'm relieved you weren't convicted.

[soulus]

. . . You almost weren't.

[misstrust]

I know. It wasn't the most pleasant thing to wake up to.

[ Getting water dumped on her head and then all of that. It might be why Dorothy sounds uncharacteristically somber, much quieter than usual. ]

[soulus]

[He watches her. It can't have been pleasant, but it isn't as though Shima's guilt suddenly absolves her of all suspicion. For her, she'll continue to wake up to this.]

[misstrust]

[ She knows. She additionally knows that it puts her in a great deal of danger in the coming weeks. And maybe that's why she asks, meeting his eyes. ]

Do you think I killed him?

[soulus]

. . . I know.

[misstrust]

... Fair enough. [ With a tired little laugh and a smile she most certainly does not feel. ]

I know it looks bad.

[soulus]

[It does. He eyes her from a distance as he lapses into silence. What he would say under ordinary circumstances would translate poorly now, so he holds his tongue on those words.]

What will you do now?

[misstrust]

[ How weirdly thoughtful of him. ]

What I've been doing. Try to find a way to get through all of this and get back home.

[ Dorothy hugs one arm, gazing past him. ]

I don't blame anyone. We've had more and more deaths-- they don't know who to trust.

[soulus]

Do you not have a guess of your own?

[misstrust]

I do.

[ But that's all she'll say in regards to that. ]

... This will only get more difficult if this continues.

[soulus]

Have you heard it before? The nova is intact.

[misstrust]

[ Once again, it takes her a minute. ]

Splintered?

[soulus]

[Truly, this power inconveniences like no other.]

It was different the previous week.

[misstrust]

[ She's... she's trying so hard. ]

Something like that happened last week? Or not last week, but--

[ HOW MUCH OF THIS STATEMENT IS A LIE ]

[soulus]

[He almost walks away right then and there. What a waste of time for both of them. But the night is still young . . . ]

Not last week.

[misstrust]

Last week.

[ Okay. OKAY. ]

I'm sorry, Rufus. I know it isn't easy for you to speak right now.

[soulus]

That's important.

[It really isn't.]

Tonight's findings may be insignificant.

[misstrust]

[ Poor Rufus, actually wanting to talk about things when he can't talk about them properly.

... Granted, he's still easier to understand than when he was drunk, but Dorothy has some experience with people who tend to say what they don't mean. This isn't terribly difficult, if she focuses.

With a dully pounding headache, but it's fine. ]

What Shima said, about Laine's nova splintering. Rather than a motive for murder being simply to get someone's memories back, it also seems to be a method to-- prevent the nova from changing like that. Or to... I suppose cut it off at the source, like treating an infection before it spreads?

Are you saying the murders last week might have also been for the same reason?

[soulus]

[For all that she must be feeling the aftereffects of being drugged once again, she's keeping up just fine. The sooner they can discuss this, the better. This is good.]

No. It couldn't have been part of the reason.

[misstrust]

[ Dorothy is Doing Her Best. ]

That changes... quite a bit. It would require, at the very least, watching everyone more closely...

[ She's tired all over again. ]

[soulus]

Do you think you'll be able to notice it?

[misstrust]

That depends on the person, I think. It should be simple enough to tell if someone's acting unusual if I'm more familiar with them.

But also I might just ask my Leader what to look for with splintering nova in the first place.

[ ... Not tonight. ]

[soulus]

If the Leaders are in the know, I wouldn't be interested in that. It's worse than guessing.