IC contact [Mask or Menace]

[infomodder]

"Gone fishing."

[ so don't leave messages to ruin the after fishing glow !!!

your one stop shop for not leaving him alone ]

Comments

[huntergames]

.... yes.

Dr. Crane said we all have monsters inside us and that it doesn't seem to be a bad thing necessarily, but... I don't really know if you can still call yourself a good person if you do something bad.

1/3

[infomodder]

[Ah, yes, Crane has been reading Harry Potter.

Quietly, in the way that suggests Will's not aware he's saying it out loud, Sasha gets:]

What a crock of shit.

2/3

[infomodder]

[That moment when he realizes, on the tail end of such foul language, that he not only said it out loud, but said it out loud to a teenager:]

—I mean—

[infomodder]

[—and then realizes said teenager is from the place as Annie, who's definitely heard such terrible language before. And that he's not really in the business of treating teenagers like actual infants, in any way, so the momentary lapse just drives it further home that, really, what he means is?]

Between us, what I mean is, the idea of every single person having a monster inside of them isn't something I'd consider accurate. [Wow such education much] Sounds like shit to me.

[better]

[huntergames]

[ Some of the tension in her shoulder dissipates hearing that from Will. ]

Well, he did say sometimes things have to be done for the "greater good".

[ Therefore all this talk about evil and good are subjective, but she's still trying to wrap her head around it in a world where humans fight one another over so many petty things. ]

That defending ourselves isn't really "wrong" either...

[infomodder]

[He's going to stare at Crane a little more than usual next time they see each other at work, he just knows it's going to happen.]

Defending yourself isn't wrong. How you defend yourself, though, that's important. [Dinner might not be getting made, but coffee. Coffee is definitely happening.] No offense meant to Doctor Crane by what I just said, of course.

[Still shit, tho.]

[huntergames]

[ She's quiet for a good twenty seconds. ]

... if I tell you something, will you keep it a secret?

[infomodder]

[Immediate, curious:]

I will.

[huntergames]

[ Quietly: ]

I think in my future I might... hurt some people. Jean and Armin said our plans succeeded, but I haven't experienced that yet.

[infomodder]

[Oh.]

But you don't know if you actually did hurt anyone? They won't tell you?

[huntergames]

[ She's been afraid to ask. ]

Jean said we have to be prepared to kill. Armin already —

It doesn't sound like there's a way around it.

[infomodder]

Do you think you're prepared to kill, if there really isn't a way around it?

[huntergames]

... I don't know. Thinking about it makes me feel sick.

There were some boys a while back... they had a knife. Annabeth saved me, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't point a weapon at another human being.

[infomodder]

[Everything happens so much.]

Do you only know how to defend yourself using a weapon?

[huntergames]

They taught us hand-to-hand combat during training, but it's useless against titans.

I know how to use a bow and arrow.

[infomodder]

You remember the hand-to-hand combat you were taught? Because that works on people, and it's good to know.

[What, is he supposed to encourage anything else here?]

[huntergames]

I know... a friend has been showing me how to hone those skills.

[infomodder]

[Who's the friend, is it a boy, does he need to get a rocking chair for the front. And a shotgun.

Maybe she should just visualize anyone coming at her as trying to steal her food and then she won't have any problems with it? #thingsnottojokeabout #forrealtho #kungfusasha]

That's good, isn't it? Or...do you not really like it?

1/2

[huntergames]

[ It's a girl and she's half-goddess. This is an attractive and yet terrifying combination. ]

No, that's not it! It's fine and Annabeth's a good instructor!

[huntergames]

... I guess I'm worried it won't be enough. The boys with the knife wasn't the first time I'd ―

One of those spies last year nearly shot me. An imPort superhero saved me life.

[infomodder]

[Get on that, Sasha. Too hot, hot damn.]

It might not be enough all the time, but it's. [Huff!] Look, there's...those boys? They probably wouldn't have thought you could do anything, they're...boys. [What he means is dumb.] You're not. Exactly intimidating. [What he means is tall and looming.] If you...showed that you could still stand up for yourself, Sasha, sometimes that's all it takes. Need a little more for imPorts, sure, but if you can catch them off guard by doing what they don't expect, or knowing more than they first thought? You already won the upper hand.

[And this is why the underdog is the best.]

[huntergames]

W-What?!

[ Will probably means well, but... ouch. ]

I'm not like Mikasa, but I graduated in the top ten of my training squad!

[ SHE CAN BE INTIMIDATING. ENOUGH. ]

[infomodder]

[Child your wiki says you're 5'5'' and just over 120lbs come on now own that underdog status]

I believe you. [He does, really. Those aren't empty words, an attempt to soothe. This is reminding him of Annie's confusion over him being monstrous of a killer if he'd only gone after young women, but Annie might not be the best person to bring up. So.] Can you keep a secret?

[huntergames]

[ She's been putting on weight here, okay. SHE'S A GROWING GIRL. ]

... yes.

... what is it?

[infomodder]

[That clinking, quiet but still audible, if Sasha knows it, would be the sound of stirring coffee. This discussion isn't as terrible as it sounds, or Will wants it to appear that way.]

You asked if I'd hurt anyone to stop them. I have. But I've also killed two men, because they wouldn't stop otherwise. [Whoops? Will doesn't sound tore up about it. Or all that sad. Fact on top of fact, impersonal. The first bit; his tone changes in the next. Not heated, not angry, but speaking from his own experience instead of what could be taken as reading out of a textbook.] Would I do it again if there wasn't any other way out of it? Yes. Does that mean some people will think I'm bad, or a monster? Probably. But I can't find it in myself to worry much about what other people think. I know who I am, and who I am is still here. Alive.

[At least in regards to the two people he's talking about, at any rate. And this is why he doesn't pay certain things on the Network much attention, fully aware he's got his own opinions that are probably just as close-minded or completely off-base to someone else, too.]

You asked if it was that simple. To me, it is because it has to be.