week 2; saturday post-trial; wizard's tower

[rightmove]

[It's late, and Healy is finally daring to venture back to his farm. He's not exactly eager to head home after today.

So, when he spots a light on in the Wizard's Tower, he jumps at the chance to delay that a little longer.]

Walter?

[Healy's standing in the laboratory doorway with a six pack of beer and an exhausted look on his face. He's doing great, thanks.]

The ducks'll clean this place up.

[But he imagines that's not new information and Walt just wants to do this anyway. He gets it.]

Comments

[theotherww]

[Walter looks up, relaxing a bit seeing it's only Healy.]

Yes, they will. But they're likely to store what's left of the equipment incorrectly. Can't have that.

[He sets an intact beaker on the shelf, and notes the six-pack.]

Planning on drinking alone? I'd be careful.

[rightmove]

[He's about to ask why it matters where anything gets put away, but then he remembers.]

Ah, right. You're a chemistry guy. This is the kind of stuff you do back home then, huh? Growth serums and the like.

[He cracks a wry smile. It's a joke. This place gets more insane by the day.

He sets the six pack on a table and pulls out two of the bottles, offering one to Walter.]

Afraid of what? Being killed? We've got a whole week before the next bloodbath.

[theotherww]

Ah. I spent a bit more time on crystallography than growth serums. Might have done some extra research for my Master's if I knew this would happen.

[He's attempting a joke. Poorly, but the effort is there. He takes one of the bottles.]

You never know which week will be the one someone tests that rule. You also don't want to be the guy found at the bottom of the stairs the morning after trial.

[rightmove]

[Healy chuckles. He doesn't quite get it, but he gets it enough and either way he appreciates the sentiment.]

Eh. If someone wants to pick a fight, I'll let 'em. They'd be dumb to try.

[He's a couple bottles in already. He's far from drunk, but it's loosened him up a bit.]

I guess we might end up with another Shinobu situation in that case, though. No good.

Would you have voted for her if we hadn't caught the other guy?

[theotherww]

I'll be honest. I had a strong feeling Beelzebub was guilty from the start, so my vote would have gone to him either way. Shinobu simply did what she had to in order to defend herself.

[He opens the bottle and takes a light sip.]

[rightmove]

Heh, I heard you gunning for him from the get go. You ruffled some feathers.

[From the sound of it, Healy doesn't disagree, though. Beelzebub was the obvious number one suspect. Just because his friends didn't want to accept that didn't make it any less true.]

Seems like most people were sympathetic toward Shinobu. That's encouraging. She didn't deserve to be put to death over this.

[theotherww]

I might have. I didn't realize people thought uncovering a murderer would be the place for sensitivity.

[There's slight derision in Walter's voice at the idea that he might need to show something like "care" or "tact" in regards to other people's emotions.]

Under normal circumstances, we wouldn't even consider what she did murder. The most you can fault her for is not realizing she was being offered poison.

[rightmove]

[Healy shrugs.]

It doesn't make sense to me either, but you gotta remember most of the people we're stuck here with are still kids.

[People in their 20s are still kids, in his mind.]

And it's different when you've got personal stake in the game. Apparently Beelzebub was a popular guy. People thought they knew him.

[theotherww]

I worked in a high school. You don't need to tell me how emotional children are.

[Teens. 20-somethings. Close enough. Jesse is 25 and basically a kid to Walt ]

Clearly they didn't. Honestly, claiming demonic possession? Ridiculous.

[rightmove]

[He puts up a hand, conceding. He suspects Walter hasn't quite let the age of their peers sink in fully, but Healy isn't here to argue. They've done enough of that today.]

Alright. But you have to admit, demonic possession isn't the craziest thing we've seen here. Not that I buy it, either. I'm just saying.

I mean, what do you make of the whole "lost memories" thing? You remembered something after Sora's death last week, didn't you? That's tough to explain.

[theotherww]

Comparatively, no. But if I don't assume there's some explanation for everything aside from magic or demons, I'll be conceding to some form of madness.

The memories--[Walter sighs.] Why I forgot that particular memory makes sense. Repressing a traumatic memory as a defense mechanism, or some form of psychological conditioning. It's how they managed to cause everyone to recall something like that at the same time that's baffling. I'd have read more on experiments with the human mind if I knew I'd have to explain something like this down the line.