[catch all with taichi]

[supercatty]

Comments

[goalsides]

[...he tilts his head, his own confusion rippling through.]

You're still a person, you know? [...] And I didn't really believe a word of your villain speech.

[supercatty]

[. . . she'd argue, but that's like. literally what she said about Byleth so?? you know????]

So why do you think I did it?

[goalsides]

Does it really matter what I think about it? You have your reasons, and I'm not you. I can guess, but...

[...he enters the room and shuts the door.]

...it probably hurt to think that someone you trusted was doing stuff like this, right? Isn't that why you lashed out at Otome-san, too?

[supercatty]

. . .

[yeah. he's not wrong about that, and even bringing up Otome's name tugs at her heartstrings a little bit. but--]

That wasn't it.

[ah. . .]

[goalsides]

[ah? he has other guesses, but he's not going to share them.]

...so what was it? Will you tell me?

[supercatty]

[another flick of her tail. she's silent for a long moment, as though debating on whether she should say]

Does it matter now? What's done is done. My fate is sealed.

[goalsides]

I think it matters to you. [frankly.] And maybe it is, but...I think you've had a pretty bad day.

[A MASSIVE UNDERSTATEMENT.]

...I'm not great at talking about stuff, but just...you know. If you want. [because he doesn't think everyone will talk to her in a way she'll be receptive to. there's no pity here. it's just mild curiosity, and some strange kind of understanding.]

[supercatty]

[nah her day has been GREAT, thank you very much. extremely great!!!]

[. . .]

[her ears flatten again, tail lashing]

You're weird.

[CATRA]

[goalsides]

[CATRA.

...there's sort of a laugh, not entirely amused but a little awkward and unsure.]

Yeah. I've heard that before.

[but apparently it doesn't change any of what he said.]

[supercatty]

[hrrrrrgh WHY ARE PEOPLE SO NICE TO HERRRRR]

[. . .]

It wasn't fair.

[she eventually says after a moment of silence]

To her. What she had to do.

[goalsides]

[it's called friendship, kitty cat]

...you're right. It wasn't. This place hasn't been fair for a long time. [...] Were you trying to help her by setting her free?

[supercatty]

[she's still learning this friendship thing okok, she just killed one of her friends!!!]

. . .

[she's quiet for a moment, gaze flickering back to the window]

I guess you could say that.

[but that makes it sound so kind when she still thinks it was anything but]

[goalsides]

[mmm...a hard choice, sometimes. he doesn't make her look at him but he keeps talking.]

Did you get a chance to tell her why?

[supercatty]

[. . . hahahaha]

I mentioned it, but it's not like-- I mean, even then she didn't just. . . let me.

[and her hand drifts to her upper arm, the same one she grasped throughout the trial]

[goalsides]

[he's watching carefully.]

We had wondered if she would. A few of us thought maybe she would have been expecting it enough since she had been ready to die last week. It was debatable if she would have let someone do it though. I think even if you're ready to die, actually doing it is still something you don't want to just accept right away.

[his eyes linger on her arm, trying to determine if it's just an act of nervousness.]

Did she hurt you?

[supercatty]

She fought back. She's a mercenary, so--

[so. yeah. she got her hit in]

[but I didn't want that to be like the only evidence on her since she never does strip check and that wouldn't be fair so sweats]

[goalsides]

[all of us: we're not making catra strip
catra: >_>]

Ah. Yeah, that would make sense. That sword's no joke. [...] Are you okay? We can try to clean it up if you want now that the trial's over.

[supercatty]

[she shakes her head]

I took care of it. It's fine.

[it's probably just like a sheet bandage torn and wrapped around her arm tbqh, I didn't think that hard about it]

[goalsides]

If you're sure. [he's not going to push it then.]

...I still don't think what you did was...[he pauses to think of his words.] Nothing about this place has been good to any of us. I think I can understand why you did it.

[he kind of wishes she hadn't because he liked byleth but...]

It's why I voted for Otome-san.

[supercatty]

[. . .]

[she doesn't!! know what to say to that!!]

Even after what I did to Otome?

[attacking her, and whatnot??]

[goalsides]

[he raises an eyebrow.]

Were you really, truly actually intending on killing her? Or were you lashing out because everything was too much?

[supercatty]

[. . .]

[she doesn't answer that!! which is probably pretty telling, when he takes into account the guilt she has directed towards Otome]

[goalsides]

[there's a reason we debated making yamato shapeshift into catra and it's because they're the same damn person, and taichi has realized this, vaguely.]

...Otome-san doesn't want to live this way. Just like Byleth told me she takes no pleasure in killing other people. The people who are chosen for this job are people that deserve better, even if that choice means ending things for them.

["thank you for finally catching me" she had said. that's gonna haunt him for a while.]

But...then everything happened after that. [with adora. so maybe it is better they voted for catra after all.]

[supercatty]

[I'm still disappointed you guys didn't give me CATRAMATO :/]

. . .

[quietly]

What do you think will happen to her next week. . .?

[goalsides]

[stop we got otome-fingies at the same time and it was all over.

he goes quiet, too, as he thinks about that. it's pretty obvious that he's worried about the next week and what that means for otome, even just judging by his body language and the way he folds his arms over his chest.]

...I don't know. I hope...that people understand a little. I'm going to do everything I can to protect her. I know she's technically the bad guy right now, but I think there's still more we need to understand before making a call.

I just want to try to make things easier for her however I can. [whatever that may mean.]