deercountry | behind the boathouse; closed

Who: Satoko Hojo and Anna Amarande
What: Satoko has a lovely conversation with her friend Anna, who is by complete coincidence chained up in her basement.
When: 7/19
Where: Satoko's basement, in the Cellar Door district.

Content Warnings: kidnapping, captivity

[ it's eight in the morning or so when the door to the basement creaks open - on time, as it has been these past few days. perhaps it's a tighter schedule than anna's used to, but, well... she should be up by now anyway! it's simply slovenly to sleep too late, after all.

satoko doesn't even bother to close the door as she passes down. her friends know the drill, after all. sayo doesn't even budge as she's handed her breakfast - but she'll eat on her own time, satoko knows by now. she's got someone she wants to focus on in particular right now, anyway. ]

Good morning, Miss Anna. [ the setup she's had to devise for anna is... a bit convoluted, to say the least. chains around legs around bedposts around stakes in the wall, rope ties to keep everything secure - over the chains, of course! she doesn't want anna to lose any circulation. all she needs to make sure of is that anna can't try to escape again. ] I do hope a more traditional breakfast is fine by you! The fish here is surprisingly lovely, you know. And though I haven't found miso proper yet, there's a few soups that hit a similar taste...

[ she chatters away as she takes a seat near the chained anna, smiling the whole while. like this is normal. like she's done anna a favor. ]

Miss Anna, I'm going to ask, and I want you to be honest. [ stern, but not unkind. the sound of a younger sister who's had to take over the house too soon. ] Will it be alright to undo your hand bindings today? Or will I have to feed you again?

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Depends.

[she's awake. has been for about 15 minutes by her count, not that that's worth much. she feels like shit and is pretty sure she smells like it, too, but at least the food is masking that. she looks down at her captor, who has assured her multiple times that all of this is for her own good. she's remembering things she probably shouldn't remember, and that's making the exhaustion even worse, honestly. she continues.]

Are you actually planning on letting me go today, or is it gonna be another round through Satoko Hojo's fucking murder basement until you've made whatever point you're going for?

Miss Anna, I've told you several times by now! [ ah, wait - has she, though? she knows she tried to explain the first few times anna tried to break out, but maybe those were lost too... ] -well, anyway! This isn't a lecture, you know. My goal is entirely above board! I just want to make sure the lot of you are safe until all this... evil nonsense settles down. It shouldn't be more than a few weeks.

[ she gingerly sets the food down in front of anna. it does look pretty good, honestly. ]

I really don't see why you can't just think of it as a sleepover. You're not too old for that, are you?

Edited 2022-07-27 03:31 (UTC)

Sleepovers usually don't involve as many chains as this one does.

[she says it dryly, ignoring the obvious joke she could make; the smell of the food sets her stomach grumbling. traitor.]

You know I just washed back up, right? You know I have other things going on? People to continue to fuck up friendships with, ex-girlfriends to cry over?

Ex...?

[ something remarkable happens. for a single moment, a look of genuine surprise crosses satoko's face - chased by genuine regret, a pain of sympathy that anna may not have ever seen before in her. a pain satoko herself would have said was simply impossible for someone like her.

it's chased away quickly enough. that stern, sisterly look is back again. ]

That's precisely why I'm keeping you here, you dunce! [ she thwaps anna on the shoulder. it's not even hard enough to register as a playful sting. ] Once you can be trusted to make your own decisions, I'll let you do what you like. It is your life, after all. But until this all settles down, it really wouldn't be responsible of me in the slightest!

[ she flakes off a bit of fish with the chopsticks. it's a brilliant, blood-red flesh on the inside, even with the grilling cooking it evenly. ]

Go on, then. At least take a bite before you argue. [ and she holds the food close to anna's mouth. ]

[it's embarrassing as hell, but it's also the only food she's going to get, so anna moves her head forward and takes a bite. she chews dutifully and swallows after long enough, because she's certain that satoko would be a stickler about chewing given half a chance, and continues to hang there.]

Ex. [she repeats it, the look on satoko's face burned into her memory.] I saw her die and went to kill a god in revenge. It didn't work, and now she left me to have a life with someone she can trust to not be a fucking idiot about her. [she laughs, and it turns into a rough-sounding cough that she'd at least come in here with. her chains rattle.]

Best of luck, but there's no woman in Trench who wouldn't go stupid looking at her. You'd have to lock up the whole town.

[ there's a visible relief in satoko as anna finally moves forward to eat. she's already grabbing a small bite of rice with the sticks, raising it up as she responds. ]

While I won't deny that Miss Kainé is quite attractive- [ -she's even blushing as she says it- ] -I'm certain you're misreading the situation. Either that, or she's even more of an idiot than you. [ a beat, as she waits for anna to chew. she raises the small cup of tea up to anna's lips. ] That seems likeliest, if I'm to be honest.

[ she doesn't address that other part. after all, she probably couldn't lock up all of trench.

but anna hasn't quite thought about the simpler alternative. ]

[the tea soothes her throat in a way that's too deeply missed. it's a kindness she hasn't allowed herself in days because she's scarcely thought herself deserving of it. it's... it's nice, she thinks. to have someone who still cares about her. she's almost willing to forgive the chains.]

You can be as certain as you want, Satoko. But she left me a note, same as I did to her. She told me she trusted me... she called herself a dumbass for doing it. [no amount of tea can soothe the ache that runs through her body at that.] I think she's done with me. I think if I have a hint of a ghost of a chance of getting back with her, it's all in her hands. She's always been the smart one in this relationship anyway.

Goodness, you even left her a note? I'd understood why you chose writing for me, but you really should have told her personally...

[ not that lecturing will help much right now. she sighs, dusting her skirt off before offering a bit more of the grilled fish. ]

Anyhow. I won't deny that the choice is hers, but "I think" isn't a certainty, you know. And even if it were, perhaps it wouldn't be the end either way. After all, one of the most terrible witches I knew was able to wrest those little miracles from the jaws of certain defeat.

[ and now she's gone from this place. ]

[anna bites her tongue on the harsh sentence rebuking satoko. she would rather not remind herself that kainé had died first right now.]

Well, locking me up like this isn't going to do much to fix it either way. [she knows that's not the point of it. but satoko hasn't actually done anything to hurt her, so it's. probably fine, if extremely strange.] Though it does stop me from being able to respond to any texts. So maybe that is for the best. God knows I'm no stranger to being an asshole lately.

[Chara's smile is carefully friendly, when they appear sat on the kitchen counter, seemingly appearing without a show of lights or the slightest nudge of a door, like anyone who might have been watching blinked and they were there all alone. It's when Satoko turns around and it's just the two of them in the kitchen that they give a small polite wave, as if they hadn't invaded her home. As if she hadn't stole what's theirs.

You turn your back on your partner to burn one house down and suddenly they get kidnapped by someone you'd hoped might be a friend or an ally.

Oh well.

They can make this into a lesson. They are a remarkable guide. Their fury runs cold beneath their veins, they do not let it show.]

Greetings.

I see you've been quite busy, haven't you?

Edited 2022-07-31 13:14 (UTC)

[ satoko is tired, worn, a bit more haggard than usual. keeping track of her friends is a difficult task in these trying times, after all! and perhaps that's why satoko's reaction is both atypically out of control and hilariously understated: when she turns to find chara sitting on the kitchen counter, she startles, giving a small "ah-!" before giving a relieved smile.

either she's a phenomenal liar, or she really doesn't suspect a single thing. ]

Chara! Thank goodness, it's just you. I'd been hoping to see you, actually. [ she approaches them without a hint of guile. ] I suppose that's one way to put it. You've seen how rough things have been getting for people lately, yes? I've had my hands full just keeping an eye on my less capable friends.

behind the boathouse; closed

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resurrected replayer - satoko & chara (+ maybe frisk later)

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