( week 4 ) sunday afternoon, jay

[wristbands]

[as soon as they're back at the motel after the execution, chie wastes no time in tracking down jay. normally she'd pull him, but her hand is full—literally, despite her act of defiance at the pool, she went and got a slice of meat lover's anyway—so that's out of the question.

instead, she, uh, taps his shoulder with her stump. in a hushed, hurried tone—obscured by both her attempt to stay unheard and also the pizza in her mouth—she mutters,]

We gotta talk. My room. Ten minutes.

Comments

[wristbands]

[you can pry the meat lover's from her cold dead hand]

I don't know. Maybe Mother wanted to punish Andersen—all of us—for challenging her? Ugh...

[her eyes follow him as he walks around the room. she figures it's useless to try physically stopping him, yet her voice is firm anyway.]

Don't beat yourself up for this, Jay.

[ninjay]

No. I failed, so I have to acknowledge that. The two of them were my responsibility while they were with me.

[ jay doesn't treat dipper and mabel like children, for the most part, but... they still are kids. ]

He never told me what he saw there... I know it wasn't something particularly useful, but something startled him enough to jump slightly.

[wristbands]

He used his telescope, right?

[before waiting for confirmation, she curses under her breath and bites her lip. her grip on the mattress tightens, knuckles turning white as she casts her gaze to the floor.]

I wish I was with you guys, but I didn't want to seem to suspicious... [another pause, then] We can't assume the worst.

[ninjay]

I don't want to think they're dead, but... we can at least expect that they won't be okay.

[ most likely injured somehow. he glances at chie's missing hand.

he knows that the twins have gone through a lot back home, but... they're twelve. ]

[wristbands]

[at least jay and chie are in their late teens.]

God. I hate this place, and the fact that we can't do anything about it.

[ninjay]

There could still be a way to beat it, Chie. We just have to find it.

[ he's frowning though. ]

[wristbands]

Like what? Whenever someone disappears, if they come back alive, it usually isn't whole.

[case in point, as she brandishes her stump.]

[ninjay]

I don't mean find it like that. It's... [ he trails off, thinking. ]

Not everything has to be black and white.

[wristbands]

...

What do you mean?

[ninjay]

Just that there might be more going on here than we're realizing.

[ he doesn't seem like he knows what though. (lol) ]