catchall nimona

[selfimmolation]

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[selfimmolation]

... I've been really bad at keeping promises, for a while now.

[ that's his apology even as he's clinging back ]

I didn't want... [ he lets out a shaky breath himself ] I'm sorry.

[sharkgirl]

Why did you - why did you let yourself get caught, Ace.

[she digs her nails in.]

I can't watch you die again, I already - I keep -- [nope, she can't finish, she just starts crying again because she doesn't know what else to do with how bad it's going to hurt.]

[selfimmolation]

I never wanted anyone innocent to die for me.

[ he winces at that, because she's crying. and because he's about to say something awful-- ]

Don't watch it. Tomorrow.

[sharkgirl]

Fuck off.

[she says it and it's kind of screechy, it's almost like not human.]

If you didn't want me to watch your execution you shouldn't have gotten caught.

[selfimmolation]

... Nimona.

[ he doesn't try to tell her not to again ]

[sharkgirl]

[she's holding onto him so tightly.]

... I love you. [she says, quietly, hiccuping.] I love you so much.

[like family, like a brother she never had, like someone who cared about her without taking anything in return.]

[selfimmolation]

[ well. okay, i'm sorry to say that gets him. his breath hitches and he starts full on crying leaning against the bars, as close to her as he can get. it's not pretty, and he's kind of trying to choke it back at the same time, voiceless. ]

[sharkgirl]

[this is such a mess because he starts crying and it makes her cry harder, and she just. she wraps her arms around him as much as she can get, wishing she could get through the bars. it's unfair, it's so unfair, that she can't even hold onto him before she has to watch him go.]

[selfimmolation]

[ here is my only real hug icon that ive never used before now because it felt mean

and now it is mean so anyway sometime in the tears he kind of sounds a little like he's laughing ]

I'm sorry. I know I'm hurting you, but-- [ he's grinning through the tears, half choking on his words ] ... Hearing you say that makes me happy. You know?

[sharkgirl]

[THIS IS THE MEANEST ICON YOU COULD'VE USED AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

she hiccups, when she hears him laughing, but it's not so bad to hear. she wants to hear him laugh, she wants to see him smile, she wants him to have any measure of feeling loved at all before he marches to his death in front of so many people.]

S'okay. [she warbles, adjusting her grip.] I want you to be happy.

[selfimmolation]

... I was. I am. Please don't doubt that. [ ace hasn't led an easy life, but it's never mattered. he's been happy, and he's been loved, and that's the most he could ever ask for. ] Okay? And don't... I know it's asking a lot. But try to be happy after tomorrow, too, sometimes.

[sharkgirl]

[she really, stubbornly, wants to say no, but she can't. she can't say no to him.]

I don't want to. [that's what it boils down to. she doesn't want to. watching her family get ripped out of her grasp - it's like what she said before. it's so much worse when they don't want to leave you.]

[selfimmolation]

... I know. [ it's still wet, but it's at least slightly less... crying. ] But all of you... You still have each other. Don't lose sight of that.

[sharkgirl]

Don't fucking sit in there and give me a hero speech about how I have to keep living, ugh.

[there's no venom to it, though, and she looks like she is maybe eight years old so it's probably kind of just silly sounding.]

[selfimmolation]

[ it is silly sounding, which is why he kind of laughs weakly again ]

Sorry. I know it's pretty selfish of me.

[sharkgirl]

It is.

[she agrees, but she doesn't move. and then, after a while:]

I can't promise anything, Ace.

[selfimmolation]

... I'm not asking you to. [ well if he used the word earlier he doesn't remember because his cyoa effect is on forever but ] I just... want you to try. You deserve to be.

[sharkgirl]

[she sinks down into the bars.

she doesn't answer that. instead, she reaches to hold his hand.]

If you aren't gone forever - if you're somewhere else. Talk to me. Somehow. Okay? Tell me you're there.

[selfimmolation]

[ he'll hold it. of course he will. ]

... I will. You'll get really annoyed with me.

[sharkgirl]

I won't.

[she's too worn out to be a brat. she almost slurs the words.]

[selfimmolation]

... Yeah, probably not. But the newspaper guys will be. [ he's using his other hand to sort of... hesitantly brush at her hair ]

[sharkgirl]

[she tilts her head a little into it when he brushes her hair. it's hard to do with the bars, but she's trying.]

Sucks to suck. They owe me.

[selfimmolation]

[ let him out of this cage let him die free :( ]

Yeah. I think they owe all of us, at this point.

[sharkgirl]

[breaks ace out of jail only to spend execution in jail]

They owe you more than anybody else. [...] Tell me about being a pirate. I wanna hear about it. Tell me what it'd be like.

[selfimmolation]

... It's freedom.

[ he's not sure it's something he knows how to explain, but he'll try. ]

There's no path you have to follow, no laws you have to listen to. Every day's different, because the ocean's never the same. The weather, the islands, the people... there's always something new to discover. And if you've got the right crew... that one's like here. They'd follow you anywhere. You fight together, sail together, have fun together.

[ ... ]

At night, the stars reflect on the ocean, so it looks like you're surrounded by it on all sides. Like it could go on forever.