outdistanced | turbo heaven 🌼 richie

[ not only did laurence misspeak early on and have that thrown back in his face (as it rightly should have been), but firefly's words have been echoing in his mind nonstop. the horror of having to fight for your life and then face punishment for doing what it takes to survive... he can't even imagine. and hawke, saying the same sorts of things as jing yuan, while anders fought them all to keep him alive.

it's nothing short of a nightmare that's left him curled into himself, one foot up on the gazebo's bench to fold his arm on and tuck his face into. he does look up briefly when he hears someone else, but he doesn't move. ]

This place doesn't really feel like heaven anymore, does it? [ muffled by his clothing, further by the hoarseness of his voice. ] Not when we have to vote for someone like that.

[Richie is also peeling off to the gazebo, in part because the day was a damn mess and also because he really needs to sit down before making the hike back to the mansion. He's beat and dreaming of a soft bed but his body demands a quick regroup.

He shouldn't be surprised to find someone else taking refuge here, but hey, it is right next door.]

...No, it doesn't. [He grimaces, taking a gentle seat next to him and bracing with his hand on the edge.] And I'm afraid it's looking like it's by design. Practically the same set up as last week, lockdown and all.

...You doing okay? Things got heated in there a few times.

[understatement of the century]

Mr. Zhongli said something about an outside force. But what I don't understand is what that could be, or why.

[ why make someone insane, why make them kill, it doesn't make sense to him at all. ]

...No. None of this is okay, and I don't think any one of us is or even should be. [ even if laurence himself has asked a few others if they're okay, it's because he doesn't know how else to check on them. ] Tomorrow's going to be bad, too.

[also sorry to ruin laurence's impression of richie 4ever...returns to being the Adult.]

...No, you're right. It won't be, and it's not.

[Richie takes an almighty sigh.]

I don't know what the answers are either, but I do think we need to consider that if there's a heavenly force in action, then there could be a hellish one batting against it. Or some other power, or person — I hate to admit it, but all bets are off as far as possibilities go. I'd love to rely on what I know of religion and the afterlife, but it only seems to apply in the broadstrokes here. None of the useful details.

In the meantime, though...I wouldn't let the lack of an answer now trick us into thinking we won't be able to find one. Or that it would be impossible to fight against. Strange things are happening, but that hardly means they're always going to stay strange.

turbo heaven 🌼 richie

week 1, saturday

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