"You'd think that, wouldn't you? That it's just that simple. I wish it was."
The white noise returns, crowding his thoughts. As much as he wills it away, he can't forget it. The touch of her hand as she slowly fades, the request she asks of them, the revelation of their fate. When Roland turns to them both, a darkness colors his visage. There is a heaviness about him that is uncharacteristic, but born of the same fears he's held about why this train takes and takes without giving any answers. Now, now he knows. And now, Tidus and Senku will know too.
Tidus has to know, most of all. Doesn't he?
Roland swallows down a frog caught in his throat. Then, in a flash of gold light that both will recognize, the void radio bought previously comes out of his hand. The one he took at his shift on the jungle planet, though now, the way he grips it seems possessive. Offered just to show them, but he doesn't seem to want to give it back, or to let it go.
"We're not contacting the ministry anymore. Or sending out signals. Or listening to any more signs." Or leaving messages in bottles, you fool, you idiot- Roland shakes his head. "The risk outweighs it all. Five of us from the mission received intel that the ministry isn't exactly friendly to anomalies, or things they don't understand. So if they catch us, there's nothing stopping them from doing more than just a routine inspection. They could - they could dismantle the train, if they wanted to."
What hardened gaze he throws their way falls somewhere in between the spaces of both men. However, it's Tidus's eye he can't seem to catch for more than a second. Ashamed to disappoint someone he promised he would protect.
"...If the train is damaged beyond repair, we all go with it. We all...disappear. Just like her. The woman we tried to save that day. So you have to wear your SCA at all times, okay? When you're off of this thing, you have to wear it so you know when it's trying to tell you something's wrong. So it can protect you." Because it needs to protect itself.
This, he throws to Senku. But he knows whose eyes are heaviest on him. Still, they had to know. They had to know all the consequences that came with this gamble.
no subject
The white noise returns, crowding his thoughts. As much as he wills it away, he can't forget it. The touch of her hand as she slowly fades, the request she asks of them, the revelation of their fate. When Roland turns to them both, a darkness colors his visage. There is a heaviness about him that is uncharacteristic, but born of the same fears he's held about why this train takes and takes without giving any answers. Now, now he knows. And now, Tidus and Senku will know too.
Tidus has to know, most of all. Doesn't he?
Roland swallows down a frog caught in his throat. Then, in a flash of gold light that both will recognize, the void radio bought previously comes out of his hand. The one he took at his shift on the jungle planet, though now, the way he grips it seems possessive. Offered just to show them, but he doesn't seem to want to give it back, or to let it go.
"We're not contacting the ministry anymore. Or sending out signals. Or listening to any more signs." Or leaving messages in bottles, you fool, you idiot- Roland shakes his head. "The risk outweighs it all. Five of us from the mission received intel that the ministry isn't exactly friendly to anomalies, or things they don't understand. So if they catch us, there's nothing stopping them from doing more than just a routine inspection. They could - they could dismantle the train, if they wanted to."
What hardened gaze he throws their way falls somewhere in between the spaces of both men. However, it's Tidus's eye he can't seem to catch for more than a second. Ashamed to disappoint someone he promised he would protect.
"...If the train is damaged beyond repair, we all go with it. We all...disappear. Just like her. The woman we tried to save that day. So you have to wear your SCA at all times, okay? When you're off of this thing, you have to wear it so you know when it's trying to tell you something's wrong. So it can protect you." Because it needs to protect itself.
This, he throws to Senku. But he knows whose eyes are heaviest on him. Still, they had to know. They had to know all the consequences that came with this gamble.