This Christmas

[Jilly]

The plea fell on deaf ears. It was all white noise and static in Shu's mind as his onslaught didn't reach the eye of the storm until he flung his arm down to pick another ornament up but was just greeted by empty air and thuds as he groped around the bottom of the box.

The peace was short-lived as he started kicking and throwing the cardboard boxes around like a violent toddler instead.

"Just go away! You ruin everything!" he screeched, at the twins, at D, at himself, at his ghosts.

[VoltTurtle]

Well, at least empty cardboard boxes were much less threatening than broken glass.

Lúcio didn't want to give up on anyone. He was a firm believer that anyone could be capable of redeeming themselves, given a genuine desire for repentance and plenty of confession. Yet, Molly clearly didn't want to give Shu the time of day, and it would be selfish of Lúcio to drag her along on his fool's errand. D was both more reasonable and less weird than Shu, so she would be a better prospect if he wanted to try to understand a murderer.

"Alright Molly," he whispered to her, "we can get the hell away from Shu, but I want to give D a chance."

He cleared his throat.

"Okay Shu, we'll leave, but you have to calm down first," he called out. "It's a bit hard to leave when you're throwing shit everywhere, after all."

He nodded to his sister, then called out again.

"As I said, we ain't here for a fight, D, so if you want company, wait by the entrance. Just don't do anything risky, alright?"

[DerArknight]

What Lúcio said sounded reasonable. Trustworthy, even.

It was for that reason that D wanted to get away from him. The last kind of travel companion she needed was a morally sound one who constantly reminded her of her own unmorally actions.

"Thanks, but I think I will be fine," she said, almost instantly regretting it.

"I will just take my leave. Watch out, you three."

Daenerys slowly started walking backwards until she was sure to be alone once more.

No presents for her today.

((Daenerys "D" Todd continued in Year Zero))

[ViolentMedic]

And D was gone as quick as she’d appeared. Well… honestly, probably for the better? She still killed someone. Though… so had Aracelis. And really, the amount of people who hadn’t was getting smaller… still not huge, but that number was growing...

She really, really didn’t want to think about that.

Either way, better to get out of there before Lúcio changed his mind again, and tried to perform diplomacy on a guy who strangled his girlfriend with barb wire. God, she hoped they didn’t run into Kitty or one of the two-timers…

Molly reached over and clung to Lúcio’s puffy orange-sleeved elbow. “Let’s just back away? Maybe he’ll stop hurling things if we get further away...”

She took a step back, waiting for Lúcio to follow and keeping the zweihander in her other hand gripped tight.

[Jilly]

Soon the flurry of what was once cardboard boxes stopped, and the storm subsided for now.

Shu glared right at Lúcio, with red eyes scowling and unblinking. His chest heaved with rhythmic breathes that could've burst his lungs at any moment. His legs were firmly anchored into the concrete floor that would buckle under were he strong enough.

"Leave."

[VoltTurtle]

Well, that was good enough. One point for Lúcio. Maybe Matt was wrong, and he could actually talk people down, at least to an extent.

He glanced over at Molly, then nodded to her. Best not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Alright, we're leaving," he called out.

Then, without wasting a second, he made his way out of the basement, walking slowly enough that he was sure Molly was behind him.

"Don't hurt anyone else, okay Shu?" he shouted, not looking back.

This had been a giant waste of time. He wasn't any closer to finding Ari, or even a good place to hide. It felt like him and Molly were just walking in circles, not getting anywhere. He needed to do something drastic, and maybe dangerous. Otherwise they would just be waiting until someone he couldn't talk down showed up to kill them both.

He was sure rescue would come before then, though.

((Once they were out of sight, Lúcio took Molly aside to discuss their next move.))

[Jilly]

Shu kept glaring until the twins faded into the darkness along with D, well out of sight and then some.

And once he was alone, he eviscerated the fake plastic Christmas tree until it was a heap of greens, reds, and silvers before storming out himself.

((continued in Feast of the Morning Star))