OPEN;

[wandbreaker]

When; Saturday, January 28th, nighttime
Characters; All are welcome! Open log, just specify if it's an open thread or not or if there are 4th wall rules for your character in the comment or subject line! (4th wallers also welcome~)
Summary; The Blue Light's one chilling hangout; good music, good food, and a spectacularly crabby owner who is even letting in under-18s for the 4th Wall weekend.
Log;

Edmund is actually at work tonight - he hopes a member of his family might show up, but he's also wondering who else might show up. He's made sure that he's well staffed for the extra crowds and well stocked, no less.

He just hopes nothing gets out of control.

And of course, that a member of his family shows up, looking for him.

Comments

He is terrible at feelings, does that count?

[deadpanned]

That's hardly a difficult reaction to inspire in you.

[Kind of like he's doing right now.]

I think it might.

[othersdie]

I punched you once.

[Also, you started it. Nyah.]

Well okay then.

[deadpanned]

Marvellous. Then your violent urges have sufficiently been indulged, and we can refrain from a repeat performance.

[othersdie]

[Justin had been toying with the idea of apologizing to Rudy for being such a dick. That idea? Losing more appeal by the second.]

I won't punch you again, but I've killed once; who's to say I won't be driven to kill again?

[deadpanned]

For one thing, the prevalence of witnesses.

For another, because given the amount of self-loathing you inflicted upon yourself following your previous surrender to your violent urges that manifested in merely punching me, repeating that surrender to your id in the form of the far more grievous offense of killing me would constitute the ultimate failure of self-control over your base human nature, and thereby hurl you into a depressive episode from which depths you may never return, which would ultimately make my death a greater overall detriment to you than benefit.

And for a third, you're a twit.

[othersdie]

Go to hell.

[This is said with disappointingly little vitriol and not accompanied by any sort of motion to leave.]

[deadpanned]

Charming.

[He makes another few notes, then spins the chessboard so that the white pieces are on Justin's side of the table.]

You can go first.

[othersdie]

[Never has a proposed game of chess seemed so depressing.]

You're going to win.

[But he does move a knight out.]

[deadpanned]

[He regards Justin sadly.]

Yes.

[And moves a pawn of his own.]

[othersdie]

[And a pawn in response.]

I wish I cared enough to hate you.

[deadpanned]

On what grounds would you hate me?

[He's barely even looking at the board as he makes his moves.]

[othersdie]

For one thing, you're condescending.

[Justin will look at nothing but the board to make up for Rudy's inattention.]

For another, I don't appreciate having my psychological frailties pointed out, out loud and in public, by a child who can recite the contents of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders without knowing what it's like to experience things like self-loathing and depression.

Third, I doubt that you're capable of human emotion.

[deadpanned]

You did ask. I merely answered.

[He moves again, then shifts the stacks of coins in front of him.]

I also cannot be baited into revealing any hypothetically concealed personal flaws I may possess through the reverse psychology of attempting to prove your accusations wrong. Attempting to portray me as inhuman is an applaudable touch, however.

You don't like me because you envy qualities I possess and think I squander or misuse them in the way I execute them.

[othersdie]

[Justin moves as well, although he's not sure why he's playing when failure is inevitable.]

...Has it ever occurred to you that you might just be genuinely unlikeable?

[deadpanned]

Yes.

[His eyes gleam.]

However, Mike has since proved that empirically false.

[othersdie]

Mike seemed brainwashed.

[deadpanned]

Mike successfully managed to grasp a fact that you and the vast majority of the populace consistently overlook.

[othersdie]

Your similarity to Jim Jones?

...What?

[deadpanned]

That I only extend loyalty to the deserving.

[othersdie]

How gracious of you.

[He makes a decidedly stupid move in an attempt to shorten the chess game.]

[deadpanned]

[He looks at the board, the move, and then up at Justin with something like faint malice in his eyes. When he answers, his voice is surprisingly cold.]

Cite all my supposed flaws you want. I don't throw chess games.

[And he proceeds to ignore the board completely. His honour demands that he never play less than his best; he doesn't take kindly to people who don't give the same courtesy.]

[othersdie]

[Christ, Rudy.]

I'm a quitter. You forgot to mention that.

[He redoes his move.]

[deadpanned]

[And yet, Rudy is a purist. He doesn't take pity games, and he doesn't tolerate antics like these.

He ignores the board.]

Like you, Mike has lost every game we've ever played. Unlike you, Mike is capable of appreciating more value to a chess game than merely that of victory. Hence why, among a myriad of other reasons, I like him and I dislike you.

[othersdie]

Would you like to list off the other reasons? If not, I can leave.

[deadpanned]

I applaud you for yet another veiled attempt at reverse psychology. However, in the interest of not indulging your apparent streak of masochism, I will instead employ an alternative interpretation of your offer and continue to elaborate on Mike.

Mike does not attempt to presume he knows what is best for me, simply by virtue of being older, more experienced, theoretically smarter, or in some given socially-constructed position of power over me. Mike comprehends that it is possible to disagree with me without reducing the discussion to a zero-sum game in which only one of us can be correct, and the will of the victor must be imposed upon the loser. Mike acknowledges the qualities I possess that make you suggest I may be genuinely unlikeable, and appreciates me despite them as opposed to insisting I alter them as a contingency of his friendship.

Simply put, Mike likes me. You don't. I merely return the favour in both instances.