ENDGAME

[fuckyou_chorus]

[time shifts, and all of your variant wounds have healed and faded away. And missing people could well have returned! Furthermore, rather suddenly, you are all sat at a table. A long table, dressed for a party, with food for a party. The head chair is empty, but after a moment, the Lion Tamer materialises into it. (And this conversation has gone on

Comments

[dandelioned]

[she is sitting in that same chair again, just out of the light, her face invisible]

... Oh. Oh.

[dandelioned]

[reaches up, lightly spinning the Monsieur's mask about his forefinger.]

You may vote too, if you wish.

[dandelioned]

[she sighs, shaking her head]

In this, as in everything, I should not interfere with what he has wrought. I did warn him.

[dandelioned]

If he were to die, would you mourn it?

[dandelioned]

I would not mourn an idiotic ungrateful brat like him.

But, perhaps, I think I would miss him.

[dandelioned]

I am sorry.

[dandelioned]

Oh, no, no, darling! You mustn't apologize. I did warn him, and quite explicitly. He made the choice; I will not contest it. Nor would I blame you.

[dandelioned]

[sets the mask onto his lap, gently traces the pattern with one finger.]

There is a lot that can be accomplished with belief.

[dandelioned]

It's how his circus exists, in the first place. And my own garden.

[dandelioned]

Am I becoming him ... I wonder?

[dandelioned]

You are yourself, dearest.

But you did work for him for such a long time.

[dandelioned]

The fear of becoming him is why the mask remains whole in my hands. For it to be truly fair, this is the only way. A leap of faith. The essence of human choice . . .

[dandelioned]

And as we are, none of us, properly human, we will leave it to these children.

[dandelioned]

Just that. His fate, and mine. They can have it.

[dandelioned]

Either way, the games will continue.

[dandelioned]

As say the rules.