Riley: No. Because he's going to not be able to give me a life and a duck right away, he'll fail the game and I'll get his cookie.
Aethea: Do I get a game?
Riley: I just explained no. That me-
Corrin: to Riley Just come down so we can actually see you and aren't talking to a speaker on the wall.
Riley: Sure.
A flap in the ceiling opens up, and Riley drops down in front of them
Riley: Hi!
Nori: smirks. I have eyesight better Han any creature on this planet and most likely this universe. Count me in
Nurunuru: sad slug noises
Corrin: But can you actually aim a knife? When you throw it? Because I don't want t-
Riley: Explain the game already!
Corrin: You're going to have WAY too much fun with this. Alright. The object of the game is to hit one of my arms with a knife. Please aim for a finger. But I will not just have two arms. six more arms grow from Corrin's shoulders
Corrin: disappears for a second, then comes back with eight arms Alright. I have two real arms, and the rest are fake ones. You get three throws. Uh, I'm assuming we're playing one hit?
Riley: snorts One hit.
Corrin: Yeah. If you miss, the arm will disappear. If you hit, you win. It's that simple.
Riley: Except in, what, 93 years, not a single being, dead or alive, has ever hit his arm. EVER.
Corrin: shrugs with all eight arms Not their fault. They were boring rule-followers who didn't think outside the box.
Riley: hands Nori three knives Start when you're ready. You're only aiming for his fingers or hands.
Nori: nods, then watches the arms before closing his eyes and listening for the sound of a real pulse in Corrin's hands. He throws the dagger
Corrin: watches the knife pass through the bottom left arm and makes it fade That's one!
Aethea: is being ignored and holding the duck What do I do with this?
Riley: Later. I wanna see this.
Corrin: to Riley And before you act all smug at the end if he loses, you failed too.
Riley: Well then I guess I'm a boring rule-follower who doesn't think outside of the box. yawns Boring.
Riley: Alright, next throw!
Nori: growls, then starts whacking Corrin's arms with his own arms WHICH ONE IS IT!!
Riley: sounding vaguely disappointed Already? Alright, you can show him now.
Corrin: grins, and all eight of his arms disappear, revealing his two real arms hidden behind his back I never said how many fake arms I had, or that my real arms were showing, or that any of the arms you saw were real. But you got close.
Nori: excitedly stabs the knife into one of Corrin's hands. HAH! I WIN! I WIN! I DID IT! HAHAHA!!
Nurunuru:… oh my
Riley: But you tried all seven of his arms at once. You got three tries, and you did three tries. Then you did more.
Corrin: muttering spellspeak Well. That was-
Corrin: pauses No, Donnie, this is a game. This is part of the game. You cannot kill him or drop him into the canyon. That's impolite and that's cheating.
Nori: pointing a knife at Riley. You said, I got three tries with the knives. I only used one. SO DONT FUCKING TEST ME YOU ASSHO-
Nurunuru: now a giant slug, had grabbed Nori.
Riley: Three tries, yes. But the knives were optional. You could have used your hands. Which you did. And then you knew which ones weren't his arms and-
Corrin: pulls the knife out of his hand and tosses it aside Actually, that was two. One there, one that hit.
Riley: But he still-
Corrin: Just let his cookie live. This is why you didn't hit any of my arms. You like rules too much. This is almost against the rules, but just barely safe. It counts. grins I wish Castor were here to see it. He's the one who said it was foolproof and mostly made it up that way. I'm just the guinea pig.
Riley: No. If Castor were here, it would be so that he could dust his precious trombones, and TEST THEM ALL. ALL 366 OF THEM. HE CAN'T EVEN PLAY.
Aethea: Yay and all that. But you just got stabbed with a knife, pulled it out and tossed it away like it was nothing. How are you not in pain?
Corrin: I am. I'm just not feeling it, because I illusioned myself no pain. It just feels like pins and needles right now. As soon as I stop, though, it'll feel like I just got stabbed again.
Nori: Runs around the room while singing the theme song from Rocky
Aethea: to Corrin You're burning a hole in the floor with your blood.
Corrin: Oh. Sorry Donnie. So. WHere are the cookies?
Riley: summons a bandage and hands it to Corrin, as well as a bucket of something You are bleeding on my candles. Stop it.
Aethea: No. Cookies. Now.
Addic: Cookies.
Riley: summons cookies Cookies! Now, Nori paid, but Aeteha only brought me a duck. And she can't play, because now she knows how to win. Such a pity. I'll have ever so much trouble eating her hostage…
Corrin: Of course you will. Because I'm eating it. grabs the cookie as well as his own
Riley: Boo.
Aethea: Well then this duck is useless. Goodbye. throws it out the window
Nori: NOOO!!! flies after duck
Riley: summons duck He's not useless. Now I have a duck, and you do not have a cookie. It works out just fine.
Nori: is now flying outside the train. OH COME ON!
Riley: laughs You're welcome!
Corrin: to Riley I was Above. When does the day end?
Riley: In an hour. Tonight is fourteen hours long, tomorrow is only seven, tomorrow night is ten hours.
Aethea: What kind of schedule is that?
Riley: Last week, one of the days was sixteen hours, and the night was five. This is better.
Addic: falling asleep Y'all have a weird time frame. who chooses when the day in done?
Riley: We don't actually have a sun and moon down here. So it's an illusion. Night, day, blah, blah. The schedules are different so sometimes the Nightmarish and Dreamweavers get a huge night of food, and then some nights with barely any time. Makes it harder for things to be stolen, people to escape, etc, etc. Some species are only allowed out at night, and some - freshly dead people like yourselves in particular - aren't supposed to go out at night at least for the first little while, for your own safety.
Riley: Your memories, pain, energy and emotions are still too fresh. Too tempting for some species. And you can't die, so they can take all they want. Hurt you all they want. And leave you. And come back for more whenever they feel like it.
Riley: Have a cookie.
Addic: takes cookie But what if I can un-die? tastes cookie Wow, this is amazing!
Riley: Un-die? Like, getting reincarnated?
Corrin: Of course it's amazing.
Addic: Um… kind of. Before I died, I had to modify my drink so that I could actually be dead. If I were to drink another modified one, I would become alive again. picks up the hidden back of viles Corrin, you hid my bag of things right after we died. Remember?
Nibbles cookie
Riley: confused Then why don't you just go back to life?
Corrin: Because. They wanted to sightsee down here. And this was the fastest way to do it.