Three | Action [Speak Up! Event, Stage 3]

[snipingmissy]

[This is just not working out. Not as she'd hoped. She was trying to stay calm enough to keep watch at the door and attempt to prevent Hol from leaving to turn himself in. Crowe and Ash had both seemed very much on edge, and by this point she couldn't blame them. But she couldn't help herself, and when she considered telling the next person that

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Let's swap war stories! (A)

[walking_nuke]

[By coincidence, Balin happens to be in sight, sitting on a bench and writing diligently in a red notebook. He looks up occasionally, then goes back to writing.

At least until he recognizes Riza walking down the street.]

Yo, Lieutenant!

YES LET'S

[snipingmissy]

[Hawkeye spun suddenly, not having expected someone to address her. Her eyes were dark, haunted, and she almost corrected him to call her 'cadet' before she was snapped from the train of thought.]

S-Sergeant.

[No, no, no. A familiar face, who knew--who knew she was military. She almost turned and walked away without a second glance, before suddenly she couldn't stop herself.]

I'm a war criminal.

[All of the color in her face drained. She clearly didn't want to say that, but it felt like she couldn't stop herself.]

I...I joined up as a child. Gave one of the strongest alchemists in the military the alchemical knowledge--to let him commit the crimes he did. If it weren't for me, he would never have been able to..

I hadn't even graduated from the academy when I saw the front lines. I...I used to keep track of how many lives I'd taken. I lost count in my first week.

[walking_nuke]

[Balin drops the pen in surprise as Riza blurts out her past.]

Whoa whoa whoa. What? Hold up.

[He goes fumbling for the pen before he responds.]

Okay, what's this about bein'a war criminal?

[snipingmissy]

You heard me.

[She could see his surprise, and for once she couldn't hide the horror at having blurted that all out without any sort of provocation--and the rude remark, on top of it. She started to dodge the question, but again, it was as if she just couldn't.]

They...

[She was definitely struggling to restrain herself, but it wasn't working, and she realized that she had ended up impacted by the same thing everyone else in Mayfield had been.]

They don't call us war criminals yet. They call us 'heroes', but the people that saw the front lines knew better. We aren't heroes. We're murderers.

a; - 2

[luxuriality]

[ She'll just smirk because seriously ]

I am already aware of your actions in Ishval, Lieutenant.

[snipingmissy]

[Hi Lust, have panic!face. This whole truth gas thing was making it harder for her to hide her reactions as well as she normally could. It was obvious she was trying to not respond. The endeavor doesn't go well.]

If you know, why...bring it up?

[luxuriality]

[ She's patient, but it does not make the linefacing more apparent. She doesn't react to her panicking, instead maybe reacting with an eyeroll or two ]

Because I asked how you were doing. You then decided that I needed a story before bedtime. [ she's really smug about this ]

[snipingmissy]

[She takes a step back, but knows after her earlier conversation with Balin that attempting to escape was not going to save her. But of all the people--things--to have to encounter, did it have to be Lust?]

It...was genocide. A massacre...a disproportionate response to what had happened.

It's a shock that...nobody's caught on and started calling us war criminals.

[All of this is said with obvious hesitation. She's trying hard not to share, but it doesn't seem to be working out so much in her favor.]