week 4

[stagemanagers]

[Another week, and two more dead. King Richard and Red are both gone, and once again, it was through nothing more than an accident in the heat of the moment. Maybe if you all stay calm and collected, nothing bad will happen again?

Well, maybe not.

When you wake on Sunday, you'll find that you've recovered another one of those memories - or had another dream, if you still wanna be in denial about it. The grounds remain as they are, but this time, the door blocking the stairwell has been unsealed. You can now venture up to the second floor! This is the second time that's happened; it's almost as if you get more space every time someone dies. Or maybe the whole place just seems quieter.]

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday


(( Welcome to Week 4! Please remember to submit your AC and your memory regains, as well as your coins! You can also still contact the Phantom. ))

Comments

[37773972]

[looks towards Santana] What? I- [mental record scratch. IMMEDIATELY LOOKS BACK AT THE LAUNDRY MACHINE]

...right. Sure.

[garbageface]

[ Santana winks. Is it because she’s being an asshole, or is it out of congratulations? It’s probably both. ]

And here I was, worried you two were too chicken to actually go for it.

[37773972]

[Lord help him. He misses the wink, thankfully, because he's very focused on the laundry, but his jaw clenches briefly before he lets out a breath]

It's complicated.

[garbageface]

[ Oh, excellent, complicated relationships are the best kind! For onlookers, that is. ]

Well, duh. Dude’s a whole entire demon so, like, it’s gonna be complicated.

[37773972]

Fallen angel. I'm not sure that's the same thing. [Look, he hasn't looked at religion in-depth for a Long While, OK????]

[garbageface]

Whatever, he’s got like, massive wings and a great voice, that’s all that matters.

[ correcting Santana on this, are we? Damn Stephen you got it bad. ]

Look. Point is, I’m happy for you two, alright? God, can’t believe you’ve got like a Ph.D or whatever and you still need me to spell that out for you.

[ santana shakes her head. guys are dumb. ]

[37773972]

[Stephen can't really argue with either of those, honestly. He's quiet for a moment longer before looking back at her]

...thanks. We're still trying to figure it out ourselves, honestly.

[garbageface]

[ Santana, also, is quiet for a moment. She’s watching Stephen’s laundry spin and thinking about last night’s dream for a while. ]

Well, just don’t be a wimpy coward about it. If you want something from him, then get it.

[ Don’t be like me, she wants to say. The best Santana could ever do was hold Brittany’s hand under a table at Breadstix, and she’s still not even sure that actually happened. It could be some bullshit dream. ]

[37773972]

...I've got the main thing I wanted. We made a deal for him to help fix some things. [beat] In return, I help him get used to my time.

[No souls being exchanged, awesome, huh?]

Anything other than that- [doesn't matter. isn't as important] -is part of what makes things complicated.

[beat]

He's not used to being around people, in case you didn't notice.

[garbageface]

Mm. A deal’s good. The best relationships are always based on bargains.

[ is santana being sarcastic? it’s hard to tell. ]

What’s so complicated about it? If you’re into it, and he’s into it, then, like, problem solved.

[ Also santana definitely.....did not notice that Mephisto’s not used to being around people...... oops ]

[37773972]

He's spent God-knows-how-long thinking we were nothing more than...I don't know, trash. [He makes a vague hand gesture] Now he's coming to terms with the fact that there might be something good about humanity after all.

...I think you kids have been a big part of that, honestly.

[garbageface]

[ Santana keeps staring at the laundry. ]

But he’s right. People suck.

[ now, Santana isn’t thinking about Brittany anymore. She’s thinking about her first dream, the one about Finn. Do you know what I think you are?

Whatever. It’s fine. If everyone hates her, then she’s free to hate everyone else. ]

[37773972]

Some people suck. Most of them are pretty decent. [He tries to be, himself, at least.] A few of them are just trying to figure themselves out.

[He glances towards Santana]

[garbageface]

[ Santana continues to pointedly not look at Stephen. ]

Yeah, if being backstabbing, lying assholes count as decent, then sure. Most people are decent.

[ Santana sighs. Best to keep talking about Stephen and Mephisto’s will-they-won’t-they nonsense. ]

Whatever. Point is, you can probably, like, get somewhere with Mephisto if you keep at it and stop acting like such a socially clueless nerd all the time.

[37773972]

[A nerd, huh. Well, she's not wrong, but at the same time, there's something there. Time to see if he can slip under her guard...]

I've had experience with assholes - want to swap stories? I'll tell you about the time I screwed over one's New Years Party because he kept brushing me off.

[garbageface]

[ so here’s the thing: Santana really, really hates opening up to people, but she also loves learning about their dirty laundry. so after a few moments, Santana...finally turns to face Stephen again, eyebrows slightly raised. ]

You go to parties? [ she can’t believe it. ] Okay, fine. What happened?

[37773972]

If I tell you, you can't tell anyone else. I have an image to keep up.

[He's joking, mostly. But without waiting for her to continue;]

I needed to see a 'friend' about something important. [By the tone, no, not that kind of friend - the kind you only loosely consider one.] Asshole thought it was funny to have his bar-robot spray champagne over me, then told me to that I needed to 'loosen up' and to just enjoy his party.

So I borrowed someone's lighter and held it up to the fire sprinklers. You can guess what happened next.

[garbageface]

[ Okay, that’s not bad. Santana has to laugh at that, just a little. ]

You know that story would probably improve your reputation, right? But I won’t tell, if that’s what you want.

[ Santana’s turn. She picks at the hem of her skirt. First, she’ll test the waters. Without looking up, she asks: ]

You remember Sigyn’s confession? Did any of it strike you as — uh — weird?

[ She’s thinking about the bit where Sigyn said she had a wife, trying to gauge if that’s something that would bother Stephen. She doesn’t think so, since he’s got his whole crush on Mephisto, but better safe than sorry. ]

[37773972]

I'd rather tell it myself. [But he's smiling...even if it falters, just a bit, as she talks about Sigyn. He considers.]

...honestly, no. Not with us all coming from different times and...spaces, I guess? Even it hadn't been an accident, I think I might have understood, a little, where she was coming from.

cw: implied homophobia

[garbageface]

[ Santana listens to and watches Stephen’s response carefully, on the lookout for any red flags. She doesn’t find any, so she swallows and begins to speak, slowly at first, but picking up speed as she moves along. ]

So I’m from the middle-of-fuckall nowhere, Ohio. It’s, you know, exactly what you’d expect nowhere, Ohio to be like. And since Ohio is like that, there was some stuff about me that I wanted to keep private. And I do, for a while, but this asshole Finn, he figures it out and tells everyone. And ‘cause my cheer coach is running for some election, this stuff about me, it — it gets on the news.

[ With more force: ]

And this guy Finn, everyone thinks he’s so sweet, a real softie, but he’s not, he’s a backstabbing son of a bitch and — and —

[ Santana cuts herself off there. ]

So there. People suck, even the ones who pretend to be “decent.”

[37773972]

[He's silent as she speaks, turning the pieces over in his mind. Ohio, like that, something private - he suspects, but he doesn't know for sure. He isn't going to assume out loud, he's just...

He's going to talk about himself for another minute.]

Mephisto lied to me, at first. Not just with Ariel, but- he planned to use me. I don't know for what, and I don't want to know; it's enough that he admitted it, and for a while, I was angry at him. [And himself, for falling for it. Stephen looks down at his hands] I still can't trust him completely...but at this point? After we've had our talks...I'm willing to believe that he's trying to be more than whatever...that was.

[Mephisto isn't Finn, though they both once pretended to be "decent".

But neither is everyone else.]

Sometimes people don't try to be better. Sometimes, they do. You need to find those ones, or at least try to be one, yourself.

[garbageface]

[ After Santana stops talking, there’s a moment where she just sits, in complete and utter terror, worried that she’s made a mistake. That Stephen’s next words will be caked in disgust, or shame, or a mix of the two.

Instead, Santana gets what she wanted, in a way: she gets Stephen’s hot gossip. That’s supposed to be a victory. Santana doesn’t understand why she doesn’t feel that way. ]

That’s — that’s nice of you, to let him try. Guess you’re not as much of a coward as I thought.

[ What Santana means is: thank you.

Santana isn’t sure if she’s ready to “be better.” That sounds an awful lot like letting your guard down, and that’s too scary, right now. But she respects that Mephisto and Stephen seem to be able to. She’ll be watching them to see if it works out. ]

[37773972]

You can call me a nerd, but if you call me a coward again, I'm dumping laundry soap on you.

[But he's smiling, a little. Even if he gets a little more serious;]

You're in good company, here. Nobody's going to make fun of you for whatever secrets you want or don't want to keep. Or do you think all of us suck, too?

[garbageface]

Please. Your skinny lab rat legs wouldn't be able to catch me.

[ Santana's smiling, too. Sometimes, she insults people because she hates them. Sometimes, they're out of respect. Stephen's just gotten a little taste of the latter.

She shrugs. ]

I mean, I don't really know any of you that well. And like, most of you are nerds and crybabies but -- [ she sighs. ] You people aren't completely awful.

[ there! she said it! she's used up her niceness allotment for the entire week, probably. ]

[37773972]

Try me, kiddo. I've been training with Riley. [A couple days of cardio isn't going to put you on par with a teenage cheerleader, Stephen. But- he tilts his head, acknowledgement of how much that has to be for her.]

So get to know us. How about I ask you a question, and you ask me one, too. We're allowed to pass, but we have to offer up something else, instead.

[That way, she has a way out if he touches something private - but so does he. And they can choose what they do or don't reveal. It seems safe to him, more or less.]