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

[madgiganticfeelings]

[Christine would swear if she was even physically capable of doing so. As it is, she's a little preoccupied with, you know, straddling Jeremy and grabbing his chin to try to force his mouth open.]

Just stay out of this! I'm going to fix everything and-and it'll be fine!

[Her voice is strained, but she's so close. She doesn't want to dump the whole bottle down his throat so if she can just slowly tilt her arm closer...]

[justmeheere]

I told - what did I say about. About this!

[He definitely said it was murder, Christine!!! Which is why he's just gonna try and grab the bottle itself.]

You can't - why. Why would you think I'd let you. Let you die for me!

[37773972]

[big Nope. Biiiiiig NOPE. Stephen is moving over, and without hesitating, wrapping his arms around Christine and making to forcibly pull her off Jeremy. Maybe he should be going for the bottle, but restraining, at least, is his first impulse.]

Christine- it counts! It counts if you deactivate the SQUIP!

[He's not the strongest man alive - certainly no Mephisto - but an adult male versus a teenage girl? Enjoy being hauled off and held back!]

[isawallflower]

[ Riley watches for a moment, and she's frozen. That's not like her. Riley doesn't freeze up, she acts, she's the captain--

No. No, she's a wallflower. On the sidelines. Isn't that right? Isn't that still true? The last time she tried to act, didn't she-- ]

I'm gonna get Mephisto! [ Her voice is more of a shrill squeak than anything and she. Bolts, because having two grown adults here is probably. The better idea. ]

[madgiganticfeelings]

[Christine yells as she's pulled off of Jeremy, barely managing to avoid spilling the bottle with her kicking and flailing. She glares at Jeremy, and then over her shoulder at Stephen.]

I don't care! It has to go off!

[She tries to aim a kick at Stephen's knee. She's not going to give up, not until the real Jeremy she met at play rehearsal weeks ago is back.]

[justmeheere]

Not - not if you have to die for it! Not it any of you have to die for it! That's. That's not the way this was supposed to. It wasn't -

[He's just shaking his head.]

No. None. None of you get to. To fix my mistakes for me!

[37773972]

[thAT STINGS OW and he's. Sort of falling on to his ass, but still holding her tightly. Distantly, he can hear Riley's call, and he thinks at least one is cooperating- and how much Mephisto will help things, but right now, he's on his own to try and calm down some hysterics]

Not by you, it doesn't- Christine, I'm not letting you do this! Give me the bottle-!

[Just gonna. Try and grab it from her hand this isn't awkward at all]

You have to stop! Don't put us through this!

[He's begging, here- he doesn't know what he'll do if he's faced with voting for Christine, or...]

[madgiganticfeelings]

[Christine squeaks as the two of them fall, some of the liquid sloshing over the edge of the bottle and onto her hand, and her breath picks up, because now it's going to waste before she can do anything that matters with it.]

You don't understand! You don't- I promised!

[She's still trying to fight back, but she's physically and emotionally exhausted, and she can't do much besides try to pull her arms forward.]

[heathencall]

[Riley finds him halfway through the lobby, tearing frantically from one wing to another. He understands more from her general panic than the actual words she speaks, and quickly tears past her as he aims for the stairs. He takes them two at a time, sprinting upward and toward the coffee shop.

There's a lot going on in the coffee shop when he enters, and later he might question the others as to what he missed. But he sees Christine and that damnable ache is back in his chest. He pushes through the room until he's beside her and Stephen, hands coiling around hers as best as they can, considering the grip she has on the bottle.

If nothing else, it'll keep her from spilling anymore.]

Christine -- [His throat feels tight, the ache traveling up higher. For now, both she and Jeremy look to be alive. He'll consider it a win.]

Look at me. [When he speaks again, his voice is softer, hushed and... gentle, for all its unfamiliarity.]

Princess Christine the Impaler is better than this, smarter than this.

[37773972]

I'm sorry, Christine, I'm so sorry. You'll need to find another way to keep it.

[As much as he's focused on trying to calm down Christine, he isn't blind to Jeremy, looking up every few seconds before returning his attention to the other teen. And then there's Mephisto, and he shoots the man a grateful look as he moves next to them to help calm her down.

It gives him time to give more attention to Jeremy. In fact, he's sort of pushing Christine at Mephisto - take her - so he can make his way over to the boy]

...that bottle. Is that the Red?

[madgiganticfeelings]

[Christine grits her teeth as Mephisto approaches her, ready and waiting to fight, but all it takes is a few words. Mephisto's gentle tone and earnest repetition of that stupid title she'd given herself on a whim makes her determination instantly ebb away, letting misery flow in instead.

That would almost be worse, but she isn't fighting now. She's just crying again, as loud and enthusiastic as anything else she does. She doesn't fight when she's pushed into Mephisto's arms, just whimpers a quiet apology and curls in on herself, tear streaked face turned up towards Jeremy as she watches and tries to decide how much he hates her now.]

[isawallflower]

[ It's probably because she's been pushing herself lately, but Riley falls behind, after finding Mephisto. She gets there just in time to see...all this. Stephen approaching Jeremy, Christine in Mephisto's arms It...looks, she hopes, they got there in time.

She leans in the doorway, pulling at her windbreaker with a shuddering breath. There's nothing to say. Riley just...watches, and she lets them take care of it. ]

[heathencall]

[Thanks to Riley, he at least a few moments of practice in this regard. It's just as unexpected as before, but he shoulders the weight of this precious responsibility with ease. He tucks his forehead against her hair, body curling over hers. Close as they are to the others, he doesn't dare try to summon his wings, but he supposes that it's secure enough. He'll protect her, from herself and anything else.]

Thank you, Christine. [He casts a glance up, first to Stephen and Jeremy, and then to Riley. His gaze lingers there a moment.] And thank you.

[He's say more if he needs to, but right now -- Christine is alive because of her.]

[madgiganticfeelings]

[It feels... nice. Nice enough to almost maybe forget what's outside of Mephisto's embrace, but not quite. She leans back, energy just... gone. She can't remember the last time she felt this drained. Has she ever been like this? She remembers that time in third grade when she had the flu and still got up on stage in between vomiting to gleefully perform Hard Knock Life, of all songs, and now... she doesn't know if she'd ever be able to shout out anything, with any emotion, again.

Even her sobs are quieting down as she weakly responds.]

Don't... I didn't do anything.

[isawallflower]

[ What...is she to say? She just thought something was off. Riley almost says so but she's too tired to. Maybe it's okay, to just...accept this moment.

Her shoulders droop and she just nods a little. Christine's alive. They don't have to go to trial, again. That's...alright. She can accept that. ]

[heathencall]

That is exactly why I'm thanking you, you silly girl. [He leans far enough back so that his arms can shift from around her shoulders. He takes his face into her hands, palms surprisingly soft for a creature as gruff as Mephisto is. The pads of his thumbs gingerly wipe some of the tears away.

It's what he's seen humans do to one another in their grief. Hopefully it's the right thing to do here.]

There is courage in giving up. Strength in not acting. [His hands drop to her shoulders, holding her here.] And I have told you many times over -- we need you here.

[madgiganticfeelings]

[She sobs quietly, tries to shake her head away from Mephisto's grip, but he holds her firm, and she can't deny it feels comforting, even if it does nothing to make her feel that she has deserved it.]

I don't... I don't know how much longer I can just try and try, and, and keep failing.

[She loves everyone here so much, but trying to show it only makes things worse. And speaking of that... she glances down at her hands, notices suddenly that the bottle is gone. She looks at Mephisto, suddenly frantic.]

[heathencall]

[Mephisto tries to respond but -- There's a whole lot of stuff happening over with Stephen. His hands move back to Christine's face, holding her still and doing his best to keep her from witnessing anything that might devastate her any further.]

You haven't failed anyone. You gave him exactly what he needed. It's not your fault the Phantom put such rules in place.

[He presses his forehead back to her hair.]

Remember. I am here, the way I am, because of you. That isn't a failure.

[justmeheere]

[Jeremy's been like of staring off to the side, eyes sort of focused on a specific point when it's obvious there's nothing there. When Stephen talks, though, he blinks and looks over.]

That's. Yeah. That's Mountain Dew Red. [A beat.] I'm. I'm gonna say something and you can't. You can't ask questions again.

[37773972]

I won't. [Now that he has a better idea of what's going on, he can promise that. But before anything, he's going to sort of pull Jeremy off the floor- not quite in to a hug, but at least helping him sit up- and keeping an arm around his shoulders.

Something easily turned in to a hug if Jeremy gives any sign at all he's receptive, in other words. But he's not sure yet, trying to gauge how he's taking all this. For all he knows, Jeremy just wants to get the hell out of here and be in his room alone- or as alone as he can be.]

[justmeheere]

[Jeremy kind of leans forward and mumbles, low enough that hopefully nobody else in the room will be able to understand:]

I need. I need - get me drunk and then hand me the bottle. That's. That's the only way to fix this.

[This would be why he said "no questions" again. Just let him do it, dad!!!]

[37773972]

[Stephen...was afraid of this. He stares at Jeremy for a long moment, thinking- not just of Jeremy, not just of the Phantom. But of the computer that has, arguably, only been attempting to fulfill its programming.

He also thinks on how things that are just doing what they were born to do can still be trouble. Kudzu overgrows. Influenza can kill. And the SQUIP...

Stephen leans in as well, speaking quietly]

The Phantom said this counts as a suicide. It's not going to trigger a trial. [He thinks? If he understood correctly? Nonetheless, he's pulling out the sprite bottle he's - with only one or two exceptions - kept at his side since getting it from Anne, after first speaking with Jeremy and his SQUIP]

SQUIP. We'll take care of him.

[...for what comfort that can be to a computer.]

cw: suicide talk

[justmeheere]

It won't. It - that's the loophole. If I kill it myself, I'm just. It's me, right? So. So it's fine. Everything is fine. Everything -

[He takes a shaky breath, hiccuping slightly.]

- everything gets fixed.

[37773972]

[He's unscrewing the bottlecap, the scent of alcohol strong. One-handed, too, because the other hand - arm - is still around Jeremy's shoulders, and now this is a hug. For manyfold reason.]

Not everything, Jeremy. But you're going to fix the rest - and we'll help.

[With that, he shoves the bottle in Jeremy's mouth, holding him in place strongly enough to (hopefully) override resistance as he forces his head back.

Drink or drown.]

[justmeheere]

[It's almost familiar. People keep forcing him to drink things for whatever reason and there's always a moment where he sputters before he remembers how to swallow. He doesn't fight it as much as he has, in other instances, but his fingers still twist in Stephen's shirt. It's to ground himself, maybe.

He drinks.]