week 5

[stagemanagers]

[That was...an absolute shitshow. More beloved friends are dead in a mess of a trial that's left Angus half the man he was, Riley in a free fall and the Phantom...somehow still standing despite taking two stabs to the torso.

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 door blocking the stairwell on the second floor has been unsealed. You can now venture up to the third floor! You have so much space now, it's just a shame it's all come at the cost of eight lives.

But despite the tragedy you have made progress! The trip into the Phantom's lair yielded some hints to the past of the Opera House, your house manager's apparently grim hobby and the possibility of an ally outside the Opera House. Who knows what this week will bring?]

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday


(( Welcome to Week 5! Please remember to submit your AC and your memory regains, as well as your coins! You can also still contact the Phantom. ))

Comments

WEDNESDAY

[stagemanagers]

vague sickness mentions, delirium

[heathencall]

[Mephisto... spends most of the day in his room with the door locked tightly. It's late afternoon by the time he drags himself out, shirtless and hair a mess. Given his physical needs, it isn't often that he looks tired, but there's certainly something worn, haggard even about his expression. He's also incredibly flushed.

Explains the shirtlessness.

He doesn't stop for anything -- walks with single-minded purpose to the chapel. It's hard to close the room off and expect privacy, but anyone wandering by might find themselves glared at. If anyone dares to linger out of sight, they're likely to hear a continuation of yesterday's ramblings. They make a little less sense than before.

Eventually he'll retreat to his room, long enough to grab whatever he needs and make for the men's bathroom. Maybe a fresh wash in cold water will liven him up and get him party ready?]

bathroom; blanket cw warning for sickness references in the rest of the thread

[37773972]

[He's not the only one in there. One's running when he gets in, and Stephen is leaning against the cool tile. Based on the lack of steam, it's not a hot shower, but he's certainly looking a bit flushed.

He turns his head, briefly, as he hears Mephisto enter- then turns is face back to the wall, just letting the water beat down on him.]

[heathencall]

[Honestly, Mephisto doesn't notice him at first. He hears the water running, and at this point there's only so many people it could be, but he doesn't bother looking to see. Like Stephen, he cranks on the cold water and lets it hit him. The only unfortunate part is how he has to bend and shift to keep his bandages from getting wet.

Somewhere in those motions, he does finally take notice of his companion. He makes a sound close to a snort.]

You look like hell.

[37773972]

[Stephen's shoulders shake in what could be a repressed laugh.] I feel like it. 'mhoping the water helps me wake up for tonight.

[He's feeling...slightly better than before, but still gross.]

Probably gonna stick to tea, though. Maybe it'll help settle my stomach.

[heathencall]

He's getting into your head.

[It's all a game. Yesterday the temperature was lowered, today he's raised it. It's all to mess with them.

It has to be.]

More wine for me.

[Not that he was planning on sharing anyway. He has a promise to keep.

He thinks he has a promise to keep, at least.]

slaps on some cw hallucinations as well

[37773972]

The lunatic is in my head. [He makes that little laugh again, this time, a little louder, and repeats himself, a little softer;
The lunatic is in my head.

[Would he even be the first? He closes his eyes, a warm smile coming to mind, someone who'd guided him, helped him-]

They raise the blade-
They make the change
To rearrange me 'til I'm sane.

[heathencall]

[Mephisto bristles. If nothing else, this drags him back to lucidity. He crosses the distance separating their showers, gripping Stephen's shoulder tight as he can manage (at least without causing lasting damage.]

Browning. Look at me.

[37773972]

[he imagines- or doesn't, because he's seeing - Dana on the table again, except it's himself, Gregor beside working at a laptop. Unconsciously, Stephen's hands begin to reach for his head]

He locks the door-
And throws away the key-

[He stiffens at the touch, looking up slowly towards the voice. Mephisto's voice, someone he also trusts, but-]

There's someone in my head, but it's not me-

[It's a rough whisper, Stephen pressing his injured hands to his temples as if that could stop it. Stop it, stop it, stop it-]

[heathencall]

Stephen. [He gives the man a shake, before gripping him with both hands now. There isn't just an urgency to his voice, there's a borderline threat, there. Come back to him, or else.]

[37773972]

[It's another second before the name really pierces the fog in his mind- Stephen jolts a bit, as if struck, hands moving down to rest on Mephisto's as he blinks rapidly and looks down, looks back up, and-]

הִנֵּֽנִי.

[heathencall]

[Mephisto flinches, as if the word physically strikes him. His loosen briefly, heart in his throat as he feels a vivid wave of fear, of familiarity, of --

And just like that, he pushes it down. It isn't the time to get overwhelmed by a word, a language he hasn't heard in years (save for a whisper during a moment he doesn't want to remember).]

Told you not to leave me.

[37773972]

I...

[...and Stephen looks down before reaching to turn off the water]

...I'm sorry. It's been a rough week.

[heathencall]

[It has. Stephen doesn't need Mephisto to agree with him for them both to know that.]

We'll get -- [But there's a horrible feeling in his throat, and he can't finish the sentence. He tries something smaller.]

I'm here.

[37773972]

[Small as it is, it means a lot more than Mephisto might have thought. Stephen looks back again, and this time, meets Mephisto's gaze with his own. Something is searching, there, not so much suspicious as seeking something

which he seems to find, and he nods.]

So'm I. [The ghost of a smile. Thanks to you] You need any help with...? [He tilts his head towards the wing]

[heathencall]

[Mephisto is quick to shake his head. His skin still feels hot but... it's gotten better. He'll get through it, he's sure.

... Though after a second of thought, he pulls Stephen in for a short embrace. Barely long enough to count, but still a hell of a lot more intimate than usual considering their current clothing status.]

[37773972]

[Intimate, yes, but- it's something Stephen doesn't hesitate to return, even if he is a little slow. And he certainly gives a bit of a squeeze, murmuring to reassure himself as much as Mephisto-]

Hey. I'm not going anywhere for long, with you to help me.

[heathencall]

[He doesn't intend to say anything. He hopes to smile through, stalwart as ever, uncrippled by whatever twisting knives he's feeling in his gut.

That's what he intends. But the words tumble out all the same.]

You will disappear, just like the rest of them.

[37773972]

Then keep me.

[He speaks without thinking- but it's something that's been fluttering in his thoughts for some time.]

[heathencall]

[He wants to stop. Why can't stop]

I can't. I have tried with Red. With Riley. I am not meant to keep things.

[37773972]

Did you make deals with them, too?

[No, theirs isn't for his soul, but- it's a lifeline. A desperate thought.

Am I so desperate...

Fingers dig in to Mephisto's skin, briefly, before the pain of it on Stephen's end has him suck in a breath and pull them away]

[heathencall]

I promised her. [It's sharp. It's angry. It's defiant.]

If I fall, you'll catch me, she asked. I said I would. I did not. [His words are sharp, and hissed through clenched teeth.] You aren't special. Our deal is not special. You are not immune to whatever wrath lays dormant here.

[37773972]

[There's being called a fool, and then there's this. It's not the fact that he's being reminded he's not special - he knows that - but it's how forceful Mephisto is about it. How angry he is.

Stephen pulls away, wanting to say something, but instead what comes out is-]

I've already accepted I'm going to die.

[heathencall]

So have I.

[Despite this, he clenches Stephen's shoulders all the tighter. He will die. They will die. He knows it to be true, even as he tries to stand strong for those remaining. They've been here five weeks. Nothing has changed.

He knows it's true, but that doesn't mean he doesn't wish it wasn't.]

[37773972]

[Mortality. Not just that, though; the understanding that he couldn't bring himself to kill anyone here. At first, he thought someone like Angus would kill him, but now? Now, he could survive, maybe, but-

He shoves the thought away, and takes a shuddering breath.]

What happens to the souls you take, Mephisto? The ones you deal for.