Week 6

[stagemanagers]

[Well, that was...a lot. You only lost two more friends this week, but due to nothing more than an accident, Jeremy and Shilo are both gone. And the SQUIP, of course, but that one doesn't seem to concern you much, does it?

Regardless, when you wake on Sunday, you'll find that you've regained another memory, right on schedule. Another floor has also opened up, the apparent product of a successful trial.

But you have still made gains in other ways! Your efforts have produced successful contact with the afterlife; now you know that all your dead friends are still around somewhere. You've also managed to befriend Chewie, the person on the other side of the Phantom's mysterious harassing texts. They all want you to keep going - so you'd better find a way to do that, hadn't you?]


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

[37773972]

Yeah. Sure. [His voice isn't faint, that's just your imagination. He's pulling his gaze away, though, almost fumbling the weights as he starts putting them away]

[garbageface]

[ first he’s weird during Sunday’s workout, and now this? Santana frowns. She’s not angry, but she is incredibly confused. She’s objectively correct about her hair, so what’s Stephen’s deal? ]

What’s going on? I know you said yesterday to drop it and leave you alone, but, like, now I need to know if I’m doing something wrong, because you keep getting all weird around me, and “bad dreams” is a super vague answer.

[37773972]

[He's not looking at her. And for a few moments, it seems like he might not even answer. Finally, though, he takes a breath, and still not turning around-]

Why are you carrying a knife?

[garbageface]

[ Santana’s first instinct is to declare because it’s cool as hell, but she holds her tongue instead. It’s her turn to be quiet for a few moments. Stephen is one of the few people here Santana trusts, and it’d be nice, maybe, if he trusted her too.

She takes a deep breath. ]

I dunno, because I’m scared? That I’m gonna be killed, or someone else is? So I’m gonna take whatever scrap of power I can, I guess.

[ it helps, a little. ]

[37773972]

[Santana's admission...is a logical one. He remembers, a few weeks ago, when they talked about rushing the Phantom. But between that, and everything else...]

Do me a favor? Choose a different one. Or just...don't show me you have it.

[He finally glances over his shoulder]

The 'dream' had one. I don't want to be reminded. [He's just a little forceful on the last part. Either he leaves, or the knife does - at least out of his sight.

He can at least pretend, that way.]

[garbageface]

[ Santana nods, wraps the knife in a thin towel, and tucks it back into her skirt. ]

Okay, there. It’s gone.

[ A beat. There’s something she’s been wondering since pulling the knife from the merch booth all those weeks ago, and now, she’s got a chance to get that answer. ]

Whose blood is on the knife?

[37773972]

[...

Another breath, and now - now he looks towards her. He studies her for a time, comparing her to- well, Dana was older, for one, but there's still enough of a difference that he can force himself to focus on those. To forcibly remind himself this is Santana, and Santana may not let anyone fuck with her, but her amount of fucking with others is- more or less harmless.

Santana doesn't use them, at least.]

...Mine.

[garbageface]

[ Oh.

On the one hand, Santana was a little worried that Stephen had used the knife to, say, stab someone else. She's glad that didn't happen. But Stephen getting stabbed isn't really any better. ]

Well, that really sucks.

[ That's both awfully blunt and the understatement of the century, but Santana isn't really sure what else to say. What do you say to someone who's just remembered being stabbed, especially when you happen to like that person? Santana doesn't have a ton of experience with stabbing memories or actually enjoying someone's company.

So she'll settle with more of the obvious. ]

Are you, uh -- okay?

[37773972]

[That actually makes him chuckle, closing his eyes a moment before making to sit back down on the bench he was on. Seems he isn't about to just walk out, but...]

Tell me about it.

[As for the question- well, this isn't last week, now, is it, when words came out of their own accord? He could say yes. He's...not much of a liar, honestly, but.]

It's a lot to digest.

[garbageface]

[ That gets a snort from Santana. Yeah, getting stabbed would be a lot to digest. She joins Stephen on the bench. ]

Do you need to — [ oh god, Santana can’t believe she’s about to say this, can’t believe she’s gone this soft in the opera house of all places ] — talk about it? Or, you know, talk shit about the person who stabbed you?

[ nothing helps quite like badmouthing! ]

[37773972]

[Stephen's quiet again. After a moment, though, he gets to his feet, takes a breath to explain, and...

Begins to pace. He gestures as if he's talking to someone, practically acting out both parts of the story]

He said- "We could change the future,"
She said- "I just need some air,"
He said- "It was your idea,"
She said- "Who did that to you?"
He said- "I want to show you something,"
She said- "Come on, this is real."

[And he looks up at the ceiling, then, closing his eyes]

They said- "We can give you reason,"
I think- that they were using me.

[Without looking, he whirls around, slamming a bandaged fist in to one of the punching bags Christine's been using- then hissing softly, arm tensing. That...might not have been good for healing, all told.]

[garbageface]

[ The dialogue that Stephen acts out doesn’t make much sense to Santana, who has absolutely no context to any of this. She’s not sure what Stephen means by “change the future,” doesn’t know if she’s hearing some rendition of a lover’s quarrel, doesn’t understand why that, of all things, would be worth stabbing someone over.

Two things are clear, though: that Stephen was being used, and that he really, really didn’t like it. Or doesn’t like it, now. ]

Careful. You’re better off letting your arms heal, and saving your fists for them.

[37773972]

[don't mind him rubbing his hand with a grimace]

...you're right. Sorry.

[garbageface]

Oh my god, don’t apologize, that’s, like, a reasonable reaction to have when you remember that someone’s stabbed you. I’m just saying there are smarter reactions out there.

[ Stephen are you like Christine? does Santana also have to explain that it’s okay to get mad at people who are shitty to you? ]

[37773972]

[That actually makes him chuckle. It's such a Santana retort- he can't help but smile, just a little.]

Guess so.

[He looks back at her, and- sizes her up, just a bit]

You ever take a self defense class? I already know you could kick my ass, but if you've got any tips...

cw teen discussing violence

[garbageface]

Nah, growing up in Lima Heights Adjacent was all the self-defense class I needed.

[ now she’s sizing Stephen up, too. he’s right, he could use some tips. ]

Mostly, you just gotta get in touch with your anger — lucky for me, I’ve got a lot of it — and use that to get enough adrenaline to really go after someone and beat the shit outta them. But I’m a big believer in slaps, hair pulling, and yelling, to throw people off their game.

[37773972]

[Stephen is but a white cismale and the product of his upbringing; the idea of just slapping and hair pulling is- not quite right with him. It might show on his face, that he was hoping for something a little more than that.]

I'm not really used to using my anger like that.

[garbageface]

[ sorry Stephen, what did you expect? at the end of the day, Santana is just a teen girl from Ohio, and is pretty much limited to her teen girl knowledge.

She huffs, annoyed that Stephen doesn’t seem especially receptive to her advice. ]

Yeah, obviously. Seems like you keep all that real buttoned up. But people change. I got nicer here, which yeah, I know, gross. But that probably means you could get a little meaner.

[37773972]

I mean- I'm pretty pissed off at the Phantom, lately. [And, briefly, the SQUIP- but that matter's been dealt with, right?] So I just imagine I'm punching him?

[garbageface]

Yeah. Here, maybe this’ll jog your memory.

[ Santana pinches the bridge of her nose. Then, in a truly terrible French accent: ]

I am the Phantom of the Opera, and I feel so bad about myself all the time that I had to kidnap many strangers, including children, and watch them kill each other in a mockery of every judicial system on earth, plus I have no respect for good lighting, women, or taste in interior design or fashion!

[37773972]

[PFFFFFT]

That's him- the Phantom of the Opera!

[garbageface]

[ Santana drops the accent, but now, she’s smiling. ]

Exactly. So don’t hold yourself back, because you can definitely take some emo baby theater nerd whose problems would be solved with, like, basic plastic surgery.

[37773972]

[Right, then, back at the punching bag. He takes a breath, and...]

People who force kids to kill
People pulling the threads
The assholes who use other folks-
Give them a boot to the head!

[And- that's a surprisingly powerful kick he gives to the bag! Seems his legs work just fine!]

[garbageface]

[ Santana nods approvingly, for once. ]

Yeah, exactly. That felt good, didn’t it?

[37773972]

Sure as hell didn't feel bad.