itscurtains | Week One

Entry tags:

act 3,
week 1

Week One

[Yesterday, everyone woke up in a strange place and realized that they'd been kidnapped, and also that everyone else around them may or may not be kinnies? Wow, what a weird escalation of kin drama! Given what some people have seen of Spongebob's freaky arm thing, though, maybe it's not that at all?

Your Assistant Director, Hester, showed off her stuff and immediately had her life threatened by Lumpy Space Princess, who got her life threatened right back. Maybe you should keep that in mind if you decide to pay Hester any more visits! She won't be making another public appearance this week, but as promised, she'll be available for visits and consultation in the Principal's Office during business hours.

If you don't want to chat with Hester, there's always the school to explore! Some of you might also be receiving mysterious coins next to your bedside this week - those must be useful for something, right? There's lots to do, and you all seem like a group who can make your own fun, so enjoy your first week of school!]

Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday

(( OOC: This will be the last mod post for this week! Feel free to start submitting regains for any threads that aren't with Hester. Remember, song threads mean an extra coin! This is a peace week, so get all that CR while you can! ))

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[A good portion of this flies directly over the Balladeer's head. Not in the typical way, where he simply doesn't recognize what's being referenced; of course he knows what hunting and maps are. But applying them in any practical way to his own life? Gosh, never.

But he listens. It's what he does.]

Getting where you need to go by knowing where you've been. That makes sense. [Largely metaphorically on his end but come on, like it's not for you too.] Not that I'm saying I'd be any good for it. Definitely not any of the other parts. Sounds like some really useful skills, though, living in a place like that, it's cool they teach you.

[ And then, Peregrine lets out a harsh, bitter laugh, her almost eager expression fading instantly. ]

Oh, no, don't misunderstand. The town doesn't teach anything. The adults of Whitetail could care less if all of us got lost and had to fend for ourselves. They're more about keeping us all on short leashes and coddling us, 'cause that's so much better than actually learning from their mistakes.

[Oh - oh, he's said something wrong. The Balladeer's good humor fades pretty quickly as well.]

I'm sure they're trying to keep you safe. But...I don't know. People like to pretend that bad things won't happen, so there's no point taking precautions. You have to think about all the stuff that could go wrong before you can prepare for it. But it does always go wrong at some point.

[So...well, he's sure that's a particularly ungenerous take, but she's also probably got the right of it.]

That's exactly it! [ Peregrine's very good at something in particular, and that's latching onto what she agrees with and running with it. ] But they don't care, in all their hemming and hawing all they're doing is sheltering us, making it more dangerous when something happens. And then what do they do? They say it's a tragedy, it's awful, and then they tell you to just pick up your life, and move on!!

[ ...Hm. She's yelling a bit. She takes a breath and rolls he shoulders, looking away. ]

I'm never gonna be like that. I'm gonna be self-sufficient. I'm gonna encourage everyone I know to be too.

[The Balladeer folds his arms, brow furrowing.]

If you've got people around to lean on, you should lean on them. I mean...sometimes you have to be self-sufficient. I only made a friend pretty recently, before that it was just me and...

[Well, Peregrine doesn't really care about all that stuff. Why tell a story no one wants to hear? It wasn't exactly the same anyway - except for one terrifying moment, he never exactly felt like it was about survival. Just...getting through it.]

It's just not good to isolate yourself. People aren't meant to be alone.

[ All wrapped up in herself, she doesn't take notice of the Balladeer's hesitance, of him almost opening up. Instead, she just spits out bitterness. ]

I had someone to depend on. And I thought I had others to lean on. But now...

[ She shakes her head. And music, softer than the Balladeer might've expected from her, starts to sound around them. ]

The mud on the bottom of my boots.
The holes in my sweater,
The knots in my hair.
There's a feeling that echoes,
When you leave the woods.
It follows you the whole way home.

The blood on the bottom of my lip.
The scrapes on our elbows,
The bruises we share.
There's an easy surrender,
When they're by your side,
A comfort that they'll come to know,
What you know, but they don't, no they don't...

So I'll do it
Alone, alone, alone,
I'll be fine without them.
Mm...

Alone, alone, alone!
I can't think about them,
Mmm....

[ Throughout, she looks over power-tools and lumber in the scene room. Not at the Balladeer, not making eye contact. ]

[The Balladeer remains where he is, quietly listening to Peregrine's song even as she begins to walk away from him. It's natural to fade into the background when someone else starts singing. If they're going to tell their own story, then he's not necessary. He steps back into the shadows, away from the spotlight, and he waits until the scene calls for him again.

That's how it always was before. But this time, during the lull, he opens his mouth to sing - not for her, and not even really to her, but just because...he is.]

The space in the background of the scene,
The shadows of the curtains,
The smoke in the air.
There's a silence that echoes, when no one's around...
A place where hope would never grow.
That was right, that was truth, that was home.

[ And like that, he's responding. He's...echoing feelings, and yet, she listens and she frowns. Like it's not something she likes to hear from other people. ]

Is it better
Alone, alone, alone?
Still it hurts, without them.

Alone, alone, alone,
I still think about it.

[He does. He hadn't meant to get this caught up in the song - hadn't meant to join at all, really. But he does. Even though things got better, and the Player came and saved him...even that didn't really feel the same as he feels here, sometimes, when he's with his new friends. Which isn't going to last, of course. No one really wants to be here.]

[ The music has her fully. The motif isn't one she's familiar with...but it feels right. It feels like hers. ]

No, no, no,
You want to believe that the fight will be fair,
That someone will come, or that someone will care,
But that's not the truth and I've got to prepare.

[That's...but he's not alone anymore. Is he? The Player came and got him, and even now he's here with these people. Even if the Balladeer often feels strange and alien among them. Even if he knows he's not really the same as them, as kind as a few people have been about it.]

I've got one job in life, and this time I'm prepared
If they need my help, maybe I could be there
I could be there...

[But he sounds anxious, uncertain. Because he's not there. And even so, will anyone be there for him?]

[ Everyone here is...relatively nice. Even the ones that aren't, exactly—but if she can't trust people she's known her whole life, just about, what hope does she have with them? ]

Do I do it
Alone, alone, alone?
Should I go and doubt them?

[ All of a sudden...it's not just about back at Whitetail. It's here. The people around her. Including the Balladeer, who has her attention again. ]

Alone, alone, alone!
Am I fine without them?
Mm...

[ ...Are they fine without her? ]

[The Balladeer, at least, seems much more visibly worried than he did when he walked into the shop. That must have all been lingering under the surface already, for a song to drag it out like that...but he hadn't been thinking about any of it before.

The song sounds like it's ending. He lets the music fade, idly running his fingers over the top of a table saw, pretending that he's looking at it.]

Sometimes you're just alone. But I wouldn't go looking for it. Lots of good folks around here.

[It is, ever so slightly, an exclusion of himself; a step back. That comes more naturally than being a part of the group.]

[ Oh... Oh, they're finished, huh? Peregrine sort of comes back to herself, hearing what the Balladeer's saying but taking a few moments to process it.

She wets her dry lips. ]

...Means I have to be able to count on 'em. That's...something I'm not really...

[He pauses for a moment, still turned towards the tools.]

I know we've all only known each other for a little bit. But we're all in the same boat, here.

Yeah, I know. You guys want out just like I do.

We want to get out together. There's no reason to turn on people stuck in the same situation, when we all know who put us here.

[well, more or less]

No reason we know of right now. ...I don't really know any of you. Who knows who'd try and stab someone in the back?

I don't think most people are like that. Especially not after a week.

[Like, he knows mostly murderers, but most people don't shoot others! Right?]

Who knows who could help you out?

[ Positive thinking like that feels so foreign. The only thing she has is determination. But... ]

...I guess.

...just give it a thought, you know? I doubt anyone's getting out of this on their own.

[Unless, you know. They do the whole murder thing. But this is week one we don't gotta take that super seriously.......]

I'll do what I can to get out of here. Without playing by their dumb rules. That's all I can say.

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Week One

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