Week Two

[stagemanagers]

[Last week, no murder happened! Instead, a lot of students started work on Salieri's school play, which sounds pretty cool even though it's gonna be short, several people destroyed Bigfoot and got a few mysterious clues, and Orpheus started a fire in the kitchen! All in all, not a bad first week!

Though some people might have gone to talk to Hester, she hasn't made any more public announcements. There's some new papers posted up around the cafeteria, but it looks like it's just your upcoming lunch schedule. Seems like nothing's driving you towards Rule Five except, perhaps, all of the kidnapping and how criminally boring some of you are finding the school. Maybe the Balladeer is right, and you really can just wait this out? Only time will tell!]


Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday

(( No new locations this week, since y'all haven't paid in blood! Hester's office hours are still open, as are regains! Make sure to complete your first activity check by Tuesday! ))

Comments

[barberic]

[He's startled out of his thoughts by the hand on his shoulder, but when he realizes who it is he smiles fondly and reaches up to cover it with his own large, warm hand.]

Thank you, my dear. You were stunning up there. It broke my heart to try and keep character.

[mayavericks]

[Such a tender touch is... almost surprising. Maya starts to draw her hand back but... Stops before she can complete the motion.]

You seem to have connected well with the role. It showed within your performance.

[barberic]

[He feels the flinch of her hand under his, and with a final gentle pat, he lets go.]

Did it? I was afraid it would show how hard I had to think about the French.

[But he looks down, with a sheepish, secret fond smile.]

I suppose being a married man, it's only natural I'd connect with a role of a father. [The confession is soft, as if he's embarrassed to admit that he put more of himself in it than he expected.] Not to say that I'd use the role as an example. Perhaps of what not to do.

[mayavericks]

Vous étiez parfait, monsieur.

[With her hand released, she can at least step to the side and sit across from him. She studies his expression for a long moment, turning his words over in her head. Admittedly, it does little to help her own perspective, considering --]

I would say that you are incorrect. Yes, of course, a father should never use his children to further his own goals. But perhaps there was a twisted sort of love there, that a father could not bear to be parted from his daughters by his own impending death.

[barberic]

But to make them kill for him? Now Hypermnestra knows that if she doesn't betray her conscience and kill her husband, she will be responsible for her father's death. It's cruel to put that on her, knowing choosing one damns the other. Don't you think?

A father loves his daughter to the end of his life, but a husband will love her to the end of hers.

[mayavericks]

[Maya's expression shifts. For a moment, she looks just a little bitter.]

Unsurprisingly, it would seem you have put more thought into this than I.

[barberic]

[He's too involved in the conversation to miss the bitterness that crosses her features, and falters, a pang of sympathy crossing his features as he sits back up straighter. Perhaps she didn't have a father? Or she had chosen the same as Hypermnestra's sisters.

He decides to change tracks with a joke, offering her a soft smile.]

Well, also as a new husband, it would have sucked to be murdered on my wedding night.

[Showing off the improvement to his vocabulary that Connor taught him.]

[mayavericks]

[Oh, she can't help but crack a smile. There's something so funny about Benjamin saying anything sucked.]

I imagine it would have.

[Nevertheless, she shakes her head.]

I apologize for being so lackluster compared to your own performance, Barker-san. You were truly magnificent. Every bit the role of Danaus.

[barberic]

Lackluster? Never.

[He reaches out to her across the table, not to touch her but putting his palm flat to drive home his sincerity.]

I couldn't have asked for a better stage-daughter, my dear.

[mayavericks]

[She only shakes her head.]

I did not embody that role. No one would have ever believed that we were family. Suspension of disbelief can only do so much.

[barberic]

[A look of pity crosses his face, but only for a brief moment.]

Shame that you think that way. But you know something?

[He leans forward on his elbows against the table conspiratorially, giving her a smile.]

I think everyone enjoyed it just the same. Did you have fun?

[mayavericks]

[What is fun, Barker-san.]

The distraction was... appreciated, at least.

[She doesn't look convinced, though.]

[barberic]

Oh, appreciated, was it? Well, I appreciated it very much, too.

Thank you for being up there with me, Miss Tendo. I mean it - whatever you want to think about the acting, it being you up there with me means a lot.

[He chuckles.]

I might well have passed out from nerves, if you weren't so calm.

[mayavericks]

I... can at least take comfort in that. I am glad I was able to offer you some strength.

[And if nothing else, she means that. There's even a little glimmer in her eyes again.]