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

[alchemistake]

[It's hard to really be up for people...at all, today, but. Spongebob is different. Seeing him sitting on the floor and not his usual optimistic self is strange, and immediately Varian finds himself worried he might be hurt, or sick.

He approaches carefully, Ruddiger leaning over from his shoulder as he kneels down near where Spongebob is sitting.]

Hey...everything alright?

[employeeoftheyear]

[He jumps slightly as he is pulled out of his thoughts. When he notices that Varian is next to him he pulls a very fake smile.]

Y-yeah, I'm great! I've just been feeling a little homesick today.

[alchemistake]

[Poor Spongebob...he can imagine that's not all the issue is, but Varian won't pry. Instead, he turns his attention to the ring on Spongebob's finger.]

Is that something of yours from home?

[employeeoftheyear]

Yeah, Pat- [His voice cracks and he pauses for a moment before continuing.] Patrick and I got these when we decided to become Best Friends Forever.

[Tears well up in his eyes as he stares at the ring.]

[alchemistake]

[Oh no]

Oh hey, hey...it's alright. I'm sure Patrick is just fine back at home.

[Varian swallows, shifting to sit down. He's not good at this sort of thing, but...he'll try. He can ignore his own problems for now.]

It's really nice that you guys have something like that to share. It keeps you connected no matter how far apart you are- don't you think?

[employeeoftheyear]

[Spongebob noticably stiffens when Varian says that Patrick is just fine, and decides to focus on the second part.]

Yeah, I'm glad we got these made. He'd often cry if I'm every away for a single day.

[He's about to say something else, but he stops, sighing as he hugs his knees. He stays like this for a long moment before he starts to sing.]

It doesn't really matter how high I go
Without him
Oh, I can't feel my usual vim
When I'm without him

No one can make me laugh like him
No one can help me on a whim
Maybe that's why I feel so grim
Without him

[alchemistake]

[Oh no this is really sad

But Varian will sit and listen to Spongebob sing, resting his head a little against his knees. Hopefully Spongebob doesn't mind Ruddiger leaning over and patting his shoulder comfortingly with one of his raccoon hands.]

Spongebob...

[Seeing Spongebob sad like, at all, makes the entire world feel out of balance and Varian doesn't much care for that.]

Is there anything I can do to help you feel better?

[employeeoftheyear]

[He pauses.]

Tell me about your world? I wanna know about your friends at home.

[alchemistake]

[His friends, huh? Well...Spongebob doesn't need to know that he has very few friends. And he can't actually remember all of them just yet...

He'll just have to make sure to tell him all of the good parts he can remember.]

Well, I'm from a kingdom called Corona. I don't live in the kingdom itself, but in a village on the outskirts called Old Corona. I live there with my dad, who's the leader of our village.

There's Rapunzel, who is the Princess of Corona, who I got to know and become friends with pretty recently. Then there's Eugene, who is the world renowed Flynn Rider, the bravest hero- oh, well...I guess that was just a name from the books he was using, but the point is he's really cool.

And Cassandra, if you've met her by now, she's a friend from my home too. She's Rapunzel's lady-in-waiting, but what she really wants to do is become part of the kingdom's royal guard! She's really tough, so she's like, basically a shoe-in.

[employeeoftheyear]

[Spongebob smiles fondly as Varian talks about his home.]

Your home sounds really cool, I'd like to visit sometime! Especially if they have people like you and Cassandra; I didn't actually know she was wanting to be a royal guard.

... You know she actually kinda reminds me of Squidward, my neighbor. He's really grumpy and serious all the time but he's really nice once you get to know him.

[Is he?]

[alchemistake]

[Now see, now he's just going to be mentally comparing Squidward to Cassandra, and it's really not a one-to-one comparison to make...]

People like that can be the best kinds of friends for that exact reason. They're just...no nonsense, you know? But it means you can rely on them for anything.

[employeeoftheyear]

Exactly! [Spongebob should probably not rely on Squidward for anything.] Plus their grumpiness makes it all the more satisfying when you get them to open up!

[alchemistake]

Yeah! Just maybe, uh...don't call Cass grumpy in front of her, word of advice.

[SHE WOULD NOT APPRECIATE THAT...]