itscurtains | Is This Where You Wanna Be? Crawling On Your Hands and Knees?

[In a perfect world, Maya would have been able to isolate herself for the rest of the evening. It's not like her to wallow in her feelings, but it's also not like her to be trapped away in a murder school or part of an execution so... not like she has much choice there. Besides, between the influence of Janis, and the sight of her remaining dormmates, it's clear that Maya simply can't... let things go.

It's like she told the SQUIP. They look to her for hope. And so, hope she must be. It's her job to stand tall for the others. Thankfully help comes easier this time -- there's no need to scruff Discord, or try to keep Spongebob from making Hate Patties. Maybe that, in and of itself, is a good sign.

It's just another fluke. They'll be okay. They're together, after all. Even Salieri and Discord are getting along well enough to help.

Cutting potatoes proves to be an interesting task, considering the fact that most of the knives are missing. Maya has a few guesses as to how that happened, but she won't point fingers again today. She makes do with what she has -- two swords between her and Cassandra.

Potatoes, cakes, pies -- the arrangement is much the same. There's even cocoa (made by less experienced hands, unfortunately), and alcohol. It all feels like a repeat of last week, but she's trying to not think about it. She does her best to keep a smile on her face as she knocks on each door, inviting others to the cafeteria once more.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Elle comes in to the gym with a plate of food and bottle of water in hand. She watches Peregrine go up and down the bleachers a couple of times before setting the plate and bottle of water down on the bottom bleacher near where Peregrine is running.]

Make sure you drink something.

[She isn't expecting an answer, so she will head to the bin where the deerskin is soaking and roll up her sleeves.]

[ Elle's got a good instinct for this, because Peregrine goes up and down the bleachers once more before seeing what she's doing. It's the only thing that keeps her to stop. ]

H- hey— hey, what're you doing...with that...?

Helping.

[Elle grabs some paper towels from a nearby dispenser before pulling the plug on the sink.]

Deerskin is finicky, but I've gotten my fair share of stains out in the past.

[ She takes a few steps over, breathing heavily. Normally, she has a pretty good sense of how much is too much. Today, however... ]

You... You don't...have to...

I can't do a lot. [Elle starts dabbing at the stains with the paper towel, gently lifting out the red with each press.]

But I can do this.

[She looks back at Peregrine and gives a small, sad smile.]

Drink some water, stretch out. You won't feel better if you can't move tomorrow.

[ Somewhat protective of the deerskin, she just inches on over. ]

I'm not...done yet. I'll— I'll stretch when I'm finished. [ The water, though... She glances at it.

[Elle looks back at her and quirks an eyebrow.]

At least drink.

[She grabs another clear paper towel and starts dabbing again. The stain she's working on is starting to get lighter.]

You don't want to soak the whole leather like this, it can make the stain spread. Saturate the stained area with water and a delicate detergent, then blot.

...Oh.

[ Quietly flabbergasted, she takes the water. ]

I was... When you treat leather, you gotta, uh... You gotta soak it all. So, I thought... [ ... ] Thanks.

That's for the regular maintenance, stains are a whole other beast.

[Elle smiles.]

My fashion degree might not save any lives, but it can at least help preserve some memories.

I was gonna show him, 'cause he made it so I could...put the leather in, so...

[ Her hand shakes a little. She doesn't quite know what else to say, or do. ]

Do you want help sewing it in? Or making it removable?

He covered part of that. See, on the inside? [ She points it out. ] There's buttons.

[Elle inspects the buttons, a smile on her face.]

That is such a good idea. His stich work is amazing.

He...really went all out. I don't even know if this was something he was like, really into.

[ Connor said he wasn't really into a lot of things. ]

I just gotta fit the leather inside, and... [ She sighs. ] I was gonna show him today. I finally got it treated properly.

[Elle starts working on the stain again. It really is starting to look better.]

He would be impressed. It's finishes off the cloak perfectly.

Does it? [ Peregrine feels a little faint on her feet. She sits on the bleacher, running a hand over the cloak, watching Elle clean. ] I'm not really...a fashion person.

Fashion is pretty subjective, the important thing is what makes you feel good. I get the feeling you're practical, so adding in something like this deerskin to the cloak seems like it would fit you really well.

[ So, fashion depends on the person, there's not any universal fashion rules. Huh. ]

Then... I guess he decided on the perfect thing. [ Because she loves it. Completely. She... ] ...I've...never really gotten something like this from someone before? Like— my family, sure, but like— ...not something someone handmade, from like...

I dunno. I mean, I do but—

It made it special.

I get that.

[Elle rinses again. It looks good, but one more pass would make it better.]

Like, he did more than just pick something up and go "Oh, cool! Perigrin would like that." He really thought about it, something that you wouldn't just like, but something you'd use.

[Elle sniffs.]

He was pretty great.

Yeah. Yeah, that's just it.

[ Her jaw tightens. ]

It shouldn't be was.

[When she speaks again her voice sounds a little strained.]

Yeah, it shouldn't be.

[ She can't start crying again. She can't. Abruptly, Peregrine stands and begins her bleacher runs again. She's drank some water, fine. But she has to be prepared.

(Nothing could have prepared her for this—)

She has to be prepared. ]

Is This Where You Wanna Be? Crawling On Your Hands and Knees?

Gym

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