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

[mayavericks]

[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.]

Comments

[brokeforgood]

[The case of the missing knives is soon solved—- after the party starts, Farrah shows up with a literal box full of knives. She’s gathered other things in there too, like box cutters, or anything else she thinks may be similarly used.

She’s even got her own prop knife in there.]

Okay. Everybody put them in. This is like cellphones and standardized tests. Not Allowed.

[mayavericks]

[Maya, for her part, is quiet during preparation. She tries to keep focused on any task at hand -- keeping from nicking her fingers on her sword as she struggles to slice potatoes, ensuring that Salieri and Discord don't kill each other, anything to keep her from looking over her shoulder every now and again.

But it still happens. She glances to every stray corner, trying to ignore how her heart rises in her throat. She's almost certain that the giraffe was a coincidence but... many other things had felt that way since arriving.

Maya only does one round at the party this time. She brings spare mugs of cocoa to those that are empty-handed. But as soon as she's sure things have settled properly, she ducks out of the cafeteria.

The rest of her evening is spent in the dance studio. The rest of this "party" had followed the same pattern, why shouldn't this? Now that she had her sword, she needed to practice all the harder. She'd failed in her promise once. It won't happen again.]

[mayavericks]

[Maya takes one look at the pile and... ]

No.

[brokeforgood]

You can keep your sword!

[violentenvies]

[whoop, Dad's doing prep right now, carrying some wine to set on the counter, hands full] Ah...I'm afraid I left mine in my trunk, however I can get it to you later.

[mayavericks]

[... You know, she anticipated more of a fight than that. And despite her vehement insistence not to turn it over:]

Are you sure?

[employeeoftheyear]

[Spongebob, for the most part, does not go to the afterparty, even after Maya invites them. He didn't want to think about anything but his mind was swirling with thoughts that he was afraid he was going to start screaming if he even thought about opening his mouth. So instead he's curled up in his bunk in the Rodgers Dorm.

It... it was better like this anyway. It's not like he could do anything to help. Maybe the more competent people here could do what he couldn't. They'd be more observant, more useful, more helpful.

He does, eventually go to the afterparty... sort of. It's really more that he's going to the kitchen for a glass of water and try to leave before he's noticed. But it's kind of hard to ignore Spongebob and just how completely miserable he looks.]

[brokeforgood]

Yeah, I doubt you’re gonna let anyone part you from that thing.

But I want the other one in here.

[alchemistake]

[Varian...doesn't go straight back to Broadhurst this time. He's got a mental plan in mind for the ofrenda, though it's distant and...hard to think about right now. He knows he wants to add Connor to it as soon as possible, but he doesn't know how to handle the case of the SQUIP. Maybe he'll build a seperate one for it...so as not to deprive it of the same sort of remembrance, but not to put it with the person it murdered.

He's just not going to worry about that right now when everything is too fresh. He honestly doesn't even want to look at the room because, well...it's even emptier than it was last week. It's just him, Salieri, and Maya now.

He'll spend some time in the cafeteria with Rina still at his side, though he does make a brief stop to pick up Ruddiger before coming back around. He needs you right now, buddy, and he unfortunately seems to understand what happened this time. He feels bad for not being able to contribute much, but, well. He's here.

Later in the evening he'll visit...the music room, actually. He doesn't really feel like working with tools today, actually. Maybe he'll just plink quietly at the piano, not really making any attempt at nice sounding music.]

Afterparty, sorta

[mayavericks]

[It's hard to miss just how downtrodden he is. And since Maya isn't particularly in much of a party mood herself --]

May I walk you back to your dorm?

[brokeforgood]

Oh. [She pauses—- She hadn’t really expected him to agree.]

You could probably keep it, but only if you don’t let anyone else near it.

dance studio

[howtheworldwas]

[ Eurydice stands in the doorway for some time, watching Maya practice. She seems to be hesitating a bit, before she steps forward. ]

Can you teach me?

[ The first one was an accident. This wasn't, and she needs to be ready. ]

[alchemistake]

I've got one of those prop knives, too.

[Varian says quietly when Farrah comes around.]

It's with my pile of stuff in the corner over there, but you can take it. I don't really want to look at it anyway.

Music Room

[mayavericks]

[Maya's just coming back from changing in Broadhurst when she hears the faint sound of the piano. She peeks her head in, not expecting to find Varian sitting there.

But, well... Since she's here, she'll come over and sit on the bench beside him, at least. She doesn't have anything to say, she just picks at a few keys in kind, in an attempt to bring a melody to Varian's random notes.]

[violentenvies]

Of course. I shall ensure it doesn't fall in to any other hands.

music room

[brokeforgood]

Hey. [She’s been lingering in the doorway—- Farrah’s sober after an after party for once. The box of knives has been safely hidden away, but now, she has nothing left to do. And without alcohol or anything to busy herself with, the bad feelings are starting to catch up with her.]

Do you know how to play that thing?

[employeeoftheyear]

I guess if you want to.

[When he speaks, his voice is completely empty of any emotion. It would be almost hilarious how almost human he sounds if it weren't for what caused it.]

kitchen

[howtheworldwas]

[ Eurydice has been hanging out back here more than the actual party, and when she sees Spongebob looking so upset, she immediately approaches him.

She doesn't say anything. There's nothing to say. Instead, she'll pull him into a firm hug. He seemed to like it in the costume shop; hopefully it helps now. ]

[mayavericks]

The knife I found in the vending machine?

[She nods.]

I locked it in my locker, but I can fetch it.

[brokeforgood]

I trust you. [She says it solemnly, with a stern expression. And she means it. She just hopes no one else is tempted to use her trust in him against either of them.]

Do you need help? I could lock these up and—-

[mayavericks]

[Maya glances toward Eurydice. She's quiet for a moment, before nodding. Thankfully, she's been leaving her prop sword in here for... reasons. She's quick to fetch it from a corner of the room and hold it out.]

Have you ever used a sword before?

[mayavericks]

I want to.

[She holds out to her hand to him.]

I could use the comfort of a friend.

[brokeforgood]

I think it’d be best if we lock them all up together. [She nods.]

I can wait here.

Kitchen

[alchemistake]

[Varian happens to accidentally bump into Spongebob as he's leaving the kitchen, actually. And for a moment, he considers just moving aside to let Spongebob go. He looks...awful, right now.

But he feels like he'd regret it if he did that. He remembers what Spongebob said when he was questioning the SQUIP about friendship.]

Spongebob...

[howtheworldwas]

[ Eurydice takes the prop sword, examining it awkwardly. ]

No, nothing larger than a small knife. But I want to learn what I can, in case --

[ She doesn't finish. She figures Maya understands. ]