Week Four

[stagemanagers]

[Last week, Gershwin High School Academy University saw its very first intentional murder! What a milestone! And right after Spongebob's No Murder party, too - that doesn't seem like it bodes very well for anybody's future.

You all wake up this morning with yet another new memory returned to you. You'll also find that the school's external doors have now unlocked. Congratulations! You're free! Unfortunately, you also seem to be entirely in the middle of nowhere. So maybe it's more of a symbolic victory.

Still, you should look around and do some investigation! Maybe you'll find a fun surprise.]

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday

(( Be sure to submit your memory regains and your AC for this week! Hester's office hours and the merch booth also remain available! ))

Comments

cw: scars, dissociation

[barberic]

[Benjamin is far steadier on his feet today than he was yesterday, although just looking at him makes it clear that he's far from back to normal. He's miles away, but also troubled at the same time.

In the morning, he goes to the Boys' Bathroom, going through the motions of taking care of his basic needs and splashing water on his face. But then he catches his reflection in the mirror and spends an agonizingly long time scrutinizing it, the wrinkles and the stubble that's started to come in along his jaw and down his cheeks from four weeks without a razor.

Then with shaking hands, he takes off his shirt (a first, since he's hardly even undressed in front of his roommates), turning and trying to look over his shoulder to see his back in the mirror. Anyone walking in will see the copious thick, white scars that crisscross his back.

After what he finds in the bathroom he seems even more distant. He goes outside, where one might be forgiven for being a little worried about him wandering off into the woods by himself. But he can be found at the garden, sitting on Sissi's memorial bench, his elbows propped on his knees and his head hanging down.

He comes back inside when it starts to get dark, going to the vending machine and putting in some coins that he found. The first eight items are nothing exciting, and he's about to just kind of sad-roomba them in the most logical spots to leave them for others, when he finds one more coin at the bottom of his pocket. He puts it in, because he may as well.

A small, silver locket falls down into the receptacle. He takes it out, and as he turns it over in his hands, they begin to shake. He drops to his knees, clutching the locket to his chest, all of the emotion that he hasn't shown all day flooding out of him in great, wretched sobs.]

garden

[howtheworldwas]

[ Lately, Eurydice has been trying to spend as much time as she can outside. It helps her feel less boxed in.

She knows Mister Barker has been distant these past couple of days, but she doesn't have the full picture. Seeing him like this, with his head held low...it saddens her, in a way she didn't anticipate.

She'll sit nearby, but not too close, on Connor's bench. He gave her the gentle luxury of space, once. She can do the same for him. ]

I'm sorry.

[ It's not much, but it is heartfelt. ]

[barberic]

[This is the first he's seen of the outside, since he spent yesterday mostly in his bed with the curtains drawn.

He doesn't seem to notice as she approaches, nor startle when she speaks, but his voice is soft and broken.]

I'll never- I'll never see them again.

[howtheworldwas]

[ Oh, no. Eurydice knows only one thing that can break a voice like that, and she's been thinking about it constantly. Her heart aches for Mister Barker, and now for Orpheus, and for what she knows she's done.

Eurydice's voice is similarly soft. ]

Probably not. But you'll remember them.

[ Eurydice hesitates for a moment, and then gets up to join Mister Barker on his bench. It's probably better if he feels less alone. ]

[barberic]

[He doesn't react when she moves closer, but that also means that he doesn't reject the closeness, either.

Up close, she can see when he squeezes his eyes shut, his shoulders tensing slightly, as he shakes his head.]

I never got to see her grow up... My beautiful girl...

[He swallows hard and looks up, casting his gaze into the treetops and the clear sky overhead, drawing a couple of shaky breaths as he tries to regain control.]

I'm sorry. I shouldn't trouble you, I'm sure you came out here for your own peace of mind.

[howtheworldwas]

I didn't, actually. [ Eurydice follows Mister Barker's gaze. ] I came to look at the sky.

[ She's tasted oblivion, and it's not all it's cracked up to be. ]

What was she like? You don't have to answer, if you don't want to. I just -- [ she swallows. ] -- it helped me, to try to remember.

[barberic]

[He's silent for a long moment. Almost long enough that she would be forgiven for assuming he somehow didn't hear her.]

...My daughter. Johanna. She was only a year old, when...

[He takes a deep breath of fresh air and holds it in his chest.]

Last week I remembered when she was born. Holding her for the first time, holding her every night in my arms. Her skin was as soft and smooth as ripe peaches. She had little curls of blonde hair, nearly white, and she smiled like an angel... Lucy teased me. Said I was spoiling her. But how could I live with myself, if I didn't hold her every second I could?

I couldn't believe that something so perfect could be mine.

[howtheworldwas]

[ He got a year. It's better than a few months, but it's not enough. Not even close. ]

She sounds wonderful. I am sorry you did not get to hold her for very long, but...

[ Eurydice trails off, and is quiet for a few moments. She's thinking, again, about Orpheus, and the few months they had together. ]

...I hope you know it -- it mattered, I guess. You loved her, and that's not something that goes away, even after the person does. [ I remember someone by my side. ]

[barberic]

[He braces himself, but it does nothing to stop the sob that rends its way out of him, as his chin drops to his chest again. He covers his eyes with his hand, to hide from her.]

I'll never know what happened to her... No, I'll never hug my girl to me...!

[His voice breaks, wretchedly, and he lapses into miserable silence until the tightness in his chest loosens.]

I'm sorry. I got... I waited fifteen years, and by the time I was allowed to send for them, there was- there was no one there...

Boys' Bathroom

[themuseabandonsyou]

Mister Barker?

[ Orpheus's voice is high and distressed as he walks in, taken aback by the sight of all the scars. He'd known something had happened to Mister Barker on Sunday, but this? These wounds looked old and vicious. He hurries over, not reaching out to touch him but hovering awkwardly in concern. ]

Are you - what happened?

[barberic]

[Benjamin startles when Orpheus walks in, flinching away and hurriedly shoving his shirt back on.]

...They're old scars. It's not important.

[His voice is different than it was before. Not...menacing, per se, but more of a growl.]

[themuseabandonsyou]

Okay. [ Orpheus knows better than to pry, at something like that. But he's still curious, and worried, and he can't help but ask, ] Are you... doing any better than yesterday? I wasn't there, but. I heard about some of what happened.

[barberic]

[He almost doesn't want to answer. He's functioning (barely) under the principle of: if I hold all of my problems right here, then one day I'll die.

But his fellow prisoners here aren't the same as his fellow prisoners in Australia. If weakness here were a death sentence, he would have died yesterday (and a part of him wonders if he wouldn't have been better off, rather than waking up and having to move forward with this emptiness, this ache inside of him).]

Yes, I'm quite better than yesterday. I was... overwhelmed.

I'm sorry for causing everyone to worry about me.

[themuseabandonsyou]

You remembered something else, right? Like the rest of us. But... worse. [ From the sound of it. Orpheus frowns, and edges just a little closer. ] It's okay to need help, sometimes. If anyone would understand, it's the rest of us here? We're all going through a lot.

[barberic]

[Benjamin sucks in a breath, holding it for just a second or two as Orpheus edges closer, like his instinct is to hold his ground for a strike.

But Orpheus' words soothe the foreign instinct and something hard and guarded in Benjamin's eyes clears slightly. He sets his jaw, and nods, shakily.]

Thank you.

[His rough, deep voice almost breaks, whisper-soft.]

Thank you, my friend.

[themuseabandonsyou]

Of course. If you want to talk about it at all, I'm here? Or if you want to talk about something else, as a distraction. [ he says, trying to smile for him. It's a little weak, but he's doing his best. ] I can also go, if you'd rather I do that? It's up to you. I won't be upset if you want some time to yourself.

[barberic]

Perhaps some other time.

[The weak smile gentles his own reaction, and the tension in his shoulders eases, somewhat, as a facsimile of his original polite personality returns.]

...There's better places to carry on a conversation than in a toilet, I think. But if you need the facilities, by all means. I can meet you... Where were you thinking of heading, next?

[He doesn't...have any desire to go anywhere.]

Vending Machine

[violentenvies]

[Salieri hears the sobs just as he steps out of the Cafeteria--and it's enough to turn his head in that direction in immediate concern, taking off down the hallway towards the sound.

His stomach feels like it plummets to his feet when he realizes who it is, and as Salieri slows to a stop next to Benjamin, he drops down next to him, already reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder or an arm around him--]

Benjamin? Benjamin, what's wrong--?

[barberic]

[Benjamin rocks forward away from Antonio's hand, curling protectively around the locket in his hands.]

I didn't listen... God help me, why didn't I listen?

[violentenvies]

[That'll get a frown of deep concern for that]

Listen? Benjamin, what are you...?

[barberic]

Lucy...

[Benjamin doesn't seem to acknowledge Antonio's voice.

>Shake him?]

[violentenvies]

[He doesn't want to shake him, exactly...he seems to be rather upset. So instead Salieri will reach out and place a hand on his arm]

Benjamin, can you hear me?

[barberic]

[This time Antonio's hand makes full contact, and Benjamin jerks and goes unnaturally still, except for his shaky, heaving breaths.]

[violentenvies]

[he leaves his hand there for the moment, gentle, putting little to no pressure] Take a deep breath, Benjamin. Please. I'll stay with you here until you can.

[he...doesn't know what else to do, other than to stay by his side and hope that he'll come out of whatever this is]

[barberic]

[It's a long moment until he speaks again.]

She told me that she was afraid of him. She begged me to move, to leave London, but, I thought- He was a judge... He wouldn't do anything, it was his duty to uphold the law.

How could I have been so foolish?