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

Investigating here Mods!

[alchemistake]

[It's Monday, and Varian seems to be in notably brighter spirits than he was on Sunday. He's had it reaffirmed to him, time and time again, that the things he thinks might be set in stone...simply aren't. He has the power to change his own destiny. His memories may not paint the whole picture of what's happened. Believing it all at face value would be harmful not only to himself, but to those the memories affect.

He just needs to push forward and focus on today. Right now. The things he can do with his own two hands. He's thankful to have people he can talk to that remind him of that- Rina, Salieri, Farrah, Maya, Elsa, and so many others. The sleepover from last night reminded him of that.

The first thing he'll do today is Investigate. He's not woods savvy like Peregrine, so instead of going there, he's going to look around the garden in particular. What's up with this space, exactly? It's an open little area with a tree, rocks set up around it, benches and the pool of water, but is that really all there is to see? He's going to take a stroll and find out.

Later on, he'll be found in the Hallway making his way back from the boy's bathroom. He looks kindof frustrated, and it's easy to see why- some of the clothes he put together are just...fucking destroyed with grease stains. He's never worked with a car before, and he got himself...so dirty fixing it...and now that he's realized huh, I kindof like this outfit, he's trying to clean it up and it's not working. So he'll hail anyone passing by, a bundle of semi-wet clothes in his arms.]

Do you know how I can get grease out of something? I didn't realize it'd gotten so bad but I guess my apron didn't really catch everything.

[And usually he doesn't care, but...look. He has a girlfriend now. He wants to look...nice...

Later on, Varian can be found at the Gayseball Field. After some rummaging around he's discovered the baseball equipment, and he's got a baseball in hand. It's kindo hard to play by yourself, but there he is throwing the ball up high and catching it as it comes down.

You might even be right there in time to watch as the ball comes down, he misses catching it, and it clocks him right in the eye, his hands coming up to slowly grip his face as he just.

Slowly bends over with an elongated sound of pain, please don't perceive his dumbass]

Oooowww.

Investigation!

[stagemanagers]

[Well, one of the first things you might notice is that...there's no poisonous plants here. All of this stuff is safe for humans! Maybe that's normal for a regular person's garden, but for a murdergame...?]

[alchemistake]

[YEAH THAT'S WEIRD ALRIGHT...

Varian kneels down among the plants, examining this or that as he lets his gloves shield him from any potential poison, only to find that the leaves wouldn't have harmed him anyway. Never mind whatever else could be out here.]

Hm. Aren't the woods at least supposed to have like...poison ivy?

[He murmurs to himself as he stands back up, brushing dirt off his knees.

So the garden greenery is safe, at least he doesn't have to worry about Ruddiger eating something weird. Does it all seem well tended to, or is it overgrown?]

[stagemanagers]

[The woods might, but not in the garden!

And yes, this does all seem tended to. The flowerbeds are neat, there's no visible weeds, and the big central tree looks to have fresh fertilizer around its base.]

[alchemistake]

[HMM...is Hester taking care of this Garden? Someone has to be...

Is there anything to note about the types of flowers planted themselves? Is it all one species, or a variety? Or is it even all just flowers?]

[stagemanagers]

[You know what, sure. Just flowers! There's nothing particular to note about the types, though, they're just attractive garden flowers.]

[alchemistake]

[>Varian will remember this

Flowers, check. Tree, check, No poisonous things, check. Garden being constantly tended to...check.

He's going to wander around and check the area surrounding the garden now. What's that like? Is it forest on all sides with just the one entrance?]

[stagemanagers]

[Pretty much! It doesn't look like there's any other paths leading to or from anyplace else.]

[alchemistake]

[COOL COOL

By the way since I just remembered the weird fake rabbit found in the woods...are there any signs of animals like that in this garden?]

[stagemanagers]

[Nope! No sign that anything's eaten or chewed on, nothing dug up or anything.]

[alchemistake]

[Varian will make a mental note of that too, then.

Is there anything else unusual that might stick out for him to be looking at? Anything odd placed around- like the benches- or is that about all there is to see?]

[stagemanagers]

[There's some marks on the trunk of the tree that don't look entirely natural!]

[alchemistake]

[HMMMMMMM Dislike

Varian is immediately going to make a beeline for the tree, in that case. What kind of marks are we looking at, here...should he be concerned...]

Garden time

[samefacesyndrome]

[ After Varian's had some time to investigate, he might hear Rina coming up the path, a prop picnic basket in both of her hands. When she gets to the garden and sees him already there though she stops in her tracks. ]

Ah--

[ ...... ]

You're already there...

[ shit she meant to get here earlier to set up. ]

[alchemistake]

[Varian jumps, because even though Rina is so quiet somehow she still managed to surprise him...but he's quick to correct himself, standing up straight with a sheepish smile.]

Rina-chan! Sorry, did...was I supposed to not be?

[He leans over just slightly, more so that he's looking directly at her instead of down. She's quite a bit shorter than him, after all.]

I thought I'd take a better look around outside this morning...since I didn't really do a whole lot of that until late yesterday.

[samefacesyndrome]

[ She hangs her head, a little embarrassed. ]

No, it's okay. I was just hoping to get here first and set up a little...

It's really nice here though, right?

[ Rina there are benches with all the dead people's names on them.

....whatever let her have this i guess ]

[alchemistake]

[It's okay Varian's trying to pretend they're not there.]

It is really nice. Have you seen how many flowers there are?

[samefacesyndrome]

[ She nods. ]

Mmhm. That’s what I like most here. They’re so pretty… and it makes me think of my hair clip.

[ You know. The one you gave her.

Which she is wearing right now. And has barely stopped wearing since getting it. ]

[alchemistake]

[GAY- wait

Varian smiles a little at that, offering Rina his hand.]

By the way, you said you were going to "set up"...is that the surprise you were talking about?

[samefacesyndrome]

[ Oh… hand… she shifts the basket into just one hand and takes his with the now free one before nodding. ]

M-Mmhm… I…

[ Man she wish she had worn the board out here, it would help her talk easier, knowing she actually had an accurate expression for him to look at. ]

I actually… put together a picnic.

[alchemistake]

[Oh. Aw...so that's why she was asking him about sandwiches...

He'll start to walk towards the tree at the end of the garden, moving slowly in case Rina decides she wants to set up somewhere else, like closer to the flowerbeds.]

Aw...that's a great idea. I can't remember the last time I went on a picnic.

[And even though Ruddiger isn't with him at this very moment, don't worry- he'll be joining from the forest as soon as he smells their food.]

[samefacesyndrome]

[ The tree was exactly where she was hoping to go, right under it. It reminds her of Hanami picnics kind of, even though there’s no sakura here. ]

I’m glad. I wanted to do something nice to try and cheer you up - I know you had a rough day yesterday. Plus, girls back home make lunches for the people they like all the time so um…

[ She wanted to make… bento…… ]

[alchemistake]

Well, you might not have been able to set it up before I got here, but I can help you now that I am here.

[Who says he can't set up his own surprise?]

What should I do?

[samefacesyndrome]

[ When they get to the tree she bends down to set the basket on the ground. ]

I brought some fabric from the costume shop to use as a blanket to sit on. Could you help me spread it out?

[alchemistake]

You got it!

[He'll get started on doing just that, taking one end of the fabric while she takes the other. There's plenty of room underneath the tree to sit for both of them.]

Having a picnic was a nice idea...especially now that we can go outside.