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

broadhurst- girls girls girls girls

[comeandfindme]

[ After everything last night, Peregrine had refused to leave Janis' side. They're supposed to keep each other safe, after all, right? So, she spent the night in Broadhurst, pushing Connor's empty bed up against Maya's and going from there.

Peregrine had never held someone else while sleeping before. Sometimes, when they were little kids, she and Jacob would huddle together during really bad storms, before she'd stopped being afraid of the thunder and the lightning, before she'd become a big kid. Sometimes, they'd both curl up with mom and dad (and then just mom, but that was for movie nights, not comfort, because she was old enough to sleep alone and take care of herself she thought) and fall asleep in the wee hours of the morning.

But it wasn't the same— it wasn't deliberately curling up with someone, holding them as they cry or fall asleep, making the conscious decision to be here. Be present.

So, that's how they wake up and that's how the day continues. Peregrine and Maya are here for Janis. Quite literally, on either side of her. Just days ago, it was Peregrine in the middle of this. Now, she's on the outside, holding Janis' hand in a girlfriend sandwich. Even if she doesn't know what to say right now, because every platitude feels false and hollow. She's there. ]

girls girls girls

[fourbutts]

[ Janis is aware, on some level, that she did get an amount of sleep during the night. She's rested, it's not like there was much doing that. She's spent more time with her legs having given out from under her than with them working, since it all happened. But through all of it, every time she's teared up and felt a little sick remembering everything... Maya and Peregrine have been here. The three of them together, between a couple shitty beds in Broadhurst, huddled up together. She's done some embarrassing crying on both of them - mostly Maya, but also Peregrine.

It feels... selfish, almost, to cry this much when B was hardly the first here to die. But no one has ever died in front of her before... or for her. It's a very recent feeling. She doesn't like it. But she cannot stop crying, and whenever she manages a pause her mind falls back to... well, the fall. Everything that followed. Watching from above, unable to do anything. Unable to change the story.

Maybe that's part of being a narrator, too.

Right now, though, she's just sort of wrapped in blankets between her girlfriend and her... Peregrine. She knows that at some point she has to talk about all of it, about what happened. Tell everyone what she learned. But... Right now she's just waking up, after finally getting a decent (read: longer than like an hour) chunk of sleep. ]

Mm... [ She sniffles. ] Good morning. [ It... might no longer be morning. ]

cryin' down on the broadhurst beds

[mayavericks]

[Slumber hasn't come easy for Maya. What little she could chase has been brief and fleeting, and fraught with dreams of not just the Balladeer's body, but Janis's as well. Sometimes she sees the Wizard looming over the three of them, and Maya can't help but feel as powerless as she had the night prior.

Needless to say, regardless of the hour, Maya is awake when Janis rises. She responds to her voice with a faint sound of her own, before stretching out.]

It's good to hear your voice.

[Speaking of voices, Maya's is sleep worn and deeper than usual.]

Can I get either of you anything?

[comeandfindme]

[ Peregrine shakes her head. She's tired, because sleep sure didn't come easy last night for her either. ]

Nothing you could get me. [ It's soft, not accusatory or bitter. Maya can't make it so Peregrine never ran off into the woods and got maybe herself and her friends killed. She can't bring back Connor or the Balladeer or any of the others. But— ] ...I've got what I need right now, right here.

[ She moves her hand to Janis' shoulder and squeezes it gently. ]

[fourbutts]

[ Janis's voice is approaching a croak when the closest thing to a joke she's made since B died forms in it. ]

I am also very glad to be cuddling on a bed with two hot girls, but if we have some water...?

[ There's no smile to accompany it, and the tone is all wrong, but... maybe nature is healing? ]

[mayavericks]

Water, of course.

[Extracting herself from the tangle of women and blankets is a little easier said than done, but eventually she's on her feet.

She does pause before she can get too far. Bending over, she presses a kiss to Janis's forehead. While she's there, she gives Peregrine a look. It's the sort of expression that says "guard this with your life." Not that Peregrine needs to be told that.

In any case, she heads out the door and to the concession stand.]

[comeandfindme]

[ Ever so subtly, as she moves to sit up, Peregrine returns Maya's look with a small nod. Always. As Maya leaves, Peregrine turns her attention back to Janis. ]

How... How're you doing?

[fourbutts]

[ Janis considers for a second. She seems... genuinely unsure how to answer. ]

Not great? Big, solid not great. [ She sniffs. ] But I can talk again, so... that's neat.

[ Even if she just. Sounds like she's on the edge of tears. ]

[mayavericks]

[At least Maya doesn't take too terribly long to pick up their waters. she grabs as many as she can carry from the concession stand -- probably around six or so. They could all use the hydration, right?

She's back before too long, settling herself silently at the foot of her bed with her spoils of war laid out in front of them.]

[comeandfindme]

Be as not great as you need, okay?

[ She's fine just sitting with Janis, until Maya gets back. It's a little...awkward, at least for her, after all.

That's a lot of water for just Janis, thinks Peregrine, before her brain catches up with her and she realizes why Maya brought it all. Quietly, she murmurs a thank you and takes one of the bottles. ]

[fourbutts]

[ Janis takes a bottle and takes a sip, eyes definitely wet and face definitely a mess, but words are getting easier. ]

Thanks. For the water, but also like... you know.

[ For all of this. ]

[mayavericks]

[Maya smiles faintly, cracking open her own bottle as she does. She takes a slow sip.]

I am almost certain that somewhere in the last few weeks I swore to take care of you both. This is part of that.

[comeandfindme]

[ If not for the qualifier of both Peregrine would've believed Maya was only addressing Janis. But no, it's her too. Somehow, it's her too.

This isn't the time to dissect that. But Peregrine thinks, probably, that time will be soon. ]

Yeah... [ Focus on Janis right now. Peregrine gently rubs her shoulder. ] Goes for me too. Whatever you need, we're here for you.

[fourbutts]

[ Janis nods, putting the cap back on her water and then, after a moment, taking it off again to take another drink. ]

Just... you guys sticking around for right now is a lot. Don't, uh... wander off too far?

[ She's not! Sure what she would do if she lost either of them this week! ]

[mayavericks]

Never.

[She tucks up as close as she can to Janis's side. She tucks her face into her hair, fingers carefully carding through it. They've done this several times before, after all. The repetition should feel reassuring. Or so she hopes.]

We will take good care of you
We will take good care of you
Everything will be withstood
If you just stay with us

[comeandfindme]

[ Oh... Oh, this feels weirdly... Peregrine wraps an arm around Janis' shoulder, a little hesitant, but... ]

We will stay here in the night,
And hold you close with care.
You can lay your feelings bare,
And still we will be here.

[fourbutts]

[ Oh, that's... Janis leans into the touch slightly, pulling a little just to make sure that her hair is all out and not under the blanket or anything. ]

So stay with me
Hold my hand
I don't want
To be brave

[mayavericks]

[Whatever hair is freed is also combed through. Once Maya is satisfied, she leans over to kiss the top of Janis's head.]

And all the quiet nights that scare
Will be ours to share
For we will always be right there
To keep them from hurting you

[comeandfindme]

[ Peregrine leans her face into Janis' neck. Her free hand, it rests over her own heart, where the deer embroidery sits. (Of course she wears it to sleep in, of course she rarely takes it off—)

Like this, for a moment...she can pretend. ]

'Cause all I ever wanted is here.
All I ever wanted,
All I want is,
Always you...

[ ...The hand around Janis' shoulder brushes against Maya's hair. ]

It's always you.

[ This time, Peregrine thinks. This time.

She won't let herself regret it. ]

[fourbutts]

And we're not out of the tunnel
With you I can think there's an end

[ Forward, right? That's the only direction to go, when you're in something like this. Has she ever gone forward, in a show like she has been? Is that what the feeling on the stage was - the same show, the same performance, over and over again.

And if you're a narrator, is that just what life is? ... Is that what the Wizard is?

Janis coughs a little, choking back tears. She puts a hand... she doesn't have the energy to take both of them by the hand, so one hand sort of ends up on each lap to either side of her. ]

Stay with me
Hold my hand
Together we
Can be brave

[mayavericks]

[Maya's hand falls over Janis's. Her head, meanwhile, leans a little closer to Peregrine's. She glances up, just for a moment. It's a promise that, even if they started by singing to Janis, this is just as much for her as well.]

And while we sleep
I'll be scared
so by the time you wake
I'll be brave

[comeandfindme]

[ She catches Maya's eye and a shiver runs down her spine—but for once it's not a bad one.

She's scared. Peregrine's scared. She's so very scared. But this, maybe, is something she can find some comfort in. She gives the deer embroidery one more squeeze before her hand likewise falls over Janis's. ]

I'll be brave.

[fourbutts]

[ Janis doesn't really... have the emotional wherewithal to look directly at either of them right now. But, for the first time since last night... she looks up, taking hold of and squeezing both of their hands. ]

I'll be brave.