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

[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.]

[themuseabandonsyou]

Oh, yes. [ Right, this isn't really the nicest place in the school to spend a lot of time. ] We can talk in the cafeteria, maybe? I'll be out in a minute, I was just here to try to wash a stain out of my shirt.

[ He gestures to a splotch of coffee-brown, among the paint stains from where Discord hit him with a paintbrush a couple weeks back. ]

[barberic]

[Benjamin nods.]

I was thinking about going there myself. I'll meet you there.

[And then he moves past Orpheus, to the door.]

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus arrives in the cafeteria a few minutes later, a wet spot on his shirt from his attempts to wash the stain out. Given he was trying to get a coffee stain out in the sink with nothing but handsoap and determination, he did a pretty alright job, but it's still there. ]

Hi again, Mister Barker. [ he says. ] Is there something specific you wanted to talk about, or would you just like some company for now?

[barberic]

[Benjamin has taken a seat a table, but there's no indication that he has, or plans to eat or drink anything. His shoulders are hunched, crossed arms propped on the cold plastic tabletop, staring down at the table with a distant expression.

When Orpheus approaches, he tries to summon something like a veneer of normalcy, although it's an exhausted shadow of his former self. He uncrosses his arms and sits up to turn to face him.]

...Just some company, I think, lad.

[He rubs one hand over his whiskers, from mustache to chin, then cradles that wrist in the other hand, almost unconsciously, as if he expects something to be there that isn't.]

These past couple of days, when I'm alone I fall into my own head, and that's not... going to help anybody.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus watches with some concern as Mister Barker runs a hand over his face, and his wrist, unsure of what the gesture might mean. He puts it aside for now, though, and tries to summon up a sympathetic smile. ]

Sometimes it's nice just to have someone nearby. It makes it harder to just... obsess over things.

[ He knows what that's like, in a way. Maybe not what Benjamin is going through exactly, but being so stuck in his own head that not even an angry god yelling at him to come down to Earth could drag him back out. His expression flickers a little bit as he sits down, but he manages to pull it together. ]

There's been a lot to think about, recently, and I don't really know what to make of any of it? But at least we're all going through it together, and can be there for each other.

[barberic]

[Orpheus' voice is very easy to listen to. He's a nice boy in so many other ways as well, of course. Very agreeable and easy to get along with. So different from the men on the chain gang with him

Benjamin nods his agreement, looking from Orpheus down at the table.]

Right you are, lad.

[But he still sounds a little distracted, anyway, before he takes a deep breath and straightens his shoulders to look back up at Orpheus.]

I want to thank you. You've been a friend to me, and everyone else here. It's made it a little easier to make the best of an awful situation.

[themuseabandonsyou]

Oh, of course. [ says Orpheus, smiling at him gently. ]

I think it's really important to be kind, especially when times are hard. I'm glad it's helping, even if it's only a little bit.

[ There's only so much he can do, in a situation like this, but by the gods he will do whatever he can. ]

If there's anything I can do to help, please, just let me know. I can get us something to eat or drink while we're here, if you want?

[barberic]

No, no, you just sat down, I wouldn't ask that of you.

[He waves off the offer for food or drink.]

How is your song coming along? If you don't mind my asking.

[He's interested, but it's also clear that he's running through topics to try and get Orpheus to just... talk at him, so that he doesn't have to think for a little while.

This may backfire a little, but at least it will be Orpheus' problems on the conversation table and not his own.]

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Boy it sure might. Orpheus cringes a little bit. ]

I, um. I remembered some things too, and I didn't really... finish it in time.

[ He says, voice growing quieter and quieter as he speaks. ]

It could still work, I guess. But I don't... I haven't felt like working on it much. After what I remembered.

[barberic]

[Benjamin's expression falls, to match. He'd been genuinely hoping at least one of them remembered something good.]

That's a shame. I'm sorry to hear that.

[With that news, he doesn't dare ask about Eurydice, for fear there's two of them this week who remember being separated from their wives.]

Is there anything that can be done? When you get home.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus thinks about how much to tell Benjamin, because as much as he wants to confide, it's Eurydice's business too, and he doesn't know how much she wants him to tell. So he sits there for a quiet moment, before saying, ]

I'm... going to have to do something impossible. To make things right. Even more impossible than fixing the seasons with a song. But I don't know what else to do. There's nothing else to do, but try.