itscurtains | Week Five

Entry tags:

act 3,
week 5

Week Five

[Last week, you had your very first minor body pileup! Granted, the Balladeer's death was entirely unrelated to anything, but at least he died as he lived - getting completely fucked up in some kind of carnival-themed hellscape. Only two days later, another terrible accident took Rina and Varian both from you. It's just been one of those weeks, huh? At least you got to add both of their corpses to your weird growing collection!

Again, you'll wake up this morning with another new snippet of memory. You'll also find that the stairs in the lobby are no longer blocked. You can only access one part of the second floor, but it seems like there's some neat stuff up there!

Outside, a few things seem to have changed. For one, the weather has turned - it'll be overcast this week, with periodic rain and even scattered thunderstorms. For another, the bushes around that rock out by the football field have bloomed. That's nice.

Get to it, friends! I'm sure everything will be fine this week!]

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday

(( Be sure to submit your memory regain and your AC for this week! As always, Hester's office hours and the merch booth remain available. ))

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[ In the morning, Janis wakes up with a healthy number of coins! So the first thing she does, as the sky threatens to start with the rain, is put those in at the vending machine! But that's... a generally unremarkable experience.

Except for the uh. Horse gift certificate? ]

Oh, fun. New weird vending machine thing dropped.

[ She said, before heading out to the courtyard and uh. ]

... Horse. Jesus. Uh... hi?

[ And as she says that, the sky opens up. ]

Okay! Time to learn how to move a horse very quickly!

[ So that's... that's how her morning is going, before the blackout.

Once that's been resolved, Janis changes into the convenient dry and warm flannel thoughtfully provided by the vending machine and actually... heads to the library with a candle to do some reading. She starts with this one, which she... seems to have very quickly gotten bored of and traded in for just doing some doodling. ...In its margins, like a criminal. Come say hi? ]

[Farrah's come back to the library for some more entertainment, though she's not sure what exactly she's going to be getting into, yet. Her hair's still wet from her own adventure outside, and it's hanging down loose and free, but she's at least changed into dry clothes-- most noticeably, a too-big jacket that definitely had been seen on the Balladeer before.

She almost regrets wearing it when she sees Janis. But if she shrugs it off or darts out of the library at this point, it'll be weird. And the jacket makes her feel safe, and taken care of, like B did, and it still smells like him a little-- so she doesn't really want to take it off. So, she goes with the only option-- act super chill and like nothing weird is going on here, whatsoever. Armed with her flashlight, she strides into the library, and sits down on the table that Janis is reading at.]

Oooh. Queen Bees and Wannabes-- a scary story to read in the dark.

[ If she's bothered by the jacket she doesn't say, at least not immediately (could be the visibility level in the room), but she does wiggle her fingers a little in response. ]

We're all haunted by the ghost of Regina George. Or uh. Sara Berry. Either/or.

That's truly terrifying. There's nothing scarier than a teenage girl. [Is she serious, or teasing? It's hard to tell, with Farrah, but she feels comfortable enough with Janis. Which leads her to...]

I have a weird question for you.

That's true in several different socially-relevant ways.

[ Janis raises an eyebrow, setting the book to the side. ]

Lay it on me.

A few weeks ago, you told me about how one of your friends did something really fucked up. [She eyes the book again. Huh. Well, that makes sense.]

Did you know before then? That you were a lesbian?

[ Oh. That's an actual question. Janis exhales, considering. ]

I mean... I was still figuring it out? There's sort of a... gap, I guess, between when you realize why you like your first girl and realizing that you actually like girls? It's not like- I mean sometimes it's a lightswitch, I guess, but it definitely wasn't for me.

Hm.

[And that's... All there is to that, Farrah's expression serious and unreadable-- probably especially so in the dark.]

Okay. Cool.

Yeah.

[ A beat. ]

You, uh... have any other questions about liking girls?

Ugh. No, not really. It's just confusing.

There was this girl on our team that was super fuckin gay-- [Oh. Wow. Foot in mouth. She shoots Janis the briefest of apologetic looks] So I always figured if you knew you just knew, and it was like that. Done. Bam. You're a lesbian, and everyone super knows it.

[ A brief shrug. As someone who is also Super Fuckin Gay, like. She gets it. ]

Yeah, heteronormativity will fuck you up. I've super known for a while, but I mean. There's a whole rainbow for a reason, you know? Being gay - or bi, or pan, or whatever - takes all kinds. Sometimes it takes longer for the person to figure it out than it takes the people around them. [ she's mad at u right now cady heron but this doesnt change the fact that you are one hayley kiyoko video away from a bi awakening at all times ]

[Farrah groans.]

I could have skipped all this by just staying dead-- fucking stupid wizard, making me feel weird and nervous and there's no way to know because it's not like...

Ugh.

That's the bitch of living.

[ Her voice softens. ]

Not like what?

...It's not like either of them is still around. [There. She said it. As close as she'll get to saying it, anyway.

She tugs B's jacket closer around her, and closes her eyes. Remembering how he had taken care of her, and how it had felt to be safe. It was almost how Varian and Rina had made her feel. Almost. But different.]

Ah.

[ It's not that she had no idea, really, just... oof. She reaches over and puts a hand on Farrah's shoulder, if just because she's not sure they're close enough to like. Hug. ]

Yeah, that ranks pretty high on the "shitty ways to find out you might be bi" list. Sorry, girl.

Just one more thing to fail at. [She sighs, leaning forward to let Janis pat her shoulder.]

Oh well. Thanks for talking with me about it.

[ Janis shakes her head. ]

Nah, you didn't fail. You figured something out, and it was because of something really shitty. Just because something bad happens, doesn't mean you fucked up, you know?

[ She nods. ]

Anytime.

Probably. I'm discovering self-esteem at the same snail-pace that I'm discovering my love life. [At least she's honest? I guess?]

Did Maya ever figure out how to get that mattress on the roof?

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fourbutts - 2021-07-02 01:18 (UTC) - Expand

[Hey, here comes Cassandra, coming out from the woods, Owl at her side. No sign of... anything, really. And now the sky was cracking open like some great door, and rain was starting to fall.

Oh hey, there's Janis. And... a horse?

Wait, that horse is real.

WAIT, SHE KNOWS THAT HORSE.]

Fidella?

[ Janis looks over from examining the horse. ]

Is that an "I know this horse's name," or is that a "I've lost it and I'm calling Janis something different now?"

The former, definitely.

[Fidella whinnies, content with whatever Janis was trying to do (she could sense horse girl vibes) but more excited to see such a familiar face. And Cassandra steps up without fear, running her hand over Fidella's snout.]

This is Fidella. She's... she's my horse. [And her friend from the sounds of it.] Where did you find her?

[ Janis waves at the horse! ]

Uh... the vending machine gave me a horse certificate, and then she was out here. Guess they couldn't fit her in.

A... horse certificate? Seriously?

[It's hard to say whether she's more surprised at the news that Fidella was in there, frustrated that this happened twice, or appalled at the gall to give someone a certificate before dumping the horse outside. Maybe it's all three.]

First my owl, and now my horse? What's next? The castle?

If I get a full-size castle out of the vending machine, I am keeping it. I'm sorry.

[ She frowns, eyebrows knitting together. ]

It's super weird how there are living things in there, though.

Good luck cleaning it. It's a nightmare.

[She would know.]

Gee, ya think? This is the second friend from home that's been stuck inside that thing. I don't even understand how it works.

[She continues to pet Fidella's flank. Owl, happy to see yet another familiar face, has settled on the horse's back. He likes to be tall and watch everyone.]

...You don't think they could have starved, do you?

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