Week Six

[stagemanagers]

[Last week, in It's Curtains, the weather changed, and with it your fortune in Dads. Discord took Salieri out - or perhaps Salieri took Discord out - and left the survivors with that much less impulse control. Nonetheless, a visit from a new friend might have provided a little bit of much-needed hope?

On Sunday morning, you'll find that the other side of the second floor has opened up - as well as the actual intended path to reach the roof garden. You can finally stop climbing up that rope every time you want to have a picnic or secret lover's rendezvous!

Outside, the weather seems to have calmed down. It's sunny again, with rather a lot of clouds. Though it's warm, the atmosphere seems very...still.]


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. ))

Comments

[barberic]

[Benjamin holds her in silence, his cheek pressed against her head, rocking gently to the melody of her singing, one arm around her shoulders and the other holding her hand.

He feels almost whole, when he sits with her like this. If he had only had a purpose like this, like her, would he have ever become a killer at all? Or could he have come back from Australia, changed, but still a loving father?

He'll never know. He knows now. He prays Johanna is happy with Anthony, that their marriage is long and blessed, and mourns that he won't be there to see it. He prays Johanna can finally feel the love that should have surrounded her her whole life.

But he has a chance to do more than pray, with Farrah.]

...You aren't a bad girl, you know. I don't want to hear you say that again.

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[The giggles. They'll ruin her... if the thoughts that suddenly flood Cassandra's brain when Elsa asks about her attire don't do the job for it.]

I think you look great. [!] I-I mean, you look fine. We're not going to do anything too crazy. But, uh, you can find a pair of shorts or tights if you want.

[Just gonna.... sliiiiiide past Elsa.]

I'll go... get ready.

[whatyouwant]

Cass!

[Elle tries to rub her eyes dry, not that it helps. She's clearly a mess: her hair un-brushed, no makeup on, eyes red and puffy from crying.]

Its...I got another shitty memory back, it's nothing.

[barberic]

[Ruining his life was only the first of the Judge's crimes, but he wants to protect Maya from knowing about the Judge's intentions with Johanna, if he can.

He shakes his head, still not looking up.]

The Judge escaped me once - he locked Johanna in an asylum, where neither I nor her young suitor could find her for months, and for months I... was possessed--

No, I was consumed. Even now with it fresh in my mind I remember little, like I was dreaming the whole time while awake, but I vowed...

[Not one man, no nor ten men,
Nor a hundred can assuage me
I will have you!!

And I will get him back even as he gloats,
In the meantime I'll practice on less honorable throats]

I vowed to slit every throat in London if that's what it took to get another chance at his.

[He goes silent, then, his head bowed, a convict awaiting judgment.]

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[Please don't touch her flannel!!!]

....I guess? [She can't see the appeal yet, but she supports you, Farrah.] And that I can understand.

So, what are you going to do with it all?

[barberic]

[Benjamin doesn't acknowledge Orpheus' approach, as such.

But the trembling in his shoulders gives way to full on, heart-wracking sobs. For all he's lost and all he'll never see again, for his friends here, buried beneath the earth.

And for the rest of them still alive, that he is the one left behind, when better men have died.]

[employeeoftheyear]

[Oh they're already dating in his eyes.

He smiles innocently at that one comment.]

Michael Eisner?

[Don't forget the demon that is Viacom. I swear it's not unlikely that a Slutcracker situation could happen at any moment.]

I feel like Sissi would be in some sort of home ec class? Like where they teach you proper etiquette and table setting!

[brokeforgood]

[Farrah keeps her head down low as he speaks, but she doesn't draw back. She needs the safety of his company right now, to keep from completely falling apart.]

I am, a little bit. I drink, and skip class, and cheat on tests. They wanted to kick me off the cheer team, but my-- [She hesitates, trying to choose the word. Parents seems a little off, though they weren't the worst. Just a little... overwhelmed and distracted. So, she clarifies.] Annleigh's mom, and my dad, my dad back home-- they pay too much to the school for them to kick me off.

[brokeforgood]

I dunno. Maybe if we find where the Wizard actually lives, I can like, put it in his shoes or something. Or on Hester's chair, so it looks like she had an accident.

... And I'll probably take some down to the garden. To Discord's bench. I think he'd have liked this stuff.

[barberic]

That sounds... like an unhappy girl.

[He holds her tighter. Sure, it's not what a girl her age would do in his time, but he's not sure it's not what one might be inclined to do.

He sniffles back the last of his tears.]

Not a bad one. Not wicked.

Did anyone ask you if you wanted to be on the "cheer team?"

[comeandfindme]

[ Peregrine looks very small, sitting there in her cloak. She closes her eyes tightly. ]

I never told you about why I was doing all this. About...what made me want to learn about...surviving and everything.

It's 'cause two years ago, after his senior prom, my brother Jacob got drunk in the woods and never came home.

[defyingfrigidity]

[I think you look great.

You look fine.

Oh. Oh, okay. That's. Sure! That's totally fine and normal! There's no way Elsa's face is turning redder and redder with each word Cass stumbles over!]

Right. Sure!

[And then she just sort of. Stands there awkwardly until Cass leaves. After she does, Elsa lets out a defeated little sigh before tapping herself hard on the forehead.]

Stupid, stupid....

[And then she walks off, stopping by the costume room to dig through the clothes there. She finds a pair of pants that must have been part of a men's suit, throwing them on before grabbing the practice sword she'd dug up earlier and made her way towards the gym. She'll just sort of... stand there awkwardly until Cass arrives, moving her feet into the positions Maya had shown her earlier, trying to hold her sword up instead of letting it sag down...]

[fourbutts]

[ listen when defunctland starts making episodes about viacom she'll know the names of viacom executives ]

Oh, he... used to make cartoons. His company made one with a princess named Elsa once.

[ Nailed it. ]

That seems right. I assume there are schools out there with home ec still.

[ She ponders. ]

The SQUIP can show up as like. The mean computer center overseer guy. No one likes that guy.

[fourbutts]

[ Janis swallows, turning her attention from the canvas fully to Peregrine ]

Oh shit. Yeah, that would do it.

[comeandfindme]

[ If Peregrine takes any offense, she doesn't show it. She's just ridiculously out of it. ]

...I'll probably be fine. You, though— you shouldn't... No one else should be out here. Especially not by yourself.

[howtheworldwas]

[ Eurydice is willing to go along with what Benjamin is saying -- up to a point. She doesn't know what he's talking about, nor does she know what he remembered. But she knows a lot about hell. ]

No. In hell, you'd forget them all, and only remember the grief, forever.

[ I remember flowers... ]

I don't know why you think you're a monster. Maybe you were one, before this. [ That's not for her to judge. ] But you haven't been one here. This place is awful, but... [ she looks down at the graves. ] ...it was my second chance. Maybe it's yours, too.

[brokeforgood]

[She lets go of his hand-- only briefly, to move and dig through her bag, abandoned on the floor by the bed-- and hand him one of the handkerchiefs she's kept. Despite having admitted she has no idea how the washing machine works, she's kept these meticulously cleaned and folded, like she's been scrubbing them herself in the sink.

It gives her time to think it over.]

Mmm-- I don't think so, originally. Annleigh was already on the team, and it made sense for us to be in the same after-school activities, especially once Clark started driving her everywhere. But I did like it. Even... Even after--

[howtheworldwas]

I'm all right. [ She smiles, almost teasing.

Spongebob isn't wrong. She nods, the smile falling from her face. ]

Mm. Probably because what happened was -- [ she takes a deep, shuddering breath. ] -- really, really awful.

[comeandfindme]

[ It's okay. Peregrine doesn't notice much of anything right now, too engulfed in her own grief to. ]

...It doesn't matter. He can't... He won't come, anyway.

[brokeforgood]

I've got Ruddiger with me. [She knows what Per means, though.]

The buddy system didn't exactly work out for me, so.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ The hopeful glow of all the good news Orpheus has received recently has yet to wear off on Monday. He wakes early, per usual, in Longacre before going through his morning routine. Shower in the boys' locker room, breakfast in the cafeteria. He's got more coins from whatever mysterious benefactor keeps handing them out, so in the hopes of not having to use them for anything else, he heads to the machine and starts loading them in.

Seventy six more trombones come out, which he's narrowly able to sidestep, along with another Death Note - now that Hester's said they have no real power, he's a little less anxious about it, but he still sets it aside with the intent to take it outside and burn it later. He also gets one of those strange blue plush toys of some unidentifiable creature, an entire French flag, and a bunch of other garbage, when at last something clunks in the machine, apparently getting stuck inside. Frowning in confusion, Orpheus kneels next to it and slides his hand into the slot, fishing around until he's able to get a grip on the object lodged inside. He pulls it free, and -

Finally, after all these years; Orpheus, son of Calliope has a gun

He drops it immediately with a yelp and it skitters across the floor, under one of the tables.

Anyway, after that debacle and after he sorts all of his garbage into the appropriate rooms for storage, he'll head outside to the woods to burn the Death Note, sitting down cross-legged next to the fire and humming softly to himself. If anyone happens across him while he's doing that, he'll wave them over cheerfully and gesture to the ground beside him. ]

Hi! Sorry if the smoke worried you, I just got another one of those cursed notebooks out of the machine.

[ He beams, figuring that's explanation enough. When the fire's burned down, he'll make his way up to the art room with a book he found in the library. Gathering a stack of paper in various shades of red and pink, he carefully cuts them into squares before folding each one into a delicate paper flower. Over the course of the day he develops quite the collection of them, covering the table where he's sitting as he tries out a few different styles but mostly sticks to the roughly carnation-looking ones, which look more and more practiced with each one he does. He hums to himself quietly as he works, gradually surrounding himself with flowers. ]

[comeandfindme]

[ How long? ...The clouds have moved quite a bit. A little helplessly, she shrugs. ]

Awhile? I'm not really keeping track of time.

take me out to the ball game

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Honestly Orpheus is more drawn in by the entire horse that's just been wandering the school grounds than anything else. He's pretty sure it's been here for a while, but due to circumstances he hasn't really had the chance to investigate until now. ]

Hi, Cassandra! [ He calls, loud enough to be heard but hopefully not loud enough to spook her equine friend. ] Is that your horse?

[barberic]

[He listens to her. She's always been sensible. Practical.

She's the one whose experience most closely mirrors his own. At least, he'd thought. Would it really be worse to remember nothing but the grief? He doesn't think anything could be worse than the pain he feels right now.]

...But why me? I'm just... a foolish barber. A butcher. A madman. I let myself be put down, like a rabid dog.

[Who would waste their time to save a man like me?]

[feudalladyshandmaid]

Yeah, it's me. [Yup. That's a mess alright, but Cass won't bring it up, even with her questions.]

I, uh, understand. [She steps into the room proper, and heads over to join Elle at her bed.] Do you... want to talk about it? That's usually supposed to help.