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

[comeandfindme]

Really? You’re gonna tell me even though I got him involved in all this, I pushed my way into his life, it’s not my fault?

[mayavericks]

At the end of the day, it does mean something. You learned. Even if it was a horrible lesson and painful to bear, you still learned. And... if nothing else, you know how important the people you have left are.

[comeandfindme]

[ Softly, she shakes her head. Because it's going to happen again. And again. And again. She tries to step back, out of Maya's embrace. ]

What if there's nothing more to us
We're just carbon-based
We're just pixie dust?
What if life is a magic trick
Some quick sleight of hand just to make us think?
What if consciousness can't expand
And we fool ourselves with absurd demands?
What if there is no point at all;
We just grow up to fade away?

Will we be alright, left alone tonight?
Will we be alright, left alone tonight?
Will we get lost slowly drifting through these dead end lonesome heights?
Will we be alright, left alone tonight?

[fourbutts]

And he chose to take you out there. He chose to train you. He's an adult, Per. Fuck that, he's a person. People make their own choices.

[comeandfindme]

'Cause I wouldn't leave him alone! [ It's the first time Peregrine's raised her voice today. Not very loud? But still. ] He didn't even— even think we'd go through with it! He thought it was crazy. But I pushed it. I didn't listen— mom, Lexy, everyone— they had to lead a...a fucking search party. And I didn't think— he walked us out, farther than any of us, and if we were having trouble—

I let it happen. I shoulda looked for him. I shoulda listened. You don't get to tell me— I had to have been able to do something.

[fourbutts]

Then he shouldn't have taken you out there, Per!

[ It's times like this it would be better if Janis didn't... have a slight anger management problem. ]

Yeah, you're hurting
Really hurting
But you didn't kill that guy
You made choices
He made choices
You don't choose who lives or dies!

If he was who you say he was, it was his job to make the call not to go. I get that it hurts, and I'm sorry you lost him, but I'm not going to sit here and let you blame yourself for it!

[ Genuinely and truly, she unfortunately likes Peregrine too much. ]

[comeandfindme]

[ Peregrine stands. The fire's back in her. For better or for worse. ]

So you're saying that's it, it's just another fucking tragedy, nothing I could've done, nothing anyone could've done to prevent it! That the guy who knew how to- to keep himself alive for years— that I didn't have any responsibility?

[mayavericks]

[Maya hates it. She hates what she's hearing, and she hates that she can feel Peregrine drifting away even as the words come out. Her own grip tightens, clutching onto her partner's arms tighter. If she just keeps hold, Peregrine won't drift away. She'd made the mistake of not keeping a tighter hold of Discord, of Salieri, of Varian and Rina, and Mumble before them. She can't do that today. She can't do it anymore.

Peregrine had called her the best of them. The steadying force. That makes his her responsibility.]


It started unexpectedly
Before I knew it, you changed my fate.
I awoke
The moment our voices joined together
Although you have started moving backward, I will not let you go alone.

Our hope will come.

The promise we planted together
Is in full bloom, guided by the stars
I will not lose anymore, I will not give up
I will reach out towards you
You will not run away, You will not cry as we head toward our promised place
I've been with you all this time
Once again, the bonds of the stars that bring us together can bring about a miracle

[feudalladyshandmaid]

It happens more often than I ever thought it does. But we're still here. That counts for something, doesn't it?

cw: self-harm

[barberic]

[He draws himself a little more upright, though his head remains bowed, his injured left hand curling into a fist and the right curling around it and squeezing tight.

He thinks he understands Discord and Antonio's choice a little better now. He's, equally, more furious with them, for taking it and slamming that door closed to him.]

...What am I, then?

[employeeoftheyear]

But everyone else was really scared too. They were practically ripping each other's throats out when I cam down from the volcano, but...

But I still kept them together.

[He leans against her, sighing.]

I know it's different here, I just... I just wish.

I wish I was there for Mr. Salieri.

[mcfife]

Emmett? One of your classmates?

[That's such a small number of supporters there. Especially if Harvard is supposed to be a world-class law school.]

You can't be so despised that no one else will come to your aid.

cw: slight self-harm

[barberic]

[Benjamin takes a few deep, shaky breaths to try and choke back the tidal wave of grief he's drowning under. He clenches his hands into fists, the burn of the cut on his palm a welcome ache.

His voice is a deep, rough wreck.]

I don't... I don't know if I can do it, this time.

[His strong back is bent, bowed, broken under the weight of his pain and regret.]

garden

[mcfife]

[On the other end of the garden benches, Angus makes his offerings.

Today, he must stop wallowing in his misery. Everyone, the ghosts, are watching him. Mumble and Connor and Rina and Salieri wouldn't want their deaths to be in vain. The SQUIP must be shown that humanity can be better. Discord would probably be disappointed if Angus ran off to be alone again. So he will be better. For all of them.

He has his own gifts, tap shoes for Mumble the penguin-man, a multi-colored scarf and coat for the SQUIP.] You never had any other focus in life than Jeremy, but being human means appreciating the smaller things in life. Such as art and fashion. [...They may look terrible according to it, but robots have to start somewhere. Angus can try to reach out to the robot from the realm of the living; giving up after its death would be shameful.

He stands up, walking around the benches for a final show of respect, before stopping by Eurydice as she sings.]

Spring will come soon. There is no mistaking it.

[stagemanagers]

[There's a very strong vibe of togetherness here. Whether that's recent or not...hard to say.

You love this place. You hate this place.]

[mcfife]

But I did just that last time. I felt nothing of its evil at the start.

[He wonders - if he had known this when in Fife, how much time would he have had? Did it act slowly in the opera house because of a similar restriction on magic? Would he only have minutes to spare? At least Fife has plenty of active volcanoes to make quick work of that.]

Once Elsa gets her magic back, then it means the Wizard has removed the magic dampers, and it will work quickly. Reverting it or slowing it - if you can perform such a feat, I will be eternally grateful. But I have to accept that I may die to keep everyone safe.

[barberic]

[Benjamin shifts as needed to accommodate her as she wiggles and reaches into her bag again, looking over her shoulder at the little device she produces.

He doesn't have time to marvel at the wonders of video - or color photography - before she gets thrown up in the air, too high. Cuddled close as they are, it's easy to feel him tense up and hold his breath even before she hits the ground. But when he hears the crowd start laughing, his blood pressure spikes, an almost tangible rise in temperature.

His bloodlust is extinguished, but for a moment it threatens to rise again, a high, tremulous violin note that vibrates, and then disappears.]

You could have been killed. And they all laughed?

[barberic]

...Start over from here?

[How could he possibly? The thought that he could have a life after this place, well, it's been the furthest thing from his mind for going on three weeks, now.]

Or go back, with the Judge still alive and in possession of my daughter, and my beautiful wife, wandering the streets like a ghost.

It feels like the actions of another man, still. I want to believe that I would choose differently, that I wouldn't let revenge drive me completely mad.

But to save Johanna from her mother's fate, or worse... I would still go after the Judge. What father wouldn't? When a man older than he is confesses his desires for his sixteen-year-old daughter?

[And who may it be said is your intended, sir?
"My ward... Oh, and pretty as a rosebud!"
As pretty as her mother?]

I would do the same for you or Farrah. Or any other girl here. If a man old enough to be your father wanted to have you like that.

[barberic]

[Benjamin takes a breath and holds it, swallowing the excess of saliva that's flushed his mouth.

When he speaks, his voice has a gravel to it.]

I'm fine, lad.

[He comes closer, staring down at the meat pie with an unreadable expression.]

May I?

[brokeforgood]

[She feels him tense beside her, and wishes she still tensed before the fall. Wishes that her own fall still evoked some kind of emotion in her, other than shame. She drops the phone, abandons it, and she presses her cheek back against his chest. His rage is almost it's own kind of safety.]

It was only minor injuries. A concussion and I sprained my wrist, but-- [She extends her arm and flops her wrist around as if to show him how well it healed.] I can do cartwheels and handstands again.

But yeah. They all laughed. And when I went back to school, everyone acted like I was the one who screwed up! Kids falling down in the halls. And then-- it wasn't just at school. It was-- everywhere. At the mall, online--

Janis saw it. Connor saw it online too, but... he didn't watch. [She has to pull back her hand now, done showing its full range of motion, to wipe the tear away that has escaped.]

But I still wanted to cheer. I was good at it, even if no one else wanted me on the team anymore.

[comeandfindme]

[ She's been through this before. She knows what she'll do. She'll push those closest to her into doing things they don't want to. She'll insist she's doing it for the right reasons, even when all she's doing is being selfish. She'll lash out, and she'll hurt them, and she'll blindly wander down the wrong path until her mistakes get someone else killed.

She can't handle it again. Not another time. That's why Peregrine tries to run. That's why she tries to retreat, to withdraw from yet another person who loves her.

But Maya won't let her. ]

When you're used to alone,
When you're used to assuming that
No one else knows what you know—

[ One of her shaking hands cups Maya's cheek. ]

Someone's love feels impossibly good.
Someone's love feels like home.

[ Peregrine can't do this again. But she can't be alone, either. ]

[comeandfindme]

[ ... ]

I don't know anymore.

[defyingfrigidity]

[Oh. Okay. Cass is getting close already. That's... that's fine!]

... I had one brief lesson earlier today. [She laughs nervously, but shifts into the position Maya had shown her before.] I know a little about parrying, but that's about it.

[defyingfrigidity]

[Elsa lets out a slow breath as she watches Maya's demonstration; not because it looks so overly complicated, no. The steps and movements seem simple, especially to someone who uses very fluid movements to summon her magic. The problem is that it looks so... easy.]

To think that such a simple motion could end a life like that...

Art Room

[defyingfrigidity]

[Oh. Oh, hey. That... looks familiar. Watching Orpheus fold the paper into intricate little shapes makes a harsh pang lance through Elsa's chest; she'd watched Discord do something similar last week, at the ofrenda. He'd used magic, and she'd tried her best to fold along, but... she couldn't quite get it right.]

Hey...

[She's always careful to announce herself now, after so many weeks trapped in this place and surrounded by death. With how many accidents they've had, they can't be too careful now.]

Can I help?