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

[howtheworldwas]

Thanks.

[ Eurydice's tone is a little gentler -- she definitely means it. Still, she has to add: ]

You know if it had worked, it wouldn't have solved anything, right?

[howtheworldwas]

[ Eurydice hears that shut up as she's about to enter the room. She knows Farrah isn't talking to her, but even so: ]

Can I come in? I'll be quiet. [ her tone is soft, gentle. she's not mad. ]

cw suicide discussion

[employeeoftheyear]

[There is a long, meaningful pause, before Spongebob speaks up.]

... It would have solved one thing.

It would have solved my fear of dying alone in this school.

Afternoon

[barberic]

[Despite grounding her to Ambassador since the crash that morning, Benjamin hasn't been keeping a strict watch on her, per se, relying more on her headache and this damned illness to keep her obedient to her punishment.

But he hasn't been able to sit down with her and face her, until he himself calmed down, so that he didn't accidentally turn his worry into anger and wind up lashing out. And stopped seeing things that weren't there, for the time being.

So when he comes in to see her again, it's around lunchtime, after they've both had some time to calm down. He's carrying one of the cafeteria trays, and he moves to sit on the bed next to her, setting it down on the nightstand and reaching out to stroke her head through her blanket hood.]

How are you feeling, princess?

[defyingfrigidity]

[Elsa doesn't fight the hug at all. As soon as he's close enough, her arms curl around him in return and holds him tightly as he cries. Elsa is, above all other things, a big sister, and though Anna will always be her number one sister, she's found those feelings extended to the others trapped here more and more as the weeks go on.

So she'll just sit there with him, rubbing Spongebob's back as she lets him cry it all out.]

It's okay, it's okay...

[As she gently rocks back and forth, trying to calm him as he cries, Elsa hums.]

"Come stop your crying, it'll be all right
just take my hand, hold it tight
I will protect you from all around you
I will be here, don't you cry"

[brokeforgood]

[Eurydice doesn’t seem mad. And Orpheus had told her that she wasn’t mad.

But still, Farrah’s terrified.

She hates the idea that she’s let her down. That Eurydice might be disappointed in her. So when she enters, Farrah turns her head swiftly to look.]

I-it’s okay. I wasn’t taking to you.

[employeeoftheyear]

[The initial disappointment of being told that the vision he was wasn't actually there is replaced by the horror when he realizes that it's Per.

He remembers Per being scared that he would leave her, how he kept trying to reassure her that it won't be by choice if he leaves her.

How he was a horrible hypocrite.]

Per-- I'm so sorry about this morning. I-I really wasn't thinking straight, but what I did was horrible and understand if you hate me for it.

[mayavericks]

Between -- Discord. And Salieri.

You remember, right?

[themuseabandonsyou]

Oh! [ says Orpheus, though he's careful to exclaim quietly, not wanting to scare the thing off. ] Did you come out of the machine? I haven't seen you here before. Um, hold on.

[ And he'll start to sing again, relying on the way his voice can sometimes charm animals to try to get close enough to pick it up. If it belongs to one of the others, he should probably bring it back inside, right? ]

Won't you decide?
Won't you decide?
I want you to soar
Don't doubt anymore

Concession Stand

[defyingfrigidity]

[Elsa hadn't been meaning to pass the vending machine. She'd been passing through the cafeteria on her way to the kitchen, intending to scrounge up some soup to fight off the cold stuffing up her nose and head. She noticed a figure at the strange machine, but through the haze of her sickness, didn't really register who it was until she heard the piercing scream.

Elsa's panic lances through any fog in her brain, her senses lighting up with absolute clarity, and her feet are moving before she even fully registers what's going on, running towards her new girlfriend.]

Cass! What's wrong?!

[defyingfrigidity]

[Orpheus's lack of desire to needle, honestly, means it's easier to open up to him about things. He's so calm, so accepting... she doesn't feel like she's being judged with him, or like she's some form of entertainment. It's just... nice.]

I don't know... I've never really been in love before, and the only experience i know of is from books. You make it seem so easy, but...

[She fiddles more with the paper lily in her hands, trying to straighten out the lumpy parts in the flower.]

I... I want to make Cass happy. But I think too much every time I wonder what I could do for her.

[howtheworldwas]

[ she figured. slowly, eurydice crosses the threshold and approaches farrah. ]

You've got someone in the back of your mind too, huh?

[employeeoftheyear]

[He lets out a shuddering exhale, rubbing the tears from his eyes before looking up at Orpheus.]

Yeah, of course you can tell me.

[mayavericks]

I was not aware that recovery was meant to be so easy. [She shakes her head.] Surely if our roles were reversed, you would say it would be unreasonable for me to expect to past my grief.

[She breathes out faintly.]

You have every right to be angry. And she has every right to be angry with you, too, I think. Moreover, I... think it would be unfair for me to urge you both to reconcile before you are ready. But I hope you will be able to manage it soon. I don't want to see us so divided right now.

[feudalladyshandmaid]

It burns! I can't put it out!

[She grips her arm rightly, hissing in pain as though she really is getting burned. Her scarred hand, the one Elsa has put so much work into, is awash in magical fire.

Or, maybe it isn't.]

[themuseabandonsyou]

Right! What should I do?

[ Orpheus has... some amount of lean muscle on him, but it's pretty much all from walking and hiking and carrying around crates of supplies at the bar where he works. He doesn't have the faintest idea of how to properly use actual gym equipment, and isn't nearly confident enough to just try jumping in without help. Especially not after watching Angus fall like that. ]

[brokeforgood]

[Even if she weren’t sick, she’d have stayed put. If she feels guilty about what she’s done—- it’s because of Benji. For the man who couldn’t lose another daughter. Who she’d snuck away from in the middle of the night. Who she hadn’t been able to promise that she wouldn’t do anything like this.

So sure, she’s moping. But she puts on a solemn face when he enters the room. She’s ready for him to yell at her— maybe tell her to go back to Longacre. She’ll take whatever it is. She deserves it, surely.

But then—- he calls her princess. He touches her head softly. And she realizes he’s brought her lunch.]

…Like shit. [Well. At least she’s honest.]

[fourbutts]

Look at you, being all reasonable.

[ She sighs. ]

I'm okay to try to make up, but... I think she's, like, really angry at me right now. So.

[brokeforgood]

A few someone’s.

I’d introduce you to Annleigh, but she’s not real.

[mayavericks]

If it were a fever, then that would mean that I'm sick. [She shakes her head. A few times, even.]

The Wizard is a creature of lies. He's playing games, toying with us. That's all.

[barberic]

[Benjamin is focused on adding the red crosses over the eyes, and guilt and anxiety are the two biggest emotions on his mind right now. The frantic, nauseating kind of guilt that gnaws at you.

When he hears Angus' voice, he hears hers too, something like Scot, get it while it's hot, as if she's whispering it in his ear, and he jerks, shakes her off like a fly.

He sucks in a sharp breath and puts on a smile.]

Good morning, Your Highness. No, nothing's happened, but I remembered something that finally helped me put my finger on why they always smelled so familiar. I think it's my landlady's recipe, but if it is I wouldn't trust 'em knowing where she gets her meat from.

[themuseabandonsyou]

That's... a complicated question. Some priests - they'll tell you that everything is already woven into the tapestry the Fates weave. Everyone who ever was and is and will be, and their lives and loves and deaths. That everything happens for a reason, and they have a plan for everybody.

But others say the Fates don't actually foretell anything. They just record it all, and maybe they nudge people in certain directions sometimes, but that's all they do. Make suggestions. And nothing is inevitable, and when something happens it's just because of all the things that lead up to it and sometimes just random chance, and no grand plan or destiny or anything like that.

[ He sighs, leaning back and propping himself up on his elbows as he looks up at the sky. The first stars are just starting to come out, all in the wrong places. ]

But you asked what I think? And I... I think it's the second one. I want to believe we have control over our decisions, even if it means we sometimes make the wrong ones for no reason. The idea that everything is inevitable just scares me too much, even if it gives those wrong decisions meaning.

[mayavericks]

I'm learning from one of the best, you see.

[Maya holds out her hands for Janis to squeeze.]

I can try talking to her first, if you would prefer? At least... get a feel for how she's feeling?

[defyingfrigidity]

[Elsa's been sick all week. She thought she was seeing things, but everything's just hazy for her. So when Cass grips her hand, screaming and swatting at nothing, Elsa... well. It's wrong to say she doesn't panic, because she does - she panics at seeing Cass so terrified, but she wastes no time in reaching out, taking her new girlfriend's scarred hand between both of her own.

The fire Cass sees flares, but despite licking against Elsa's skin, leaves no burns. Her skin is as pale and soft as ever.]

It's okay, Cass! Here- just focus on me!

[comeandfindme]

[ For a moment, she tenses. Like maybe the illusion (the hallucination) is broken. But then she presses against the air, packing in something only she can see. She doesn't look at Janis. ]

I...said I coulda found my way back too. But... I don't know anymore. I- I think I...needed you to-

To come and find me. [ ... ] You saved me. You saved...me and Woodsley.