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]

[ Her head jerks up and she really looks at Orpheus for the first time. ]

What? No. No, of course not.

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[Fidella shuffles closer to the outstretched hand, her eyes watching him with a certain level of understanding. Provided Orpheus doesn't move away, she will very gently press her snout into his palm.]

Actually, no. If you can believe it. [she scoffs.] Apparently, Janis got a piece of paper out of the machine that pointed her outside, and Fidella was just... there.

[Fidella huffs, as though she's as put off by it as everyone else.]

[barberic]

[He tries very hard not to snort at that.]

Why don't you wait in the cafeteria, and I'll bring you some soup in a minute. I'm no chef, but I think I can manage that.

[feudalladyshandmaid]

Honestly? What's another thing on top of it all.

[Hmm. No. That's not right.]

It'll... help to get it off your chest? That's what I've heard.

[That's better.]

[barberic]

[They're disheveled, but at least they're not dirty. At least, not filthy. Being right-handed, and the fact that it hurts to use it, makes it easier to avoid getting it wet.]

...If that will please you, then yes.

[I can't say no to you.]

[brokeforgood]

[Farrah’s also trying to remind herself that she’s alive. When she’s very quiet, she can hear her heartbeat thrumming in her ears—- and with her head so close to him like this, she can also hear his.

She chews on her lip when he asks the next question.]

No. What?

[themuseabandonsyou]

They're hard things to believe in, in a place like this.

[ Orpheus admits. Especially here, specifically, staring down into Antonio and Discord's graves. But he looks up, looks at Benjamin, expression one of determination. ]

I can't let go, though. No matter how much happens here. What else do we have, but hope, and each other? What will happen, if we just give in?

[ Like Antonio did. Like Discord was going to. ]

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[Cass thought that if she heard Elsa laugh it would be over for her. She'd be done. Laughing at a confession? Probably worse than a death sentence... Yet, Elsa's laugh is as musical and bright as ever. Add in Elsa's hand trailing up into her graying, kinked locks, and suddenly the scene is so, so relaxing.]

I've never acted on my feelings before! I didn't want to ruin what we had already, but then Elle found out over truth or dare, and then she started advocating for me, and then told me I had to live my life and I think she's actually right...

[She closes her mouth, but fills her cheeks with a quiet scream.]

So I guess... we're both bad at this.

[themuseabandonsyou]

Oh. I guess that makes sense? [ As much sense as anything ever does around here. Orpheus pats Fidella on the nose gently, smiling at her. ]

Well, she's a beautiful horse. Are you having an okay time taking care of her, here? I don't really know what horses need to stay healthy. [ He imagines a school setting is... probably sub-optimal, though? ]

[themuseabandonsyou]

I think it's because they can carry diseases that are mild for them, but can make humans really sick? I think my mom told me that. Maybe she was just trying to get me to stop bringing lizards into the house, though.

[mcfife]

You did? How did you manage that? When someone dies, the only way to bring them back is through an AI or through necromantic magic, not...bargain with gods.

[But if he had to ask Hades to bring back Eurydice--]

Is she alright? Are you...? [No. He shouldn't ask. Eurydice never spoke of it, and it must have been horrible for her.] There are other gods out there. We could try it with them.

[themuseabandonsyou]

Cooking is usually a good thing to do for people! I can show you how to make a few things, or maybe Spongebob would teach you!

[ He finishes another flower and sets it aside. ]

Or maybe she'd like these, too. Do you know if she has a favorite flower?

[mayavericks]

I did. Well -- [She shakes her head.]

Barker-san did. But he asked me to fetch you -- he thought you would be the best source.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus lights up when he sees her smile again despite everything. He does catch that shift to the past-tense when she talks about this boyfriend of her step-sister's, and looks briefly concerned, but, that's something they can address later. ]

Thanks! I just try to be good to the people I love? And I know I don't always succeed, but, I'm glad you think so well of me.

You've talked about your step-sister before, right? It sounds like you care about her a lot.

[brokeforgood]

[Her smile does turn a little more sad, a little more wistful, at the mention of her sister.]

Yeah. Annleigh. I tried really hard to be a good sister to her. I wasn’t always. But I still love her.

[themuseabandonsyou]

I don't know. [ says Orpheus, peering at the racks of different jackets and feeling more than a little out of his depth. ]

I've never been to a prom before, though? How are you supposed to dress for one?

[themuseabandonsyou]

You mean like with the grappling hook? I... I think I might be able to? I didn't really try, before the stairs opened up.

[themuseabandonsyou]

Then that's what good it was. Things don't... lose meaning, just because they don't last forever. You remember it, and it was valuable, and it helped make you who you are today. And you might miss what you've lost, and it might hurt more than you feel like you can bear, but - that's because it mattered.

[ Like they told the SQUIP, so many weeks ago. ]

And isn't that better? Loving someone and hurting when they go, than never having had anyone matter to you or never having mattered to anyone at all?

[mayavericks]

[It's a strange thing, trying to comfort an adult. Every stroke of her hand down his back, every caress leveled to his hair, feels entirely wrong. Juvenile, comparatively. But she's certain Benjamin would offer a similar gesture to her, and so she wants to repay it back in full.]

I'm here. I'm not going anywhere.

[comeandfindme]

Well, he's probably right. C'mon.

[ Follow her, Maya! It's not a very long walk, so they're back to the nurse's office fast. ]

[mayavericks]

Good. Thank you.

[She heads to fetch a pair of brooms, then. She's back quickly enough, and hands one over to Benjamin.]

[comeandfindme]

[ Her eyes shine with tears. ]

I don't wanna stop hurting. I don't...wanna let them go. But I just wish— it didn't have to happen in the first place. I don't wanna be all alone, Orpheus.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus almost questions how an AI could bring someone back to life, before remembering what Nana said about the SQUIP and also remembering not to mention Nana outside the safety of the bathrooms. Right. Okay. ]

We're fine, now. We're going to make it out of the Underworld. But I guess getting the others back would mean... contacting the gods of their worlds' afterlives? Which might get complicated. I know Elisabeth said her world's god doesn't really talk to people that often, or maybe at all?

[feudalladyshandmaid]

You can't give up, Per. [Looking out there now, into the woods that held nothing but fake animals and a looming void, it felt less like a living space and more like a fancy fence. Were it that the trees were even fake...]

We'll save them. We'll save everyone.

[comeandfindme]

Everyone? [ ... ] Even people...back home?