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

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus is, indeed, smart enough to know not to put soap in his mouth. He does play with it for a little while, though, squeezing it gently in his hand and watching the colorful liquid inside slosh around, before remembering what he's doing and putting it gently on top of the clothes in the machine. ]

Like that? Is there anything else I need to do, before I close it back up?

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus laughs a little. ]

I've just been doing this for most of the day. It gets easier with practice! And it is really soothing. I sort of lost track of time doing it. [ he says, looking up at the clock, before shrugging. Not like he has anywhere else to be, and if he wants to do what he has planned for these he's going to need a lot more of them anyway. ] I'm sure you'll be an expert in no time.

[brokeforgood]

Yeah. That's okay, right?

Remember when we had those cute fluffy bunny things with horns? I named one of the Stew. I loved Stew. I actually brought him back to Longacre that night, but when I woke up, he was gone. And Hester... told me that he wasn't actually ever real. But I still loved him. And so... this feels kindof like a nice little tribute?

[themuseabandonsyou]

We must be swift as the coursing river
With all the force of a great typhoon
With all the strength of a raging fire

[ Orpheus makes it to the top of the wall, the rope pulled almost horizontal in his hands, arms straining from the sustained effort. He's shaking a little, sweat beading on his brow, but with one final lunge he manages to get his hands up on the lip of the edge and half-haul, half-throw himself over. He rolls sideways onto the roof, exhausted, but throws a fist up in the air in triumph.

A little shakily; ]

Mysterious as the dark side of the moon!

[themuseabandonsyou]

Oh, sure! That makes sense. [ does it though

No but really, it seems cute, even if it was a little baffling at first, and Orpheus smiles at the two of them. ]

I'm glad I could bring them to you, then. You'll take good care of them, right? I'd do it myself, but I don't really know much about looking after pets. I've never had one.

[brokeforgood]

I'll learn everything about rabbits, ever, Orpheus. I'll be such a good bunny mom, I swear. I'll even read a book. [That's like. A pretty big offer she's making here.]

And... you can help, if you want. I'll teach you everything there is to know about having a pet!

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[It's the last thing Cass would want for poor Fidella!! A HORSE LOOSE IN THE SCHOOL?? It would be worse for her than it would be for anyone else.]

Well, the good news is Fidella likes most people.

[Truly. Fidella bends her head down to better greet Orpheus - or get some head pets. Probably both.]

I'll be fine. I've known Fidella for a long, long time. I was practically raised with her.

[themuseabandonsyou]

Great!

[ Look Orpheus is also terrible at reading books he understands the significance of this gesture on some level. ]

And I'd like that. It might be fun? There was never really a good chance for me to keep animals back home. I tried a few times, but my mom didn't really like me bringing lizards and jackrabbits into the house.

[mcfife]

Yeah!

[Angus leaps into the air with a fist high above his head. He did it! Orpheus braved the heights of the brick mountain and reached the peak!]

The peak lies before you now
The rooftop in sight
So raise your head to the heavens above
And I hail the king!

[themuseabandonsyou]

Oh! I'm glad you have her here with you, then? I guess this is kind of a dangerous place, but it's nice to have friends.

[ Ones that probably aren't subject to the Wizard's rules in the same way the humans and sponge and Lumpy Spacer are. He pats Fidella on the head carefully, feeling out how she likes being petted. ]

Are you... a knight? You have the sword, and the horse. I guess not everyone who has both is, but. [ It seems worth asking! ]

[howtheworldwas]

[ oh no, woman down! eurydice looks over towards cassandra, frowning. ]

Yeah, that makes sense...are you okay?

[howtheworldwas]

[ a joking half-smile. ] Oh, so she's got good taste, huh?

cw: suicidal mention

[barberic]

...We end up like they did.

[Benjamin will say the quiet part loud. Metaphorically speaking. His voice is still very low.]

Like I did. Back home.

[barberic]

[The ridiculousness actually gets a small snort laugh out of him.]

Could go either way, but I don't know. Not many lizards in London. At least, outside of the zoo.

cw: suicide discussion

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus just nods, slowly, patting Benjamin's hand. ]

I'm sorry. [ he says, quietly. He doesn't know the full details of how much Benjamin has lost, but he knows enough to know that it's... a lot. Enough to make any man consider his options. ] I can't let that happen here, though. Not to any more of us. We all need to look out for each other, now more than ever. Be strong for each other. Can you... do that? If not for me, then for Farrah, and Spongebob.

[ The most sensitive remaining among them, the ones who need support the most after all of this. ]

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus isn't totally sure why that's funny, but he's glad to see Benjamin lighten up a bit, and smiles back at him. ]

I live out in the desert, so there's a lot of them around if you know where to look. I used to go out and practice singing for them all he time when I was really little, and sometimes they'd follow me home if I did well enough.

[barberic]

Of course.

[He'll walk with her not to the cafeteria, but all the way to the teacher's lounge, where there's more of a selection. He gestures for her to sit at the table.]

Is there any flavor you like? Some of these are quite fragrant. This one smells like lemon, and I know there's one here somewhere that looks like it has pieces of raspberries in it...

[barberic]

...It wasn't my best idea.

[He'll concede that much.]

You should finish eating. You'll feel better.

[Not in a couple hours she won't.]

[barberic]

Well... You're right. Either of those things would have been a better choice than what you did.

But people rarely make the right choices when they're in pain. We're just animals that way; we lash out and hurt others, or turn around and hurt ourselves. Six of one, half-dozen of the other.

[A good man isn't one who never makes mistakes, it's one who makes it right.]

...You know better now, don't you. That there are people still alive, who love and care about you just as much as the ones we've lost.

[barberic]

[His arm is hot to the touch, but hers is hotter. When she puts her hand on his arm, he takes it, threads it into his elbow like a gentleman.

For a minute, he smells Lucy's perfume.]

I've survived worse.

[If she lets him, he'll walk her to a chair.]

cw: suicide discussion

[barberic]

[He... can't bring himself to tell Orpheus. Not about Lucy. What happened to her, what he did to her. The first day, they'd bonded over how much they loved their wives. But Orpheus still had Eurydice here, with him, alive - no matter how dire their memories were.

While Lucy was pulled further and further away from Benjamin, more and more unreachable with every passing week.

But at the mention of Farrah, his grief both sharpens and eases.]

...I got what I wanted. What I deserved. And yet I was the one brought back, to relive my mistakes, my crimes, my grief, while I've had to sit helpless watching all of you - people I've come to care for like family - die, week after week.

They deserve better than something like me. I'm afraid all I can do is hurt them.

[comeandfindme]

I'm...not really a tea person? But... Salieri gave me some black tea. I liked that.

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[And with surprising strength - those arms - Cass hoists Peregrine up and onto the horse. There's plenty of room, even with the saddle, for two people. Fidella huffs contently and shifts to accommodate the weight.]

Hold onto me, tight, okay?

[Why ever would Per need to do that-?]

Hiya!

[A flick of the reigns and they're off!! On a brisk trot to start.]

[comeandfindme]

[ Peregrine knows it’ll probably be a quick adjustment when Fidella starts to run. However, the novelty of being pulled up from the ground to the horse has her brain a beat behind, and she yelps as she wraps her arms around Cassandra’s stomach. ]

Whooooa…!

[feudalladyshandmaid]

--Huh? No. I mean, yes - I'm fine. I just...

[She turns her eyes away from her mother. She stands in the corner, impossibly tall, yet perfectly normal; she's ready to go on a triad about the failures Cass has accumulated.

Still, her eyes fall back on Eurydice. Blank, refocusing.]

I've been seeing things.