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

[mayavericks]

[”I love the stage but… Just now I asked myself why I’m doing all of this.”

”I get it. I don’t get it, but I get it. Hikari-chan had lost it. What was most important to her.”

Maya wakes in Broadhurst with a start. She grasps blindly at herself, at her chest, feeling briefly as if she might be choking. Her hand travels up her throat, wrapping around the skin there so that she can feel the vibrations of her throat she sings.]

Rise anew, Star Divine
However many times you are hurt.

[It’s still there. Somewhere between the air of her words and the movement of the muscles within her neck, there’s still passion. There’s still glimmer. There’s still brilliance.

She falls back against the bed shortly after, staring up at the ceiling. The rest of it had been expected. From the moment she’d received her photo, she’d known what fate lay ahead of her. She’d hoped against it, of course, but… powerless as she was to control it all, it was to be expected.

Maya Tendo had lost. And the cost of that loss should have been everything. So why --

She grapples with that thought, even as she pulls herself from her bed. She can’t afford to sit idle right now, not when she’d made a promise to Nana. And so after changing into her clothes, Maya gets to work. She retrieves her own mascot head, and heads down to the vending machines. The bottle she gets is snuck very carefully into the groundhog head, and then carried back to her room, where the door is locked tight.

Eventually, though, she emerges into the hallway once more, this time lugging a mattress with a suspiciously yellow stain on it. She mutters to herself as she goes about unattended pets, and fixes a glower onto the ground. Sorry, Bruiser and Gary, but she really has to sell this one.

She deposits the mattress in the girls locker room. She has to clean the mess, after all. And since it’ll take some time to soak, she’ll go ahead and leave it in there, too. And just to be safe, she’ll bring her blankets in too, just to check for stains!]

post-vending machines

[fourbutts]

[ Janis doesn't wake up with Maya, because... well, sleep hasn't been coming as easily to her these days as it usually does. Even getting to bed earlier, her body doesn't like to wake up with the sun, so...

She does wake up before Maya gets back from the vending machine, but... she doesn't leave the bed. It's not a bad dream, but... it's a lot to chew on. She feels a little stupid, in a lot of ways. But the sight of Maya wipes that away. ]

Oh shit, you got coins? Anything good?

[mayavericks]

[Maya sets down her mascot head, smiling faintly even as she does. It isn't that she's feeling any less affectionate -- just distracted in her efforts. She gets to work on pulling out her haul -- a bottle of lemonade for later, another one of Janis's jackets --

pages? She furrows her brows at them, but ultimately sets them aside without examining all that closely. It's probably just another one of those odd "Evan Hansen" letters, so... nothing to worry about.

She picks up a star button and holds it out to Janis. Clearly this is the thing that is most interesting!]

I keep getting these. We wore them on our jackets during the revues.

[fourbutts]

Oh nice.

[ She takes it, momentarily distracted from whatever else is here. ]

That is a solid button, as buttons go.

[mayavericks]

Perhaps I will fashion it to a few of your jackets this week. Matching outfits for the three of us? [Her laugh is only a little strained. Maybe it's just the stress?

Either way, she's bending over to keep looking at those pages. The longer she looks, the more concerned she gets.]

Did Connor ever talk about Evan-san making cruel notes about people?

[fourbutts]

Sounds good to me, but we'll need something from Per, too.

[ That... gives her pause for a moment. ]

No? I don't... [ wait, she recognizes the font on those photocopies ] Oh shit, really?

[mayavericks]

Perhaps some of that... skin?

[Before she can shudder, Maya is... promptly distracted.]

Do you recognize them?

[fourbutts]

[ Janis gets out of bed, reluctantly removing the sheets and crossing over to the stack. ]

There would be a bunch of pages from Regina's stupid book in here, wouldn't there?

[mayavericks]

Book? What are you talking about Janis?

[Did Regina write a book? What the heck.]

cw mean girls typical slur use

[fourbutts]

Regina George made this stupid book full of insults about all the girls in school. Then she photocopied the pages and spread them all over school and there were like... twenty discrete fist-fights? It was almost impressive how much she fucked up that day for everyone.

[ She gestures to the pages. ]

I assume mine is in here somewhere.... Ah, there we are!

[ She pulls out a page with a picture of herself and holds it up, reading it off in a good-spirited but also slightly bitter tone. ]

Janis Sarkisian, Space Dyke! It would almost be a superhero name, if it wasn't the thing people used to sharpie onto my locker until my parents pulled me out of school.

[mayavericks]

[Consider Maya thoroughly horrified. She's heard stories of how far girls would go for a role in a play, had even discussed them with Janis. But this seems entirely unreal. She would call it as much, if not for the fact that Janis had lived it and described it to her.]

Who could possibly feel this much revulsion for anyone, let alone multiple someone's?

[Absently, she reaches for Janis's arm and gives it a squeeze.]

[fourbutts]

[ Janis gives a slight, appreciative smile, and shrugs. ]

I don't think it ever really sank in for her that other people are, y'know, people until very, very recently. But yeah, this was her fun revenge for what Cady and I did to her, I guess. Just like the fun nickname was her revenge on me for not being cool enough to stay her friend back in middle school.

Girl's Locker Room

[employeeoftheyear]

[Gary glares at Maya with cold eyes.

But at the Girl's Locker Room, Spongebob steps in to take a shower when he sees Maya laying down a mattress. It takes him a moment to figure out what the heck she's doing but soon enough:]

Oh, for Miss Banana, right?

[At least he doesn't say this... too loud...]

[mayavericks]

[Maya almost looks a little sheepish when she's spotted. She stands up, scratching the back of her neck as she does.] ]

Yes, I... Wanted her to have a comfortable place to rest for the time being. [She turns toward him fully]

How are you holding up?

[employeeoftheyear]

That's a great idea; I can bring in some pillows and toys for her too.

[But that question makes him pause. After a moment of hesitation, he flashes her a forced smile.]

I'm doing good, thanks for asking!

[mayavericks]

I think she would appreciate that a lot.

[Her eyes narrow in the slightest, though. The skepticism is clear.]

You wouldn't lie to mee, would you, Onii-san?

[employeeoftheyear]

[He laughs nervously.]

Of course I wouldn't!

[No, no he can't do it, he suddenly frowns and deflates.]

Actually I still feel pretty awful from Friday.

[mayavericks]

[Maya doesn't look surprised. She does, however, look sympathetic. She opens her arms for him, even as she sits down on the bed she's laid out.]

Come here.

[employeeoftheyear]

[He nervously laughs.]

Oh, you don't gotta worry about me, though! It's not really anything you guys aren't going through too!

[Despite the protest, he sits down next to her.]

[mayavericks]

That only means that we can go through it together.

I'm not going to ask for a hug twice, by the way.

[employeeoftheyear]

[That hits Spongebob like a truck and he immediately holds onto Maya in a tight hug.

Less for an emotional reason and more because he knows how precious it is to be asked for hugs by someone who never wants one.]

You're a great little sister, you know that?

[mayavericks]

[Maya tilts her head against his, cheek angled against his hair. She cradles him to her shoulder, thumb brushing against the nape of his neck.]

I am only as good of a sibling as you are, Spongebob. I'm learning from the best.

[employeeoftheyear]

[That gets a genuine laugh out of him, and a smile.]

You're just saying that, Maya! I've only been a sibling for a month. I would hardly say I'm "the best".

Hallway

[sugarlumps]

Ugh, gross.

[Looks like your cover story is working, at least?]

Who the lumps did that? There's probably, like, bleach and junk that could get it out, but, like, the grossness stays. Mentally like.

[mayavericks]

Truthfully, there are so many animals that I have lost count. It could have easily been any number of creatures. [She shakes her head, grimacing.]

There are mattresses to spare, so I am not worried about having a place to rest. I just don't want the... scent to linger.