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

INVESTIGATION

[employeeoftheyear]

[Spongebob barely reacts when he wakes up with that new memory again. He should be happy. Patrick saved him, they made up, he put the eruptor interrupter into the volcano after his friends told him he was good at management. He calmed down the panicked townsfolk and let them know that even if they died, they were together, and it's better to die together and happy than to be panicked and vengeful.

... But man.

How come he can't get that to work here?

He does, eventually, get up. He makes some coffee and set up a quick cereal station in the Kitchen, before immediately leaving for The Costume Room. He had intended on investigating the place earlier, like he promised the others, but he was distracted by setting stuff up up for Salieri and Discord's date.

What a waste of time that turned out to be, huh?

He can still help, he thinks to himself, maybe there's a secret in all these costumes that he overlooked? Maybe something that could help for once.]

Investigation

[stagemanagers]

[Behind one of the costume racks, down near the floor, Spongebob can find a carving much smaller than the ones you've typically been finding:]

PLEASE
I CAN'T BE ALONE LIKE THIS

[employeeoftheyear]

[He feels a jolt in him when he sees that. He heard about these before from his classmates, but's never actually seen them, especially one that hits really close to home.

He looks around for a sewing needle and he carves a message into the wall with it.]

I'm with you.

[stagemanagers]

[But nothing happens.

There's more carvings around the room, low to the ground, a continuing messy, clumsy string of pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease.]

[employeeoftheyear]

[... Huh

Are there more of them?

[stagemanagers]

[Sure are!]

[employeeoftheyear]

[Hm!!!

He's going to just... follow it then!]

[stagemanagers]

[The carvings are heavy around the area that was previously obscured by the shelf, but they aren't visible around it. They don't seem to appear anywhere that's visible at first glance when one enters a room, generally speaking.]

[employeeoftheyear]

[Well that makes sense.

Any other unusual carvings that he could have missed?]

[stagemanagers]

[There are! Much of it is similar to the begging you've already seen:]

PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME SOMEONE HELP ME PLEASE -

But off by itself in a corner, you can find something a little bit different, in larger and more deliberate letters:]

NEVER GIVE UP

[employeeoftheyear]

"Never give up"?

[He echoes the words, seeming to hit pretty close.

Gently, he places a hand over the carving. It might be carvings, but does it look like it could have been written by the same person who wrote the begging carvings?]

[stagemanagers]

[You can't really do a handwriting check on carvings; they're all just sorta sharp and angular cuts, like anyone who isn't a woodworker or something would probably make. They do look like they could've been made with the same implement, though!]

costume room

[howtheworldwas]

[ As Spongebob is searching the room, he'll feel someone drape a large, bedazzled coat over his shoulders. ]

Hey.

[ Eurydice's voice is soft, gentle. ]

[employeeoftheyear]

[He is surprised to feel a coat draped around him. After he recognizes the cost, he smiles up at Eurydice.]

You kept it.

[howtheworldwas]

[ She smiles back. ]

I did. When you gave it to me...I really needed it, you know. But now it looks like you might need it more.

[employeeoftheyear]

[He pulls her into a hug.]

Thank you Eurydice. You’re the best.

[When he pulls away, there is a sad smile on his face as he bundles himself in the coat.]

... You know, I wonder why this time is so much harder than the last time I’ve been through this.

[howtheworldwas]

I'm all right. [ She smiles, almost teasing.

Spongebob isn't wrong. She nods, the smile falling from her face. ]

Mm. Probably because what happened was -- [ she takes a deep, shuddering breath. ] -- really, really awful.

[employeeoftheyear]

I-I know, it's just...

[He takes a deep breath himself.]

Things were really, really bad at home too. Everyone was in chaos and the world was practically ending before it ended.

... I was able to bring them together then. I convinced them that if we were all going to die, we were going to go out happy and together.

I don't know, I just wonder what I could have done differently then.

[howtheworldwas]

[ ...Oh. Eurydice thinks she understands what Spongebob's getting at. She looks down at her hands. ]

I don't think you could have done anything differently. It's not your fault.

[employeeoftheyear]

I-I know but...

[He's silent, bundling himself up in the coat a little closer.]

Everyone there was scared over maybes too. We all decided that maybe us all dying together was better than us all destroying each other.

[howtheworldwas]

[ Eurydice sees how Spongebob bundles himself, and she inches closer so that their shoulders touch. ]

Well, you're right. If those are your only options, then that probably is better. But that's a hard decision to make. Especially if you're really scared.

[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.

[howtheworldwas]

Me too. [ she tried, but apparently it wasn't enough. honestly, she's not that surprised. ] I'm...here for you. You know that, right?

[employeeoftheyear]

I.. I know.

[He's quiet, for a moment.]

... Eurydice, thank you for everything you've done. I'm sorry I haven't been there for you as much.

Kitchen

[sugarlumps]

[So, LSP sees him setting up that cereal station and looking like he's about to run off-]

Hey, you're gonna, like, have some of that yourself, right. Cereal's lumping delicious.