itscurtains | Week 7

Entry tags:

act 3

Week 7

[Last week, on It's Curtains...boy, that sure was a year-long week, huh?

But despite it all, you've gotten through it with less death than there might have been. Spongebob and Farrah both survived their ill-conceived plan; Maya, with the intervention of Janis and Hester, survived her triple murder. Since the failed execution, there has been no sign of the Wizard or of Hester. It seems like you may have gotten away with that cleanly!

When you wake up on Sunday, you remember everything. All the gaps, the missing pieces, entire chunks of time from back home - they're back and neatly fitted where they should be in your heads. Elle, Orpheus, and Eurydice have also been given graves alongside the others in the garden. These ones were filled in for you; after all, you were all pretty occupied over the weekend.

Other than that...it seems like some unusual posters have been put up around the school. Sounds like something's going to happen this week. You'd better prepare.]

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday

(( As per usual, endgame will ICly take place on Wednesday, so get those last threads in! As this is the last week, all characters should be at their true canonpoint memory-wise. Feel free to continue submitting regains and...well, you can certainly try to visit Hester. No AC this week, but be sure to check in for endgame! ))

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[Come Monday, Maya and her retinue can be found in the library. She goes through whatever cookbooks she can find in the non-fiction section, until finally she pulls away something that piques her interest. She hobbles over to a table to thumb through and.

Eventually rips a page out? Become ungovernable indeed.

Later, she'll be shuffling about in the kitchen, making some sort of cake? The cake has bananas too, so maybe it isn't too much of a surprise who she's making it for. She doesn't think it too suspicious, though. She'd been making banana treats since before Nana had arrived. It's just comfort. And who can blame her, on this day.

Toward the evening, Maya takes her cake to the locker room though. The same one she put her mattress in before, in fact! That part's a little weird. But hey, there's cake and a single candle (not a birthday candle, just a regular candle), so... maybe let's celebrate a birthday.]

[Angus wakes ups late, groggy and hungry and still coming off of that downloaded altered state of mind from yesterday. Bruiser ended up getting him out of bed by begging to be let out. The six lizards scurry around the remains of their vegetables. Despite everything, Angus still has his duties to attend to.

The smell of bananas come to mind, for some strange reasons. Yeah, the lizards deserve a treat today. They have been the only ones in the school who have had a nice time, and they deserve to keep that status. He enters the kitchen to make a beeline for the bowl of fruits to find that yes, there are no bananas left.

To the left is a bowl of batter. Nana, he thinks. And next to that bowl-

Oh. Maya.]

[Used to a chaperone as she's become, Maya almost doesn't notice the presence moving through the kitchen. Even when she does, she just assumes it's one of her many guardians. She's far too preoccupied with making sure she doesn't ruin the cake, or anything like that.

Of course, once she's knelt down to pop it in the oven and has risen to her feet once more, she stops short. This -- wasn't who had accompanied her, not by a long shot. All at once she feels a sharp surge of emotion, of the guilt she's carried since Friday.]

McFife-san.

[Knowing that Elle wanted to die before Maya found doesn't make her death any easier. Maya was the last face she saw before she fell. Someone who interrupted her plans to sacrifice herself, someone who killed a vulnerable woman. Elle was broken, unmoving in his arms as he held her on Friday.

Maya lives. Elle is gone, separated from her fiance. Orpheus, his friend, was taken away from him as well, but in a sick twist of fate, he is with the love of his life. Yet their killer is here, and Angus' last words to Elle was a quick goodnight.

The events of the previous night showed him how cruel it was to see a glimpse of his love and not care. How awful it was to be detached and fine with life. He only saw his body being used by the SQUIP, but living through it is an entirely different matter. A body that wasn't entirely his, going through the motions of a relaxed, "chill" prince.]

Maya.

[He looks away from her and opens the refrigerator. If he can reheat a pre-cooked meal or a bowl of leftovers, he can leave sooner and find someone else to speak to.]

[What does she say? What does she say about any of this. No words would ever make this right. If the roles were reversed, if it were Janis or Peregrine that he had killed, only to live on, her fury would know no bounds. For her to continue to live on feels like an insult to Elle's memory and Angus's existence.

Silence would be the better option. She could finish the cake, he could finish his food, and they could both go their separate ways.

But instead --]

She should be the one here. Not me.

[Without stopping to think:] Yeah.

[Is that awful of him? Perhaps, but he would be a hyprocrite not to detest Maya for killing someone with the intent to do harm. If someone is a danger to themselves, the biggest thing you don't want to do is take their life. It's wrong. It's immortal. Angus would classify that under evil.

Spinel was vulnerable, and Angus killed her in her exposed state. When everyone at the trial realized he had succumbed to the nanite magic of the Knife of Evil, they correctly deemed him a monster and quickly voted that he face justice. He thanks them for their work in stopping him. Someone who kills the weak should not be allowed to live.

Each week, Angus wondered how so many deaths could have been prevented. That one moment - knowing how to properly treat hypothermia, deciding to help someone hurting instead of doing the hurting for them - could have changed everything. Perhaps they could have reached out to them. Perhaps it wouldn't have saved them completely, but it would at least give them their lives. Even Elle, already partially gone-

Mr. Barker's wife still recognized him. She had lost her mind from the poison, but she remembered him from so many years ago. She was still Lucy, not a stranger on the street. Even if Elle was no longer a genius lawyer, she was still Elle. A kind, brilliant, beautiful woman who loved to share her memories with Angus. A fiancee does not have to be perfect, she just has to love him and be loved in return.

He'd prefer her to be alive than perfect.]

[Despite everything, that makes Maya smile. It's humorless, even bordering on the bitter. But she hardly looks angry at his condemnation. Everyone had been so desperate to forgive her, to risk their lives for her, and it made her sick.

It had only gotten worse, with Hester's disappearance.]

I should have finished the job, when I had the blade to my neck. I wish I had. [She breathes out slowly. Her voice is calm, as if she's discussing the weather.] Regardless of whether I truly meant to harm Elle, whether or not I was in my right mind, I still killed her. The same for Orpheus, and to say nothing of Eurydice. Mercy should have been granted to someone who did so accidentally. For Varian, or for Sissi.

[Part of Angus tells her not to say such things. She assured him that they would escape the very first day they met. They trained together. Angus considered her a friend. It's the part that proves to himself that there is no lingering effect from the Knife. This anger is what comes from losing a loved one and finding no meaning in it.

Maya killing herself would be too easy. But she would be facing consequences. Peregrine and Janis would live with the fact that someone they loved betrayed them and feel incomplete; the price of Elle being avenged. Of all three being avenged.

LSP's offer of beating her up was something he should have followed up on.]

Do whatever you feel will make up for your crimes. I won't even consider forgiving you unless everyone comes back.

[He pulls out a bowl of soup, the last one remaining, and walks to the microwave to heat it up. He's stuck standing there for at least 2 more minutes.]

I do not want your forgiveness, Angus.

[She bends down, checking the oven for a moment. It feels like such an odd thing to do while having a conversation like this. She remains there though, with her injured leg carefully outstretched.]

Even if they come back, and I will make sure of it, I will not deserve it. I accept that.

[She stands back up, only to hobble past him and toward the fridge. Now that he's out of the way, she can grab the next few ingredients.]

But be that as it may, I do wonder -- what do you think happened, Angus? Do you think I planned this all out meticulously? That I watched Elle and knew I would kill her from moment one, and simply lay in wait for her to be vulnerable?

Believe me a murderer all you want. Believe me unforgivable. But do not think of me as the person who intentionally sought to prey on weakness.

Does it matter how you did it? You said you already made plans. You were ready. Few murders are plotted in detail, I know from what I've seen. It's all about seeing the opportunity or making the opportunity. It was late, people were tired and alone, you went to the roof, and you saw her.

She saw you. And she was weak.

[What did Elle do when she noticed Maya? Did she cry? Was she afraid? Did she regret what she did? How badly had the nightshade affected her? Was she doomed to Lucy Barker's fate?]

You approached her.

[Did she realize what was happening? Did the hallucinations offer her comfort? Did she welcome Maya, fear her?]

There in he garden
She stands very still

And you-

[How much effort did it take to push her off? How did it feel, shoving her and seeing her disappear? How did she fall past the rope that she and Angus climbed together? What happened the instant before she hit the ground, lying in the position he found her? Did she wish her prince was there to catch her?

The microwave beeps. Angus blinks back the tears.

Just like everyone else on Earth he couldn't save, Elle was gone and nothing could be done about it.]

Edited 2021-07-14 04:59 (UTC)

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mayavericks - 2021-07-14 05:10 (UTC) - Expand

[As one of the members of the aforementioned retinue, Benjamin is hanging out with her in the library.

He's not idle, though he's being quiet- he's sitting in one of the plush chairs, scooted forward to the edge of it to make room to balance a guitar from the music room on his knee. On the short table in front of him, he has open one of the beginner guitar books, and he's carefully practicing the finger positions on the frets without strumming.

He pauses whenever he hears Maya hobbling on her crutches, watching her to make sure she doesn't need help, and giving her a smile if she looks his way, before going back to practicing moving his fingers carefully back and forth from chord to chord.]

[Maya starts to settle down with her current cookbook but... stops short when she hears the first few chords. Instead, she stands up and begins dragging her chair along with her. It's slow going considering her current injuries but... Eventually she's able to tuck herself by his side. Not in the way of his efforts but still close enough to reach out if need be.]

Are you trying to learn a particular song?

[He was trying not to actually make contact with the keys so as not to make much noise, but in practicing the strumming sometimes his thumb skirted over the strings.

When he sees her start dragging her chair over, he half-stands and reaches out to take the arm of it, taking most of the effort off of her. When she's able to tuck herself back in at his side, he settles back in as well.]

Oh, I don't think so. I'm just trying to memorize where my fingers go, and how to move them back and forth.

[She nods a few times, watching his hands curiously. After a moment she glances around almost warily.]

Would you like a secret? [She waits for only a moment.] I think you know how to play better than I do.

[She's well aware that he hasn't started playing yet, too.]

[In the silence after she settles in next to him, he'd started practicing again, his callused fingers on the ribbed strings creating a soft sound even without strumming.]

Do you? [He smiles.] I'm sure I can change your mind on that.

I don't think so! I have never used a guitar before! Therefore, you are doing far better!

[She watches his hands move with no small amount of fascination.]

[He hums fondly. Then bumps his thumb over each string slowly, then all in a row, starting to slowly play four chords in a sequence.

He glances at her, then back down to check his fingerings, and then begins to sing softly.]

Have I told you lately that I love you?
Have I told you there's no one else above you?
Fill my heart with gladness,
'Til there's no room for sadness,
Light my world up, that's what you do...

[While he sings, Maya closes her eyes. His voice makes her feel warm. Safe.]

You're going to lull me to sleep at this rate.

[He smiles fondly.]

Good. You need rest to heal.

[As a metaphorical storm brews on the horizon, it pays to take in any figurative changes in the group's surroundings with an investigative eye. Case in point: why does the locker room smell like cake?

Cass hasn't been idle for days - she's moving. Preparing; sword sharpened and poised at her side. Her original goal was to do a few laps in the gym, maybe practice a flip or two to stay sharp.

Instead, she's poking her head into the locker room, nose in the air-]

Maya? [Wh-] Is... that a cake?

[Maya glances up from where she's settled. She at least has the cake as far from the ground as possible. She knows it's probably super gross to eat cake in a locker room, but what can you do in a place like this!]

Yes? [She tilts her head.] A birthday cake, even.

...Oh.

Uh. Happy birthday?

[Listen, what's a little locker room cake among friends?]

[Okay, now she's laughing.]

It is Nana's birthday. Mine isn't for -- [She blinks.] Oh. I suppose it isn't long from now, either!

Oh? Well... happy birthday, in advance, I mean.

[Nods to the cake.] Should we celebrate? Or, do you want to have your cake and eat it too?

We can... celebrate when we are out of here. Call it your gift to me.

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Week 7

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kitchen

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library

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locker room

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