week 2

[stagemanagers]

WEEK 2
[It's been...

One week since you woke up here
Met your house manager and said "We’re angry"
Five days since he laughed at you saying
"Write me some letters and you’ll never see me"
Three days since the mirror room
You realized there’s more the Opera House wouldn't tell you
Yesterday you'd bonded more
But it'll still be two days till you get your motive


Welcome to week 2, performers.]

[Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday]


[ooc: happy week 2, everyone! Don't forget to submit your AC and your regains! Regain rolls are done Sunday and Tuesday nights.]

Comments

[revelfree]

[Another nod. He doesn't yet move to pick up the bottle of wine, at least.]

I am... more prone to far more difficult substances to obtain. I'm sure you've spared my section in the brochure at least once.

[Likes: Opium.]

All the same, considering... the subject matter at hand, it's best that I resisted the urge anyway.

[37773972]

I've looked at it. [Acknowledgement. Still no judgement. But...]

Tell you what. I'll share a glass or two with you if you really need, but no passing out. Deal?

cw: suicide/suicidal ideation

[revelfree]

Fair enough.

[He still doesn't make for the bottle. Rather, he toys with the mug in his hand, spinning it this way and that.]

It was a photo of myself. I had already suspected that the Phantom had his claws in our more subconscious thoughts and desires, but it's clear that it goes far deeper than I had expected.

[37773972]

[It takes a split second for Stephen to really understand, and when he does, his eyes widen just a bit. He recovers pretty quickly, though, trying to fight back his concern. He's...pretty sure Ariel doesn't want pity, and what would he say, anyway?

He's been low. He's never been that low. And the thought that Ariel is deeply unhappy with himself, he...can see it.

The man takes a long sip, studying Ariel before moving over to sit next to him]

Is that why you're doing what you're doing? [The quest for meaning. Leaving Helena. All of it.]

cw: suicide/suicidal ideation

[revelfree]

[This man is full of dry, humorless laughter tonight. He lolls his head back as he chuckles, staring up at the ceiling. Or... Perhaps through it, would be the better word.]

No. It's because of what I am doing. [A deep, weary sigh escapes him.] I have thrown away everything in my search. My home, my love, my best years. And I have made no progress.

There are times when it feels like a fruitless effort. And on those nights, the thought persists.

[37773972]

[So the other way around. Stephen is...quiet again. Really, what do you say to that? Ariel's made it clear how important the search is to him, but he hadn't really considered how much a toll it must have taken on him. If he'd rather himself be erased from history, though, it's a hell of one.

He gets up, takes the bottle, and pours it in to his mug. Wine and coffee? Hey, some people like it. He's not sure he will, but he needs something to brace him for this kind of talk.

And despite himself, he finds himself singing again, however softly;]

Every time when I look in the mirror-
All these lines on my face getting clearer.
The past is gone
It went by like dusk to dawn

[revelfree]

[It's uncanny, how song finds them when other words would not. He listens, but doesn't speak. He doesn't move to get another drink, either. Just grips his hands tight against his mug and wills himself to think about anything but the envelope he'd held in his hands.

And then a song. Out of place compared to Stephen's, but fitting all the same. It is his song, something he'd sung when he was at his most desperate.]

So many hopes were lost here
Along the way
From morning to night

mash up mash up slams hands on table

[37773972]

Isn't that the way?
Everybody's got their dues in life to pay.

[It's discordant, but - something in there, the music he hears, winds around Ariel's words. Or at least in his head, it does. It feels like they're still talking, even if they're doing that weird singing.

He looks back at Ariel nonetheless.]

I know, nobody knows-
Where it comes and where it goes
I know, it's everybody's sin-
You got to lose to know how to win.

[revelfree]

[Only here, could music soothe the ache in his soul. Only here, could two out of place songs sound like they were meant to be together, at least in some cosmic way or another.]

Sing that song from long ago
So I remember you
Flowers in mahogany hair
And mellow days in June
Only for the memory

[37773972]

[The coffee and wine have been set down, a hand resting on the surface they've been placed upon. The other is half-raised, fingers curled as Stephen looks at it- as if blaming it for this strangeness.]

Half my life
Is books, written pages
Live and learn from fools and from sages

[Once again, he looks towards Ariel- taking a step towards him.]

You know it's true, oh
All the things come back to you!

[There's an urgency in his voice at the last, as if he's trying to express something that even the song can't quite put in to words. But damn it, he's trying, and if singing's the only way he can get an iota of that out, well-

Then he'll damn well embrace it.]

[revelfree]

[The last few lines hit him. They hit him to the point that he looks angry at first, then pained. He doesn't pick up the song again. Rather, his gaze falls to the floor, past white knuckles against straining ceramic.]

You must think me the fool. Twisted up in such a way.

[37773972]

[Stephen doesn't stop. He lets Ariel speak, but then he moves forwards, dropping to a kneel in front of him and reaching to place a hand on his]

Sing with me, sing for the year
Sing for the laughter, sing for the tear
Sing with me, even just for today.

[revelfree]

[Ariel turns his hand up. He clutches Stephen's tightly within his own. He loses his own melody, but falls headfirst into the one that Stephen croons.]

Dream on
Dream on
Dream on
Dream until your dreams come true

[37773972]

[That's it. That's it. Stephen can't help but smile, encouraging Ariel with a squeeze of his hand.]

Dream on
Dream on
Dream on
Dream until your dream come through

[Keep going, he's trying to say. Don't give up.]

[revelfree]

Dream on
Dream on
Dream on

[His voice grows louder, more confident with each repetition. He rises to his feet, attempting to pull Stephen up with him.

It isn't the perfect cure. But if nothing else, he feels a little better.]

[37773972]

Dream on
Dream on
Dream on

[hey did you know Stephen apparently has a pretty good voice when he just cracks an 'aah'? now you know. He doesn't quite even have it in him to be embarrassed about that, instead rising with Ariel]

Look, Ariel- I'm not going to tell you what to feel or think. But I am going to say that I wish I was friends with someone like you, back home.

[revelfree]

And I you.

[They're still holding hands, and that's probably a little weird. Nevertheless, Ariel doesn't let go.]

If nothing else, at least some things would be a little clearer.

[37773972]

[it's fine, it's FINE, and Stephen's not going to be the first one to let go]

Considering I'm out of a job, I wouldn't even mind tagging after you. [You know. Searching for meaning and all that.]

[revelfree]

Perhaps when we're out then?

[When, not if. He stresses the word, offers it as a life raft.]

[37773972]

[And he recognizes it as one, joining Ariel onboard]

Yeah. When we're out.

[beat]

You should come with me. To- the future, I guess? You'll be amazed at the differences. You can keep in touch with people who are half a world away- even if I found a job again and had to stay in one place, we could still talk.

[revelfree]

It would be nice, to have a friend. [He cracks a smile, a small one, but a smile all the same.]

And... Riley has told me about cameras, and Steven about pizza. With all of these advancements, perhaps what I seek is in the future anyway.

[37773972]

Someone's going to have to fund you. [He's teasing- mostly. But truth.] We have plenty of troubles, but...I think you'll like it.

[revelfree]

That committed to making my dreams come true, are you?

[It's touching. He almost feels uneasy with it.]

It's a promise then.