itscurtains | week 2

Entry tags:

act 2,
week 2

week 2

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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'm making a couple trips.

[ As she stands, she looks over the pile. ]

Something in here's yours? [ She shifts the load in her arms, just to get a better hold on it. ] ...Which one?

"Yours" is a very strong word. [He motions to the feather.] But. It comes from my home, at least I believe it does.

This feather? [ Oh. That's a bit of a surprise. ] I just thought it looked pretty. If...you want it back, though, here.

[ While her arms are full she can't really hand it to him, but. Just inching a little closer, so he can take it. ]

Right. Of course.

[With only a slight amount of hesitation, Ariel plucks the feather from Riley's pile of goods. He tightens his fist around the delicate thing with significantly less hesitation, looking satisfied when it crumples.

He should feel guilty, destroying something that Riley seemed to like right before her eyes. He doesn't.]

Do you remember what I said in our meeting last week? About feeling as if this place knew things it should not?

[ Her lips curve into only a slight frown. ]

...If this is about the pamphlets, I...I don't put any stock in those. They're just him trying to get a rise out of us.

[ Her grip on the pile of things tightens, though. The teddy bear that smells like gunpowder squishes in her grasp. ]

It is more than that, Riley.

[He opens his hand, showing off the crumpled, off-white feather.]

I have had dreams, nightmares even, of wings made of these very feathers. Dreams that I have told no one of. It does not seem possible for the Phantom to know of them, let alone collect them to use against me.

Yet here they are.

[ She wanted it to be just about the pamphlets. She's already written those off. ]

...There was a rumor in the story, or...something, that he could read minds. But. That's not...something people can actually do. Right?

I believed once that it was not possible to cross time and space. Yet here we all are, summoned by something.

I don't think I can safely make guesses as to what is or isn't possible any longer.

[ She can just feel her pulse pounding in her neck. ]

W-w-well. [ Her eyes go wide, for a moment. ] It doesn't- no one's going to...to listen to him, anyway, so i-it'll be alright. It'll all be okay.

[ She does not believe that. ]

Riley. [Ah fuck why does he always upset her so much!]

Regardless of what the Phantom is and isn't capable of doing, it does not impact what we can do. The party we held, never mind every other thing we've done for one another -- that's all been to prevent anything like this from happening.

We will be okay.

[ It's fine. It's less that he upsets her a lot, it's that for some reason she tends to let down her walls around him. Huh! ]

No, I g-g-get it, I know why w-w-we-- [ Ohhh why does she keep stuttering? Every little slip's a painful reminder, and she pointedly looks away and stomps one foot in frustration. ] Ohh, God!

[ Very enunciated, very pronounced, with her eyes shut tightly: ] I need. To go. If you're alright. I n-need. To take this. To my room.

Riley, wait.

[He reaches out for her, but doesn't out right grab her. He won't hold her in place, force her still if she truly needs to leave. He should feel guilty for inflicting some of this turmoil on her, at least.]

You don't need to leave. You don't need to shoulder this alone. [He pauses, just for a moment.] I won't force you to stay. But as someone who has chosen solitude for most of his life, I have to advise you that loneliness is not always the answer.

[ She's breathing hard and quick. Trying to remember a tongue twister or a saying her speech therapist gave her but only getting a lovely little playback as her hand wraps into the teddy bear so tight she wonders it might tear.

Now is it too late to leave?; I need help; Please just breathe;--

One eye opens a crack. ]

I just. I c-can't- it hasn't been this b-b-bad in years! [ That's...an exaggeration. It was this bad eight months ago. But Riley's not thinking straight right now.

Someone's going to come along. Someone's going to see, and someone's going to laugh, and she can't have that. ] Please. Cairo's n-n-not here to talk me down, s-so- I can't.

You shouldn't be alone. Not like this.

[This time, he doesn't resist the urge to put a hand against Riley's shoulder. He aims to coax her into the room, at least out of the way of any probing eyes. The last thing she needs right now is more attention, more stimulation.]

I can help. Talk you down, if you'd like. [He has zero experience in this matter but it's fine!] It's certainly no replacement for your friend, but...

Your train of thoughts
Keeps on hauling you over a low again
Easy to see for a someone
Whose soul can bleed

[ Riley's tense, that much he can feel. But she doesn't shrug away, more...she's confused. Part of her wants to run. But, she's never been one for physical confrontation. And honestly right now she doesn't have the energy for it.

She can't bring herself to follow the melody. Just to stammer: ] I d-d-don't- I don't l-let anyone else s-see me like this.

[ Inching along into his room, some of the things from the merchandise booth fall from her arms, leaving her with only a tight hold on the teddy bear. It makes her look and feel much like the scared little girl she used to be. ]

Not anym-m-more.

[He brings her in only far enough to close the door behind her. He doesn't let it latch -- there's enough of a crack that she could easily open the door and leave if she felt uncomfortable. It's more for the image of privacy -- there are enough young girls here that it won't be immediately obvious who's crying.

Or, so he hopes.

With Riley at least out of the immediate "public," Ariel turns and grabs the chair from his desk. He sets it in front of her.

Finally, he turns away, back to her crying form.]

There. Now no one can see you.

[ Okay. Out of sight, out of...danger, mostly. Riley takes a few deep, fierce breaths as she sinks to the chair. Her arms are covered in goosebumps and she can't breathe quite right, but this is...familiar, at least.

This isn't going to just go away. But Cairo's not here to hold her hand, or glare away the problem, or anything.

And that... That gets her thinking. She has a hard time focusing on just one place, one thing, but she tries to fix her gaze on Ariel. ]

Why are y-you b-b-being so nice to me? [ Between breaths, it's more a muttered question than anything else. Riley hates hearing herself stutter. It has the effect of turning her enunciation to mush. ]

[He counts the fact that Riley doesn't immediately turn tail and run as a win. She's still a trembling mess, still stumbling over her words and looking more like a frightened deer than the confident girl he'd seen shine through before.

He's not a teenage girl, or even a teenage boy at that. He won't presume to be her friend nor an adult to coddle and scold her. In truth, he doesn't know what that makes him. Just there, he supposes.

Without turning around, holding true to his word, he speaks.]

There is a fire in you, Riley. And I hate to see it so diminished by this place.

[ Her hands run over the bear. It's bigger, and it's softer, but. ...If she closes her eyes, she can almost pretend it's from Coney Island, from Cai. That helps. Even though-

(I'm gonna need your full support tonight, okay? Not like a co-captain exactly, but like a first mate. Can you do that for me?)

She squeezes her eyes shut anyway. ]

I m-mean. The only one who ever h-helped was C-Cai. N-n-not even m-my... [ Her chin skins into the teddy bear's soft fur. That's not something she likes to think about. ] ...N-no one's doing...very well. Right now. Y-you either.

I wish she was here right now, Riley. I know she could do much more for you than I am. [Like this, it's easy to hide the way his fingers fidget with the buttons of his shirt. He's sure she can guess, but he's entirely out of his element.]

It doesn't matter how I am doing, not in this circumstance. [His fingers tighten and loosen against the fabric of his sleeves now.] I've often distracted myself from grief by diving into something else -- focusing on something important to me to keep it from overwhelming me. And right now it's important to me to not see one of my... allies [Again, he struggles with presuming the word friend.] fall apart when I can lend a hand.

I wish she was here too. [ It's not until later that the implications of that will set in for Riley, and she'll feel sick to her stomach, but that's for another breakdown, not this one.

With her eyes closed, she doesn't see how much Ariel's struggling. But, something in his tone reads true? Like...experienced. Experienced with what, with falling the fuck apart? It feels for a moment like she can get some air down her throat. ] F-f-fall apart. [ She sniffles and only now realizes that she's been crying. When did she start? ] ...J-just let me stay here, for awhile? Until it st-st-stops.

Anything you need.

[He starts to turn around when he hears the sniffle, but reminds himself of his promise and remains still. His hands fidget a moment longer, before he steels himself anew. No one would see her like this, and that would include him.]

I have a few things about. Treats and other items from the booth. Feel free to use whatever you need, or ask for anything.

I will be here.

[ A laugh slips out, one that's almost surprised. After a second of hesitation, a second where she wonders if this is Right to say, she- ]

I tried t-to ask. Why us. Why'd h-he bring us. Every l-letter I got back was like- like he was m-m-mocking me. [ A slow, slow breath released. Pretend you aren't here. Pretend you're at home. Pretend nothing in the last year has happened. ] But. He didn't h-hurt anyone else. Not here. S-so. That's something.

[He can't believe that their shared kidnapping has become the easier topic to focus on.]

The letters he sends are cruel and meant to do nothing more than cause despair. He aims to push you to the brink, Riley.

[Everything about this place, from the pamphlets they woke up with, the rules on the wall, and the items in the booth, have all been designed to knock them to their knees. If he weren't the one caught in the situation, he might have been impressed. It was a well designed machine for madness, if nothing else.]

Don't listen to him. Whatever he gives you, good or bad, it's only meant to get you to do what he wants.

I know that! [ Her voice cracks, and it's unfair, but she's raised it. She knows it's unfair, really, but she can't stop. ] I know wh-wh-what he's doing, an-and I'm sick of it! S-sick to death, and- Christine and N-Nana were trying t-to appeal to him and he's j-j-just going to f- freaking use them, and I j-just wanted to fix my damn team and s-survive high school, I wasn't prepared for any of th-th-this, and ohhh my god, why won't it st-st-st-st--

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

okay just gonna slap a cw: panic attacks on here

cw: panic attacks

cw: panic attacks

cw: panic attacks

cw: panic attacks

no subject

cw: parental neglect mentions

cw: parental neglect mentions

cw: panic attacks, again

cw: panic attacks, again (we have fun here)

no subject

no subject

1/2