week two | mingle

[showhost]

Welcome to week two, Teens Who Are Definitely Searching for Love!

Hopefully everyone got a lot of rest over the weekend, and are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for the upcoming week, because there are a few things of interest this week.

But first, some changes of note in the house!

First: there is a giant rectangular box on the living room table, addressed to Lessing. It is a care package. The only thing in it is his sword.

There is some Bauernbrot bread on the counter. Ask Lessing about that too.

There is now a hot tub near the pool. It’s large enough to seat about six teens comfortably, but you can get more in there if you really try for some reason.

Okay I think that’s everything. Additionally, Tsukasa is here early this week! He’s looking pretty perky, seemingly recovered from the Match Ceremony, and he’s got some interesting info to share with everyone.

Embrace Space | Property Damage, etc | Dates | Mini-Event
Truth Booth Voting | Match Ceremony Submissions

Comments

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[ohwoe]

I didn't take one.

[Hi, it's Wednesday! What's she doing here? Well...]

I just thought I'd assist the rest of the house with their tasks. You don't happen to have any particularly gruesome ones, do you?

[titlecard]

[ It's Wednesday! He perks right up at seeing her before going to skim his sheet. ]

Gruesome... um... [ reading, reading... ] Do you mean physically, or emotionally? Because a lot of these involve feelings, [ which he's guessing would be gruesome for her, ] or, like... teach someone a new skill, which I guess could be anything.

[ Blinks down at his list again. ]

Or stay handcuffed to someone for an hour.

[ Which... does that count as gruesome? ]

[ohwoe]

[Hmm. She could manage any of them really, or at least she thinks so, and she gestures at the list.]

Are you comfortable with something emotionally gruesome?

[Because as much as Wednesday enjoys making people uncomfortable, it's a Certain Kind of discomfort — not the malicious sort. (Even if she won't admit that.)]

[titlecard]

[ He's taking a second to consider. Could he handle emotionally gruesome... Well. It's Wednesday, and emotionally gruesome might be safest with her, actually. He gets the sense that he wouldn't be judged at least.

So, sucking in a breath, he holds out his list to her, which contains any myriad of emotionally gruesome possibilities. ]

Sure. Pick one — I trust you.

[ It's going to be fine... It's Wednesday, it actually is going to be totally alright. He's sure of it. (Maybe.) ]

[ohwoe]

[What a strangely touching gesture of trust from Mark??? Hello???

She pauses, then nods. Takes a moment to peer over and look at his list, and the ones that seem like they'll be the most "gruesome" (aka maybe difficult to talk about) are pretty obvious.

So, she points to one in particular:]

"Tell someone about something you regret."

[titlecard]

[ Something he regrets... Mark puffs out a sigh, but it's not like he can complain. He signed up for this, after all. And Wednesday's a real one.

He takes a second to think it over, conscious of the cameras. ]

I regret... not being able to be honest. [ A beat. ] I mean, I'm honest about that being my regret. Just that... there are so many things I should tell people, and I just can't. It's shitty and it makes me feel like a bad person, but I... really, really can't, and it kind of feels like it's destroying me sometimes.

[ohwoe]

[Her brows knit together; she wonders what it could be, something so raw and/or sensitive that Mark can't unearth it around others. What he can't be truthful about.

There's nothing more of a shame in life than not being oneself, that's what she's always believed. That's what has always been encouraged by her family, if she must give them some kind of credit.

So, of course the follow-up question is an obvious one.]

Then why do you feel like you have to keep it to yourself? What's so detrimental about the truth?

[titlecard]

[ It is an obvious followup. He has to think it over — what's an honest way of answering her without being too incriminating? ]

... People will get hurt if I'm honest. People I care about. I couldn't live with myself if that happened, so it's better if I just suck it up, right? Better I feel a little bad sometimes and hurt someone's feelings than they really suffer because of me.

[ He's resigned in saying it, but also upfront. It's just better for everyone else if things suck for him a little bit more, right? Right. Obviously. ]

[ohwoe]

[Wednesday wouldn't be so sure of that.]

And you're happy to give that up? A part of your "true" self so you can protect the people you care about? Even if it's forever?

[That sounds. Noble. And not even in the kind of way that Wednesday can disparage.]

[titlecard]

... I'm not happy about it, no. [ He sighs. ] Just that if it's the best option, then it's the one I have to take.

[ A beat, really considering her wording. He hadn't thought of his alter ego in those terms before — being a part of his true self — and it... kind of hurts a little more to realize that's what it is, and what he has to do with that. ]

That part of my "true" self can stay locked away if it keeps people safe. Even if it's forever, yeah.

[ohwoe]

[She feels...

Sorry for him, she realizes. The clear conflict this presents Mark, and how difficult it must be to hide a portion of yourself at all times, stifling it away. All to protect those he cares about.

He has a big heart.

Ugh, she's getting soft.]

Maybe that doesn't always have to be the case. Do you not think you can find someone here you can trust with the truth? A burden shared is its own kind of trust.

[titlecard]

I—

[ He starts, stops himself. He knows she's right. His friends back home... Eve, especially... It can be easier, to deal with it when she's around. But he hasn't had the chance to see any of them since his dad—

Mark shakes his head. ]

Don't take this the wrong way, but I kind of hope I don't find anyone here I can trust. Not because you're wrong, but because I don't want anyone else to have to have gone through what I did.

[ He'll meet with Ritsuka sometime after this, and share with her then. And it will have simultaneously made him feel better — and also just, unfortunately, it will have sucked. ]

I appreciate the idea, though. Really, I do — a lot. It's just...

[ he vaguely waves a hand ]

Shit sucks, sometimes.

[ohwoe]

[Mark 😭]

I understand.

[Wednesday is the opposite of an idealist; she is a cynic. She does not see the world in black and white—despite how she dresses—and knows there is no single, correct solution for what Mark is going through. None that she can provide him, anyway. It seems like a very personal sort of journey.]

For what it's worth, I hope "shit sucks" less during your time here. This place will undoubtedly try to wring out drama for the ratings, but don't give the producers the satisfaction of taking advantage of it in your case.

Understood? [asked like that's some kind of command, I'm sorry]

[titlecard]

[ Wednesday...

He relaxes at her words, expunging a tension he hadn't been aware was in him. Even as she essentially gives him an order, but after her simple acceptance of him, his reasoning, he finds it to be a relief. It comes from a good place. He'd hug her if he thought she'd appreciate it. ]

Got it. [ And Mark beams at her, because sorry, she's just... made him feel noticeably happier. ] I've got no intentions of letting the drama get to me, [ he says, relatively early in week 2, like things aren't going to explode at any point later.

And: ] Shit does suck less when you're around, though. So thank you for that.

[ In lieu of being able to ask for a hug, he... sticks out a hand, instead. Shake on it? ]

[ohwoe]

[Good call. Wednesday is far more accepting of handshakes than hugs, and she extends a hand to complete it. Formal-like.]

That's what I'm here for, Mark. To win this game. Offer words of encouragement—when terror doesn't work, anyway—is just part of the job.

[Translation: thank you.]