week four | mingle

[showhost]

Welcome to your fourth and final week, teens!

There aren’t many changes around the house today: it seems everyone is dialed in on what needs to be done and the upcoming week. Everything that was on the fritz last week is now back to normal, aside from the Dress Up Your Blorbo curse. You can still do that at will.

Anyway, it's fine that all seems quiet.

There’s plenty going on anyway this week.

Dates | Embrace Space | Property Damage, etc | CR Event | A Thing
Truth Booth Voting | Match Ceremony Submissions

Comments

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[titlecard]

[ ... well, he's already wet. He's just going to have to deal with this now, isn't he.

So Mark cautiously makes his way down the hall, alert and ready for pretty much anything. Or at least, he thinks he is; the smell of iron can't be anything good, though. He's just going to. Try to block it out.

Look around a bit, first. He finds his hand grazing along the overflowing bathtub; is this where all the water is coming from...? ]

[flaweddetective]

[The scene warps to a poor looking neighborhood with an even poorer looking apartment. Peeling paint on the walls and chipped tiled floors. The furniture is worn and a little tattered. There's a television playing on in the bedroom and it barely muffles the sound of a woman crying.

A young boy with a mop of brunette hair runs past Mark, his footsteps slowing to make as little noise as possible as he goes to peer into the bedroom.]

"Mama?"

[But the woman only cries harder.

The scene flickers. The apartment the same but the moment different. The woman with pretty caramel colored hair places a towel in the young Akechi's arms along with some shampoo and soap.]

"Just go to the baths for a while. Okay? I'll come get you."

[He nods and looks her over. Her fanciest dress. Lovely makeup. Even jewellery.]

"You look pretty, mama."

[She pinches his cheek in response and gently pushes him out the door. He pads the short distance to the bathhouse, constantly looking over his shoulder to see a car pull up and a man come out to knock on their apartment door.

He hates when men come over. All different. None of them make her happy. None of them make her smile.

After the bath he sits on the bench and waits for her to come get him. Sometimes she forgets. He just has to wait for the car to leave. Sometimes that takes a while.

The cycle continues endlessly. His mom cries. Men come over. She cries more. About that man on the television. About bills. Food. The men that come over. He would do anything so that she stops crying.

On a night like so many others Akechi comes home from school. He sets his things down and slips off his shoes.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The sound of water catches his attention and he naturally peeks into the kitchen but finds nothing. Not the faint hint of dinner. Nothing started. That's not unusual but...

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The noise feels louder. More ominous. And the young Akechi puts his hand over his ears to try and drown it out.]

Mama?

[titlecard]

[ It's unlike anything he's ever seen before.

Mark is sheltered — maybe a little less so now, but he grew up that way. It played a big part in how he viewed the world for most of his life. Scenes like this are not anything he was privy to; even if he was, what would he do with them? What is he supposed to do now, when he sees Akechi—

Such a young Akechi, who only had one person he could trust, living amongst all of this— ]

Goro?

[ He doesn't— He doesn't know what to do. Mark wants to save people. This... already happened; it's not like there's anyone here for him to save. Even if there was, how would he even— ]

Goro? Are you... are you in here?