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

[makeine]

[ oh my god that was weeks ago.

... wow, that was weeks ago. she can still recall the way he felt on her lap, the smile he had, color in his cheeks...

mm... wait, don't be distracted. pet the cat. ]

The other guy taking down humans? [ still weird to say. ] Who you made a sour face about.

[willandaway]

[pet the cat. he be lovin' it]

[wordlessly. . . Will hands Anna the tome]

Read this, and you'll understand.

[makeine]

[ the way she can't pet the cat and read at the same time. no, it's fine, she'll sit cross-legged on the ground and take the tome a little warily (she. didn't exactly like how the last one she looked at felt, but--), petting purrito (plateau) with one hand as the other shifts to open to page one. ]

[willandaway]

[the moment she touches the tome, she feels. . . another heavy weight enveloping her. it's not oppressive this time, though; in fact, it feels like the weight of. . . responsibility. of duty]

[she opens the book to the following text]

Louis Guiabern rose to military acclaim at the tender age of twelve.
His accomplishments and accolades had many supporting his endeavors despite his apparent inexperience.
He is personable and eloquent, and dreams of a world of equality for all.
In reality, what he wishes for is a true meritocracy, where the strong survive and the weak die.
He cares not for those without power.
Under his rule, the world would be ruled by the mighty, and the meek and unfortunate would be left to languish in agony.

Louis Guiabern, whose ideals resonate with many who are unhappy with tribal discrimination, has committed many crimes.
The first of which is the most egregious: he cursed the Prince with a spell that would eat away at his life.
The second: he assassinated the king in his sick bed.
The third: he ignored a nearby village's pleas for help when they were attacked by a human, allowing the creature to raze and kill to its own content.
The fourth: he seized the Grand Cathedral, ordering and allowing his subordinates to kill any within, even though they were all civilians.

Louis Guiabern, a man with ambition. . . and no sense of sanctity for the lives of his fellow countrymen.

He cannot be allowed to be king.

He cannot be allowed to live.

To free the Prince from his curse, Louis Guiabern must die.

[. . .]

[makeine]

[ ...

it's little wonder that will had made such a face about the man, and... there was no way they could've talked about it in front of the cameras. anna thinks of the times they should've, maybe, while alone in the embrace space together, but

this louis guy's got no place in that bedroom, a world that belong to them and them alone. everything fell away in there. that's how they liked it, and how she wants it to remain. so better that it's here and now, lazily petting a cat she might or might not meet one day for real, eyes caught on the list of crimes and then the single sentence at the bottom.

... so, in other words... ]

You gotta kill him, huh.

[willandaway]

[yeah. . . yeah. that's exactly why he had stalled that conversation in its tracks. can't talk about assassinating a very well-loved public figure on camera!! no matter how awful the things they have done are]

[he lifts his chin, jaw set, features determined]

I do.

And I will.

[and he knows how bad that sounds. he knows. it's just. . . Will has always been the type perfectly willing to do what he must do for the betterment of the future.]

Because. . . killing the caster is the only known way to truly break the Prince's curse.

1/2

[makeine]

[ mmmmmmmmmmmmm anna has seen too much this week and it's mostly been murder when it's been bad she's just looking at him like this for a minute ]

2/2

[makeine]

[ before she sets the book aside and pets her sweet baby purrito with both hands, gaze to the cat too. still above her paygrade, a part of others' realities but never hers.

... but it would become it, huh. if she traveled with him. if she lived there. not political sorts or whatever, but other times too... like the randos in movies and books that get taken care of and never thought about again. ]

Okay, well. That's fine. Seems like a pretty bad guy anyway. I'll help you somehow, like... being your cover or something. Or poisoning him. I learned a lot about poisons last week.

[willandaway]

[I'M]

[HELLO???]

[clearly taken aback by that request]

You want to-- [and then he swiftly shakes his head] -- no, Anna. . . taking a man's life, no matter the reason, is a heavy burden to bear.

[he isn't happy that his path is going to be drenched in blood. he just also knows. . . it's the way of the world as it is now. perhaps one day, things will be different, but. . . that day is not today]

I'd never. . . ask you to shoulder something like that.

[makeine]

Well, I don't want you shouldering it either! Or, at least not--

[ alone, but. he wouldn't be. he has his friends, and anna's expression falls a little. her cheeks puff and she turns back down the tome.

... not like she really wants to kill anyone either, but she doesn't... know what she can do. for him. it's such a heavy burden. ]

... Well, I'll... figure something out. I guess.

[willandaway]

[she's right. . . he isn't alone. his party bears the burden of taking a man's life along with him, and perhaps. . . that's why he has mustered up the courage to go through with his mission. the knowledge that there were others who supported him, who believed in the dream he was fighting for, and were willing to help him accomplish his goals. no matter what it took]

[but. . .]

[he can tell that knowledge doesn't help, and his features fall a bit as she looks down at the tome again]

[. . .]

[he crosses the room so he is crouched next to her, his hand coming to rest atop the book in her lap]

. . . there is something you can do for me. If. . . you're willing.

[makeine]

[ anna perks up at that, curiosity plain to see. ]

I'm always willing. What is it?

[willandaway]

[quietly, earnestly]

. . . can you be there. . . when my mission is complete?

[a pause. and he clarifies]

For me.

[because it will be a heavy burden. and even if he has his team to help him do the deed. . . in the aftermath, he'll need someone else to help him carry the weight of what he had done]

[makeine]

[ oh.

... oh. she lays her hand on his, leaning against him as her eyes close. ]

Of course. Think you'll be up for a bite to eat? I can make you something easy on the stomach and warm for the heart.

[willandaway]

[. . . good. he slides one arm around her shoulders, fingers stealing in to her hair in return]

I'll always be up for anything that you make.

[makeine]

[ how comforting, always, to be held by him. ]

Then I'll make my granny's specialty. It always made me feel better when I was down, and then I'll follow it up with a cure-all recipe of my own...

[ which

from her tone doesn't

sound like a food recipe ngl-- ]