WEEK SIX: MINGLE

[retellers]

WEEK SIX: MINGLE (25 remain) Rise and shine, gremlins. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and it's the start of a new week. To the participants, yesterday's events may seem distant now—albeit not as distant as their life before this. Whether or not they notice, they will have lost a memory upon waking up. The barrier to the north is down, and beyond the bridge lies new areas to explore. Strangely, what was there last week seems to have been replaced overnight. That's not the only thing that's different, either. The participants will find that their lodgings have changed. Finally, should anyone check their PHS, Elsa, Yona, Shigeo, and Fiora's profiles have been removed. Three Leaders can be found around the area, open (?) to approach. If participants want to speak to them more privately, or to an absent Leader, it looks like they'll have to go through another channel. Furthermore, it looks as though the rules have updated. Once again, participants may find that they have difficulty recalling complete details of the past weeks. Also, anyone who had been poisoned during trial will still be feeling sick! Haha! Finally, participants will find that they are now sporting a new injury. This injury is one that they received in their past, whether they remember it or not. No matter how fatal the injury is, participants won't die from it, and the pain they feel will be dulled down. However, if another participant touches someone's injury effect, even if it's covered, then they will both be hit with whatever pain that was felt when the injury was first inflicted. This pain will last ten seconds. The injury can also be as minor or major as desired.

NAVIGATION locations ₓ˚. statuses *+:｡ ic profiles :ₓo ic rules ･ﾟﾟ･｡ audience requests murder proposals ｡✧o private conversations ･ﾟo｡ curfew ･ﾟ✧ memories

Comments

[reconnective]

Yeah. I've never wanted to go home this bad before. [which. is also maybe a bleak thing to say, and it seems like he said it without thinking given the surprise on his face. he shakes his head and offers another grin.]

It's nice, isn't it? And the boardwalk has a lot of cool stuff, and there's some caves further down the beach to explore and stuff.

[stillnot]

[ she looks a little surprised to hear that. clem thinks she would be a lot more homesick if she had a proper home. but she knows even her childhood home is wrecked after this long, and in a dangerous area. no going back. is it wanting to go home if all she cares about is getting back to aj?

... but for someone who actually does have somewhere to go back to - somewhere nice and warm - it's hard to imagine not longing for that. given what she knows about his situation. ]

... You seem like you keep too busy to get homesick.

[ which is not. necessarily a good thing. ]

Think there's cool stuff in the caves?

[reconnective]

[he's still grinning but it doesn't quite meet his eyes even if he's playing it off. and she's right. normally he's too busy to be homesick, but that was always the goal anyway. find his friends, go back to...the island. whatever it was called. the name doesn't matter so much as the fact it was home.

here, despite how much they're doing, there's more downtime than not and it means having to resolve the internal war going on and actually acknowledging his conflicting emotions about missing home.]

Yeah, I guess. Usually we're on the move and traveling to different places to clear out Heartless and stop worlds from disappearing. [but he brushes some stray sand off of his shorts.]

Wanna go look? Caves aren't too far from here.

[stillnot]

[ at least being on the move and fighting things is relatable.

she comes around so she can offer him a hand up. ]

Sure. Let's keep you busy.

[ clementine like: just lean into the coping mechanism even harder! it's fine! ... she just doesn't know how else to help. ]

[reconnective]

[it helps! a lot! because yeah, they share the same terrible habit of burying themselves in poor coping mechanisms and constantly doing other things to outrace their own trauma which...sora didn't really realize until he came here. it's fine.

nevertheless he takes her hand and gingerly lets himself be pulled up and helps himself up, like he's trying not to agitate injuries. once on his feet though he lingers for just a moment with his hand in hers, almost like he's studying them...

...before he lets go. things are probably different now, aren't they?]

Maybe we'll find some secret passages or something to get to another part of the beach.

[stillnot]

[ at least she was smart enough to offer her right hand. since her left shoulder has a gunshot wound.

and. huh. she looks a little surprised that he let go at all? but alright. yeah, that... makes sense. right. yeah. ]

... So you want a secret beach and I want a shiny rock. I think I have the better odds.

[reconnective]

[clem your shoulder??? but if she's not talking about it, he won't mention it. sort of the same way he won't mention the bandages around his chest that can probably be seen through the gaps of the arm holes in his shirt.

oh well. his fingers flex and curl a bit like he's still debating, but they move on and he officially withdraws to fold his hands behind his head.]

Probably. But I don't mind dreaming big sometimes. [hah.] We'll definitely find rocks in the cave though, so you're in luck. More to add to your collection?

[stillnot]

[ today is a trauma avoidance day. and also handholds avoidance day, apparently! wow!

she sort of. looks at him sidelong while they walk and nods. ]

Yep.

But for the record, I'd still be excited about a secret beach.

[reconnective]

[sometimes. you realize that, perhaps, someone else's behavior wasn't entirely normal and talk yourself into thinking they don't want to handhold anymore. he doesn't quite know how he's feeling which means when she looks at him she'll see that the smile's faded to something more neutral and thoughtful.]

I think no matter what we find it'll be fun, but only because I'm looking for it with you. [just saying.] Even if we don't find what we're looking for now, we can always try again later.

[stillnot]

[ clementine is only vaguely aware that it had been a little... uncharacteristic for her? she's not thinking about it. no reason to think about it.

but... sora, at least, has always just seemed like a more tactile person. so if? he doesn't want to hold hands anymore what's that about? ]

Well. That's because I'm just such a fun person. [ said very flatly, of course. ] We can hang out any time.

[reconnective]

[he is, but. look. it's fine. stop perceiving him.]

You definitely underestimate how much I like hanging out with you. [equally flatly.] We'll come back later then. The beach is always different at night than it is during the day. Besides, I wanna see the boardwalk all lit up.

[stillnot]

[ she is looking and she is perceiving. just kidding - she looks away when he says that. perhaps blushing. shut up.

... also she just does not really know how to reply to that. so she's focusing on the other part and. self consciously fiddling with her hat. ]

Yeah, coming back at night sounds nice. I bet it's pretty.

[reconnective]

[hm. not looking because if he looks away he will crash into something or trip over his own foot but he can perceive from the corner of his eye.]

I think so, too. Tonight or tomorrow if you want. Before whatever happens on Wednesday, at least, because stuff always happens on Wednesday.

[wednesday :unamused:]

[stillnot]

... The way people are using items right now? Probably better sooner than later.

Before something sabotages us.

[reconnective]

[he. pauses. like she said something a little strange but he immediately blows it off. not now. now is not the time to bring that up!]

Tell me about it. [hm...what was it that someone said earlier because i think it's hilarious?] Then it's a date.

[stillnot]

[ she would have nudged him if he weren't such an injured fuck. but instead she just kind of. falters for a step. ]

... Uh.

Yeah.

[ ... ]

[reconnective]

[for once he's glad he's an injured fuck. but he tilts his head slightly. hm? ]

Okay.

[...

but hey, there are caves! there's at least two of them and sora stops to look between them.]

Which one, you think?

[stillnot]

[ help, make this not awkward anymore. ]

Huh. Got a coin to flip?

[reconnective]

[he cannot also you deserve this]

Actually? [he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a piece of gold.] Heads for the left, tails for the right. Call it.

[stillnot]

[ sora why do you just have gold. ]

Heads?

[reconnective]

[haha. but now that i'm off mobile, he flips!]

...looks like we're going right. [he shows off the tails side of the gold piece.] We can go left tonight.

[stillnot]

We should try and get a flashlight for that.

[ or maybe they could just make a torch? anyway, right-cave it is for now! ]

[reconnective]

Yeah. And if that doesn't work, Riku and I have made torches before. It's been a while, but I think I remember how.

[into the right cave! this one is probably full of bats, but they can walk quietly and not disturb them.] ...there was this cave on our island that was carved into the cliffside past this waterfall. We called it the secret place because the path was narrow and wound around, but it opened to a big cave in the center. We used to think monsters lived in there, but after a while we went exploring and started drawing on the walls and stuff. There're other caves, too, that lead from one side of the play island to the other.

[stillnot]

[ she laughs but - quietly. bats... ] Don't worry. If this place took how to make torches from you, I still know how.

[ and she listens to him with interest. ]

Huh. That sounds like a place that would be really fun as a kid. [ because when you're little the world feels big and mysterious and safe. ] There was a cave near the... [ the ░░░░░░░░░? what was the ░░░░░░░░░?

but she doesn't really know where that sentence was going so she just trails off awkwardly. ]

[reconnective]

[yeah i'm not giving them a nice cave for this, they can have cool rocks and bats.] Good. We have a plan then.

[walking, walking...]

It was. We didn't have a lot of things like big stores or anything back there, so we made up our own stories and games and stuff all the time. [he seems to get that he just accidentally stumbled on something she forgot though, and while there's a moment's pause he bypasses it immediately.]

...ever find anything interesting in that cave?