sevenvices | week 8

Entry tags:

mingle,
week 8

week 8

seven vices week 8

21 players remaining

♫

monday - thursday
Monday morning begins just like the rest, slow and uneasy. At 12pm, every television will go off with its usual bout of static, followed by Katerina's calm, albeit disinterested, voice.

"Please gather in the hotel lobby within the next hour."

That's all that it says before the televisions turn off. Anyone not in their rooms will hear the voice echoing around them as if through a speaker system, although there are (still) no speakers present.

After hearing the motive, characters who choose to explore will find that the void around the town has retracted a bit, and there is now boathouse and lake up North

Anyone looking for them will also find that Alisha's spear and Sadie's earmuffs are now gone.

>Mingle?

This is Week 8's mingle log, covering Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday. Investigations will go up on Friday.

When posting toplevels, specify the time and location. If you plan on having any private conversations between characters, remember to let us know in the post linked below.

More plot elements will be introduced this week. Mod comments will be occasionally distributed to open toplevels, accordingly.

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[ SQUINTS AT ]

Why the Hel do your eyes do that when you're being all weird and freaky?

[ ah. there she goes, the finest master of tact. now that faize seems to be less crazy, astrid will actually approach, not even bothering to apologize for throwing a rock at him. ]

[That just makes Faize look even more lost and perplexed. Genuinely so, he's definitely not faking this, Astrid!!! So don't hit him, because he legitimately has no idea he's been doing weird shit with his eyes since Friday.]

What...do you mean?

[Honestly, he was not expecting an apology for the rock... But he would like to know what she's talking about because ?????? he cannot see his own eyes.]

Your eyes keep glowing pink-red-weird-as-fuck whenever you get all...

[ A vague hand gesture really reminiscent of a confused Hiccup, as people with eyes now know if they watched him talking at all. ]

Weird. Is that a space-alien thing, or do I need to be worried that you're going to jump off a cliff into crazy?

[Faize frowns. He actually looks vaguely alarmed. SO NO. IT'S DEFINITELY NOT A NORMAL SPACE ALIEN THING, APPARENTLY??? But he's been worried he's been losing his mind ever since he realize he was in love with Alisha so THANKS FOR PUTTING IT THAT WAY, ASTRID.]

[Faize, please learn how to feel emotions like a normal person, holy shit.]

Are you...certain you aren't seeing things? [He holds his hands up defensively after he realizes that sounds like he's calling her crazy and he KNOWS SHE DOESN'T LIKE THAT.] Not that I think you are crazy but... perhaps it was a trick of the light? I have no other explanation to give you, unfortunately.

[ His hands went up too late because GUESS WHO JUST GOT SLUGGED IN THE ARM. But it's not as hard as usual, and for the first time since Alisha's death, Astrid looks outright concerned. She's managed to avoid pity or concern in her expression towards him until now (and pity still doesn't exist) mostly because...well, Alisha died. Faize is allowed to be upset about it, he's just not allowed to be ridiculous about it.

Cutting up trees doesn't register as ridiculous to her, BUT THE GLOWY EYES DO... ]

It wasn't a trick of the light. I'm pretty sure it happened at the trial, too, and back then I wasn't close enough and thought it might be a trick of the light, but just now? It wasn't.

[ So...it's not normal... ]

Do you remember what you were doing just now? I mean, were you thinking anything specific, or...

[UGH. WHY ALWAYS WITH THE PUNCHING? LEAVE HIS POOR ARM ALONE...]

I was just...angry, mostly. [He runs a hand through his hair, laughing weakly. This is freaking him out as least as much as it is Astrid, to be honest.] Hinata has been accompanying me during my training sessions this week, meaning I have spent more time teaching him swordplay than I have been working on my own technique. So I thought I might briefly do some work on my own, but then I started thinking about this past weekend and... I don't know what came over me.

[Apparently, he was gripped by the impulse to just violently slaughter some poor trees? THIS IS WHY WE DON'T SUPPRESS OUR ANGER, FAIZE. THIS RIGHT HERE.]

[ O...kay. This is concerning, still. ]

Have you actually let yourself be angry about everything that happened, or have you just been focusing on other things this entire week?

[ Because it sounds like you've been just shoving your anger aside and Astrid has no idea how you even do that. Her eyebrows are drawn together as she watches him, carefully. ]

[It really, really is. But already, Astrid is doing a better job of addressing the problem that is Faize's emotional...everything, than all of the Calnus crew combined.]

I have...had moments where I've felt angry about it, yes. ["Felt" but not "been", he doesn't really even need to address the rest of her question to answer it. It's pretty obvious that he's been trying to keep his occasional flares of anger contained all week.] Though...I will admit that more of my time has been spent attempting to distract myself.

[From more than just anger, if he were being 100% candid here. He's feeling way more emotions at once than any one person rightly should and he struggles enough as is with feeling just ONE intense emotion at a time. It's no wonder his primary coping strategy seems to be cutting himself off.]

...Are you an idiot?

[ SHE SWATS HIM UPSIDE THE HEAD, unless he manages to duck. ]

Oh my gods, you totally are. That's not how you deal with things, moron! No wonder you've managed to randomly make your eyes glow with...what even is this, repressed everything? You don't have to talk about your feelings if you don't think you can, but not feeling them is a really stupid option.

[ Like, she hates talking about feelings? But even she is better at them than Faize, apparently. ]

Okay, here's what we're going to do. You're going to scream as loud as you can, right now.

[Yes, this is...quite literally, repressed everything. He was doing so much better at it before Sadie and Hinata managed to break the dam on Sunday and let the anger and sadness out but...he's been trying to plug the holes back up. It's easier than feeling things?? This is a great coping method, he's not sure what you're talking about.]

[He does not manage to duck, however. She's conditioned him to expect punches so the head swat catches him completely off-guard. Faize hisses and rubs at his head, shooting Astrid a glare and opening his mouth like he's about to try and defend himself. But the words die before they're even formed, struck dumb by that last command.]

Excuse me?

[You want him to what now.]

You are going to scream as loud as you can right now or I am going to make you.

[ By. Attacking you until you snap and let off some steam.

THAT SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT PLAN, ASTRID. ]

...please stop and think about where we are, for a moment, and realize why I cannot do that.

[WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF MURDER TOWN, ASTRID. IT IS EVENING. ON THE WEEK OF THE WORST MOTIVE EVER WHEN CHANCES ARE HIGH SOMEONE WILL KILL BEFORE FRIDAY.]

[What do you think will happen if someone hears screams coming from the direction of the lake???]

Oh, whatever, they'll just find us perfectly alive, so what's the big deal?

[ LIVE A LITTLE, FAIZE. ]

It's either that or you're going to fight with me with all you've got. You need to do SOMETHING or you're going to snap. Haven't you ever heard of bending before you break?

It's additional, unnecessary stress. That's the "big deal". [Whoops. Getting a little sassy there.] Put yourself in the hypothetical third party's shoes for a moment. I have little doubt you'd punch whoever made you run all the way out here for nothing.

[DON'T EVEN TRY TO SAY OTHERWISE, ASTRID.]

However... [He glances over at the mutilated trees for a moment, clearly hesitant. Apparently he hasn't been giving himself enough credit all this time. He's capable of more damage than he thought. Getting into a fight with a person, in this mental state, seems like a bad idea just waiting to happen. Even if he's fairly worn down physically thanks to training with Hinata and tree-murder. He's not sure that's a risk he wants to take.] I am not certain that the alternative is a wise decision either.

[Just fucking fight her, Faize, jesus christ.]

[ Faize...it's not like she can't handle herself and keep herself alive, here. Astrid...smiles at him brightly, so he should be really fucking worried immediately.

She then (ATTEMPTS TO, IF HE MANAGES TO DODGE THIS TIME) punches him square in the face.

THIS IS HOW YOU GET PEOPLE TO LET OFF STEAM, RIGHT. honestly...why has no one tried to hit her back yet it's been weeks now come on ]

[LISTEN...listen. He's not underestimating her, it's just that likes Astrid (even if she's overly violent) and he doesn't want to have any accidents.]

[Something about that smile raises a red flag in his head and, sure enough, that sure is a fist coming straight for his face. And this time, this time he dodges. He drops down to the ground, turning slightly on his right foot as he does so, to sweep his left leg out towards Astrid's own legs. Fine. WE'LL DO IT YOUR WAY, THEN.]

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week 8

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