WEEK 1: April 2nd - April 6th

[cartesio]

Peace Week

Sunday must have been exhausting for you, maybe even upsetting. A new town, new faces and a an ominous order from a man without a face... who wouldn't be a little frightened? Hopefully, all of that is forgotten when you climb out from under your blankets this fine Monday. Rise and shine! A new morning is a new start!

If you make your way to the lounge, you will find a few copies of the local newspaper provided for your perusal. Once you go outdoors, you'll find the weather forecast 100% accurate. It's pretty impressive.

It seems that quiet mornings like this are going to be your everyday life now. Maybe you should see this whole stay as a vacation? Go out and explore the town, meet your fellow motel guests and meet the townspeople. They're sure to welcome you with a smile!

This week's special in the diner is lemon pie made with love (and a top-secret recipe)

Links

IC Rules
Guestbook
Room Assignments
Locations
NPCs
Activity Check

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday

[Welcome to the peace week! This week there won't be a murder nor a task. Enjoy the peace while it lasts! If you want to contact the Sergeant, please post here!]

Comments

[marmoron]

[Not that his own theory that the Sergeant is some kind of figure analogous to "Bob" is much different, but this gets him to narrow his eyes. He's really not getting the impression that Cian knows any interdimensional omnipotent beings.]

What's that supposed to mean?

[Evidently he's curious enough that he stops eating nachos to give her his full attention.]

[integratedsoul]

The friend who I betrayed. She called me right before I got here. She said I should prove myself. Miach is the smartest person I have ever met. If anyone can do something like this, it's Miach. This is her ideal world. A place where your self is more valuable than anything else.

I don't get it though. I've asked people here about her, by name, by description... Nobody has met her. Why would Miach do this to any of you?

[marmoron]

[The elaboration hits Keith in waves. First like a distant "yeah that's dumb, moving on" but as it continues, the magnitude of the stupidity of it swells like a hydra sprouting several ugly heads. Keith slams an open hand down hard on the table.]

It's obviously not your friend who's responsible!

[It's snapped at her, harsh, cutting.]

Do you really think everything revolves around you and your broken promises? Just how important do you think you are?!

1/2

[integratedsoul]

[ Cian flinches at the outburst. Nobody ever yells. Not even Miach, not even Tuan... Their resentment was quiet flames, never explosions. In all her life, nobody has ever yelled at Cian like this.

She draws herself back against the backrest of her seat, accidentally knocking over her glass of water.

How important do you think you are?

She's very important. She's a precious resource. Her life is needed by mankind. Her body isn't her own, that is how important she is. Every move she makes is for the people she is so precious to---

--- She isn't important at all. Her life, her death, those are only her own, because she doesn't matter. Nobody should care about her, there is no reason to. There is only Cian and she isn't important in the slightest.

She can't speak. There is no way she can answer this question. Her mouth just hangs open uselessly as she stares at Keith in shock. ]

[integratedsoul]

[ Cian isn't important, but Miach... Miach can do anything... Miach is everything - not to the world, just to Tuan and Cian. A messiah just for them. The heart and soul of their rebellion, the void left in their lives.

Miach can do anything.

Miach brought her here.

She can make it up to Miach.

Are you watching, Miach? Are you seeing my weakness? I'm sorry, Miach. I'm so so sorry.

Tears well up in Cian's eyes, partly shock and partly a deep-seated sorrow that's been eating at her core for so long. There is moisture everywhere. The drip-drop of the spilled water from the table onto her skirt. The tears that pool and start to spill without her permission.

But she really has to smile. Interface properly. It's all she's good at. All she can do. ]

I don't matter at all, I know that. I'm only me, that's why...

[ ... that's why she can't think of anyone or anything else. ]

[marmoron]

[Adrenaline has his heart racing in his chest, his palm stinging from the impact. The occupants in the diner are looking at him, the atmosphere unnaturally still and hushed while the jukebox continues to crank out cheerful music unimpeded. Keith doesn't give a flying fuck about any of that right now. There's been tension gnawing away at his insides for days now, catalyzed by his utter helplessness to do anything to save the other paladins. His friends.

His friends that he yelled at in much the same fashion. Do you really think we're some chosen saviors?! What are we DOING here?! He'd screamed venom at them, all of them, knowing it'd hurt, knowing damn well that he was supposed to be their leader. The person everyone could count on. The one who was supposed to be holding them together in difficult times. Not kicking sand in their eyes, not slashing gaping wounds in their morale.

Keith grits his teeth, both hands now clenched into tight fists. What the hell is he doing now? Eating food, sitting down leisurely at a diner while the others back home are starving to death or frozen indefinitely in lions that aren't fucking working anymore. And what the hell can he still do for them even if he manages to make it back? They all hate him by now and he can't fucking blame them for it. Any of it.

And from the looks of it, he hasn't learned a fucking thing. Yelling at an unrelated girl who's never had to really think for herself or defend herself. Scaring her into tears as she just sits there letting the spilled water drip onto her lap. Shame burns his insides -- he should be better than this.

But in the end? He just isn't.

Keith tosses his napkin at her, still fuming still furious.]

You-! Stop smiling if you're upset.

[integratedsoul]

[ That's an awfully high demand Keith is making of her and Cian can't obey it. The smile just stays stuck to her face as she gives a grateful nod and picks up the napkin to clean up the spills.

Doing that is nice, it keeps her hands busy and provides a flimsy excuse to simply not reply to Keith just yet. She only looks back up at him when the flood is under control - and she's still smiling faintly. ]

That's not how things are done. It's silly to still play by the rules now, I know, but... I don't want to place the burden of my feelings on someone unwilling.

[marmoron]

[As much as he can't stand that smile on her face right now, as long as she's quietly tidying herself up there's nothing further he has to say, no more barbs to throw out indiscriminately. His hands remain clenched though, tension not letting up for a second as the silence makes the eyes on him feel like knives digging into his flesh.

He needs to get the hell out of the diner. He has to go somewhere less stifling, less oppressive, less fucking normal -- and that's when Cian finds her voice again.]

The hell is that supposed to mean?! You think I can't see that I'm making you cry if you put a fake smile on it?! You're making me and everyone else here deal with your feelings whether they want to or not!

[integratedsoul]

You don't have an obligation to care whether or not I am crying.

[ There's no aggression in this statement. It is simply what comes to mind first and foremost for Cian, in a fit of bewilderment. Keith doesn't have to care. He's not from a world that forces him to feel responsible for every stranger's most minuscule issues. Cian's problems are not even a matter of life and death - it's just badly concealed tears shed for herself, selfishly.

Keith doesn't need to care at all. Cian expected he wouldn't. He's like Tuan after all, Cian had thought, but unlike Tuan he's not her friend. Keith doesn't have a reason to care if he's making anybody cry. Nobody is making him.

Which means Keith just cares because caring is somehow intrinsic to him. Because he somehow was born a person who cares, just like that. Funny how that works.

Cian gets up from her seat. Whatever the reason for Keith's strange behavior is, it's clear he doesn't want to put up with her - and if she's honest, that feeling is mutual. Intentionally or not, Keith is tearing searing holes into her chest after all. ]

Have a nice meal.

[marmoron]

[That throws him for a moment. Not the part where she's getting up -- of course she'd want to get the hell away from him, why would anyone want to be dealing with him right now? Just the reminder of his own default position of "not caring" being so casually thrown back into his face takes him two seconds of adjustment.]

No-. [Still forceful, but no longer shouting, Keith grits his teeth and gets to his own feet.] You stay. I.. I need to get out of here. I'll pay for the food on the way out.

[And before she can really object any further, he's already walking towards the cashier.]