F̀I҉̵N̶ÁL͘ ̵̧̀WE҉̧̀E͞K̷̨

[strangerpeople]

F̀I҉̵N̶ÁL͘ ̵̧̀WE҉̧̀E͞K̷̨

[. . .



















When everyone wakes up as the new week dawns, they will be in for a nasty surprise. After all, IT does not forget-and IT does not forgive.

There were nine strangers in this place-but six of them are suddenly missing from their homes.]

Comments

Lenga asked me to do this wild card prompt

[poorlovefool]

[Well that is gonna be a lot of exercise, boys! Maybe after you leave the pool and go on to all that other stuff, everyone can go eat Hiyori's grasserole in the dining room. This is just a terrible looking gray sponge of a casserole fit for the broken shells of man that they are. Which is to say only Eric is there, and even he is a little dubious.]

I didn't know you cook too...

[mermaidkin]

Oh, no, I got this from upstairs! Having clearance is so fun and convenient. Do you think we cut out the candy hearts by hand like animals?

[Hiyori is cutting slices of the grasserole with a kitchen knife. Please enjoy seeing Hiyori hold a knife.]

[poorlovefool]

I have no idea what you use to make candy hearts really. I remember you customized them.

[That is the kind of human touch IT brings them here for, he supposes.

It's a good thing this is a really long table so he doesn't have to sit right next to him with the knife..... Hiyori, your vibes are atrocious]

[mermaidkin]

Yeah! Link and I took turns...

[It's a happy memory. Just like with Link, Hiyori is trying to find an eerily synchronized way to put down Eric's plate of grasserole and then his own, a bit closer on the long table than the fortunately distant serving dish and knife. On the facing side and then one place away from his.]

"Karma Akabane is a doll" was funnier than I ever expected, to be honest.

[poorlovefool]

He was really proud of that joke too. But... you did, huh?

[Eric watches his synchronicity and reminds himself that it's like they're dancing on glass.]

It takes some effort to make it look appealing, I guess.

[They were cute and harmless in the end. He's making him feel kind of guilty about this.]

[mermaidkin]

That's the thing I'm always happy when you [plural] understand.

[He gets a chunk of grasserole with his fork.]

We try to make things look nice, and taste nice. It's just, you know, simpler ways.

[poorlovefool]

Simple. Right.

[let's just tell ourselves that and close our eyes. The bite he takes after that is really comforting. Comforting is the adjective because it tastes like nothing. But it is warm and fluffy. He puts his chin in his hand as he eats it quietly.]

How... are things, upstairs, now? Are your bosses happy they got to torture us?

[this couldn't be an ENTIRELY friendly conversation after that, you understand.]

[mermaidkin]

Oh, the big guy always loves a good torture session. Always.

[Just like Hiyori always loves whatever the company has for lunch, in this case grasserole!!! Munch munch munch.]

You were right when you were telling Link, you know. Life really is just suffering, and slightly less suffering here, a little more there, on and on, forever.

[poorlovefool]

[He... definitely catches his drift. Always, and forever. Hiyori has been in that tube many times. And he must desire comfort too, even though this isn't nearly enough. It could never be enough to erase the suffering but he's still gonna eat it, because he's hurting badly enough.]

..... Ghhk. [ah, that's a miniscule tear in one of his eyes. He's just gonna wipe it off with the heel of his palm. It really is easy to think there's nothing left to escape to, when his heart is emptied like this, and that would imply the acceptance of the eternal suffering. Only, he can't. It's too sad, for all of them.]

[mermaidkin]

Too much...?

[He looks at Eric's tear with a doubtful eye. Like it's a lima bean out of place, but also that he knows the guy hates lima beans because they remind him too much of what his dead mom used to make.]

It's just that - you're easier to talk with than most of the others. Even Link, he... he needs to forget from time to time, if he wants to concentrate at all on his work.

[poorlovefool]

N-no, it's fine. [He can keep smiling! He just got overwhelmed. Don't mind the sniffle, he's dry again now.]

...How much does he forget?

[mermaidkin]

...let me put it this way. I think he really didn't understand before getting directly ordered, that Tuesday was a day to be afraid of.

[He waves his fork, tut-tut.]

To be fair, the Plane had a completely different schedule, so this is stuff he'd only learn from our observation reports in the first place.

[poorlovefool]

Well....I'm definitely still scared of motives. If that's all it takes...

[gonna dig into the gray mush again, waiting to see what he's getting at.]

[mermaidkin]

You'd be surprised. A lot of Strangers have expressed the opinion that all the motives we offer are abysmal and prove we're out of touch.

[Yet they were all acted about so who wins.]

...but of course, you don't blindly live in fear of every possible outcome either...

[Rallying from the deep hole that sent him into, his eyes gleam faux-guilelessly]

Why do you think "help will come"? Did someone tell you that? The self-proclaimed Rachel did that exact thing at the conclusion of the Plane ordeal, so you can understand our curiosity about the particular conditions.

[poorlovefool]

No one ever listens when I tell them I could just do it myself, either...

[it's tough being a god among men!!! but hm, yikes, that is a point isn't it. Eric looks reluctant to answer, but he already knows because Eric told Link, so there's not much point in dancing around it.]

I couldn't tell you the specifics even if I knew them, you know? But, yes, someone in our group was told that.... and I've had a hunch it was coming ever since the second week. Something about a cat...

[he definitely mutters that last bit since it's a bit inexplicable]

Besides, i-it doesn't make sense for it to be like with Rachel. We're already in IT's territory. Doesn't get much worse than that.

[there's a bit of a pause.]

And why'd you eavesdrop so much on me and Link, anyway? That can't have been part of your job. He should... file his own paperwork about what we talked about.