(no subject)

[harmonial]

@ thursday
𝐓𝐄𝐗𝐓 / 𝐀𝐔𝐃𝐈𝐎 / 𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐎 / 𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 / 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖
6♣ ( 𝑺𝑰𝑿 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝑳𝑼𝑩𝑺 )

Comments

text / @iudex / sorry I saw his username and felt Compelled

[diuturna]

My apologies for sending this message without preamble, but are you perhaps related to a Mr. Sunday?

( how many guests can there be in the resort named after days of the week, really? )

help 😭

[harmonial]

No apology necessary.

[:')]

It is. Unfortunately, it seems the House has... registered me under a different name, and I am unable to change it at the moment.

Forgive me, but can I ask who this is?

[diuturna]

Ah. A joke then. I see.

( surely it is meant to be a joke, yes? just as the surge of the water sprinkler system wherever he goes must also be a 'funny joke'. )

Forgive me. This is Neuvillette. We met in the parking garage some time ago.

( you know, the guy that almost drowned him in the car. )

[harmonial]

Their version of a joke.

[Yes, he is... privately a bit sore.]

Oh, Mr. Neuvillette. It's good to hear from you again. [He might have made a remark about being fully dressed this time, if they were in person, but — it's the thought that counts.] I take it you've been assigned a new 'card value' as well? A rank and suit?

[diuturna]

I have indeed. I am a Six of Spades; I believe that puts me somewhere in the middle.

( not high enough to earn any special privileges, not low enough to suffer needlessly. perfectly mediocre. it's a new experience after so long with the spotlight pointed on him. )

And yourself? What have you been assigned?

[harmonial]

We're the same rank, in fact. Six.

[He'll have to keep an eye out for Neuvillette on the sixth floor — given that he's barely left his suite over the past few days, it doesn't surprise him that he hasn't seen the other man yet. Hermit habits die hard.]

Only my suit is the other one — Clubs. I'm still trying to determine what it means. Have you learned anything?

[diuturna]

( interesting question. he'd been busy enough with other matters that he hadn't pondered the importance of the suits themselves, but sunday brings up a good point. )

I have not, no. But I do have some acquaintances here who have been guests of the resort far longer than either of us two. I will ask them when I have the chance and share the results of my investigation with you.

[harmonial]

Acquaintances? Do you mean that you knew them prior to arriving here?

[diuturna]

Yes, though both of them had apparently been guests of the resort far longer than I was aware. But such discrepancies are common here, so I'm told.

( doesn't make it any less disturbing though. )

[harmonial]

I didn't know that.

[It makes him consider the acquaintances he knows as well. He hadn't asked, except for when it was obvious.]

I think it would be a good idea, though, to share information as we come across it. So far I haven't encountered anything truly dangerous in this world, but I suppose it hasn't been long enough to tell.

Are you... playing the House's game?

@pigeon

[birding]

( ... these usernames... )

Brother...?

[harmonial]

[Insane thought: how dare they call his beautiful sister 'pigeon'??????? She deserves better.]

I see the House has 'supposedly' made an error with your registration as well.

[birding]

( sunday marching up to the front desk asking to speak to their manager )

With the number of ( guests? no, ) victims that come in, I guess it would be too much to organize. Not everyone's hospitality can match that of The Reverie.

[harmonial]

[HE WOULD?]

And even The Reverie had its mistakes. [Well, mostly when Certain People came to Meddle, but he sets those past memories aside.] Robin. What were you assigned?

[birding]

The six of clubs.

( and somehow she missed him in passing on the sixth floor? testament to how big a building this must be. )

After I'd been assigned, I noticed a mark on my neck that looks new.

( —or is that somehow saying too much? somehow talking about what it covers instead of the magically-appearing, dusty little symbol is... uncomfortable. )

What did you draw?

( so to speak. a better card? worse...? )

[harmonial]

[Oh. Oh.]

We have the same card.

[A joke played by the House? First the error in their registration, and now assigned the same rank and suit. It cannot be an accident.

Though he doesn't share where his own mark is, her answer sticks in his mind — what a symbolic place for it to be. How close is it to her scar? What does it look like? His thoughts run too far in that direction against his will.]

[birding]

I see.

( not quite so lucky then — or the kind of luck that would score them a pair, in the same suit, with nothing to really show for it.

... he's really on the same floor then? so close, but there's a thought, when he didn't even show his face the first time they met...

something like, he should have his privacy; this will have to be enough. but it'll take some time to smother the nagging thought that she could be right next to him, so easily here, if she really thought to push. )

It's too early, perhaps, but when I'd waited on guests playing games in the casino, their behavior would sometimes go erratic.

I was told it's because of this suit. Has it affected you?

[harmonial]

This suit? You're certain of that?

Exactly what kind of behavior did you observe?

[Not yet an answer to her question, which isn't wholly intentional — but it is the most important. What did Robin learn about the Clubs suit?]

[birding]

( ... right to business, glossing over any facet of his own condition. but it's fair — it's a steady sense of priority to find out about their captivity. and if he weren't okay...

well, she's not sure if she'd ever hear about it. )

I'm sorry, I only saw the marks when they were somewhere more prominent. Faces, or the backs of people's hands at the card tables. So I don't know specifically if it's because of the clubs or just any suit in general...

Back during the party, there was a game. If someone lost a hand big enough, they'd suddenly become agitated. Not because of anger, but I could feel their emotions rising like a crescendo, and I

( ... sent, just a little too soon. the next pause... is a lengthy one. thirty seconds. minutes. like she's waiting for him to fill the blank where she's suddenly stalling. )

[harmonial]

[Her words fall off at a cliff. Sunday waits, but his sister does not go on, and he finds himself locked in that sole moment — hurting to reach across the distance.]

Robin, it's all right. Was it overwhelming?

[They had once struggled as children with this part of their nature, and she is better at it than him, now.]

There are a lot of different emotions around us right now, and they're only enhanced by... features of the House's doing. The suits, in ways we don't understand yet. Don't be afraid of it. Protect yourself first.

the morning after ykw, for the Aesthetique 1/???

[birding]

( now, what does one say, after something like that? )

... are you there, brother? Can we talk?

... i'm so sad that the post is no longer at 69 though

[birding]

( ... no, it should require more effort, a better introduction.

she thinks, and thinks, and thinks, )

You haven't done anything wrong.

covers the timestamp

[birding]

( ...

no. even worse. saying so implies there was a chance that a wrong choice could be made. )

I'm sorry. I shouldn't have

[birding]

( — sent too soon.

and even then, she's fumbling, spending minutes, and he won't answer her, and he's — )

I didn't mean for you to see me in that state... But you took care of me.

( ... )

I'm sorry for the trouble |

( — erase. )

Thank you|

( — erase )

d...one... for now

[birding]

( no, she might be spiralling.

she hasn't addressed the most important thing, )

Please at least tell me you made it back to your room alright.