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GRAVEYARD
graveyardstudents in time out: 10
It's a little hard to wake up when the melody that drifts into your ears is so comforting that it'd be so much simpler to stay asleep. Maybe everything that you remember last - the cold seeping into your fingertips, the pain of injury, or the darkness creeping into your vision - will just be parts of a bad dream.
But it's not.
When you wake up, it's probably a little disorienting - you have to push off a blanket and rise from this nice comfortable mat on the floor. Seems like you were all curled up for nap time. Literally. The room that you're in has furniture meant for small humans, children as some might call them, and everything is soft and plush to the touch with rounded corners. Blocks with the alphabet etched onto them, coloring books and crayons, and even a rocking horse dot the room to really give it that childish charm. If you can think of a child-safe toy, it's probably in one of the baskets that line the shelves of the room!
Around the room they'll find baby monitors that broadcast the antics of the living. Hopefully that doesn't feel creepy.
There is a yard outside through the glass doors, but it currently seems to be locked - and the glass won't break no matter how hard you try. There's a large pink door that feels enormous, ten times as tall as you, on one side of the room, but there's no way through that either. At the very top, you might see a directory sign that says: TO ADMINISTRATION BUILDING.
Huh.
Well... for now, get comfortable. It looks like you might be here a while.
WEEK 4 UPDATES
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anyway, lila looks pleased at this development.]
Oh, good, they're getting somewhere. Maybe they'll vote for him and we can get some answers out of him when he's over here, too - without whatever made you not believe him.
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...he does pause in his playing during all of this, but he just watches quietly. It's objectively good that an innocent person won't be blamed, but he isn't going to be glad about more death, either, regardless of whether or not it's helpful in the long run.]
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but she glances at him when his playing pauses.]
...he didn't speak up last week, and it didn't look like he was planning to speak up this week either. Better him than someone who didn't have anything to do with any of this, right?
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...If whoever fights him doesn't die in his place, anyway. If that happens, things will become even more complicated than they are now.]
If they spoke the truth, they should be making efforts towards the end goal. [Besides just, y'know. Murdering. Preferably involving others, getting them to help out as well.] We may confirm as such tomorrow.
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...well, I guess we'll see how this turns out.
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Mm. [He's quiet for a moment, as he writes.] ...If he arrives, he may be disoriented. We may need to be patient before he is able to provide answers.
[So he's not saying she can't confront him and demand the truth or anything--he still thinks it's perfectly valid of her to expect that. But he doesn't want her to get frustrated if he can't (or doesn't) instantly spill everything he knows.]
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she sighs, because he has a point.]
...you're right. [...] But he better not just... clam up.
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[she sighs again.]
I guess that means I'll have to cooperate with him, too. Even if I'm angry I ended up here because of what he did.
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Tolerance, if not cooperation. [Just don't make it worse, Lila!!! That's the big thing. But he's not going to force her to be best buddies with Rupert or anything. He himself isn't a social person in general, after all, perfectly accustomed to maintaining polite distance, or working totally alone. Just because he isn't antagonistic, it doesn't mean he trusts and loves everyone around them. As long as no one is actively hindering their efforts, personal grievances can be dealt with as needed.
He tilts his head slightly, still looking at the paper.]
...Would you have confessed?
[His tone isn't judgmental--it's just quiet and even, the same as it always is. There's nothing to indicate it's anything more than a simple question.]
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[loaded question! she looks down at her hands, though, and considers it.]
If I was the sort of person to murder, maybe I wouldn't have. [...but, still. supposedly, it's for sympathetic reasons, so...] ...but if there's a reason behind what he's doing, if the threat of assimilation is really as severe enough for him to go and murder you, why wouldn't he warn the others? Why would he just... not say anything, and...
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I do not know them well enough to guess their reasons. [He doesn't really like to make assumptions or jump to conclusions, positive or negative. They'll just have to ask him when he arrives.] But I have wondered if it is beyond personal choice. Voting for oneself resulted in punishment. It is feasible that willingly confessing could have consequences as well.
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[she frowns, fiddling with her necklace.]
You're probably right about that. I know that, like, in my head. [but...] He was so nice, though. It felt really genuine. And then he went and killed you, and instead of dealing with the consequences of his actions himself, he just kept quiet and watched Manwol and I fight to the death over what he did.
He and Otome both did that. It's hard to accept.
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[She isn't wrong about that, after all. Even if they stayed quiet so they could continue "saving" others... if they were telling the truth, he thinks Rupert will understand her feelings. He doesn't expect Rupert to be happy about getting caught and dying, either, but still.
He sets his crayon down, moving his hands to rest in his lap and staring down at them. She may not be able to see it, but there's a distant look in his eyes.
He will not be his father. He doesn't want to make judgment calls based on emotion alone, not even in the case of his own death. He will strive to remain objective, even though he knows that a part of him wants Otome and Rupert to have been telling the truth. Because if they weren't...
...if they weren't, then he was ready to trust people who were simply cruel at heart. And that's an ugly feeling.]
I cannot say whether his reasoning will be satisfactory to you. [Even if he does give her truthful answers, it won't change the fact that she died, not either of them. And Lan Wangji likes her perfectly well too. She'd been nothing but kind and helpful to him while they were alive--for her own sake, he doesn't want her to stew in her hurt and anger.
There's a bit of an awkward pause, then, because he doesn't know how to use his words properly.]
My Sect has several pieces, called Songs of Clarity. They lack power here, but I would be willing to play for you nonetheless.
[Now, or later, if Rupert upsets her. It's just an offer, especially since they're all going to be stuck in here until further notice.]
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lan wangji must have a much more open mind than she does - or perhaps he's simply trying to. lila doesn't know. she doesn't know him well enough to say. it had been easy enough to be friendly with him while they were both alive, though...
...and maybe this is why.
in his own way - awkward as it is - he's trying to help.]
Songs of Clarity...? [if they lack power here, then... well, she can put two and two together.] Would they, like, normally make me calm or something?
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[And also suppress hostile energy and mitigate qi deviations and stuff like that, but he doesn't think he really needs to specify that much. Even if it did make sense to her, it would probably give off the wrong impression.]
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[her nose wrinkles a little at that, and she tenses, like she's expecting him to follow up with a seems like you could really use that or something. but it doesn't come, and she breathes out.]
...that's your way of helping, right? [...] Fine. If you feel inclined to play, I'll listen.
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Only if you wish. [It is his way of helping but he can't like. Just say that. That would make too much sense. Either way, he's not going to force her to listen if she doesn't want to.]
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I don't get why you'd want to help someone you don't know that well, but... I'll listen.
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But he doesn't say anything to that either way--he just goes to get his guqin again, gracefully settling into place with it. He knows it's tuned since he was just playing it a little bit ago, so he simply starts to play.]
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even without its power, the music is still really relaxing. lila listens, some of the tension starting to go out of her shoulders... and eventually dozes off. exhaustion has a way of creeping in once anger bleeds out of you!!
she goes zzzz while i listen to this music]