WINTER COMMON ROOM - WEEK 3

[dormheads]

common room.

Similar to the rest of the architecture, the common room in the Winter Dorm is almost more reminiscent of a tea room or parlor that you would find in a manor. A chandelier hangs above, everything in the room glistening in the light that is both welcoming and just a tinge cold. Seating is available for a number of people to gather, adjusting each week to seemingly accommodate a little bit over the number of people assigned to the dorm. A piano doesn't sit too far, and sometimes when the room isn't too full, it's almost like a beautiful classical melody will begin to play itself to make up for the empty space.

Or... is that a showtune...?

Who can say?

This week, we're getting into the holiday spirit! So pop some bubbly, be a little sweet - it's that time of year.

specialty room.

However on the first floor, there's an oddity amidst the serene architecture. One of the rooms opens to a Gaming Lounge, complete with screens that stretch across the entirety of one wall length-wise. Incredible comfortable chairs and couches sit opposite the screen, comfortable enough to steal you away from the outside world for hours upon hours. A series of gaming systems are hooked up to the screens, and a small tower of handhelds sit on a bookcase nearby. Every game you can think of is downloaded and programmed onto each device, though every time you start one up it seems to immediately pull up an otome game or farming simulator. The lighting system changes between a rainbow of colors, and one wall is lined with snacks that are a little less decadent but still just as delicious. The room will adjust based on the needs of the game you play, a wall spinning out to roll out DDR dance pads, virtual reality goggles, or whatever you could need for the ultimate gaming experience.

No, it isn't incredibly reminiscent of Dude Perfect's Game Time Lounge. You're imagining it. (But really, click the link for a better idea of what the room looks like.)

---

Please use this as an open post for members of Winter Dorm. You may post top-levels whenever you'd like and go wild. A new post will go up at the start of each week.

Comments

[steelo]

...we were falling. Gently, though. And we landed on this platform made out of stained glass.

[ he closes his eyes for a second, trying to remember the details. ] And once we got there, a voice -- I heard one. I bet the others did, too. It asked us how we were going to help our friends.

[refate]

[ me, looking tiredly into the void, knowing already whose CYOA this was ]

Did it give you options, or did you answer independently? You don't - have to tell me what you said or picked, so much as whether you had a choice.

[steelo]

Options. I said..

[ he pauses, for a second, and glances at viola, and then back at kon. ]

... That I wanted to help lead my friends to victory. [ and after that, he flexes his hand, open and closed, and eventually produces the black keychain. ]

This weapon showed up in my hand, after. It was like a key - huge. Really heavy, but I could wield it fine.

[refate]

[ he brings his phone up to take a picture of the keychain, because he's naturally right handed so drawing shit is out of the question.

... why does this sound familiar. oh well! ]

And then, the... shadows? [ since he's talking to both beau and ichiro right now. he'll loop to kainé in a minute. ]

[steelo]

[ ichiro glances at beau, but nods. ]

They said we'd have to fight the darkness, and a set of stairs appeared. I took them up, and.

[ and

for a second, his expression shutters off. he looks away from kon, fingers curling into a fist. ]

...The first floor was me. My face was on the stained glass, and - Jiro was there. They had Jiro.

[refate]

[ well.

he heaves a sigh, thinking about the people that they saw in their field trip. everything that happened. what they did, so willingly and naturally, when their hands were forced.

kon reaches, knocks the back of his knuckles into a visibly non-injured part of him. and he doesn't press - he'll let ichiro continue in his own time, or let him skip past to the next part. he doesn't need every detail. ]

[steelo]

[ yeah please hold for a minute because he snaps like a fucking twig over the realization of beau having his memories.

it takes a little bit - maybe five or ten minutes for ichiro to compose himself again. he wipes his face with whatever tissue is the closest nearby and shakes his head. ]

...sorry. It.. it wasn't real. That part was just an illusion. He.. he was asleep in this pod, thing, and I couldn't get to him, no matter how hard I tried. It closed up on him, and then the shadows showed up after that.

[ ... ] It did that for each of us. Someone important to us was in those pods. They'd close up, and then we'd fight. The monsters got stronger as we went up.

[refate]

[ honestly, kon's going to wait until ichiro and beau have finished their moment before he says anything. because it hurts. because - this is too fresh. how they're able to talk about it, already, he doesn't know. the thought of doing anymore more than the underplayed information made him sick to his stomach.

and there's a solemn respect to the quiet, so he doesn't tread on their experience.

but, eventually, softly, and with the quiet vulnerability of someone who's said it to themself: ] Just because it wasn't real, doesn't mean it didn't feel real.

[ a breath ] ... how many floors, you wager?

[steelo]

Four. [ that's easy, at least. he rubs his eyes, trying to keep his composure. talking about it helps, because if he keeps talking, he can keep remembering. he can keep forcing himself to remember his brothers. remember his family, that was taken from him. ichiro's holding onto the picture, now, just rubbing his thumb over the front of it. ]

There was one for each of us.

[refate]

[ he keeps writing, taking down everything that they're all saying, all the information that they're giving. ]

So a starting floor, the four floors for each of you, and... the blonde girl's floor?

[steelo]

[ shaking his head. ]

No, she was on the top floor. Kainé's. It stopped there.

...Which, considering how huge and powerful that thing was, I'm... really glad that was it. Anything stronger than that and we would've been killed. [ a pause, and ichiro makes a face. ] ... Well, we probably would've been killed, if it wasn't for.

.............Uh. Mickey Mouse.

[refate]

[ he

stares at him. because he like, heard it in the background? but he thought he just misheard. and there is a long, confused silence.

and then, very softly: ] ... alpha rat?

[steelo]

Dude. Literal Mickey Mouse.

[ FINALLY SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS ]

[refate]

M...Mickey Mouse. Saved your lives.

[ HE UNDERSTANDS. BUT HE IS STILL VERY QUIET BECAUSE HIS BRAIN HURTS NOW. ]

[steelo]

I thought I was hallucinating.

[ BUT REALLY ] He had one of those key blade things too. And he just - showed up out of nowhere and started whaling on the monster like a god. Not kidding.

[refate]

What kind of JRPG bullshit did you guys get thrown into...

[ GOD he didn't even go on this CYOA and he is TIRED. ] Okay. So five floors. [ focus ] And the topmost was Kainé's, where you guys had to fight a giant fuck-off monster after a little mysterious blonde girl played roulette on your memories.

And... godtier Mickey Mouse came to save you.

[steelo]

[ ichiros gonna go home and be like

anyway.

he nods. ] ...yeah. More or less. He had us unlock a lock with our key swords.

We did get our memories back before the monster showed up, on the top floor, at least. But they're still... [ mmrng. he reaches up, rubbing absently at his temple. ] It's still all screwed up. I remembered something that must've been Riku's - Luke's. I think we all did.

[refate]

[ kon also tbh

but he's still diligently writing it down, even as he massages his own temple with the end of his pen ]

... is it cohesive enough for you to be able to say what it is, or is it fragmented? The same memory for all of you?

[steelo]

...it was a reunion. Between himself, and two other people that were really, really important to him.

[ he reaches up, absently, and curls his fingers around the photo he took out before. ] A boy, "Sora", and a girl. "Kairi."

[refate]

[ he stares down at his notebook in his lap, waiting, clearly thinking about something, before he writes down the names. ]

... there's been a lot of differences, between these field trips. I'll see what I can learn about the other one that happened today, and try to piece it together more.

[steelo]

Yeah. We got one of those papers, too - Taichi got it, but we've all got a pic.

[ ichiro pulls out his phone to look at it, too. it's easier to focus on this than literally any of the other problems he's having right now. ]

I've been thinking, maybe... you know how Rupert had to kill twice, and he didn't - he couldn't tell me why, even though he told me everything else. I wonder if maybe this is what those people see.

[ he taps the screen. ] This sort of... fill in the blank thing. Like an extra credit. You know?

[disreguarded]

[makes disgruntled sounds]

Fucking late-ass rat.