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

[disreguarded]

[sigh]

Um. There were... stained glass? A bunch of stained glass platforms. And we fought a bunch of shadow guys. And - I think. I think our memories got fucked up. I keep - um.

[...]

I feel like I have two little brothers, but that's not right. Those aren't mine.

[refate]

[


closes eyes ]

Not just concussed, then. You guys got treated to some overwrites, too. [ mm hate that. hate that! ] You remember their names?

[disreguarded]

Mmhm. Jiro and Saburo. But - that's the thing, it wasn't like. It wasn't like they were new, it just belonged to someone else.

[refate]

[

he's japanese. ichiro. jiro. saburo. there's a big sigh, and he finds any non-crispy, non-frosty part of her hand to carefully brush his thumb across. ]

You guys got shuffled.

[disreguarded]

Mmhm.

[... a beat, and then she laughs, bitterly.]

I think I forgot my dad, for a bit.

[refate]

[ oh.

oh no.

the face kon makes is a little complicated, brow furrowed and jaw tightening. but since he can't hug her, he just moves - puts his forehead against a safe part of her hand. ]

[disreguarded]

[she holds his hand very tightly.]

Ichiro's right, she could've kept that one if she really wanted it.

[refate]

[ she can squeeze his fingers off for all he cares. ]

Nothing of value was lost, there. [ firmly - he's more upset that she was given something good to replace it, only to have that be a lie ] "She" who?

[disreguarded]

[hey, she's also upset! a lot!]

The girl on the top floor. Blonde hair, had a sketchbook.

[refate]

[ files that away, giving her hand the smolest of squeeze - ]

You talk to her any?

[disreguarded]

Didn't really get a chance to. She put all our memories back and then a big fuck-off monster came through and beat us all to shit.

She ran away.

[refate]

I mean, I definitely ran away when a big fuck-off monster came through and beat me to shit. So that sounds fair.

Except for the part where she... had a hand in messing with your memories.

[disreguarded]

[she pauses for a long moment, and then:]

They had... I think they had Caleb. Or maybe he was fake. [...] There was a drawing of him and he - and he was weird looking.

[she scrunches up]

[refate]

[ oh bub... ]

... I said it to Ichiro, so I'll say it to you, too. Just because it wasn't real, doesn't mean it didn't feel real.

[ doesn't mean that it wasn't enough for her to be afraid for him, or angry that he was being used against her. ]

[disreguarded]

[she rubs at her chest absently, and then winces.]

He - did, um. I don't know if any of the other drawings looked like it. Like he was colored black in places and he had one big gold eye, and the paper was singed.

[she sounds like, legitimately frightened? like wobbly. it's not unusual for her to be emotional, but maybe not - terrified, about something like this.]

[refate]

[ he shifts up from his spot on the floor, moving to his knees so that he's right in front of her. if she wants to grab at him, or just needs another person for support. ichiro and kainé have her on what they went through, but he'll fuss, too. ]

Hey. You saw him when you got back, y'know? He took care of you. He's okay. [ that place didn't put him through whatever the fuck that drawing could have implied. ] We can go find him first thing tomorrow morning, too.

[disreguarded]

[he's right in front of her, and she's just... panicky.]

What if I die, though? What if someone comes after me? [her voice is a little shrill?]

[steelo]

[ he

snorts quietly ]

....me too. You know, they could've kept that.

[steelo]

[ hNGNSN ICHIRO JUST

LOOKS AT HER ]

...oh.

[disreguarded]

[HAHA YEA]

I - yeah. They're yours. [she sounds sad, actually.] You love them a lot.

[steelo]

[ there's a long moment where he just holds unbelievably still, hand still resting on beau's head from earlier. and... for the first time, ichiro looks viscerally upset.

he swallows it back, though, and reaches into his pocket, pulling out his wallet and taking out a picture and handing it to her. ]

...yeah. More than anything in the world. [ his heart hurts. ] ... I remembered Taichi's, I think. His partner. If it's like Yamato, then... it was definitely his.

[disreguarded]

[nnnnnnoooooooooooooooooooooooooo

she looks down at the picture, and like, immediately, she starts crying? wheeze]

[steelo]

[ yeah

there's a beat, and ichiro turns his head to look at the picture in her hands... and about a second later, the tears well up behind his eyes, and he's crying, too. big, fat, ugly tears, that drip off of his cheeks before he even knows it. ]

That - that place, it took everything from me. [ his brothers. he forgot them. ] Everything. I'm - I'm sorry, Beau, I'm sorry.

[disreguarded]

[these fucking sad-ass winters i swear to god

she hiccups, and doesn't say anything, just curls close to him and cries for a little bit.]

[steelo]

[ kainé producing the actual plot information meanwhile these two just blubber on each other

but. yeah. losing his little brothers has always been ichiro's greatest fear in life. he's come close so many times - from foster care to orphanages to having to rescue them from being kidnapped, to chuuoku. he just stares at this picture as he holds it with her, angry and miserable and just wrung out, that this fucking place could have ripped something so, so important away from him like it was nothing. and for beau to have known what it was like to have them, and to lose them like that, too?

it aches. it burns, and it aches, and it takes him a little while before he just hooks his arm around her as carefully as possible, avoiding any injuries (at least he knows where they are!) and squeezes. ]

I fucking - I hate this place. [ sniffles. ] ... they'd love you. Beau, they'd love the shit out of you. Jiro'd think you're the coolest person on the planet.