(ROLE) HONOR SOCIETY...... 3!

[dormheads]

honor society.

On Monday at 6 PM, Yamato, Rita, Alphinaud, and Kon receive an encrypted e-mail.

TheRicherGood@Wiwaldi.edu

Good day. They say that idle hands are the devil's playthings, don't they? So if you'd be kind enough to entertain me, please gather at the "Bakery" at dusk.

We'd best be getting to work. Come alone, for your safety and everyone else's.

Yours,
Viola

No one is in the halls as the two of them creep to the "Bakery".

Before they knock, the door will open before their knuckles so much as touch against the surface of the door. The room is filled with the comforting and warm aroma of assorted baked goods, along with the occasional stray scent of something that doesn't belong - is that hot sauce? A table has been set off to the side, topped off with an elegant tablecloth and a vase full of fresh flowers that certainly aren't there during business hours. The table is set for teatime with a kettle full of perfectly steeped tea, dainty containers of sugar and milk, and a small tower filled with sweets this week. A lot of them look handmade!

In addition, there appears to be a few items handwritten on fine stationary in curling calligraphy, though it appears a bit shaky in sections. For your use, there also appears to be a pen, a highlighter, and a small pad of sticky notes.

» Members of the Honor Society have the following responsibilities: conduct searches for killers, assist others in completing their Extra Credit Assignments, and encouraging the exchange of vouchers for goods and services on campus.

» Each week, the Honor Society must agree upon one person to conduct a search on. They will be able to know if this person has killed, if they possess an additional role, and receive a list of every person they have conversed with over the past week.

» Members of the Honor Society will be expected to report upon their progress of assisting others with Extra Credit. If Members of the Honor Society have successfully assisted others, they will be able to receive one voucher themselves as well as additional information gleaned by the Society Director.

» Of course, the greatest organizations are meant to grow and evolve. Some weeks, you will be able to select provide a list of three to four additional candidates of who you would like to invite to join the Honor Society. Viola will approve one person's membership, limitations and growth pending.

» Outside of the Honor Society, you may not express your membership to anyone. Each week, one person outside of the Honor Society may be made aware of its existence and its membership. You must all agree on this person before telling them. However should that number be broken, grave consequences will follow.

Comments

[refate]

[ kon has nothing to offer here, and no questions to ask - just comes to sit next to iris, in quiet commiseration for what's happened to their dorm today, to everyone on campus. ]

[azuta]

[ . . . . oh it's miserable. it's so miserable and she's teetering on the edge between so many different emotions. the gratitude and fondness for kon when he sits with her, and the crushing ache of everything that's happening.

her eyes are a little red, but she'll offer her hands out to him anyway.]

[refate]

[ the storm cloud is... thick, and miserable, and terrible. but kon reaches back out and takes her hand, squeezing tight and letting her squeeze if she needs to, as well. just holding on and anchoring them both in place.

it's okay, he doesn't say, because it would be a lie. but he rubs her knuckles with his thumb and takes a deep breath. steady, steady. ]

[azuta]

[it would indeed be a lie - but the thing about iris is that it's simple to push her feelings slightly off to the side when someone is suffering in front of her. she'll take the hold for a little bit, accepting the squeeze, before gently tugging on his hands to pull him down and closer to her.

she'll pull her hands away then, just so that she can loop her arms around his shoulders and pull him down into an embrace. her misery is gently traded for a fierce, intense protectiveness over him.]

[refate]

[ with both of his arms available to him, he can actually return the embrace full force, squeezing them around her in return, accepting the wave that comes from her switching gears. in any other situation he might laugh - but there's no humor here, today. there's nothing to laugh about.

so he just accepts the protectiveness, lets iris hold onto him as he holds onto her in return. the appreciation he has for her is blatant, and he returns that protectiveness in kind.

underneath the anger and grief is determination, though. staunch and unwavering. ]

[azuta]

[he is so much bigger than her but things like that don't matter right now? they really don't. she'll go up on her tip toes and hold him close like she's the one who means to engulf him, and embrace him, and shield him from anything else that could possibly hurt him or their dorm. like if she just tries hard enough, she'll find a way to keep their dorm from losing like this anymore

. . .

but for now she'll card her hands through his hair gently, rubbing his back with her other hand and pressing a brief, caring kiss to the side of his head as she sits with him in his grief. shares some of her own grief. even if their foundation is determination -

today was just... so bad.]

[refate]

[ no fuss is really put up about her trying to shield him - can't, really, when the people who hug you most are two smaller women that remind you that you don't have to do everything alone. it's a newly familiar comfort, and he allows it, if only because he can also express without words the fact that he appreciates it, that he trusts her, that he'll do everything he can with her to help them get out of this fucked up situation.

having his emotions laid bare has been exhausting, the same as his memories, but at the same time... helpful. there's no fancy words, no need to play at being alright. just everything there.

he gives her a firm squeeze in response to the kiss, nodding in understanding against her shoulder. it was bad.

but they have each other, and the rest of their dorm, and the people here. they still have things they need to do and people to protect. ]

[azuta]

[today was... so bad. she sighs then and she'll just keep holding onto him for as long as he wants to stay with her. there's work that needs to be done, and it's arguably one of the main reason why her eyes are still dry - the sense that there is more to be done, and there are places that she's needed to be.

places that they're all needed.

though at some point she'll just manage to find words, soft as they are, to murmur against him]

... we'll put an end to this, alright? Just stay strong with me. With everyone.

[refate]

[ his voice is quiet, and low, but he thinks about their dorm, their important people beyond it. the ones waiting at home. it makes it easier to respond in kind: ]

We're going to find the thing, the person, whatever it is behind this place, and we're going to tear it apart.

[ kon is so, so tired after all of these weeks of restless nights, and of all the loss they've faced, the weight of living with grief. but he is angry, and he's already said it once tonight: he's not dying here, and he's not letting them get away with what they've done. they're all getting out of here. ]

[azuta]

Mm-hmm.

[a soft, affirmative noise that leaves absolutely no room for argument. even for all her concern, her anger and grief, there is a resolute steel that refuses to bend even in the face of the cruelty of this place. if anything, the chaos of the day just makes her all the more furious, all the more unyielding]

Don't burn yourself out before the end. Grieve, and rest. Let others take care of you, even if it's just me.

[refate]

[ a blip of being caught and reined back in, almost, crosses his emotions. how many people have told him that, here? to have iris saying it isn't surprising, so he just nods his affirmative before he straightens up from the hug. not quite disengaging, but at least straightening, if only to look at her.

and then he straightens a little further, giving her a brief kiss to the top of her head. the only thing there is gratitude and support. (that tiny, hesitant jitter of family that he feels around members of winter betrays him.) ]

You, of all people, will let me get away with it the least.

[azuta]

[ah..... there is a little bit of surprise, of fluster when she gets a kiss in return - like she's still not sure what to do with such gestures of affection in her direction.

but it's that feeling of family that gets her to calm immediately after, to not run like a startled deer. it's the understanding that there are some people that you adore so dearly, that you consider your second (or third or fourth) home, that makes her actually well and truly melt into his hug. she presses her face into his shoulder, holds on a little tighter, as if really insisting this time -

she'd said, weeks ago, perhaps winter can move just to be on the safe side. but her feelings are so clear now - so vulnerable and selfish. don't go. don't decide you'd rather be somewhere else. don't leave me alone.]

... as long as you know.