FALL COMMON ROOM - WEEK 5

[dormheads]

common room.

The common room of the Fall Dorm has soft, dimmer lighting; plush carpet over wood; and several comfortable chairs and sectionals. A few big windows overlook the dormitory area of campus, but there is also a single, cozy bay window on one side.

A television and bluetooth surround-sound are here for Fall students who are more inclined to be tech savvy. In the cabinets under the entertainment stand are an assortment of board games, but the television does have a generic "free tv" app for shows and music.

Above the enormous center fireplace is a moody painting.

This week, there's something else.

specialty room.

Through a door on the first floor, there is an antigravity room. Stepping just a few feet through the doorway will lift everyone up into the air. The seating and most of the rest of the room remains somehow rightfully in place on the floor and will not move. Students, however, can grab pillows and blankets, cups or bowls, or other small items to bring into the air with them.

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Please use this as an open post for members of Fall 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

[lifeless]

It's up to you to protect him.

[Manwol will put a cup of fries right in front of her, so that she can snatch it up if she wants.]

You can eat and feed him some fries at the same time. That way Kissa won't attack him.

[foreversweaterweather]

[ she looks up with watery eyes at Manwol, and, well. she wants her squirrels to be okay. and her head's already out of the blanket...and she is hungry...so...

she inches forward like a worm and sticks her head out to grab a french fry out of the cup with her mouth. The cup tips over and, with easier access, Mabel now just. Morosely chews on some french fries on the floor. Every now and then, the squirrel will peak its head out from under hers to grab a fry out of her mouth too. ]

[lifeless]

[mabel......

well, it's honestly better than the burrito Mabel from before, so!!! Manwol will sit by and eat a little too. She'll also slide a soda drink with a straw over to Mabel, because she figures that she'll be thirsty.

either way she's sitting here and eating until Mabel and her friend squirrel is full,]

[foreversweaterweather]

[ eventually, the bag of fries is empty, and the soda is too, leaving Mabel to sip on it miserably while it makes those loud as hell sipping-an-empty-drink noises.

then, sated, she drops her head down to the floor, facefirst. ]

[lifeless]

[goodbye mabel]

You're going to get a stomachache if you lie down now.

[foreversweaterweather]

[ muffled through the floor: ]

Well what else am I supposed to do now?

[lifeless]

You can wash your face or take a bath. Find somewhere for your pet to sleep. Maybe float in the antigravity room.

[...]

I won't pretend that I know how you're feeling, Mabel. But moving around does help sometimes, or even just sitting up to talk to someone.

[foreversweaterweather]

[ still face down and pathetic: ]

Nothing can help me now.

[ beat. then she lifts her head. ]

Wait...did you say--you guys have an antigravity room?

[lifeless]

Uh huh. Want to try it?

[foreversweaterweather]

...I don't know.

[ translation: yes, but she's wrapped up in a depression burrito blanket and doesn't have the energy to get up and walk somewhere. also, it kind of feels like a betrayal, to have any fun here while she's in Fall. ]

[lifeless]

[mabel....]

Do you regret purchasing that power from Sally?

[foreversweaterweather]

No! Of course not! It's...it... Using it was the first time I managed to actually do something helpful here!

I just wish everyone else saw it that way too...

[lifeless]

I think some people thought it was fine. [we're thinking of caleb and rita] But are you really okay with it? Being happy for three days means you'll be sad for the rest.

[foreversweaterweather]

But...I wanna help fix things here! And I can't do that if I'm sad all the time!

[lifeless]

[she eats another fry. her tone is matter-or-fact,]

You can still do things even if you're sad. Sadness can be a strength too. [...] I know Lila and Caiman meant a lot to you -- and that you don't want to see more people dead. It's fine to be sad about that. Being sad about it means you'll remember them, and want to do right by them.

[foreversweaterweather]

[ ...she turns away and jams her head back into the burrito. ]

...no. Being sad just means I'm gonna cry and be helpless until everybody hates me.

[lifeless]

You can still do those things and think about your friends.

[foreversweaterweather]

Uh-uh. I tried doing that, and it didn't work! I just made everything worse.

[lifeless]

And that's why you used your vouchers for that power?

[foreversweaterweather]

Mmhmm. If...if me being sad just gets in everyone's way and makes things worse, then...me not being sad should fix it!

...I thought it worked great, but...now people keep saying not to use it, and Nier kicked me out of summer...

[lifeless]

I see. I can see how that's confusing.

[damn we're all just really bad adults]

Forget about what everyone else told you for a second. What do you think your brother would say? You're close to him, right?

[foreversweaterweather]

My brother...? [ no one's ever brought up that angle to her. she peeks out of the blankets and pauses, thoughtful. ]

He'd...he'd tell me that...even if stuff is scary, we'd always have each other to help and make things better.

[ ...and then she buries her face in the blankets again, sobbing uncontrollably ]

But he's not here!!

[lifeless]

[better tears than REPRESSION, MABEL!!!

either way Manwol will wait it out patiently,]

He's pretty smart. Not everyone thinks that, or can even do that.

[foreversweaterweather]

[ sounds fake, but okay. JK, NOT OKAY!!!!!

she sniffles ]

He'd be so much better at all this stuff...he's the smart one, he's so good at solving mysteries and stuff.

[lifeless]

What kind of mysteries? Murder mysteries?