dormheads | SEANCE - LUCRETIA & SIEGHART

[francy is killing me. anyway, it's lucretia!! she came prepared, with her notebook and... also a small stack of papers? they're kind of tucked under her injured arm's sling, and she didn't bother bringing her staff.

for a second she doesn't say anything, just-- smiling, brightly, practically beaming. then she takes a quick couple of steps forward and throws her good arm around him. hello, she missed you.]

Sieghart. God, it's good to see you, I-- sorry if you were all expecting Maya, she covered for me a little there, but. Obviously we have questions, we're really going to have to get going on that, uh, in a hurry here, but I have... I asked about bringing you messages, from the rest of us, I have some letters for you to take to the others.

If you have anything you need to start with, then go ahead, and we'll start with the list after that.

[she'll step back, there. also for the record her neck is still bandaged and her voice still sounds pretty rough.]

[Sieghart, healed since his death, sits hunched on the toilet with his legs crossed and an elbow propped on one to rest his chin on a palm. He receives Lucretia's sudden entry with arched eyebrows, because he certainly was expecting Maya, but the smile and embrace are what steal his words. There's a beat before he lifts his head and brings his other hand up to pat her on the shoulder, still at a loss.

By the time she pulls back, he's regained his bearings enough to smile back—casually, as is his trademark.]

Good to see you alive and kicking, too, Director.

Since we're in a hurry, I'll cut straight to the chase. The Principal's been finding his keys one at a time. "C" and "Boss" investigated the most recent section of the administration building, where a disembodied voice echoed a series of words in the air: "Who am I? . . . Come and find me. The story needs an ending."

There was also a shadowy figure, covered from head to toe in a dark outfit. C and Boss received the photograph with the dog before they lost the figure. Boss then forgot his loved ones for two days, which suggests we may be working against a time limit as well.

Finally, there are red words on the wall.

[He lifts one finger for each separate line, totaling four:]

"It's not over, Otome
"Keep it lively
"Make an enemy
"Who are you really."

[He drops his hand over a knee. There.]

[she's just bracing her notebook on her broken fucking arm to hurriedly write that down in it. she's Fine.]

I'm just going to assume you wouldn't use codenames if you could actually say who you're talking about, so we'll work that out later. Be as careful as you need to, here.

We heard something similar, about finishing the story, but-- related to her, I need to ask something about the message you all sent. Is it only Otome we need to be, uh, treating well, or should we be a little kinder to any of her friends as well? And is that all you need us to do, or are there ways we can help you from our end?

[He shrugs a shoulder.]

It wasn't my choice. Those two used codenames to introduce themselves to the voice.

Here.

[He ditches the toilet to sit, cross-legged, on the floor, so she can use the lid as a desk. It won't do if he's the only one who's sitting, and she's got her arms full.]

Anger is divisive. You should be kind to everyone, so you can all do your best together. We have our own things to do here.

[okay but if she's using it as a desk how much space is there on the floor i am crying at this image. is she gonna have to sit on him to share this liminal bathroom space effectively. jesus. what have you done.]

Everyone, all at the same time? Surely you don't mean we shouldn't have, uh-- one single exception?

[raising a brow, there.]

Speaking of doing our best, one thing we don't have any functional theories for is the Dean's List-- how people are chosen, why some portraits are torn. Any input on the criteria for that, or do you not know here, either?

[Bathrooms have bathtubs, Teej. But she's welcome to sit on his lap if it pleases her. Come to grandpa.

He notes the lift of her brow.]

The Dean's List? . . . The Principal picked those ahead of time with the assumption that we'd be exemplary students. He thinks the tears are from the school's carelessness when putting them up.

[SCHOOL BATHROOMS DON'T and i am begging you not to phrase it like that. but yeah they're short on space in here just because of that, we're speaking it into existence i GUESS. i hate us.

anyway, she also notes that he doesn't clarify that question and just. sighs. okay, they will work with it.]

We were told we should be paying attention to those, but we don't actually have any idea about why, or what criteria the Principal thinks makes an exemplary student.

The people who end up in strange places on Thursday nights were another thing we were told we should pay attention to; so far we've got that one of them is always the person cursed into school spirit for the week, and one of them almost always matches a victim except for the first week... the theory's been thrown out that one matches a culprit, too, but someone's claimed that stopped matching up.

If there's another meaning behind the list, I don't know about it.

. . . The saying that good things come in threes also holds true for the bad, huh? [He makes a face.] And about that . . . what was that about my acting strange that one week? I was totally myself.

The first week seems to be-- an outlier on all counts, I think, but... I don't know. Maybe things just hadn't quite fallen into place yet? None of the potential patterns fit that week if you're sure you were yourself, except for the culprit one, and that apparently didn't stick. If there's something else to it, we... sure weren't seeing it.

Feels a little bit in general like there's something we just haven't connected and we're all going to feel like idiots once we do, so if you've got any further advice to work off of there... anything about the plot hole business would be pretty welcome as well, from what I can tell.

That meeting was the first time I heard about the plot hole.

I don't know about finishing the story, but didn't that buy-in also talk about wanting to stay with friends? I haven't seen it for myself, though.

It did, yes. Forever. Just a little threatening-- it ended by repeating, "you will" multiple times, so I'm going to assume that's our sort of, you know, worst-case scenario.

[she's just. sighing, leaning against him and also probably like, nuzzling against him a bit bc i remembered about the weekly effect, still hate it here!]

But with what you mentioned about this voice saying to come find them... we theorized on this a little, but if there's that focus on being with friends and everything, maybe that's-- the sort of thing we're supposed to aim for, that could be what they wanted. Though I don't like the sound of that voice asking 'who am I', either. Are our memories getting messed with the way they have been because... theirs is?

[He blinks in surprise at the contact, but returns to the current topic without fuss. Subconsciously, he leans forward to meet her halfway and bring them closer; in his mind, he's just trying to get a better look at her notes.]

I don't know about you, but I'm not keen on befriending the cause of so much suffering. Forcing someone to change and stay for their own satisfaction is exactly the behavior of a possessive stalker.

As for the voice . . . it could just be relevant on our end, if Bradley's case is anything to go by.

The things it has to say might not be. I don't know. We keep talking about it as if whatever, or whoever, is behind this is doing it maliciously, and that's the easiest way to see it considering what we've all gone through, but I do know a thing or two about... misguided intentions gone wrong. The death toll on that was a lot higher than forty-odd people, I can say that much for a certainty, and the whole murder situation still just feels-- we just don't know. There's so much that's strange about it.

All we have to work off for some of it is what little we got from Otome before-- [....] ...and the rest is apparently just. Not necessarily even their fault.

[there is... more of a pause, here.]

I know, by the way. I'm sorry, Sieghart.

[Right. Misguided intentions. While Lucretia pauses, Sieghart rests his head on her shoulder—only to lift it abruptly at her apology.

His surprise gives way to the usual smile.]

. . . Why are you sorry? Rather, if it's what I think it is, I'm grateful that you haven't aired it in public.

I was told about what happened, and-- we agreed not to do exactly that.

[there's definite relief at his response, though-- that's one thing answered without having to actually ask, or to linger on it for too long.]

Oh, someone else wanted to ask about the bear-- does he seem like there's more he knows about this, or like he's truly just a part of it all?

[Seemingly pleased by their decision, he rests his head on her shoulder again. A hand also comes up to paw softly at her arm.]

He heads the assignments we receive on Wednesdays, claiming that we're helping. Other than that, he seems as clueless as we are. He's the one who brought me here.

[sieghart what the fuck she only has one good one. she is trying to write. she pauses to kind of pat his hand, there.]

Noted, then. I'll keep in mind we probably shouldn't come earlier than Wednesday-- it might not be me every time, by the way, I went in on this with Claude. Next week is either him, or someone he chooses to give it to.

But I... do want to circle around to something I'm trying to work through, sort of. I don't know if you have any idea on this one, but-- worth the risk to maybe stop listening so much to things we're required to do, or still a bad idea overall?

[Okay, okay. Sieghart drops his hand. Now this, he thinks, is strange.

He turns his head to look curiously at Lucretia.]

Haven't the requirements been rewarding you? We don't earn vouchers, but we still have our extra credit assignments here.

Should I also keep you and Claude a secret?

No, you can mention that to the others, it's fine, but-- different requirements. Related to what I tried to ask you earlier. As it stands, we... still have to fulfill one requirement that's just gotten much more difficult to do, if I'm taking your previous answer correctly.

[a pause, her pen tapping against the page.]

How else can I even try to ask-- I don't know, should we all be of the same opinion when it comes to making certain decisions? Anything, Sieghart, literally anything.

[i realized i never explicitly said bc i was so lost in the plot sauce but for the record she has shoved the papers at him in this meeting she probably did it much earlier i was phone tagging.]

Edited 2021-07-15 06:31 (UTC)

[There's a hum as he mentally reviews their conversation, glancing down at her notes the while.]

. . . We tried to tell you not to ask Byleth questions the week she was killed. We hoped it would dissuade everyone from retaliating against her.

[He straightens, lifting his head from Lucretia's shoulder once more, and looks down at the papers in the hand that's been hanging by his side the whole time.]

Thanks for the visitation, Director. I'll take these back to everyone. Who knows? Maybe you can expect replies to some of them.

[Sieghart grins at Lucretia when a sudden impulse drives him to nuzzle against the crook of her neck. But he doesn't stop there. Without pause, he lifts his head to give her a small lick on the lips.

It's only when he pulls back, far away from Lucretia's face, that the gravity of what he's done slams into him, and Sieghart wishes with a look of wide-eyed horror that the toilet would engulf him right then and there.]

SEANCE - LUCRETIA & SIEGHART

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