Week 5

[grimgrinningghosts]

[...So that was a mess. All of it was a mess, and things don't look to be improving any time soon. With tensions at an all-time high and conditions worsened, it seems pretty safe to say that this whole week promises a great deal of foreboding atmosphere.

But, hey, things aren't entirely bad. Just as Randall promised, you're now able to leave the Manor! 

Just don't stay out there for too long. There's still a lot of you, and you just can't afford to lose numbers.

24 guests remain]

[SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY]

[OOC: and don't forget to fill out this week's activity check!]

Comments

Art Studio

[bestchefinparis]

[Okay, that's not good. Rémy doesn't know what's going on with her, but body language shows she's definitely not having a good time. Still, how to approach? What's going on with her?]

Kim? Kim, you okay?

[pinkflip]

[ She wrenches her eyes shut at the sound of Rémy's voice. ]

Leave me alone!

[ ...That is a definitely nope. ]

[bestchefinparis]

[Okay, how to deal with this...Rémy wants to run away, he does, but he can't just leave a friend there. If he tried to help Freddie, who isn't even that close to him, then he definitely will try to help Kim.

The problem is how to do it]

Kim, it's me, Rémy! I'm not going to hurt you!

[pinkflip]

[ All Kim can do is shake her head. ]

Go away! I know- you're not- [ Her hands go to her head, gripping it tightly. So far, no good. ]

[bestchefinparis]

Yes it's me! At least look at me!

[You never encountered a rat monster in your Power Ranger days, right?

...

...I bet you totally did, those things Power Rangers fought were always so bizarre]

[pinkflip]

[ Yeah no the moment she opens her eyes she is totally seeing one of these unholy disasters. Kim lets out a yelp and then seems to look...above Rémy? Definitely above, and she slides down the wall so she's sitting, head in her hands. Seems what's scaring her so bad isn't quite what she seems him as, but... ]

Please, leave me alone, I'm sorry...

[bestchefinparis]

[Ah, good ol' nineties television. Such a treat.

Apparently trying to get her to look didn't help, because whatever she thinks there's here is bad. Darn it, what to do, what to do...

Retreat. To the other side of the art studio, as far away as possible as he can feasibly get away and still talk to her]

You don't have to apologize, you did nothing wrong!

[pinkflip]

[ She shakes her head, no, she's pretty sure she did do something wrong. ]

I- I let them down. It's my fault that- that's why they're here-!

[ At least this seems to be in direct response to Rémy, though? ]

[bestchefinparis]

[Progress? Maybe...]

Who? Who are you seeing?

[His first thought is that those who have died so far are who she's talking about. Quick, Rémy, think of something...]

[pinkflip]

My... M-my team, and- J-Jane, can't you...? No, of course not.

[ She breaks off and shuts her eyes again, and this time tears accompany her violent headshake. ]

They're haunting me...

[bestchefinparis]

[So he was right...it's Jane, at least. And her team. How to handle this...]

They're not real, Kim. They're not blaming you. I mean it, you're just imagining it!

[Only now he's realizing how bad the motive can be]

[pinkflip]

Mm-mm! [ Another shake of her head. ] I can h-hear them, I can feel--

[ Mmmmmm- she just. Kind of. Buries her face in her arms, and from th sound of it, she's crying pretty hard. ]

I'm sorry, I'm really sorry.

[ Muffled and soft, it...might be that the only thing to do is wait for this to pass. ]

[bestchefinparis]

[Dang, it's heartbreaking to watch this. He doesn't leave. He considers approaching, holding the longest ruler or brush he can find and pat her on the shoulder in the classic comforting gesture, but touching her could startle her further.

He feels he should have done more, but really, what could he have done?

Nothing more to do than waiting]

[pinkflip]

[ It seems - for better or worse - before Rémy got there Kim had already been under the hallucination for awhile. So, while watching and waiting must be heavy on his shoulders, at least it doesn't take her more than ten minutes of crying and apologizing - with occasional yelps of...fear, it seems - for it to kind of subside.

Don't misunderstand, Kim's still a sniffling mess, but her whimpers stop, and she nervously raises her head, to spot... ]

R- ...Rémy? Are- are you...really there?

[bestchefinparis]

Yes...I'm here.

[He doesn't sound enthused at all. You know how awkward it is to watch someone cry and hallucinate for ten minutes? It's very awkward]

Are you...are you okay now?

[pinkflip]

[ What a loaded question. Kim hesitates. ]

I don't...h-hear or see anything, um... [ She swallows. ] They...weren't really here, were they?

[ She sounds embarrassed. Don't touch the elephant, she knew that, and yet, what did she do...? The things you see and hear aren't really there, she knew that, and yet. ]

[bestchefinparis]

You don't have to be embarrassed. It was that motive, it's not like you could have remembered that in middle of...what happened.

[This sucks.

Maybe if he wasn't so small and unable to do much he could have helped. Too bad there's no growth potion from Ursula or anything like that anywhere in here]

[pinkflip]

I-it all just felt so incredibly real, and- as soon I saw them, I stopped...thinking...really.

[ Horribly hideous things. Worse than any monster she's ever faced. If this is supposed to be better than outside... Poor Jane, hearing her was almost as bad as seeing her, after the-

Kim shuts her eyes again, but this time it's to try and shake away the images that keep playing in her mind. ]

Thanks, um. [ ... ] You...didn't have to stay, through...all that.

[bestchefinparis]

I can't blame you. It sounds like the kind of thing nobody'd want to experience ever in their life...

[Thanks a lot, Randall, you major jerk]

I have noticed you try hard to help around, so I thought I should return the favor. That's what friends do.

[pinkflip]

[ She just mutely nods to Rémy's assertion. It felt like all her worst nightmares come to life, and then some.

It's hard to smile, right now, after she spent...about an hour paralyzed with fear and seeing impossibly horrible things, but she does look at the little rat, grateful. ]

Y-yeah. Yeah, it is.

[bestchefinparis]

[All is well that ends well. Hallucinations that made Kim have a breakdown during one hour? Pish posh, they're gone and it never happened.

At least Rémy would like to think it's so simple]

Go rest for a while, that must have been exhausting.

[pinkflip]

Huh, yeah. [ Exhausting is one way to put it. ] I... Okay. [ And...yeah, she can actually move now, stand and...mm, try not to shake. ]

...My professional opinion? Avoid those things. You...don't want to see whatever it shows you.

[bestchefinparis]

What are those elephants even made of? That can't be champagne anymore!

[pinkflip]

Definitely not. Magic's weird.

[ With a little wave, she leaves. ]