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

[stanbyme]

Smart enough to see right through me.

[Then, after a pause.]

...Not having 20 cats is a plus, too. Or being a man-eating spider woman.

[hasit]

Fair enough.

[She leans up again to kiss him on the nose.]

I can promise you I am of neither persuasion.

[stanbyme]

Good.

[About as sweetly as his voice can manage:]

'Cause it'd break my heart if you were.

[hasit]

[Bless him, he's trying.]

We all have our deal-breakers. You don't have any plans to try and kidnap me, do you? Because I've had my fill of that.

[stanbyme]

[He chuckles.]

Darn it, ya caught me. I was gonna put you over my shoulder and cart you back home with me when we get outta here.

[Is joke.]

Maybe I oughta just ask if you wanna come visit, instead.

[hasit]

Really? Even after...all of this?

[Her smile fades, but it just gets a little more pensive instead of disappearing.]

I've got a big old mess to clean up in my home galaxy before I go running off with any handsome older gentlemen.

[stanbyme]

Of course! Mabel loves ya, I'm sure Dipper and Ford are gonna love ya too.

[But her smile fades a little, and he gently brushes her cheek with his thumb.]

... Guess that's part of that whole responsible adult thing I never got the hang of.

[hasit]

[Suddenly she's swallowing thickly, a lump in her throat where there hadn't been one before.]

I just don't want you to think...if something happens and I never make it there to visit...that it's not for lack of wanting to.

[stanbyme]

[He goes a little pale, at that, and the arm that's still kind of around her tightens a little.]

...I know.

I'd offer to come with, but I got...too many people that'd leave behind.

[He tries to put on a smile for her.]

Guess we just gotta enjoy it while we got it, right? And play it by ear from there.

[hasit]

No, you need to be with your family.

[And she needs to be with what passes as her family these days. She lets her hand settle on his neck, thumb gently stroking under his jaw.]

That’s right, honey. No use worrying about that now.

[stanbyme]

[He's already been bracing himself for the possibility that after this there won't be any way for them to change their minds once they go home. That it's all just temporary anyway. Because he'd never choose anything other than his family.

No matter how close she is to family, now.]

You got it, Starshine.

[hasit]

[The only response she has to that is to bend and lay her cheek against his chest, so her ear is right over his heartbeat. If she can remember what it sounds like...maybe once she has to leave, it won't hurt so badly to miss him.]

[stanbyme]

[When she does that, he shifts to wrap his arms around her.

His ticker's about the only thing that's as healthy as it was when he was a young man, still strong as a horse.]

[hasit]

[There are so many things she should say, so many things she wants to say, but...her pride and her fear are still holding her back. So she just....tries to convey it as much as she can just by sheer force of will. And hope that maybe that's enough.]