week four: mingle

[cyclists]

Week Four
22 in Competition

As the sun rises on Monday morning, all participants will find themselves awakening with a sense of purpose. Regardless of where they slept the night before, they’ll find themselves compelled to return to the main meeting hall first thing in the morning.

Approaching the hall, however, they will find a large, swirling mass grey in color looming near the sakura tree. This swirl cannot be approached just yet, but seems to be locked and waiting for something more.

As the last member of the village enters the hall, they will find Lune and Sol at the head of the room. Though they’re together, it’s Sol who speaks up first this time.

"We've been asked to open another gateway for you guys, but...it's funny. It sort of feels like things have calmed down. The corruption's temporarily evened out and the universe is stabilized for now, but that doesn't mean we should stop looking. Take a look and see what you can find on the other side. You might even get to learn something new."

When Sol finishes, they turn to face Lune, allowing for the other to speak for themselves.

"A bit of reprieve of welcome, isn't it? Please take this time to recover, even as you make steps forward to continue your good work. Thank you, thank you."

The moment participants leave the hall, they will find that the gateway has changed from grey to white, the opening widening enough for multiple people to step through. The Signs will soon take their leave, and all will remain peaceful once more.

In addition, as the week goes on, partners will be able to hear each other's thoughts whenever they look at one another! They may not hear every single thought that occurs, but the link will partners to hear thoughts as though their partner is speaking out loud. The more private the thought, the more likely the partner will pick up on it.



Welcome to your week three mingle! As a reminder, this is break week! This means no murders and no trial! Your normal schedule will resume next week. We will still be hosting a laid-back mini-event on Tuesday, however.

In addition, ensure that all of your week three private conversations were reported on the page, and your week four private conversations are reported on that page. If you'll be taking anything from locations, please report that as well.

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Comments

[globs]

i. pumpkin patch

[ they've never seen a greenhouse before, so, rather than going into the large, imposing castle, they investigate those first (and, thankfully, didn't come out with any strange rashes or worse - sometimes being a rock is pretty okay.) That's the only reason they end up in the pumpkin patch.

Well. That, and maybe they like the privacy.

Still, it's not hard to stumble on them. They thought they might as well practice their power, considering all the plants around, and that's just what they're doing. Careful eyes can follow the trail of silvery mercury drops scattered here and there along the path they took; if those go unnoticed, however, what they're doing probably won't be. Cinnabar is surrounded by what appear to be multicolored berries. Closer inspection, however, reveals them to actually be pumpkins - small ones, about the size of a fist, and in a shocking array of colors, too, almost the full rainbow. The ones at the far end of the vine are smaller, but they slowly increase in size as they go along. Looks like they're seeing how big they can get them. ]

ii. flower garden

[ Some people might have heard from Cinnabar already that they're usually nocturnal. Well, it looks like that lifestyle's finally caught up to them. They can be spotted in the shade beneath one of the sakura trees in the garden. It appears that they were doing something, considering the things that are with them: an array of pink and blue flowers, evenly spread out and sorted by color in a row in front of them, a pencil in one hand, and, oddly, a clipboard with some paper in it laying beside them, the wind occasionally blowing the stack of blank sheets up enough to reveal a black handprint trailing off of the last page. What they were doing, however, is left up to interpretation, because at the moment, they're asleep, laying on their side with their long slim legs tucked up against their body. There's a small puddle of mercury gathering under their arms and head, and the blobs floating around them are still and calm, for once, although their expression looks troubled, even in sleep... ]

iii. wildcard

[ go nuts! they'll be perplexed by pretty much everything in the gateway, but it's hard for them to get across the lake, so they won't be there as often as you'd think. they can be found in the water area around dusk, and in the caves by the hot springs and in the earth area, as well. ]

i

[unfriendliest]

[ kara hasn't particularly been looking for cinnabar just yet - eventually, he was planning to, but he isn't expecting to find them so soon, here in the gateway. he doesn't speak up immediately, simply taking in the sight of the miniature pumpkins with a perplexed expression. ]

Are they supposed to be those colors?

[ he's only ever seen them orange? ]

[globs]

[ And Cinnabar isn't expecting to see him again, either! Or anyone, for that matter. They blink up at him, then immediately looks defensive when he questions what they're doing, recoiling a little. ]

I made them that way. Is there a problem?

[ they wanted fun pumpkins (funpkins.) ]

[unfriendliest]

[ he kneels and reaches out to touch one curiously ]

No. I didn't know they could have different colors.

[ if only he could take these back to the citadel... the tantous would love having pumpkins that match them. ]

[globs]

[ they watch him warily when he gets closer, but they don't move from where they sit. ]

... They probably don't. All the other ones are orange.

[ in typical gem fashion, they just wanted to see more bright colors. Not everything about Cinnabar is gloomy, apparently. ]

[unfriendliest]

[ he nods, picking up a blue one. would sayo like it? ]

...They're not bad.

ii

[nonbelligerent]

[puts a pillow underneath cinnabar's head.]

[globs]

[ shess is too good for this world. He is also probably about to get a grasp of how heavy Cinnabar really is when he tries to do that. Regardless of his level of success, being jostled around a little seems to wake Cinnabar up, at least halfway; a small ripple passes over the surface of all the mercury orbs simultaneously, and their eyes crack open slightly. ]

... Shess?

[ they're either too sleepy to be annoyed-slash-embarrassed about being caught sleeping out in the open, or they're fine with it if Shess is the one who caught them. ]

[nonbelligerent]

[yeah, that was a difficult task.]

Are you getting enough rest, Cinnabar?

[globs]

[ cinnabar's feeling a little bashful about being caught sleeping - outside, nonetheless! - but they shake it off as best they can. It's just Shess. (Paradoxically, the fact that it's just Shess makes them feel both more nervous and more relaxed at the same time.) They shift to sit up a little more. ]

It's dark in the shade. That's all.

[ AKA: probably not, if their inclusions don't have the energy to keep them awake here. ]

[nonbelligerent]

Sorry. Am I keeping you up?

ii

[compendiem]

[ Okay, so Minato's first thought as he crouches down beside Cinnabar is that they're drooling mercury? Or are those tears, he can't tell.

Either way, he doesn't really know what else to do but lie down next to Cinnabar and hope the mercury doesn't spread and corrode his broken arm as he takes a nap too. ]

[globs]

[ It's okay, the mercury is harmless here in Subdivided land!! It'll just leave a little black stain on him. It doesn't appear to be tears or drool. As a matter of fact, it's coming straight through their skin in a manner so slow it's near-imperceptible.

Not that it matters much, because now they're both asleep. Cinnabar must be out pretty cold to not notice Minato near them. They continue to nap peacefully, and the puddle eventually comes into contact with his broken arm. ]

[compendiem]

[ Awesome, Minato's just going to have a large splotchy tattoo on his arm because he definitely doesn't notice that. He's a heavy sleeper when he wants to be, and doesn't expect to be woken up in the middle of the night by blaring alarms. He doesn't move at all when he sleeps, but he coughs every once in a while to get a tickle out of his throat, and then fall silent again. ]

[globs]

[ it's fine it'll come off!!

an hour or two probably pass before one of Minato's coughs actually wakes Cinnabar up. Their forehead creases as they blearily blink awake, not quite alert enough to be concerned about the sound (or to realize that's even what woke them up.) They note with some annoyance that they're outside, meaning they were careless enough to sleep outside. Great. With a sigh, they prop themself up on one elbow, and then... ]

Wh-- Minato?

[ they don't shout at him, or even attempt to wake him up - they just say his name aloud to themself in a confused sort of way. What's he doing here? They stare hard at him for a few moments, trying to discern what the hell happened to make him pass out anywhere near them. ]

[compendiem]

[ Honestly, with the way he's been carrying on all of last week, Minato's been on the verge of passing out anywhere he gets the opportunity now. It's just easier when he's comfortable, whether that's on a comfy couch or next to somebody he likes.

He doesn't open his eyes when Cinnabar says his name, but he does sort of... lift his arm and sort of flop it around in the air, trying to swat whoever's speaking to him away and I'm sorry if that's Cinnabar's face.

Five more minutes. Or five more hours. ]

ii

[omegathree]

[Val looks over the stuff Cinnabar's been doing and wonders if he should really wake them up. If they're so tired that they're asleep out in the open, then they must need the rest. On the other, they seem troubled.

That seems normal for them. I haven't seen them relaxed since we've been partnered.]

[globs]

[ they would argue that they're not tired, they just sat down in a dark spot that made their inclusions shut down... which is gem speak for "tired," but nobody else knows that. In any case, they don't budge, and they don't really react to his thoughts, either.

He might get flashes of their dreams - although, in typical dream fashion, the snippets don't really make much sense. There are fragmented thoughts about people from home, Bort, Kongou-sensei, Phos, and about the moon, and death, and the ocean, but nothing coherent. ]

[omegathree]

[He has no idea who any of these people are in those dreams. These are the other gems, right?

I'm glad they aren't alone.

Val just stands there, not willing to wake them up or to go through their things. Eventually they must wake up, right? And then they can talk.]

[globs]

[ well, he's going to be standing there, then, because Cinnabar seems pretty dang fast asleep!! zzzzz. ]

[omegathree]

[He'll just join them in the shade then. He doesn't have anywhere specific to be.

After another few minutes of this he will try placing a hand on Cinnabar's shoulder.]

i

[leaberator]

[ when he sees the wide array of colours, lea can't help but give a low whistle ]

Woah. Did you grow all these?

[ it's the only explanation he can think of for the colour and mini-size both, and he sounds genuinely intrigued and impressed at it ]

[globs]

It's practice.

[ they give him a slightly annoyed stare for the whistle, but that's all before they turn back to their "work," closing their eyes and concentrating. The vine grows a little bit more, and another little pumpkin pops out, this one as red as his hair. ]

[leaberator]

[ !!!!! ]

Looks good. [ he's. very happy about this. why is he like this. speaking of why: ] Hey, Cinnabar, betcha don't know why the sun sets red.

[globs]

[ why's he sound so happy it's not like they did anything!!!!! gosh!!!! They give him a weird look over their shoulder. ]

What's this all of a sudden...?