subdivided | week four: mingle

week four: mingle

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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[ 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. ]

[ 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. ]

[ 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. ]

[ 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. ]

[ they jerk away from the flailing limb with all the agility of a spooked kitten, nearly tipping backwards - thankfully, they've got the grace most gems do, and manage not to splash quicksilver everywhere.

He's seriously asleep. Asleep next to a half-ton grouchy boulder that's constantly leaking poison, even if that poison is nothing more than annoying for the time being. Cinnabar wonders if there's an upper limit on recklessness - because if there is, they're sure Minato's going to hurtle past it any day now. They saw all his injuries during the trial the other day, but they're even grislier up close. If he were a gem, he could just put his arm back together and glue those parts of his face back on. Instead, he's missing skin, and it can't be put back. Not that human skin seems to offer much in the way of protection, anyway. ]

...!

[ then they notice the pool of poison's brushing up against said skin, and they panic a little - they reach their hands out to grab him, then jerk them back, still instinctively shying away from contact even wearing gloves. Shouting will have to do. ]

-- Hey! Wake up, you idiot! You're getting all dirty!

[ Shouting works better than shaking him would have, and Minato opens his eyes blearily, squinting up at the sun first and then rolling over to get the sunlight out of his eyes— this is a bad idea, because 1) that's his bad side he's rolling on, and 2) that's mercury he's rolling on.

The second point is enough that he doesn't go directly back to sleep, though, sitting up slowly and looking over at Cinnabar with a confused look on his face. AKA the usual look. ]

[ that looks like his usual stupid clueless face!! Cinnabar grunts in exasperation, making a shooing motion with their hands. But, like, urgently. ]

Y-you got even more on you!! Just move away already...! Come on!

[ they feel like touching him would only make it worse, gloves or no - it's embarrassing enough that he got this much poison on him. Scrambling to their feet, they continue, the panicked note in their voice worsening. ]

Why are you even here...?!

[ It takes Minato a moment to figure out what Cinnabar's even talking about, what he's so worried about, but orders are something he can follow without having to think, so he does that first, pushing off his knees and getting up onto his feet himself to spare Cinnabar the effort of having to help him.

Why is he here...? He casts a look around the area, but it looks fine, peaceful except for Cinnabar's agitation towards him, and he looks back at them with the same stupid clueless face.

He presses his hands together, and holds both next to his non-missing ear as he tilts his head that way. "Sleeping," or so he believes is a common enough gesture that doesn't need explanation. ]

[ now they're standing here like a couple of weirdos. Cinnabar's stiff as a rail, arms straight at their side, the dismay over his poison-coated state slowly shifting into dismay over that and the fact that he's not talking. (Miraculously, they understand that gesture.) ]

You decided to take a nap next to me? That's creepy. You really don't have any sense of self-preservation... [ ... ] Why aren't you saying anything?

[ As extremely grateful as Minato is that Cinnabar understood what he meant, he's got to frown a little and wonder if he should feel selfconscious or not about it being called creepy, or confused over why it's so dangerous. Maybe Cinnabar kicks in their sleep? Who knows.

Well. People's opinions of him don't matter too much, so he thinks about how to answer Cinnabar's question.

He taps a finger to his throat, leaving some mercury prints there, and then coughs. Sore throat. He's sick, or something. Do gems get sick? He also doesn't know. ]

[ Well. They don't get sick, but they kind of get the coughing as a sign he's hurt, and considering the rest of him is all beaten up, it's not too hard to imagine he hurt his... voice gland. Or whatever makes humans talk. With a heavy sigh, they crouch down, beginning to gather up the flowers from the ground where they'd left them. ]

You're hopeless. At this rate, you'll die without anyone even touching you.

[ It's not like Minato would mind that, but it's still such a strange thing to bring up, so he points at Cinnabar and then points at himself.

They touched him? Sort of. Back when both of them were destroying limbs and had to help each other back. ]

You are annoying, but that doesn't mean I'm going to kill you.

[ they misinterpret his charades... leaning down to pick up their clipboard, they clip the flowers onto it by their stems. ]

[ ...Well. Being told he's not annoying enough to be killed is a nice sentiment too.

He reaches into his bag- it's kind of also stained, just a little, because it's not made of the same thing- but he pulls out the paper flower crown that Futaba had made him, fluffing it up a little because it's gotten a little squashed. He points at this, and points at the flowers Cinnabar has.

? ]

[ at that, they shake their head, their crystal hair reflecting dappled sunlight through the trees as it moves. ]

No. I was going to press them.

[ ........ ]

... Why? You want another one of those? [ gesturing at the flower crown. ]

[ Oh, like in a bookmark or something. It's a way to preserve flowers, so that they'll last a long time and stay beautiful forever, unlike flower crowns that wither and die- or get squashed, stained, and torn, like Minato's paper one is slowly wearing down into.

But those are two different things.

Yeah, he would love another flower crown, and he smiles and nods to indicate so. ]

[ hmm... they regard him for a few seconds, then turn up their nose. ]

Well, make your own. I'm using these.

[ rude. Having said that, though, they pause, still staring at him for a few moments. ]

... Your arm's okay?

[ it's hard to believe their poison really isn't hurting him. ]

[ Oh, harsh. That sort of bluntness just makes laugh- or as much as a silent huff and a lift of the shoulders is a laugh. He holds up his arm but it's the one he had broken, just assuming Cinnabar is talking about this one. It's kind of crooked? It was almost a clean break, the bone at the wrong angle and splintered so that it can't be set perfectly back together, but it's not like Minato prefers one arm over the other anyways.

He does a little fist pump with that arm, but who knows if that's as universal as the sleeping gesture. ]

[ they hadn't been asking about that one, but that works, too -- not that they're going to express any kind of relief or let on that they'd been concerned about that injury. They shake their head. ]

Not that one. The other one. [ pointing at his now-stained sleeve. ] It's hard to believe your skin isn't burning... I can't get used to it.

[ The other one with his... burnt hand that's nicely wrapped up so nobody can see how bad it is, but burning is in the past and it doesn't hurt anymore, as long as he doesn't try to pick something up with his left hand.

...He takes his finger and runs it through the stain on his clothes, and then pulls his sleeve up to write on the back of his arm:

"I'm fine (:"

complete with the smiley face ]

[ It's impossible not to cringe, watching him willingly put his finger in the nasty residue they leave everywhere - even if it's not hurting him, it feels shameful. They just wish the poison would go away entirely. ]

You're lucky to be fine. What if I'd rolled over in my sleep? I would have broken whatever parts of you aren't already in pieces.

[ He'll have to write a bit smaller since his arm is so thin, but he continues using it as a canvas instead of that notebook and pen he has in his bag, that he's been carrying around for over a month now.

"Bad dreams?"

He probably should use that notebook, or just talk. But he's pretty confident this gets the full extent of his concerns across. ]

[ they wish he'd stop... but then he'd have to go back to doing charades, which is about as annoying. ]

Normal ones. It's not any of your concern.

[ does cinnabar ever have good dreams? doubtful ]

[ So tossing and turning isn't a nightmare thing...

"Hot?" he writes on his arm, but he's not sure either whether Cinnabar feels hot and cold, if that's something that keeps them up and moving around in their sleep. ]

Huh? No.

[ they don't exactly feel temperature like a human does - it has to be extreme for them to notice. ]

Don't humans move in their sleep, too? You don't need to try and explain it. Some of us even sleepwalk.

[ not them, thankfully, or they'd be liable to walk into the ocean ]

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