WEEK ONE: MINGLE

[cluedin]

WEEK ONE

OCCUPANCY: 34

Rise and shine, little monsters. A new week is waiting just for you. The events of yesterday may have been hard to stomach, but time heals all wounds, after all. The damages the house has incurred over the last week have been reverted and the staff is hard at work fulfilling their roles in this mansion. A piping hot breakfast is served in the dining room promptly at 7am, every square inch of floor and furniture has been cleaned spotless, and...the sound of birds chirping fills the hallway. The sun's shining brightly through the glass windows, and the curtain has been drawn back from the doors in the ballroom. The barriers blocking off the stairs down to the basement and to the balconies have been removed, and all guests may now explore these areas.

For anyone who ventures into the ballroom, a new change may become apparent. Should you choose to look at the plaques long enough, two images will flicker and change sporadically. While Haruka's portrait remains the same, on occasion it will change to an image of a pale, scratched up woman with yellow foam dripping from the corner of her lips. Likewise, Nikki's portrait looks just like herself, though if you blink you may miss it changing into the image of a large, rabid rat. There is no rhyme and reason for the change...though perhaps it serves as a reminder to those who remain.

Additionally, the house rules have been moved from the ballroom and back into the hallway, mounted in the entryway as they were.

But with this new bit of freedom comes another strange set of circumstances, you see. Starting today you'll find that the urge to give in to some nasty little traits has grown stronger. Greed, Pride, Jealousy....any of those seven deadly feelings will begin to bubble up inside you. Can you remain calm under the weight of your sins?

Perhaps so. Perhaps you're the type who's capable of ignoring these feelings even in your worst moments. You may be a beacon of hope for those who struggle with their emotions, but something else seems amiss. Even if you've managed to avoid those prickly feelings, some of you may experience a brain fog, making your thoughts hazy and hard to focus. Others may find themselves with a constant craving for sustenance, an insatiable hunger...though it may not be for food alone. And others still...it is a bit alarming for your arm to detach itself from your body, isn't it? Why would your feet run away without you? Best take stock of all of your limbs now because for the next week they may be just a bit too easy to remove. Don't lose your head over it though. They'll reattach easily enough.

You may experience only some of these events. Then again, maybe you're unlucky and you're experiencing all of these events at different points in time. Time is of the essence, however, and come Monday at noon a rustling crackle of static can be heard from overhead. Try as you might, you won't be able to find the speakers but a message will play loud and clear for all.

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Comments

[kazokun]

[ It's a plain while button up shirt and black pants, the least fancy thing there is that isn't robes.

Ayabe blinks blearily up at him, wanting to go back to sleep and not deal with this, but he forces himself out of bed. ]

What do you usually use? Maybe one of the girls has lipstick.

[goldpeony]

[He makes a face.] I'm not putting lipsticks on my head! It has to be something appropriate! It's not for fun! It's meant to open the doors to wisdom and aspiration! [He frowns.]

Don't you have... red turmeric? Saffron?

[kazokun]

[ He's the one who asked for makeup in the first place GOD ]

There might be some in the kitchen. Go on and get dressed, and we can find some.

[goldpeony]

[With the same sour face, he glances back down at the clothes on the bed.]

There's no under garments. How am I supposed to wear under garments beneath this?

[Look. First of all, what was he wearing before? Second of all, his underwear-and-pajamas are always white shorts and a white shirt.]

[kazokun]

You just put it on. How am I supposed to know where you keep your underwear? -—Have you not been in this room at all since Haruka kicked you two out?

[ Is that why he's been wearing the crop top all week?? Where has he been staying for the past week, I'm crying, Haruka should at least give them access to clothes and their toothbrushes. ]

[goldpeony]

Shut up!

[Which probably means yeah. He was too busy running fastly away because she bullied him and also, he didn't want to see them making out and shit. Reaching out, he grabs a handful of the shirt and pants and jerks them up to run back into the bathroom with them.]

[kazokun]

[ He'll just have to go without underwear, then. It's fine. Nobody else cares, so it's just Jin Lin's comfort at stake. The clothes Ayabe picked out might also make it hard, depending, because long sleeves and pants are more fitted than flowy robes.

It's really not Ayabe's problem, so he just waits until Jin Ling comes out to whatever new complaint he has. ]

[goldpeony]

[He'll just awkwardly and uncomfortably go commando. It's fine.

Except, after a bit, he comes back out in the towel and starts rifling through the dresser. He leaves for the bathroom again with something balled in his hands--looks like underwear. Another handful of minutes pass, and then he busts out of the door like a wild, hime-haired hurricane. The pants aren't even buttoned, and the shirt isn't buttoned either.]

Wait--! Did you see my bell?! Where--?! It was tied to my robes!

[kazokun]

...The bloody robes that are currently in the washing machine downstairs?

[ There's enough bedsheet in there too that the bell shouldn't get too battered up, so hopefully it's not as delicate as the blue bell everybody's got. ]

[goldpeony]

The what?! My Jiang bell!

[Suddenly, he looks mortified. And he immediately turns for the door and the bed wedged in it, taking off as fast as he can.]

[kazokun]

[ Button your pants or they'll fall down—-

does Jin Ling even know where the washing machine is? or what it is? Time to find out. Ayabe unhelpfully follows along after him. ]

[goldpeony]

[They almost fall down when he's trying to get over the stupid bed, but then he's trying to do them while also hustling for the stairs. He has absolutely no clue what a damn washing machine is, so...

...on the first floor, he runs around to look in a few doors like he knows what he's searching for. After one or two, he suddenly whips around on Ayabe.]

Where did you take them?! Show me! I just received it!

[kazokun]

[ Jin Ling checking the library for a washing machine tells Ayabe enough about whether he knows what he's searching for. ]

The laundry room is downstairs. Follow me.

[ Across the hall, down a flight of stairs to the basement, and thankfully the laundry room is right where the stairs end, housing a dozen machines roaring and rumbling and Ayabe turns the dial on one of the newer machines to stop it and open the lid. Hot soapy water and too much fabric; the bell might be in here somewhere. ]

[goldpeony]

[He almost runs Ayabe over trying to follow, but also trying to hurry? The noise startles him, and he leaps back outside of the door despite Ayabe walking in like it's nothing. He sticks his head inside and looks around.

WHY IS IT SO LOUD?

Carefully, he forces himself to hurry inside so he can run up to see what happened to the bell.]

Where is it?!

[Time to stick his hands in.]

[kazokun]

[ Ayabe doesn't stick his hands straight in, and he clicks his tongue seeing Jin Ling do it because how sleeves are going to get all wet. ]

Here, I'll get a hamper so we can pull the sheets out and put it in there, it'll be easier to find it then.

[ The bedsheets can go into a separate container and then he can look for his clothes easier and if the bell had gotten loose and is floating around in the water, even better. ]

[goldpeony]

[Screw that. Jin Ling hauls himself up over the lip of the washing machine's mouth, dangling, and starts shoving his arms down in the water to try to sift through the heavy, wet cloth. The water's kind of hot, so he hisses and brings his arms out to cool before sticking them back in.

Where is his fucking bell?!]

Don't be broken... don't be broken... Uncle will kill me...

[He has a quarter of a sheet flopped up on the washing machine lip when he lets out a sharp intake of breath. Reaching down, he fishes a bell out of the water. Unfortunately, the top string is broken, but the bell itself, and the tassel seems to be mostly okay.]

No! The top...

[Jin Ling sounds....... surprisingly sad and defeated?]

[kazokun]

[ OH NO.......... sad Jin Ling makes me sad ):

Ayabe also feels bad for throwing everything into the laundry without properly turning out all the pockets and making sure nothing goes into the water that isn't supposed to. ]

I'm sorry, Ling. I can mend the string...

[goldpeony]

[jokes on you, he's always sad

He feels more frustrated with himself than anything. He should have taken better care of it. He should have remembered it. How disgraceful, treating the Jiang bell this way. He clutches it tightly in his fist against his chest, eyes squeezed shut a moment, hating himself not for the first time.

When his eyes open, he pushes the sheets back and drops the lid, turning quickly to rush away with the bell.]

[kazokun]

[ )))))))))))):

Jin Ling's not going to have bedsheets tonight because instead of putting everything back into the washer and restarting it, Ayabe goes after Jin Ling. ]

[goldpeony]

[He's at least not running full blast, but he is hurrying, the bell still clasped against his chest protectively. He goes right for the stairs to head up.

Crying is stupid and childish, and it's super embarrassing, but the thought of losing the bell again, of having broke it, on top of not being able to find Suihua or Fairy.

Well, his eyes are kind of red!]

[kazokun]

[ It's okay to cry. Ayabe will think he's a baby, but he won't say anything about it.

He slows when they get close to the room, thinking Jin Ling will just throw himself onto the bed and wail, and there's no reason for Ayabe to be there then. ]

...I'll check up on you later. Is that alright?

[goldpeony]

[He's heading for the room, but not his original room. It looks like it's Subete and Huaisang's room. Halfway there, though, he slows to a stop and glances back. He's not crying, it's fine!

His eyes are just a little red.]

...I still need something for my mark. I guess I'll have to ask one of those stupid girls... [His brows pinch.] Can you really fix it...?

[kazokun]

[ Babo Kim will out Jin Ling later about staying with Nie Huiasang while leaving this entire room with a perfectly good bed vacant and Ayabe's going to throw his hands into the air about it, but for now he'll just think that Jin Ling is so distraught he's simply pacing the hall. ]

Yes, I can fix it. I'll ask Peach if she has thread to match the color too, you won't be able to tell it was broken.

[goldpeony]

[BABY KIM, STOP.

Jin Ling glances down reluctantly at the bell in his palm. He closes his fingers over it a moment, feeling it, and then he levels Ayabe with a hard stare.]

Fine. Don't break it more. Don't lose it. Give it back to me. It's important. Don't take anything off it.

[He holds it out...reluctantly still.]

[kazokun]

I'll be careful with it. I know how important it is to you, and how hard you've been looking for it all this time.

[ He holds his hand out for it, so Jin Ling can place it in his hand instead of Ayabe grabbing it from him. The last chance to think twice about leaving this in Ayabe/my hands. ]