WEEK ZERO: MINGLE

[cluedin]

WEEK ZERO

OCCUPANCY: 36

For those of you counting along, you'll find that it's been three days since you've arrived at Master Blue's mansion. On this lovely Monday morning, the weak winter sun shines in through the spotless windows. The curtains in the ballroom have been drawn closed and cannot be moved away from the back wall during the daylight hours. The scent of a hot and delicious breakfast wafts from the direction of the dining hall at 7am, and small creaks and groans in the house urge you to awaken.

Perhaps you're a late riser though. No matter! There's still plenty of food you can make for yourself and ways for you to amuse yourself. Though the decor's been taken down, leftover Valentine's candy remains abundant, and a chilly breeze drifts through the halls. Best of all, all damage inflicted on the house has been repaired. In addition, a new placard has been mounted in the entryway.

As you carry on with your day in the mansion and explore the rooms provided, you may come to find that starting today it will appear as though you've all lost the use of one of your senses. Your vision may have grown dim, or maybe you really can't smell the enticing treats in the dining hall after all. How unfortunate.

Then again, something doesn't seem quite right. Walking through the halls, nothing seems terribly out of place. However, turning the corner or entering a room you will find someone who looks a little too much like yourself behaving in a fairly inappropriate manner. You would never read something so lewd. Who would ever think that you would wear something so pink? These mannerisms may seem innocent to others, but you can't help but disapprove.

Too bad no one else can see them.

Come Monday at noon, you will also find a new surprise. The wooden box with your name on it can now be opened, and a rustling crackle of static can be heard from overhead. Try as you might, you won't be able to find the speakers but this message will play loud and clear for all.

---

☙ main navigation ❧
locations 🐾 ic profiles 🐾 murder proposals 🐾 audience requests 🐾 statuses 🐾 private conversations

Comments

[mammoney]

It's a cockroach, dumbass.

[They're hard to kill! DUH.]

That lady already roasted them a bit for me... [Hmmmph!] But sure, if it bothers you that much...

[kazokun]

What lady?

[ It obviously isn't enough to kill them. Ayabe frowns to himself and holds the box at arm's length while he walks to the kitchen, because they're GROSS but he'll figure out a way to cook them properly so they don't breed disease or creep other people out. There's some recipe for edible bugs somewhere, he thinks. Remove the antennae and legs, fry them in hot oil, some sort of spicy seasoning...

Still cockroaches. Still gross. ]

[mammoney]

She jingles and cooks real good, I don't know.

[THIS EXPLAINS SO MUCH]

Hey, don't leave me behind... [He'll just toddle after Ayabe, trying to use his very blurry form to kind of orient himself. He doesn't want to run into a wall again for the 234567876578th time.]

Don't go too fast, okay? I can't see ya...

[kazokun]

[ Jingles.................... Ayabe has to think about who might fit that description and he's thinking maybe Michiru. More pressing is the fact that Mammon apparently can't see— he would've gotten a pass for not knowing those were bugs he was eating but he could, so that's still on him. ]

How bad is it? Here-

[ He shifts the box to one hand so he can take Mammon's wrist with the other, but that just puts the box too close and he doesn't want them to crawl up his shirt or anything, so he ends up looping his arm with Mammon's instead so he can drag him along. ]

[mammoney]

Oh?

[The movement startles him. He almost moves like he's going to tug away, but instead he kind of leans closer. Ayabe's pulling him along to help, he realizes.]

Uh...everythin's a bit of a blur... [A murmur.] T-Thanks...

[kazokun]

[ He almost misses the thanks, but catches it because Mammon's so close, and he lets himself smile just a little only because Mammon can't see shit. ]

...It'll be easier for the both of us like this. You won't go running off, and I'll be able to hear you. It's been getting harder to hear for the past while.

[ The shouting was great! He could hear the shouting loud and clear. ]

[mammoney]

[Can't believe Mammon being naturally loud managed to help Ayabe, like what are the odds.]

You can't hear? Sheesh... [A slight shake of the head.] It seems like everyone's losin' something. I wonder if its like a disease. Though I don't feel sick, do you?

[kazokun]

[ Ayabe goes from "EVERYBODY SHUT UP" to appreciating those who speak up. ]

Not in the sense of a flu or anything like that.

[ Nobody else he's talked to felt sick either. The flu would have made sense, people having fevers that mess with their heads a little. ]

Can demons even get sick?

[mammoney]

Yeah, we can. Its not like human sicknesses but it sure is annoying.

[A light shrug.]

Haven't been sick with somethin' like this, though. I hope it won't last forever...it'd be a nightmare if I couldn't see money and stuff anymore...

[kazokun]

[ Money and stuff. Yeah, that's the priority alright. ]

I hope it doesn't last forever either. It'll be harder to talk to you if I can't hear what you're saying.

[ He would have to learn to read lips or something, and that requires paying attention to people's faces, and it's really just a pain. He'll enjoy not being able to hear for a while, until he learns what an inconvenience it is.

Like being in the kitchen and not being able to hear the sizzle of the pan when he flicks a drop of water into the oil to tell if it's hot enough, little things like that. If cockroaches scream when he tosses them into hot oil, he's glad not to be able to hear them, though. ]

[mammoney]

[Money and stuff! That's what life is about, baby!!]

That'd be terrible!! You need to hear everything THE Mammon says, I mean! Come on!

[The INDIGNATION that someone just won't be able to obviously hear his GREAT and AMAZING words!!]

[kazokun]

Do you have anything important to say?

[ Apparently, none of that counted.

He lets Mammon go when they get to the kitchen, looking around for a colander to rinse the cockroaches off before frying them. ]

[mammoney]

Yes. Every word that comes out of my mouth is important. You should be HONORED to hear stuff from me.

[onedirectionlaugh.mp3]

[He feels for what he thinks is a counter (it is!) and leans on it, letting out a sigh.]

Man, this all really is a mess, huh? First, we get kidnapped, and then, we start losing senses...its like some kind of curse.

[kazokun]

Oh... Ling said that too, that this is a curse. We tried to draw purification seals or something.

[ Some sort of magical seal that he entertained for half an hour to keep Jin Ling occupied. He doesn't believe in magic, but he's willing to play along when there's no harm in it, so with Mammon claiming to be a demon... ]

Do you know anything about breaking curses? Or just casting them.

[ Being a demon. Demons curse people, they should know how to remove them, right? ]

[mammoney]

Purification seals? What is he, some kind of witch?

[He rubs at his forehead, exasperated. With the mention of curses...it could be that, actually. It feels a lot like that. And yet...]

Yeah, I can put curses on people. I can even break a few. But it depends on who's gone and cast the thing. Like if it was my brother Lucifer, there'd be no way I could remove that. As far as any regular witch...sometimes I can, but it's easier said than done, with some curses.

[kazokun]

[ Is Jin Ling a witch? Jin Ling believes rice is comparable to modern medicine, so he's very likely a witch. ]

Do you have to know who did it, or can you try to break the curse regardless?

[ The person who placed the curse was probably Master Blue, who Ayabe would really really love to believe is a normal human being, no witches or demons involved. ]

[mammoney]

You can brute force it, sure, but some curses are built in a way that makes them pretty impossible to crack unless you do something to their maker, sad to say. It's a real headache!

[So yeah, he'd like to throttle Master Blue for this, since he's likely to have cursed them all, but...haha, like that's going to happen.]

[kazokun]

Well... if either something happens or nothing happens, why not give it a try. I'll be here to back you up.

[ As a useless cheerleader, you know. Do your best, he believes in you, etc etc ]

[mammoney]

Eh, what?

[He has to blink at that.]

You really think I could break something like that?

[SOMEONE BELIEVES IN HIM??]

[kazokun]

Of course. Out of everybody here, you're our best bet.

[ He's THE Great Mammon, right? Now's his time to shine. ]

[mammoney]

[He's suddenly?? VERY BASHFUL????? He is very unused to this.]

I mean, even with my vision like this...I-I guess I'll try. After all, I AM the Great Mammon...

[kazokun]

[ Ayabe claps Mammon on the shoulder and gives it a squeeze. ]

Yeah. Go on and give it a try.

[mammoney]

[he honestly doesn't know where to even begin since this ain't exactly like the curses he's used to but sure!!! FAKE IT TILL HE MAKES IT]

I-I'll give it my all, then! Yeah! I'll do it! Thanks, human!

[A beat.]

I want to finish my cockroaches though.

[kazokun]

[ Damn, a small part of him hoped Mammon would run off and do his thing and Ayabe can toss the bugs in the trash, but he did promise a meal of cockroaches, so he follows through with it.

First these things are getting boiled so they're properly dead and he doesn't have to feel them wriggling around while he plucks off the antennae and legs, and then he tries not to think about what he's cooking while he makes some sort of stir fry dish, reminding himself every few minutes NOT to taste test throughout he cooking process. Cockroaches, peppers, ginger, miso, sesame oil, spices... He's going to triple clean all the pan and dishes so nobody else will ever be able to tell he used them for bugs. ]

[mammoney]

Ohhhh man. That smells really good!

[He's just leaning over the counter with his chin in his hands, beaming as bright as the sun.]

You really have a talent!