[if april showers bring may flowers, then july showers bring. . .?]

[sevenhorrorsmods]

Who: everyone!
When: July 31st throughout the day
Where: outside, but also wherever you want to be!
What: a general all-purpose mingle with flavor
Warnings: nada

[Today, for the first time since your arrival, dark and angry clouds gather in the sky above to block out the sun. It is sweltering outside, so when those clouds eventually open up in the early afternoon, showering everyone with cool rain, rolling thunder, and a few flashes of lightning. . . it probably feels good!]

[It seems to be normal rain, for the most part. Look at it from the wrong angle and some if it may seem to be tinted red, like blood. And sometimes, when a drop spatters against the ground, a spider lily suddenly blossoms in its place. The flower dies almost immediately upon springing to life, its petals dissolving into dust that is quickly washed away by the rest of the water]

[dwbi]

[. . . things have been awfully quiet since your arrival. It feels almost a bit like the calm before the storm, doesn't it? Are you still waiting for that other shoe to drop. . .?]

[What else are you up to today!]

Comments

[ratiocinations]

[Lingering at the entrance of the school, keeping himself dry from the rain, he watches as a certain raindrop splatters against the ground and blossoms into a red spider lily.

...

The flower dissipates soon after, but he knows what he saw. Wry:]

How pleasant.

[AND NOT AT ALL OMINOUS]

[bowtiedbones]

They look like crinoids.

[ratiocinations]

[Oh? A hole in his knowledge.] Crinoids?

[bowtiedbones]

They're like a type of starfish. Do you know feather stars?

[ratiocinations]

Ah! [Very distant recognition.] I’ve seen an illustration or two. Yes, I suppose they do look similar to a spider lily.

[bowtiedbones]

And they're also called sea lilies! Just a little wigglier than the flower.

[ratiocinations]

Hm. [He watches the ground again for any more that might spring up, but none bloom.] And are you knowledgeable about all underwater creatures, or just those in particular?

[presgarddihellis]

[another person who decided RAIN MEANS STAY INSIDE.]

Just the man I was looking for.

[ratiocinations]

[Rain equals catching colds!]

Ah, hello, Mr Smith. You’ve certainly found me.

[presgarddihellis]

[Fools never catch colds, lol (is lie. Demonnesses make them catch them)]

Yes. I have some reporting you'll be interested in. Albeit... it still doesn't confirm illusion or reality.

[ratiocinations]

Oh? But more information is still better than none. Let’s hear it, dear fellow.

[presgarddihellis]

The stars are consistent with a 21st century Earth. Northern hemisphere.

[ratiocinations]

I see.

In that case, you’re right. It neither confirms nor denies much of anything, though it does set the stage as something more familiar for people like us.

[rugpull]

Surely not symbolic.

[ratiocinations]

Hmph! Or a portent of things to come. This place… or rather, the ominous things in it, have a fondness for the color the red, I’ve noticed.

[rugpull]

That kinda flower....I think it has like bad juju?

[ratiocinations]

"Bad juju" in what way?

[rugpull]

I don't quite remember....flower language ain't my shit. I'm more about can I eat it.

[ratiocinations]

[Hmm. Hmmmm.]

I rather like flowers, myself. But this is a bit of trivia I'm unaware of. [Wrong side of the globe, wrong culture.] Still, I don't doubt it, especially if they're blossoming from drops of red rain.

...You rather like your food, don't you? You have my condolences.

[because the cafeteria food sure is....interesting]

[poetaste]

[Cadence appears next to him, wet. Even with her hair a little wild and damp, she doesn't think she looks quite as disheveled and drowned-rat as he does.]

What'd I tell you about the atmosphere? You can pen a retraction at any time.

[Ominous and foreboding it may be, but isn't there something inspirational about the atmosphere? As for what it inspires...that's another question entirely.]

[ratiocinations]

[WOW THIS IMMEDIATE SHADE RE: HIS APPEARANCE not wrong tho

He is leaning against the entranceway, watching the rain and wishing he brought down a lit cigarette from his dorm, when she approaches. He flashes her a smile as quick as the lightning that sometimes streaks across the sky.]

Dreary as the rain may be, I may concede the point. I've never seen flowers bloom and die in such a grotesque manner.

[poetaste]

[The large black bird on her shoulder, also somewhat damp, ruffles itself up and shakes off some of the rain; specks of black linger and then dissipate.]

The grotesque elicits revulsion and sympathy in equal measure. That's why it's such a spectacle. [The beauty of the horror is something most people often forget.]

This is definitely some sort of portent. The juicier question is: Who's sending it, and why do they want us to know?

[ratiocinations]

[Black bird? Now, where did that come from — what strange little flecks of black, too.]

...Hm?

[Oh, she was speaking. Drags his attention back.]

Ah, well. I wonder. I am told that these flowers in particular are symbolic, so our thoughts align where portents are concerned. It is either a warning or a threat.

[poetaste]

[Like his drowned rat status, his attention span could probably match hers.

Cadence lifts an arm, followed by a dramatic flourish as if introducing the core moral question in a play.]

Or to put it another way: Blackboard or intercom ghost?

[ratiocinations]

[He huffs a little. Her dramatic nature continues to be underlined, just as it was the first day he met her.]

Were I to guess? Disemboided voice. [Intercom.] For something beautiful to spring from blood cannot be anything but pernicious.

[BUT ALSO-] Where'd you find that friend of yours? [BIRD]