[a little ice breaker]

[sevenhorrorsmods]

Who: everyone!
When: throughout the week of August 10
Where: everywhere
What: a little mischief
Warnings: nada!

[On August 10th, everyone wakes up to find a series of red yarn strung across the entire school. They dangle from the hallway ceilings, from the classroom door frames, even across some of the trees and bleachers outside. The ones that hang within reach feel warm to the touch! They can be pulled down and removed with little consequence.]

[However, it is not the decorative threads you should be worried about. Throughout the week, any two characters who come in close proximity with each other (they do not have to touch!) may suddenly find themselves tied together with the exact same red thread. If you're lucky, it will only link you via your wrists. If you're unlucky, it might bind you via your ankles, or even wrap you both up back-to-back like a pair of captives. Hm! Concerning!!]

[Any time two characters are tied together, a playful voice echoes in their minds: Hehe. Share a secret. . .?]

[To be released, both characters must share a secret with each other! Something that the other one doesn't know! It should be something significant; the playful threads will not let you go unless it is. But the level of significance may vary from something light to something that is not, so ultimately it is player's choice as to what secrets count and which do not!]

[. . . anyway, for anyone who wants to avoid getting caught, the nurse's office and dorm rooms are completely clear! The threads are also fickle; it is possible for two characters to hang out without being tied up together, if you don't want to play with this effect. Otherwise, go forth and mingle with some optional forced bonding!!]

Comments

[velluminous]

[ her eyes flick up to his with something akin to defiance. of him? not necessarily. certainly of the situation, and the sheer insanity, to her, of heeding a warning once and disregarding it thereafter.

she could make up any number of secrets. will it know them to be false, as it had their true names? there is only one way to find out. and she's annoyed enough to indulge the curiosity now. ]

Very well. Once, I am locked overnight in City of Dead, and witnessed grave-robbery.

[ratiocinations]

[She might’ve asked him, too, because it might be assumed from his mood that he has undergone this trial many times — and perhaps has tested this curiosity already.

Anyway, hope she’s eager to build on this lie, and the intrigue is enough to seemingly set aside his irritation-]

What was stolen?

[velluminous]

[ oh. he's asking followup questions. ]

Er—ceremonial dagger.

[ratiocinations]

[girl

... ]

Ms Fairplay, why are you lying.

[velluminous]

Wh—what!

[ratiocinations]

You’re lying. I can tell.

[velluminous]

[ she—stamps her foot. yes, really. ]

Some days, you are having no inquisitive spirit.

[ratiocinations]

[Pahs!]

I am saving you time. That has already been tested.

[velluminous]

Once more! How am I to know this?

[ratiocinations]

You might have asked.

[Bah, he doesn’t want to dwell on this.]

It doesn’t matter. You know now. If you’d offer an actual secret, then.

[velluminous]

No, no, I insist. Gentlemen first, as you are so knowing.

[ratiocinations]

[God. What has he left to offer at this point? He has spilled secrets small and weighty alike, and there remain more, but none so vague that he can speak them without being questioned in ways he’d rather not.

Well.

Maybe there is still one. With exasperation:]

Fine. I was engaged once. It did not last long.

[there!!]

[velluminous]

[ this hardly seems worthy of the definition of a secret. but she supposes it's different for a bookseller, who does not live his life under the microscope of the world. ]

It is not such important thing, marriage.

[ratiocinations]

[All the better that she does not question it further.]

No. It isn’t.

[velluminous]

[ she doesn't think so. he is a mystery, Mister Kieran Adair. ]

Once...

[ ah, but sharing her own secret. this is difficult. ]

[ratiocinations]

[Happy to move on, he presents her his full attention, and urges her to continue.]

Pray, continue.

[velluminous]

Hhhhhmn.

[ she wishes to surrender nothing. ]

I wished very much to be woman like my mother. I dress in her jewelry and shoes when she is not home and pretend at her bearing... criticizing daughter I did not have.

[ratiocinations]

[Given what he knows of her relationship with her parents, he supposes this one instance of childhood innocence is weighty enough to count as a secret.]

It is unavoidable, I suppose. To want to be more like them.

[Parents.]

When we are younger.

[velluminous]

I thought perhaps she might like me more for it. Idiot girl.

[ratiocinations]

[Ah. How #relatable.]

Mm. I should have told you a secret of mine that I shared with Mr Azure, for it was quite similar, though… I suppose it is not much a secret after it is spoken once.

[velluminous]

You pretend to be your mother also?

[ratiocinations]

[Scoffs.] No, though if I did, maybe then I would have won their attentions.

[big-brained]

No, I mean in the vein of silly, useless efforts in which we admire or try to earn their affections, which ultimately lead to nothing.

[velluminous]

Haah. "Nothing" would suit me better.

[ratiocinations]

You are aware of that now, at least.

[Are they free? He shakes off their thread to test it.]

You became better than your mother, anyway.

[velluminous]

Hn. [ the threads do shake away! ] You do not know her, and you barely know me.

But it is nice for you to say.