Multiple Settings The Wallflower Agency - In Character.

[Euclid Leaf]

ManicMuse
Wallflower chuckled, his obscured eyes dancing in the shadow of his glasses.

"Haha, not the type to mince words, are we? But I do implore you get to know each other, before making judgements. Humans are reflections of one another. Children of their parents, friends of their friends. You might come to realize..." he smiles softly, "A couple screws loose, that's quite normal."
He continues, the bemusement on his lips puckering somewhat in disgust. Or maybe closer to disappointment? "That said, I fully agree with your sentiment on the state of this place... this house of 'national history', it is a shamble isn't? A shame, really. To think historic documents, signed by the Founding Fathers, institutionalizing the first paranormal decrees are buried somewhere underneath all the half-lucid interviews, and raving decrepit transcripts collected over the centuries..."

His posture tightened somewhat, as he took another sip. "The last owner of this place, my late grandfather, was rather old-fashioned to say the least. And rather guarded of his work. This is a thing I am hoping to correct, in my term. I don't enjoy the papercuts either, mind you." he chuckled, "As for the 'why' you were chosen, that is rather hypophoric is it not? If you weren't special, then you wouldn't be chosen in first place."

He smiled, waiting for a reaction, knowing the answer would not satisfy. Lifting his cup, his lips met dry air.
"Mind filling my cup, dear? My throat is getting parched."
Without as much as a reaction, nothing new as she had been sitting there blankly the whole time, Seoyoon quietly stood up and began handling the kettle. The woman brandished the smoking metal with a mitten covered in floral shapes in mechanical precision.
"Anyone else need to be topped off?" he asked, looking around politely for a second.

"Anyway, for a more complete answer..." he says, putting a finger to his lips and tapping a few times. "It is because we are the square that fits through the circle. Partly logical. Partly illogical. We are living contradictions, a walking Fallacy. While that means our normal lives are rife with unsolvable issues, on the reverse, we serve as anchors in the face of unfettering entropy."

Wallflower swiftly bows his head as he receives his cup from Seoyoon, blowing on the tea a few times and taking a long gulp before resuming.
"The universe is a constant stream of near-infinite actions and consequences. But the flow is not linear. And it most certainly isn't perfect. Sometimes, in the unnumerable calculations, the rules, absolute as they may be, can get mixed up. Whether that is the result of entropy itself, or some other unknown actor... We do not know. But we know the result. Whenever one causal interim crosses with another, it creates errors known as Misalignments. Which can cause problems, as you might imagine. That is where we, and others like us, come in. Simply put, you are both aligned and misaligned. With a foot in both doors, you are, in a way, rejected by both ends. Which has its benefits, when dealing with the paranormal... Oh, and let me make something clear. The word 'paranormal' is a catch-all term for when misalignment phenomena distort in such a way to create... certain mindful entities. It is the result of their influence."

seasonedcat
He coughs at the end of the statement, shifting in his seat, as though the idea itself caused some discomfort in the man. But he continues to maintain his cheery aptitude.
"When the paranormal comes to possess a distinct trait of maliciousness... Those fall into a category known as The Occult. We have the capability to bear their wicked curses, retaining ourselves when normal people would easily succumb." the smile then points over to wherever Theodore was, "I believe you have some familiarity with such things, Mr. Hiroshi."

Wallflower's ordinarily warm tone suddenly takes a sharpness.
"The book, or rather, the thing inside. May you share with us, what it reads today?"

...

 

[seasonedcat]

Theodore hovered behind Brie as they moved, his grip a breath away from her shirt as they passed through the door, his grip tight on air as he pled with his mind not to grab onto her in fear. Thankfully as they entered the house, Theodore was not taken to any place that was not on the other side. He visibly relaxed at that knowledge before returning to his anxious self, remembering he was not in his own home; he was far from safe.

At the motion to sit down, Theodore felt lost for a moment, unsure where exactly to move to, knowing he could not follow Brie to her seat without retaining some sort of suspicion. So instead, Theodore decided to remain standing, hovering behind the seats as he silently listened. Theodore glanced back and forth between the speakers, flinching at Corki's loud voice that was far sharper in his ears that they were inside.

It wasn't until the sound of his name fell from Mr. Wallflower's lips did Theodore feel a sudden shock of panic, cringing at the sound. He gripped his bag tightly, swallowing in his dry throat.

"I-" Theodore flinched at the sound of his voice cracking, using his left thumb to pull and tear at the skin on his index finger as he tried to regain some form of breathing. The eyes on him made his skin crawl like it was encased in agony, thanking that his mask covered his face as he tore at his lips with his teeth. He was blinking back some form of panic and tears, he reached over wordlessly, opening his bag and pulling out the large book.

The old scent of ink and paper brought some ease to him, but the eyes that fell on the book made a possessive feeling go through his body. The book was old; you could tell that by looking at it. The worn leather that bound it together and pages jutted out at many points as if no one ever decided what paper was to fit it. Some who were closer or had a better sense of smell could sense a tint of iron in the air or blood. Carved in the leather was the title "The Construction of 63 Meadowbank Manuscripts and Other notes"; no author's name could be seen.

When one read the title, it felt almost as if a chill went down their spine, was someone watching them? It was a fleeting sense that soon vanished as swiftly as it came. Theodore manically flipped to the page he knew by heart, which always held a new entry. The rough ink drawing stared back at him as he turned the page to be seen by the others; if anyone tried to make contact with the book, he would quickly move it away from them before they could touch it.

"This is the last entry..." he added dumbly as he averted eye contact with the group as they stared at a rather graphic image. A sickeningly wide smile stood on drawn Theodore's face as he sat slouched against a blood splattered wall. His chipped nails full of his own guts, making it clear that the hole in his stomach had been carved out by his own hands. The dark ink scribbled and shaded areas, looking into the shadows would fill you with a sense of fear, of dread. As if something, far stronger than you was staring back. Shifting awkwardly he let the group observe it as he waited for their responses.
interacted Euclid Leaf Juju ManicMuse RaiAthar SharkBark BuggaBoo Lillian_4 |

 

[RaiAthar]

With his right hand, Isa reached out to the nearest potted plant to scoop up a handful of fine dirt…hoping Umbrella wouldn’t get her knickers in a twist…which was…kind of odd. Anyways…in case a diversion was needed (throwing dirt into someone’s eyes) for a pre-emptive strike, he was ready, as ready as he could be.

…Evidently, the hotshots that filed out through the door were all talk. The feint undertones of violence in Combover’s voice did not go unnoticed, however. Yeah…it was juvenile, but Isa couldn’t help himself, so he pantomimed a gun with his left hand and sent some violent overtones over Combover’s undertones. Bang-bang, he mouthed the words silently, cocking his arm up twice as the imaginary hollow point bullets left the tip of his index finger. One of the bullets struck Combover’s chest; the other was a head shot. Consequently, Combover’s imaginary brains were splattered all over the hanging garden, though it looked more like shit than it did grey matter.

The last shithead through that door, that was a face he wouldn’t forget any time soon, particularly the yellow eyes. He had met her judgmental gaze; slowly yawned into his hand while maintaining eye contact with her. Unless she was packing heat, she appeared to be the weakest link. Her slender physique was akin to that of a long distant runner: lacking in speed and explosive strength. If Isa was a betting man, in a fight to the death between Yellow-eyes and Corki, his money was on Corki. No doubt about it in Isa’s mind, that immodestly dressed lady was thicc; hers was not a physique that came without hard work -Isa respected that sort of thing.

Now that sneer from ‘Yellow-eyes’, the one directed towards Umbrella, it nearly triggered Isa into tossing his handful of dirt at the dark-haired woman. He sure as hell was ready to face the consequences of his actions, the others…maybe not so much. In the end, she wasn’t worth wasting the perfectly good dirt, so he poured it back into the pot and brushed his hands of it.

When all was said and done with the BPA, Isa had caught two of their names: Alif and Marigold. Alif, he knew was the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, so very likely, it was a moniker…unless he had pretentious parents? Marigold, it seemed, had history with Jessie and Umbrella. That was none of his business though, not yet.

Jessie was right…it was warmer inside, so Isa would oblige the lanky man and enter his abode without hesitation. Truthfully, Isa had been suppressing shivers since arriving at Summer street, especially since he had been soaked. He was indeed cold but he wasn’t going to complain about it because he was a man, and all ‘real’ men instinctively knew there was an unspoken rule about this sort of thing.

Instead of making for the seats in front of Jessie’s desk, Isa sat down onto the closest couch to the table. He unlaced his boots, took them off and pulled his knees into his chest. He noticed a blood stain on his jeans from last night’s fight when he made Brick’s nose explode. Then he rolled back into the couch with his face tucked into the corner of the plush armrest. His back was to the group. Just a little nap is what he needed, not too long…

Investigating misalignment phenomenon; stuck between heaven and hell making him and others like him more resilient to the unfettering entropy of purgatory; Corki; Corinna; Kiana…. Too many names. He settled with Corinna; picked up that Umbrella’s name was actually Seoyoon… And the malnourished kid with the bags under his eyes was Hiroshi… He didn’t pick up much more than that before the ‘sandman’ took him.

Euclid Leaf SharkBark ManicMuse Juju BuggaBoo

 

[Juju]

Brielle

Interaction: BuggaBoo Euclid Leaf seasonedcat || Mention: N/A​

Brie felt like she was in a daze. It was all too much between the surprising beauty of the garden, the sudden entourage of less than friendly characters, and the emergence of Mr. Wallflower himself. It was all she could do to stiffly follow the masses towards the room, her mind racing with a hundred and one different worries.

For the most part, Brie had been zoned out of Corki’s talking. That is, until the girl brought her attention to someone nearby. It was the same guy she had been wary of on the streets, the scrawny bookworm Brie had felt a sense of pity towards. Why was Corki making it seem like he was creeping on her? Then again, she hadn’t exactly been paying attention. WAS he creeping on her?

Brie nodded her head slightly in thanks, and shuffled into the office with the others. Already on edge, Brie couldn't help but jump when Corki leaned over and spoke in her ear. So this was her ‘misalignment'? Brie wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, but it gave her an uneasy feeling.

When asked about her own misalignment, Brie shook her head and touched her bag almost instinctively, “I uh… I forget stuff and they’re different from what I remember. I really don’t like talking about it, sorry...”

Just talking about it was making her feel like she was forgetting something. Out of habit, she pulled her phone from her pocket and found that it wasn’t working. A knot twisted in her gut as she fumbled to try turning on her malfunctioning phone. It was the only thing she had used to write down her ‘don’t forget’ list.

Panicking, Brie went through her list in her head, only to be distracted by some poor joke from Corki. Brielle’s face flushed with heat, her eyes wide and dumbstruck. To make it worse, Wallflower seemed to go along with it and patted her on the back.

Brie wilted, her voice croaking out a mild protest, “I… I didn’t say that…why would I..? Nevermind…”

Eager to put the embarrassment behind her, Brie sat down at the table with everyone else. She sat next to Corki, who despite the joke was still the person she knew the most, the close second being the ‘McCreepy’ that Corki had warned her about.

Tea was offered, and Brie quickly passed on it. Since her last visit to Mrs. Sanchez’ apartment she had grown a quiet, yet ever nagging distaste for tea. It wasn’t so much the drink, as it was a warm and comforting drink that she used to enjoy. The thing was the smell, and the memories of that apartment that came with it. Even now, she couldn't really remember the furniture of the apartment or even what time of day it was. Thinking back, she couldn’t even recall what Sanchez looked like back then.

She remembered the smell of tea though, cloying and sweet. Now anytime she caught a whiff of tea, she remembered the eerie feeling she felt that day, sat across from the woman who wasn't Mrs. Sanchez.

Perhaps today she would add yet another reason to feel ill at ease over teatime. Her eyes shot over to Theo at the mention of ‘a thing’ inside a book. Although Corki had shared her misalignment, it couldn’t have been more different than Brie’s silent struggles. She didn’t feel like a person with a strange curse, but a fly stuck in a web. Things around her moved and changed, as if with a malicious mind of their own. More and more she had the impression her apartment was watching her and that the world itself was somehow wrong.

Haunted objects were too vague a concept. It was something more, just like this book. She knew it the moment Theo put it on the table.

Brie leaned forward in her chair, staring in hesitant curiosity at the frayed book as Theo pulled its pages apart. Brie made a little cough as she laid eyes on the illustration and covered her mouth.

“I think I'm gonna be sick…” she blurted, quickly looking away from the book and pushing back into her seat. A wave of dizziness and nausea overtook her as she tried not to think about the image.

Maybe it was a good thing she hadn't eaten breakfast.

 

[ManicMuse]

Time to free fall Alice

Code by Serobliss

•

Wallflower Headquarters

•

Gena Heights

•

Female

•

27

•

CS

Gena

Did he respect the fact that she was to the point? Many mocked her for not having tact, as they put it. Gena's emerald eyes turned to slits as she peered over the innocent tea cup. She occupied herself with blowing the steam off the top of the heated water as she processed Mr. Wallflower's words. She had always attempted to hide her abnormal self. It was not just the passing out. She had feelings. Sensed things. Though that sort of thing was a sign of a mental disorder, she made a point of burying such things. Several people on her mother's side of the family had, had unfortunate outcomes regarding their long-term mental health. It was only natural to her to stifle ...feels.

Was this odd man asking her to embrace such things? He,
too, was living with his family's curse, so to speak. Gena found herself clutching tightly to the teacup, causing her already pale knuckles to turn white.

Disappointment? No fear. She had run far from the threads that tied her to anything odd. Now he was asking to embrace it. Worse, that these, THESE were her PEOPLE. Her gaze flickered around the room, trying to soak in the ...

Crazy? No.

As Seoyoon moved to fill the cups, Gena's emerald gaze locked on the women. She was not madness. She seemed to be confident in herself and what she was. Gena craved that more than anything. Still, she gripped the tiny delicate tea cup so fiercely, she questioned if it would break but still couldn't will herself to release it. Control, order, that was her life. Misalignment or not, passing out at the sight of a dead body was hardly enough to throw an entire career out the window.

Then the request came for the sickly nail bitter to reveal something. Gena made a mental note that if she stayed, this man-child needed chew-elry, to redirect his nervous habit from self-mutilation. The nerves he showed just producing the book made her skin crawl. They were not the SAME. To face that, Mr. Wallflower's words, would suggest was an insult, a self-fracturing fallacy.

Though he carried on, fumbling with the book.

"Oooooohhhh scary a ---. Oh my god."

That same chill entered her. In some way, the same as whatever alerted her in the alley. The veil.

'Don't poke the veil!' her subconscious screamed as she stared at the horrid image.

"NO," the word bubbled from her core, and spoke into the space as she gasped. The word had been involuntary. She could feel her cheeks draining of any color as she helplessly looked around the room.

This was a foreign feeling. Sickness riggled as she recognized she had shaken the entire teacup's tea onto the table.

g r i m Juju BuggaBoo RaiAthar seasonedcat SharkBark

 

[BuggaBoo]

---

---

"Corki" - Corinna-Kiana - The Surfer/Skater Chick ​

---

---

Most of what Wallflower had given in response to her questions flew over her head. But the answer to the most important question she had asked gave her the shivers. Blue eyes slid over and rested upon the ancient brick with the funny shaped handle and swirly dialing thingie on the wall. How the hell was she supposed to post to socials with that thing?! Cheeks puffed out as she let out an extended exhale. An grumbling groan she set free; how much longer could she go on living without using her own phone?!

Corki shook her head and finally sat beside Brie in defeat. She removed the flower from behind her ear and slid a cigarette in the vacated spot. She gently pushed the flower aside when Ms. Seoyoon came around with tea, but she did not touch it. Her gaze turned to Brie and she gave a half-hearted smile; no, she did not care for tea either. Once more she glanced at the bags underneath the other young woman's eyes and her mind turned inward and plucked out the memory of Brie talking about her own 'Misprint' experiences. Breezee had looked like something was eating her up inside, suffering alone in silence, haunted by phantoms that could make inner daemons feel like mere annoyances. Corki inhaled to speak but then she cut herself off, perking up as the redhead that braved knocking on the door asked some rather poignant questions.

'Knock-knock' had a point. In this day and age, what was with all these sheets and folders everywhere if this new club they were joining was supposed to be so great. We know everything about you, Corki my girl! No need to intro yourself to us... it's all recorded and filed here. Well stacked up... somewhere in here. Or wait. Was it over there...? Corki snickered at her sarcastic thoughts then immediately thereafter, she let out a disgruntled sigh. More words from Wallflower that really did not answer much but left much to the imagination. But the words flew over her head yet again as she instead imagined the sight of the paperwork flooding and overtaking the rest of the floors above them...

The sudden movement from behnd made her jump, breaking her little reverie. Once more she perked up as she watched 'Mr. Hiroshi' waltz on up to do a bit of a show-and-tell for the class. Her jaw clenched and eyes narrowed as he made his way on over; he had a name now, but still, she glanced behind her when they had entered this area. Guess who she saw playing hovering hands behind Breezee-girl again? Stalker much? Yeah, he was still 'Touchy SooooooCreepy' as far as she was concerned.

Again she inhaled, ready to unleash a poorly timed, impulsive Corki quip but once more she cut herself off. This was the reason she was here. She wanted answers to the what, who and why that could explain how she was so weird, so 'Misaligned' for as long as she could remember. She would give him a chance; there had to be answers in that last entry in that book--

Immediately a gloved hand pressed into her face to stifle a high pitched screech. Little good that did. She too pushed back her seat , both she and Brie synchronized in horror. That image. It was not just a drawing. No, there was something else there. No, even that was not accurate. Her chin hit her chest, lower lip pinched between white teeth. There's something else in there... just like those times when... those times when... ohmigosh!! Just like the Skulls--

This was not the answer she was looking for. Corki wanted to be told what was wrong with her and have Wallflower give her the answer. She would then happily pay all expenses to have whatever the hell was wrong with her all handy-dandy removed and free from it forevermore. But seeing that... whatever the hell was in that drawing gave her an inkling of things to come. No, this was not the answer she was looking for; she was not going to join this club if it meant they were to face and deal with things like that in the drawing. Corki had seen enough. Time to bail.

She reached out and gently grasped Brie's hand. An apologetic smile held at her lips, blue eyes shone as tried to catch Breezee's gaze. A warm and final squeeze, "Don't droop, sunflower. The sun still gunna' shine on you. You just wait and see, 'kay?"

Corki launched out of her seat, blew past the wooden double doors, sprinted past the hanging garden and out into the wet of that thirsty alley. A clink, scratch, whoosh and she lit that cigarette that had been tucked behind her ear. She tossed her deck down onto the ground and leapt on. Soon enough she was kicking off as hard as she could with no idea of where she was suposed to go, but one thing was for certain, she just neeed to get far, far away from that handleless door.

---​

The whirring sound of her skateboard's wheels comforted her heart as she whipped around the next corner and rolled the hell away from the hanging garden. To steel her mettle that much more, she reached up to grasp the white flower behind her ear; the warning from Ms. Seoyoon replayed in her mind and she would heed it. A gloved hand snatched nothing but air. The colour from her face drained away as a momentary glimpse of memory split open white hot in her mind; she had put the flower down onto the meeting table. And left it behind. Tears welled up in her eyes and her lower lip began to tremble when she heard the breathing again.

Somewhere out there in the vast twists and turns of the alley the whirring sound of skateboard wheels ceased.

And the screaming began.

~FIN~ ​

---

---

 

[Euclid Leaf]

Juju seasonedcat SharkBark RaiAthar ManicMuse

"Oh dear..." Mr. Wallflower muttered as he watched the tea dribbling off the edge of the table.
He picked up his own saucer, avoiding the flash flood with a stern look.

The scent of citrus and fresh oranges didn't help in calming the tense atmosphere in the room. It seemed the tea wasn't the only thing to boil over. Indeed, the grisly image, with its dark and cruel detail of murder was enough to turn stomachs, but the book radiated a dark, anxious energy. Gena wasn't the only one to feel the effects of the strong presence of the unbridled occult presence. Brie looked like she could barely contain from adding to the mess on the table. And well...

Corki and the fair quiet lady, Daiyu, donning butterflies on her dress began to exhibit clear signs of instability. The skater girl practically bound out of her seat from fear of the dark presence glaring back at them from the frayed drawings. Seoyoon caught the fleeing, shivering girl at the door before she could bang any more. A cold look met the scared witless fashionista, as the woman tried to shake her out of her mania. But for once, Corki was speechless. No encouragement in her words was able to reel the girl was lost in the spiraling fear of her own mind. Perhaps she envisioned a cruel fate, the same as the one seen within the dark book's twisted illustration.

"Take them home. Make them remember this all... as a bad dream." the man says.

Wallflower nodded to Seoyoon, and the woman began to coral those who were unable to handle the presence, nor the difficult task at hand entrusted. Hand in hand, they were escorted out of the disheveled house. With a snap, the doors opened. And with a snap, they sealed once more. The pale blue umbrella being the last sight those within would see of the departed.

There was a silence as the man remained in his seat, the tea dripping down the edge of the table next to him.

This was the first time the man fully stopped smiling. A flat line formed on his lips, as the room was gripped with a heavy, cold sensation. The black circles of the shades now seemed rather menacing as the blooming shadows hid not only his eyes, but his somber thoughts. Without his guiding words, an uncertainty gnawed at the maddening silence of the room. As Wallflower held the raised teacup in hand, the man seemed to be preoccupied with something. While some of those present were struggling to restrain their visceral reactions, his head darted back and forth at the air above the meeting table. As if he was watching something no one else could see.

With a sudden move, Wallflower leaned over and shut the book close.
"I think that's enough, my boy." he says, patting Theodore gently on the head. "Thank you."

He then came to Gena's side, his leather shoes clacking against the floorboards. He produced a handkerchief and wiped the wet streams of tea from her shivering hands, turning them to make sure she wasn't burnt. He then places a hand on her shoulder,

"Are you alright...?" he says in a hushed voice, finally breaking into a smile, "Do you want to lay down?"
With a hand, Mr. Wallflower gestured to the lounging figure, Isa, already fast asleep on one of the spare couches. They seemed to make themselves right at home, curled up in a bundle of patchwork pillows and cushions.
"You wouldn't be the only one." he says, chuckling.

"As you can see, our line of work has us brush alongside unspeakable beings. Remember how I said humans are reflections? We are also no exception. " pushing the circular shades up, he points now to the book that caused all of this mess. The pool of flooded tea bend unusually. The liquid and its contents warp around the book, as though there was an invisible object obstructing the flow. Something was protecting the dull bound leather.

"Perhaps, it is one of the core tenets of life? The desire to follow a cycle. But whether intentional, or not, we must place the safety of our kind at the forefront. Some truths are better locked up and forgotten, the key lost somewhere in a dusty old house. Such as ours." Wallflower then stands, removing his hand from her shoulder.
"The fact that we still have a piece of sanity remaining... That is proof enough that we are cut from the same twisted cloth. Is it not? Take strength in that."

The man then picks the gnarled book up, leaving with him an empty spot on the table were it once lay. Wallflower goes around the table and hands it to Theodore. His fingers grip the covers firmly, as if trying to forced down something within, "As I suspected, this is bound to you. But perhaps we can get an expert in the matter to see if we can fix that. You are remarkably strong, for lasting this long with such an object."

Wallflower gives the scarred, meek boy his best and hopeful smile before taking the handkerchief in hand. With it, he began to dab, wiping the overflowing mess. During his attempt to clear the tabletop, the wooden chair appears to creak once or twice. The wood leaning as though some sort of weight was placed upon it. The man seemed to be toying with some unspoken thought, the subtle movement going unnoticed by him. Then, while shifting the now unattended teacups, placing them on the metal tray, he comes across to where Brie sat. The pair of black circles point both at the frail girl, and her untouched drink.

"I see you haven't touched your tea." he says, "Not quite your palette? We can make another type, if you'd like. Or something else to drink entirely."
He leans forward, cupping his hands before him. "...Or is there something else on your mind?"
...

 

[ManicMuse]

Time to free fall Alice

Code by Serobliss

•

Wallflower Headquarters Euclid Leaf seasonedcat Juju RaiAthar

•

Gena Heights

•

Female

•

27

•

CS

Gena

It is one thing to claim you are brave. Children do this quite often in fantasy play. Being the hero, the champion in their games. The world, however, peels away the fantasy and shows you only the truth of your supposed valor. Boston, particularly so, with the harsh streets ready to test, would be heroes; daily. Those things were just the trivial top layers of the world, and even there, many would fall short. Boys who were brave princes will not step in to stop a running pick-pocketer as adults. Other women seeing a woman being unjustly picked on by her 'friends' rarely pipe up. Injustice and cowardness were just facts of the world. That is why Gena did not bat an eye despite the fracture internally when others turned away from the highly uncomfortable facts being brought to light here. Gena herself struggled to ground herself as she felt overwhelmed by what should have been a simple book.

Oddly, her internal view of Theodore was flipped on its head. However, not in the way, she would have suspected. The logical part of her brain wrestled with the left. 'He drew that. He is just disturbed. All these people need therapy. No, look at that kid. He is terrified. I would be, too, if a murder book was attached to me. This is crazy. You are insane. But look at him. Look at the way he has acted the entire time. He did not draw that, and he is scared of the thing that did.' Gena could feel her stomach tying itself in knots as the citrus smell overtook the air around her.

"Are you alright...?" he says in a hushed voice, finally breaking into a smile, "Do you want to lay down?"

"I am fine," she blurted out the response as she looked over to see 'bar fight' (Isa) already passed out. Sleep was the last thing on her mind now. In fact, at that moment, she questioned if she would ever sleep again. "Shit," she looked down at the spilled tea and scowled. Such a foolish, careless mistake, spilling the tea. Instead, she searched for a towel or napkin and noticed the unholy border of tea around the book.

"Perhaps, it is one of the core tenets of life? The desire to follow a cycle. But whether intentional, or not, we must place the safety of our kind at the forefront. Some truths are better locked up and forgotten, the key lost somewhere in a dusty old house. Such as ours." Wallflower then stands, removing his hand from her shoulder.
"The fact that we still have a piece of sanity remaining... That is proof enough that we are cut from the same twisted cloth. Is it not? Take strength in that."

Gena's gaze stayed on the book as she considered the situation. A warm tingling started at her shoulder where Wallflower's hand had left her shoulder. It was enough to get her to break focus on the book and think out loud. "So we keep a foot in each world. Locking away what we are like, your friends from the BPA, is not the answer, in your opinion". When Wallflower spoke to Theadore about the book being bound to him, she shuttered at the idea giving the previously unimportant awkward nail bitter a look of pure sympathy. Things had gotten real very fast. Their numbers were already halved. Gena looked over to Brie to see how she was handling everything.

 

[Juju]

Brie

Interaction: Euclid Leaf || Mention: seasonedcat ManicMuse RaiAthar​

Brie's dazed state was shattered by Corki, who took a hold of her hands and dragged her back to reality.

She reached out and gently grasped Brie's hand. An apologetic smile held at her lips, blue eyes shone as tried to catch Breezee's gaze. A warm and final squeeze, "Don't droop, sunflower. The sun still gunna' shine on you. You just wait and see, 'kay?"

Again, that same quote she had uttered about three times at this point. Brie wondered if it was from a book, or perhaps a song. Whatever it was, she would never get the chance to ask it, because not a moment after uttering this reassuring phrase the girl took off at a dash for the door. Brie jumped from the sudden movement, heart pounding. She turned around in her seat, watching helplessly as the only person she had any sort of familiarity with was whisked away through the door. Brie felt a a droop in her gut, and a creeping chill that lingered there.

So much for being there to support her. She shouldn't feel as abandoned as she did, considering Corki was little more than a stranger she just met, but somehow she had started to believe her words were genuine. She had started to believe that maybe things could get better.

Brie shifted to sit properly in her chair, staring down at the hands in her lap. Her eyes stung so she blinked a bunch of times to keep the angry tears from falling.

The man seemed to be toying with some unspoken thought, the subtle movement going unnoticed by him. Then, while shifting the now unattended teacups, placing them on the metal tray, he comes across to where Brie sat. The pair of black circles point both at the frail girl, and her untouched drink.

"I see you haven't touched your tea." he says, "Not quite your palette? We can make another type, if you'd like. Or something else to drink entirely."
He leans forward, cupping his hands before him. "...Or is there something else on your mind?"

She looked up at Wallflower's voice with the same surprise as a sleepy student called to answer a question. Brie stiffly turned to look at that man, feeling a lot less confident now that Corki had left. Her bolsterous nature had almost seemed like a diversion she could hide behind, and with her gone she felt oddly exposed. Maybe it was just the shades, but somehow she got the uncanny impression that Wallflower was seeing through her.

"I... I'm just not feeling very well right now, sorry," she lied and shook her head when asked about something being on her mind, "N-no, I'm just a little tired..."

It was half true. Of course she had A LOT on her mind, with trying to piece together her shattered sense of reality and cope with the sudden disappearance of Corki. Maybe the other girl had been smart to leave when she had the chance. A flash of anger gripped her at the realization that she was grasping for Corki like some scared child. If she was honest, Corki had provided some relief, but she could no longer rely on it. As always, she had to rely on herself and above all... help herself.

All this time she was busy remembering pointless items, but the most important thing to remember was why she was here.

Brie let out a sigh and placed her daffodil on the table. There was a resolute frown on her face, one that came from finally making up her mind, "Actually, I'm really tired Mr. Wallflower. I came here for some truths, be they better locked up or not. I'm tired of not knowing what is going on, of fumbling in the dark and hoping things wont get worse, but they are. I want to know how to make these things stop."