WEEK 3.

[trustwellness]

WEEK 3 As the second week draws to a close, two more have joined the deceased. Christo and Alani are dead, leaving twenty-six of you remaining. It may not seem like very many have died, but their absence will certainly be felt. Saturday is given to regrouping and rest; on Sunday morning the clock chimes as it always has, but at least there are no bodies to find today. It seems you're safe for now. The night before wasn't necessarily a peaceful one, however; you'll probably feel a bit groggy when you wake up, and it seems you've regained something that you didn't realize you'd lost... Just like last week, a door in the stairwell has opened, leading you down further into the building; there are more rooms open to you down there - possibly even one that you'll find personally interesting. Go ahead and explore all you like; after all, you did well at completing your lessons this past week. APPRENTICES REMAINING: 26 APPRENTICES REMAINING: 25

SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY

[OOC: Welcome to week three of Trustfell! Feel free to make as many top levels as you'd like and tag out to other characters! This post is for all of your interactions this week... at least until the weekend. Don't forget to save those threads for coins and the activity check!

If you'd like to get in contact with the Wordsmith, you can do so through letters or the switchboard!]

Comments

[matchbreaker]

[ Elda, as always, is basically a ninja.

ninja vampire.

Sneaking up behind him as he lines up a shot...

Nice line up.

[uncouthhatcher]

[He jerks as he makes the shot, scowling when the cue ball rolls in right after.]

Yeah, thanks, you can watch me make it again right now.

[Plucking the cue ball out of the pocket, he sets it back down and swings around the corner to take the one he'd scratched out to replace it too. Though he's not making any shots just yet, waving his cue stick at her.]

Don't be sneakin' up on people! Next time you're gonna find this swingin' at your head, got it? When a player's got his eye on the ball, you wait until after to compliment their life choices!

[matchbreaker]

Oh don't worry, I'd've caught it!

[ . .. Maybe.

Her reflexes aren't quite the same now, her body isn't able to keep up with what she thinks it should. Either way, she's laughing as if she didn't beat up his friend yesterday, waving her hand dismissively. She backs up a few steps, watching him set it up again. ]

[uncouthhatcher]

[Yeah, that... should be a thing he addresses, the beating up his pal, and Gold just gives her a grumpy look before sinking the shot this time with no issues, leaning back against the pool table.]

So, you ever play this in your time, granny?

[They can make their way around to the topic if the need to. But for now, his favorite game, and the smile that comes with it.]

[matchbreaker]

[ Elda watches him, finding it nostalgic in spite of herself. She doesn't have a lot of experience with billiards on a personal level, honestly, but ... ]

Not really, but I know the rules? James played with this little imp of a man named Glark and his relatives. I've had to watch dozens of games. Henry got dragged into that a few times too, and one of my uncles used to talk about collecting his winnings in taverns.

[ But she had not personally played much, no. ]

[uncouthhatcher]

What the hell kinda name is Glark?

[just. glark. glark.]

[matchbreaker]

[ Man how should she know??? ]

He and his set up shop in Osaka years ago and his father decided to set up a business with human underlings. He was born on Japan around the same time Henry was, so maybe his old man had lost in mind.

[uncouthhatcher]

[YOU KNOW THE GUY, CLEARLY YOU KNOW WHAT THE HELL'S UP WITH A NAME LIKE GLARK.]

Sounds like a name you'd lose your mind to even think about usin'. [wow gold harsh] Your boys any good at the game, or did you learn from watchin' their losses?

[matchbreaker]

James was good at everything.

[ . . . She notices she just said was, and hates herself for it. But she doesn't let it show, pressing on ]

He wasn't the best though - that was actually Henry! It's on of the boy's talents, even if you wouldn't think it.

[uncouthhatcher]

[... Oooh. Ooooooh, well. Maybe her bad attitude's been because of the was, because it definitely wasn't a was before.]

Doesn't look like the kinda guy to play?

[matchbreaker]

Oh just that my Henry's as proper a gentleman as his father, but he isn't near half as roguish or even the fraction the womanizer.

[ Basically, Henry can come off a little stuffy. ... He wears cravats, after all ]

[uncouthhatcher]

[wow, cravats, talk about rich boy]

The stuffy sort, huh. Would've never guessed with a mom like you.

[But it's not too meanly said, really? Just, honestly. Elda's not exactly stuffy. Even if she's old.]

... So your husband ain't around anymore?

1/3

[matchbreaker]

[ -!

Did she... She- ]

[matchbreaker]

[ Elda's silent for a long moment, her eyes having shot wide when Gold said that. A part of her wants to just break his own pool cue over his head for saying... well, the truth. She can still feel his lips on her own, still feel his body, fragile - like it might turn to dust if she moved him too hard. She swallows.

But, well, she had made it obvious enough for him to notice. She can't blame anyone but herself. Right? ]

[matchbreaker]

[ She hangs her head. She has no reason to explain herself to this kid. ]

... In one of those dreams, he'd died.

[uncouthhatcher]

[Gold's quiet, never really sure what to say to things like this, before he picks up a cue stick he figures might be a good match for her and prods the thicker end into her stomach, both to catch her attention and to, well, hand it off.]

You know the rules well enough, yeah? Show me what your man taught you.

[Because he's not the best at comforting people -- especially people he doesn't really know or get along with -- but he knows that distractions are good, and if James played the game enough with her around... he figures it's kind of like honoring the dead, or something like that? Maybe she'll enjoy it. Something.

That aside, he does have a notably softer tone in talking to her, but it's not pitying. Just soft.]

[matchbreaker]

[ She's surprised yet again to feel it again her stomach. She looks down, and then takes hold of the pool cue, blinking a little bit. She doesn't smile - not yet - but it does break her out of her reverie. She swallows hard, and the vampire glances back up at Gold. ... The brat really would be handsome, give it another decade. And probably a beard. She shakes that thought from her mind to instead nod, taking the pool cue in hand properly.

Who shoots first? Is this even set up, or are they just playing some scrimmage type thing? ]

[uncouthhatcher]

[The day Gold grows a beard is the day I quit playing him, Charles.

Anyway, he'll set it back up gesturing for her to make first shot. You can tell a lot about a person by the way they break balls, apparently, or maybe he's just gonna let her get some stuff out on them.]

[matchbreaker]

[ Shut up Peace he could totally rock a beard.

Either way.

She actually has to hold the pool cue a little bit awkwardly given her long lady finger-nails. They aren't as fragile as typical human nails, but she still wouldn't want to break them! And so Elda sort of hums a little, lining up her shot with herself braced by the flats of her fingers more than the tips. She's long since used to doing that though.

Not as much to pool.

As swoon by how she breaks, instead to hit right down the center, but it ends up swinging left a bit, knocking one of the far corners of the triangle with limited force. ]

[uncouthhatcher]

[I'm aiming to prove you wrong.

Gold whistles, waving his stick.]

Maybe I should've broken the balls, least we'd be seein' them move more. You wanna give that another shot, granny?

[matchbreaker]

Well I said I've never really done it!

[ Ugh. But she laughs at the same, planting the stick and then brushing back her hair before walking around the table to reposition herself... ]

But sure, I'll do it.

[ Lining up the new shot... ]

[uncouthhatcher]

[It's not a good idea, but Gold needs to get her back for earlier anyway; when she's lining up her shot oh-so-neatly, he swings around behind her to tickle her sides, wondering if vampires actually can be tickled a little too late.]

[matchbreaker]

[ THEY CAN.

Good work! She flails a little, making the shot go wide and jut flow off to one side, bouncing around a few times and finally hitting nothing! But more to the point, she also sort of reflexively elbows him. Or tries to. But mostly, she's ... well! She's laughing, actually tickled by it all ]

[uncouthhatcher]

[It's easy to dodge her first elbow, just lean back a little (thanks shorty), but he'll let her go and hop backwards after a moment more of it! Grinning widely, it's pretty obvious why he's got the title he does by the look on his face.]

You look way better when you're laughin', Elda! Man, I can totally see how someone'd fall head over heels for you when you're smilin' too, I wouldn't mind spendin' a couple centuries with a girl like you either. James got lucky.

[Flirting's been a good thing here, for him. Not for himself recently... but for the one he's doing it to, because flattery's a good medicine and distraction as far as he can tell. Besides, it makes people feel good when it's done right, what's bad about it.]

[matchbreaker]

[ By the time he backs off and she whirls around to face him (well, look up at him but hey) Elda's still smiling, but it's shifted to an annoyed smile. The tickling and contagious laughter does remain on her face, but all the same, she's...

She doesn't know how to respond.

How does one be a good widow? How does one survive the love of your life?

And so she just pushes through it with that same indomitable (hah) force she always does ]

Damned right he did! [ She shakes her head ] For a while he was gunning for pretty little Cecilia, can you imagine how bored he'd be with a broad like that? And I tell you, there wasn't a single day we weren't sleeping in the same coffin while we planned to get up the next night! Mt in all that time!

[ She brushes back her hair, priming herself. ]