02 - week two

[afflictionmods]

WEEK TWO

When the glitter settles and everyone returns to their dorms - or wherever they intend to sleep for the night, if you’re planning on sleeping at all - your first week of school officially ends. Perhaps it was better than you expected, perhaps it was worse.

Hopefully you learned a bit more about teamwork and school spirit.

Still, this course is going to run for longer than a full week, and come Sunday morning you’re still exactly as you were when you settled down for the night. Still in Estelline, still with that mark on your wrist, still connected to your partner. There are some changes, though. The bookstore has received quite a few books, and those of you who added to the bulletin board and pep rally tasks in the first week will find an envelope taped to their dorm door (or themselves, if they spent the night elsewhere). Inside of the envelope is some kind of voucher! Furthermore, the common area is covered in a bunch of glitter.

Also, there are a ton of eggs in the kitchen – at least 10 dozens.

Florence or Lorelei are still available, should you wish to speak to them.

Finally, you've got some new locations to explore.


SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY

TASK LIST

CLUMSINESS AFFECT DETAILS (BEGINS TUESDAY ICLY)

W2 CYOA SIGNUPS
CYOA Signups for Week 2 close Sunday, May 29th at 6pm EST.

THREAD SURVEY
Google form for partner threads, due by Friday, June 3rd at 6pm EST. Optional.

W3 CYOA SIGNUPS
CYOA Signups for Week 3 close Friday, June 3rd at 6pm EST.

OOC NOTE

OOC: Anyone who performed in the Pep Rally (Sabo, Madara, Riku, Shizuku, Herlock, Idia, Flat, Miach) task will be able to redeem a voucher for a prize with one of the NPCs. This can be handwaved, and the prize selection is below.

-Single-serve coffee machine wither a selection of creamer. Comes with packs of coffee beans.
-Popcorn maker and kernels.
-High-quality tea kettle with a selection of just as high-quality tea.
-Carbonation machine (think Sodastream, etc) with flavored syrup.

Any coffee, tea, popcorn, etc. will last characters up to two weeks.

Anyone who participated in the Bulletin Board task will receive a voucher for your choice of two pairs colorful socks with cute animal designs. (Worry frog design available.)

FULL NAV

(CODE)

Comments

[undertakings]

[Well, that week happened. They didn't get their crypto screwdriver, but they didn't get hurt or blasted with glitter during the bomb exercise, so that's good enough for him. So come Sunday, Shin's dressed in a rather plain t-shirt and sweatpants combo, topped off by a small white scarf tied around his neck as he leaves his laundry for another day. It's fine.

Those who frequent the kitchen early in the morning might run into him as he's taking a few of the bazillion eggs they've been left with to make some breakfast for himself. He might even make something for others if asked to, but in this case the question is less about whether he'd agree to do it and more about whether you'd want him to.

At any rate, once he's done with feeding himself, he's off to take a stroll in the mall beyond the campus. With that said, while he peeks into each store at least once just to see what's available, most of it fails to catch his interest outside of maybe the bakery. Still, someone could conceivably drag him into one of the establishments?? Otherwise he'll just be chilling outside for a bit in the parking lot as he looks over the abandoned bicycles and vehicles.

After that adventure(???) is done, he'll be back on campus in the courtyard, sitting on a bench and focused on some kind of novel from the bookstore's new stock. At some point a bird even flies by and poops on seat right next to him, but he doesn't react at all. Do not expect him to warn anyone about that if anyone decides to sit nearby.]

mall

[selfconcept]

[ Hien can be seen standing on top of one of the abandoned cars and then jumping from car to car, denting the top as a result. Does he care? Not really...

But then he spots Shin and maybe it's the imagination, but his strange eyes look... piqued. Interested. As if he found prey-- ]

You must have a lot of spare time to stare into space like that.

[ (affectionate) ]

[undertakings]

[That sure is a hobby. Shin doesn't have any particular affection for cars, so he's not bothered by the poor vehicles being damaged, but somewhere out there a car aficionado is weeping bitter tears, maybe.

But well, Shin's instincts are pretty good if nothing else, so the sudden interest does catch his attention, even if the alarm bells aren't quite ringing in his head. Yet.]

Spare time is all we have. [A shrug.] In the end, we're all just occupying ourselves one way or another.

[selfconcept]

Since you say that, you can't object to where I'm gonna drag you to.

[ Are those alarm bells ringing yet-- ]

[undertakings]

[YES... although he won't bolt or anything, he'll at least hear Hien out. It's not like he has anything better to do anyhow, even if he does give a dubious look.]

...Where?

[selfconcept]

Estelline's version of Sephora.

[ Hien is not expecting Shin to know what Sephora is, and he did that on purpose to keep up the ~air of mystery~... but also, his skin must be so dry. Take care of yourself, child.

He hops off the car and walks over to Shin. He won't actually drag him if he doesn't run off... ]

courtyard;

[fabulation]

[ Did someone say n o v e l?

Xingqiu emerges into the courtyard at some point, checking out what Shin has... ]

Oh, hello. That looks new.

The story must be a rather engaging tale, hm?

[ Since Shin seems so...occupied by it?? He understands that much focus, though. ]

[undertakings]

[Novel!! Since he's looking, it seems like it's some kind of sci-fi story, judging from the illustration of robots on the cover. ...Hopefully Xingqiu knows what robots are.

In any case, there's very little reaction from Shin as he flips a page over, although the fact that he decides to respond at all is... something, probably.]

Not really. But it helps pass the time.

[Well okay then.]

[fabulation]

[ Thanks to the existence of Ruin Hunters and such.......yes. ]

What would you consider to be an engaging tale?

[ Spill the beans, Shin! He is curious. ]

[undertakings]

[i can’t believe he has robots but not simon says, the travesty

At the question, his hand stops at the bottom corner of the page, his fingers just barely lifting the edge of the paper.]

…I don’t really have any preferences when it comes to fiction, but it can be interesting listening to stories from veterans.

[fabulation]

[ Irony is truly a cruel mistress...striking when you least expect it!! ]

Oh?

[ He seems intrigued by the answer, and his curiosity of course continues to pique. ]

What exactly makes the stories from them so interesting?

kitchen, what is chronological order

[totalcatastrophe]

[ To Luci, this is still late, so it's no wonder he looks a little tired when he hops up onto the counter with an egg of his own. He was about to crack it and eat it directly, but now he's caught sight of whatever Shin's attempting and lowers his arm instead.

Skeptically, no matter how competent things are looking-- ]

You ever cooked an egg before?

in rp, time is a lie!!

[undertakings]

[You know, ordinarily he wouldn't even bother looking over to respond as he goes about his eggventures, but the fact that there's two sapient cats(?) here still weirds him out enough that he'll at least pause and spare Luci (and his egg) a glance.

The state of the egg is meanwhile doing okay! ...With the exception of some eggshells left in the bowl he cracked them into. Whatever, it's good enough.]

Yeah. I've done it enough times when I've had to.

[totalcatastrophe]

Not a quick learner, huh? You should totally put more shells in it.

[ Luci means it as he holds his own egg vicariously over that slightly shell infested work in progress. A slight breeze could break his weak grip on it. Look, the shells are his favorite part... ]

[undertakings]

[He squints at that comment before he glances down into the would-be omelette, almost like he didn’t even realize those bits were hanging out in there. However, Luci holding the egg like that is also enough to distract him from picking them out as he elects to slide the bowl over to the side and (ideally) out of range of the potential egg drop.

Safe?? (no)]

...I’m not adding them because I want to.

[totalcatastrophe]

Why not? Gives it a nice crunch. That's where all the healthy stuff is, like vegetables!

[ It's really hard to tell if it's an accident or not when the egg slips from his fingers with no attempt to catch it. Because regardless of how genuine sounding his 'oops!' is, Luci is a chronic liar. ]

courtyard

[goodfaiths]

[ Luckily Riku doesn't plan on sitting down, just wanting to say hi and talk to one of his classmates, so he manages to avoid the bird poop. He, too, has a book in his hands and he quietly approaches Shin. ]

Oh, hi, Shin! What book are you reading?

[undertakings]

[Rikkun is safe from the bird poop and all is right with the world. Shin doesn't look up at the greeting because what is being polite, but he will answer.]

"I Must Have Some Screws Loose, Because I'm In Love With My Human Master!"

[He says this all with no change in inflection or expression.]

[goodfaiths]

Wh-- you like those kinds of novels?!

[ despite the delivery, riku is still very shocked. does he enjoy it, though... ]

How is it? I didn't think you'd be interested in romance.

[undertakings]

I'm not. I just happened to pick it up.

[And if Riku is super curious, he can probably catch a glimpse of the summary, which talks about how the premise is about a robot butler that gradually falls for the man who bought them. It's also apparently classified as a tragedy?]

But I suppose it could be worse.

[goodfaiths]

[ He will definitely glance at the summary, but he's really obvious about it. ]

Eh? A tragedy? I'm surprised something with such a weird title's actually a sad story.

[ A beat. ]

Do you like reading, then? It looks like a lot of people here enjoy it.

mall!

[cloudalike]

[ None of the vehicles turn on - and that's fine, Chongyun's has no clue on how to utilize them anyway. But the bicycles! Those he gravitates to, and after a bit of fiddling, he's pretty much figured out that they could potentially make great training tools. The pedals, what genius!

That's all he's figured out, however. He definitely did not figure out balance and he has most definitely fallen over on his side. Good news, the bike is fine! And he is fine! Bad news, that thump sure did hurt. Apologies to his partner. ]

Ugh.

[undertakings]

[Chongyun no...

That fall does catch his attention though, so he'll wander over so he can at least inspect Chongyun from a distance and make sure he isn't bleeding profusely anywhere. With his (relative) safety confirmed, Shin looks over at the collapsed bike.]

You've never ridden a bike before?

[cloudalike]

[ His manner as he clambers to his feet is sheepish. ]

Is that what this contraption is called?

[ Weird! What does "bike" even mean... ]

No, I've only walked or ridden on wagons. If I need to cover great distances, I just climb up highest peak and glide.

[undertakings]

If you want the proper name, it's "bicycle"... but it's easier to shorten it to bike.

[How well does that term even translate to fantasy Chinese? it's a mystery

In any case, walking and riding on vehicles is pretty normal, but that last one is enough to make him blink in confusion. He vaguely knows about hang gliders, but he's never actually seen one before and none of the terrain he's used to is suited for that sort of thing anyway.]

...How far do you travel that way?