theafflicted | 04 - week four

04 - week four

WEEK FOUR

Saturday comes to a close, and it’s time for some rest and recovery. Perhaps the TLC you deserve will come this week, or perhaps the nightmare will continue. It’s hard to say with things being so strange around you, from Wei Wuxian’s disappearance to the sudden addition of objects and places and creatures from your homes. Who knows what this week will bring? Nothing ordinary, that’s for sure.

You wake up on Sunday to an increase in those little glimpses you saw yesterday. What were snippets of songs, locations that might’ve seemed familiar, and creatures that were dormant, are now all alive and whole. When you go to the karaoke bar, the songs you once knew are there. Monsters and animals are alive and sentient. New business are abound. Vehicles are operable, and perhaps some of your old belongings are back, too.

However, some of these things aren’t even things that should exist outside of your dreams. They may be far too strange and unusual to be real, or just things you don't remember ever seeing. The only thing you remember about these things in particular is that they were, quite literally, in your dreams this week.

That being said, every few hours, all of these things from your homes and dreams fade out and get replaced by new sounds, places, beasts….only to maybe come back again at another time.

Well. At least there's one constant here: You’ve got a handful of new locations to look at, with the fog having spread once more, and they aren't going anywhere. There aren’t as many new places that are native to Estelline this time around, but that may be for the best, considering everything going on.

SETTING TRACKER

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

NEWSPAPER SUBMISSIONS + EDITION #1

SAGE / FLORENCE / LORELEI

MEM SHARE DETAILS

OOC NOTE

OOC: Details on this week can be found here!

Also, we have a lot of participants for the news activity from last week. Neat! Everyone who participated in some capacity will have a small polaroid camera delivered to their doorstep. There's limited film, though - 10 photos per camera. It doesn't seem like there's any extra film at this time, either.

Finally, there will not be any weekly tasks this week. You guys are going to be busy with memshare and dreamscape stuff; instead, enjoy the Estelline University Newspaper!

FULL NAV

(CODE)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Hearing the smile in Hien’s voice is really, really nice. Fai smiles too. ]

Right? It’s nice, isn’t it?

[ It’s warm thanks to being a fireball that hasn’t gone off, but he’s able to easily keep it under control like this. ]

[ Hien puts his arms down so that Ren can go examine it closely. Ren looks so happy with the magic that he looks right at Fai and smiles.

"Thanks, Fai!"

Hien quietly breathes out a sigh of relief and ruffles Ren's hair. ]

Yeah, thanks.

Of course.

[ Fai will let the ball of magic stay for a little bit longer… shouldn’t be a problem. ]

You have my name. Can I get both of yours?

I'm—

[ Ren is a lot more cheery than before, so he even has the audacity to pluck Hien's mask off... in front of a stranger? Gasp. Hien doesn't look too bothered by it though. Probably because it's Ren.

"I'm Ren. This is Hien." Ren gestures to Hien who raises a hand to give Fai a short wave. "And this is Goldie." He gently hugs the dog, which just blows out air from its nose. ]

[ Fai laughs when Ren pulls the mask off. If he has a problem with Hien’s eyes, he doesn’t seem to show it. ]

It’s nice to meet all of you.

[ He gives Goldie a small wave. ]

What books do you have here, Ren? Are you studying something?

[ He wants to engage, but also doesn’t want to bring up the gap between now and when Ren was reading… ]

[ "Yeah. I like a bunch of science stuff, so... this one is about physics. I have other books on rocks too! Geology... and biology. It's really... fun."

His voice trails off, because he's a little self-conscious about how weird he must be, to favor studying over playing.

"My birthday is tomorrow, and Hien said he got another book for me, so I'm really happy. I can't wait to see what it is." He looks over to Hien. "Can't I see it now? Please...?" ]

No, you have to wait until tomorrow when it's actually your birthday.

[ "Boo..." ]

[ Hm. Hien’s gift. Fai wonders… what’s going to happen soon?

But he doesn’t dwell on that. Instead, Fai unzips his backpack. ]

You know, I was a big fan of studying myself. I actually have a lot of pens and notebooks, if you’re interested in any of them.

[ Inside his backpack are indeed a bunch of pens, pencils, and notebooks of all patterns and colors. He grabbed them from the stationery store before coming into this memory. ]

Consider it an early birthday gift.

[ Ren's eyes seem to sparkle. Perhaps it's how good Fai is with kids, because Ren is usually a shy kid, but he's been happy with Fai here. Perhaps he was getting lonely even though he had Hien and Goldie here.

"Can I really...?"

Despite the earlier shine, Ren seems reluctant, as if he's asking if he really deserves it. A person like him... ]

Of course you can. If someone gives you something, you don't have to ask for permission to take it. It's yours now.

Hien is right! It's all yours now. I just ask that you take good care of it, and that you use it all up too.

[ Fai starts to take everything out and set it down on the tarp. ]

[ "I... I will. I use them for all my notes so I can look back at them." ]

He does that even when he doesn't have a test. Isn't Ren really diligent?

[ Ren shies away and goes to hide under the blanket. It's too much!! ]

It is.

[ He smiles, laughing softly at the way Ren hides. ]

There's a lot to be said when it comes to learning for the sake of learning. Be proud of it.

[ "Uu... thank you."

Ren feels way too embarrassed right now so he sinks further into the blanket. Goodbye. ]

He's really shy, isn't he? I'm really glad that you somehow made it a little more lively though.

[ He dismisses the little orb of magic as he grins. ]

Making things more lively is my specialty~

Sure. Hey, Ren.

[ "Yeah?" ]

Do you think you can be with Fai for a while? I'm gonna get some supplies.

[ Ren looks wide eyed while staring at Hien in disbelief.

"Are you sure?! You... you actually trust someone enough for that?" ]

I can tell he's a good guy. If I didn't think so, I wouldn't let him in the tent. So, have fun, okay? You'll talk to someone other than me for once.

[ He ruffles Ren's hair and leaves with his mask back on. ]

[ Fai waves him off, watching Hien leave the tent. He's glad that Hien already trusts him, though.

He lets silence lapse over them for a few seconds before he speaks up. ]

He's good at taking care of others, isn't he? I can tell, even though we've just met.

[ "Yeah. Hien might look scary, but he's actually really nice. He also saved me... and he feels like what a dad should be like. But I... don't know if he'd hate it. Because it's weird."

Ren sighs and cuddles up to Goldie some more. Goldie is so warm... ]

Is it weird? He seems like he enjoys acting like a father to you, even if he's young.

[ He tilts his head slightly. ]

I think he might like knowing that you view him that way.

[ "Really? Does it really seem like that? I think that would make me happy..."

Ren can't help but to smile a little with the giddy feeling.

"Hien looked after me for a long time... I think it's been 8 years. I feel really thankful and grateful to him, even if I... wanted to die back then." ]

[ Eight years... and how many times has Hien repeated this? How many years has Hien spent on Ren? ]

And now? Do you want to die now?

[ The question feels bittersweet, even though Fai smiles as he asks, because he knows that this tenuous peace is going to be disrupted somehow.

...

Maybe he can try to stop it. ]

[ Ren shakes his head.

"No. I wanna live with Hien. He's like... the only family I have now with Goldie. He's been so nice to me from the start, and he's been protecting me from the people who want to hurt me."

...

"I want to pay him back someday. I told him that, but he just told me to grow up well." ]

To tell you the truth, growing up well will be paying him back. That's all parents like him want for their kids, after all.

[ He's sure that doesn't help much, though... ]

I think, for now, just tell him how much you appreciate all that he's done for you.

[ Ren looks rather determined in his small stature that doesn't seem to diminish that sort of feeling at all.

"I love him a lot like family. He taught me so many things. I felt... appreciated and valued. I want him to make it feel like all his work paid off." ]

[ He likes that determination. It makes Fai smile. ]

Just keep studying hard and he will feel that way.

[ Fai is really good at cheering Ren up. Ren also seems to like being in Fai's company. The atmosphere is nice and Ren wants it to last forever.

But good things never last forever.

The entire setting glitches out and when it returns to normal, Fai will find himself standing outside on the street not too far from the tent. There's blood in the corner of the white tent in the back. It becomes clear whose blood it is by following the trail to a body whose life had long since ended, evident by how hollow the chest is where the heart should be. The corpse is cold and alone.

Hien screams. He squirms on the ground, writhing—there's a pole staked in the center of his torso, but that's not why he's screaming. Tears stream down his face as his hand reaches for Ren, who has already left the living realm. Hien screams his name, but that too, eventually breaks down into nothing but loud sobs.

A man with blond hair with a right red eye and left blue eye stomps onto Hien's head. He looks just like Ren, only if he was as old as Hien. Hien isn't normally like this. He'd normally fight back, but Fai can probably tell: Renatus is the concept of Sharing. Division also falls within the category, so to divide Hien's strength in half continuously until there was barely any left... that seems to be what happened here. ]

...

[ He couldn't do anything. He wanted to, but he couldn't.

Memories are cruel in that way, aren't they? Fai runs to Ren's body, kneeling down to him and closing his eyes for him. This is the best he can do. He wants to try to help Hien, but he knows this is a losing battle. ]

I'm sorry, Hien.

[ His words are soft, and Hien probably can't hear them, but he feels the need to say it anyway.

Fai looks up at the person who looks like Ren. ]

Why are you doing this?

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cw suicidal ideation

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cw gore, blood

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