week 1

[airlockedmods]

Week 1

[After the reveal of their handsome and well-dressed but stern-looking Overseer on Sunday, the Champions were left to their own devices in investigating the mall to their hearts' content. At around 10 pm every night the lights in all the shops will go down and the sturdy metal grates over the doors of the restaurants will go down. The stores will remain unlocked, though.

On Monday morning, a buzzing alarm chirps at them again from their PIPs at 7 am on the dot. There's also a pop-up message waiting for them: a notice announcing Xander will be holding office hours

Enjoy your week, Champions.]

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Comments

[cyan_maid]

Hm - oh! Good morning, Miss Arianna.

[She gives the other girl a little wave, pops over to give the compote a stir...and then notices Arianna is just watching her.]

...Did you need something from here? It's not like I own the shop, you can come in.

[daughterofthemark]

[So she comes on in.]

I had thought to practice cooking, but I wouldn't wish to interrupt your cooking.

[Which doesn't explain why she's now looking into the pot of compote.]

[cyan_maid]

Oh! Well, you can join me, if it's practice you want. This is all pretty simple stuff, baking-wise.

[daughterofthemark]

Then I shall do my best to help!

...with the simplest tasks, perhaps. I've found I've learned less from Dame Regina than I imegined.

[cyan_maid]

That's okay. Baking is made up of a lot of little, simple tasks. [She pulls over a bowl of half-incorporated buttercream icing, a wooden spoon still sticking out of the mix.] Here, how about you try this - you want to mix the icing so all the ingredients are together as one sort of thing, not visibly seperate. Do you think you can do that?

[daughterofthemark]

Yes! I will mix it thoroughly.

[This much, Arianna can understand! She takes the spoon and starts stirring. It resists a little more at first than she expected, but she adjusts accordingly and before long her motions are smooth.]

Are you a professional baker?

[cyan_maid]

Golly, no, I've just been doing it for most of my life. I...erm, well, I was going to inherit a company that mainly dominated the realm of baked goods products, but that sort of...didn't pan out well. Still, it would be remiss of me not to make use of the skills I've honed.

[daughterofthemark]

Did... the company fall upon hard times? I suppose everyone is subject to the whims of economics...

[Arianna, no.]

[cyan_maid]

Not exactly. I just...inherited something different, in the end. Something I didn't really expect...and never wanted.

[daughterofthemark]

[...Arianna's mixing slows.]

Your family's legacy held a dark secret.

[cyan_maid]

[Jane tenses. It's subtle, but noticable.]

...You could say that.

[daughterofthemark]

...I have had an experience of that nature as well. I cannot say whether our experiences are comparable, but if you wish to speak about it, I will listen.

[cyan_maid]

...I appreciate the offer, but...it's not something I can easily explain, or...talk about.

[As impossible as the backgrounds of some of the people here seem to be, the chorus of "no one would believe you" chants in Jane's mind in her own voice in mocking tones. Guess this is what she gets for never believing her friends way back when.]

[daughterofthemark]

I understand.

[No she doesn't, really, but she thinks she does.]

If you later find it seems easier, you know where I can be found. And Dame Clarith, as well.

[cyan_maid]

...Right. I won't forget.

[She can't really forget about the woman she shares a room with.]

[daughterofthemark]

[Arianna can't forget about her, either, for SOME REASON.

...

She also can't just let this drop without trying to help.

Maybe if she shares.]

My family line, for generations, has been sacrificing good men to keep a monster confined.

[cyan_maid]

[








Uuuh.

Okay.

Okay now this is awkward. Jane presses her mouth tightly closed, squirming a little.]

Oh. I'm...sorry to hear that. That's. That doesn't sound like a good way to go about things.

[daughterofthemark]

They believed it was the only option available.

[Still stirring that icing, a little absentmindedly now.]

The Fafnir Knight journeys to the Temple of Ginnungagap to become a seal for a hundred years. Then the process is repeated.

[cyan_maid]

[????????]

Miss Arianna, if...if this is uncomfortable for you, you don't need to tell me. It's fine.

[daughterofthemark]

It is not the act of telling you that is uncomfortable for me.

[cyan_maid]

Maybe so, but then...it'd be the facts that make you uncomfortable, and...I-I'm not really the best person to sit and have a heart-to-heart with, you know? I'm...I'm just a kid. A kid who likes to bake.

1/2

[daughterofthemark]

You are only slightly younger than I am. And... you sound as though you've had experiences beyond merely baking.

[Bad-sounding experiences, but still.]

I think you--

2/2

[daughterofthemark]

--aah!

[Arianna, first princess of Caledonia, Daughter of the Mark, has just accidentally poured icing on her sleeve.]

[cyan_maid]

Oh-

[OOPS

We must have paper towels in here somewhere hold on]

Are you okay? It shouldn't stain if we clean it right off, you'll just smell like icing for a while...

[daughterofthemark]

I am fine! I was only startled. I suppose I wasn't paying enough attention to my work.