65 Red Letters - Forward-dated to Monday morning.

[eat_me_beat_me]

[Room 428]
[Monday morning finds Mark and Nora up to their usual routine - Mark's drafting the beginnings of his broadcast, and Nora's working on one of her projects for the gallery. Mark scribbles out the last of his notes, then turns in his chair]

Hey, be right back, I'm'a give this transcription of my interview to Zelos for the report, 'kay?

[Nora smiles, leaning back in her seat to look at him. She's been working on her latest Dead Zone drawing - a cougar leaping out of the grass, his back half merely an indent in the grass, hinting at its invisibility. She grins at him before teasing:]

Alright. Don't stay out too late. It's a school night, after all.

[giving Nora a quick smooch on the cheek, he breezes out the door, intent on taking a few steps and knocking quietly on their neighbor-trainer-big-bro's door so as not to break his delicate princess eardrums. at the first knock, the door swings open. Mark sees the pile of letters and belongings before he even notices the lack of nameplate. he's never been the physical witness to someone's leaving, before, and his first reaction is terror. cowardice, to be more exact. hell no is he going to be the one to break the news. he rifles through the pile until he finds a letter with both their names on it, and takes the two parcels with their names, closing the door behind him. nope, nope, nope, NOPE.

crossing back over into their room, he tosses the letter down onto Nora's desk. he wants to be more upset, sadder, but right now, all he can feel is anger, because this isn't fair. he holds up Nora's present: something which is most clearly bat-shaped and meant for smashing]

Well, I think you know what we should fucking do with this.

[Nora freezes when that letter hits her sketchbook. No. That can't be what she thinks it is. It can't. It. Fucking. Can't. She doesn't even touch the envelope before pushing to her feet, whirling around to face Mark. Her eyes are wide with anger and pain. She can't even bring herself to cry. Not this time. This is too much. She reaches out one hand to take the item in Mark's hand, violently tearing the paper off of it and revealing Zelos' bat. Her hand tightens around the handle, her heart pounding as she nods.]

Let's do it.

[/Room filter]

[And with that they're off to Fairfield. HOWEVER they're not leaving the castle without a few parting gifts. Residents will find the following problems at the following locations:]

[The Pool...
is now filled with red Kool-Aid.

The Sauna...
Is overflowing with soap bubbles.

The Game Room?
Every single speaker has been busted out with the end of a bat. All of the games are working but the room is eerily silent.

The Seasons Room...
its door has been propped open and a big fan stuck in the open entryway to blow the ice cold wintry air and snow out into the hallway.

Laundry Room...
Every single washer has been turned on with the contents of 5 full boxes of Tide in each one. Have fun with those bubbles.

Every dryer has been set to run as long as possible. Their loads? Shoes.

The Gym...
Every single piece of equipment has either been coated with glue or Vaseline. You either can't get it off or can't stay on it.

Every treadmill has been set to start out at maximum speed.

Going to wash your hands off in the locker room? There are buckets of Cherry Pepsi propped up over the doors.

Kitchen...
A cell phone in the microwave with the timer set to 10 minutes. KABOOM, have a repeat of the Eldritch Horror incident.

The first person who opens one of the cabinets in the kitchen will have a giant paper bag of dust bunnies fall on their head (thanks for the ammo, Chell).

Every liquid in the fridge has been poured out and replaced with Cherry Pepsi. Mmmm Pepsi and cornflakes.

The sugar shaker is filled with salt.

The canisters of sugar, flour and coffee have been dumped out and if someone opens them they'll get a face full of spring powered snakes.

And finally? The Lobby:
There are whoopee cushions under every couch cushion.

FUCK YOU, PARADISA has been spray painted in huge red letters across one of the walls.]

((OOC: This post is NOT open for action for Mark and Nora as they do their whirlwind farewell before peacing out to the Dead Zone. If someone were to reply over the journals they might get a reply. Otherwise? Feel free to use this as a general reaction post for shenanigans! Also Mark is redtext and Nora's is normal.))

Comments

Dictated

[the_effect_she_has]

While I agree to the assessment ... what the hell happened now?

Katniss

[hard_talker]

I dunno, maybe that half the fucking castle up and left.

Mark

[the_effect_she_has]

Considering who they are ... is that a good or bad ...[Wait. Waiiiiiiiiit. She keeps forgetting, Mark has been here much longer than her.]

.. Oh. I'm sorry, Mark. I know it's hard to lose friends.

Katniss

[hard_talker]

Yeah. [he sighs. he's sorry, Katniss, but he's too tired to find his words tonight, to make sure they come out right, and inspiring, and perfect, and alive. Hard Harry has left the building, and all she's getting is Mark Hunter, too wrapped up in his own feelings to speak]

Did you know any of them this time around?

Re: Katniss

[the_effect_she_has]

I only knew Tsuna for the Winchester trip ... but Allen and I, we were friends. He ... He reminded me a lot of Peeta. [She fell quiet once more.] They were good people, and I hope they find peace.

[hard_talker]

I didn't really know either of them, but that doesn't make it suck any less. [he sighs]

[the_effect_she_has]

Do you think they went back to good places? That they aren't, you know ... [Going to end up like Cinna or Rue, or even Daryl. Was Daryl alive?]

Dictated

[eat_me_beat_me]

[ruefully]

The castle fucking happened.

Dictated

[the_effect_she_has]

Are you two going to be okay?

Dictated

[eat_me_beat_me]

Yeah... we will. We just need a break is all.

[silentrunning]

[Having just discovered, a bit belatedly, a missing nameplate of her own and being too furious to give the Castle the satisfaction of seeing her cry, Chell's headed down to the kitchen for breakfast, and has encountered the cherry Pepsi and dust bunnies, and is now eating Lucky Swarms with cherry Pepsi. Seizing her journal, because she knows where the dust bunnies came from, she scrawls a note, half terrified.]

Filtered to Mark Hunter and Nora Diniro.

Where are you all? Are you okay? What's going on? Why'd you wreck the Castle? Is it bad? Can I help?

[Barrage of questions. Chell sure as hell doesn't want to be around the Castle right now. She's got a sinking suspicion it's sent someone home other than Phoenix. She doesn't know who. Doesn't matter. She's sick of this shit too. Finishing her Lucky Swarms, she storms out onto the Castle grounds. She didn't check to see if either Mark's or Nora's name plates were missing. She was so terrified it'd been one of them that'd been sent home. She just starts walking in a random direction. She doesn't care where she goes. Just wants to get away from the Castle.]

[OOC: School's eaten me alive lately, so didn't have time to make a reaction for Chell's finding out Phoenix got sent home... AGAIN till now. Figured it'd work out pretty well if she was also miserable. Don't worry, she's not coming to find y'all.]

Chell

[hard_talker]

[it's a long while before he answers. they had to hotwire the steam engine and get it out to Fairfield, after all] We went out to the Dead Zone.

There's -

- there's a lot of people gone. We need a break. Don't worry, we're ... we're okay.

Re: Chell

[silentrunning]

Chell's out in the forest by the time he answers, and has climbed a tree. She's pissed off still, more angry now than sad, and her journal's open on her lap. She's tossing nuts out of the tree she's climbed into, so occasionally Mark may hear a thump thump as nuts hit the ground.]

I hate this place. So much. People are dropping like flies. I'm just soo glad you and Nora are okay, that it wasn't one of YOU who got sent home.

[Her voice sounds hollow and empty, but there's a good bit of relief there. She picks up a nut, and idly tosses it in the direction of the Castle, knowing it won't hit, but not really caring.]

Maybe I should make a list? See if I can come up with a goddamn pattern.

[hard_talker]

Patterns might be good, but ... even if we could find one, what would we do? Send the people we care about out into the Dead Zone for a few days so they don't fuckin' disappear?

[eat_me_beat_me]

[Nora snorts as she quietly adds]

They might disappear, anyway...

[silentrunning]

[She sighs.]

You're right. And it feeds off our anger. So we're stuck here, like ... well...

[And she thinks of a song she once heard.]

Despite all our rage we're still just rats in a cage?

[hard_talker]

Yep. ... The Pumpkins really did know what they were on about, didn't they...

[silentrunning]

They did. That song fits. So well.

The Lobby! Backdated to the first day of Prankfest 2013

[princelyspirit]

What the...

[Utena's just walking into the lobby from the stairs to her tower, expecting another normal day, when she sees the graffiti. She blinks, not sure if she's seeing it right]

What the hell happened here?!

The Pool

[fuckelves]

[Thorin doesn't know what this "Kool Aid" is - so one can imagine his shock and all-out horror when he comes upon the now red water, assuming it's something else entirely.]

What devilry is this??

What fiend would turn the castle's water into blood?!

[But curiosity tips him; something's not right. He kneels down and dips a finger in the pool, sure enough, it's not blood - it can't be, it's not thick or dark enough. Thorin puts the wet finger in his mouth.]

It's...sweet?