PARADISA

[You think it might be a trick of your ears, but no, this is definitely Garry, who is sounding marginally happier from the last times he's spoken over the journals. Looks like he's getting over what happened a couple months ago.]

Well, um...I was just thinking the other day about things people might do. I mean, I've heard a lot of people don't really have much to do around the place and get bored easily, so...I can offer a solution to that!

[A pleased little "hmmm" from his end.]

You see, I thought about it, and it occurs to me that not many people know how to sew around here. Sewing is a really fun hobby... I mean, it's not too hard to learn, and once you've got it down, you can move onto projects like making clothes and other such crafts. Plus, it's really useful for cases when you get a rip in something you like wearing...instead of throwing it away, you can fix it and continue wearing it. Isn't that convenient?

I'm offering lessons on how to sew up in my room if you want to learn...it won't take too long, I promise, and I have all the materials you need. Just tell me if you're interested!

[A pause, before:]

Oh...and if you have any questions about making clothes and things, don't hesitate to ask. I'll help to the best of my ability, I promise.

( ooc cut for tons of emotional stuff and angst )

[The voice on the other end is unmistakably Garry's, but this time, it sounds broken. Hollow. An odd sort of state for someone who usually seems full of so much life.]

She's gone.

[There's a sharp intake of breath, and a few quiet mutters of "god god god this can't oh god", before there's another period of silence. And then he begins again, but with more difficulty this time:]

R-r-r-...she's left. Ra-rapunzel, she's no longer here...

[A shuddering sigh.]

Just wanted you to know.

[And with that, he's closed the book and thrown it harshly against the wall. People will find him sitting against the wall in the hallway, looking rather ridiculous dressed in his white armor, head buried in his hands.]

[Is he...sobbing?]

[This is already starting to be one of the worst weeks in his life, in Garry's opinion.]

[He's been warned about what would happen by Ino, but it seems that avoiding the kissing going around is easier said than done. So many kisses he hadn't even meant to instigate...darn it, most of those people were his friends, he didn't feel that way towards them at all!]

[He opens the journal, and he can't really hide the uneasiness in his voice.]

If someone has a cure for sheer embarrassment...I think I would like to take it off your hands, if I could.

[And he shuts the journal, trying his best to keep his composure. He's trying his best to avoid people as much as he can, and is hanging out in the library, somehow stupidly sure that whatever magic is making him do this to people won't happen in a place like this. He's been noticing the nutcrackers around, but he's too frazzled to make the connection at all between his impromptu smooching and their appearance.]

[Too bad there's a nutcracker on the shelf above him where he can't see...]


[ooc: OPEN TO PLANNED AND UNPLANNED KISSES OF ALL KINDS! Make Garry's life even worse, you know you want to.]

[You know, maybe Garry shouldn't be so caring over people if it leads him into situations like this.]

[After his rather tumultuous encounter with Aradia the other day, simply because he had wanted to check up on her health and how she was faring, he had fallen to the sickness himself and had dragged himself back to his room, head throbbing with pain.]

[When he woke up after a restless sleep, however, there was no pain anymore. Instead, there was an itch, a prickling in his mind that looked over everything and saw everything wrong with what he saw. He can't take this. He can't just sit idly by and not react to any of this, he hates it all, he hates it, he HATES it. Garry slams the journal down on the desk and opens it, and the quiet malice in his voice is unlike anyone has ever heard before from him.]

Oh, god, I knew opening this journal was a bad idea. All of the blabbering I hear is making my ears hurt...would all of you just SHUT UP for once?!

[A frustrated sort of hiss.]

You just keep going on and on and on, and, honestly, I'd rather you all just stop. There are worse issues here, like, oh, the fact that we're stuck in this place and we may never see our loved ones again, and the only thing you all can gripe about is your pitiful wheezing and coughing. Grow up for a change- I'm not always going to be around for you to play mommy, alright?! Has anyone even said thank you for everything I've done for people? No, and really, I'm not at all surprised.

[Oh, and there's the sound of something breaking- Garry decided he had enough of the mug he took from the kitchen and has tossed it down to the floor, feeling a rush of exhilaration for having broken something in his anger.]

You know, I'm not even sure those people who say they "care" about me really do. People lie all the time, right? You just say those things to make me feel better about my wonderfully pathetic self, and then you'll all betray me and push me to the side for the next person you see, every last one of you! I don't have friends, and frankly, I never will. That's just how my life is, and I've accepted that. I'm no fool, you know.

And one last thing: leave me ALONE. Just don't touch me! Don't go near me, or I swear I'll hurt you.

This is your warning, Paradisa.

[For those out in the castle, they'll see Garry walking around, face contorted in a look that screams "approach me and I'll strangle you". He also has his lighter in hand...and believe him, he knows exactly how to use it.]

[ooc: I only have one angry Garry icon, so I apologize if I just the same icon over and over again in our threads! Stupid icon limit. ;;]

[It's a (mostly) peaceful day in Paradisa. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and some guy is shrieking at the top of his lungs in absolute terror over the journals.]

[Wait, what?]

HHHYYYEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKK!!!! NO! NO NO NO NO NO no no no nooooooo...

No, I don't want this! I don't want you! I never wanted you! So, if you please, just go bug someone else...really, that would be the best thing!

[There's the sound of running, and then it stops and there is a slight gasp.]

Oh! Oh. Why won't...just leave me alone, okay?! I don't want to take you! Nor play your games...just go. Go! Oh...this has to be a dream. I'm dreaming, right? First the rose, now this...

[And now, Garry sounds annoyed- annoyed that the gallery is coming back to haunt him (or is it the castle's doing...? he doesn't want to think about it), annoyed that he has to be reminded of everything that he went through, especially that room...]

I don't think this is doing well at all for my mental state at all...

[He lets out a shuddering sigh and then realizes that he's been holding the journal open the entire time. Welp, that is kind of embarrassing- he moves and turns away from the doll that has been following him everywhere, and speaks in a rather horrified whisper, as if he's afraid the thing can hear him, somehow.]

Um. Sorry. About that...though I have a quick question.

If...you had a specific problem that came back to bother you, what would you do about it? And this isn't a problem that I can get rid of that easily...

[ooc: Garry's first loss! And he'll be found all over the castle in a hysterical state, if you want to run into him. YAY FOR CREEPY DOLLS.]

Hmmmmm.

[There are the sounds of apt concentration over the journals, rather like someone is in the middle of a puzzle and trying to figure it out.]

[And then, suddenly, a picture (along with tiny little notes in pencil jotted to the sides) begins to form, colored in by markers.]

( cut for a picture )
[There's a moment of silence, and then a sigh.] I can't help but feel something's off...

Maybe it could be shorter? Or maybe she should have a little handbag of sorts...either way, I think Guertena is rolling in his grave back home. I know he didn't like people using his own ideas from his works, but um, this is just inspiration, so it shouldn't be that bad, right? Right.

[And suddenly, there's a rustle of paper and a horrified little gasp, because Garry had just noticed that he had grabbed the wrong journal to jot this idea down. SO MUCH EMBARRASSMENT NOW]

Wait a second, I drew it here?! Oh, my, this -this is the wrong journal! Oh, how could I have been so stupid...I should really label these things!


[ooc: Open to everybody! And if you want to run into Garry, he's just hanging out in the library with his markers and journals and such. Feel free to bother him.]