Speak Softly and Carry a Massive GPA

Tal Mauk. Just your friendly neighborhood tutor, stoner, and valedictorian. 

[delilahseraven]

“Well….” They weren’t going to have a lip to chew by the end of this. Del fought the urge to hide in her hair, shifting the curls forward to cover more of her face. “He volunteered. And I suggested we add our own representative.”

She watched him put the pieces together. Maybe he should’ve been on the team, he was faster than they had been. “We don’t know for sure, but there was a witness to….” How did they even begin to describe the mess? “The beginnings.” Their voice cracked slightly. She could barely breathe around the lump in her throat. It hadn’t taken long for them to fall into the same problems as the real world. If she hadn’t been in love with a misanthrope for years, this might have shaken her faith in humanity.

Are you safe? She didn’t know how to answer that. Are you okay? That one they could at least guess at. “I don’t think I’m okay. I… he beat Cricket up and I threatened him. It was stupid. I let my emotions…” She sniffled, glancing upwards to stop any tears. “You know how I am. I feel things a lot. And then, I thought maybe he was calming down. Maybe Tony had seen that we can’t work like this but…” They swiped at their face. Tears stuck stubbornly to her cheek.

“I know this is a hard sell. I’m not sold on Christian.” They took a steadying breath. There were millions of thoughts sliding down myelin sheaths in her head, but she couldn’t make sense of them. Everything was happening too fast, the world was too real. “They won’t hurt you. Anu won’t let them. You’re uh… not to be too much of a nerd, but you’re our only hope.”

[taliesinmauk]

"He volunteered." Taliesin added at least two extra syllables to the word. "That's... what do the kids call it today? 'Sus'? But smart suggestion." He gave Del a reassuring smile. "And not just because you picked me."

Beginnings was more than load bearing in Del's next sentence. It was turtle-holding-up-the-world level load bearing. "So you have a witness. Or an accomplice. Does Christian know that?" He wasn't going to trust him with any information if he could help it. Better to see what details would only be known by the killer.

"Delly. Whoa. Hey." He pulled them into a gentle but firm hug. "We don't place value judgments on feelings." It was a statement borrowed wholecloth from Daphne Fusco, but it was still a good general policy. "You're not stupid. He's just a short-sighted asshole. And assholes tend to make more assholes."

He swallowed the I wouldn't be so sure of that that bubbled up in his throat when Del was so sure that Anu would protect him. He wasn't sure he was ready to see her again, and he knew Lou wouldn't tolerate it. Not without Christian "reasoning" with her. Which he very much did not want to see. But then Christian was alone with her. Fuck.

But this wasn't Del's problem. He wouldn't let it be. That was part of the deal he'd made with Joe. You're the oldest. Make sure no one gets hurt. It was always harder than it looked, on the construction site or off.

He gave her another small squeeze, his voice low, reassuring. "Don't worry, okay? I got this. The hardest part is getting Lou on board, but that's a me problem."

[niamhwoolfe]

"The olden days were so boring,” she whined. Niamh thought it was a general rule to film all that stuff. Because what if Wes got famous for music one day? He needed videos of his talent shows to show his fans where he started. Oh well. At least she had the visual. And oh! That was actually a very good idea, Taliesin. “I am. I’ll request a meeting with councillor Rumi immediately.”

Niamh smiled and nodded at him. He looked very sad about his apparent slip of the tongue, but that wasn’t her problem. Maybe he should have thought before he spoke and he wouldn’t have to give her more material. “Yes, you did. Thank you, I appreciate the effort.”

Once upstairs she grabbed her laptop, external harddrive, extension cord and laptop charger (her battery was on 2%). Niamh walked much slower on her way back, both to give him time to think and stop herself from falling down the stairs. She had done that more times than she was willing to admit.

She made her way to Tal, placing her laptop on the coffee table in desperate need of a new coat of paint. But paint was expensive apparently so it stayed that way. She plugged her laptop in to the extension cord and then walked to the far side of the room. “This is the only free socket in here,” she explained. The extension cord was necessary unless she wanted to sit by the shoe rack Niamh got for free on the side of the road.

Once they were all set she went and knelt on the floor in front of her laptop. Better control that way. She opened her folder of 256 imported clips and looked at Tal. “What do you want to see first?”

[taliesinmauk]

"So boring." Taliesin agreed, surprisingly earnest. "People made up whole imaginary languages back then because they didn't have anything to doomscroll." He doubted Niamh would see the irony (or get the reference), but he'd take what he could get until Rumi found out and told Lou.

He gave her a weary salute and scrolled through his story options in his head as best he could. He wasn't sure he was entirely used to his mind moving this fast. It was disorienting. And anxiety inducing. Had he actually had some kind of anxiety disorder this whole time?

Taliesin made the quick calculation of all the used outlets in the room. His parents would never have tolerated that many "idle appliances" as his electrician father liked to say. You think power grows on trees, kid? But at least in his house, their table was a Seraven original. The Woolfe living room looked sad and forgotten in comparison. It was wild how much one nice piece could really tie a room together.

"You know you could like... move. If you wanted. There's lots of empty houses." He hoped he wasn't offending her, but he'd truly underestimated how nice it had felt to wake up on a mattress that he hadn't dragged out of a dumpster when he was fourteen. "I know things are probably pretty complicated with your sisters, but I'd say all of us who put up with the West Ham rich kids deserve a vacation."

He was a little overwhelmed staring at all the clip options before he composed himself and said "Anything that shows the woods around us. Other trees are fine, maybe, for comparison. Day and night for contrast too."

[wilywes]

Always good to remember Tal was in his corner. How else could he face the girls when things that were completely his fault blew up in his face?

“You can always talk until you find something to say, you know. Maybe all you have to say to me is nonsense, but I’d still wanna listen.” Getting info out of the New Romantics was like prospecting for gold when you knew the seam was running dry. Wes always tried, even if it was useless.

He still couldn’t explain to himself why these friends got more grace than Reg. More prospecting was needed, this time in his own head. Bigger machines, new techniques. (This metaphor got away from him.)

There were a few people who upset Raleigh at the party, and for good reason. He and Tal should discuss the dinner now that it was in the air again. “Who?” He racked his brain for the guest list. With everything to happen since, he didn’t feel so bad about forgetting. “The Texas guy?”

“Nat—I mean, Tali…she’s a lot of things. Not sure what you mean.” Her friendship with Tony spoke for itself, but Wes didn’t think he could claim any high ground for disliking the guy. People were complicated, and life was messy. “Don’t think I’m ignoring the double date. We’ll get to it.”

[taliesinmauk]

You can always talk until you find something to say. Tal had to roll that statement over a little before shaking his head. "You can get away with that stuff, Wes. Not me." Not without your best friends telling the love of your life to leave you. Justifiably, but still. "Look, I know what you mean. And I appreciate it. But if I talk too much, I can veer a little close to my dad, and no one wants that."

"No. Not Caleb. Dylan. He's a junior. Crunchy hair. Punchable face. Raleigh's way too WASPy to fuck a Texan." Tal was genuinely puzzled. "What would she even do with a Texan?" He wasn't sure she talked to people enough to be able to fully understand Caleb's accent.

It felt like Wes was talking about a different person, name slip or no. "Tony was talking about hurting people, controlling the town, and she just sat there. She's maybe the one girl he considers anything close to an equal. She has power. She knows it. She did nothing." Taliesin looked both ways, as if they weren't on an empty street. "Half of me thinks she's into it. Unless she's real good at hiding when she's scared." He blinked, fighting a headache. He missed that usual weed haze. It made things make sense. "I feel like I'm losing my mind. No one's standing up to him. Not even Anu. I don't get it."

[niamhwoolfe]

"Alright,” Niamh stand, standing up straighter. “I suppose I believe you. I’ll be extremely disappointed if it turns out you’re not being truthful.” She would also be angry. And probably want to take him to court or something. She’d have to google how to do that when they got internet again.

Niamh was immediately invested, watching Tal with bright eyes. “Raleigh?” she gasped with utter delight. This was wonderful. “Oh my god. He totally would do that.” Niamh laughed until her sides hurt. She couldn’t wait until she could tell Wes she knew about this. She should interview him and get the reveal on camera so she could watch it back any time she was sad. “Did anyone film it? I would do wild things to see it. Never even dated her.” She laughed again.

“Yes,” she said, stepping to the side and opening her door wider. “You can. But I want at least one more story before you leave. You said stories. Plural.” Niamh smiled warmly and gestured to their old couch with the creaky springs. “I’ll bring my stuff down here. Ain’t no way you’re going in my bedroom. That would be wildly inappropriate considering your long term relationship.” And the fact that it was very messy. Also she was a lesbian but everyone just thought she was bi so Tal might think she was interested. “Think about another one while I’m gone!” She yelled as she dashed up the stairs.

[taliesinmauk]

Taliesin gave Niamh one of his 'Yes, Mrs. Nixon, I take your words very seriously' faces. "I would never disappoint you."

He suddenly realized that he hadn't fully calculated on the Wes story actually getting back to him, but perhaps he had a little deniability since Wes had dated Niamh's sister. Maybe? Probably not. "I'm assuming no one did because it would have made the rounds by now." The New Romantics hadn't fully developed the cultural cache they had now back then. (He suspected his emergence in the group may have helped with that in some way, but not for ego reasons. More, somehow the stoner is able to stay in honors classes even though his grades must be shit. Must be pressure from his friends' parents or something when it was actually that his grades were decidedly not shit.) "But if you're working on a documentary or whatever, I bet Rumi would be willing to support a re-enactment if it wasn't the same cast." It was a funny image, and it made him feel better after this nightmare of a day.

Two stories. God fucking damn it. "...I did say that, didn't I." Taliesin agreed, unable to hide his weariness at a certain point. He was losing his ability to be quick on the draw already, and he still had to be Lou's well behaved arm candy tonight. "I'll think through my options. So you get the best possible story."

"I don't want to--" He gave up before he finished the thought. Her assumption was small potatoes compared to his clients' parents and what he endured less than forty minutes before from Cricket, so he was forcing himself to see past it. He swallowed. "Good thinking. Thanks for looking out."

Before he could recover from whatever that was, Niamh was upstairs and gone. He had to admit he hadn't always believed poor people could afford two floors in West Ham. But he'd also always known nobody seemed quite as poor as the Mauks. And that "so poor you can't afford the stairs" was a joke Nuala Woolfe would tell.

[delilahseraven]

If they hadn’t been so adrift in their own sea of emotions, she might have laughed at Taliesin’s clear relief. Something must have happened between him and Cricket. She’d have to get the story from Cricket later. But the idea of them potentially fighting was hard to fathom. She didn’t have a schema for what that would even look like.

Del nodded her head softly. “I was suspicious, too.” Not that she put much stock in rich white boys to do the right thing, but Christian had such a strong reputation for finding himself in the middle of a situation. There was a part of her that wondered if he’d already orchestrated some kind of deal with Tony. But she tried not to give into conspiracy thinking, she was a data driven person. There wasn’t enough data to draw a conclusion, so he retained the benefit of the doubt.

“He’s being briefed. Right now.” The community maintenance team hadn’t had much time to strategize, but she hoped this appeared like a coordinated and competent effort. Unfortunately, Taliesin’s questions were well observed and she didn’t have answers for him. Not true ones. She was a scientist, she obsessed more over the questions than certainty.

“I don’t know. Depends on Tony. And Christian. And you.” She pulled her lip between her teeth. “We want peace. I wanna say that we want a safer world, but…um…” There was no easy way to talk about this. “Tony might’ve killed someone, so I don’t know. I’ve never been in this position. None of us have.” That was the problem. They could all spin themselves in circles with theories, but Tony had taken a decisive action that had tilted the whole universe. Until they reckoned with it, there was no telling what future they were trying to build. This was the experiment.

[taliesinmauk]

"So he hasn't agreed yet." Which meant Christian hadn't told Lou. Which meant Taliesin would need to get there first. "And if he does, we have to assume he still thinks he's in control." He wasn't sure which was worse, Tony thinking he had all the cards, or Christian thinking the same thing at the same time and Taliesin himself having to be there.

Del was being so measured about this. He wasn't surprised. He rarely was by them. Del's rhythms hadn't changed in the years they'd known each other, from elementary and onward. But he wished he had a solution for her that wasn't this. That was the eldest's job, right? Problem solving.

"Might have? Who--" But then he caught up. Where's Noah? That's what the note had said. "Noah. You know Noah is dead? How do you know Noah's dead?" And, more importantly. "Del, are you okay? Are you safe?"

"Because I'm not really into preserving Tony Alessi for the betterment of society right now. This guy beats the shit out of people because he feels like it, and if Christian thinks he can manage that, he's either wildly out of touch or they were on the same page at some point and he wants to exploit that. So we're literally trying to save them from themselves. That's hard to sell." To Lou, especially. If Christian was anyone but himself. But Taliesin didn't need or want that reminder.

[wilywes]

If Tal could admit he was wrong, so could he. (Unless Cricket was involved.) “We don’t,” Wes allowed, only for Taliesin to jump right in. Tal always spoke in a way he appreciated, although defining it was difficult. Could it be the way the words seemed older than Taliesin himself, and waited for a body to say them aloud? Or was it how his friend was wiser than anybody else in West Ham, making the rest—Wes included—sound immature? “I’m glad you aren’t doing that anymore.” What little he knew wasn’t enough to grasp the big picture, so hearing a new leaf was turned over felt like music to his ears. It wasn’t any great hardship to remember what Lou said in the boba shop, nor was it a chore to see the fracture between them during the meeting. He had wanted them to work it out, and told Hye so. Good intentions, bad execution. “We can talk whenever you need to, you know,” Wes pointed out. Would the ‘fucked up place’ be so bad if Taliesin had other people to listen to him? Maybe, maybe not.

Wes enjoyed running, but following Taliesin’s thoughts could sometimes feel like racing around a track and crashing into every hurdle along the way. Unwilling to interrupt, Wes listened, leaving room for each statement to wobble and right itself, like his imagined running feet jump-started his understanding the further away from them he got. Wanting to date his friends was a bit of a stretch, though. Wes Wilder was open to possibilities, that was all, and felt no shame about it.

He decided to give the Fern segue some thought later, a little surprised Tal brought her up at all. Some more thought, if Wes was being honest. He had been thinking of her already, more and more all the time…

He finished the burrito and searched his pockets for his pack of gum. “You’re my best friend,” Wes reminded Tal, offering a piece. “I value you too.” He wriggled the spearmint out of Tal’s reach for a moment, looking stern, then handed it over. “But you should try to respect what I’ve had with other people, dude.” Just because it didn’t work out with Fiona or Tali didn’t mean they were lesser people than Hye. There were things to like, to admire, even if the compatibility didn’t align in the long run.

[taliesinmauk]

"Same." Taliesin agreed, keeping his tone warm even if he was trying to push the darkness away. They weren't doing that anymore. If he said that enough it would be true. That was how it worked. Right?

He sighed at the offer to talk. "I know." Sometimes he wished Wes could be a little more like the rest of the guys he knew. Amir was allergic to emotions. Tal's father's approach to conflict was to have it at any and all opportunities. "I just don't know what to say." Taliesin ran a hand through his hair, self conscious. "I know. Me not knowing what to say. Surprise, surprise."

"I respect Fiona Woolfe, man. Even if she doesn't respect anyone aside from Morgan Little." He was being pointed in neglecting Poppy there. He understood why Wes' relationships collapsed. There tended to be mutual fault there, mutual understanding, finding the right fit. But he hadn't liked seeing Poppy in her post-not-breakup fugue. Perhaps it reminded him too much of himself. "Speaking of Tali, though... Lou wants us to do this double date thing with her and her new guy. The same guy that upset Rals at that stupid dinner. I know I need to talk to him about it. I just... don't get how Lou compartmentalizes this shit. Was Tali this like..." evil he swallowed "...before?"

[wilywes]

If Wes was ever body snatched, his friends would know it when the snatcher turned down a burrito. (He did not turn down the burrito.)

“Thanks.” Chewing, Wes agreed. Walking up so early after a party like that was just asking to be miserable, but Wes liked Tal’s company over feeling bad any day. His run could wait. They had, for all intents and purposes, all the time in the world. “Might as well get it over with, right?”

There was another thing he wanted to get over with, though, and teasing Tal for his old age wasn’t it. Beyond the blackout, and the injuries, and the drama, Wes did have the sense he’d stepped out of line somewhere. That Spidey sense was flashing, but it was the other signal this time, the one telling him to speak, not shut up, and if he was going to avoid this particular mistake again, Wes had to get in front of it. “Speaking of yesterday, I want you to know how happy I am for you and Lou. No joke.”

[taliesinmauk]

Taliesin waved the thanks away. He'd been in a cooking mood/mode ever since Ruby and Viola had moved in, partly for practicality reasons and partly because he was spending more time on the bottom floor of the Villa Sisniega home, which involved missing them while also being roped into whatever chef-y project Ruby wanted to start to avoid thinking about how much Viola was sleeping. Yet another reason to leave the house, especially when Lou was busy.

Taliesin had not expected to have this conversation, and he wasn't really sure he wanted to have it. He was keenly aware that if Lou told all their friends they were done with him, they would almost certainly do as she said. Not that she would. Just that he was aware of the hypothetical situation. "...I didn't think it was one." Which was accurate, but Tal had enough awareness to know what he was getting at.

He stopped on the side of the road. They'd barely made it past Rumi's house. He desperately hoped she wasn't home. "Listen, man. We don't have to do this. I was in a fucked up place. I said things I shouldn't have. I don't begrudge you telling Louie it wasn't acceptable. Our relationship is... was... weird. And kind of built on not talking about things. I wouldn't endorse it. But we're not doing that anymore."

"I know she deserves better than me. But she told me to get the fuck over that, so I'm trying to. Included in that is pushing through whatever weirdness happened between the three of us. So we can talk about it, or we can not. I'm going to end up interrogating you about Fern anyway, so if you want to start that conversation with acknowledging you want to date your friends, that's not news to me. It doesn't bother me, Wes. Even if it's Lou." He sighed. "Even if it's me. If it did, I wouldn't be here. And it's not because I think you can't compete. It's because I value your friendship." He paused. "And because the only relationship you'd had that I respect is with Hye. Who continues to be, first and foremost, your friend."

[wewerechildrenwerenotnow]

Phase: Day Twelve

The lights are on, but no one’s home. Noah’s house is still smoking, and the mysteries are piling up. Oh, and there’s that government thing to worry about.  Might need a criminal justice system like now. 

So press play, and go.

[wilywes]

Last night, Wes had felt like the party would never end.

The party, as it turned out, went from a blacklight to a blackout to a complete mess. Between hearing of Adrian King going down, and holding up the air canister for Sprout’s recovery, Wes passed an hour or two trying to think of another event in recent memory going so badly.

Rather than taking his pick, Wes kept positive. He tended to prefer it that way anyhow. Looking ahead to the next thing, the next mission, bells on and ready to avoid repeating the same mistakes. This line of thinking led him right to Lou’s door. Shading his eyes from the sun, Wes knocked.

“Morning,” he greeted when the door swung open. “Fancy a walk?”

@taliesinmauk

[taliesinmauk]

Taliesin tended to get a hangover easily. The weed usually dulled his senses enough that it didn't matter, but the initial chaos he'd dealt with last night had meant he hadn't gotten to use his old 'gallons of water and two vitamin gummies' trick. So he'd barely finished making his hair of the dog burrito when Wes knocked.

He looked down at the plate plaintively, then sliced it with a knife and grabbed some baker's parchment to wrap it up to go. He offered the other half of the burrito to Wes as the best form of affirmative he could muster right now, putting a pair of aviators on as backup against the headache. "I mean, it's going to hurt anyway, so why not?"

He took a bite before fully leveling his gaze at Wes. "Impressed you're still moving after yesterday. Maybe I'm just getting old."

[niamhwoolfe]

Niamh folded her arms, looking at him through narrowed eyes. “How do I know you’re telling me the truth?” she asked him. “People have all kinds of motivations, and a lot of people are jealous of the following and influence I have. I’ve earned my platform, and I don’t want my hard work tainted or stolen because someone wants a piece of it. My authenticity is a superpower and even if you did copy what I’m doing here, you won’t be able to achieve my quality. Raw talent can’t be replicated.”

She paused to catch her breath. She got tired when she was talking about her passions. “But if you are telling me the truth and your intentions are pure, I would love to hear those stories about Wes. A little humbling never hurt him.”

[taliesinmauk]

"Because I..." Taliesin had to think for about six seconds. "Have literally no reason to lie about that. Like you said, Niamh. I can't compete with you. I'm not interested in profiting. I'm interested in information."

He had his own opinions about the profitability conversation, but they weren't productive right now. He'd had several of his students tell him he totally needed to get on Instagram, but he wasn't particularly interested in being an edutainment influencer. Or an influencer. Or edutainment.

He didn't know why he hadn't expected her to take him up on his offer. Well, there was the time Wes tried to get my girlfriend to break up with me before she was my girlfriend. Not the most helpful thought. So he went with the fun version. "Picture if you will, April. 7th grade. Middle school talent show. Wes decides to sing Bruno Mars' "When I Was Your Man." He sits down at the piano, puts his hand on the keys, and says 'Raleigh, this one’s for you.' " Taliesin chuckled to himself. 'Raleigh Reed, who he's known for..." He checked his watch for dramatic effect. "...twelve years. And has not dated. I cannot overstate how big this is for the losers like me in this grade. New Romantics drama? We never see that. Anyway, Raleigh blinks. And stares. And sinks down in her seat until no one can see her anymore."

Later, Hye would say that she thought the song was cute. And they knew where that ended. And started. And ended. Two years later, Tal had told Wes he'd been impressed. He always bounced back like none other. And Taliesin did not know how to shoot his shot. He just kind of waited around for powerful people to say they were interested and made his decisions from there.

He raised what he hoped was a gentle eyebrow at Niamh. "So can I see the footage now?"

[delilahseraven]

Something in their chest warmed at the nickname. They hadn’t heard it in a while. She was much more used to Lilah these days. But the fact that those pathways were still strong between them and Taliesin was a good sign.

“I don’t… I’m not here about Cricket.” She may take Cricket’s side publicly, but they had no stomach for untangling the Lou of it all. There were too many younger emotions. Too many pieces of drama that were held on to in stubbornness rather than protection. She knew more than a little about that, but they didn’t want to arbitrate that unless she absolutely had to.

Her breaths came a little easier as she walked into the space that was practically cavernous compared to the ruins of her home. Ruby and Viola moving in was a bit of a surprise, but she was happy for all of them. Community was more important than ever now. And here she came to make things more vulnerable. “It’s about Tony.” They swiped their tongue over her dry lips. “He’s committed a crime, maybe a series of them.” They swallowed. “Violent things, Tal. Worse than what he did to Cricket a few weeks ago.” She could still feel the stutter in her chest as she watched Cricket limp and crawl towards her. It had been unfathomable that something more sinister had happened. Until it did. “Christian told Fern that he could…” They waved their hand in the air somewhat uselessly, “Get Tony to surrender himself nonviolently, but…” She trailed off.

In certain respects, Taliesin and Del had sat at the grown up table their whole lives. They were mostly responsible. They were the people that handled difficult things. They weren’t volatile. She knew this was the right thing to ask, but that didn’t make it any easier. It felt like throwing him into a deep end and hoping that his knowledge of swimming was enough. “I convinced her, and Drew, and Morgan that… we needed someone we could trust to go with him. Someone who had been in the Alessi house recently and came out unscathed.”

[taliesinmauk]

Well, that was at least a small relief to Taliesin. The armistice regarding "the insect" (as Hye liked to call him) continued, and Del didn't seem to hold it against him that when Cricket was particularly pissed at him, he hit on him. Case in point, earlier today. "Oh. Uh. Good." Tal agreed for emphasis.

But then Del mentioned Tony. Oh. Uh. Bad. he finished in his head before swallowing his inner monologue like the parent he was. For a moment, he thought that she was about to confront him about hiding Viola being assaulted, but it turned out things were even more complicated.

He let out a sound somewhere between a grunt and a very, very world weary sigh when Del offered up their proposal. It was absurd.

Tal was this close to saying 'Are you familiar with the kaiju genre, Delly? Let them fight.' But almost immediately he could feel Lou smacking him on the chest at the thought even though she was God knows where across town. So instead he gave himself a small concession. "...Of course he offered that." Lou found this shit charming, somehow. He wondered if it was part of the reason she liked Tali. A certain je ne sais sociopathy.

Then he tried to focus on the best way to solve the myriad problems this had just introduced. More violence, which put everyone, especially Ruby and Viola, at risk. He couldn't even put it past Anu to get some weird kind of vengeful at Lou. Blood in the water, etc.

"Does Christian know about this plan?" It was entirely possible he did and had already agreed and didn't care. Christian had always given Tal the impression that his greatest fear wasn't death but inconvenience. Tal was confident the rich bastard would die old and covered in sex workers as his ancestors probably intended. "And what is the full goal here? Say Tony exits the house with his hands up. What's next?"

Tony would lash out. He knew that much. And if he lashed out at Tal, Lou would kill him. If he lashed out at Christian, Lou would would make Tal go to Christian's funeral and then kill him. Which had to be some form of cruel and unusual punishment.

[wewerechildrenwerenotnow]

Phase: Day Twelve

The lights are on, but no one’s home. Noah’s house is still smoking, and the mysteries are piling up. Oh, and there’s that government thing to worry about.  Might need a criminal justice system like now. 

So press play, and go.

[delilahseraven]

Del stood on the precipice of… something. The Villa-Sisniega house was beautiful. They expected nothing less from Lou’s family. Being here was strange, but no less strange than anything else that had happened. When Taliesin opened the door, they would all be setting into a motion a course that could end in death. A course that may have already started with death. The whole thing was hard to swallow.

As she sat outside, waiting for a hum of insects that would never come, she wondered if this was all worth it. Making Tony the center of things legitimized his power. Going forward, there would be no denying that he wasn’t a major player on a gameboard no one had asked to stand on. But it also didn’t sit right with them to let him get away with something like this. Had they known he would escalate things this quickly, she imagined that things would have gone differently.

Would Gabe have stood up to him? Would Cricket have fought with him? Would Leo have left him? Would Del have threatened them? There were whole new universes sprouting around them where those questions were answered. She had nothing but uncertainty in this one.

She knocked on the door before they could think better of it. The sound was too loud in the absence of so much expected outside noise. It was late, but Taliesin was a busy guy. She had to work with his schedule.

“Hi, um… I have to ask you for a favor and in order to do that… I have to tell you something upsetting. I’m sorry.”

@taliesinmauk

[taliesinmauk]

It had been a long day, but Taliesin was finally done. He had notes and action items for what he'd found out about the woods, and he'd even managed to talk Lou down from their awkward attempt at a double date. He'd come home, helped Ruby make Viola a late dinner while Lou said she had to run an "errand," and was now ready to settle in with some Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth. Arguing with Christopher Tolkien in his head always made him feel better. Especially when Lou was being mysterious. But he was trying to trust her. He had to remind himself that she wasn't off with someone else. He'd "won," whatever that meant here.

He jumped at the knock on the door, going for the baseball bat he'd brought from his house when they'd moved Viola. But when he checked the peephole, the bat slide from his hands and nearly hit the ground of its own volition. He quickly leaned the athletic equipment up against the door hinges and opened up. "Delly? What's wrong? Cricket was way ruder to me than I was to him--"

But she was already barreling forward. (Well, at least it was barreling forward speed for Del, which was about normal pacing for everyone else.) Something was really wrong. Del always took their time. That was one of the things Taliesin had always liked about her. So he made his voice as soft as he could get it, beckoning them inside. "Okay. Ruby and Viola are asleep. Lou's... not here. Shoot."

[niamhwoolfe]

“I forgive you,” she told him, smiling kindly. Niamh was nicer than her sisters and she would have it known.

“Please do, I’m feeling very inspired by this and I would like to grab hold of that before I lose it.” Niamh smiled and shrugged. “The muse.”

Niamh felt very suspicious about this. What did he want with her footage? She would not be letting him see so he could steal it and use it himself or delete anything he didn’t agree with or take her ideas to make his own competing documentary. She knew what kind of payday she was in for when they got back to the real world and she got her work onto the screens of the masses.

“I was…” she said, deciding to tread carefully. “I’ve filmed a lot of stuff. I interviewed some people before they went into the woods.” Niamh had basically filmed Britt’s final moments, that was fucking gold. “I haven’t looked at it yet. I was supposed to be doing that now but I took a shower and then sat on my bed in a towel for an hour. Then I had a snack and I might have fallen asleep for a little bit but I don’t really remember.”

[taliesinmauk]

"...Thanks." Taliesin really needed to stop agreeing to people's ideas of events just because he was confused, but Lou and Rumi had unfortunately trained him a little too well.

The muse. About his love life. Great. This was great. This wasn't going to piss Lou off even more. Not at all.

Niamh's mother was one of the few teachers who didn't secretly like Taliesin. In fact, she seemed to fervently believe that he was somehow cheating even though he'd agreed to take several pop quizzes without calculators repeatedly. He did not understand how Niamh and Ms. Woolfe were biologically related. She was... flighty, to put it gently. But at least she hadn't seen something weird and not reported it. He wasn't sure whether he was hoping for there to be something weird here at all. Consistency would be useful of course. Consistency allowed one to draw conclusions.

"I would appreciate if I could look at any footage you have of the woods. Even just over your shoulder is fine, if that makes you more comfortable. We've noticed some... degradation in video of the trees and are trying to make sense of it." He looked at her sideways, trying to gauge how much he was pushing his luck. "Does it help if I say I have a lot of embarrassing stories about Wes?"

[wewerechildrenwerenotnow]

Phase: Day Ten

[rubymauk]

Ruby’s heart clenched as Viola mentioned going in and out on her walk. She should have fucking been there. It’s probably the kind of shit Jordan would have done. Didn’t all those books involve stalking or was that just Twillight? She had no idea. But Viola… Viola deserved so much better from everyone.

“You’ve been doing all of this sober? Really?” Ruby wasn’t sure she’d seen her brother sober for a week straight before. It was mildly unsettling. And she didn’t want to know what he was using to cope instead because she could take a fucking guess at the answer and it made her want to puke.

She stared at him. When he didn’t move she went to the medicine cabinet, her heart rate speeding up as her anxiety spiked. She needed to be by Viola. Bad things happened less when they were together. She grabbed the bottle and started opening it on her way back. Ruby handed the open bottle to Poppy so she could double check the dosage. “Here ya go.” She dug around her room until she found her water bottle and placed it in Viola’s hands, her fingers lingering against Vi’s for the briefest second.

[violaparker]

“See, Rubes?” Viola said, somewhere between putting on a brave face and gloating. “I’m fine. I can nap.”

She winced where the antiseptic touched her skin, but she didn’t pull away. She’d stuck her fingers through flames enough to be able to push through. Even if it made her look more compliant than she actually was.

Viola stuck her tongue out at Tal as Poppy agreed with her. Maybe he was right in this small instance. His friend really didn’t suck. How he’d gotten her to stay by him was a mystery to Viola.

She let her hand linger on Ruby’s a little as she took the meds from her hand. She could tell that Ruby was just as scared as she was. Potentially more. Ruby didn’t have as much experience feeling helpless as Viola did. Viola took the pills with a dry mouth and then washed her tongue out with water.

Viola squinted at Taliesin, suspicious. “Where are you going with this, Tail? My ass isn’t walking anywhere.”

@poppy-morris

[poppy-morris]

“I believe you,” Poppy told Tal. It was disappointing though. She almost wished he had been holding out on her, he looked like he needed to decompress desperately. He wouldn’t though, not when things were like this.

Poppy took her gloves off and wrapped them up, tucking them into the side pocket of her bag. “Thanks Ruby,” Poppy said, shaking two out and handing them to Viola. She took them without any fuss so that was good. She’d honestly expected it to be a lot harder to get any cooperation out of Viola, but the lack of fight probably pointed to how hurt she was. Poppy didn’t know if she should feel relieved or concerned. Both?

“Yes, I want you to rest as much as you can for at least 48 hours. You can get up for the bathroom obviously but it’s important for your healing that you let people take care of you.” Poppy hoped this wouldn’t be where the wheels fell off, but she had to give the right advice. “Then it’s taking things slow. Try things but don’t push yourself. There’s no rush.” She smiled at Viola, tilting her head in the Mauk’s direction. “Plus it means these two get to run around after you. Your own personal assistants at your beck and call.”

@taliesinmauk

[taliesinmauk]

"Yup." Taliesin replied to his sister, perhaps a little too quickly. "Stone cold." If he was honest, he hadn't trusted himself to light up after he discovered Caleb was missing. He'd always been so careful to make sure there was no possibility of Caleb seeing him high, that giving in felt eerily like giving up. He'd tried once in a fit of defiance and had one of the worst trips of his life. (He could've sworn the trees were moving, though he was now realizing in retrospect that there might have been something to that.) So when Amir had asked him what he had, he'd given it without a thought. He'd done a lot of things without a thought that week. He was still trying to live with that shame.

He coughed like someone who'd never smoked before, somehow caught by Viola's confrontation even though he'd intended to plan for it. He really didn't know how to 'get creative' in a way that she wouldn't see through. And she had none of the same nostalgia for roughhousing with him that Ruby had. Fuck. He had to lay his cards on the table. "You're a little easy to find here, Vi. I don't like that. And I don't think Ruby does either." He almost started the following with 'Lou wants' before realizing he'd be laughed out of the room. He swallowed and corrected himself. "Lou's parents have a bathtub in their room and an attached bathroom. It's on the first floor right next to the kitchen, so way easier to navigate then our hallway of doom here. You and Ruby wouldn't have to see us. Food would just magically appear. And in a kitchen Ruby likes better, right Rubes?"

Was he laying it on a little thick? Maybe. But he also really didn't want to carry a wriggling concussion risk out of his poor excuse for a home.

@rubymauk

[poppy-morris]

“You are the nice one,” she conceded. That wasn’t hard though when the other person was her. “I’m the grumpy one. That’s my job.” Poppy was really good at it too.

Poppy brought her forearm closer to her face to study his writing. “It’s beautiful Taliesin. Maybe make it three times a week.”

She dropped her arm down and looked over at him, her high having brought a lot of her defenses down. “Thank you,” she said. He knew for what. Poppy had needed this today. She let herself fall back against the couch and turned her attention back to the cartoon. It was time to let the gentle hum in her body overtake her brain.

[taliesinmauk]

"THAT'S IT." Taliesin said with far too much satisfaction and force for a moment before wincing. He shushed himself just as quickly. "It was on the tip of my tongue."

He smiled as she admired his handiwork, proud. "I was gonna try to do it in Elvish too but it wasn't the right kind of pen." Yeah. It wasn't that he could only remember how to barely speak English now.

"Welcome." He answered on autopilot. Even if he couldn't remember what they'd been talking about. Or why. Sometimes it was just enough that she was here. Almost always. And the rest of the time... there was Lord of the Rings.

(end)

[niamhwoolfe]

Niamh almost slumped over she was so relieved. She pressed her palm to her stomach, a giddy laugh escaping her. “Oh thank god. You scared me!” Fiona would tell Niamh she and Poppy were over but she secretly hoped that one day they’d get back together. Poppy was almost as mean to her as Fiona was. They were meant to be.

“Four years? That’s crazy. Would you ever let me interview you about that?” Part of her documentary could be a segment on the romantic lives of the town. She wondered if any of them would get married while they were stuck here.

“Me?” she asked, pointing at her chest. “Are you sure about that? I don’t think I do.”

[taliesinmauk]

Taliesin barely managed to bite back the words well you confused me. It was a rare thing to do but becoming much more common. So he just half grunted a "sorry" before telling himself to get on with it.

Heat bloomed along his perfect cheekbones, only now fully hearing what he'd said about Lou. Would she be okay with that? Maybe not. He hadn't exactly earned it yet. "Uh. Maybe. I'd have to ask her." Hopefully he'd made that sound charming.

He felt bad because he really didn't have time to deal with any insecurities right now, but he did try to sound reassuring, channeling his best tutor voice. "Oh no. It's definitely you. You were interviewing people the night of the election speeches right? Any other times? I'd really appreciate if we, er I could look at them. Have you noticed any degradation in quality over time?"

He probably should have done his best to not alarm her, but he was tired of secrets. He didn't know everything, even if he might be the closest to that New Ham was going to get. It might take a literal village to solve their problem.

[wewerechildrenwerenotnow]

Phase: Day Twelve

The lights are on, but no one’s home. Noah’s house is still smoking, and the mysteries are piling up. Oh, and there’s that government thing to worry about.  Might need a criminal justice system like now. 

So press play, and go.

[niamhwoolfe]

There was so much to do!! So much to do and Niamh couldn’t make herself do any of it. The more she tried the more daunted she became. How was she supposed to do all of this? There was so much footage to sort through already, she really needed to rough cut the clips Wes had taken for her after the election most of all. But maybe she should start with some of the smaller tasks instead. Her three hour planning session was interrupted by a knock at the door.

Niamh had no idea who the fuck that would be. Dylan never showed up unannounced. She usually had to ask him to hang out. Though last night she had spotted him talking to Tali right before the lights went out, so maybe he was coming to tell her about that?

She pulled the door open, and Taliesin was standing there. “Huh?” Niamh tilted her head in confusion. “Do you have the wrong house?” She gasped and her hand flew to cover her mouth. “Oh my god. Are you here for Fiona?” Niamh felt nauseous. “Are you guys fucking or something? EW. That’s so messed up, aren’t you friends with Poppy?” She was the love of Fiona’s life, how dare her friend swoop in after??

@taliesinmauk

[taliesinmauk]

Tal was still buzzing with frustration when he pulled his motorcycle into the Woolfes' driveway. (He knew exactly where it was, of course. Poor recognized slightly less poor.) Cricket and Aurora had given him valuable new information, but he'd had to pull it from them like pulling teeth. They were all just too terribly behind now.

He knocked on the door, not bothering to come up with a good explanation ahead of time. If he knew anything about the Woolfes, they would want to argue either way.

"For Fiona? No. Noooooo." There were so many things wrong with that. The Poppy connection. The Lou connection. "We're... We were... just friends. When she tolerated it. I'm with Lou. I've been with Lou for like... four years." Holy shit. He'd said it. And it was true. She may not have been with him in the same time, but that didn't make it less true for him. That was why he'd been ready to tear Cricket apart.

But he pushed through this revelation. He had to. "I need to talk to you, Niamh. You might have the clue that gets us the fuck out of this place."

[wewerechildrenwerenotnow]

Phase: Day Ten

[rubymauk]

Ruby’s shoulders relaxed as Poppy said the symptoms were natural. She’d been scared out of her fucking mind this whole time. And there wasn’t even a webmd to google to make sure that things were okay. She’d have to make Poppy tamales. The bitch deserved a meal that took twelve hours to make. She’d basically saved Viola’s life.

She wanted things to be over just as badly as Viola did, but they had to get this right. The risks were too damn high. They needed… she needed Viola to be on the road to recovery. Not worried that there’s a brain bleed or some shit.

“Yeah, we have some.” Ruby didn’t want to leave Viola for a second. She jerked her head towards the bathroom. “In the medicine cabinet. I don’t know what the right dose is for, like, legit injuries.”

Tail’s presence at her back was a balm. She was going to ask where they were supposed to go until she realized the obvious answer. Lou. Of fucking course. At least she’d be back in the kitchen that felt like home. “She doesn’t wanna walk, so no. We have to carry her, but we can’t make her feel like she has to be carried. You gotta get creative, Tail.”

[violaparker]

“Consciousness is a state of mind.” Viola said with a dark chuckle. Then she shrugged. Then she winced. It fucking hurt to shrug? “No idea. I know it was a long walk back. And I zoned the fuck out. But that’s the stress, right?”

She wasn’t really used to people asking her consent about well… anything. Somehow maybe she was considered too grumpy to give it. Poppy’s question staggered her into holding out her forearms like she praying to some kind of weird saint. The saint of gauze and bandaids.

“I don’t know what we have.” Viola said, turning her head in a searching motion before wincing one more time. She really was doing a terrible job of reassuring Ruby. Some part of her old self was still there, so what Poppy presented the opportunity, she took it, grinning through still slightly swollen eyes. “You hear that, Tail? You’ll have to smoke your shit somewhere else. Because I have a headache.”

@poppy-morris

[poppy-morris]

Poppy was concerned that she didn’t know, but it wasn’t unusual for a trauma like this either. It just made her recommendations a little harder, but she was also aware that whatever she said, Viola would likely not do more than the bare minimum to heal herself. It was the part of her limited experience working with people that bothered her the most. You had to meet them where they were. “Yeah. It definitely can be.” Poppy said, opting to reassure.

Poppy had never been given consent quite like that before, but she would take it. “Thank you.” She sanitised, put gloves on and started working as quickly as she could. Thankfully she had practiced this a lot and there weren’t too many so she was able to keep her promise. Anti-septic, bandage for protection, move on. Thank god none of them needed stitches. That would have been its own battle.

She tried to listen to Tal and Ruby talking behind her, but couldn’t quite catch it. Something about carrying. Good luck to them, whatever they were discussing.

Poppy laughed at Viola’s gibe at Tal. “Yeah, no hotboxing around the patient,” she confirmed. She wondered what Tal’s stash was even looking like at the moment. Was he running as tragically low as the rest of them?

“Perfect. I’ll get you some more so you don’t run out, but take two every six hours. Don’t take any more than that. It’ll fuck with your liver.” Could she say fuck as a doctor? Poppy wasn’t sure she cared. She looked over her shoulder at the siblings. “Can you get two for her now and some water?”

@taliesinmauk

[taliesinmauk]

Get creative, Tail. It was just that easy, right? When Ruby had been drunk on the floor with a knife in hand, it hadn't been creativity that made him take it from her. It was instinct. The more Taliesin slowed down, the less likely he was to be able to "find" that creativity again, but there was nothing for it. Poppy wasn't done with her work. He needed to think, even if the thinking just felt like it made it all worse.

"Noted." He agreed good naturedly, but he met Poppy's searching look with a pained one. "Been out more than a week. You know I wouldn't hold out on you."

He let Ruby extricate herself from him and head for bathroom. Ruby's room was unfortunately the farthest from it. Which made him realize...

Lou's parents had an ensuite. On the first floor. With a really nice tub.

"Poppy... You want Viola on her feet as little as possible, right?" He caught her eye carefully. Please play along. Please.

@rubymauk