cancry | Moving Forward

[ The 7th day comes to pass and despite knowing that things are different now, Achilles still braces for the worst - only when time doesn't reset does he finally feel like he can breathe again. Like the final confirmation that the loops are indeed over.

Though it's what he sees in the coming days as they prepare for the Underside that really excites him, to the point that he messages the group chat about it. ]

Well, well. So is this the highly anticipated "school festival" I've heard all the students speak so highly of?

[ Indeed as Achilles says, the school festival has finally come. It is the most extravagant, anime-ass Japanese school festival you can imagine, with various student run stands outside full of food and even more things going on inside... and the entirety of the student council running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to keep everything running smoothly.

This, even more so than the passing of Authority and the lack of time resets, puts him at ease. ]

I know we still have much preparation to do but I think after all of this a little bit of fun and relaxation might be good for us.

Of course if all the hustle and bustle gets to be too much for anyone you're more than welcome to make use of my office or faculty dorm, should you have difficulty finding an empty room.

[ Not that he'll be in either much, he's also in a mood to check out the ~~food~~ festival. But hey you don't need him to be present to chill in there.

You've done good work Executors. Enjoy this respite before the battle ahead. ]

((ooc: This is an open mingle post for everyone! Feel free to top level your character doing whatever you feel like doing and tagging around. :) ))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

??? Children are so strange. It seems like quite a bit of work for no gain... Purgatory strangeness? [help he's never been to anime school] also!!! We still can't go back up. That seems worrying.

[But enough about that, school's doing some shit. The chess club seems to have put on a full person chessboard? With people as the pieces? And mock battles when they 'fight' each other? Curious!

He's got his shades back in place, though otherwise seems to be less...sticky gross sickly goopy. He scratches his head at some of the festival offerings. Some of these do not seem...age appropriate. Or to have anything to do with the clubs. He also is apparently Too Big For Bouncy Castle, which is clearly ridiculous, and he will thus prove everyone wrong through various antics. Mostly he's just walking around bemused, looking at everything and feeling all out of place. Whether because he is An Adult, or because of where he's at with Phoenix that's still lingering, or the realization that it's all so fake since they're all dead and these poor children don't even know it. Maybe it's an itch to finally get out of here, to go and get on with it after the loop had made him somewhat loopy.

There's a dunk tank, though. So you know he's definitely going to try it.]

[ At some point during the proceedings, Chiron might come across Rei kind of... metal gear solid-ing her way around the halls, looking as though she's doing her very best to not stick out. Why this is might have something to do with the rabble of girls from her class all decked out in what seems to be cosplay who are crowded in front of the classroom door and chattering away between themselves.

The current topic of discussion seems to be someone who was supposed to show up for their shift at the cosplay cafe being put on by their class but who has turned out to be a no-show. Just who... on Earth... could it be... it's a mystery... ]

[Would she like picked up? Would she like scooped up by Professor Chiron and obscured by his layers of clothing?]

And what, pray tell, were you supposed to dress up as?

[ She kind of just goes limp like a scruffed kitten. She lives here now. ]

I have no idea. I just heard them talking about cosplay and didn't stick around to hear any more.

Have you considered that dressing up in costume will make you less recognizable to them in the first place? Perhaps if you put your hair up some way...

I don't want to dress up like anything...!

[ She wriggles in protest. Y'know, Like Nya. ]

And if they find me anyway, then I'll have to go back and help since I'm already in costume!

You understand that you don't...have to do anything here, correct?

I–I know I don't have to, but... if they find me and ask me to work a shift, how am I supposed to just turn them down?

[ She Has Anxiety, Bro ]

By saying no. [honey please] By transforming into an amazingly powerful being that has no time for their petty nonsense? [chiron] By playing hooky and eating snacks!

... I guess I would be less recognizable if I became an Executor...

[ And she could just yeet away at top speed from anyone who thought they recognized her. ]

You might attract more attention for being so terribly pretty, but as others are in some fancy getups, maybe you'll get away with it.

[ Chiron being... well, Chiron is enough to get her to let out a hard breath through her nose and stop fretting quite so much. ]

Fine. Just make sure to tell me if anyone notices, okay?

[ And she's gonna just... go and transform right there in the middle of the hall. Incredible!! ]

[He's going to let her. He's just gonna let her do this thing! Innocently! He's a very proud dad. She's so pretty and adorable!

And then:] I might have suggested doing so in the restroom where others wouldn't be able to see you go through such an astonishing transformation, but to each their own!

[ . . .

See: the deeply embarrassed expression of a girl who has not even for a second considered that. ]

... I... I just thought it might be quicker to...

[ She droops. ]

I'm not very good at all this sneaking around...

[He laughs merrily. It's very Chiron of him, in spite of the Everything he's been lately.] My dear, we're Executors! We're flashy and powerful and don't, as I see it, do sneaking in general. I wouldn't worry about it overly much. If anyone tries to get you to do something you don't want to, you can quite simply say no.

[too much swagger for the dagger, as he doesn't say, but lbh it's implied]

If only it was that easy...

[ She heaves a big sigh. But she seems a little less jittery than she was a moment before, anyway. ]

Maybe I can come up with an excuse if anyone tries to drag me back there. I'll say I'm running an errand for a faculty member.

Someday we'll instill some confidence in you. Telling people with expectations of you no is... [...Hm. A bad feeling, actually, yeah.] Unfortunate, but sometimes you've simply got to put yourself first.

I guess it feels worse because it isn't as though they're asking very much... and even if they don't know it, everyone's been waiting for the festival for so long. But the idea of dressing up and serving customers...

[ She gives a full body shudder, as if what'd been asked of her was like, taking a soak in a bathtub full of spiders. ]

I don't think I'd be able to handle it.

It's too much to ask of you. And it's okay to express that! You aren't actually a student here; you should be able to enjoy this however you want.

[ For a moment, Rei just blinks at him – not quite surprised, but definitely processing a bit. Then she giggles, as if enjoying a private joke. ]

Sorry, sorry. It's just– you really do sound like a professor when you say things like that.

...Ahaha- [And though surprised himself, he has to give a little laugh himself, a hand up in his hair, pushing it back from his face (only for it to fall back into its usual mess).] Do you think so? I wasn't much of a teacher in a past life, though in some ways I tried.

You weren't still making up things out of whole cloth, were you?

[ she has sat through his history lessons ]

Moving Forward

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