Pale dorm shenanigans

[traces]

Characters: Dahlia Hawthorne, open to anyone in the Pale dormitory
Format: Whichever
This log is: open
Location: Pale dorm, various places
Summary: Dahlia is manipulative.
Warnings: Dahlia being passive-aggressive. (Please, feel free to call her out.)

Right now, Dahlia is a Weapon, and that means she can't spend any raks. Even if she could, she'd rather save her money; she knows she can just guilt Recette into buying Memory Charms for her, but even that requires transferring the required money to the shopkeeper. If at all possible, Dahlia would rather not spend any money at all.

So she'll find other people to buy them for her.

a) [ room 1-A ]

Dahlia's hair is messy and un-braided as she crawls around on the floor, looking under chairs and beds in a panic. "Where did it go... Where did it go?!"

b) [ first floor hallway ]

She stands in front of the door to room 1-A, staring intently at the nameplate bearing her name and those of her roommates.

"Hawthorne... Hawthorne... Dahlia Hawthorne," she murmurs to herself. She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and then makes a high-pitched noise of frustration somewhere between a growl and a shriek. Why can't she remember?!

c) [ common room ]

She stands near one wall, glancing up at the clock hanging in front of her. She tilts her head from side to side. The numbers probably indicate the hour, but what about the minutes? Why is it so round? And what do the different-sized straight lines ticking and tocking mean?


...

People will feel sorry for her if she does this, right?

Comments

Room 1-A

[stoatallymad]

Firifale happened to be under his bed when Dahlia checked. This was fairly normal for him; he had dragged all his blankets under it, leaving only the fitted sheet to drape over the side and form a curtain for his little cave. More private! More safe! --Probably? More comfortable, at any rate.

He blinked at the sudden burst of light, but this was a welcome interruption. A frustrated teacher had given him a children's book when they discovered that he couldn't read. Without further instruction, this really just passed the frustration onto Firifale, and he was getting very sick of squinting at all the stick-ly bits and curvy things that were supposed to be making words. He flung the book aside.

"Lost?" he asked, poking his head and shoulders out from underneath the bed.

[traces]

"Kyaaa!" Dahlia shrieked and scrambled backward when Firifale spoke. What was that weirdo new roommate doing under his bed?

[stoatallymad]

"Aaaah!" Firifale echoed her cry and jerked back under the bed. Danger, clearly! Hide! But when nothing horrible happened, the thought occurred that she might be screaming at him. He poked his head out again.

"Lost what?"

[traces]

"A-A memory charm," she replied in a shaky voice. Perhaps this oaf could be useful to her. He didn't seem very bright. "It's a small, round piece of jewelry... Have you seen it?"

He hasn't.

It's in her pocket.

[stoatallymad]

"Memory charm, memory charm..." He wrinkled his nose as he strained to remember. This had all been explained to him before. Unfortunately it had been explained to him in the presence of a very interesting ray of sunlight coming in at a funny angle through a window. He took in maybe 20% of what they'd said.

"Nooooo," he said finally, drawing out the word like a piece of taffy. He wasn't sure he would've recognized it even if he'd seen it. "Sorry?"

[traces]

Dahlia sighed as though she were despondent. "Oh, no... And that was my only one, too. What ever am I going to do?"

Her eyes watered and she raised a hand to her mouth to stifle a sniffle

[stoatallymad]

Ohno. Wrong answer. Now she was getting all sad with the leaky eyes. Bad news.

"I'll help! With the looking, yes?" He tumbled over the words in his hurry to fix things, flashing her a hopeful grin.

[traces]

"I-if you could, please? Oh, I hate to imagine what could have happened... What if it's lost forever? I can't afford another one..."

This is also a lie.

[stoatallymad]

Firifale's lie detector, if he even had such a thing, was locked away in the same dusty corner as his subtlety and self-control. Dahlia had nothing to worry about on that front.

"Of course!"

He sprung out from under the bed and began his search. What he lacked in focus he made up for in enthusiasm, flinging things this way and that; if she let him continue, the whole room was going to become a disaster area.

"Can't be lost forever," he assured her. "Awful long time, forever. Must be here somewhere! --Last place you saw it?"

[traces]

"On this chain around my wrist," she said, holding one hand up to show off the chain. "I'm not sure when it fell off, really."

[stoatallymad]

The chain drew his attention instantly. He sided up close to her and, without bothering to ask permission or give warning, tugged hard on the chain.

"Strong." His brow furrowed in concern. "Hmm. Fighting any?"

It was the only thing he could think of that might get a charm off the bracelet. The only thing a lady like Dahlia might do, anyway.

[traces]

Dahlia shrieked when he tugged on the chain, and yoinked her hand backward. Ugh, this guy was even more of a worthless load than... than what was his name? What was it...

"N-no... I haven't fought. I can't, I could never..." She stepped backward. Why was Firifale such a weird creeper?

[stoatallymad]

Firifale jumped backward too, landing crouched on top of a desk and holding his hands up.

"Sorry! Sorry!" A useful word, that one. Then he wrinkled his nose as he strained to think of any other scenarios that would tear off a charm. "Any climbing on rocks? Digging? Crawling in squeeze-tunnels?"

[traces]

"N-no... I suppose it must have simply fallen off at some point."

[stoatallymad]

Firifale shook his head. Once he'd gotten an idea stuck, nothing short of a chisel to pull it free.

"Doubt it! Strongish chain. Must've gotten caught on something, probably." Though, without any obvious chances for such a thing to happen... he cringed a bit. "Could be anywhere?"

He was perfectly willing to help her look for it all night-- a nice lady!-- but he wasn't convinced that would do any good.

[traces]

She cringed. Even an idiot like him could see through what she was saying... She should have come up with a better story.

"A-anywhere." She sighed. "It... it might be too late. It's probably gone by now. What am I going to..."

Common Room

[lovesignmasterspark]

The week had been pretty good for her so far, but Marisa hadn't been keeping up with the people she knew. Mostly paying attention to Alice and Sakuya since they knew things about where she came from... mostly.

So when she saw Dahlia confused and looking at the clock, she decided to step over. "Tryin' to check th' time?"

[traces]

Dahlia glanced over at her Player, then looked down shyly and nodded. "I can't seem to make heads or tails of it..."

b, because this is apparently Mayfield |D

[veepofchess]

Lelouch was striding through the dormitory, just checking to see if there was any trouble going on. He supposed he ought to at least look like a fastidious prefect.

But that did nothing to improve the scowl on his face. He frowned perpetually, though that wasn't really a significant difference than any other time.

And here he finds Dahlia, no doubt up to something ill-conceived. "Dahlia, what seems to be the problem?" he asked cordially. Masks were useful things. And his was more flawless than certain other people.

shut your nii mouth

[traces]

When she heard Lelouch's voice, she turned toward him, a look of frustration on her face. "It's just... No matter how hard I try, this memory keeps escaping me. It's something so simple, and yet..."

Re: shut your nii mouth

[veepofchess]

"Yes, it can be quite frustrating isn't it?" some might consider him patronizing as hell, but he'd made a point of treating Dahlia well, so she probably would just think that was how he normally was.

[traces]

God, Lelouch was patronizing as hell. But she'd made a point of acting like she didn't mind, so she just nodded in agreement and wiped a solitary tear from the corner of one eye. "It really is... I don't know what I'm going to do, Lelouch."

[stoatallymad]

Firifale was a lot of things-- uneducated, socially inept, unreasonably trusting-- but he wasn't an idiot. He had no doubt that she had lost her charm, but he was quite sure that she was mistaken about how. He fidgeted nervously. Sad lady, sad lady. Needed to help.

"But... happy without memories too, yes? Might turn up, too! Put up a letter?" He flashed her a hopeful smile.

[veepofchess]

"Stay strong, Miss Hawthorne. Your eagerness to collect the weapons needed to win the round helps Fortitude, and earns us that rak bonus, but it does help you earn raks faster if you actually fight," he responded. "There's lots of opportunity to learn if you like."

[traces]

"But... No matter how many raks I have, I can't buy my own memories back. So how am I ever going to remember?" She shook her head. "I can't fight. I--I can't hurt anyone. I can't."

[traces]

"...not happy," she replied softly, but she nodded. "Yes, that's a good idea. Thank you for the suggestion."

[veepofchess]

"If you need someone to use your money to purchase a memory charm for you, all you need to do is ask." He nodded a bit. "Prefects aren't just here to be disciplinarians. The pain felt during a battle is purely temporary. Since we're all forced to do it, there shouldn't be any hard feelings."

[traces]

"I-I suppose I could do that..." She twirled her hair around one finger idly. Augh, she shouldn't have to, though. "I hadn't thought of that. What a good idea! I still don't feel as though I can hurt another person, though..."

[veepofchess]

"If you would like to go with me, I can help you." A reasonable enough offer, yes?

[traces]

Fuck. No, Lelouch, this isn't how this conversation was supposed to go. "Ah, are you a Player right now? Or do prefects always have store privileges?"

[veepofchess]

"I could take you to my player, and he could purchase them for you. Are you currently a discard?" He gestured for her to follow him.

[traces]

"Ah, no. Miss Marisa is my Player right now, but I didn't want to bother her."

[veepofchess]

"Well, then you shouldn't have any trouble with Flynn," he smiled a bit.

[traces]

"Mr. Flynn? Ah, that man from Conquest who was..." He was Lelouch's player? Interesting. "If you don't think he'll mind..."

[veepofchess]

He shook his head. "No, he's very willing to help, regardless of school affiliations."

[traces]

"A-all right, then. Thank you very much."