hotel: molly

[shaft]

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week 0, saturday, pool

[shaft]

[ A pool... How nostalgic.

Claude just smiles at Molly, somewhat sympathetic. ]

Hey there. Are you relieved or disappointed Caleb and Beau aren't here this time?

[headmt]

[ oh boy. well, if he really wants to be baffled by the Consistency of Mollymauk, here he's also decided his first course of action is to take his boots off and stick his feet in the pool. There's a bit of an odd look that crosses his face when Claude says that, but he brushes past it. ]

Probably better in the end to have fewer friends in mortal danger, right? Assuming there is danger. And that it's mortal or whatnot.

[shaft]

[ we love our molly

anyway, claude doesn't mind the nostalgia, taking a seat next to him. ]

You're right. It could be a very, very misguided attempt in making friends. I've been told my company is rather desirable.

W0, MONDAY

[headmt]

[ I'm not thinking too hard about preambles for these. They just happen. They are in a room. It's fine. Maybe he grabbed Claude earlier for an exploring buddy. Either way, I rolled and they are now in

You open a door which leads into a comfortable sitting room that matches the hotel's aesthetic. On one of the tables is a board game - you and whoever who has entered the room with you will not be able to exit until you have played the game to completion. If you don't have enough players, shadowy figures that look like the silhouettes of people you know from your previous game who are not here will fill the space. Their mannerisms are just the way you remember. Once the game ends, you find yourself back in the hall, disoriented and feeling a little homesick for the people you're no longer with.

But I thought it'd be funny if it was chess. ]

I don't have a clue how to play this.

[shaft]

Me neither.

[ He lies like a liar, taking a seat. ]

We can find out together.

[headmt]

[ Also taking a seat then, like he's got a choice. Crossing one leg over the other, observing the board. ]

That so? In that case, we'll just make up some rules. Just someone has to win, right?

week 0, saturday, restaurant

[shaft]

[ Hello, we are getting a meal.

When Claude looks at Molly, he opens his mouth and then just. Starts, as if remembering. ]

Ah, that might take a second to get used to.

[headmt]

[ starting back a little too when he does that. ]

Get used to what? Something on my face?

[shaft]

[ he shakes his head ]

That you're not the same person I went to school with. Sorry, it must be weird for you.

W1, MONDAY

[headmt]

[ hi are you enjoying a calm monday? not anymore. molly is slinging an arm over Claude's shoulders jovially and steering him right towards the lobby doors. ]

Come with me. We're going places. If we're lucky, maybe they've got a hair dresser?

[shaft]

[ HELLO MOLLY

Claude looks a little dubious. ]

Is this a gentle way of saying you don't like my hair?

week 1, friday, restaurant

[shaft]

[ What's up, Molly. Claude is hydrating and eating some fruit. He also has some... scratches on his face.

He waves. ]

Molly. Care to join me?

[headmt]

[ molly, who is still a bit ... smoky ... just looks over at him, nods and then comes over to heavily sit next to him.

and then just rudely reaches over to take some of the fruit right off of his place. ]

W2, MONDAY

[headmt]

[ heyo Claude. Trying to enjoy your Monday? Not anymore because, unfortunately: Molly.

He's weirdly buttoned up today, wearing a ... turtleneck under his coat? How did he even get that on. What a mystery. ]

Do you think one of these days, one of the mysterious hallway doors is gonna have something really good behind it? Like, sure, most of them are portals to Hell, where Asmodeus himself awaits to kick you in the arse, but one of them could just be full of cake. Or your hostage!

[shaft]

[ Okay, what.

Claude, who is made out of a murky fog today, is too focused on whatever is going on with Molly. ]

What are you wearing?

week 3, monday, library

[shaft]

[ When Claude and Molly have the bad luck to be in the library at the same time, they're going to find themselves thrown into a memory!

This isn't your world—it's probably not any world, just another illusion concocted by the story—but your heart still goes out to the young girl that you'd met. Abandoned, alone, unable to speak on that old ship. She was afraid, but you managed to gain her trust.

Now, she looms above you, a monster.

You're on an abandoned ship that's washed up ashore of a small town, the rotting, brittle wood is instead around you as she continues to grow in her grief, the desk splintering under her weight and threatening to throw you and your companions into the water below.

"Claudia, stop! I promise no one here wants to hurt you!"

A lie. You know that Lux will wield her magic again the moment she catches her breath, and that Kon is waiting for the opportunity to bury his sword in her body, but as her panicked cries ring in your head—Claude? Claude?—all you can think is how much you want to salvage this situation. Take her back to being a little girl. She might be a monster now, but she treated you with kindness.

The ship breaks and your lungs fill with water, debris crashing down around you, and even amidst her anguish, she finds you. She treats you gently, carrying you to shore and to safety. None of her tentacles come in your direction, not even when you summon the magic of this world, dark spikes cutting through the ground to slice into her body.

She cries, betrayed, Why...? I just wanted to be with you. You were the only who was kind to me. You were the only who tried to help me. I wanted to see the world with you. I wanted to speak like you. I wanted to read like you. I wanted to eat more snack bars with you...

She doesn't attack you still, as you drag yourself past her monstrous limbs, reaching the part of her that's still a girl, small hands holding a small face as she cries, and it breaks your heart.

"I know, I know... I'm sorry."

You hate this place—this story. And you hate yourself too, a little, for always betraying those that trust you, when you plunge your dagger into her chest.

The illusion breaks as the memory starts to fade, disappearing with one last look, and the sound of her voice in your ear, You showed me how beautiful the world was.... so why was I so ugly.....?

And Claude looks pretty shell shocked, even once the memory is gone. This is why getting attached to people is the worst. ]

[headmt]

[ Molly almost flinches - it's all raw, and real and sincere, like all of these memories always are. They're never the kindest choices. Looking back at him once it's done, searching his face for a moment. ]

... Sorry.

week 3, friday

[shaft]

[ Hello Molly, wherever you are, Claude will be sulking around near you.

Hi. ]

[headmt]

[ that's fine, he can sulk. Molly will just come over and sit near him?




And then also his hand sneaks over to hold Claude's. ]

W4, MONDAY

[headmt]

[hello. whenever claude passes by near molly somewhere, in the hallway, or out to the lobby, molly just slings an arm around his shoulders. ]

Going anywhere interesting?

[shaft]

[ hello! claude smiles at him ]

Anywhere can be interesting with the right company.

week 5, monday, mountain

[shaft]

[ They're at the mountain! The hills are alive with the sound of music...

Claude's got wide eyes as he takes in the place. ]

I love this.

[headmt]

[ Oh. cute? Cute. ]

Really? This your favorite one?

week 7, tuesday

[shaft]

You all seem to have had quite the busy day yesterday.

[ they're married to the same man... ]

oh my god

[headmt]

[ wow .......... polyamory. ]

That's certainly something coming from you.

[ he's. inching a hand over. to try and stick it through claude again. ]