So When Sleep Just Won't Come

[ninehundredlives]

[Well, that sure did happen.

Logan is dead, and for once the rest of the students were all there to bear witness. After that, does anybody really want to lie alone in their dark bedrooms all night?

Of course not. That's why people are gathering in the dining hall. It's still dark, but the room is lit with a hastily-assembled host of candles, mostly forming a protective half-circle around the far corner of the room. There's also at least one garbage-can fire, courtesy of Sukuyo. Will that be enough to keep the shadows at bay? Only one way to find out...

There's pillows and blankets too, but try not to fall asleep out here. Keep an eye out for any neighbors who might be nodding off too. That would be against the rules, and there's been more than enough punishment for one night.]

Comments

[perpend]

[Cabanela looks like hell.

He's certainly not going to be sleeping tonight, though he is resting close to the garbage-can fire, ostensibly to keep an eye on it.]

....Forgive me, my friend. I did promise I wouldn't say a word, but....

[And then he speaks up.]

....Back in Albion, Logan had experience fighting shadows. He told me as much a while back. He told me a horrible creature of the shadows was coming towards his country-- that it was poised to attack.

But he also told me that the shadows here did not behave like the ones he had faced before.

I beliiiieve he thought he might stand a chance against it.

[announcemyvictory]

And it attacked him and not you because he tried to fight?

[perpend]

I.... when I found him, he was already dead.

[swirlied]

Did he say what was different about them?

[perpend]

He... he mentioned something about the one he was worried about being able to influence people-- being able to show them their worst fears, and to taunt them in their own minds.

The shadows he's faced were an extension of that thing-- its "children."

[zomgboom]

[only woke up once everyone was bangin around in the hallway. she looks kind of pissed that she's been dragged out of her room but.

it's 100% possible you all did it so she didn't just steal all of Logan's shit and have a straight up fist fight with Youko over it. she is willing to respect that.]

I, like, told him someone was controlling it! That was a dumb plan.

[Tabby, you said no such thing even if you heavily implied it.]

[ninehundredlives]

I really doubt he planned any part of this.

[ninehundredlives]

He mentioned that to me, too.

[Susan may have suggested this whole thing, but she seems more inclined to curl up in as close to the garbage fire as possible and not really talk much.]

He said light, and...and fire were effective against it. Maybe guns. He didn't mention swords. [Why would he do go out without a light?] He wasn't prepared for this.

[housenurse]

If only the sword had been on fire, he might still be here today...! We need to invest in flaming swords, to prevent this from ever happening again!

[oftheland]

...Didn't the ghosts mention something about a weakness to light, too? And we saw what happened with Chie, so... really, I think the biggest question here is why he didn't... I don't know, douse his sword in alcohol and set it on fire before going after the thing.

[forcegalactic]

We were just talkin' about that...a few days ago. The ones in his world focus in mind control and other mental abilities, these are more about fightin' and physical prowess.

But that got me thinkin': don't that mean we should other methods besides beatin' it up? I thought since it was more of a doer than a thinker, we can try to outsmart it instead.

[announcemyvictory]

[Elise shifts uncomfortably, eyes always out looking through the door.]

It won't... It won't. It won't. A-ah. All of you. You're all unhurt, aren't you?

[housenurse]

[with the single-minded intensity she brings to all things in life, Sukuyo is mostly sitting on the floor of the dining room next to her beloved trash fire, considering the most important of all questions: what else could be lit on fire?

but, she's a Mankanshoku, and thus is having a little trouble with the "don't fall asleep" part of the anti-slumber party. every five or ten minutes or so, she immediately falls dead asleep-- still sitting up, snoring a little, possibly even in the middle of feeding more paper to her fire.]

[zomgboom]

Oi! [shakes.] Don't fall asleep with fire in your hands!

[housenurse]

[SCRE-- oh wait never mind.]

Tabby-chan, you shouldn't startle people like that! [just. puts the fire with the rest of the fire.]

[oftheland]

...Erm, Sukuyo...?

[YEAH HE KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN, let's just gently tap her shoulder]

[rickdiculous]

[Damnit you fucking losers can't keep him from sleeping

I mean, he's gonna lie on one of the tables nestled in a cocoon of blankets and practically drooling on to his pillow already but he probably won't fall asleep]

[forcegalactic]

[After tonight, Mordecai is feeling something he usually tries to avoid. Anger. Anger at the Conductor, at their situation, at the shadow that killed Logan, at Logan himself for trying to fight it directly.

All this is terrible and it needs to stop.

So while watching over the group, Mordecai sits on one of the chairs and clutching on of the pillows, looking furious at a spot on the ground. He's thinking about a lot of things, about last conversations, about the future. No need to worry about falling asleep; his mind is too restless for that.]

[swirlied]

[ Yuuri has a blanket spread out on the floor with a couple of pillows, so it'll be comfortable enough for anyone who doesn't want to sit at the tables or just on the floor.

He'll mostly be doodling in a notebook, or writing down a few of the things said during discussion. But mostly doodling.

He will also invite anyone over that looks like they're about to fall asleep. ]

[oftheland]

[...Giovanni really doesn't think the dining hall's the best place for this, but whatever. He can get the emotional reasons for it, even if he really thinks they should be in their rooms where it's unquestionably safe.

So as soon as he thinks everyone's filtered in, he'll make an announcement.]

...I know it might be unlikely, but if anyone finds themselves drifting off, let me know and I can escort you to my room. There's a good chance there'll be more than one person who needs to head there by the end of the night, but in case there isn't, I'll have Beedrill in there keeping an eye on you.

...

He's much less intimidating than he looks, trust me.

[heymcfly]

[ You bet your ass Marty's going to be here.

Despite seeing people die way too often here anymore, Marty finds it incredibly hard to stay awake. It's part of the whole teenager thing where you stay up for a long period of time (which he has been to be honest), and then when you crash, you crash hard. Not all that far in the sleepover, Marty's bundled up in blankets with the group, and eyes are so freaking heavy.

Yaaawwwnnn. ]

[forcegalactic]

[No, Marty. Don't you dare die just because you didn't stay up late enough.

So Mordecai walks on over and gives his a good shake.]

[zomgboom]

[throws a balled up piece of paper at him.]

Go to bed if you're, like, that tired.

[oftheland]

...you're fading pretty fast, kid.

[please don't fall asleep and die or something.]

[blazeit]

[ Bakugou's here, but he doesn't seem altogether... here. For a while, he's totally checked out, not really paying attention to anything. His posture is unusually small and closed up: knees drawn up where he's sitting on the floor, arms resting on his kneecaps, head resting on his arms.

He'll go make some input in the main conversation after a while, but it takes him a while to get gathered. On the bright side, he doesn't seem tired at all, just unusually sullen and out of it. ]