Week 1

[bathymetric]

Good morning, New Rapture. A new day is dawning.

There may not be much light to differentiate the days here, but the lights of the part of the city you're in change enough by the clock that you can almost believe there's a sun somewhere. It looks like Mayor Fontaine has no intention of going back on his deal, and for the time being? You're all stuck here. But there's plenty to do, and... maybe not plenty to see, but there's enough. There's something, at any rate.

Especially if you're willing to look beyond the surface.

And if you spend enough time around others, you might find something neat!

No matter what, it's time to start getting to know your fellow captives. You might be here a while.




MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
FRIDAY | SATURDAY

[ ooc: Welcome to the first week of Unknown Seas Round 3! We're very excited to have you. Please make sure to mark any investigation toplevels accordingly, and you can reach either Mayor Fontaine or Eleanor for conversations! ]

Comments

garden

[inaclearing]

...hey, Obi.

[Brett feels vaguely like he's walked into something he shouldn't have. But it seems worse to stay quiet and pretend he didn't do it at all.]

Everything okay...?

[kninja]

Oh, hi there, Brett.

[Obi doesn't seem put out by another's presence, at least.]

I'm fine, I'm fine. Just feeling a little lonesome after this long away from my post. Taking a stroll?

[inaclearing]

Yeah. It's...I don't know, it's hard to sleep here.

[Brett sleeps alone plenty, but not in situations like this.]

I'm...used to talking to Luca in the evenings. Sometimes we'll miss a night or two, but it's been strange not hearing from him for this long.

[kninja]

...I know what you mean.

[It's hard to keep the longing out of his voice, but he tries to cover it with a chuckle.]

Well, it sure won't be the same as talking to your husband, but you're welcome to sit and chat with me as long as you like. I'm a night owl, anyway.

[inaclearing]

[Brett lets out half a chuckle himself, and goes to sit nearby on the grass.]

Okay. Would it make you feel better to talk about who you miss, or worse?

[kninja]

Better, usually, but I am curious about your Luca. So what about you? Better or worse to talk?

[He leans back on his hands, already seemingly more relaxed to have company.]

[inaclearing]

Better.

[Brett sounds a little thoughtful about it, but - well, it is good to talk. This isn't - it's not as though Luca is gone, he just isn't here.]

I'm actually glad he isn't here. [He says, finishing his own thought out loud.] Does that sound bad? I just - I don't know if I could handle him being in a place like this. I don't mean to say he's fragile, he's tougher than I am. But we're just regular people, we don't deal with...kidnapping-and-murder plots.

[kninja]

You're doing an admirable job of it, Mr. Regular. I mean it.

[He stretches his legs out, one after the other.]

I wouldn't wish My Lady here, either, even if it meant I was at her side like I'm s'posed to be. She'd get along with most of you, of course, and she's got the spunk to pull everyone together, but... well.

It's my job to keep her safe. So if she's safer where I'm not, then I'm glad for it.

[He taps his toes together, then lets them fall away from each other again.]

How'd you two meet?

[inaclearing]

Well, nothing's happened yet.

[We'll see how he handles it when shit does start to go down.]

We met at work. I'm a journalist, he's a photographer - he likes doing nature photography best, but we're both freelancers, so sometimes we just have to take whatever work we can get. I was doing a profile on some local chef for a magazine, and they sent him to get the pictures. Total chance, really.

[He's quiet for a moment, considering his words.]

I don't feel like it's my job to protect him. That's not the kind of relationship we have - we can both take care of ourselves. But if it came down to it, yeah, of course I'd rather I'm here.

[kninja]

[Obi nods, chuckling.]

Yeah, yeah, it's different. You're partners, right? That's what the best marriages are.

[He closes his eyes and touches a hand to his chest.]

It's literally my job and my duty as a knight to defend My Lady, however the situation calls for it. That's how Master and I agreed I would serve him best.

[inaclearing]

That's very chivalrous. You don't see that kind of thing much anymore, in my world.

[He doesn't mean it in a bad way. This seems...well, Brett doesn't see anything wrong with it at all.]

Your master is...?

[kninja]

[God bless, Brett. He's literally the first person to ask directly.]

...His Highness Zen Wisteria, Prince of Clarines.

[Obi smiles helplessly.]

I wouldn't say, but his name's already on that profile of me. If they heard him say that, they know who he is to me.

[inaclearing]

[Brett smiles, more in response to Obi smiling than anything else.]

Are you two close? Like - personally?

[kninja]

I wonder. Now, how did he put it last week?

[Eyes closed, he tilts his face up towards New Rapture's dark ceiling, still smiling.]

"It's hard to give him--" meaning me, of course, "--a single label, but I'd call him my perfectly candid, eccentric friend." That's what Master said about me.

[Then his grin widens.]

'Course, the first time we met, he threw me off a second-story balcony and had me arrested, but I can't really blame him for that.

[inaclearing]

[He laughs.]

Wow, what did you do? Dodge all his bodyguards?

[kninja]

Yeah, more or less. Exposed a couple other glaring holes in palace security while I was at it.

[He raises his hands as if to flap all that away.]

Water under the bridge! Now I'm one of those very guards, though my place is at My Lady's side rather than his. Or, no, rather than rather than...

[Obi leans back on his hands again, humming as he thinks.]

It's my place to be with her when he can't be, and to take care of her as he would if he were there. That's the type of knight I've agreed to be for those two.

[inaclearing]

You need people to test the security every now and again. Better than getting complacent.

[It's too easy to get complacent - to assume that just because nothing bad has happened so far, that it won't.]

He must trust you a lot.

[kninja]

I like to think so. I worked hard to earn it.

[After a pause, he laughs a little.]

Man, I miss them like crazy. If that's how I feel, I dunno how you can stand it, being apart from someone you love that much.

[inaclearing]

I'm glad you have friends like that. That's nice.

[AND MAYBE SOMETHING MORE??? But Brett's not quite sure how to broach that.]

Luca and I both travel a lot for work. This isn't the longest we've been apart at all. But we talk almost every day, and I was - I was really looking forward to him coming out to the cottage. He's never been, but I've spent a lot of time in Whitetail. I wanted to introduce him to everyone there - make it a part of both our lives, instead of just mine.

[And now he won't be there.]

He's going to think something awful happened to me. I mean, it has, but...people go missing in those woods. And if they've been gone this long...

[kninja]

...Right. I see what you're saying.

[Oof. Poor Luca. Poor Brett. It's not quite the same, but Obi can't ignore a pang in his own chest at the thought that Zen and Shirayuki might think he just ran off without a word. He doesn't think they will, not after all this time, but it still... hurts, imagining they could believe he'd abandon them.]

We both got a lot of explaining ahead of us when we get back.

[inaclearing]

It was the middle of winter, too.

[The worst time to get lost in those woods. Everyone knows that he wouldn't just wander out there on a whim; Brett knows better, they all do by now. But accidents happen. That's been a fact of his world for a very long time.

"When we get back", though. That's a cheering thought. Brett turns to look sidelong at Obi.]

What do you think you'll say?

[kninja]

[He takes a moment to think that over.]

...Haa. Not like I can just go, "Hey, I wanted to give you two some space to catch up, so I made myself scarce for a week without saying anything."

I'll prolly have to tell them both most of it. This is too big a secret to keep, and too much of it is just too strange. If I talk about any of it, I'm gonna have to explain it all.

[inaclearing]

You don't think it'll sound too weird?

[Maybe not. Obi's from a different world than Brett.]

This isn't the kind of thing most people would believe, where I'm from. I'd tell Luca anyway, of course, there's...nothing else I could say. But I don't know what I'd say to everybody else.

[kninja]

So much of it is beyond belief, I think they'll know I'm not lying. Not that I can really lie to them, anyway.

[He rubs the back of his head.]

I wouldn't tell anyone else, except maybe Master's other two aides. It's not strange for me to come and go, otherwise. Master can probably cook up some excuse.

Maybe you and Luca can work on a story together.

[inaclearing]

Easier when you've got royalty backing you up, huh?

[He smiles, though it's brief.]

I guess we could. It'd have to be a good story. There's been...too many people lost in Whitetail, lately.

[And now Brett's putting them all through that again. He wonders if there's been search parties - if the kids delayed returning to college to help. He hopes they don't spend too long on something so futile.]