GRAVEKEEPER.

[guestservices]

GRAVEKEEPER

Today, when Jason is in his bedroom, he will receive a message on his typewriter.

Are we interrupting? Well, whatever. Your presence is required at the moment. Hope you aren't afraid of the dark.

Immediately after he finishes reading the message, he will feel compelled to walk into the elevator, inside which a shadowy elevator attendant appears as a guide. Once Jason arrives at the destination, he will find himself standing just beyond the iron fence of the graveyard.

It feels particularly eerie on this fine Tuesday - a low wind whistles through the graveyard, rustling trees no one can see, and the moon is shining high and bright overhead.

Standing tall and proud is Orion, holding a shovel in their hands, the spade of it touching the ground. They don't seem to have much to say, simply glancing from Jason over to their companion. With them is Aquarius, seated on top of a gravestone to be just slightly taller than Orion. They, too, have a shovel in their hands, the spade resting against their shoulder.

"Thanks for coming," Aquarius says in a tone that implies they're aware it wasn't by choice.

Orion reaches into their uniform, and pulls out a sheath of papers, and speaks.

"...You've been tasked with an additional duty. Read the contract between the lines, but - keep in mind that there will be consequences if you choose to disagree."

RULES

1. The Gravekeeper is required to keep maintenance of the graves in the graveyard.
2. On Tuesday, the Gravekeeper will select one participant to remove from the hotel to ensure a proper fit to the open graves available.
2A: The Gravekeeper may occasionally have an additional selection made for them, per the discretion of hotel staff.
3. Interference can only be done through the tools of the Gravekeeper trade. The interlopers will not be aware of your interference.
4. The interlopers will be placed into boxes Thursday evening and dealt with accordingly.
5. On Friday morning, the interlopers will be released from their boxes.
6. The Gravekeeper must make their decision as to their power by Thursday evening.
7. The Gravekeeper is not to disclose that they are performing these duties. Discussing them with anyone other than authorized Hotel Staff, including the interlopers, will be considered breach of contract and will result in the death of ROY HARPER.

N̸A̵V̴I̶G̶A̶T̴I̴O̸N̷.̷

█ LOCATIONS █ STATUSES █ PROFILES █ AUDIENCES
█ REPORTING █ PRIVATE CONVOS █ MURDER

Comments

[guestservices]

And you don't think your frustrations might cloud your judgments just a little? [mildly. ] I'm just saying. If you need to throw thoughts out of your head it's better to do it now.

[unrecked]

[He opens his mouth, then shuts it. He sighs through his nose, reaching up to rub both hands over his face in a frustrated scrub.]

No point. I picked wrong is all. I—I should’ve stuck with Dimitri, but I was trying to… get someone who might cause the most distress and hurt. But it was the wrong damn Station.

[guestservices]

[...they don't really know what to say. they don't think jason would like to be consoled and told he did his best, and they don't want to just ignore it either.]

...I've always told you that this is a really difficult job. Especially when you find the truth. But you also can't really blame yourself for your instincts changing when people are unpredictable.

[unrecked]

[It's fine. Jason also doesn't know what to say that isn't useless ranting which amounts to nothing in the long run.]

I know.

[It's so funny how quick the anger deflates.]

[guestservices]

[...

well they pause for a moment. and soon they jump off of the headstone and slip away into shadows.

goodbye!!!






but they come back through a portal a few seconds later and crawl back up onto the headstone, nudging something into jason's elbow.

it's a strawberry milkshake from mcbucks. they cannot offer words, but they can at least do that? sure.]

[unrecked]

[Oh... Goodbye. He just accepts this. What else is he going to do? He will chat to Orion in the meantime, or maybe have a dry pancake to stuff in his mouth.

He is more shocked that Aquarius comes back which is hilarious considering this is their jobs. The milkshake makes him snort gently, but he takes it. What a soft nerd. He reaches up to squish their hat down on their head and even ruffles it to be obnoxious.]

Thanks.

[guestservices]

[immediately swatting at his hand.]

Yeah, okay, don't make it weird. [huff!] But sometimes this kind of stuff helps me think better.

[also sometimes sugar just helps.]

[unrecked]

Sugary milkshakes help you think better when you won't even eat a quarter of a pancake or anything else? Okay.

[But he sounds amused, not mean. He'll try some of the milkshake.]

[guestservices]

I eat Orion's pancakes. [huff! they totally eat at least one while they're here and that's good enough! but...] Sometimes shakes are just easier.

[sometimes you are too mad or depressed to even give thought to chewing your food, so a drink is better.]

[unrecked]

Mm.

[Listen. He's drinking the shake right this minute. Even when he's done, there's a long pause.]

Never did shakes because you couldn't save it, make it go further. The dairy would go bad. But when I had a scrap of extra money, I'd always buy soda. For the sugar. And it was easier to get down sometimes for Mom when she was coming off a high.

[guestservices]

[it's heavy, but they don't seem bothered. they're listening and they're curled up on the tombstone letting jason take his shake and explain that.]

I tried not to stay in one place for too long for a long time, so I never worried about making things last. Fast food was always cheap and there was always a handful in any major city. Soda makes sense. Not as thick.

[...hm. they don't feel right rushing him back into talking about his job, so they will wait.]

[unrecked]

Fast food was cheap, but still sometimes a luxury for us. [Imagine fast food being a luxury.] There was a second-hand grocery that sold all the "ugly" food no one wanted for cheap. Misshaped vegetables, dented cans, stuff like that.

We ate a lot of spam and Beanee Weenees. Sometimes it was just bread folded over with a piece of sliced cheese. [He sips the milkshake a bit.] We barely had money to live, so we couldn't really move. Transportation was expensive. I could train hop or hitchhike, but Mom couldn't.

The drugs kept her in place which is what the dealers always want. Reliable addicts who come back.

[guestservices]

[there's a lot here. and somehow, aquarius does understand, in a sense, and they may be frowning under their veil as they listen.]

...it's sometimes more common among the people that I know. Parents who can't take care of their children or parents that don't even acknowledge their kids. I've met a lot of runaways. Or people struggling. Things are better now, but you don't forget those kinds of stories.

[they pick at their gloves a little.]

Madness is dangerous. Regardless of whatever form it takes. But you still want to believe that maybe things will improve. Or you don't want to leave because they need you.

[unrecked]

I know.

[Stop picking the GLOVES, I see you. Jason does not forget, especially when he sees a lot of it doing what he does. It's an old wound that keeps getting picked over.]

I think even I knew by then I couldn't help her. I think I always knew that somewhere deep down. So it was about how long I could survive until she didn't. Which feels about as wrong as the idea of having left her.

[guestservices]

[...there's a nod of understanding.]

It's hard. Dealing with family but knowing you have to do what you can to survive. I get it. [but there's a slow sigh. ] ...but you're still here. That counts.

[unrecked]

[He nudges them with an arm. Then he offers the milkshake, but isn't sure if they would even drink after him since they might get nasty bad boy cooties.]

We're both here. That counts.

[guestservices]

[...eh. why not. they weren't lying about sugar helping them think so they take a sip of milkshake. ]

...we should start planning.

[unrecked]

For the whack 'em and sack 'em? Sure.

[He thinks it'll be a flop again, but there isn't any harm in trying. This time, though, he won't waver on his initial pick whether or not it yields no results.

Or, uh, (looks at a later date) bad results.]

[guestservices]

You really could call it literally anything else.

[ but they will stop bitching and let him pick.]