GRAVEKEEPER.

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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

AQUARIUS & ORION

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[ aquarius is back on their perch on the gravestone, though they're kind of seated so that one leg is pulled to their chest and their chin rests on it as the other dangles free.

orion is here, standing tall as always, observing.... though the pancake cart is back again. tradition now. ]

[unrecked]

[THIS WEEK HAS BEEN SO MUCH ON TOP OF LAST WEEK. He trudges in here with the hair on the back of his neck standing because he has not forgotten the idiocy he pulled. BUT IT'S WEIRD BECAUSE NOW HE IS MORE AFFECTIONATE.

So Orion gets a friendly pat and rub on the back of the arm and shoulder.] More for me? I'm spoiled. [Aquarius gets

hehe, a bear hug.]

I lived to see another day. I told you I'd be fine.

[Idiot, joking about it now that it isn't HAPPENING.]

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[ help this dumbass. orion stiffens as they are being touched, sort of like an animal playing dead. however, it is affection week, so the tension fades after a second and they huff, seemingly relieved that jason goes to torment aquarius instead. ]

Mhm. [ judgy. ] Is your head alright, Mr. Todd?

[unrecked]

It's better now. Which one of you bastards gave me that goose egg, you?

[Is he dunking on poor Aquarius's noodle arms? "Aquarius is powerful." The noodle arms.]

I think my head hurt until Sunday.

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It's a shared duty.

[ they glance briefly at aquarius, and then shrug.

team knockout. anyway. ] I'm glad to hear that much, at least. Your friends were quite worried about you, as well.

[ and us. we were worried about you. you fool. ]

[unrecked]

No wonder the knot on my head was as big as it was then. Christ.

[It was good he got a taste of what he was giving everyone else, though? Honestly.] Yeah, I can see they are. [Pointedly. The friends are also here apparently.

He moves over to peer at the pancake cart, then he laughs a bit. Sorry, Orion. You also get an obnoxious hug. Well, kinda. Orion is kinda tall, so it's less bullying.]

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[ aaaaa orion definitely seizes up this time, but it feels more awkward than anything else. i will throw you the bone that orion is a good five or six centimeters taller than jason and kind of skinny.

it is, again. affection week. so after a long, long moment, they. hug him back? or they try to, at least.

they pat his back.

nailed it ]

...we're glad that you seem to be in better spirits.

[unrecked]

[Pats Yin Yu.

THE WAY THEY ACT IS SO FUNNY, but Jason doesn't seem to mind. It makes him so amused. Despite, like, the fact he normally would not be this touchy-feely himself. They all converge at not being touchy-feely people.

Except this week is hell.]

A little. This week is already starting out kind of rough.

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[ who

this week is hell. they seem to agree, patting his back. ]

...yes. Yes it is. [ poor jason and his love arrows. ] Are you still feeling... [ a beat. ] Enamored?

[unrecked]

[SIGH.

He rubs his forehead with two fingers, grimacing slightly.]

No, I ran to get rid of it as soon as I realized. After... the incident last night. But then Lup decided to come up and act like she couldn't talk. So maybe I wasted it.

[We all :clap: make bad choices here! :clap:]

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[ help ]

... Those sorts of curses do tend to leave quite the mess in their wake, don't they...

[ sympathetically. they understand. they really do. ]

[unrecked]

No kidding. Someone is really trying to make a mess of this week for whatever damn reason.

[DO THEY... understand? Do they need to talk to someone...?]

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[ No. ]

So it seems. ... maybe they're lashing out, after the week prior.

[unrecked]

[This feels like a lie sheerly because the three of them are here doing this job.]

Lashing out because... of a memories? At the rest of us? Damn. It's not like it's our fault.

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[well. orion is polite about it.

aquarius is regretting the fact that jason has ever surmised their actual age because there's an indignant squawk and they immediately squirm in this hug. no!!! they're trying to push at his dumb, beefy arms but they are making no progress. they are trapped.


they allow this, begrudgingly. stupid jason.]

Easy to say now, dummy. [JUST. THE CALL OUT.] But I'd be pretty mad if you didn't live after that so...good. You're still okay?

[unrecked]

[This is the bullying they deserve. He doesn't let them out of the beefy-armed hug for a moment, but then finally relents. He even helps situate their dorky hat back.]

Yeah. Not gonna lie, it was a little rough. The dream was rougher. But... It's over. Now I can focus on business.

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[even in that extremely brief moment though they seem to like, settle. like they actually don't mind as much as they're letting on. but jason lets go and they sort of appear ruffled. like you know how cats look after you release them and then they immediately start grooming themselves like they're unbothered but how dare you.

anyway...]

...the dreams always seem like the worst part. You can't wake up from them, and even when you do you never know if you're really awake. [they seem pensive for a moment.] ...but it's over. We can keep going with whatever you decide this week.

[unrecked]

[Very cute. Aquarius needs some affection and love. PLEASE GIVE THEM THESE THINGS.

But he frowns slightly at the way they say this to him. HELLO? He's going to wallop them upside the head. DON'T BE ACTING LIKE YOU KNOW. He reaches up to put his hand on top of their head for a moment. He doesn't ruffle, but it's affectionate, reassuring.]

There's still enough of us that I'm throwing darts, but after last week... maybe I might land a hit.

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[anna, ready to leap through the screen for the aquarius defense squad. but it's affection week which means...yeah, they sort of lean into that without drawing attention to it. don't perceive them. also stop frowning and don't perceive that either, we don't have to talk about that.]

Yeah, you've got a point there. Any ideas of who you might decide on so far?

[unrecked]

[yes, my lines are blurry i'm sorry]

Not exactly... I feel like I'm always taking pot-shots in the damn dark. Why's it always so hard to protect other people? [This is rhetoric, but you know.] I'm getting too old for this.

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You're not that much--[hm. wait. never mind.]

I know it's frustrating. You only get one chance a week and if it doesn't work you have to wait for the whole cycle to play out. But, and I hate to say this, but your numbers are getting smaller. Less net, increased odds. Or something like that.

[unrecked]

[One of his brows raise at the cut-off. Yes? Not that much hmmmm? But he doesn't press. Aquarius is lucky he is feeling fond this week.]

I'm pretty sure I told you that from the start, dingdong. [A sigh.] I know. I remember. A little concerned more shadows might be running around now.

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[NO. they can't even reach the dirt to kick it at him so they just sort of perch on the gravestone instead. no bully.]

Shut up. [no heat to it.] That's possible, sure. So how much does that change your plans?

[unrecked]

[All the bully. He gives a lopsided smirk at the shut up. It fades a bit, and he shrugs one shoulder.]

Not much, I guess. I don't have a lot of options. I keep picking no matter how many shadows are preying on the others. I'm hoping it'll give me a better chance even if I don't like the end result of there being multiples.

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[there's a slow nod. for a bit, they're quiet. they don't actually have anything snarky to say for the time being, simply lost in thought.]

...something's going to stick eventually. It's just...strategy.