[Monster Hearts IC] Sleepshy Rise: Shaken and Sleep Deprived

[Thanqol]

SECOND PLACE

“Hiiiiii, Driiiiiiiaaaaaa,” Elodie says suspiciously, sliding into the seat opposite everybody’s least favorite spider trivia team taskmaster. “Hey, so, it’s the funniest thing, I was here with Timmy, you know, doing a class assignment, and I look away for a moment while he’s walking past your table, and when I look back, gosh, there’s no Timmy, and would you have happened to see where he went?”

Elodie drops her chin in her hands and gives a nastily beatific and innocent smile while simultaneously trying to hook Dria’s gym bag with her foot under the table, because Timmy has to be in there.

"Oooooh, a question!" said G'eldriia Despana, never passing up the opportunity to pull someone into her web. "I love questions! I'll happily answer it if you answer one of mine: Which actor in the popular MTV video What Is Love was an actual vampire? If you get it wrong you have to join the Quiz Team no take backs."

She hasn't noticed you trying to hook her bag, but that's because her attention is on surrounding you with an army of spiders.

[TheAmishPirate]

Oh, but you can be left alone, friend! You just had to say the word! Or think it with such soulfulness that I couldn't look past it any more. You know I can't turn you down, sweetgums - I could just pinch your pretty little cheeks! You know, I hardly think it's fair that you have to put up with all these roided up brutes and arcane backstabbers in the first place. Like you said! Do your time. I'm sure that no matter how hard they look they won't find you, me, or anything else even vaguely suspicious. They won't find anything at all!

Electric lights let off a soft, pervasive blue glow; firelight cuts harder lines and shapes. When both sets of illumination fall away from Timothy's boots it's like he's suddenly forgotten to shine them. Then up the uniform, bite by bite. Not hiding from the lights - eating it whenever it got close like a jagged invisibility cloak.

It is a terrible thing, to cry in public.

The emotion comes from the quiet, deep places of your heart. The unplumbed depths that seem bottomless, up until they aren't. The tears flow, the nose runs, squeezing precious water from your body to evaporate on your face. And the noise! The raw, ugly noise! There never was, is, or will be a sound like it again. The feeling will pass. The throat will age. The heart may mend. But in this moment, these are the words beyond words that must be said, and they belong to you and no others. The public is not needed. The world has no place here.

And sometimes, we have no choice in the matter.

Timothy'd panicked, at first. As much as one can panic in such situations; what was one more disaster to the pile? He felt...well, he felt a lot of things, really. Too many things. Was he different? Was he alright? Results unclear, ask again later. He could hear himself sob, in the same way a quiet hum reverberates through your skull, and dies the moment it hits open air. He couldn't quite see his own hands. Neither could he see anyone pointing and laughing. Perhaps, for the first time, nobody was paying any attention to him at all.

He'd later note (with a miserable sigh) that it was the first time this sort of mishap had turned out in his favor. But that was later. This was now.

And he wasn't quite finished yet.

****************************************

The tea was, without a doubt, horrible. Too strong. A poor blend. No appropriate biscuits to go with it.

It suited the situation.

Slowly, ponderously, he shuffled across the cafeteria, holding the saucers and teacups. He didn't care to know how. What did it matter?

He didn't find Elodie back at their table. He found her chatting with G'eldriia instead, and it was there he set down the tea set beside her, before silently shuffling away.

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE
POSSIBLY ABOUT TO BE KIDNAPPED BY SPIDERS??

“I’ll happily answer that question if you answer this question first,” Elodie says, with the confidence of someone who has no idea who any of the actors on MTV are, let alone which one was a vampire, because she didn’t have a TV in the sepulchral depths of the underworld, and is hoping that sheer bravado will win her the day.

Scoot scoot goes the bag. Now to get her foot out of her shoe and undo the zipper with her toes, doubtlessly freeing poor Timmy.

“The wave, over a wave,” she chants, just like Sven the Draugr used to do when he babysat her. “A strange thing I saw, through-wrought, and wonderful ornate: a wonder on the waves, water become bone.” Her voice isn’t so much gravelly as “dredged up from the bottom of the pit,” and to ease her throat she sips the tea that Timmy got for her.

...

...

Elodie is buffering, please stand by

...

...

oh my ghastly ghouls where did this tea come from if Timmy was in the duffel bag

...

...

Uh-oh.

[Thanqol]

"Water becoming bone is ice, obviously," said G'eldriia absently. She very clearly wasn't thinking about the question very hard. Instead she was squinting at you through multiple eyes, turning her head side to side, like a lady who'd forgotten her reading glasses trying to pick out which roast chicken in the lineup is largest. "This doesn't count as a question," she said, "but about how foldable are you, on a scale of one to ten?"

And speaking of people who had forgotten their glasses, that human body occupying that duffel bag may indeed have thick glasses, just like Timothy, and may perhaps be cute once those glasses come off, just like Timothy, but there were also enough muscles to go with to bench-press you, unlike Timothy - and the impression that they'd definitely be picking people up off the ground if they weren't bound by a thick tangle and gag of spiderwebs.

For reference you'd need to be at least an eight on the foldability scale to fit into that duffle bag alongside her comfortably. Uncomfortably is a whole different matter though.

Timothy, you may regard the kidnap of Margot the Werewolf to be a karmic justice thing, but some part of your brain will always contemplate long-term terror, and there isn't much more long-term terrible than G'eldriia with werewolf muscle on side.

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE
DEFINITELY ABOUT TO BE KIDNAPPED BY SPIDERS

Oh no how could she have failed to stump the trivia champion with a thousand-year-old riddle?? This made no sense at all!! What’s worse, Timothy has dumped her! Clearly, he asked someone to send the tea over and ran away because she was too... too... too Elodie.

A pang of sadness punches her right in the heart. The heart responds: ow, also screw you, also I am ready to run, fight or flight time, Els, and it is clearly flight time.

“Okay, I do always keep my word,” Elodie says, slipping her shoes clumsily back on hands-free, her hands on the table, her muscles tensing. “As everybody knows, the answer to your super easy question is oh my Dracula what is Sethotep doing here??”

The perfect distraction. Elodie leaps to her feet with a grin and a triumphant cry, and promptly faceplants on the table because her shoes are stuck to the floor.

Oh, also, on a scale of one to ten, Elodie’s about a six? Like, if you’re counting Naginella as a ten. She is amazingly foldable. You could fit all nine feet of her into a shoebox if you tried really, really hard. Naginella, not Elodie. Elodie can just, like, do the splits and nearly touch her head to her knees in gym class when they’re doing toe stretches. So, like, good, but just ordinary girl good, not Naginella good, and oh no no noooooooooo don’t pull her under the table she’s way too good-looking and popular to join the quiz team

[Guess! Who! Rolled a 3!]

[TheAmishPirate]

"Water becoming bone is ice, obviously," said G'eldriia absently. She very clearly wasn't thinking about the question very hard. Instead she was squinting at you through multiple eyes, turning her head side to side, like a lady who'd forgotten her reading glasses trying to pick out which roast chicken in the lineup is largest. "This doesn't count as a question," she said, "but about how foldable are you, on a scale of one to ten?"

And speaking of people who had forgotten their glasses, that human body occupying that duffel bag may indeed have thick glasses, just like Timothy, and may perhaps be cute once those glasses come off, just like Timothy, but there were also enough muscles to go with to bench-press you, unlike Timothy - and the impression that they'd definitely be picking people up off the ground if they weren't bound by a thick tangle and gag of spiderwebs.

For reference you'd need to be at least an eight on the foldability scale to fit into that duffle bag alongside her comfortably. Uncomfortably is a whole different matter though.

Timothy, you may regard the kidnap of Margot the Werewolf to be a karmic justice thing, but some part of your brain will always contemplate long-term terror, and there isn't much more long-term terrible than G'eldriia with werewolf muscle on side.

Did you know? When Margot threw him through a wall and out the school and to one of his deaths, he got Detention for that? And she didn't? Because they only had enough room for three rules in this miserable place, and they couldn't possibly find room for 'don't kill anyone?'

Well. Did you?! Because Tim Crompton certainly did!

...what's that? So you say he ought to just leave her there?

Are you mad?! The whole point of that little story is that if G'eldriia recruits Margot at fang-point, then she can tell her to eat him for breakfast every day until he agrees to join her wretched club, and she'd get away with it! It's bad enough staying ahead of a spider, can you imagine staying ahead of a wolf too?

And so, it was - with great reluctance and a sigh that nearly expelled his soul - that Timothy found himself shuffling back around towards the table in question.

SECOND PLACE
DEFINITELY ABOUT TO BE KIDNAPPED BY SPIDERS

Oh no how could she have failed to stump the trivia champion with a thousand-year-old riddle?? This made no sense at all!! What’s worse, Timothy has dumped her! Clearly, he asked someone to send the tea over and ran away because she was too... too... too Elodie.

A pang of sadness punches her right in the heart. The heart responds: ow, also screw you, also I am ready to run, fight or flight time, Els, and it is clearly flight time.

“Okay, I do always keep my word,” Elodie says, slipping her shoes clumsily back on hands-free, her hands on the table, her muscles tensing. “As everybody knows, the answer to your super easy question is oh my Dracula what is Sethotep doing here??”

The perfect distraction. Elodie leaps to her feet with a grin and a triumphant cry, and promptly faceplants on the table because her shoes are stuck to the floor.

Oh, also, on a scale of one to ten, Elodie’s about a six? Like, if you’re counting Naginella as a ten. She is amazingly foldable. You could fit all nine feet of her into a shoebox if you tried really, really hard. Naginella, not Elodie. Elodie can just, like, do the splits and nearly touch her head to her knees in gym class when they’re doing toe stretches. So, like, good, but just ordinary girl good, not Naginella good, and oh no no noooooooooo don’t pull her under the table she’s way too good-looking and popular to join the quiz team

[Guess! Who! Rolled a 3!]

Amidst all the confusion, surely no one will notice a single spoon fall off the table. (Yes, I said spoon. The cutlery in this school is so abysmal, the average spoon is sharper than the average knife.)

And, once below eyesight, no one will notice it clumsily float into the air, turn on its side, and slice through a few critical points in the webbing holding Margot captive.

And, once done, Timothy shouldn't have to do anything else, because she's more than strong enough to break the rest herself, and he wouldn't have even attempted this misadvanture had he not been assured of his own safety and clear exit strategy. A strategy which primarily consisted of, "walk to the exit, keep going, don't stop, repeat step 3 until you've reached your room."

[Thanqol]

Elodie!

I will not ask what, exactly, your feelings are about being bound, gagged and crammed into a duffel bag alongside a buff, sweaty werewolf. Perhaps intimate bondage alongside an extremely strong and terrifying lady in an extremely confined space is the sort of thing you can take in stride. But regardless of how hot you find the situation, anyone would be forced to agree that the situation is very - well - hot. Physically. There is very little air circulation here and Margot's body temperature runs high and you're not helping, what with your heart hammering in terror upon realizing that she has somehow gotten a hand free of her restraints but her three-inch claws are temporarily at slightly the wrong angle to slaughter you.

What I'm saying is that this probably a situation where keeping your cool is optimal, yet difficult.


G'eldriia, for her part, is doing her level best to drag her overloaded shopping bag along behind her. It is very hard work! Lifting two people is no joke!

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE
IN A STICKY SITUATION

“MMMMMRMPH!!!”

Do you know how terrible it would be if she got impaled on those terrible claws and bled out? Well, first, it would be incredibly painful. Even more painful than the zipper imprinting itself on her lower back. Pain is bad. We don’t like pain.

Second of all, it would mean having to talk to Dad again. And he’ll have all kinds of questions as to how she got in this situation and then he’ll start trying to explain safe sex to her again and what syphilis looks like at the end of your life and all about the kinky scenarios gone wrong and it’s like, first of all, Dad, gross, please stop talking, second of all, it’s not what it looks like, and third of all, please don’t add this to the Christmas card this year as a warning anecdote. The shame would be astronomical.

Third, she really likes this top, it’s got sequins and everything, and bleeding out in a duffel bag would just ruin it. Absolutely ruin it!

“MMMN, NNNHHH, SSMMMNN HHHMMPH MMMM!!”

Also Margot smells like The Gym Locker Rooms, like she uses their vital essences as a body spray. As you can imagine, it is hard to do any sort of escaping while being punched in the face by musk and sweat (dried and wet varieties, because why not). Her B.O. is an unholy blend of unwashed athlete and wet dog, and a few minutes in, Elodie can barely see straight, what with her watering eyes and dizzy head.

Also Margot is doing a lot of thrashing about and throwing her weight around and pretty soon it’s not so much the puncturing that’s as pressing as the, um, rubbing. And grinding. And oh no don’t— don’t roll on top of her, you’re gonna— oooooofff.

There is a werewolf on top of her and she’s having to breathe in deeper and deeper because of how squished she is and she might just pass out. At least if she does get stabbed, maybe she won’t feel it because she’s already been K.O.’d by B.O. and also webbed-up werewolf boobs in her face.

This was not the kind of hot and heavy sweaty makeouts she wanted from today, darnit!!!

[Guess! Who! Rolled a 2!]

[Thanqol]

G'eldriia snapped her fingers. "Air holes," she muttered, like she'd seen a rain cloud and remembered her laundry. "Next time remember the air holes."

*

HELLO ELODIE.

oh no.

I WOULD LIKE TO CONGRATULATE YOU, said the Grim Reaper. DEATH DURING INTERCOURSE WAS VOTED NUMBER TWO ON REDDIT'S "COOLEST WAYS TO DIE". AND WITH A WEREWOLF NO LESS! THAT IS QUITE AN "EXTREME" ACHIEVEMENT AT YOUR AGE. I SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SO WORRIED WHEN YOUR AUNTIE CIRCE TOLD ME YOU WERE DATING AN ORDINARY HUMAN BEING. IT IS CLEAR TO ME NOW THAT SLEEPSHY RISE IS DOING YOU GOOD. KEEP GOING IN THIS DIRECTION AND YOU'LL BE "EXTREME" ENOUGH TO RIDE WITH YOUR OLD MAN IN NO TIME AT ALL!

[Elanorin]

CREEP
WHIPPED

Annalee tries to throw up a hand in defense and a bit of your cuff rips, Samael. It's quick, you're striking her, after all, and she pockets it in the recoil. Besides it's practically nothing.
[Gaining a sympathetic token on Samael]. Despite the speed though, you feel that you've gained power somehow in this moment. Annalee took something of yours onto her person, and she did it without the proper time or magical protections so until she can escape and re-center herself, she's vulnerable to your powers of suggestion.

She is also exceptionally vulnerable to violence. She tries to glower, but she can't quite hold it together and you can see the tears at the corner of her eyes. "Samael, I'm sorry I didn't, I didn't mean, I'm sorry, I just I thought." It's taking everything she has not to break down crying right now. Please don't hurt her.

SAVAGE

Samael watched her cower on the floor, trying so desperately to muster the courage to challenge his gaze only for her words to tumble out in a heap of apologies. Of course the witch couldn't stand up to him, no more than he could cast one of her spells. She was in his realm now, and that was right where he wanted her to stay.

Annalee was no supermodel but damn if she didn't look good on her knees. Seeing her there made his temptation to drain her dry here and now simmer down a little.

"Hushhhhhh…" he said and stepped close, crouching by her side, caressing a cold and calculated finger along her cheek, down her neck, over the still fresh wound at her neck. The wounds he'd put there.

"I understand you are desperate to make amends," he breathed, smelling her hair. "As you should be." The sight of the water gathering in her eyes made his heart beat even harder, his mouth water. Hells, he was thirstier than ever, despite drinking from her moments ago, or maybe it was because of it.

"But this is not something that can just slide in to forgetfulness. Not without recompense," he brushed the tip of his nose against hers in a way which was both intimate and entirely void of affection.

"I'm a man of my word, Ana, you know that." He cupped her face in both his hands. "I promised to only take a little from you tonight and so I did. But more blood is owed to me. If it's not to be yours then... it's time for our Timothy Oglevee Crompton of the Wilkenstonshire Cromptons to pay his debt." The tip of his thumb traced the outline of her lips. "Bring me his blood, Ana. Then maybe this little mistake of yours can pass, and you and I can... well..." his eyes sparkled, his smile was as exact as it was dazzling.

[Rolling Hypnotic on Annalee: 1+6+2=9 The hypnosis works but she realises exactly what he's done to her]

[Anarion]

Annalee trembles when she's touched. A tear trickles from her eye and down her cheek, rolling slowly and lazily to hang on the edge of her chin, leaving its dark trail behind it and unwilling to fall. Then she gazes into Samael's sparkling eyes and she forgets everything but the shining smile and how good the touch of his nose felt.

He speaks, and it's like her whole world is filled with light and joy. He wants blood. Little Timmy's blood. Of course. Timmy had skipped out on Samael when Annalee had visited the other night. That was extremely rude of him. He should know better than to treat the master that way. There was nothing for it but to bring him in for compensation.

"Of course, master," she says, allowing him to hold her close as long as he wishes it. "I will fetch him as soon as you permit me to leave. Shall I bring him here?"

Inside Annalee's mind, a part of her was screaming. It recognized that she was under enchantment and it pounded and pounded at the walls of her mind, but for now, that little part of her was buried deeply: buried beneath vampiric magic and beneath survival instinct. So it screamed impotently and plotted, plotted its revenge. Oh yes, when its time came, it would be sweet indeed. Nothing so crude as physical torture for Samael, not like Timothy and his poor teeth. Oh no, he needed something much more psychological in nature.

At least she had cursed Timothy already. It ought to be an easy enough matter to find him and get him to go wherever she pleased in exchange for fixing his teeth. Right?

[Elanorin]

Annalee trembles when she's touched. A tear trickles from her eye and down her cheek, rolling slowly and lazily to hang on the edge of her chin, leaving its dark trail behind it and unwilling to fall. Then she gazes into Samael's sparkling eyes and she forgets everything but the shining smile and how good the touch of his nose felt.

He speaks, and it's like her whole world is filled with light and joy. He wants blood. Little Timmy's blood. Of course. Timmy had skipped out on Samael when Annalee had visited the other night. That was extremely rude of him. He should know better than to treat the master that way. There was nothing for it but to bring him in for compensation.

"Of course, master," she says, allowing him to hold her close as long as he wishes it. "I will fetch him as soon as you permit me to leave. Shall I bring him here?"

Inside Annalee's mind, a part of her was screaming. It recognized that she was under enchantment and it pounded and pounded at the walls of her mind, but for now, that little part of her was buried deeply: buried beneath vampiric magic and beneath survival instinct. So it screamed impotently and plotted, plotted its revenge. Oh yes, when its time came, it would be sweet indeed. Nothing so crude as physical torture for Samael, not like Timothy and his poor teeth. Oh no, he needed something much more psychological in nature.

At least she had cursed Timothy already. It ought to be an easy enough matter to find him and get him to go wherever she pleased in exchange for fixing his teeth. Right?

It never ceased to delight him to see someone so completely enthralled by him and so eager to please him. A jolt of delight hit him and for a flash his smile was even genuine. She'd even called him 'master' and the sound of it had been so unexpectedly good that Samael even missed a beat before answering.

Damn, if there was any way in hell he could keep her in this thrall permanently, he would.

"No, bring him to my room. Maybe he'll stop spying on me if we forge memories too traumatic for him to want to see my room ever again."

He stood up and even offered a hand to help her up too.

"You may go now, Ana," he said with a nod, knowing he'd see her again soon and with his bounty too. He couldn't wait to drain Crompton utterly dry.

"By the way," he added before she'd had a chance to disappear, "my bite looks good on you. You shouldn't hide it."

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE
ABSOLUTELY MORTIFIED

“Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad”

Elodie, Aristi Cthonia Neotera, scrambles up to her sepulchral feet, brushing off her regal gown of black lace. As always, in the realm of the dead, her face is serene and unmoving, wreathed in flowers and pink hair trailing off into forever. This makes her flustered complaints and her gasping and wheezing for fresh air even more out-of-place.

“I wasn’t— I’m not— that wasn’t— I was being kidnapped, Dad, by the Quiz Team! And even if I was— with a werewolf, Dad? Really? Even if I was, that’s none of your business, and... and the reason I’m like, like this,” she says, gesturing with an iron gauntlet at her serene face, “is because werewolves stink, and... ugh! We weren’t! And you’re not allowed to watch if I do!! Okay?? I am not going to have you giving Timmy tips about ~the little death~!!!”

She stamps her foot, raising a puff of dust in the air which will take a century to settle once more, and a millennia before it is disturbed again.

Notably, she has not noticed you, Timothy. Nor has she pushed back on that reference to you dating. Which definitely doesn’t have anything to do with feelings of being in second place and needing to rush before Annalee gets her claws in you deep, noooooo. Not at all.

[Thanqol]

OH REALLY NOW, IT IS NOTHING TO BE ASHAMED OF, said the Primordial Ending affably. LOTS OF PEOPLE DIE FROM PARTYING TOO HARD EVERY YEAR. IN FACT, IT IS WIDELY REGARDED AS "HIP" AND "COOL" AND "HAPPENING". BEING A PSYCHOPOMP ISN'T ALL GRIM BUSINESS, YOU KNOW, AND I, DEATH, THE REAPER MAN, YOUR OLD MAN, AM QUITE A "HIT" WITH THE KIDS. LIKE THIS NICE MARGOT GIRL. SHE'S SENT A FAIR FEW PEOPLE MY WAY ALREADY, I RECKON SHE COULD TEACH YOU A FEW MORE THINGS THAN SHE ALREADY HAS, OH HO HO. YOU SHOULD STICK WITH HER, SHE'LL PROVIDE A STEADY FLOW OF PEOPLE WHO NEED TO BE GUIDED INTO THE AFTERLIFE.

Death has always been something of an egotist, and nothing delights him more than seeing representations of himself in the mortal realm. Death metal album covers, video game cartridges, 5th century illuminated manuscripts and other works of macabre/tacky art decorate the walls of his ominous sanctum. You never have been able to fully shake the impression that his major motivating force in deciding to have a daughter was deciding how much he liked the female depiction of Death in the Sandman comic book.

[TheAmishPirate]

G'eldriia, for her part, is doing her level best to drag her overloaded shopping bag along behind her. It is very hard work! Lifting two people is no joke!

Little did G'eldriia realize, she was dragging her bag right past the most precious prize of all, who could do nothing but stare at her as she exited the cafeteria. Yes, yes, his escape from a sea of dooms was important, but that could wait. He'd gotten away with it. He'd marched up, cut the bonds on a werewolf, left G'eldriia a nasty surprise for when she opened that bag, and left. And that was...it? No consequences? No harm? No looming disaster ready to gobble him up?

Oh. Oh my. This was. Wow. This was new, wasn't it? He looked at the blank space where his hand ought to have been, and broke into an esctatic grin. And then he whooped! Because no one could hear him! And no one would! Ha ha!

True, he didn't quite understand how this was all happening, but nevermind all that. He was invisible! Untraceable! Untouchable! Un...botherable? Was that a word? Oh who cares, who could tell him otherwise? Ha ha! He could spend a whole evening unmolested. He could sleep for days and never get caught. He could get a head start on his homework...

His homework!

Elodie!

Confound it all, G'eldriia had taken her! And he still needed her to do something nice for him, or else he'd be stuck in Limbo forever!

...stuck in Detention forever! That's...yes, that's what he'd meant.

Right. He'd not get anything done standing around here all night. With his newfound powers, he'd waltz right into G'eldriia's lair, and get Elodie to hold up her end of the bargain. And while he was at it?

Maybe G'eldriia ought to have more to worry about than bothering some innocent mortal...

HELLO ELODIE.

oh no.

I WOULD LIKE TO CONGRATULATE YOU, said the Grim Reaper. DEATH DURING INTERCOURSE WAS VOTED NUMBER TWO ON REDDIT'S "COOLEST WAYS TO DIE". AND WITH A WEREWOLF NO LESS! THAT IS QUITE AN "EXTREME" ACHIEVEMENT AT YOUR AGE. I SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SO WORRIED WHEN YOUR AUNTIE CIRCE TOLD ME YOU WERE DATING AN ORDINARY HUMAN BEING. IT IS CLEAR TO ME NOW THAT SLEEPSHY RISE IS DOING YOU GOOD. KEEP GOING IN THIS DIRECTION AND YOU'LL BE "EXTREME" ENOUGH TO RIDE WITH YOUR OLD MAN IN NO TIME AT ALL!

Wait, who said that?

SECOND PLACE
ABSOLUTELY MORTIFIED

“Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad”

Elodie, Aristi Cthonia Neotera, scrambles up to her sepulchral feet, brushing off her regal gown of black lace. As always, in the realm of the dead, her face is serene and unmoving, wreathed in flowers and pink hair trailing off into forever. This makes her flustered complaints and her gasping and wheezing for fresh air even more out-of-place.

“I wasn’t— I’m not— that wasn’t— I was being kidnapped, Dad, by the Quiz Team! And even if I was— with a werewolf, Dad? Really? Even if I was, that’s none of your business, and... and the reason I’m like, like this,” she says, gesturing with an iron gauntlet at her serene face, “is because werewolves stink, and... ugh! We weren’t! And you’re not allowed to watch if I do!! Okay?? I am not going to have you giving Timmy tips about ~the little death~!!!”

She stamps her foot, raising a puff of dust in the air which will take a century to settle once more, and a millennia before it is disturbed again.

Notably, she has not noticed you, Timothy. Nor has she pushed back on that reference to you dating. Which definitely doesn’t have anything to do with feelings of being in second place and needing to rush before Annalee gets her claws in you deep, noooooo. Not at all.

Ack!

Timothy found himself in two places at once. Or perhaps he'd always been in two places at once, and never realized it until the spirits started talking. He was definitely walking the halls of Sleepyshine Rise, stalking after G'eldriia. He was definitely hiding in a particularly dark place in the infinite darkness. Both sights and sounds were hitting his brain all at once, and it was a good thing no one could see him stagger drunkenly through the halls as he tried to sort that one out. Eventually, with great effort, he turned his second set of eyes on the darkness, which made it sort of kind of like he was only seeing one thing at once.

Couldn't do a thing about the listening! That was still, yes, Elodie was still coming in! Loud and clear! Right!

Wait a moment. Did she say 'dad'?

OH REALLY NOW, IT IS NOTHING TO BE ASHAMED OF, said the Primordial Ending affably. LOTS OF PEOPLE DIE FROM PARTYING TOO HARD EVERY YEAR. IN FACT, IT IS WIDELY REGARDED AS "HIP" AND "COOL" AND "HAPPENING". BEING A PSYCHOPOMP ISN'T ALL GRIM BUSINESS, YOU KNOW, AND I, DEATH, THE REAPER MAN, YOUR OLD MAN, AM QUITE A "HIT" WITH THE KIDS. LIKE THIS NICE MARGOT GIRL. SHE'S SENT A FAIR FEW PEOPLE MY WAY ALREADY, I RECKON SHE COULD TEACH YOU A FEW MORE THINGS THAN SHE ALREADY HAS, OH HO HO. YOU SHOULD STICK WITH HER, SHE'LL PROVIDE A STEADY FLOW OF PEOPLE WHO NEED TO BE GUIDED INTO THE AFTERLIFE.

Death has always been something of an egotist, and nothing delights him more than seeing representations of himself in the mortal realm. Death metal album covers, video game cartridges, 5th century illuminated manuscripts and other works of macabre/tacky art decorate the walls of his ominous sanctum. You never have been able to fully shake the impression that his major motivating force in deciding to have a daughter was deciding how much he liked the female depiction of Death in the Sandman comic book.

Oh no.

Elodie was talking to the Grim Reaper. About him. About the Grim Reaper, talking to him, Timothy.

Why - erm, why would the Grim Reaper want to give him tips about...what was that, 'the little death?' Wasn't that fear? He thought he remembered hearing that was fear. So why...?

He listened intently, even as he continued after his quarry.

[Anarion]

"Oh Timmy, where are yoouuuuuu?"

Annalee was headed down the halls towards the cafeteria. She'd done as Samael asked, of course, and kept her neck uncovered. Two prominent bite marks were visible with just a hint of a line of blood running down them, no dry and a deep dark red that verged on brown. Her face was starting to bruise, but it hadn't really taken shape yet and wasn't past the point where you could tell whether she'd been attacked or she'd bumped her head on a cabinet door somewhere. That would come soon, but not yet. And anyway, right now she didn't care about any of that. She cared about finding Timothy and bringing him to Samael's room.

Her search was going to be methodical. He wasn't going to be hard to find of course, with all his yelping and being utterly out of place everywhere he went, but she couldn't search the whole school either. So she'd started with Tim and Elodie's mad dash, of course, and was therefore headed towards the cafeteria herself, calling out his name. He'd surely come running, but she was keeping her eyes open as well.

Here Timmy Timmy Timmy.

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE

“You don’t get it,” Elodie moans, crumpling her fists to her face. “I was not into Margot, and we were not doing asphyxiation play. I am dating Timmy because he is a good, ordinary kid, and maybe I want to be more like him, did you think about that? He has time to spend with his family,” she says, ignoring the fact that he hasn’t been with his family at all ever since coming here, “he has time for hobbies, like his silly teatimes,” ooooof, “and people like him. People like me. And Annalee. And probably Dria? Maybe even... a-anyway! Out of everybody in that whole school, he picked me for kisses, so there. I am normal. We are going to live in a two-story house with a white picket fence and I am going to cook him dinner every day and have a book club.”

Good to know she’s already got your life planned out for you, right?

[Thanqol]

"Oh Timmy, where are yoouuuuuu?"

Annalee was headed down the halls towards the cafeteria. She'd done as Samael asked, of course, and kept her neck uncovered. Two prominent bite marks were visible with just a hint of a line of blood running down them, no dry and a deep dark red that verged on brown. Her face was starting to bruise, but it hadn't really taken shape yet and wasn't past the point where you could tell whether she'd been attacked or she'd bumped her head on a cabinet door somewhere. That would come soon, but not yet. And anyway, right now she didn't care about any of that. She cared about finding Timothy and bringing him to Samael's room.

Her search was going to be methodical. He wasn't going to be hard to find of course, with all his yelping and being utterly out of place everywhere he went, but she couldn't search the whole school either. So she'd started with Tim and Elodie's mad dash, of course, and was therefore headed towards the cafeteria herself, calling out his name. He'd surely come running, but she was keeping her eyes open as well.

Here Timmy Timmy Timmy.

G'eldriia is a messy walker. As she travels about she leaves entire corridors full of spiders and spiderwebs and trivia team recruitment posters. The spiders are working on these posters now, dipping their legs in ink and filling in blank squares with illustrations of Elodie and Margot. No sign of Tim on those, but if he's not a team member he could be serving just as reasonably as a snack.

How do you approach? And, Timmy, do you have anything in mind to respond to someone hunting you?

SECOND PLACE

“You don’t get it,” Elodie moans, crumpling her fists to her face. “I was not into Margot, and we were not doing asphyxiation play. I am dating Timmy because he is a good, ordinary kid, and maybe I want to be more like him, did you think about that? He has time to spend with his family,” she says, ignoring the fact that he hasn’t been with his family at all ever since coming here, “he has time for hobbies, like his silly teatimes,” ooooof, “and people like him. People like me. And Annalee. And probably Dria? Maybe even... a-anyway! Out of everybody in that whole school, he picked me for kisses, so there. I am normal. We are going to live in a two-story house with a white picket fence and I am going to cook him dinner every day and have a book club.”

Good to know she’s already got your life planned out for you, right?

Death ponders this for a long minute. DID YOU, he said... grimly. JUST SAY. YOU WANTED TO. SPEND MORE TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY!?!

He brushes past you, full of swish and perk, completely disregarding everything else you said. OH HOW WONDERFUL, I AM ABSOLUTELY THRILLED TO HEAR IT, Death exclaims. THEY DO SAY IT TAKES A DEATH TO BRING A FAMILY TOGETHER, OH HO HO. YOU KNOW WHAT!? I WILL SPEAK TO THE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION AND VOLUNTEER TO RUN A FIELD TRIP! WILL THAT NOT BE... FUN?

With a skeletal grin, the Reaper Man fades away until there are only two glowing blue pinpricks - and you jolt awake. Your material circumstances haven't significantly improved from earlier, but now there's just a fragment of fresh air coming in as the zipper on the bag begins to be undone.

"You may go now, Ana," he said with a nod, knowing he'd see her again soon and with his bounty too. He couldn't wait to drain Crompton utterly dry.

"By the way," he added before she'd had a chance to disappear, "my bite looks good on you. You shouldn't hide it."

It is a good evening.

You can feel again, Samuel. Properly. Your heart is in your chest, warmth is in your fingertips, and you aren't cold any more. All the colours are saturated and even the grim and distant threat of the ever-burning sun feels beatable. It's the best kind of buzz - like being alive again.

SAMUEL.

That part doesn't.

HELLO AGAIN, said the Grim Reaper, looming over your shoulder, scythe in one hand, hourglass in the other. AND CONGRATULATIONS ON SLIPPING FROM MY GRASP. I HAVE A DEMAND TO MAKE OF YOU.

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE
ABOUT TO BE SPOOKY

Elodie lingers a moment. A moment, little more, looking through the veil to the other side, where her body is pinned underneath a big sweaty werewolf jock. She’s going to have to take a deep breath of life once she steps back, and she’s about as fond of the prospect as she is fond of Analee.

(Take that statement as you will.)

Anyway. She whispers words of command, and reaches out, disturbing the veil with one spiky-armored finger.

“Show me the heart of Margot the Werewolf,” she whispers. It’s not petulant. She’s not sulking over Dad not listening to her, no. She’s not throwing her weight around way over her pay grade, nosiree. She knows exactly how to do this, theoretically.

[That’s a glorious 6 on void gazing.]

[TheAmishPirate]

SECOND PLACE

“You don’t get it,” Elodie moans, crumpling her fists to her face. “I was not into Margot, and we were not doing asphyxiation play. I am dating Timmy because he is a good, ordinary kid, and maybe I want to be more like him, did you think about that? He has time to spend with his family,” she says, ignoring the fact that he hasn’t been with his family at all ever since coming here, “he has time for hobbies, like his silly teatimes,” ooooof, “and people like him. People like me. And Annalee. And probably Dria? Maybe even... a-anyway! Out of everybody in that whole school, he picked me for kisses, so there. I am normal. We are going to live in a two-story house with a white picket fence and I am going to cook him dinner every day and have a book club.”

Good to know she’s already got your life planned out for you, right?

Death ponders this for a long minute. DID YOU, he said... grimly. JUST SAY. YOU WANTED TO. SPEND MORE TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY!?!

He brushes past you, full of swish and perk, completely disregarding everything else you said. OH HOW WONDERFUL, I AM ABSOLUTELY THRILLED TO HEAR IT, Death exclaims. THEY DO SAY IT TAKES A DEATH TO BRING A FAMILY TOGETHER, OH HO HO. YOU KNOW WHAT!? I WILL SPEAK TO THE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION AND VOLUNTEER TO RUN A FIELD TRIP! WILL THAT NOT BE... FUN?

With a skeletal grin, the Reaper Man fades away until there are only two glowing blue pinpricks - and you jolt awake. Your material circumstances haven't significantly improved from earlier, but now there's just a fragment of fresh air coming in as the zipper on the bag begins to be undone.

Half of Timothy stood stock still in the inky nothingness long after old man Death had moved on. Not intentionally, of course. Who would want to stay in such a dreadful place? There was just. Well. A lot to take in. They say death changed a man. Who knew that death’s gossip could do it too?

So. She hadn’t meant a friendly kiss. Hadn’t meant a few other things, while she was at it. He felt his hands curl into fists. Felt a hot wash of emotion flush over his silly face. And though it was entirely unsensible, though no one anywhere had a chance of hearing him, he bit his lip ferociously to keep all the noises in. Oh, how they fought and scrambled to get loose! They demanded answers. They demanded to be heard. They demanded to set this right. Oh, but Timothy Oglevee Crompton was not born yesterday. He knew how this worked. He knew how to keep his wits about him and his head down. Settle down, heart! Settle down this instant!

There’ll be time for a talk later. He had things to do first.

The first of which was to ensure the downfall of a particular spider and her loathsome quiz bowl team. And the best possible way to do that in his current state was, without a doubt, also the answer to his Detention woes.

Elodie Faucher would do him a kindness by striking a blow against his enemy. So she’d have to remain in that bag a while longer.

It was only sensible.

G'eldriia is a messy walker. As she travels about she leaves entire corridors full of spiders and spiderwebs and trivia team recruitment posters. The spiders are working on these posters now, dipping their legs in ink and filling in blank squares with illustrations of Elodie and Margot. No sign of Tim on those, but if he's not a team member he could be serving just as reasonably as a snack.

How do you approach? And, Timmy, do you have anything in mind to respond to someone hunting you?

"Oh Timmy, where are yoouuuuuu?"

Annalee was headed down the halls towards the cafeteria. She'd done as Samael asked, of course, and kept her neck uncovered. Two prominent bite marks were visible with just a hint of a line of blood running down them, no dry and a deep dark red that verged on brown. Her face was starting to bruise, but it hadn't really taken shape yet and wasn't past the point where you could tell whether she'd been attacked or she'd bumped her head on a cabinet door somewhere. That would come soon, but not yet. And anyway, right now she didn't care about any of that. She cared about finding Timothy and bringing him to Samael's room.

Her search was going to be methodical. He wasn't going to be hard to find of course, with all his yelping and being utterly out of place everywhere he went, but she couldn't search the whole school either. So she'd started with Tim and Elodie's mad dash, of course, and was therefore headed towards the cafeteria herself, calling out his name. He'd surely come running, but she was keeping her eyes open as well.

Here Timmy Timmy Timmy.

Half of Timothy whipped his head around, before realizing that people typically don’t shout, “Where are yoouuuuuu?” when they’ve already spotted you. No threats. He was safe. The mission was still on. Breathe, Crompton. Breathe.

He saw Annie following the same trail as him, lurking farther back. He could also see that she’d. Aherm. Finished her homework already. And could use a bandage, by the looks of it. Eghhhhh. Whatever might she want from him now? (Well. She might want one thing (no no no no no bad thoughts bad thoughts bad thoughts (wait how did Elodie know about that (oh NO DEATH KNOWS ABOUT THAT (AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH)))))

Well! Look! He was busy! And she! Would just have to wait!

[Anarion]

CREEP
WHIPPED
HELLA MIND CONTROLLED

Well! Look! He was busy! And she! Would just have to wait!

Annalee Sokolov did not like to wait. She was a busy witch! And master Samael was expecting her with Timmy soon. But he was nowhere to be found. Frustrating, very frustrating. Timmy had promised to make tea and he and Elodie had definitely sprinted off this way the instant they could get out of detention, so she had to be on the right track. The cafeteria was one of the only places to make tea besides: the monstrous inhabitants generally preferred other sorts of drink and it had been weeks since the last seminar on doilies and tea cozies. She had to be on the right track.

Take stock, Annalee. Tim always caused a stir because he was so vulnerable, and Elodie generally made a big mess of things too. So there were a few possibilities. She started counting off on her fingers.
One, Elodie had spirited them away somewhere. Possible, but unlikely if he was trying to make her tea. Still, if so, somebody here would have seen something.
Two, They had finished their activities and had spirited away somewhere more private. That would be giving Elly-belly a lot of credit. Like, a LOT of credit. Ruling that option out.
Three, they were both dead. Mental note to check the infirmary, but still best to question someone here first.
Four, they were hiding. That seemed unlikey, there would be more of a stir in that case.
Five, they had never come here in the first place. Elodie was flighty enough for it, but again, limited tea options made this unlikely. Though she made a note to check Timmy's room for illegal Bergamot if she didn't find them elsewhere.
Six, they were kidnapped and inside G'eldriia's sack. Okay, let's be real it's that one.

"G'eldriia, pop quiz!" Annalee says, walking right up in front of her and getting in her face. "Where's Timothy and Elodie? Answer correctly and your prize will be the rare opportunity to keep all your limbs today!" She snaps her fingers in front of G'eldriia's myriad eyes and they crackle with a little magic to emphasize the point. She just had to make sure this went quickly and the quiz spider didn't get a chance to have her little underlings immobilize Annalee.

[Rolling to keep cool in the attempt to surprise G'eldriia into giving away some information. 3+2+2=7. I am worried about being immobilized by spiders, and have gotten the result where I can pull this off, but there's a risk or a trade off.]

[Thanqol]

SECOND PLACE
ABOUT TO BE SPOOKY

Elodie lingers a moment. A moment, little more, looking through the veil to the other side, where her body is pinned underneath a big sweaty werewolf jock. She’s going to have to take a deep breath of life once she steps back, and she’s about as fond of the prospect as she is fond of Analee.

(Take that statement as you will.)

Anyway. She whispers words of command, and reaches out, disturbing the veil with one spiky-armored finger.

“Show me the heart of Margot the Werewolf,” she whispers. It’s not petulant. She’s not sulking over Dad not listening to her, no. She’s not throwing her weight around way over her pay grade, nosiree. She knows exactly how to do this, theoretically.

[That’s a glorious 6 on void gazing.]

There's a trick to this move to avoid accidentally pulling the subject's heart out of their chest and into your hands still beating so you can show it to them before they die. You've got to focus on the emotions. You've got to make sure you're being Metaphorical and Symbolic and Ethereal because otherwise you wind up with hands covered in a constant flow of blood and need to look into building a spiritual drainage system to get rid of it even for a day. So you're focusing on heart in terms of emotions, the heart in terms of love, the heart in terms of - oh whoops, you thought about ripping it out of her chest in the midst of all that.

Good news, though! You didn't rip the blood-transfer organ out of anyone's chest! You just accidentally ripped her emotional heart out of her chest and in the intangibly sticky way that hearts have it's gotten its emotions all over you just as dramatically if you'd been soaked in blood. So, uh, whoops. You've just answered your own question: you are now what is in the heart of Margot the Werewolf. Not just love, but all her emotions have just become totally fixated on you until you find a way to scrub it clean. Good luck!

"G'eldriia, pop quiz!" Annalee says, walking right up in front of her and getting in her face. "Where's Timothy and Elodie? Answer correctly and your prize will be the rare opportunity to keep all your limbs today!" She snaps her fingers in front of G'eldriia's myriad eyes and they crackle with a little magic to emphasize the point. She just had to make sure this went quickly and the quiz spider didn't get a chance to have her little underlings immobilize Annalee.

[Rolling to keep cool in the attempt to surprise G'eldriia into giving away some information. 3+2+2=7. I am worried about being immobilized by spiders, and have gotten the result where I can pull this off, but there's a risk or a trade off.]

G'eldriia keeps an absolutely incredible poker face for someone who has multiple bodies stuffed into a duffel bag.

She's reached the Quiz Team Catacombs by the time you find her. It's thick with spiderwebs and the particularly dense, softly struggling clumps of webbing that represent sleeping Quiz Teamers. Tiny little spiders hang from the shoulders of the team members squeaking recitations of facts and riddles into their captive audiences. It's amazing how good total sensory deprivation is good for focusing the mind on trivia!

"That's a poorly phrased question," she says. "The answer is 'nowhere', because the two of them are not currently together. If you want accuracy then you need to phrase it as 'what is the current location of Elodie?' rather than trying to cram multiple questions ungrammatically into a single sentence. Do not worry, though! You'll and her will have plenty of time to learn the specifics during your Quiz Team Training!"

So the good news is that you know that Elodie is over there in that bag, and all you need to do is run over there and open that bag, and then everything will be fine. There is some small risk depending on who else is in that bag now that you know it's not Timmy, but how bad could that be?

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE
WEREWOLF MAGNET

Sleeping Beauty opens her eyes slowly, her lids fluttering as she returns from the land of eternal slumber. Her pink hair is matted to her forehead, slick with perspiration. The webbing around the lower half of her face, so thick it seems a solid white, brings out the startling green of her eyes. Green like spring leaves and new grass, like life itself, as if she were Kore rising from the earth to make new spring.

She takes a deep breath, and her eyes cross as she groans, breathily, her body writhing in its silk bonds.

This is because the smell is intolerable, but nobody tell Margot that, because she has her heart’s fixation wiggling and moaning beneath her in the most distracting way possible, pushing up against her, trying desperately to get out from underneath a crushingly heavy, musky werewolf.

Elodie is not actually good at planning ahead.

[12 on Turn Margot On, because the dice have an Agenda]

[Anarion]

Annalee blinks, once. Then she is diving past G'eldriia and pulling open the zipper on that duffel bag, come what may. She got that Elly-belly is here and Timmy isn't, and that means she needs to be somewhere else to find Timmy. Getting entangled in spiderwebs and bitten by paralyzing poison just doesn't mesh with those plans.

"Elodie, so help me, why are you being kidnapped by the quiz team AGAIN! And Where is Timmy? You didn't leave him alone just so you could get kidnapped did you?"

[I'm not sure if this is playing out the consequences of the previous roll or if I need to roll again. Also, vague reminder that Margot did owe Annalee a favor as of the start of this scene, which I would totally cash in for not being torn apart in the first 5 seconds of this meeting.]

[Elanorin]

SAVAGE

It is a good evening.

You can feel again, Samuel. Properly. Your heart is in your chest, warmth is in your fingertips, and you aren't cold any more. All the colours are saturated and even the grim and distant threat of the ever-burning sun feels beatable. It's the best kind of buzz - like being alive again.

SAMUEL.

Sam froze on the spot, even his facial expression froze in to some blank and hollow echo of the smug satisfaction that had been on it a second ago. A second before That Voice had spoken from just a non-existent breath behind him.

He slowly turned, and took a subtle step back, just to observe personal space, you understand.

HELLO AGAIN, said the Grim Reaper, looming over your shoulder, scythe in one hand, hourglass in the other. AND CONGRATULATIONS ON SLIPPING FROM MY GRASP. I HAVE A DEMAND TO MAKE OF YOU.

He eyed DEATH skull to metatarsals to skull before finally managing to relax his face to calm.

"Thank you," Samael was nothing if not polite.

"And what is that?" he then asked, doing his level best to let the distaste of the word 'demand' pass unnoticed.

[Thanqol]

SECOND PLACE
WEREWOLF MAGNET

Sleeping Beauty opens her eyes slowly, her lids fluttering as she returns from the land of eternal slumber. Her pink hair is matted to her forehead, slick with perspiration. The webbing around the lower half of her face, so thick it seems a solid white, brings out the startling green of her eyes. Green like spring leaves and new grass, like life itself, as if she were Kore rising from the earth to make new spring.

She takes a deep breath, and her eyes cross as she groans, breathily, her body writhing in its silk bonds.

This is because the smell is intolerable, but nobody tell Margot that, because she has her heart’s fixation wiggling and moaning beneath her in the most distracting way possible, pushing up against her, trying desperately to get out from underneath a crushingly heavy, musky werewolf.

Elodie is not actually good at planning ahead.

[12 on Turn Margot On, because the dice have an Agenda]

Margot is ordinarily a little bit cool, a little bit distant, a little bit restrained - you have to be when strong emotions make your fingernails grow out so sharp and hard they've got to be industrially sanded down. Unfortunately she's just met emotions strong enough to bench press a car - and there's only really one way her morphologically unstable body knows how to process that.

Annalee blinks, once. Then she is diving past G'eldriia and pulling open the zipper on that duffel bag, come what may. She got that Elly-belly is here and Timmy isn't, and that means she needs to be somewhere else to find Timmy. Getting entangled in spiderwebs and bitten by paralyzing poison just doesn't mesh with those plans.

"Elodie, so help me, why are you being kidnapped by the quiz team AGAIN! And Where is Timmy? You didn't leave him alone just so you could get kidnapped did you?"

[I'm not sure if this is playing out the consequences of the previous roll or if I need to roll again. Also, vague reminder that Margot did owe Annalee a favor as of the start of this scene, which I would totally cash in for not being torn apart in the first 5 seconds of this meeting.]

And then there's light. And then there are people - people who aren't the most incredible person in the universe. And there are no binds on her wrists and the sense of danger everywhere and it's not a rational human brain doing the thinking.

Some werewolves are shaggy, oily, muscle-lean monsters. Margot isn't in that line. Her fur is a fiery orange fading into white, eyes like emeralds - a sacred sort of death. She hurls you across the room into G'eldriia, Annalee, sending the two of you sprawling to the floor. And then she's looming across the room, bright and wild and holy, promising the worst trip to the infirmary you've ever had.

He eyed DEATH skull to metatarsals to skull before finally managing to relax his face to calm.

"Thank you," Samael was nothing if not polite.

"And what is that?" he then asked, doing his level best to let the distaste of the word 'demand' pass unnoticed.

MY DAUGHTER ELODIE, oh no, IS ONE OF YOUR STUDENTS, oh no no no no, AND I HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT THE DIRECTION OF HER EDUCATION oh no no no no no this is much worse than a meeting with the Reaper, this is a parent-teacher interview.

I WHILE I LAUD THE GENERAL ENVIRONMENT OF HOSTILITY IN SLEEPSHY, Thanatos went on, I FEEL LIKE THINGS COULD YET BECOME MORE... DANGEROUS.

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE
WEREWOLF MAGNET
FULL OF WIGGLES

“Sssooo uuuhh, Uuhhll’ee!” That was totally uncalled for! She’s only been kidnapped by the quiz team once before and that only ended with Timmy dying a little bit, so lay off, okay?? Just because you are bossy and mean and scary doesn’t mean you can be bossy and mean and scary at Elodie right now while she’s all disheveled and trying desperately to breathe fresh, clean air that hasn’t curdled into werewolf musk.

And then there is a magical transformation sequence. It’s... it’s the sort of thing you can’t look away from. You have to watch the ribbons of light, the way this dork/jock hybrid blossoms into a sleek, silky firewolf, a phoenix of fang and claw, shining from her eyes and heart!

...t-the fluttering in her heart is just because of the accidental connection. The heat is because trapped in duffel bag. The way she wants to squirm under that luxurious pelt while getting nuzzles and reassuring licks...

...botched heart ritual! Botched heart ritual! Even if she looks like a goddess, she still stinks like a wet dog, and having fluttery tummy feelings about a werewolf is not normal and she really needs her little Timmy to come and pick her up in a bridal carry and whisk her away like a hero!

She flops out of the duffel bag and screams at the top of her lungs for Timmy! And... well, you can almost hear her over the sound of Margot’s growling, so that’s something, right?

Good thing all that wiggling and squeaking and mewling into all that sticky spider silk won’t be interpreted by Margot as egging her on or encouraging her to get on with the mauling and save her damsel in distress! Yep, no way that might get Margot even more fired up (for disemboweling).

[It is time to finally start pulling strings. I would like to tempt Margot to save Elodie — whether Elodie wants it or not — and to give Timmy the condition JEALOUS.]

[Anarion]

CREEP
WHIPPED
SURVIVAL INSTINCT SUPPRESSING HYPNOTISM

"What the he-ooof" the breath goes flying out of Annalee and she hurtles into G'eldriia, sending the both of them toppling to the ground.

Panic instinct! Big wolf! Big, fiery wolf! Spiders! Web! Run away! Run run run! Annalee's body is trying to go through a series of motions to make this happen, but she's on top of G'eldriia and it's just getting the two of them more tangled up, not leading to her running away. She has to find Timmy, but even vampire hypnotism is getting suppressed in the name of pure animal instinct shouting at her to be NOT HERE even as her feet are kicking G'eldriia repeatedly in the stomach and she can't get up because her hands are getting caught in the spider silk on the floor!

[Tried to run away. 2+4-1=5.]

[TheAmishPirate]

JEALOUS

Timothy had a brilliant idea.

This was a den of brazen criminals. So many students, sleeping, right here in the open. One word to the right ears, and down falls the hammer of justice on the itsy bitsy spider. Splat!

Wait. Not on the itsy bitsy spider. On the sleeping students. Because the rule clearly said “no sleeping”, not “no facilitating sleeping.” G’eldriia would walk scott-free while her victims rotted in Detention. How silly of him! He’d forgotten this was a dumb school run by rubbish people. Ughhhhhhhhh.

Timothy had another, still pretty good but not quite as brilliant plan.

He would free the entire Quiz Bowl Team from G’eldriia’s lair, thus depriving her of the membership quota necessary to run her club, which would get her in hot water with the administration. Club dissolved, and kicked out of the catacombs to reclaim the space. But it wouldn’t be so simple. With all her little spider helpers, he couldn’t just go cutting students free like he’d done with Margot. They’d tie the webs as quickly as he cut them. Or worse, alert G’eldriia. What he needed was a distraction…

Margot is ordinarily a little bit cool, a little bit distant, a little bit restrained - you have to be when strong emotions make your fingernails grow out so sharp and hard they've got to be industrially sanded down. Unfortunately she's just met emotions strong enough to bench press a car - and there's only really one way her morphologically unstable body knows how to process that.


And then there's light. And then there are people - people who aren't the most incredible person in the universe. And there are no binds on her wrists and the sense of danger everywhere and it's not a rational human brain doing the thinking.

Some werewolves are shaggy, oily, muscle-lean monsters. Margot isn't in that line. Her fur is a fiery orange fading into white, eyes like emeralds - a sacred sort of death. She hurls you across the room into G'eldriia, Annalee, sending the two of you sprawling to the floor. And then she's looming across the room, bright and wild and holy, promising the worst trip to the infirmary you've ever had.

Fortunately, G’eldriia just so happened to have spent a great deal of time and effort to drag a distraction and distraction enabler right into her lair.

With the boldness of a freshly minted invisible man, Timothy strode to where Elodie had fallen to set his plan into motion.

[It is time to finally start pulling strings. I would like to tempt Margot to save Elodie — whether Elodie wants it or not — and to give Timmy the condition JEALOUS.]

...one moment.

The plan needed an alteration.

She flops out of the duffel bag and screams at the top of her lungs for Timmy! And... well, you can almost hear her over the sound of Margot’s growling, so that’s something, right?

Good thing all that wiggling and squeaking and mewling into all that sticky spider silk won’t be interpreted by Margot as egging her on or encouraging her to get on with the mauling and save her damsel in distress! Yep, no way that might get Margot even more fired up (for disemboweling).

Elodie, as you lay there screaming your head off, you feel a slip of paper being pressed into your hand. A little note, written in a flowing cursive hand you’d recognize anywhere. (And who else would think to bring pen and paper into a spider’s lair?)

Elodie,

Keep G’eldriia distracted.

Sincerely,

T.O.C.

PS: Sic Margot on her or something, that should work.

And as you read it, something sharp and decidedly spoon-like gets the better of the remaining webbing still tying you up.

[Thanqol]

Annalee, you're in trouble. G'eldriia has grabbed you as you've tried to escape and is wielding you as a human shield between herself and Margot. Your wrists are tied with webbing, your arms are being held, and there's a devastating and devastatingly attractive spirit werewolf who does not care if she has to go through you to get to Elodie. And what's worst of all is just how off your breathing is in this situation and how totally unsure you are what part of this, exactly, is responsible for that.

[G'eldriia and Margot both take a string on you.]

"Darling, how did you get out of my web?" G'eldriia said, voice right by your ear Annalee - you can feel the warmth of her breath as she addresses Margot. "That's knowledge worth paying for. If you can answer it I will let one of you go free from here, and wouldn't that be nice?" She shifts to the left, trying to get a clear line of sight at Elodie - Margot shifts in response, snarling, keeping herself firmly interposed between G'eldriia and Elodie, crushing any spiders that try to sneak around her sides.