Week 8

[petoskeymods]

WEEK 8

The weekend passes in a blue, and suddenly it is Monday again. Monday of week 8, the final week of camp. The last week to try and change your fate.

It's sunny and pleasant, with daytime temperatures lingering around 70 degrees Fahrenheit and dropping off into the 50s in the evening. It's pretty much the perfect weather for Michigan, and it's only a shame that it took this long to get to it.

The WiiU continues to be broken, though the creepy Mii is gone now. All of the Miis are, actually. All that can be seen is a variety of Pure Michigan ads, interestingly enough. A bit calmer than last week's visuals, but probably annoying since no games can be played.

There is one other notable change about camp: the counselors are nowhere to be found. There is plenty of food and some note left on how to run things, but otherwise the campers have been left to their own devices apparently.

On the main door to the lodge is a note that says "We will be back as soon as possible." written in Red's handwriting. What could this mean?

7 CAMPERS REMAIN.

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Comments

[lovecolored]

August 15th. Don't miss it. [ winks ]

Well, that too, but bad shit keeps happenin' on everyone's birthdays. Especially bad shit.

[particlebarrier]

[There's an exhausted look on Lance's face -- something he'd explain if he had more time, more energy, more control over his own body, but he has none of that, so instead, Lenka gets his reassurances with a faint smile.]

Just keep it with you, you'll know when I want it back.

[And despite the fact that the smiling may be weak at best, his tone is determined. That's an unspoken promise if anything -- he will want that phone back, even if his body isn't there to claim it.]

[soylentprotag]

I won't.

[He still gets an attack of sudden fidgeting at the winking, but at least he's getting better at not flushing too much when she does that. She does it a lot. Also he sounds unnecessarily determined about a birthday half a month off.]

... Is it like that where you come from? Outside the camp...

[His voice gets a little quieter as he thinks about it. Here, most birthdays have fallen on the weekends, too. Here, if they can stop the camp, they can stop all of that. Elsewhere... it's different.]

[lovecolored]

[ a little laugh. ]

What about you? When's yours?

[ shaking her head ]

Nah. No birthday curses far as I know.

[lovecolored]

No, no, it's pretty important. We gotta figure out how to decipher him on our own, now.

[soylentprotag]

[There's a brief hesitation, a little stumbling, but since she outright asked--]

November 3rd.

[...]

That's good, if we can end birthday curses once we end this camp.

[lovecolored]

[ smile fading: ] What, you one'a those people who don't like their birthdays?

[soylentprotag]

[It's funny, when worry is a luxury you can only sometimes afford, and other times a resource that you need to ration.

And of course all of them need to be focused on the days ahead, what they can do from here -- but he'll remember that look anyway, all of it. It's necessary to having the strength to go forward at all: hoarding the bits and pieces of the dead they can still recognize, until they can really see them again. He nods, firm and resolute.]

I will. I'll keep an eye on it. So you'd better come get it later.

[In this time and place, there's always something warming about promises -- even ones you're not sure you'll keep or that you should be making. Lenka's made it this far on them. He's not about to let go now.]

[soylentprotag]

[There's another hesitation. He's been avoiding this topic for a while; he isn't going to lie, but he doesn't precisely have an answer, either.]

I don't... know yet.

[This year's would be the first one since he was last uprooted, after all. It feels like he won't know how to feel until he's there. Maybe not even then. Maybe it won't matter, in the end.]

I think birthdays can be important. They mean you're still alive, another year. It's different here.

[lovecolored]

[ blinks

uh.

there is a lot to unpack in that kind of statement. he doesn't know yet if he doesn't like his birthday? ]

Did....somethin' happen on your birthday before? [ said cautiously ]

[soylentprotag]

No. Just... a lot of people died, around the same time. It didn’t seem right to celebrate.

[Ah, yes, a whiff of survivor’s guilt for yet another bit of camp bingo.

He’s so bad at talking about this, especially when it feels like he might see some of those people again, coral-lined, the moment he turns his head anywhere in this camp. He tries not to think about it, lately, and it helps when they have things to do. People to save. Last-ditch world-shaking plans to aim for. It’s always helped, to feel a little less himself and a little more his mission, even if sometimes camp makes him wonder what it would be like — to be both.]

It’s not... [he trails off for a moment] It’s different. Here in camp.

[Probably, not even Lenka knows what he’s trying to say with his insistence on that. That death is different here. That he’ll be more useful here. That no birthday is guaranteed here. Who knows.]

[linearcrash]

[ Cause it's the butt of the joke. ]

Well, you should have. I mean, you're finally taking the time to enjoy it, yo

[ He nods and then he kind of looks at Marisa and then leans in closer to Lenka to lower his voice. ]

She's a handful, but she's good.

[homeecspacecop]

[Chuuta might have missed Mitsuru's aversion to birthdays.]

But they're still important!

[homeecspacecop]

[It's because he's tall and serious.]

Yeah, he is.

[homeecspacecop]

Wait, why is he younger?

[homeecspacecop]

Why are you taller than me!?

[homeecspacecop]

[Drew's the cutest!]

[Chuuta's so red right now, and flailing around a little. Why are girls always like this?]

Come on! You don't have to tease me that much!

[homeecspacecop]

[He doesn't want to, but... well, some part of this zombie is still Shirou.]

Do you need help? I guess I'm not doing anything else today.

[linearcrash]

Huh? What do you mean by that? He just is.

[homeecspacecop]

[Drew is a water planet support system drewbit type 390 Monitalien! So Chuuta said "why don't I call you 'Drew'" and that's Drew's name now!]

[Chuuta makes kind of a choked sound. He can feel that petting too, and Marisa is cute and in pajamas and he's kind of dying here.]

[Chuuta! Tell her about Drew's name!]

I-it's kind of a nickname. He didn't have a name, so I shortened his... model number... thing.

[killtheanimals]

Because you're short?

[killtheanimals]

...

Not really.

[homeecspacecop]

I don't think I'd mind learning things if it wasn't in school. School's just...

[YOU KNOW

bullies]

[homeecspacecop]

So why is he named Eight if you're Nine? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

[homeecspacecop]

[MITSURU PLEASE IT'S NOT THURSDAY]