seasonality ✦ otome

[commandertoolbelt]

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week 4, monday

[commandertoolbelt]

[ leo is at the task board when the week turns over, frowning. ]

Is it just me, or do these questions keep getting more and more personal for something that’s supposed to be a gimmick?

[momming]

Nothing promotes bonding like personal questions, I think?

[commandertoolbelt]

You'd think we'd all be perfectly well bonded by now, though. Dramatic situations like ours does wonders for that.

[momming]

Do you feel closer to everyone, Leo?

[commandertoolbelt]

[ he hesitates. ]

Most of my dorm, I guess?

[momming]

Well, you've spent a lot of time together... honestly, I feel the same.

[ Well. Sometimes she feels like a babysitter of a house on fire but it's fine. ]

[commandertoolbelt]

The dorm that gets trapped together once a week stays together, I guess.

[ he gives a shrug, jerking a thumb at the task board. ]

So. What's your pick, Doc?

[momming]

Well... abandonment, but...

[ Does Leo deserve that, really. ]

[commandertoolbelt]

Oh, same hat.

[ so yeah, probably? ]

So then we'd have to, uh. [ squints at the board. ] "...Show sincere and straightforward affection to someone."

[ whatever that means. ]

[momming]

... Hm. Like a hug?

week 6, friday.

[commandertoolbelt]

[ leo is still hanging around the students records room, fiddling with the computer, but he'll look up when he hears otome. ]

Hey! I'm not changing anything yet, I swear. I just wanted to make sure there's nothing we're missing first.

[momming]

I know-- I'm more worried that you'll stay up all night staring at the screen than I am about you changing anything.

[ But. She smiles, a little ruefully. ]

But I had the same idea.

[commandertoolbelt]

[ there's a moment where he has this deer in the headlights look that 100% confirms otome's suspicions. ]

If that's what we have to do, then I don't mind being the one to do it. I'll probably be up all night anyway, so at least this means putting my skills to use, you know?

I haven't been able to find anything new, though. No past records, no way into the archival system, and no way of fixing it, either.

[momming]

The principal said it's been broken for quite some time, and while I do know my way around a computer, I'm inclined to believe we may just have to keep the function in mind for now and just be careful going forward.

However.

[ She smiles. ]

I can't force you to sleep, but if you stay up all night, I'm staying with you.

[commandertoolbelt]

You're probably right. It's just... It's frustrating, because I should be able to fix something like this. It's what I do.

[ what is a repair boy if he can't fix what's broken? ]

...One of us should at least try to sleep, though. Especially if they're relying on us to make the edits.

[momming]

Believe me, I know exactly what it's like to be unable to do what you're meant to do.

[ Tiredly.

What kind of doctor takes lives? ]

But I do think we're in the same boat here. What if we compromise and agree to take shifts?

[commandertoolbelt]

[ it sucks. ]

Worth a shot, I guess? It's more like the ADHD will keep me awake, even if I try to sleep. So having something to focus on helps.

[momming]

I'm assuming a prescription didn't come with you... [ She frowns, sympathetically. ]

If nothing else, we can say we tried. If you haven't done that suggested task yet this week, maybe we can focus on that?

[commandertoolbelt]

Nnnnnope. Never had a prescription for it in my life.

...I forgot about that, actually. We were supposed to talk about someone important to us, right?

Week 7, Monday

[momming]

[ it's a text! She's a little busy, but. ]

Are you feeling any better? Did you get a chance to sleep?

[commandertoolbelt]

yeah finally
they've got this whole camping setup outside the dorm
it's actually pretty nice?

what about you, finally get some rest?
sounds like things will get wild tomorrow, so we'll need it

[momming]

A long nap and then plenty of sleep, so I'm fine!
I was hoping it wouldn't turn out like this, but I think I still expected it.

[commandertoolbelt]

same here
i just wish there was something we could have done about changing their status besides the names
iris did give us some guidance on how to deal with her, but i still want to try to help them somehow before we resort to that

[momming]

Annie did, too. I'd like to try all of our options first before we do anything that terrible.

[commandertoolbelt]

it sounds like iris isn't expecting us to get the chance to do anything else
so maybe annie and the others felt the same way
i don't like that, though
it makes it sound like we're in the middle of another prophecy that we can't change