idolpro | Shrike's Heart (#4)

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!heart games

Shrike's Heart (#4)

The woman before you is beautiful—fair of features, with lovely golden skin and luxurious long black hair, petite. You have the immediate and distinct impression that she's just let go of your hand, and she steps back, and smiles.

It's not quite a happy smile.

"I'm sorry," she says. "There's just nothing I can do, as things are. But the way is there; it just needs to be lit."

You open your mouth—maybe to say something, or to express confusion—but you have to cough, and taste something metallic, spattering black blood onto the ground in front of you. Then you realize—blood seeps from opening wounds in your arms, your chest, your stomach, your face. It rims your eyes and trails from your nose and you feel like you're dissolving—

—and you fall through the ground like it's the surface of a lake, and go down, down, down.

> Wake Up

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[ universal writing truth: words are real hard

the box isn't that large, and the bundle can helpfully be carried by the cloth, so it's not really very hard at all to carry it all back to the garden! ]

[Hooray! He feels like a big strong man who carried all the groceries from the van in one trip.

Time to water the plants~✿]

[ you sprinkle a bit of water on the plants such that the soil is nicely damp and will probably stay that way for a bit. between your earlier weeding and this, the flowers seem to be perking up a little bit! ]

[Nice! He's not as bad at this gardening thing as he thought.]

There ya go. That oughta keep you for a bit.

[Now, let's bring these little bundles inside, where they belong.]

[ add that to your resume

you head inside, to the sitting area you started out in, with the sword on the wall. there's a hallway both to the left and to the right. which way? ]

[Left I guess?]

[ You find yourself in a hallway decorated sparsely, with the same minimalist but elegant approach to decor found throughout the whole house. There's a handful of doors that seem to lead to things like linen closets, a laundry, and so on, and at the end of the hall are what seem to be three bedrooms.

One is nearly empty, with just a bed, like someone used to live there; one seems to be the master suite; the third seems lived-in but not terribly full of personality—a made bed, an empty desk, a bookshelf containing a couple books for study. ]

[So... if he had to guess, her brother and her mother respectively, right? Then - he's gonna go in the third room and look around.]

[ This room is quiet and kept very tidy; no one is in here, but it seems like someone has recently left a bouquet of paper flowers on the desk folded from writing paper. The pillow on the bed is slightly askew, like there's something under it.

All the books on the bookshelf are readers, history texts, military stuff. ]

[He's going to put the poetry and philosophy books on the shelf too, because that's where books belong.

As for the mahogany box... he sets it on the desk with the paper flowers for now. Curiosity has him looking insert the pillow first.]

[ it's another book, but this is another volume of poetry, as if someone's been reading it after she's supposed to be in bed—a collection of measured-syllable poetry by respected masters.

it's been pulled out a little bit, like someone read through it, recently. ]

[Aw, Shirke... he reads through a few pages too, and like a true novice, has to count the syllables on his fingers.

If this is bedtime reading, then he won't disrupt it. He tucks it back afterwards, and looks for a pen to write with on the desk.]

[ There's a brush pen and an inkwell, at least, tucked into a corner of the desk. There's still some writing paper, too; it looks like whoever made the paper flowers folded them from a chunk of it. ]

[Oh god, he's never used a brushpen before.

First, he takes the photos out of the box and displays them around the desk. A few maybe on the bookshelf, bedside table, just to make it home-y.

Then, on a piece of paper, he draws a simple portrait of Shrike - the human figure isn't his forte, so it's more stylized than it is accurate. But it's embellished with roses and birds.

Then on the back of one of his photos, he writes - counting on his fingers as he does:

I'll live in your heart
And I will be unafraid
Because it is you

signs it, and places it by her bedside table.]

Edited 2020-03-01 06:16 (UTC)

[ It feels a lot home-ier already in here. The bedsheets, which were a pale blue before, feel like a much more vibrant color, somehow, once you've finished placing the photos, and adding your personal handiwork.

...was that plush bird always on the bed? ]

[omg a plush bird

Delighted, he squeezes it]

[ softe. it's clearly intended to be in her position color; white and a soft blue.

apparently when personal touches are left to their own devices they multiply when you're not looking? ]

[Fantastic. He places it back and feels faintly proud of himself.

Now, let's see... how's the rest of the house looking. Maybe the brother bedroom?]

[ the brother's bedroom is as empty as it previously stood; there's a similar layout of bed and desk, but any of his personal effects are gone. ]

[Doesn't seem like much he can do here... master bedroom, then?]

[ The master bedroom is decorated in the style of the rest of the house—with a much stronger personality than either of the children's bedrooms, but everything is tidy and in its place. Not a wrinkle to be seen in the sheets. A lot of dark wood; simple but tasteful ink paintings; a large bed.

Judging by the room, though, only one person seems to occupy this room. ]

[... He's just gonna muss up the sheets a little. Set one pillow slightly askew.

Not so perfect now, huh.]

[ you give your punk rock middle finger to the man. or as the case may be, the woman.

the oppressive atmosphere of this house grows stronger, though; it's hard to remain in this place, and it feels uncomfortably like someone is aware of and displeased by your action. ]

[Grits his teeth and stands his ground to yell,]

You think you scare me?! Let's see you try and scare someone who doesn't give a crap about your approval!!

[You know what? He's going back out to the hall. To grab that sword on the wall.]

[ you storm back to the sitting room in the entry hall, and find yourself in the middle of a tense mom discussion.

possibly you are one of the nuisances she speaks of. ]

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Shrike's Heart (#4)

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how dare you!!!

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