jason: aren't what?? nate you know i don't understand your memes i don't know what "yknow....đ" means
jason: i mean he's arrogant and i have to leave every time he rehearses because it gets under my skin but he's not /terrible/. unlike josephine.
jason: honestly, yeah i'm down. parents will be very disappointed in our sacrilege but whatever
nate: it's not a meme, GRANDPA! i was just trying to have some couth and double check that you & mathias aren't doing the horizontal tango? ....taking a trip to pound town? .......playin hide the sausage?
nate: fucking, jason
nate: hell yeah. meet me outside the castle in 20 min. ive got a half bottle of gin, two candles, a mortar & pestle, and three books w/ weird Latin phrases and drawings. let's get weiiiiiird
when: immediately after the released police statement; where: the lake; who: @pvlmerâ.
nate was sure he was about to lose it. sure, when he had gotten pulled away for a moment to chat with the detectives some time ago, he had convinced himself that everything would be fine. but now, sitting at the edge of the lake, nate did not feel the same way. like suddenly with that statement, everything was that much more real and it scared him. but not just for his sake. jason. nate had called him earlier and told him they needed to meet, but didnât say for what. he just knew it was about time they talked. about everything. with thoughts burning a hole in his head, nate glances back when he hears footsteps approaching. he throws another stone across the lake. it goes right in. âi swear iâm better at this. at least, i used to be.â
harryzhangsâ:
harry snorts, trying to keep her attitude about it light and unaffected. a good sport, thatâs what she has to be. itâs what sheâs always been. no one needs to know just how fucking exhausting itâs become. âdonât wear it out, iâm not sure how they even fit the whole thing in one line on the cast list,â she catches up to nate with a grin. âyou excited for the read-through? iâm considering starting a betting pool on the fights thatâll probably break out over the course of this whole process.â
nateâs eyes grow wide with mischief, âoh, you know i want in on this. iâve got ten bucks and a bottle of cheap tequila that says josie will throw a temper tantrum and get herself kicked out of the play before hell week.â nate laughs and slows his pace towards the building, because honestly class is dumb and theyâll be out of here before they know it, as he considers the circumstances. as much as he was excited to dig into macbeth, he just couldnât shake a thought. âheidi really just said âfuck itâ and gave this group of accused conspirators of real murder the chance to act in a play about murder, huh? i think itâs kinda badass, not gonna lie.â
chandlerrosenâ:
âoh,â chandler uttered, taken aback by his request. it was so muchâŚsimpler than she had imagined. she burst into laughter as she heard his cackle, impressed with his commitment to his characterization, even if it was an unorthodox one. âgood, very good,â she laughed, nodding her head as she slid into the seat across from him after deciding it was safe enough to do so. âah, the old de niro method,â she chuckled, unsure how serious nate was about losing his mind - ideally, not very, but with nate, you never really knew. Â
chandler took a sip of her coffee as she readied herself to answer nateâs question, âmhm, yeah, iâm really excited, actually. iâve never played a woman on stage before, and i mean, it canât be that different, butâŚâ she trailed off, thinking of what josie said earlier. maybe chandler wasnât cut out for the role of lady macbeth â macduff or king duncan would have been a far easier choice, and likely the role orson would have given her. âi guess i am kind of nervous,â she mumbled as she ran a hand through her hair, letting out a sigh, âbut lady macbeth is a complex character, so itâll at least be fun. hopefully no descent into madness, though.âÂ
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nate smiles back at chandler, and for a moment, itâs easy to ignore the weird feeling he gets while talking to her. âi hate to break it to you, but playing the lady of the hour almost guarantees some sort of descent into madness will be happening. i hope youâre strapped in for a wild ride of rehearsals,â he laughs. nate realizes that this very brief conversation might be the longest theyâve had in a while; especially since everything went to shit last semester. would it be weird to ask her how she was doing? if she was having nightmares? if she was a little freaked out the events from the winter masque just like he was? a little heavy for small talk around the lunch table, maybe. but while he thinks of more small talk, he studies chandler for a second and canât help but see orson. it was hard not to, as much as nate wanted to admit otherwise.Â
âyouâre totally gonna kill it, chandler. i hope you donât let some of our idiotic classmates get to you. personally, i love that shitâs changed around here. feels lighter.â nate has a second thought on that comment, so he quickly adds before picking up his tea: âin like, the social dynamics of our class, i mean.â
hudscnwilliamsâ:
hudson wished things werenât weird between the two, but he couldnât help it. it was his fault after all, not nateâs. hudson knew he really had no right to be distant considering he and zahra had pretty much the same sort of set up nate and teddy had, butâŚwell, he was jealous, okay? he was, even if he would never admit it to anyone else. most days he wouldnât even admit it to himself. and then there was the fact that hudson and jason hated one another; that certainly kept the two from being close. it was hudsonâs fault that he and nate werenât friends anymore, and as much as he wanted to fix thatâŚhe wasnât sure he could.Â
laughing awkwardly, hudson set the rest of the books in his hands down. âthank you. and congrats to you, being a witch sounds awesome.â that would certainly be a fun role, and he had no doubt nate would crush it. that was the sort of role he was born for, honestly. âuh, sort of. julian and i went out to get drinks. thatâs really it, though,â hudson said, leaning against the bookshelf. this was probably the longest conversation theyâd had in months, and it was goingâŚnot terrible? that had to count for something, right?
.
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holy shit, this was probably the longest conversation theyâd had in months, and it wasnât crashing and burning. nate didnât know what to do with himself. a part of him wanted to skip over the small talk and get straight to the elephant in the room, but he also wasnât entirely stupid and he knew that his recent hooking up with teddy definitely had something to do with it. did hudson think nate was taking advantage of his best friend, or something? either way, he didnât feel like explaining himself. or didnât seem a reason to explain anything, actually. but what if hudson felt weird because of jason? suddenly nate wondered if he should even be trying to salvage what bit of friendship they mightâve still had. he was definitely overthinking this, right?Â
âoh, nice - where to? the anchor? teddy and i were just there...!â truthfully, the words came out before he even knew what he was saying. nateâs gaze falls down to the table as he peels back the hard cover of a book thatâs thick and smells like it hasnât been opened in at least a decade. âso, uh...iâm doing some creepy dramaturgical work on witches and rituals. what brings you in here? shit, donât tell me we have a text study paper due.â
pvlmerâ:
jason had been on edge recently. usually when he was on edge, it wouldnât show. he had gotten pretty good at hiding his frustrations. but between the masque ball and the police interrogation, he thought the mask that he wore might be beginning to crack. and he never really felt comfortable showing anyone else what was beneath it. most people already thought so lowly of him or not at all, if they saw him without his mask, he couldnât imagine what they would think. he got a little nervous when nate called him to talk, he was worried something had gone wrong. his brotherâs tone was less jovial and humorous than usual, so he knew something had to be up. he walked towards the lake where he saw nate and gave him a nod as he watched him skip stones. âitâs all in the flick of the wrist,â jason said in a small voice. âso uhâŚwhatâs up? why did you want to meet? here of all places?â
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nate only catches a piece of jasonâs suggestion, but he picks up one more stone and throws it anyway. it skips a few times, and then submerges. nate turns to face jason, aware of how sketchy heâs being. hell, how sketchy he felt. thinking back, nate couldnât remember too often that they fought or had any bad blow ups like other siblings he knew. and honestly, nate could never tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing. he looks around and shrugs, âi donât know, i guess i came out here to think for a while, but then i realized you and i needed to talk about all of this...shit. honestly, that statement from the police has been freaking me out. i donât know what you told them, but i basically ran off at the mouth about orson and what i knew about the drugs. and about chandler. whatever i knew to keep them from looking in my direction. ...in your direction.â nate looks at jason, and really canât help but feel a little hurt that his own brother didnât feel comfortable enough to share his mistakes. his trauma. his guilt. but somebody needed to make the first step.
âlisten, itâs about time we talked about the night orson died.âÂ
juliansbennetâ:
date & time: after rehearsals/whenever madsâ half bday is (i canât do math) location: the castle (kitchen) availability: closed @aldysfoolââ
âthis was sweet of you to do,â julian said as he whisked together the dry ingredients, knowing his best friend could use a pick-me-up since the detectives released their statement. despite only becoming friends the start of their third year, he couldnât imagine a future without mads in it. after all, he was already looking at apartments for their post-graduation plans. âi just hope nobody tries to kill the mood,â he added, unable to maintain his usual pep. he firmly believed none of them were killers, but he started to wonder if his peers knew more than they were letting on.
the countertops in the kitchen looked a complete mess, and they had only been in the kitchen for less than half an hour â nate had spilled a cup of sugar, dropped two eggs, broken a saucer, and now something was sticky under his shoe. he was just trying to make a sheet birthday cake. while baking was always a chaotic experience, nate loved every second of it, and glad that julian agreed to help him this time around. after measuring a tablespoon of vanilla, nate whisks the wet ingredients. âwell, i kinda spread the word that iâd put a hex on people if they came in here while we were working, so maybe somebody will take me seriously for once.â nate plugs in the hand mixer and slides it over to julian. âbut then again, someoneâs an actual killer around here, so i wouldnât be surprised. ...speaking of which,â nate pauses the hand whisking because fuck he shouldâve just gone with the cheesecake factory gift card and been done with it. madsâ half-birthday had already passed anyway, but something about birthdays always cheered nate up â and honestly, he was sort of freaked about where they would all be in just a few months. nate leans over in a low, half-joking tone, âif it comes down to it, iâve got a hundred on madsâ bail money.âÂ
where: alderidge hall, 3rd floor classroom; when: the day after cast announcements;Â who: @ofhelensâ.
senioritis was definitely a real thing, and honestly, if nate could spend all day in the rehearsal space until graduation, he would. but today, even as excited as he was from last nightâs news, nate couldnât help himself from falling asleep in the middle of a class he forgot he had been taking for the past two weeks. he jerks awake, realizing the class is over and everyone is getting up to leave. after he closes his bag, nate looks up and spots helen. she was the studious type, right? he makes his way over to her. "hey, did you happen to catch any of that? i closed my eyes for two seconds and now class is over.âÂ
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harryzhangsâ:
as enjoyable as harry finds the winter masque every year, even she needs a moment away from the crowds every now and then. tonight, itâs reached beyond a simple need for some fresh airâ the constant presence of the detectives, making her paranoid that theyâre watching her every move, has caused a nervous stir within harry that makes it difficult for her to keep her usual composure. she should be worry-free and having a great time catching up with her friends, but instead sheâs worried about suspicion and fractures among her peers and the can of red spray paint wrapped in a plastic shopping bag under her bed.Â
she exits the refectory and slips off her heels, stretching her toes against the wet grass (thatâs the funny thing about washingtonâ everything is always rain-soaked. harryâs californian sensibilities still arenât used to it). itâs cold, but in a bracing, refreshing way that harry doesnât really mind at the moment. she takes a small wander, eyes fixed on the stars above her (the ones she can actually see through the clouds, at least), hardly noticing sheâs coming up on nate until sheâs just a few feet away from his back.
âtwo such opposèd kings encamp them still. in man as well as herbsâ grace and rude will. fuck, i skipped a line, didnât i?â harry grins, folding her arms against the chill. âwell, i guess that spoils that i wonât be playing friar laurence tonight.â
when he hears harry interjecting with more friar lines, nate lets out a breath of relief. while he hadnât necessarily gone outside to be alone all night (just a quick sec to catch his breath), nate had a split second of worry that whoever joined him was going to kill his vibe before it even got started. harry wasnât one of those people. with the friarâs weed soliloquy replaying in his head, nate considers that heâs done his best to stay away from the alcohol tonight - this performance was too important, given the circumstances - and he should be rewarded before he has to go change into costume. fuck it.
nate laughs and turns to face harry, âaww, that sucks. well, please know that iâd pay good money to watch you transform into the friar any day. monastic tunic and all.â when the lighter ignites, nate rolls the joint between his fingers until the flame bites into the paper. at the sight of the burn, nate slips his lighter into his back pocket and glances over harry. before he raises the joint to his lips, he motions to her bare feet, âyour night must be going as well as mine if the heels have come off,â he takes a hit and then extends the joint to her. harry looks like she could probably use something to take the edge off. it could be a long night.
âyou want it in? i donât have cooties. pinky swear.âÂ
harryzhangsâ:
harry chuckles in agreement to his comment about the food. she knows nate doesnât owe her an answer, but she has to admit sheâs curious as to how the rest of her peers are doing tonight. over the years sheâs discovered that people seem comfortable confiding things in her, and her time at alderidge has been no exception. harry doesnât mind it, thoughâ on the contrary, itâs really one of the only methods she has of feeling close to people. she nods sympathetically when nate continues; if thereâs one thing she understands right now, itâs not liking the presence of those detectives inside the refectory. of course, his phrasing makes harry curious⌠nate was the one to find orsonâs body, but she still wonders if thereâs anything else he could be hiding about that whole night, like she is. she wonders about it constantly, truth be told. not just in regards to nate, but to all of them. harry might not know exactly what happened, but sheâs damn sure she and jonah arenât the only ones with secrets.
âi get that,â harry agrees before taking another drag from nateâs joint. with this one, she starts to feel it a bit, a nice calm spreading over her that only weed could ever cause. âitâs hard to move forward with all these reminders of what happened. especially when we donât know what theyâre looking for, or⌠who they might suspect, you know?â she shivers before passing the joint back to nate.
he misses his therapist. she always had a good way of giving clarity to nateâs thoughts and challenging him to think deeper, as any professional should do. while the fear of what certain truths would come up has kept him away recently, nate thinks back to many of their conversations and tries to remember any piece of actual therapy he got from those sessions. because maybe, heâd stop feeling like he was going crazy. maybe heâd be able to get the image of orsonâs dead body out of his head. maybe heâd be able to face whatever the fuck was going on with jason.Â
and thatâs exactly who heâs thinking about when harry mentions the detectives and potential suspects. nate hopes he isnât wearing it all on his face and lowers his head as he brings the joint back to his lips. two long puffs and the joint is barely hanging on at this point. he shrugs, âyeah, things like this make it really hard to move on. and thatâs all i wanna do at this point. ...for my sake but mostly for jasonâs â i mean, everybodyâs sake, yâknow,â nate panics a little, so he stands up and knocks the ash against the railing. nate slides his suit jacket off and offers it to harry. âi should probably get back inside and keep the party going. i started a petition to play firework over the sound system, so...gotta check on that progress.â
everybody says "clown around" but no one ever asks "around, clown?" :(
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