[closed-ish] if the clouds don't clear

[darkinferno]

WHO: Dante + MANY PEOPLE
WHERE: All over the city + dreamscapes
WHEN: Between 10/3 and 10/13
WHAT: Nightmares and fog encounters!
WARNINGS: Mentions of character death, an NPC on a noose, murder. LOOK FAMILY FEUD WAS A THING, OKAY.

Comments

[sharplydressed]

[Even just once is too much, of course, but he's not exactly optimistic enough at this point to think in those terms. They live in a city where reality can fall apart right under their feet. Things like this probably shouldn't be surprising, and probably won't stop happening, but that doesn't mean he'll change his stance.

Back to the game, though--]

Put it in the basement...?

[He's just running through horror movie tropes that he remembers now...]

[darkinferno]

[Oh, oops. Ghost doesn't look too impressed with either of their answers, letting the timer run out entirely... and neither of their scores change. "Oh, too bad," he announces. "Neither of you cleared the board. Let's move on to our lightning round--and hurry, we've only got time for three more chances to improve your scores!

"Question one: name a profession where you're always working for someone younger than you."

Dante knows where this is going--of course he does--but as he always tries to, he answers with something he knows Ghost won't accept:]

A pediatrician.

[sharplydressed]

A teacher? I dunno!

[He's trying to run through some Generally Spooky Scenarios in his head considering that's clearly the name of this murder game, but nothing he's thinking of fit the question.

Having already given his answer, he mutters as an aside to Dante:]

I'm sure it's something weird and messed up like a funeral director during a kid's outbreak of diptheria in the dead of winter or something.

[Because clearly the answer is a summary of Balto.]

[darkinferno]

[Dante shakes his head at Kiyomitsu, keeping his voice low as he responds.]

No, I don't think so. I think it's supposed to be a butler or a maid or a nanny, because--

[He's cut off by Ghost, who's apparently decided to move up the timetable on them. "Last question, boys!" he announces. "A man and a wife and their two children inherited a house from his ancestors. This house has been in the man's family for generations and with the house came several features including a maid, a butler, and a nanny. One day the family discovers the children dead in their beds and the maid, the butler, and the nanny are the suspects. Name three reasons why the husband and wife blamed each other instead."

Dante's face goes pale at the question, though his expression otherwise remains the same... but if Kiyomitsu is looking his way, he gives a meaningful nod toward Ghost, raising both eyebrows to underscore his point.

Because he's the butler. He's one of the features that had come with the house. Come on, Kiyo, you're smart enough to figure this out, right...? Come on!]

I LOST THIS TAG NO...

[sharplydressed]

Three reasons...?

[Kiyomitsu's not an idiot by any means, and he's normally pretty good at thinking on his feet, too. It's just that his expertise generally does not lie in solving weird murder riddles with a time limit, so HERE HE GOES, on the road to hell--]

Um-- 'cause the maid, butler and nanny were actually dead and possessed the husband or wife?

[GOING FULL-ON GHOST HERE but as a spirit himself, and with that sort of thing on his mind more often than not lately, it's not surprising that it'd come to mind first in a situation where he's panicking. Even if it sounds dang ridiculous.]

IT'S COOL DON'T STRESS IT /o/

[darkinferno]

[HE'S NOT... ENTIRELY... WRONG.........????

But hey, this is why he wanted to hold his answer in the first place. Dante takes a deep breath, the weight of his choice upon him even though a part of him knows it's just a dream, a memory he hasn't been able to compartmentalize yet. But he pushes through and states his "answers" without hesitation.]

Greed, conspiracy, infidelity.

[There's a creepy smile that spreads across Ghost's face as he listens to their answers, though it seems as though it's tinged with disdain. "As though they would have ever possessed the master and lady of the house! But good as dead, yes, good as... the poor Spinnatos and their dearly departed twins, a family torn apart and rest them in peace."

Dante winces, knowing what's coming next, and sure enough Ghost continues with a glance up to the blades above them, their trapdoors still open to reveal sharp edges. "Speaking of resting in pieces..."]

Kiyo, I'm sorry--

[He barely has time to get the words out before the blade above him drops, crashing down into the bed and bisecting him--but does it actually cut through flesh and bone, or does the blade pass through him as it had done with Toushiro? Dante's not going to be the one to answer that question, because as soon as the blade hits him, he's sitting bolt upright in bed with a gasp.

Regardless, Kiyomitsu will find that as the blade hits Dante, he'll be freed from the bed, their game over (if he isn't waking up himself!)]

THANK U COMRADE

[sharplydressed]

[Even though the name - Spinnato - registers as familiar to him, it's not something he has time to dissect right now. It's clear this is coming to a close, as promised, and he looks over toward Dante with no small measure of panic when he says sorry because there are a lot of things he could be apologizing for and none of them are good.

The blade falling sure isn't good.

That said, he sure does jolt awake from the surprise! Ghost and the beds and the blades still hover at the corner of his mind's eye, but the realness of his dark bedroom is the exact same as he'd expect.

But boy was that one of the most traumatic things he's seen to date in these dreams, and Dante is definitely going to get a frantic phonecall in a hot second making sure he's actually okay. Kiyomitsu knows these are dreams, but no one's ever said dreams can't still feel very real, have very real impacts on people. And in a place like Recolle? He learned a long time ago that taking chances is just not a game anyone should be playing.]