[video]- A few days after Ben's speech

[hotheadwarmheart]

[A message from Lea appears on everyone's phones.]

So I was thinking... we don't know when more people are gonna turn up, but it's a pretty safe bet that eventually they will. And it's not super practical to have people walking around specifically looking for new arrivals all the time, or to throw a party and make a big speech every time new people show up.

So how about we set up a spot somewhere, like in the front entrance hall of the school, that's like an information booth? We could take turns manning it in case anyone turned up, and if anyone did, we could answer questions, hand out phones, try and explain the situation, stuff like that. We could maybe even print up some pamphlets or something that cover the information Ben went over in his speech, so we don't have to keep repeating the same basic stuff all the time. And to make sure people know where to go, we could hang a banner on the big 'Auradon Prep' sign; it's a big obvious landmark, so it'd be hard to miss, and the banner would serve double duty covering up the bottom part of the sign and making it seem less full of itself. What do you guys think?

Also, is it just me, or is everything way too... perfect, around here, appearance wise? And I mean like creepily perfect. Not just the grounds, but all the public areas, all the rooms I looked into before we were told which ones were off limits, everything.

There's nothing out of place that can't be explained by people just suddenly vanishing. No one's bed was unmade. No one's desk had just randomly accumulated stuff. The desks in the classrooms all look pretty much brand new. There's no cup rings on any of the tables, no fingerprints on the glass, no books in the library with dog-eared pages that I've seen, no random mysterious stain on the carpet that's probably been there forever, no scratches in the woodwork, nothing. What's up with that?

Comments

[cheep_soongbird_knockoff]

[Rren's reply, or rather replies came as a string of comments. There were a few at first.]

"I would be willing to take some shifts at the booth if this occurs."

"You are accurate that this place is strangely perfect. Even on a the pristine starships there is at least some clutter here and there."

"I am torn in regards to the banner. While that sign is... bizarre, I cannot help but enjoy the idea of the statue guiding the way."

[And then after a delay they added a second string somewhere between unholy o'clock at night and ridiculous-thirty in the morning which made a decreasing amount of sense as it went on, not that Rren was half asleep or anything.]

"Perhaps we should have somewhere set up to nap by the booth if people arrive in the middle of the night."

"I cannot help but see that time as a possibility, though I cannot imagine why I would."

"In addition to messes, do you understand the difficulty in maintaining a lawn?"

"The weeds should have at least made some headway reclaiming the space already."

"That is not even bad, that is simply nature."

"Lawns are awful."

"Nice to lie down on I guess."

"Perhaps we can think of something else for the sign?"

[hotheadwarmheart]

Good to know. And yeah, it's weird. I almost wanna mess things up a little just to make it less perfect.

The sign thing... eh, we'll probably end up going with the statue instead. It's not that big of a deal, just annoying.

[And sorry Rren, Lea turns his phone off when he goes to sleep, then they both have training with Aqua in the morning, so he doesn't see or respond to this until later.]

Wow, how tired were you when you sent these?

Anyway yeah, you'd think that, but I have yet to see any weeds. I don't even think the grass has grown that much though that might not be noticeable for awhile.

And I don't think there's really any way to improve the sign that Ben would go for, unfortunately.

[cheep_soongbird_knockoff]

[The next reply was all in one message instead of broken up across several replies]

Well, hmm. Considering that I do not recall typing all of those messages, I believe the answer is profoundly tired.

I still believe we need some plan for the hours when no one is awake, though, as I do not, it seems, sleep at a reasonable hour, I certainly can offer some help late at night. Perhaps not quite so late as my previous string of replies, however. I suspect I would confuse rather than clarify matters at that point.

I imagine just being here that either we will generate a slight mess or we will get used to the lack. I profoundly hope it is the former. I have a friend who would never let me hear the end of it when I saw her again if I started keeping everything quite this neat.

[hotheadwarmheart]

Yeeeah, generally conversations when you're that tired aren't very informative. Funny, maybe, but not informative.

Anyway, for super late at night we might have to just have a sign to put on the booth directing people to the dorm rooms and saying to come back in the morning or something. But if you think you can do that and still get up for Aqua's training sessions every day, that'd be great.

Yeah, I'm not gonna be making any special effort to keep things super neat either. Like what's the point of making your bed every day when you just have to un-make it to use it? And I figure my desk's just gonna start accumulating random stuff if I'm here any length of time. So at least it won't last.

[cheep_soongbird_knockoff]

Then I might as well, it seems most practical if I will be awake regardless. When I do go to bed I can leave behind the sign you mentioned.

I know Aqua well enough to know I will successfully wake up each morning for training. I might be somewhat the worse for manner of waking up, but it will happen.

[hotheadwarmheart]

Hmm? How does Aqua usually get people up if they're not willing or able to do it themselves?

[cheep_soongbird_knockoff]

Thus far I have only seen her use buckets of water, but it has only come up a couple times. I do not doubt her creativity to find new and exciting methods here to avoid complacency with just the one. (And to avoid soaking the beds, for that matter.)

[hotheadwarmheart]

Yeeeeah, I might have to warn her about doing that with me. It's probably not a good idea to hit me with my magical weakness when I'm half asleep.

[cheep_soongbird_knockoff]

If this earns another sort of response than it being a good reason to wake up on time, I would love to be informed.

Either that is a sign she listened or that she is working on something even more creative and I would prefer to be forewarned.

[hotheadwarmheart]

It probably wouldn't have anything to do with you, just me. If she does something that could be mistaken for an attack when I'm half asleep, I might lash out at her on reflex, and I don't want to accidentally hurt her, ya know?