vella | Week 4

Week 4

WEEK 4 LOG ♬
Weather: Monday AM & PM - Clear Skies; Tuesday - Thursday AM Cloudy, PM Rainy; Friday - Clear Skies

The Meteor Shower

On Monday, there are, in your mailboxes, passports for those who happened to not pick them up when the airport opened. Hold onto these--they’re important, after all! Open them up, and you’ll find not only a title, your name, and your hometown, but you’ll also find…

A blank page? That’s right. There’s a page in the back of the admittedly small passport with only one thing on it: a space that looks like it has room for a star stamp. Huh. That’s strange, isn’t it? There are no hints as to what it could be about, but maybe the announcement will shed some light.

There’s also, like last week, a familiar face around the island… it’s Audie! Come around to her house to say hi--she’s very excited to be here, and very fashionably dressed as she strolls around the island.

And like clockwork, at nine AM, Tom Nook makes his announcement once more:

“Good morning, Isla Sonrisa! A few things this morning. Please give a warm welcome to our new neighbor, Audie!”

Audie smiles and waves at you all with both paws--she’s pretty flattered at the warm response. Tom Nook continues--

“We have for you the ability to build bridges now! Yes, yes, these will prove very useful indeed. Of course, you will most likely have to work together to figure out the best places to put these bridges, as we have only a limited number… But I am sure working together will be little trouble for you all! The only thing to note is that each bridge will come with a construction fee of 15,000 bells each. Consider working together to get some bridges up and running...?”

He pauses, and the next part comes with some measure of almost… not quite dismay, but there’s a certain cloud over the tanuki: “It also seems Iori and Mira have also left the island… Again, we’re looking into it, and should any discoveries come to light, I will tell you immediately.”

He nods to himself, and continues on--

“Next, I’d like to tell you all we have a very special event tonight… a meteor shower! Yes, yes, starting at 7 PM, we will have clear skies and many stars to wish upon. Who knows--maybe your wishes will all come true!” He says that with a bright smile, almost like he really believes it… Or maybe that’s just his quiet optimism? Anyway, he continues--

“Finally, I’d like to thank you all for your hard work in making items for our new friends! Yes, yes, you all have been working so hard to create furniture and items for our housing plots, but this week, I invite you all to put your best DIY skills to the test! There are no specific style requirements in mind, but please make sure our potential new friend has:

1 Table
2 Dressers
1 Clock
2 Chairs

Of course, if you’d like to make more, I am sure our friend will not be opposed…” He pauses, and seems to remember something! “Ah, yes, we are very close to opening our museum… I am sure Blathers would appreciate any bugs, fish, or fossils regardless! Hmm… Yes, that is all I have for you! Thank you once more for your hard work, and have a wonderful day!”

Possible Objectives

1. Help Tom Nook prepare a housing plot for the last villager house.
2. Donate more specimens to Blathers.
3. Attend the meteor shower, if you so desire. There may be some secrets waiting for you...
4. Make a money pool for some bridges.

Turn-Ins
Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday

(OOC: Welcome to Week 4! Please direct all questions to the FAQ.

Here's this week's Weekly Plotting Post for you all to use!

As always, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to let us know! Have fun!)

Taken / FAQ / Locations / Rewards / Full Nav

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I didn't expect anyone else to be up so late.

[ He looks up at the sky. The shooting stars are still out and about every now and then. ]

Maybe I wished for some late night company.

Are you saying I'm your wish come true?

[It's teasing, but she avoids saying why she's up in the first place.

She's sure he'll understand.]

You could say that.

[ Straight up.

Just like how Laurent is here late at night, he won't question why Adelaide is either. ]

The world felt vast when I was alone, but now it feels much smaller with someone with me.

[Adelaide goes quiet at that, considering. She'll admit she doesn't know... Much, about Laurent. About the life he lived before coming to this island, about what the home he might go back to is like, but...

Does that matter? Does the past matter when all you can do is live day by day because one day, for no rhyme or reason, it could all be over and one of them could disappear from this island? She doesn't want to disappear without at least a goodbye, and she doesn't want to see him leave, either... He's become a warm, comforting presence, as mysterious as he might be, and...

Maybe she's just stupid, in over her head.]

...Hey, Laurent. Can I ask you a question?

You can ask me any and all questions, anytime.

[ Though, he's curious as to what she'll ask. ]

What is it?

[She needs a moment to steel herself.]

Can...

[...]

Can I kiss you?

[ Laurent looks at Adelaide as she asks, and his reaction to hearing that is actually a normal expression as if he'd been asked just about any other question. He does stay quiet with the usual smile on his face--several seconds feeling like minutes or even hours.

Kisses don't mean anything to Laurent. He could walk into a kissing game and walk out without any feelings attached even after 20 kisses or even more. If kisses mattered to him, he wouldn't have baited Joonghyuk with the kissing option several weeks ago just to get a reaction out of him.

But he knows that kisses mean something more to other people with the way he sees Adelaide prepare herself to ask Laurent for permission. He actually enjoys Adelaide's company. He sees her as a good friend. She's kind, optimistic, and Laurent is aware that she would be able to do many things that he himself can't due to how she is.

He wants to enjoy the cheery sunshine again. Adelaide is... She's-- ]

Yes.

[ It felt like a century. ]

You can.

[She's expecting him to say no. That's why she asked, to give him an out. She knows she's not the worst person in the world, but not being the worst doesn't mean people have to like you. It doesn't mean people have to choose you. And why would Laurent want her? Or at the very least be okay with her wanting him? (Which isn't something she's thought much on - she likes Laurent, but... She doesn't know what she wants from him, much less what she deserves from him.)

So the yes surprises her, especially after how long it takes him to decide.]

...Okay.

[She's already close to Laurent, but it feels odd to get even closer. She tries to move confidently but carefully, just in case he changes her mind. She rests her hands on his shoulders, before leaning in and pressing her lips to his.

It's a chaste kiss, all things considered, and she's kind of glad they're close in height. When she pulls back she doesn't go very far, resting her head against his shoulder.]

Thank you.

[ Laurent only makes a small hum of acknowledgement and doesn't say anything else. Instead, after Adelaide rests her head against his shoulder, he brings his hand up to gently run through his fingers through her hair. The shooting stars still streak across the night sky as if to congratulate this moment, but Laurent wonders if he can sort his feelings enough to even celebrate.

...

He turns his head to give a light kiss on the side of Adelaide's head. ]

[It should be a nice, peaceful moment, but... It isn't. It's not terribly uncomfortable and Adelaide would say she's happy, but she's unsure.

But she's tired of questioning things, so she just stands there with her head against his shoulder, letting the moment play out as it will.]

...What are you like, Laurent? Under everything.

[She doesn't bother lifting her head, so her words end up mumbled against him.]

[ Laurent quietly hums, thoughtful. ]

You don't think I'm a naturally good and kindhearted person?

[ He says it in a lighthearted way, with a little bit teasing. ]

I think you’re a good man.

[But thinking and knowing are two different things.]

But I don’t know much about you. What if you prove me wrong?

[So it’s probably stupid she’s so attached to him, that she thinks so highly of him.]

[ There was a reason why Laurent wasn't particularly close to a lot of people despite knowing many and being on good terms with them. People laughing and saying that they're friends when Laurent feels the exact opposite--though there's something about this island that really makes Laurent want to reach out and call more people his friends.

He wonders what it is. ]

I might be able to, but I don't want to.

[ No person is 100% good, etc. ]

Underneath everything... well, there are so many layers, you know? Each and every single one are real; none are fake. Each and every person uses a different layer. I don't think this is particularly called "two-faced", since it's merely socially adjusting according to who I'm interacting with.

[ That being said-- ]

There's a lot we can go from here, but let's start with the fact that I'm not human. Or, well... I used to be, but not anymore. Staying on the island helps with deluding myself into thinking I'm human again.

[ He thinks it's pretty pathetic. ]

[She's quiet, listening to Laurent speak. Layers, huh... Real ones, but ones that are still somehow manufactured based on the people he's with. Is that why Laurent always seemed so happy around her, because he thought that's what she wanted?

But she stays quiet until he's done talking, mulling over her words. Not human anymore... That could make him any number of things, even something she's never heard of, but...]

So you... Were changed against your will and you want to go back?

[...]

You can tell me if I'm wrong. I know I'm not very smart.

[She's decidedly average in... Basically everything.]

[ Laurent was about to explain further, but then Adelaide goes ahead and says that, so he shifts his shoulder and grabs her face with both hands cupping her cheeks, making her look right at him.

Then he pinches her cheek. ]

[Wh-hey!! Don't do that,

She blinks at him, brow furrowing, but she gets it. She thinks?]

...Alright, fine, I'm not stupid.

[She doesn't even roll her eyes!]

But... Is that what happened?

[ Good, Adelaide. Laurent lets go of Adelaide's face and rests his hands at his sides. ]

More or less, but I know I can't go back to the way I was before. This island is the closest thing I have to it, so... I'd like to stay here if I can.

[ Though he looks rather conflicted as he tells Adelaide and sighs. ]

... I hate having to depend on hope.

...Isn't hope that things will get better all we have?

[She reaches for one of his hands, cautiously, letting him pull back if he wants to. If he's okay with it, she'll thread their fingers together.]

I hope you can stay here. If going home will... Ruin you, I hope you get to live a happy life on this island.

[ Laurent is more than fine with it. Their fingers are threaded together and Laurent looks down at the sand beneath their feet. ]

I got burned by it a lot.

[ It's a short, empty laugh. ]

And it resulted in a person dying every time. I can't handle the notion of keeping hope within me, and yet...

[ He quietly breathes out. ]

Joonghyuk said something ridiculous and Dokja agreed. They said that they'd save me. It's funny, since I didn't think I'd need it.

[Someone dying every time he had hope... That would break anyone's spirit, ruin any capability they had for hoping. All of that loss, all of that tragedy...

It's a wonder he can seem so happy and it's a wonder he can be so kind.]

...

[She squeezes his hand.]

I don't think it's ridiculous. You deserve to be saved from a terrible fate, same as anyone else. And I... I don't know what I can do, and maybe I don't know exactly what you're dealing with back where you came from... [She hesitates to call it home, if it's somewhere he doesn't want to go back to.] But I want to help.

[ Laurent lightly squeezes her hand in return. ]

I'm not quite there yet, but as time passes, it'll get worse. If I go back to where I came from, I won't have much freedom to do what I want. Even if my friends are there... or even if my uncle is there. Even if it's too selfish, I don't know how I would live a life... that constantly knows the end of something all around the world.

[ ... ]

What I'm slowly becoming is, essentially, a personification of "end". That's why I wanted to stay here, with people. Even if I lived the rest of my life on this island, I wouldn't mind. But now that there's an option, I'm not sure anymore.

A personification of "end"...

[Constantly knowing the end of... Everything?]

And everything ends... So you would... Know every time something happens? Every time someone dies, or, or breaks up, or... I don't know.

[That's what she assumes, anyways, not quite sure she really gets it. It sounds a bit like being some sort of... God, some force beyond understanding, and if it's something you have no control over... It sounds terrible.]

...You don't have to be sure. It's a lot, to believe we can do anything to change your life, but... But I think it's worth trying, because maybe... If people die every time you have hope things can change, maybe we can break the cycle and nobody will have to die for you anymore.

It's...

[ Laurent pauses and looks up at the sky. The shooting stars remind him of falling tears instead of the celebratory confetti that he imagined a while ago. ]

Yeah, I would know every time it happens. All over the world at every second, minute, hour, day, weeks, years of my life. I'd hope no one would have to die because I fail, but back home, there's still something like that happening right now, even as we talk in this moment. It's the same person, stuck in a time loop. He's the one I talked to you about.

[ The one he said was kinda like Adelaide. Yeah. Here's the tragic friend backstory you wanted, Avery. ]

[Hey now,]

...Why?

[It's probably a stupid question, and it might be one that he doesn't even have the answer to, but it's all Adelaide can wonder. Why would something like this happen? Why does Laurent have to suffer like this, why does his friend have to live and die and live and die over and over again? It's fucked up and horrible and Adelaide's stomach twists.

She squeezes his hand again, pressing her forehead back into his shoulder.]

We're going to find a way to stop this. He'll get to live, okay? And you can... You can be happy.

If I'm the luckiest person in the world, then he's the unluckiest.

[ It's another empty laugh. ]

I miss my friends, and my uncle. He's the only family I ever had, but if I go back...

[ His voice trails off. It doesn't finish. Laurent remembers a moment in his childhood and it takes some willpower to snap out of it. He doesn't squeeze Adelaide's hand in return, but his hold doesn't waver. He pulls her into a hug. ]

... I want to be happy again.

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