cheesed to meet you

[MurderWeasel]

The reply is prompt and cheerful, a little louder this time.

"Not allowed to say who's on Jasper's team specifically, sorry. But if you get close to her, I'll try to point you her way.

"As to dangers? Everyone's a danger, and you can't forget it if you're going to stand a chance. Pay attention to the announcements, but approach every encounter with caution even if it's not someone who got named. Your class isn't like my season. A lot of people are trying for kills. Some are obviously bad news at a glance, but unless somebody's on your team, you just can't trust them. It's always a risk.

"Oh, and thanks for reviewing my book, Shoshana. I'll take a look, and if it's okay with you, maybe I can put something from it in the blurbs for the next one? Oh, and if you do manage to escape, I'll get you a signed copy, of course."

[Sh4dE]

"Thanks," Gus said while grabbing the seaweed snacks and munching on them. He wished they'd get a real meal. Like a delicious one, not just snacks. He also grabbed a bit from the squid snacks and broke off a piece to taste it. It was alright.

Jasper's mentor said more stuff. Woah. Was the mentor like, famous or something? Apparently Shoshanna owned a book by her.

"Should I know this girl? Is she like a novelist?"

[Laurels]

Shoshanna listened as Jewel spoke more. Of course, she wouldn't be able to tell them people to look out for, other than a promise to identify the person on Jasper's team who was likely to join them when they met her. That was at least nice. As was telling them that people were already seriously playing, so they may as well be on guard no matter what.

Shoshanna then lost whatever guard she had when Jewel offered to read Shoshanna's review of Ten Kills, One Life and include it as a blurb for the next book she wrote. She perked up a bit and smiled.

"Yeah, feel free to quote me," Shoshanna said to Jewel. "Just spell my name right when you do. The Z is before the Y. A lotta people get that wrong. But yeah, let's chat more when we get out."

Shoshanna stretched her arms up a bit. Was she already making a serious connection here for her future post-SOTF career? Hell yeah.

She let herself enjoy it for only a moment, then got serious again.

"Okay, let's start planning for tomorrow" she told the boys.

[AnimeNerd]

Well, not as much information as Jasper hoped, but it was good advice nonetheless. They needed to be wary of anyone that they came across, lest they turn out to be more interested in getting kills than escaping with them. A bit of extreme paranoia, but with Survival of the Fittest? Better to be unnecessarily paranoid than overly assured.

As he got out the seaweed snacks for himself, Jasper heard Gus’ question.

“She was on the last season of Survival of the Fittest,” he said before popping one of the snacks in his mouth. “Jewel Evans. Got out with the ten kill release rule.”

Turning his attention back to Shoshanna, he smiled wide again. Good for her planning out her celebrity status before she escaped. It may be a bit risky, but when they succeed, she would definitely be one the people that are better off.

With Shoshanna’s serious attitude coming back, Jasper let his smile shrink, but not leave entirely.

“Alright. Let’s talk shop.”

* * * * *

As they finished up discussing the plan, Jasper had made a decision. Gus was probably too nervous to be willing to let Shoshanna look over his collar, and she couldn’t exactly examine her own, so that left about one choice.

Best to just get it over with.

From his seat on one of the hammocks, he scratched at the back of his neck, close to the collar but not quite touching it.

“Hey, Shoshanna?” He said. “Can you look at my collar? Something’s itching me, and I’m not sure if it’s that or something else.”

[Sh4dE]

Gus had to admit he didn't really know Shoshanna's name, he only heard it being said but never like read it on paper in a class book or so, which made it more bizarre that there was apparently a Z and Y in it. Shzoshonna, but where is the Y in there? Is there a silent y? Shyoshanna. Zhyoshanna. Szoy- whatever.

Jewel also rang a bell, from a memory of last season, having walked into Fernando's TV-binging. Gus believed it was the girl who got killed by this one sad-looking guy with the beanie. Nando laughed about her getting beaten to death, like, he explained to Gus that she deserved to die, because she was bad and that beanie guy was the better dude. But apparently she lived. Good for her, Gus guessed.

To be fair, Gus noticed there was a bias by Fernando for always prefering the masculine figures and shit, like super buff muscular dudes, like He-Man-type jocks and whatever, and not girls, but that might just be because Nando was still pubertising or so. When Gus was his age, he was also super into Frank Castle and Nando is into this Vahka guy and such and those are the heroes for him.

Gus wondered who he'd cheer for if he had watched TV. He liked a girl last season, he'd seen there, her character, how she acted, but Nando would tell him she was a bitch and that he didn't like her. Nando could have an issue with women as protagonists, but he was the one who watched TV and had all the context, so Gus wouldn't know. He didn't know how preferences and biased worked and didn't want to question all of that. He just missed his brother and wondered if he'd cheer for him right now.

---

Anyway, as the others discussed their plan and Gus nodded and listened, while he was also thinking about namespelling and tried to solve the puzzle of the silent Y (it was probably the surname, he figured out), he brought up Eric's name in the discussion of their plan, as he was already thinking about names, so he wanted to name the name he forgot half a day ago, now that he had recalled it.

After the discussion, Gus munched a bit more and played with the cannonball in his hand until the announcements broke out. Lots of dead names, some he recognised. Man, that was a pretty shit day and situation they were in. No matter how much he'd munch on the seaweed, stare at the cannonball or try to think of more pleasant things, the whole situation was pretty dark.

"Oh man, I should check how Leslie's doing."

Leslie was probably going to be shocked about all the deaths happening. He was the silent type, being a fisher and all, and you know, maybe he could need some emotional support. He could've been close to one of the dead names after all. So Gus stepped outside to check for Leslie.

[Laurels]

After explaining her plan to the duo, Jasper began to scratch his collar and asked Shoshanna to scratch it for him.

"Yeah, Jas," she said. "Come hither and-"

But before she could continue, the crackling of the announcements came to fill the ship's cabin. Shoshanna paused, then quickly grabbed her notepad.

"Hold on."

She listened as the announcement listed the names. This was the serious part of the game. They needed to know who was dead, and who was killing. Killers were people to avoid or to at least show hesitancy towards if they approached. Victims were people they'd have to keep an eye out for later.

Shoshanna wrote as fast as she could, quickly writing names, arrows, and causes of death. She would have liked to have made a proper spreadsheet, much like she did when seasons were airing back home, but she'd have to do with cliff notes.

Verity --> Tim (pushed off boat)
Carol --> Oliver (crushed, crates)
Rhonda --> Xander (shot, team kill, accident)
Akenno (sp?) --> Maxine (revenge, strangle)
Sayoon (sp?) --> Abel (unknown)

They also gave team numbers, which Shoshanna wrote on the back of the paper as a team counter. According to the announcement, there were seven teams plus the loner. One of the victims would have been on Shoshanna's team, whoever that was.

Ritzy also said the crates were off limits for the next 12 hours. Shoshanna shrugged. So much for that idea.

Once the announcement was done, Gus said he would check on Leslie.

"Okay, be careful," Shoshanna said. "Let Leslie know he can come in if he wants."

Once Gus was gone, Shoshanna turned back to Jasper.

"Sorry we can't go to the crates now. But we got more info that will help."

She cracked her knuckles.

"Now, what was that about an itch on your collar?"

[AnimeNerd]

Jasper would’ve made a comment about the nickname Jas if the announcements hadn’t started when they did. Once there was sound coming from the loudspeakers, his attention went to the nearest one, taking mental notes as he kept up the charade by scratching at his neck.

None of the deaths themselves really got to him. The only one he sort of knew was Xander, and even then it wasn’t enough to get a reaction out of him.

What did get a reaction from him was hearing Akeno’s name, and the fact that she had apparently strangled Maxine to death. He actually stopped smiling, his mouth drawn in a tight line and his eyes narrowed. Yes, it sounded like a revenge kill, but even then, without the full story, it wasn’t a good look.

It was definitely going to cause a problem or two, later on. But that meant Jasper could also deal with the issue later, and with other things he needed to focus on, he was all for procrastination at the moment.

At Gus’ statement, Jasper dropped the serious expression as he went back to a more neutral one, the tension leaving his face as he simply nodded and switched the hands he was scratching his neck with, from right to left. “Alright, stay safe.”

For Shoshanna’s comment, he shrugged.

“Hey, it’s whatever. At least it wasn’t when we were actually searching the place.”

He didn’t want to imagine having to navigate those things, in the dark, with the risk of their necks exploding if they weren’t fast enough.

He got up from the hammock after the question, bunching up his hair to get it out of the way.

“It’s mainly the back of my neck, but you might need to check the whole thing, just in case the collar causes it anywhere else.”

...

“Also, would it help if I got on my knees?”

It was only then that the height difference between the two of them really crossed his mind.

[Sh4dE]

Outside it was colder and darker.

"Hey, Leslie!"

He looked around and looked at the spot where Leslie was supposed to be.

"You can come in, if you need! Uh, I can take over your shift."

Huh. He must've went elsewhere on the boat. Odd. Gus searched the ship and couldn't find Leslie anywhere. What was super worrying about the whole thing is that the cheese wheel still was there. Leslie was gone, but without the cheese. Something was seriously wrong.

Maybe he'd gone for a walk? Maybe he's still nearby somewhere? Gus didn't want to think of what could've happened to Leslie while they were safe and happy inside, especially after hearing the announcements, with all the murder and shit, Gus was seriously concerned about Leslie's well-being. Fact was that Leslie was gone, but the question was whether he had gone voluntarily or not.

The cheese wheel was still here, and Leslie promised him to like eat the cheese with him once they found something cut it with. Maybe Leslie fell off the ship? Maybe someone abducted him? Gus didn't know. He needed to find out.

So Gus stepped to the jetties to search for his teammate.

((Gustavo Thicke continued in Bro, I'm stoked you're here, man!))

[Laurels]

"Yeah, on your knees would be better."

Shoshanna brushed her ponytail behind her shoulder. She wasn't entirely sure what she alone could find from checking Jasper's collar. She had some ideas for what to look for based on watching Ashley Ex Machina, but theory was different from the practical.

She cracked her knuckles as Jasper got into place.

"Okay, let me get that itch for ya," she said.

Shoshanna moved her index finger between his collar and the nape of his neck. She began to move it around, hoping to feel something notable.

"Is that helping?" she asked.

[AnimeNerd]

"Alright,"

Jasper got on his knees-an action not entirely unfamiliar to him, he couldn't help but think. That experience meant he knew how to do so without risk of making his knees sore if he had to sit for too long, true, but he chose not to voice these thoughts. Best to keep thoughts like these to yourself, after all.

As Shoshanna started fiddling with the collar, Jasper couldn't hold back the shiver that ran down his spine. It was one thing to have someone's hands there for a massage, or something else. Messing around with something that could potentially kill him, if they weren't careful?

Even if he could put up a poker face, even he could admit that it was scary.

"A little," He responded. "Keep going. Please."

[Wham Yubeesling]

“Do you two need help with that?”

The camera zoomed out, panned over away from Jasper and Shoshanna as two became four. As a girl came from the stairs onto the scene, and her erstwhile tagalong came up right behind her. It was surprisingly cinematic. More than Marion would have particularly wanted. There were people like Seo-yun and Laura who thought that appearing suddenly and saying a witty line was the best way to enter a conversation but really it only served to make their narcissism evident: they wanted all focus in the conversation to be on them, and as thus they derailed whatever was currently going on in order to achieve that goal, all that had been built up before rendered completely irrelevant because here was person number three and they were the only one who mattered now.

And here Marion was, doing exactly what she hated, because allegedly this game truly did make people their opposites. She knew that only narcissists said that they weren’t narcissistic and as thus she was going to leave it up for others to decide, but she did want to defend herself in one way: at the very least, her interruption had something to contribute to the conversation already ongoing. Namely, that Shoshanna was trying to massage Jasper’s neck.

...Allegedly. It was kind of telling that they were trying to get something past the cameras: Shoshanna’s technique was all off.

That was a little bit besides the point, though. All Marion needed to establish was that given how this was a massage, her own experience meant that she could contribute to what was going on. And, given the subtext, that might not be the only thing Marion could be useful for. So she chose that mode of entrance she did. She and her erstwhile tagalong appeared from the stairs in the most cinematic way, and all the cameras in the room moved over to her to mark the fact that yes, she had indeed joined the scene.

((Marion Rosales, continued from…))

“I’ve done massage stuff at parties before. If you want any pointers, or if you want me to step in, then I’d be happy to be of help.”

And she was. She might have helped already. Her entrance necessitated the cameras to point out her and Nadine’s entrance. That would at least give Jasper and Shoshanna a couple of seconds. Assuming they needed privacy, of course. Giving massages could feel awkward, sometimes. Marion knew all too well.

[almostinhuman]

(Nadine Flores continued from 9 PM, Day 1)

As Marion led her from one ship to the next, Nadine's thoughts remained firmly fixed on planning the escape. Though "planning" was a generous term for it; she still couldn't quite get past the first obstacle to their escape, the collars. She had only vague ideas of what could work, but no real clue of how the collars operated or what could potentially disable them. She'd need to examine one more closely to puzzle anything out, but she could hardly do that with her own, and the risk of explosion would doubtlessly make it a tough sell to Marion or anyone else.

Eventually, they arrived at yet another old-style ship - a clipper ship, according to the map. The very first room they entered met them with two other students, neither of whom Nadine really recognized. One was on his knees, while the other had her hands wrapped around his neck in the most non-threatening way one could do such a thing. Marion casually waltzed right in, talking as if she'd expected to see these two here like this. Nadine quietly entered behind her and shut the door.

Marion seemed to interpret what was happening as a massage, and it did look the part at first glance. Of course, judging from how her hands were moving, the girl seemed more invested in the explosives ringed around the boy's throat than anything else.

Nadine remained silent as Marion engaged the pair. Neither of these two shared a team with either herself or Marion, and the last thing anyone needed was a reason to feel antagonized.

[Laurels]

Shoshanna continued to move her finger along the inside of the collar. Jasper pretended to enjoy the massage, and Shoshanna could pretend she was glad she was helping. Of course, it wasn't that great considering she wasn't getting much out of it. She couldn't find any seams or grooves, and she wasn't even sure if she could find the microphone in the thing.

Of course, Shoshanna couldn't look any further when two girls suddenly walked into the room. Shoshanna withdrew her hands from Jasper's neck and quickly turned to the girls. The hijabi girl talked about giving massages, which gave Shoshanna a reason to raise an eyebrow. The other girl stood their quietly. Neither girl seemed that dangerous, but that didn't mean Shoshanna and Jasper could rest easy. After all, how did they get in without the two of them knowing.

"Uh, hey," Shoshanna said. "Sorry, but Massage Time is over, so save the tips for later."

Shoshanna stood up from the hammock.

"So, uh, did the guys let you in?"

She could still feel the flare gun in the back of her shorts. She seriously hoped she wouldn't have to use it, especially in closed quarters. But the girls got in without any sign from Leslie nor Gus, so that gave her some serious concern.

[AnimeNerd]

Oddly enough, the finger going around the inside of the collar actually did feel relieving somewhat. It wasn't actually removing the collar yet, but it did feel nice for the constant presence of the thing to be interrupted by something else.

And then that small, pleasant presence was the thing interrupted as a new, not so familiar voice making itself known.

The grip on the hook tool tightened where it was slacking moments ago. Jasper let his hair fall back into place as he moved one leg, almost as if he was about to stand, but instead staying in a sort of kneeling position.

Looking at the girls, he couldn't help but quickly come to the conclusion that he could take either of them on if he needed to. He would prefer not having to, but he couldn't help going to that line of thinking when they were on different teams from himself and Shoshanna.

But, as Shoshanna had clearly pointed out, the two had somehow gotten here despite Leslie and Gus being outside, which left three options.

One, they decided these girls were cool and let them on the ship, deciding not to tell himself and Shoshanna for some reason.

Two, Jasper and Shoshanna had been ditched by the two team mates and were on their own.

And three, Gus and Leslie were bleeding out/dead on the deck of the ship, and the girls came here to kill the two of them now.

He really hoped it was option one. Allies dying on the first day of the season would suuuuuuck.

"Yeah, feeling' better already," he said, rolling his shoulders back for a second.

He didn't say anything else. Yet. He was just waiting for the answer from either girl about the boys.

Time to see if they would bluff or not.

[Wham Yubeesling]

“Aww.”

The sound that came out of Marion’s mouth was legitimate. Perhaps it was incriminating to say that, but it did feel like a necessary contribution — oftentimes people only cooed like that when they felt like their sadness or dejection or sympathy or other relevant emotion needed to be emphasized. In this case, it was the most legitimate thing that could’ve been said. Marion thought that the stuff she’d learned on massages would actually be useful in this game where not a lot of things were useful. As it turned out, she had entered too late to be useful. The massage was over. She would never get a chance like this again.

Which, potentially, could be spun to be for the best. Her hair would not be shown to the people she didn’t quite care for. Neither would her personality. Neither, now, would her peculiarities. There were multiple plans. This, however unintended, still fell under one of them. Marion did not mind, ultimately.

That might have been partially since she still had something she could do. A question had been asked. She was… a bit unsure of what they quite meant, but it was simple enough to answer, regardless. Contribute.

Only so much, though. Nadine had been… silent, for the last bit. Maybe Marion could give her an in to this conversation too.

“Boys?” She asked. Legitimate question, even if it felt weird coming out of her mouth given how she’d already asked that question in her head. “You two were the only people we’ve seen on this ship so far.”