The Principal's Office

[tailor_made]

The door to the principal’s office is open at all hours, although you will only find Hester at the receptionist’s desk from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. This is primarily where you can have private conversations with her. Though there’s an actual office in the back, it is always closed and locked.

Comments

[tailor_made]

[Hester goes very still when he hugs her, unsure of how to respond. Normally she's the hugger so being on the recieving end is a bit of a shock.]

I-I think I'd like that, Spongebob. You're welcome for the DVD.

[After a few moments of hesitation she returns the hug, squeezing him extra tight.]

[brokeforgood]

Probably to! Wake! You! Up! [Farrah’s a little more aggressive than usual, and she smacks the bell with each punctuation.]

I have an important question.

[tailor_made]

How convenient.

[She mutters that uder her breath but quickly straightens up.] Sorry, I didn't really sleep the past few nights. What do you need to know, Farrah?

[brokeforgood]

What happens if someone kills themselves? Do they... still get the wish?

[tailor_made]

I do- [She stares at her, stunned with asymmetrical eyeliner.] I'd think only if you got away with it but Farrah, don't tell me you're actually considering that route when you were just brought back?

[brokeforgood]

I’d—- really be back. I wouldn’t have nightmares. It never would have happened.

[Farrah hesitates.]

I wouldn’t have the nightmares. ... But it’d only work if they didn’t know it was me? And then— everyone else would have to—-

[tailor_made]

[Hester nods, her expression soft and sympathetic.]

Yeah. Those are the rules.

[She reaches for her little ceramic teapot and a cup, pouring a gently steaming cup of tea and silently slides it across her desk toward Farrah.]

[tailor_made]

[The top drawer is surprisingly empty! But it also has a sort of vaguely weird vibe to it that is hard to put a finger on. There's nothing visually interesting about it, it just feels...a little weird.]

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[Huh.

Honestly, everything about this place is vaguely weird. So the feeling doesn't much concern her, so much as it sets off plenty of familiar warning sirens.


Empty then. She'll press her hand against the bottom of it then, testing the wood, and if nothing seems too strange about it, she'll move onto the next drawer.]

[brokeforgood]

[Farrah takes it without a word, dropping back into the bad kids chair.]

Well. That sucks. What’s the deal, H? I didn’t think you’d be into this kind of thing.

[tailor_made]

I'm not into it, Farrah, it's just...it's complicated. There are a lot of things happening and even more things going wrong. This sucks but you have to believe me we're not doing this out of some sick sense of enjoyment for ourselves.

[brokeforgood]

Yeah, I dunno. It’s not like I don’t…

The second chance is nice and all. And I’m glad to have met everyone. But to have to lose them all? To have to know what it’s like to have a bunch of people who love you, and then have to wait for them to either die, or come for you next?

It’s fucked up. And I didn’t expect it from you.

[tailor_made]

[No false bottom, unfortunately.

The second drawer does yeild some better results: its full of fabric.]

[tailor_made]

[Hester stares at him for a long minute, her brows furrowed. True, she hasn't had breakfast yet and she is hungry...

But dad the Wizard taught her to be wary of wayward Narrators. Even ones she'd been watching for three weeks be nothing but kind and helpful to other people.]

I- thank you. [As luck would have it, there's an empty space on her desk the perfect size for a plate and glass!] What's the occasion?

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[...Ohhhh.

What kind of fabric? Color? Texture?]

[tailor_made]

Spon- [She raises a hand to her mouth to muffle a yawn.] -gebob! Good morning.

That's so sweet of you, I was just thinking how I was getting hung- is that Gary?

[tailor_made]

[The fabric is a nice jersey cotton, pretty simple, and it's a rich emerald green.

How familiar is Cass with the costume room?]

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[Don't know what a Jersey is, but this is... Nice. A pleasantly green color.

She's been in the Costume room several times over the past weeks, looking through clothes for things she can wear on a day-to-day basis. Is this costume fabric?]

[employeeoftheyear]

You know him? [He is absolutely beaming at the idea that she already knows Gary.] He popped out of the machine thing just today! Say hi to Hester, Gary!

[He meows.

Spongebob places the pancakes in front of her and smiles.]

You know I was just starting to worry I wouldn't be able to see any of my friends from home ever again, but I'm glad I was wrong about that!

[tailor_made]

[It looks like it's from one of the fabric bolts in there, yes! There also seems to be some tailor's chalk too, for fabric sketching.]

[tailor_made]

I'm...familiar, let's say. Hi, Gary!

[She grins, clearly happy to see the two of them. While she had spent the night at the sleepover, she'd slipped out pretty early to get dressed for her office hours- and despite the layer of foundation and powder on her face it's pretty noticeable that she did not get much sleep.]

Come on, Spongebob, nothing could seperate a sponge and his snail forever. [Except death but shhhh, it's pancake time.]

[tailor_made]

I couldn't just leave him in the hallway to dissociate out of his skin. I- [She folds her arms on top of her desk, her fingers flexing on her own forearm like a nervous habit.] I get the whole "no privacy" thing. I've lived some places where closed doors weren't allowed, ever, and it sucks. It was the least I could do in the moment.

[employeeoftheyear]

I'll say! Kinda funny that he was there in the first place, but I'm glad he wasn't home starving!

[Or burning in lava.

He sits across from her, seeming to notice how tired she looks. He was one of the first people who fell asleep so he almost certainly didn't see her leave unless she left really early.]

Aww, don't tell me you stayed up all night at the sleepover? I've tried doing that too but I can never stay up too long past my bedtime!

[comeandfindme]

[ Peregrine stares at her. She keeps trying, trying to figure Hester out. ]

You're saying that like you actually care about what happens to him. To the rest of us.

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[OH.... Well. Cassandra isn't the best seamstress in the world, but she can tell what this is for.

If she were to, say, take out the fabric and look for sketching, does she find any on it?]