the caged mind craves the comfort of home

[AnimeNerd]

Jezzie was a bit too busy keeping her breathing steady to really hear what D was saying. But hey, if you think she's making a mountain out of a mole hill here, maybe you should looking at a classmates body from where he fell to his death! Maybe you can handle this trauma better! She fucking doubted it, though.

And maybe she was being weird about it. What she could actually see from where she had been standing was a small patch of red in snow far bellow, and a smidgeon of white in that red. For all intents and purposes, it wasn't actually that scary to see.

But the implication behind it. That this was the area someone had fallen from. A fall that had taken his life. And all it would take to join him was one misstep onto a patch of ice. And most of all, no one had realized it until now.

And like the dime a dozen slasher movie final girl stereotype she was apparently turning into, she happened to be the one left to find the body.

Jezzie's breathing settled just in time for her to recognize Jacob's question.

Jezzie turned somewhat. Not looking him in the eyes. Instead at the snow in front of him.

"I think..."

Jezzie struggled to get the words out, but always made sure to say her lines.

"I think...this is where Ethan fell from."

[DerArknight]

Oh.

The name rang a bell. There was a guy named Ethan in this school-regulated health-group. He also had been kind of a YouTuber, if she remembered correctly.

That was the extent to how much D had known Ethan. But being able to give one of yesterday's victims a face still felt shilling. It drove the point home of what was happening on this island.

That there were more people like her.

Now that the topic hung in the air, Daenerys knew that she couldn't afford to let this opportunity to catch up on what she missed pass.

"So, Ethan fell? To be honest, I was kinda... distracted when that jerkass spoke over the speakers, so I missed who died by whom.

"Mind giving a quick recap?"

D tried to pose the question in a non-chalant tone.

[almostinhuman]

"... oh."

It'd proven a mistake to think it was possible to relax at all.

He curled in on himself a little more, eyes forlorn as they stared blankly at the ground. His efforts to briefly escape the reality of their situation had been repeatedly shown to be a doomed endeavor. Another name made familiar by their captor's announcements. Splattered across the ground right by their little place of relaxation, no less.

[AnimeNerd]

Oh.

Yeah, oh is fucking right. She couldn't even say it was a stupid response or anything, how else are you supposed to react to realizing someone died here? Er, fell from here and died when he hit the ground over a hundred feet down or whatever. Point is, it's fucking disturbing and uncomfortable and makes her wish she could be anywhere but here.

But Jezzie had to be here. She couldn't leave Murder Island and this place was the only one she could get clean at, so all there was to do was suck it up and try to ignore it.

The show must go on, after all.

Jacob's attitude took a turn for the melancholy as D tried to appear unshaken, asking about what the announcements said. What could've distracted someone from those, she has no idea, but she may as well comply with the request-wasn't like she could hide her own situation now.

Jezzie gave a small nod before answering verbally.

"I...guess, sure.

"Kitty killed Robin. I guess things were worse than the rumors said, or...all of this didn't help. Janice killed Tana, the ghost girl-and while she was asleep too, because I guess someone had to be crazy like that. Przemek was...the one that was here with Ethan, I guess. Then, one of the Betties killed Oakley, I'm pretty sure it was Quinn, and she's apparently getting a prize for it. Kitty and Janice showed they could and would kill more, since now Iliya and Piper are dead because of them. The other Jacob-Lang-stabbed Spike, that Christian girl Mallory got shot by a Jessica-Romero-I think Aracelis has a bat that she killed Constance with, and I'm pretty sure Kiera got strangled by her boyfriend Shu."

She went over it again in her mind. She had been paying attention for the whole announcements, waiting for her own name to be said, and even with the shock from the announcer's version of how it happened, she still had been present enough to hear what was said after her.

"I...think that's it. Apart from. You know. The obvious."

Jezzie's gaze drifted down to her poor bloody clothes.

She couldn't hide Steve, but she could hide Whats-his-face.

[DerArknight]

"Thanks."

Some of the names were more familiar than others. Daenerys had expected that. However, she had not expected to find people like Shu or Jessica among the killers.

At least Ingrid had apparently survived whatever transpired in the Research Station. Same went for Corbin and Abhi. All the kids D had abandoned yesterday were still kicking.

Her eyes wandered back to the lone backpack, but only for a few seconds. If the other two really hadn't noticed, it was better to leave them in the dark.

Then she looked in Jacob's direction.

"By the way, are you gonna stay like this forever?" She asked the semi-naked boy who had finished his joint somewhere during the conversation.

[almostinhuman]

"... I was just trying to dry off first."

If he wasn't dealing with the reveal of Ethan's death nearby, he was sure the comment would have embarrassed him again. But now he had bigger things on his mind.

"But I guess I'm dry enough."

He started standing up again, not fretting about covering himself this time. At this point both of them had seen everything, and modesty wasn't at the top of his priority list.

"Just..."

He unsteadily wobbled to stand loosely upright before slipping on the slick, damp stone.

"WAAH!"

Jacob clumsily plunged back into the spring, an immense splash of water dousing the immediate area.

[AnimeNerd]

"It's no problem."

And for once, it wasn't a line she had to work to get out. It wasn't good, thinking about everyone who was already dead. But it at least got her mind distracted in a harmless way-no worries about the future because it was in the past and no worries about how it could effect her because they were all out of her control.

Of course, so were her own...incidents. They wouldn't effect in the future, because the public would understand her, and she had nothing to worry about for control, as she was in control of her life, even here. Obviously.

Though, it did raise other thoughts in her mind. If she remembered right, there were a hundred and thirty four students that were on the buses to go to the ski lodge, back when things were normal. So long as nothing happened to anyone along the way from the buses to this island, say some sort of overdose on sleeping gas or other unfortunate accident, it's reasonable to assume everyone that was there is now here. With Robin, Tana, Ethan, Oakley, Iliya, Piper, Spike, Mallory, Constance, Steve, and Kiera gone on day one, that meant one hundred and twenty three people were left. Minus Whats-His-Face from today and assuming the casualty rate doesn't have any significant change, then by the end of the day another ten to twelve people would be dead, and at the lower rate of ten per day, it could take two weeks before it's down to the final few, maybe even longer if she was really unlucky.

Good God, the idea of staying in this place for that long sounds like the worst thing ever, period. Having to fight for her life, hear her name be dragged through the mud, and take whatever little she can find in this Hell. A very, very small part of her almost wanted to walk back and jump off the cliff, if only to no longer deal with all this stress and give a middle finger to the assholes that expected high schoolers to survive this-how had anyone survived this before? It was like if life baked you a pi instead of a pie, and when it was thrown in your face it just became a never ending, near constant problem.

But. But. She could do this. She could fucking do this. She is Jezzie-God Damn-Stark, and it doesn't matter how many road blocks get thrown before her. She was meant to succeed and be great at life, and there was no way this bullshit would sto-

The train of thought was immediately and efficiently derailed as a yell and a loud splash could be heard behind Jezzie.

Jezzie turned her head, and saw...

"Um."

What do you even say about this?

[DerArknight]

D's first instinct was to face Jezzie, her khopesh at the ready. But this had been a false alarm, since the other girl didn't look like she had thrown a knife or something. So it was just a slippery accident.

This place... really is peaceful at the moment.

Daenerys decided to risk dropping in as well. A little bit more controlled, of course.

"Think I will go for a swim before something happens. What about you?" She directed her question to Jezzie, partly to hide the reason for turning in her direction earlier.

[almostinhuman]

Jacob emerged from the water, gasping for air, eyes wide from the shock of the fall and hitting the water.

After a moment or two, he started laughing. A warm, elated sound, like the gloom of moments ago had been forgotten. His efforts to dry off had been thwarted, but at least he wasn't hurt. And maybe he was just a bit high, but falling into the water after all that was legitimately really funny to him.

[AnimeNerd]

For a few moments, Jezzie just continued staring. Because again, what the Hell do you even say about this? Felt like cartoon world bullshit, and not long after she was talking about death. The emotional whiplash of realizing someone died-or was as good as dead around here, then laughter over slapstick so simple...

She didn't know what to think about it. So she chose not to, for the time being.

Jezzie let out a sigh before turning her attention to D.

"At this point I'm tempted to join you, if only because I'm getting tired of waiting."

Letting the blood stay on her for this long was bad enough. Any longer and she was going to start feeling sick.

Jezzie's eyes glanced towards Jacob for a moment.

A part of her wanted to advise him not to get a concussion, since no one here was a medic. Another said that that would be too mean for this character, and she was better off silent.

The later part won out, and she ended up just staring for moment before looking at D again.

[DerArknight]

"Okay." Daenerys said in response. "This bath is big enough for all of us."

D would spend a good 30 minutes bathing. After that, she would quickly dry herself, say her goodbyes and leave this place, refreshed and glad to have gotten some quiet.

Trouble would find her again. But not today.

((Daenerys "D" Todd continued in This Christmas))

[almostinhuman]

The laughter abated, though his mood didn't. Somehow, despite how heavy things had gotten, he'd managed to relax again.

Everything was fine.

((Jacob Winters continued in vantablack humor))

[AnimeNerd]

Jezzie didn't say anything specific at D's statement, instead giving a non-committal hum.

She wouldn't actually join the duo while they were both bathing. She kept watch.

No one came. But it was best to know for sure, right?

And plus, she wanted that time alone.

[[Fade to black on Jezzie Stark as she begins to undress, first shrugging off her jacket, then pulling the turtleneck over her head...]]