Marlene Collins 2023/03/05(Sun)12:40 No. 1057530 ID: 11f77a
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Whatever demons I have I’m going to just leave them in the bathroom. Yeah. Just a few more splashes on my face and I think I can pull myself toge--

>>1057530
Welp. Turn around I guess and pray it's just the onset of schizophrenia.

WHAT

DUCK AND SPIN

>grew into another reason why I had to quit this place
Hrm. What was THE reason, then? Demons in the bathroom?

>demon in the bathroom
Is that, er, a horror-fied Mr Booth? Though the Horn shape might be off.

... is it Silenus of all people?

Give a bit of a start and turn around. Clamp down on any panicked reactions, but take a step to the side - as if you're freeing up space for them to use the central sink, but really just to draw back from them.

…Okay random thought:How good are your horns for head butting?

>>1057530
NOPE!

Your wish has been granted.

Walk calmly past the demon and leave through the front door. Use this experience as writing material.

Shout "Ahhh, get away from me!" grab your pack, swing it at it, and flee, screaming!

Marlene Collins 2023/03/07(Tue)18:16 No. 1057810 ID: 11f77a
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Marlene: WHAT THE FUCK

slap! bap!

Marlene: WERE YOU THINKING

slap! slap! slap!

Marlene: CREEPING UP LIKE THAT!

Marlene: GIVING ME A HEART ATTACK

slap! bompf!

Marlene Collins 2023/03/07(Tue)18:20 No. 1057812 ID: 11f77a
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Marlene: DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA--

Guy: Ooow! Ack! Stop! I just had to take a piss!

Marlene: WHAT THE HELL

Marlene: IS WRONG WITH YOU

Guy: I thought I could save time and keep it on!

Guy: Stop!

Guy: It’s a test! A TEST! A costume! Agh!

Costumer: I gotta say~

Costumer: I think the costume passes.

Marlene Collins 2023/03/07(Tue)18:27 No. 1057813 ID: 11f77a
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Guy: The hell you put in your backpack? Yellow pages?

Costumer: Uhh… sorry Miss!

Costumer: C’mon. Let’s get this back to the photoshoots and test the lighting on this thing.

Guy: I still gotta piss, bro.

UUUUGH I can’t even--GUH! I can’t take this shit in one day. Fuck! FUUUUCK! Who would've thought I'd storm out of this place again. I can’t catch a FUCKING break.

Screw this. I’m going home before anyone else recognizes who I am.

…
I think Nico can take his offer and consider it rejected…
But uhh…
Did we wander into the men’s bathroom, or did he walk into the women’s bathroom?
Either way, someone screwed up.

>>1057813
Odd how well that matched with your dream. Maybe you should find out what the costume is for.

No, wait. Let's not end this the same way as last time.

Go back and apologize for the beating, ask what the costume is all about.
Maybe we should also talk to Nico about boundaries and professionalism, at least over the phone later if not now.

Wait, weren't you in the bathroom a moment ago? Did you chase the guy all the way to the cubicles?

>>1057889
yeah we really must do that we over reacted
>>1057819
oh depending on the year it could be due to politics making the unisex bathroom or its a case of there is 3 bahtrooms with one of them everyone can use or its just unspesfic bathroom as its just cheaper

Marlene Collins 2023/03/10(Fri)11:43 No. 1058111 ID: 11f77a
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>Maybe you should find out what the costume is for.
>Go back and apologize for the beating--
I’m too worked up to even ask. I don’t care either. He should’ve known better than to walk around with that thing on. I don’t hear him apologizing.

>Did we wander into the men’s bathroom, or […]
>Did you chase the guy all the way to the cubicles?
It’s unisex. I think. I assume. I wasn’t gonna be cramped in a bathroom with a monster so I shoved him with my backpack. He fell backwards out the door and I may have pushed a little too hard and fell--

Why the fuck does that even matter?! You probably can’t save face for half the weird shit you do.

>I think Nico can take his offer and consider it rejected.
Yeah... maybe. No, a definite yes. I don't want to think about anything now. I'm heading out and taking the bus.

Marlene Collins 2023/03/10(Fri)11:45 No. 1058113 ID: 11f77a
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Seb: Aaaugh! Sorry I’m late, Marley. There was so much wrong with this one customer’s car. Boss needed me to finish it before she picks it up tomorrow morning. Form says she ran out of gas but refilled it in the coolant reservoir.

Seb: It goes to show filling your tank isn’t part of the road test for rich assholes like her.

Seb: Anyway, I don’t want to think about work anymore. How was your day, love? Did you finally find your spark?

What do you think?

Wandered and thought,
Listened to some music and considered songwriting only to suddenly fall asleep, went to my former job…
Ugh. And my old boss got a kiss out of me somehow. Which got me so distraught I thought a demon showed up in the bathroom I was in. Aaand it was a dude. In a costume.
So a rollercoaster that says I might need some serious help. I’m r just…I’m so glad I have you.

Unfortunately not. Talk about your day and how everything went exceeeeeeept maybe not the kiss part, at least not right now. Do tell him how much you love him and are thankful for him though :3 maybe a hug and a proper smooch

Don't tell him about the kiss..

Well maybe at the end, after you stress how utterly discombobulated you are and you aren't acting like yourself and everything seems a bit wonky.

Then do the kiss as an, "I have a confession that I have to get off my chest." and characterize it like... you're worried about your mental health, things have been really weird lately, and the things you noticed after the fact that you WEREN'T thinking, and how you immediately reacted once you got a moment of sanity.

Well, I found where it isn’t….

Oh we found something, just not what we wanted sadly. It was a rough day of wandering around.

>Why the fuck does that even matter?! You probably can’t save face for half the weird shit you do.

Oh, excuses are not as hard as they seem, the trick is to th...
Wait, you can hear us?

Hey, remember when you woke up from an eldritch Lord jamming cyberware through your skull?

What happened today is almost exactly how you'd feel the day after that happened.

This is where you start screwing your bf on the kitchen floor.

Marlene Collins 2023/03/13(Mon)19:09 No. 1058483 ID: 11f77a
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Marlene: What do you think?

Seb: Aw, I meant nothin’ bad by it. I’m sure you always do your best to find an idea to write. I know you. You’ll be on a roll once you start jotting down words.

Seb: This aint the first time you’ve been down in the dumps. I’ve seen you like this before. It’ll pass! Trust me.

Marlene: Six months without writing though?

Seb: Didn’t you say that you wanted to rest your brain a while?

Marlene: I suppose. I hope the feeling isn’t irreversible.

Marlene: Ya know, I wandered around today and I was just thinking the whole way through. But mainly thinking about myself and what I’m exactly doing here.

Marlene: I visited my old band. They’re getting along so normally--I don’t know how they can stay pumped to make music. I promised I could help write a few songs for a show. However, I slept in the middle of practice as I tried to write. Don’t know why.

Marlene Collins 2023/03/13(Mon)19:10 No. 1058484 ID: 11f77a
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Marlene: I thought I’d stop by Silenus next--right? Maybe hang around. See how my coworkers are doing.

Marlene: And my old boss...

Marlene: ...

Marlene: He...

Marlene: ...offered me a job.

He gasps in excitement. Good news doesn’t come around often for me.

Seb: Oh neat! That’s really good to hear! Did you accept? It could keep you productive in the meantime. I know you had a hard time working there but perhaps it’ll be different. Make some demands! They giving you a raise, I hope?

Marlene: It’s up in the air. I have to think it through first.

Marlene Collins 2023/03/13(Mon)19:13 No. 1058485 ID: 11f77a
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Seb: Well I believe despite what you may think--today sure sounds productive for you!

He plants a kiss to my lips. He smells of grease and a cold garage.

Marlene: Yeah... I guess it was.

Marlene: ...

Marlene: Sebastian. Today has felt a little unusual for me; that’s what’s throwing me off. I just didn’t feel like myself since this morning. I may be turning crazy but a lot of things I’ve done today happened without thinking it through.

Seb: Maybe it’s the sleepwalking. For a while you stopped but maybe starting that again will confuse you.

Seb: Let’s not talk about how rough today was yet. Have you eaten dinner? I know it’s a bit late but we could order a pizza or Chinese.

Marlene: Sure. I’ll think of somethin’ to order. You need a shower first; you smell.

>Plan the rest of your evening with Seb.
or
>Skip forward to bedtime.
>Can still discuss things right before sleep.

Skip skip skip skip

Plan the evening. Ask him to order a pizza. Go shower. Hint for him to join you in shower. Share pizza...

Plan the evening! Shower, Pizza, maybe a bit of wine. Maybe some background music, cuddling. Maybe some herbal tea.

After fortifying yourself, explain the rest of the evening. It IS important to get this stuff of your chest as soon as you can reasonably manage it, he'll understand that, but you do need to make the effort to come clean and discuss this like an adult.

Plan the evening

Thank him for the idea to take a shower, it should give you a bit more time and a safer place to let your thoughts percolate some more. He has a point; it's possible that the sleepwalking starting up again messed with your impulse control. Definitely gonna have to communicate what happened with him ASAP, but it's going to be a lot better when you have some food and other good things on the horizon to stabilize with.

Marlene Collins 2023/03/16(Thu)19:38 No. 1058750 ID: 11f77a
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>Maybe a bit of wine/herbal tea
What, you think we’re loaded with money here? Is herbal tea expensive? Clearly I don’t drink it to know. We just have standard poor stuff like soda and beer. I think I’ll have to go out for milk again.

Marlene: A pizza would sound nice. You should order from Tee-Gees, then. They’re not-shit and close enough while I gussy you up.

Seb: I thought you said you would order while I shower.

Marlene: well, I could multitask.

Seb: You think you’ll be done in time to answer the door?

Marlene: Do you think we’ll take 30 minutes?
---
In hindsight showering together is always a terrible idea when you have to share one showerhead. But I can’t recall taking a bath earlier so it gives me an excuse to nudge myself in. I make myself useful to scrub Seb’s face and erase the dark, oily marks.

Seb: Ow.

Marlene: Hold up, did you finally shave that ridiculous thing off?

Seb: What--the beard? Probably flat against my chin--! Ow!

Marlene: Wait, there it is.

Seb: Send some water over here, my eyelids hurt from trying to keep the soap from burning. It’s getting cold, too.

Marlene: Whiner.

Phone: Uh... that’ll be $21.50 at the door, mam?

Marlene: 30 minutes, yeah, I got it. Thanks.

Marlene Collins 2023/03/16(Thu)19:40 No. 1058751 ID: 11f77a
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After drying off he seems to smell fine. I’m sure I’m noseblind at this point since he works at the auto shop every day. We eat our pizza, watch TV, do nothing productive. I think the full stomach helps with wanting to retreat to bed and sleep--so we head on over nearing eleven o’clock.

I read a bit before the melatonin sinks in. Seb scrolls his phone but as soon as one of us decides to sleep the other will follow--it's almost like a standoff. But whatever’s looming on my mind I guess I couldn’t help but get Seb’s attention.

Marlene: Hey...

Seb: Yeah?

His eyes remain on the phone as his finger flicks across the screen.

Marlene Collins 2023/03/16(Thu)19:44 No. 1058752 ID: 11f77a
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>It’s important to get this stuff off your chest.
>Definitely gonna have to communicate what happened
Marlene: So...

Marlene: ...

Marlene: Uh.

Seb: Forgot already?

Marlene: It’s...

Marlene: Ah, it's nothin’. I just figured it out.

Seb: Alrightie then~

Seb: That a journal on your desk?

Marlene: Oh yeah... I just keep it in my night drawer in case something good comes up. That way I can pounce on it when inspiration strikes.

Seb: What if you sleepwalk away from bed and wake up too far? Heh heh.

Marlene: Ah, shut up.

He yawns, sets his phone down on the charger.

Seb: Hrrrgh--I think that’s about it for tonight for me, Marley. I have no energy. At. All. I should get to sleep for tomorrow.

Seb: Maybe it’ll get better tomorrow for you too!

Marlene: Yeah. Maybe.

That boy is amazing for you and you need to thank him and do nice things for him and come clean as soon as you can emotionally manage it.

Same-day big conversation doesn't have to happen. Just remember that there's no way through this that won't hurt. Sometimes it can be important to remember that so you won't just put it off forever. Embrace the pain.

Probably shouldn't talk about big events like what happened with your old boss right now. It's going to make it harder for both of you to sleep tonight. Talk about it with him in the morning instead.

...No.. no he needs to know. You did kiss Nico. But he was your ex, and you regretted it immedeatedly after.

Seb will understand. Seb will forgive, if not always then at least this time, with this context.
He is nice. He loves you. And he will love deeper still when you share your mistakes with him.

Marlene Collins 2023/03/18(Sat)22:04 No. 1059006 ID: 11f77a
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>Just remember that there’s no way through this that won’t hurt.
>Seb will understand. Seb will forgive, if not always—then at least this time.
>Probably shouldn’t [tonight]. It’s going to make it harder for both of you to sleep.
>That boy is amazing for you and [...] come clean as soon as you can emotionally manage it.
He is amazing. And I’m not. Without him I wouldn’t be able to support myself for very long. I would have to live with my parents in another town and my future is uncertain from there. So yeah, revealing that to him requires something to fall back onto. Even if it is the right thing to do.

Once I make a career and get my life going... I ought to mention it then. He deserves to know. That I’m certain. This isn’t really something I ought think about while trying to sleep right now.

Well there you have it, folks: a day of nothing productive in the life of Marlene Collins. I mean... the weird stuff is not usually part of it. I have everything to live comfortably but it’s not enough for me. The world wouldn’t be different if I had never existed.

Marlene Collins 2023/03/18(Sat)22:04 No. 1059007 ID: 11f77a
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At least I have something to occupy my time with--a few scripts to breeze through and pick out any good ones, as well as write a song. Shouldn’t be hard. Maybe four lines to repeat are all a song needs. I could read some scripts at Brook’s Clove, chat with Emmylou and see how she’s doing.

Would I be able to show my face at the studio again? No one knows what happened in Nico’s office--so really it would be explaining the scare I had afterwards. I ought to just avoid Nico entirely.

What am I saying? Why would I return unless I get $100 from Dolly?

Marlene Collins 2023/03/18(Sat)22:05 No. 1059008 ID: 11f77a
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Guh, I can’t keep thinking while I’m trying to sleep. Sleep, goddammit.

Sleep sleep sleep...

Marlene Collins 2023/03/18(Sat)22:05 No. 1059009 ID: 11f77a
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Hrnngh...

Marlene Collins 2023/03/18(Sat)22:06 No. 1059012 ID: 11f77a
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???: Hey--

???: Who’s there?

Marlene Collins 2023/03/18(Sat)22:07 No. 1059013 ID: 11f77a
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???: Are you... here?

???: Are you...

Marlene Collins 2023/03/18(Sat)22:07 No. 1059014 ID: 11f77a
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???: ...real?

CHAPTER END