[Social] Room 103 - Don't You Dare Laugh

[Miriam Bell]

It's been a couple of days since they 'sealed' Will in the mirror and Miriam has been kind of sparse, but she finally builds up the emotional fortitude to go and ask Will for something that has been simmering in the back of her mind ever since that day. The Mirror can probably tell that she's anxious as she walks up to it. To most people the small frown and lips pressed into a thin line look closed off and the sarcastic tone in her voice acerbic, but Will has spend enough time around her to know when she's doing it out of defensiveness.

"Hey. Enjoying yourself in there still?" she asks as she knocks on the frame.

[Will Stanton]

Looking back into her own pensive face is still an odd experience for the vampire, and green isn't her color, but the mirror itself continued to radiate the calming and soothing effects it had been since it was installed. The whiteboard on the back had multiple tick marks on it at this point, each initialed with a WS.


FineCalmInterestingWatchingFeelingNew

[Miriam Bell]

"What is the whiteboard for? Keeping track of who is out and about?" she definitely does not stall on anything whatsoever.

[Will Stanton]

That's the general idea, yes
A census helps us keep our senses
And to know who is responsible for what
And to know where we may go
And where we have come from

[Miriam Bell]

"Speaking of." she says. "I was wondering if you'd be willing to spare one of you for some... furnishing. For my room that is."

[Will Stanton]

A pause for a moment, as if there was some internal discussion happening that Miriam was not privy to.

...Go on, the mental voices encouraged.

[Miriam Bell]

"I could use your help setting up some better sleeping accommodations."

[Will Stanton]

Like in the hotel room?
Or did you have something else in mind?

[Miriam Bell]

"A nicer bed." she says, voice becoming quieter as if she's concerned with being overheard. "Based on when we first tried the mirror frame and you engulfed me? Just... in the shape of a bed. Or maybe something a bit more enclosed..." she says, making some vague gestures trying to indicate walls.

[Will Stanton]

You want a box.
A fancy box
A fancy, quiet box
A fancy, quiet, secret box

[Miriam Bell]

"That feels like a hug."

It's a very good thing she's as pale as she is because otherwise Will might have seen her blush and then she'd have no choice but to murder them.

[Will Stanton]

Mmmm. the voices said, and then were silent for a minute -- another conference?


Yes, of course one of us wants to help
We'd be more than happy to help you find peace of mind'
Replicating being in here, though, will be tricky
VERY tricky
Not impossible!
VERY tricky indeed.

[Miriam Bell]

"Nothing this intense. Just the... welcoming embrace from after the first attempt failed. A little bit of that, in the shape of something to rest safely in." she says, slowly, as if she's forcing herself to say the words as she trudges her way through the sentence.

[Will Stanton]

We have some ideas
You have some ideas
I'm sure that we can find something worthwhile?

[Miriam Bell]

"I wouldn't have come to you with this if I didn't think so. I'm... starting to see the appeal of coffins, even if that's a tad melodramatic even for me. But I can't imagine a safer place than something volunteered by you..."

[Will Stanton]

Then let's get you a good night's sleep
Solve the problems one at a time
Creating new ones as we go

[Miriam Bell]

"Well, I'm good at one of those things. You'll have to cover for the rest." she snarks, eager to stop being too vulnerable in favor of a return to form.

[Will Stanton]

After a moment's hesitation to see if Miriam would take the initiative, the mirror shimmered and a Will, dressed in denim work overalls with a pencil tucked behind his ear, stepped through.

"Well, then, Miriam, let's take a look and see what we've got."

[Miriam Bell]

"Denim? I'm not sure I can trust your sense of aesthetics."

[Will Stanton]

"Well, that's why were working on this, right? If you're not specific in what you want, you may not like the final outcome," Will said, striding towards Miriam's bedroom. "Let's see what we've got to work with,"

[Miriam Bell]

"I don't really know what I want beyond what I told you." she says as she leads Will into her room. It's gloomy on account of being one of the rooms with no windows and the ceiling light being dimmed by the shade Miriam stuck on it. Her bed is the standard-issue student one, although with additional pillows and comforters piled on top, all of which are various shades of black with the occasional highlight of white and red. It looks like she salvaged some of the things she'd had in the penthouse, resulting in what might best be described as 'modern victorian decor'.

[Will Stanton]

"Well, first thing's first; getting rid of this thing," Will said, grunting as he bent over and lifted up the bed. "Strictly inferior, and doesn't match your style at all, yeah?

Physical comfort first, then emotional comfort. The first part seems way easier than the second, but don't you worry; we'll get you fixed up and good to go, I'm sure."

This Will seemed very task-oriented and focused; Miriam's impression of Will was usually more flighty and scattered than this. Of course, that raised question on what Will 'should' feel like, but still.

[Miriam Bell]

Will had probably send out a part of himself that's more goal-oriented, seeing how she asked for help with a particular task, right? At least she hopes so and that Will isn't fraying without them noticing. They probably should do that check-up at some point, even if it's just to reassure herself.

"I might keep the nicer blankets, but yes." she says, grabbing two armfuls of covers and pillows to dump on her desk which pretty much disappears entirely underneath. "Just shove it out into the hall, I'll call utilities or the janitor or whoever to come pick it up at some point."

[Will Stanton]

Will gave Miriam a bit of a '...you kidding?' look, Will walked over to the mirror, rapping on the side twice. In response, one...no, two Wills, identically dressed, hupped their way out of the mirror. Miriam was getting...very little from them, honestly. They weren't brain-dead or anything, but there seemed to be very little going on upstairs. That...was a good sign, maybe? I mean, the Will she was talking to was goal-oriented, but fully functional as a person; he wasn't like these two. That might be worth checking in on, as well, but if Will were fraying, wouldn't all of his, er, copies seem like that?

This mirror stuff was more complicated than she had first thought.

Miriam may not quite be able to put her finger on why the white-overall and white-gloved Wills looked so familiar, but without a word, the two went to the bed and started schlepping it out of the room.


"Righto," the first Will said, clapping his hands together. "Now, if I remember correctly, one of your objections to coffin chic is the sense of being enclosed, right? So something spacier would be better?"

[Miriam Bell]

"That and the sheer... cliché of it. I've... come around some on the enclosed part, thanks to you, so I think I might give that a try as long as it's a little roomier." she says a she watches the Oompa-Woompas leave with a quirked eyebrow.

[Will Stanton]

"It's...fine to avoid cliches, Miriam," Will said, somewhat hesitantly. "People don't always like being placed in specific boxes -- figuratively, and I would assume literally as well," he added, with a half smile.

[Miriam Bell]

"Maybe just a four-post bed with a lower ceiling to it, thick curtains all around?" she muses.

[Will Stanton]

"How big do you need it?

That is to say...how many people does it need to fit?" Will asked, aiming for discrete and missing.

[Miriam Bell]

"Let's just make it fit two and say it's so it's roomier, yes?"

[Will Stanton]

"RIght. Roomier. OK," Will said, closing his left eye and sticking out his tongue slightly as he pictured the space. "OK, I don't think that's going to be the problem.

A big four-poster with curtains and the works is going to take up a bunch of space. You're OK with that?"

[Miriam Bell]

"Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, the ceilings in these rooms are pretty high. Can you elevate it so it's above the door? Then I can move my desk into the corner underneath it and have the other side of the room be more open."

[Will Stanton]

"And the ceiling would function as a defacto roof, too," Will nodded, pacing out a few steps in front of the doorway. "With the curtains alongside, it would be a defacto enclosed space, without being inescapable for the ones inside."

He paused. "That just leaves your other problem."

[Miriam Bell]

"Well, it'd be a nice perk if you could radiate that sense of fulfillment you used to when you took on a shape and purpose. I know I'm asking a lot."

[Will Stanton]

"You said you wanted it to be like when you were...well, inside. Right?"

[Miriam Bell]

"Ideally, yes, but you're pleasant to be around in more than one state of mind."

[Will Stanton]

"Well, that might be...difficult to replicate. After all, there were...so many of us there."

He paused and looked at her. "Are you doing alright? Since then? We've seen you come and go a bit, and don't think we haven't caught the glances out of the corners of your eye..."

[Miriam Bell]

"I wanted to give you some time to settle before I come in with an order for a custom bed/anti-depressant combo. Not to mention it's rather embarrassing, so thanks for being thorough and taking your time really digging into this."

[Will Stanton]

"Well, if you don't take what you want, you get to deal with questions. That's the trade-off," Will smiled, putting one hand on Miriam's shoulder.

"And I'm happy to help, it's just..." he said, and Miriam could almost see the mental gears chunking back into goal-oriented mode.

"Well, OK. There's a couple things. First of all, you're mentioning a couple different things here. There's that sense of fulfillment you mentioned, and then there's the feeling when you went inside. Is the former the emotional sense and the latter the physical? Or are we conflating a couple different emotional sensations here?

Secondly, I'm not 100% convinced that having me as your bed is going to be...sufficient to create that sort of mental state, either way. I can sink pretty deep when I'm going inanimate for a long period of time, and I don't think you're planning on changing beds every couple days, yeah? That's not to say this is insurmountable by any stretch of the imagination, but it may require something a little more...complicated. Because if I'm just lying there, you'd probably have to actively tap in to get any sort of mental benefits, and that kind of defeats the purpose of a place to relax, I would think -- the extra effort would counteract some of the effects.

Now, I could suggest that you just...step inside the mirror and hang out. I have no idea of the long-term effects of that, however; otherwise, I'd suggest just sleeping in there," he said, going quickly through his points.

[Miriam Bell]

"Emotions are messy, so yes, I'm conflating some because I don't really expect you to replicate one specific feeling. Being inside of you was overwhelming, as cathartic as it was, but I wouldn't want that to be around me constantly. I just... like having you around with the psychic white noise of just being a perfectly content bed. If I can reach out and feel some of that... welcoming acceptance and being-- Well, that'd be even better. I don't want to make some kind of mental construct to artificially keep that kind of happy memory fixed in your mind for me to indulge on because I don't think that'd be very good for your or my mental health. I tried that once, it did not work out very well."

"I think I just want the Will that's my friend and accepts me and is willing to be a luxurious suspension bed for me."

[Will Stanton]

"Oh, I'm not talking about altering mental states and all that, not at all. And yes, I am your friend, and I am more than willing to work with you here.

What I'm saying is that that white noise might go quiet after a while. As everything gets settled in, I mean. You've never seen me go inanimate for...well, for a long stretch. It's peaceful and free and all those other emotions you want to experience, but it also gets...quiet," he said, searching for the right words. "My consciousness sort of slows down. It's not that I can't be roused or anything, but...it's meditative, I suppose? It's difficult to explain to someone who can't do it. But sometimes it feels good to, well, stop. No worries, no nightmares, no calculating and planning. Just to be.

And that's all well and good for me, but if you're tapping into that to drink of my acceptance, you might need amplifiers, is all I'm saying."