Re: The Mole Interactive Story: Season 2.5: The Second Challenge Part 8

[Audren]

I just started reading this tonight and couldn't stop until I'd read it all the way through. I hadn't followed the other Mole stories, but I'll definitely be a regular now. Fantastic story Audren and participants! I've got my checklist, and I'm looking for the Mole! *nods pretend-sagely* I can't decide who my favorites are, though (so many good characters). I'm leaning towards Brooke and Kalama, but my loyalties are not yet firmly rooted.

I'm glad I was able to be of service, Rhoxi, though I hope I didn't interfere with your sleep too much (As a rule of thumb, I never start reading brand new stories within an hour or two of sleep. They're so good that I won't be getting any sleep  )

I think it's always fun to see the suspicions shift as the story progresses. Comparing the quizzes from the first challenge to the last is always a hoot. 

[RainBeau]

Roy: You want her to be rude?

Brooke: Of course I don't. But she is who she is. I just don't want her stealing Nadine's unique thing, that's all.

[Swirl-Girl]

Kalama: Am I not allowed to make nonverbal cues? Is that stealing Nadine's thing? Am I not allowed to glance meaningfully? I can't keep a journal? I can't move my shoulders in an upwards followed by a downwards direction? Squirt, haven't you usually interrupted by now?
Squirt: I decided to let you duke it out this one time.
Kalama: Thank you. Let me repeat, no shoulders, no journals, no glancing! *Hands begin to shake* What! Is that not allowed either?

[PeregrineTook]

Nadine:  (Glares at Kalama for shaking her head, then shakes her own head in that slow sort of way that might be disbelief or anger or warning...as she is, after all, Breagadoir's daughter, and therefore, possibly a wicked witch)

[RainBeau]

Brooke: You're allowed to move, but you have to talk too. It's a rule. I mean, what if I just started doing everything like this:
Brooke: (points at Kalama, then to her own throat, then pounds the table for emphasis)
Not only would everyone die of a heart attack that I wasn't talking, but the meaning is really ambiguous! It's annoying enough that Nadine does it, but at least she's really clear. And I still have hope that I'll be able to train her to talk. Maybe her parents forgot to teach her as a toddler. I think her father was pretty neglectful.

[intl_incident]

Sophie picks her head up off the back of the lounge chair where she's been relaxing. Lifting up one corner of her mentholated, herbal, buckwheat-filled eyemask, she squints over to the other contestants. "Just so you know, Brooke,  I don't think any of us would die of anything but sheer, unadulterated happiness if you stopped talking."

Back goes the mask. Gotta ward off dark circles and puffiness. Not to mention crazy people.

[betabee]

Alec: Crazy people? Crazy people?! I'm not crazy!
I agree. Alec is mad, but he's not crazy.
You're mad too.
No I'm not. I'm not the one hearing voices in my head, am I?
You don't have a head.
So what? Either way, you shouldn't be offended by Sophie. Spending all day on beauty regimes is crazy, if you ask me.
*sighs, then wanders off muttering to himself (or maybe to Xander. . . ).*

[RainBeau]

Brooke (glaring at Sophie): Maybe I will then. Be one way to eliminate the competition, wouldn't it? What's your preferred variety of flower? (looks menacing) I want to make sure to get the right ones for your funeral.

[kaseofhearts]

Brooke (glaring at Sophie): Maybe I will then. Be one way to eliminate the competition, wouldn't it? What's your preferred variety of flower? (looks menacing) I want to make sure to get the right ones for your funeral.

Nihm: Brooke, hun. It's all right. Talking a bunch is your thing. Being insecure is Sophie's, and I think your advice might have stirred some of that up. It was rather kind of you to try and help her, but sometimes people need to figure it out themselves. When she does, I'm sure she'll find you and thank you for your concern. But for now, we don't need to kill anyone, all right? No funerals.

[intl_incident]

Still under the eyemask, Sophie sighs loudly enough for anyone within earshot to realize she is done with the whole conversation, but disdainfully enough for them to realize she doesn't care at all.  She puts her earphones back in her ears, and hits the play button on her Tabcast 6000.  Might be the latest single from the Bridgeport Boys.  Might be the latest reports of celestial discoveries by the Society for Logical Advancement.  You never can tell.

[Swirl-Girl]

Kalama: I wear face masks as much as they next person, but for Watcher's sake, never in public! Personally I don't have a favorite flower, Much to weak, but that just about describes Ms. Sophie Beckett. So, dear Sophie, what's your favorite flower, perhaps Brooke and I could plan together. *Glares at Brooke Warningly*
(Geez, Kalama's nasty. Nothing personal, okay? Perhaps I'm having too much fun with this.)

[PeregrineTook]

Nadine:  (Before exiting the room, Nadine writes something on a page in her notebook, tears it out, and subtly sets it next to Sophie.  The page says, "She looks better with the mask on.")

[RainBeau]

Brooke: (sneaks over and reads the paper, then cackles appreciatively)

[intl_incident]

Nadine:  (Before exiting the room, Nadine writes something on a page in her notebook, tears it out, and subtly sets it next to Sophie.  The page says, "She looks better with the mask on.")

Ha!  Sophie is of course clueless about all of this, but her player laughed.

[Swirl-Girl]

Kalama: *Nods Appreciatively*
She then leans back as though she feels that all is at peace now. Someone had said what everyone wanted to say.