don't complicate it

“sure thing, babe. anything for the fans,” avery said and leaned against a nearby doorframe, offering clara  a quick, and rather unnecessary, wink. “as one of these aforementioned ‘people in it’, i definitely feel qualified and you have my promise, that i’ll do my absolute best.” despite having been here for quite a few months by now, he didn’t feel fully qualified to actually say anything about here. everything was weird and there was already too many wasting their time trying to figure it all out. still - she was hot and he liked talking. why wouldn’t he agree to this? “on a scale from grass growing to sex tape, how interesting would you say these… things are? i’m pretty sure someone once said that honesty is for the birds, and…” he trailed off, trying to think of where he was going with this so he could get back on track. “something about me being a bird for pay, i don’t know.”

without even thinking about it, sophie found herself nodding at the question. “sure, yeah. what do you wanna know?” she asked, pretty sure nothing she could tell the other girl would be worth filming it. the fact that she had been stuck here for quite some time already caused her to not find it interesting enough to even talk about anymore. “hmm, what things? well, i don’t have anything to hide so i don’t see why i wouldn’t be honest with you.”

              ❝    —–    HEY    !    ❞     she’s   many    things    ,   but   subtle   is   not    one   of    them  .     lola’s   been   rehearsing   this   all   day   ,    and   with   NO   audience   to   perform    to   ,   she   needs   SOMEONE   to   give   her   feedback   .    she   needs   attention   —–     what’s    that   thing   called   ?   spotlight   withdrawal .   ugh   ,   and   at    this   point   she   doesn’t    care   who   it   is   .    ❝   tell   me   how   this    sounds   ,   ❞    and   then   begins    the    most    thematic   rendition   of    ophelia’s    monologue   from    hamlet    you’ve    ever   seen   .  

      “i need to do something,” savannah stated, her tone laced with boredom. she had done way to much reading in the time she’d been stuck in the mansion, more than she’d probably done since she was forced to as a child in school. “please tell me there’s something remotely exciting right now, or i might just die of boredom,” she threw out with an ironic smile. if only. she was sure that if it was possible to die of boredom that someone would have figured it out by then. 

melissa benoist, female, she/her. — while wandering the halls i ran into clara swenson. she is a twenty-four year old filmmaker who’s been in the mansion for one week. while at first she seems curious, i’ve seen her be obsessive, too. apparently she frequently made small documentaries on scary places around the world, and visited wanting to have some actual footage inside of the house

“you’re right,” he said, letting a brief pause linger, “you don’t know me.” not that anyone really did. he was the kind of person who only showed people what he wanted to. being vulnerable wasn’t something julian ever was. letting himself just feel and show those feelings? a ridiculous thought, really. “you’re not a guest, you’re a resident, just like everyone else who’s stuck here. you’re not special,” he commented simply. “you might’ve made it obvious, but that didn’t stop me from wanting details. so go ahead, tell me more. let’s see if it does.” he had his doubts though. she didn’t seem like his type. and, for a moment, he let his thoughts drift back to his ex. 

“sure,” he said with a nod, squinting at her. he didn’t care enough to argue the point with her further. the whole ‘i only care about what i think’ response was always an argument winner anyway because, even if it wasn’t true, there’s no way to prove otherwise. though julian was suspicious that everyone cared what others thought, at least a little. even he did, which is why he rarely shared anything about himself. it was easier to remain a mystery than to allow himself to open up to others, even after all this time in the mansion. 

he had tried to kill himself. a few different times. always in private, away from others. no one probably even knew that he’s made attempts, and no one would either. he gave up after the sixth attempt, realizing that it was truly no use. “i don’t know. maybe it helps that there’s others to talk to,” he mused, “that they’re not truly alone.” he shrugged. “i guess it is possible. maybe you’ll be the one to find them. isn’t that what you’re hoping for?” there was something off about her, something that he couldn’t quite place. she seemed stranger than most. 

the pause made her briefly think that he was giving in, but when he continued, clara let out a laugh, letting her head fall back. “well, now i know that you can be funny. whether or not that’s intentional, i guess i still need to find out.” squinting at him in a playful manner, she hummed as her eyes moved around the room, rather than focus on him. “aw, that’s actually very sweet of you, but i’d like to think i’m still in the initiation process, as an outsider looking in. give me a month, when i actually know some people and have some actual idea of what the hell all of this is, and then i’ll consider myself a real resident. right now i’m just a guest intruding the home that many of you have had for longer than i’m been alive. i know i’m not special, don’t be silly. if i was special, someone would have murdered me before i got here. or i would’ve been famous. instead i was a loser filmmaker with no friends, and now i’m a loser filmmaker in a mansion for the rest of eternity with no friends. big diff.” when he pushed for more, clara had no problem then giving in. 

“there’s a lot i did for money. i had a job, boring work as a waitress that did nothing to really help me get by. so i used my camera for good. i’d film myself masturbating, and i’d sell it to weirdos for some quick cash. that was the start, at least. then i guess i started some kind of business, because they’d get more detailed with what they wanted in the videos. i started involving other people... usually girls. i liked having sex with girls, they paid for for it. it was a win all around. then i got to buy a better camera with all the money, but i still continued doing it for fun.” she paused, tilting her head. “want me to keep going?” 

“as often as i think of something new to try. there’s only so much a girl can do here, y’know,” she said with a sigh, though since clara was still relatively new in comparison, she probably hadn’t experienced the dragging boredom that billie had endured over the last few months. at least not yet. “same,” she said with another sigh, missing her life outside of the mansion. “depends on the other person, in my opinion, cause i’m not the type to, i dunno, be weird about it after? some people take it, like, real seriously though. those are the people to avoid,” she said, “otherwise, i don’t think it makes sense to assume hook ups won’t happen.” 

“probably,” she said after a moment, looking around as though she’d be able to spot one from the spine - obviously that wouldn’t be the case though. “too bad there’s not a book look up thing like they have in libraries. that’d make looking up porn books a lot easier, huh?” though she didn’t know if that was really how it worked anyway. going to libraries wasn’t something she had done often. “oh, i can def read you a bedtime story. i’ll tuck you in and everything - so long as i get a good night kiss out of it,” she said suggestively, smirking slightly. 

“maybe you’re right. or maybe they’re antisocial people, or something, who’d be too nervous to do that kinda thing,” which seemed like a reasonable guess. “exciting?” she questioned, a brow raising in confusion. “so you’re not bummed to be here, or…?” billie guessed that the gravity of the situation hadn’t sunk in yet. “mm,” she hummed in agreement, “true.” because of their similarities, she couldn’t help but feel a connection to clara. she already decided that she liked her. “if by watching you mean watching you go down on me? then yeah, i’m interested.” 

“well... what have you done the most since you got in here?” clara had reacted to being in the house differently than some probably did. she didn’t really have family that would miss her, or vice versa, or very many friends. the lack of the world wasn’t too damaging to make her sad. she was still excited about the new experience. though maybe that would die out, in time. “yeah? i wouldn’t say i’m weird, either.” while clara had an obsessive personality, she never got obsessive over certain people. yet. just things that weren’t quite within her reach, or things that were strange. “though, if people got attached to me, i’d invite them over and show off my knife collection. i’d have fake blood on one of them, and that usually had them running. which only proved to me they weren’t my soulmate. my soulmate would’ve licked the knife and found out it was just strawberry jam.” she giggled at the thought, wiggling her feet. “hook ups better happen. i’m not going an eternity without ever having sex again. then i’d really be miserable.”

“yeah, you have to actually really look inside each book to see if there’s hardcore sex in it. which makes it not worth it. i’d rather write my own smut.” she hummed at the idea. “then you could read that to me. i’ll write it about us... what’s your name?” her eyes finally moved to check billie up and down, before raising an eyebrow. “i’ll give you all the kisses you want, baby.”

“film me?” damon repeated with a small raise of his brow. she didn’t look familiar– a new one, probably. shame that people just kept coming into this damned place; this young woman could’ve made something of herself out there, in the real world. they all could have. but instead, they were all trapped in here, with nothing but time and wasted potential. still, he founnd himself slowly nodding his head. “yeah, alright. shoot, no briberly needed here. i’ve got plenty of time.” he joked.

     abel’s nose crinkled at the thought of being filmed and whatever dark secrets clara had on that video camera of hers. she was always carrying it around, as though just maybe there’ll be something to film that was out of the ordinary–well, as out of the ordinary as you could get when you lived in a mansion that repeated every day just like the last. 

     but he was bored as hell, and honestly? anything to get his mind to stop racing was a win in his book. 

     “i have no desire to know what you’ve got…” he twirled his finger towards the camera in her hand. “in there. but yeah, sure, whatever.” tossing himself into one of the many large chairs that were scattered around the sitting area, abel tossed his legs over one of the arms. “fire away. s’not like you probably have a lot of questions that haven’t been answered already.”

“film me?” she questioned, tucking her hair behind her ear self consciously, already too aware of herself just from the question. “i don’t know… i don’t do well in front of a camera,” she explained with a nervous smile. “and i’m probably not the ideal person to ask anyway,” she admitted, “i’ve only been here for…” she hesitated, “three days,” she said after counting in her head. her cheeks warmed with embarrassment from the implications. “but if you think i’ll add something to your project, i’ll try to help,” she offered. 

    marisole grew nervous at the question. && when her nerves kicked in, her face faded into a bright pink. she nodded. “ sure .. ” though being on camera wasn’t the most appealing thing to the girl, there really wasn’t much else to do. “ i don’t need inspiration but it would be cool to, um, see what you captured after. ” marisole smiled gently && ran her fingers through her hair. “ so, what’s question number one? ”

“me? insulting? i’d never,” he lied, not even bothering to try to sound convincing. “i bet you did,” he said, sounding condescending now. what was a lot of money to some typically wasn’t much to him - though whether or not her scale was align with his, he didn’t know either way. “what things that you’re so proud of?” he questioned, genuinely a bit curious to know. he assumed it wasn’t what she seemed to be implying, but people have known to surprise him from time to time. 

“i don’t know if you thinking you’re hot makes you hot overall - it’s still subjective,” he pointed out, “but good for you, having a high self esteem and all that,” he said with a slow nod of his head. “i don’t think you’re ugly, for the record,” he added, “so i guess i’m not really weird or a freak. you can have the attention either way,” at least while he was taking the photographs, anyway. “do you want to be called the ugliest girl i’ve ever seen? because i think that makes you the weird freak,” he said, raising a brow slightly as he glanced up at her. 

“sounds about right,” he said, as though he didn’t know, but of course he did. “very sane. does that disappoint you? are you looking for someone who’s not? because i doubt you’ll have much luck. i haven’t run into anyone that seemed too far gone, and i’ve been around awhile.”

“i might not know you, but that sounded very unconvincing, mr. camera man,” she said, feigning a small whine of complaint as she pouted up at him. “not a very nice way to treat the house guests. here i was, expecting the miserable house guests to be welcoming and kind.” as she spoke, a small smirk tugged on her lips, leaning back onto the palms of her hands behind her to hold her up. “are you really asking? i thought i made it obvious. this tongue is a very magical tongue for many people. if you want to find out more, start out with please and i’ll consider it. or, if you’d rather me just talk about it, see if it turns you on, i guess i’m okay with that, too. sounds fun, actually.”

“right... but i’m hot,” she emphasized. “i think i’m hot, which makes me hot. to me. other opinions don’t make me any less hot in my own eyes, which are the only eyes i care about.” she smirked as he went on, ducking her head away as she let some of her hair fall in front of her face, taking in a breath. “i am a weird freak.” of course, she hadn’t really gotten into showing that in full to the mansion yet, but her time would come. she wanted to attempt to make friends, first.

“that was easy. i like easy,” he commented, looking at her through the lens. he was adjusting the positioning, and zoom, as he watched her. “if i didn’t have a camera, why would i be offering to take portraits?” he questioned, lowering the camera too look at her with a bit of judgment. “it’s a decent camera, but me? i’ve got the best money can buy.” or, at least, that was the case the last time he was in the real world. at this point, however, there was certainly newer models that probably outshone his own. “you think you’re hot? that’s pretty subjective, isn’t it?” he questioned. she was hot, but the confidence she had was just a tad closer to annoying than it was appealing. “good to know you’re comfortable in front of the camera though.  so many people get so awkward - it’s unbearable,” he lifted the camera back to his eye, looking at her through the lens once again. “twelve? thirteen years?” like he was keeping track at this point. he stopped bothering years ago. 

“trying something new,” she answered with a shrug. it felt like what she typically did was becoming redundant, and if she had the rest of eternity ahead of her (which apparently she did) it seemed like a good idea to branch out and try new things. “other things like what? i mean, i know there are other things, but do you have any better suggestions?” she questioned, looking at the girl. she hadn’t been here long - it seemed like new people were still popping up each day. sucks for them. “who doesn’t like watching things more?” she questioned, though there were plenty of people who didn’t. still, she couldn’t relate. “that’s because fifty shades of grey isn’t, like, an actual book - it’s fanfiction, right? or was that a rumor? i flipped through the book but wasn’t impressed either. i’d rather just do kinky shit rather than read about it.” she said, wondering if they had the book in the library. not because she wanted to read it, but because she was interested in seeing if it was as bad as she remembered. “wait, which gets you hot and bothered - hating you or liking handcuffs? personally, i’m a fan of either/or. or both.” a brow raised slightly as she continued to talk. “is that a fact or a suggestion?”