lostcarnival | HELL OF A HANGOVER PT. 1

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HELL OF A HANGOVER PT. 1

Who: The people who escaped!
When: Very early Day 66 to Day 67
Where: The Carnival
What: The Ringmaster brings everyone she can back to the carnival after getting kicked out the Celebration, a bit worse for wear. Those that have resolved their threads at the Masquerade can start trickling over here as they sort things out.
Warnings: Angst, mostly likely, as well as potentially graphic injuries.

RETURNING HOME↴

About 45 minutes after the conflict with the vampires begins, the Ringmaster will finally show her face at the Masquerade - and immediately be mortified by what she sees. Though initially mostly confused by the fact that there's been problems over the week, and characteristically obtuse about what's going on, as soon as she realizes the severity of the threat she will launch into action. If the Host managed to miss the combat already going on, they won't be able to miss the Ringmaster tearing up the joint and looking for her people. She's quick to scoop up those that have managed to gather in the dining hall - but unfortunately her arrival seems to be the vampire's cue to retreat.

Her attempt to challenge the Host about this will result in the being finally losing their patience and banishing all the vampires and all of the carnival workers from the premises, forcing them back to the portals they arrived from and launching their remaining belongings out with them. The Ringmaster will be pretty fucking pissed off when they return (once again) and will tell everyone to take the time they need to recover, but to stick together and stay safe for the time being. She has a plan to chase down the carnival members that have been stolen, but it will take time.

► BEER PONG: Apparently the Ringmaster spent the entire week playing a nonstop game of beer pong, against several dozen of the Host's bodies. She hadn't quite won yet when the Masquerade began, so she was late. Whether or not she was caught up in the same spell as everyone else is up to interpretation, but the answer "definitely probably." She won, for the record.

► MISSING: Upon doing headcounts, it will turn out that all the supervisors are missing, as well as several regular workers - a few of which will have been spotted as freshly turned vampires during the fighting. Whether that was the point of the attack or not is unclear, but it's pretty clear that the Ringmaster is a little bit devastated about it - particularly about the supervisors. However, she will refuse to talk to anyone long enough to get into too many details.

► THE PLAN: The Ringmaster will announce that she intends to get everyone back - it's just a matter of figuring out their way back to the dimension they've been stolen off to. She guarantees that she will find it, but that it may take some time. In the end, the workers will have a total of two days to recover and plan - during the evening of Day 67, she will be leading a rescue mission to get them all back. You don't have to come, but lives do depend on its success.

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Annabelle blinks, because that definitely wasn't at all what she was expecting. She looks confused.

"...You're welcome, of course," she says carefully, leaning forward somewhat. "But I didn't protect him for you, necessarily. I of course understand he is very important to you, and I don't wish tragedy to befall either of you you—but I protected Susan because Susan is a little boy. Regardless of his power, children aren't infallible."

She pauses, picking at the cuticles of her thumbs.

"And I like him."

She glances back up at Lauren.

"...As well as you," she admits, feeling irritated to do so. "But it's different."

Lauren sighs. This girl was rather tedious. She seemed to like hearing herself talk a little too much for Lauren's liking. He really didn't understand people who could spend so much time on such useless words.

"Susan is young, not little." Of course his brother was a child, Lauren knew that, but he'd seen too many people treat Susan as though that meant he were simple too many times to appreciate the sentiment. "He does need protecting, but he won't take kindly to hearing you talk like that."

He does glance to her then, looking her over. His eyes settle on the soft curve of her neck, and he has to force himself to look away from her again.

"The Ringmaster might have a solution to this, or she might not. In that case I need someone else to carry out a different sort of solution and to protect Susan when I'm gone."

Annabelle is basically a stranger, but she's the only stranger he knows who seems to care about Susan and understand the severity of their situation. Maybe she was cruel, maybe this was a joke to her, he didn't know. Susan could take care of himself, if he really needed to, but if he could at least get someone to agree or to think about caring for him in Lauren's stead... It would be much easier for Lauren to face what needed to be done. At the very least Carly could be capable of looking out for Susan, but she wasn't the most sensible individual, her lack of follow through after their fight showed that to him clearly.

Edited 2017-03-05 19:58 (UTC)

"Whatever," she huffs with irritation, crossing her arms stiffly. "Duly noted." Annabelle does roll her eyes, because she finds it semantical and unimportant.

She then looks taken aback. Her eyes dip from his eyes to the rest of him, and back up, sizing him up.

"Are you asking me to mercy kill you, or to look after Susan after you get yourself killed?"

She feels like it might be both, but she hopes not.

Edited 2017-03-05 20:07 (UTC)

His hands clench into fists in his lap.

"Killing me would only be a mercy to those I might hurt." If things were allowed to continue as they were, he's sure he wouldn't be able to stop himself again once the hunger came back. He pointedly avoids answering her question, knowing she's smart enough to figure out that answer on her own.

"It's probably not safe for me to... To live with him anymore." And Annabelle lived close by, she would be more than able to keep an eye on him from time to time. He knows Susan will argue and yell when Lauren tells him, but he doesn't know what else to do if he wants to keep Susan safe. Right now it wasn't safe for Susan to stay with him.

She looks at and adjusts her hands over and over again, looking at her lap as she thinks.

She knows that Lauren can't be the only carnival member who's been turned, and brought back to t he carnival grounds.

"In the event that there is no helping you, Lauren, I'm afraid I don't think I can kill you." For one thing, Susan would maybe hate her forever? It's definitely true, but she doesn't know him super well, just yet. For another, she's just—not sure it's in her. If she ever had to murder, she doesn't think her first kill could be someone like Lauren. Someone she knows, even a little bit, and isn't fighting back.

She wants to say that someone else would probably do it, but instead, she looks back up to him, feeling her thoughts are organized.

"As for Susan's safety—I think you're right, but what do you suggest? That you leave your trailer, or that Susan does?"

Maybe it isn't the best time for Susan to come back, but he doesn't know that until he's already walked in, Stanley in his hands, and hears her last comment. He looks confused, although perhaps tinged with a bit of hurt.

"Why would either of us have to leave, I don't want to live somewhere without Lauren."

Annabelle feels an extremely unfamiliar feeling stab of guilt.

She stares to him, then at Lauren, then back at Susan. Her brows slant backwards, feeling frustrated. She thinks there's no use in lying, especially as she's a terrible liar. She wrings her hands, crossing her ankles. ~~EMOTIONS ARE UNBEARABLE~~

"Well, of course you don't want to..."

He looks to Susan, startled at his brother's sudden statement. The hurt look Susan gives him is enough to break his previously stony expression. Somehow when speaking with Annabelle previously, he'd managed to keep his voice even. Now though, he wavers. He doesn't want to deal with this. He doesn't want to argue with Susan, he doesn't want Susan to get mad at him when he's only trying to do what's best. For the first time in a long time he wishes there were someone else who could do the hard thing, make the decisions and comfort the both of them at the same time. There hasn't been anyone to fill that roll for them in a long time though.

He looks away from his brother, expression breaking as he knows and dreads what he must say.

"Susan. I'm a... vampire." It's so hard to say, to admit to out loud and he shudders as he manages to force out the word. "It's not... It's not safe."

His voice is watery, it's clear he's on the verge of tears once more.

He shakes his head at Annabelle's words, and only shakes it more vehemently at Lauren's.

"N-no, you aren't, everything's fine, you said so, you said it would all be okay!" He's mad, his voice already rising as he tries desperately to pull this all back together. He knows everything will be fine, because it has to be - what would he do if Lauren wasn't okay, if things changed? (Lauren hates vampires, he knows it, what would Lauren do if he was a vampire?)

Even in his anger, he's tearing up again, unable to help himself.

"It will be," Annabelle insists, holding up her hands in a disarming sort of placating gesture. "Lauren absolutely will return to normal in time."

These aren't hollow words; unlike Lauren, Annabelle feels it's more impossible there wouldn't be a way to reverse it, through all of realm and time. "But... while... your brother is—readjusting, it's not safe to be too close to him for long periods of time so long as your heart beats."

Again, in his mind it's as though Annabelle isn't even here. All he can hear is Susan's accusation, and he pulls his knees up to his chest, as though trying to hid in them. Stanley squeaks in Susan's grip, not sure what's going on as they speak in a language she can't comprehend, but smelling that something is very clearly wrong as her nose twitches in the air.

"Don't tell me what to do!! Lauren's my brother, I'm safe with him!"

He doesn't even notice the rat's squeaking, doesn't notice the way Lauren reacts to his words; he's too worked up, now, and lashing out at other people is the only way he knows how to handle his feelings when he's upset or angry.

"I'm not telling you to do anything, Susan," Annabelle says evenly. Not yet, anyway.

She can't relate to this assinine logic; family had nothing to do with guarantees such as safety, stability or love. They were but tiny, brittle facets in the face of the universe's chaotic, moving web.

But of course, she's got the impression Susan won't understand. She catches glimpse of Lauren curling in on himself; his despair radiates.

She looks back at Susan. "I'm merely telling you the truth."

She was right of course, she was simply telling Susan the truth while Lauren cowered in his bed like a fool. He shook his head, trying to get his feelings back under his control, but it was impossible.

"Don't yell at her." he finally says, voice quiet, but clear even if he isn't looking at either of them. "Don't get mad."

His voice is stronger now, but still wavers from the depth of his feelings. How could Susan shout like this, how could he not understand?

"It's true, Susan."

He shakes his head again, his attention drawn back to his brother. His stupid brother who he loves so much, and how could something like this happen?

"Don't tell me what to do... You can't tell me what to do, you couldn't even stay safe! I can be as mad as I want, you don't get to tell me to stop, you can't tell me anything!" It's not really what he's mad about, of course, but that doesn't stop him from yelling about it.

"Susan," Annabelle says a bit more loudly. She doesn't sound angry, but she's trying to get through to him. Obviously, he's being obstinate about what he perceives as orders; she relates to it, but has never been on the receiving end of this behavior. "You are punishing your brother for something that isn't his fault!"

She did, of course, only 15 minutes ago, have a heavy suspicion he was a monster all without his humanity. But it's clear as ever he's more or less the same person, as far as she could tell (it wasn't like she ever saw Lauren cry before or anything). Just changed.

"He is a victim. Please find your calmness."

"I'm not punishing Lauren for anything! I know it isn't his fault, he wouldn't ever ask for this!" This isn't right, it shouldn't be like this. Lauren is a half-elf, not a...

He shakes his head, stopping that right there.

"That doesn't mean he gets to tell me I can't be mad!"

"You frame it as though he has no authority over you because he failed to avoid being taken by an otherworldly, powerful creature. That is punishment." She leans forward. "It is not productive. He already hurts. You of course can be mad, Susan. Anger is a moment. Feel it; I don't care."

She leans back, feeling exhausted and frustrated by the both of them. She knows this is all going to sound like an attack, but she unfortunately doesn't know how else to frame it. She doesn't know how to be delicate all the time, nor delicate much at all even quite infrequently. She thinks it's helpful, but that has been consistently and evidently untrue.

What else can she do?

"But you are misdirecting your feelings."

Edited 2017-03-05 22:20 (UTC)

He doesn't even hear their continuing argument. You couldn't even stay safe. The words hurt more than he thought they could. He'd tried so hard, failed at so many things, but he thought at least he could do one thing right. He was wrong.

Stanley's squeaks grow louder in Susan's hand until finally she bites him for his attention.

Lauren wasn't trying to tell Susan what to do though, he'd just meant to ask. Susan had a right to his anger, but to direct it at someone else? He thought he'd taught Susan better than that. One more thing to add to the list of his failures.

Susan is about to respond when Stanley bites him, and for a moment he's almost tempted to throw the stupid rat. Instead though he leans down, ignoring Annabelle, to put her down on the ground.

"I'm not misdirecting anything, I'm not mad at Lauren."

"Fine," Annabelle relents, sounding tired and lifting her hand. She feels like he definitely was, and whatever he said made Lauren more upset. Either way, it's all distracting them from problem solving. She feels like they're both too emotional to really do that, though.

Regardless...

"Either way, we need to be thinking about what to do. Denial and blame aren't helpful."

Stanley makes her way over to the cot. She can smell Lauren, she knows he's near, but something is different. She squeaks out his name and as ridiculous as it is he turns to the sound. He can understand her after all, being the one who first taught her speech in the first place. He'd almost forgotten she was there. He reaches down, to pick her up, but at the movement she lets out a terrified squeak draws away. She runs to hide beneath some nearby table, and Lauren watches her without saying a word. He pulls his hand back, before settling it in his lap.

"We can talk about it later. I'll just stay here for the night."

"I don't want you to stay here." He knows it's childish, but he wants his brother. Lauren isn't a danger to him, in his opinion, so he just wants things to be normal. (They wouldn't be normal, though, he thinks, but he could pretend. It didn't matter, as long as Lauren didn't attack anyone. But he shouldn't have to worry about that, should he?)

He glances to Annabelle, before looking back down at the ground.

"I don't wanna talk about it, either. Nothing has to change."

"It already has."

She knows he doesn't want to talk about it, so she doesn't push it—but indulging this denial is literally dangerous, so nuts to that. She looks to Lauren, crossing her arms again, making it very clear that's who she is talking to instead.

"Here may not be so safe either. If you feel you might be in danger of doing something you regret in your own trailer to someone you love, then what of a tent full of your weakened, less important neighbors?"

She glances down in thought, and peers at Lauren again. Even if he isn't looking back at her. It doesn't bother her. It would be less emotionally traumatizing, she thinks, for her to attack Lauren if he slipped up. Perhaps they could all 3 occupy a space for a night, if Susan couldn't be torn from his side. She would be more likely to be attacked than Susan.

But she knows she can't suggest this out loud with a volatile, emotional child in the room.

Edited 2017-03-05 23:01 (UTC)

"Maybe the Ringmaster can help." he offers, finally glancing her way.

"I'll try and talk to her, and see what can be done."

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i really need an angry icon...

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