HELL OF A HANGOVER PT. 1

[ringleaders]

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.

Comments

[mylastchance]

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.

[wild_magic]

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.

[forkedroad]

"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."

[mylastchance]

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.

[wild_magic]

"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.

[forkedroad]

"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."

[mylastchance]

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."

i really need an angry icon...

[wild_magic]

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.

[forkedroad]

"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."

[wild_magic]

"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!"

[forkedroad]

"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."

[mylastchance]

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.

[wild_magic]

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."

[forkedroad]

"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."

[mylastchance]

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."

[wild_magic]

"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."

[forkedroad]

"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.

[mylastchance]

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

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

[wild_magic]

He finally looks up from the ground at that, shaking his head.

"No, how can she help, she couldn't even stop this from happening! She wasn't even there..." He looks away, glaring down at the ground again, kicking at it with his foot. She didn't even care about them, did she? She let them get attacked before, too.

[forkedroad]

"Well," she says, clapping her hands together. Does she seem a little impatient. "If she's here now, which I feel she might be, considering we aren't at the ball anymore, she may be able to help."

MORE MISDIRECTION OF ANGER, clouding progress. But at least Susan seemed to be slowly coming around.

"She's extremely powerful, regardless of your disappointment in her. Asking couldn't hurt, could it?"

[mylastchance]

Lauren nods his agreement, she was powerful. That much was true even if the rest of the adjectives he'd use to describe her aren't very kind.

[wild_magic]

"I'm not asking her anything." She may be powerful, but he's powerful, too. That doesn't mean she can help, when she hasn't helped before. She couldn't even help Lauren with what he'd asked for when he signed his contract, how could she help with something big like this?

[forkedroad]

"That's fine. Then don't," Annabelle says coolly, meaning that she or Lauren will. Annabelle is also powerful, but neither of them can fuck around with other worlds to the extent she does and with such ease.

[wild_magic]

He doesn't respond, only continuing to glare down at the ground. She's so annoying, why can't she just stop and leave him and Lauren alone? She isn't helping anything and she's only making stupid suggestions. The Ringmaster is useless - talking to her isn't going to help anything, and maybe it would only make things worse. If she wasn't here then they wouldn't be trapped here doing what she says and getting attacked so many times.

[mylastchance]

He looks to Susan concerned, before glancing back to Annabelle.

"Is she back then, the Ringmaster?"