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

[wild_magic]

He gives a little laugh again.

"For now, at least!"

[mylastchance]

He sighs. "What's the point in making a promise if you aren't going to keep it?"

[wild_magic]

"Well, I might need to run away sometime... But right now, no running away, promise! I just want to stay with you, anyway. It took us forever to find you."

[mylastchance]

He doesn't understand.

"I want to stay with you too."

[wild_magic]

"Okay, then we both won't run away." Logic.

[mylastchance]

He sighs again, shifting to hold Susan's hand in his own.

"...It will be okay. You know that, don't you?"

[wild_magic]

Normally he would be the one saying it, but right now it's hard to believe. How can this be okay? You can't just stop being a vampire.

He hesitates, probably long enough to give away his real thoughts to Lauren, but finally he nods.

"I know."

[mylastchance]

"...If I have you, I don't care about the rest."

[wild_magic]

He doesn't answer at first, thinking back to earlier. He wasn't sure exactly what the conversation was, but he heard enough to have an idea...

"But you were talking about not staying together."

[mylastchance]

"If the choice is kill you, or live apart I would choose living apart."

[wild_magic]

"But you won't kill me... I know you wouldn't, but even if you tried, I could stop you."

[mylastchance]

"Susan, you shouldn't have to stop me. I don't... I don't want you to be afraid of me... I never want to hurt you."

[wild_magic]

"You aren't going to! I know you won't, you wouldn't ever hurt me..."

[mylastchance]

"Susan, I can't control this."

Why couldn't he understand? It shouldn't be this difficult.

[wild_magic]

He shakes his head firmly again.

"You won't hurt me. Even when... Even when I killed that woman, you didn't. You ran away instead."

[mylastchance]

Killed her. He killed her. His grip on Susan's hand tightens just for a moment. He takes a breath and then another. His eyes feel warm.

"Don't make this harder than it already is."

[wild_magic]

He doesn't understand, he's not sure what's upsetting Lauren now, but he doesn't want to say the wrong thing and upset him more. It's hard, not knowing the right words, and so he takes a moment trying to think.

"I just want to help... I don't want things to change, I just want you to be happy and with me."

[mylastchance]

He nods, he knows that. It's what Lauren wants too. Tears fall down his cheeks. It's too hard to speak. His thoughts and his feelings are in conflict. He doesn't know what to do.

"I don't want it to change either."

[wild_magic]

"Then, I don't understand... We both want the same thing, so we can just do it, right?"

[mylastchance]

"Because you are more important than what I want!" He's not loud, but adament. It's always been this way. Ever since it became just them.

[wild_magic]

"But I want the same thing as you, I don't understand! We can just stay together and there won't be any problems because you don't want to hurt me!" He knows it's stupid, but he can't help it. He just wants Lauren.

[mylastchance]

"Just because I don't want to doesn't mean it won't. What I want doesn't matter."

And to an extent, what Susan wants doesn't either.

[wild_magic]

"Well, it should. I don't want anything else to change..."

[mylastchance]

He just hugs Susan. He can't make this feel better, he can only try to help Susan understand.

"I'm sorry."

[wild_magic]

"Then stop trying to change things!" He doesn't push away from the hug, but that doesn't mean he's happy about it.