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]

Lauren looks confused, but only because he's being asking himself that this whole time.

"I don't know." He admits, before turning to glance at his brother.

[wild_magic]

Susan's looking away, still, not wanting to look at Lauren. He's sure his brother is going to get mad or something...

Not that he's going to say anything else one way or the other about it. He doesn't want to talk about it or admit it, but at the same time he doesn't want to lie to his brother.

[mylastchance]

"Susan?" he asks, turning to face him more.

[wild_magic]

"What?" He's still very much facing away from him, definitely not wanting to talk about this. Lauren would get mad or disagree or tell him he's wrong, and he's not wrong. He just wants everything to be right, already.

[mylastchance]

He's quiet for a moment, looking down in thought as Susan avoids giving him a yes or no answer. Was he doing it on purpose?

"... You didn't, did you?"

[wild_magic]

He doesn't want to lie, not to Lauren, but he doesn't want to tell him, either. He's quiet for a long moment before finally just shrugging a little in response. He doesn't feel embarrassed about it or anything, but that doesn't mean he's pleased with what happened.

[mylastchance]

"Won't you tell me? Please?"

[wild_magic]

He's quiet a long moment, before nodding a tiny bit. Whether that's in answer to the original question or to the question of whether he'll tell him is up to Lauren to decide, since Susan doesn't continue past that at all.

[mylastchance]

Lauren looks away, and then suddenly stands to leave the room.

[wild_magic]

He doesn't want Lauren to be mad at him, but he didn't even think that his brother might just leave. He doesn't know what to do, he doesn't know if Lauren is angry or upset or what, but at the same time he doesn't want to talk to him about what he did.

He just stays there, curled on himself for now.

[mylastchance]

He leaves and then turns around and walks back, pacing. He doesn't know what he can do to make Susan be honest with him. He supposes he cant do anything. How could he protect his brother is Susan kept making such reckless decisions. Finally he stops pacing.

"Just talk to me. Susan!"

[wild_magic]

It takes him a bit after Lauren says that to finally answer, still looking away. He just doesn't want to talk about this, he never likes talking about his own problems and feelings. Everyone else's are so much easier.

"You'll just get mad."

[mylastchance]

"I'm more mad that you won't talk to me." he says, truly upset before looking away. He wants to stay calm, but he just can't.

[wild_magic]

"You don't know that, you don't know how mad you'll be when I do talk to you!" He's sure it's going to be a lot. He just doesn't want to make Lauren mad, not now. He wants Lauren to only be happy right now.

[mylastchance]

He just turns away, frustrated and not knowing what to say.

"You never talk to me anymore."

[wild_magic]

That makes him pause, not expecting to hear that. Was it even true? He didn't think it was... But if Lauren did, then maybe it was true.

Still, though he isn't so sure.

"Yes I do."

[mylastchance]

"No you don't!" He slumps against the wall, scrubbing his face with his hand. "You don't you just act and get mad."

[wild_magic]

"When I talk to you, you just get mad at me!" He finally sits back up, although he's still not really looking at his brother. He's just looking down at the bed, mad at everything and not knowing what else to say or do.

[mylastchance]

"That's not true!" he looks to Susan now, seeing him staring down at the bed. "I can't... I can't say anything to you without it turning into a fight."

[wild_magic]

He shakes his head, finally looking up at him.

"No, it is true! When I try and talk to you you just get mad, so, I can't talk to you..." He doesn't like it, he likes talking to Lauren, but he can't ever say the right thing when it's his brother. That's why he just has to do things, instead.

"I just want everything to be like it used to be."

[mylastchance]

He slams his fist back against the trailer wall. He didn't think Susan was right. Did his brother really feel that way? Lauren couldn't remember a time he'd lost his temper at Susan, except for Atlantis, but he'd apologized and Susan had said it was fine.

"Well I don't! I don't want them to be like they used to."

[wild_magic]

"You don't like this, either, you wanted to leave too! It's just better if she's dead, then she can't make anyone else stay here and get hurt either!" Not wanting things like they used to may not mean his brother is happy with exactly the situation they're in now, but Susan doesn't think of that. The only thing he can think about is not wanting to be here, not liking how it's made his brother feel and act and change, and he just wants to go home.

[mylastchance]

He shuts his eyes, leaning back until his head hits against the trailer wall with a dull thunk. Did Susan even hear what he was saying? He opens his eyes again, kicking the wall across from him.

"Of course I don't like this! How could I?!" He kicks the wall again, before turning to face Susan. "Does that mean someone deserves to die? Why, because you're unhappy, because I'm unhappy!?"

[wild_magic]

"No, because she's forcing people to stay here and then getting them attacked and killed! She can't do that, it isn't okay..." She wasn't there to stop them, and she should have been. She could have stopped this from happening to Lauren. To everyone.

[mylastchance]

"It's not her fault that we got attacked!"