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

[whattaprick]

"Sounds like a story there." A story that would probably be better told with drink involved, but Lambert has water at least, and he raises his brows at Jimmy over the bottle as he tips it to his lips again.

"But don't let me keep you if you're busy." They all are, in one way or another.

[empty_vessel]

"No, no. It's fine. It isn't much of a story, really. We got attacked, I was..." He pauses, looking over at Lambert again, wondering how much to try and smooth things over a little, before he gives it up. "... I was completely useless. I was down and pretty much dead meat, and Koel came in and saved my ass."

[whattaprick]

"A lot of people suck at fighting around here, huh?" It's a rhetorical question. Lambert is unimpressed, but unsurprised. Like he's said to others, to expect fighters at a carnival meant for entertaining people is a bit strange. Maybe that'll change after this latest escapade.

"Was this fighting with the vampires again?"

[empty_vessel]

"The 'bad at fighting' crowd seems to be the minority, if that helps any. I mean, not everybody signs up for the Nightriders, but we've got a fair amount of people that can chip in in a pinch." Jimmy's seen Rin breathe fire, he knows what Castiel can do, and that's just two.

"No, this was before the vampires, but it was kind of the same thing. They possessed you and tried to take you over." He sighs, wishing he could give Lambert more information, but he was kind of distracted when they attacked.

[whattaprick]

"Could've fooled me." It felt like they'd lost a lot more, and his informal survey about willing fighters haven't yielded much usefu information.

That statement is, however, enough to get Jimmy a quirked brow and a wry shake of Lambert's head. Possession doesn't sound like anything he wants to get involved with, thanks. He likes his consciousness where it is: in his body, without having to share real estate with anyone else.

"Just how many enemies does this carnival have?" It's a facetious sort of question, as his lopsided smirk would indicate. "Or do we just make them along the way? They don't warn you about that when you sign on."

[empty_vessel]

"I don't think we have that many. I believe this is the same bunch we'd run into before, but don't quote me on that one." Jimmy's​ gaze wanders as he thinks. "There wasn't going to be a problem in Celebration until the vampires showed up, and we made it through Atlantis okay. So it's not every time we flee with an angry mob on our heels, just sometimes?"

The joke is terrible, and he knows it. But it's something to try and avoid beating yourself up over what you should have done.

[whattaprick]

It gets a laugh out of Lambert anyway, because it's exactly his kind of terrible humor. Normally, he's the one making the inappropriate jokes, so it's a little refreshing seeing someone else at it for once.

"I hope not. I had enough of those back home." Witchers were never the most popular people, even at the best of times.

[empty_vessel]

"Given how varied our locations have been? Probably not." He grins a little at Lambert. "Bet this was a job skill you never wanted to need." Surviving an angry mob is not a job skill you don't want to advertise, no.

"Is there anything you need besides food? I'm running all over the place, so if you have a request.... And maybe directions if you want something out of the way, I can get it for you."

[whattaprick]

"Not really the kind of thing where practice makes perfect," he'll respond, with a matching smirk. Yeah, it's a shitty life, but whose isn't these days? The question about something besides food, though, merits a serious consideration. Normally, he'd say 'alcohol,' but the Celebration put him off even that, at least for a while ...

"Horse'd be too much to ask for, wouldn't it?" He says it with a smirk, knowing how ridiculous it's got to sound. "Not that this place is really big enough to need one, but I'm getting tired of walking around on my feet all the time."

[empty_vessel]

"I think there might be a few in with the other animals, but other than that, you're on your own. But between you and me, I'm just happy to have two feet again." Being half octopus had been fascinating, but he was happy to be on his own two feet again, thanks.

"But... I was thinking about heading back out soon, you want me to leave you something?" He's got water, not-Gatorade, sandwiches and cookies. And can probably be persuaded to fetch something if you ask nice.

[whattaprick]

It's weird, being asked what he wants like it matters. It's also kind of easy to abuse, and it's tempting to, but honestly? For once, he doesn't feel like being a jerk.

"Depends, do you do shoulder and foot rubs too?" Okay, no, he can't resist being a little bit of a jerk. His grin is wide and broad, though, and he shakes his head, already meaning it as a joke... "I'll survive, Novak. Wouldn't mind a few more of those sandwiches, though."

[empty_vessel]

"I'm amenable to bribery, but not that amenable." Jimmy laughs, but he does hand over a few more sandwiches (and another cookie). "If you need something else, though, and you see me, let me know."