lostcarnival | are these boys ever not dumb?

Entry tags:

lauren,
susan

are these boys ever not dumb?

Who: Lauren & Susan
When: After the Ringmaster's second message, Day 170
Where: Trailer 17
What: Susan is not pleased with their new destination. Lauren tries to reign his dumb younger brother in before he does something else stupid.

Susan is always a bit wary of new locations, any more, never quite knowing what he should expect. But when he hears that this next one is staying in a castle, away from the Carnival, and where they'll have to be civil and diplomatic and that means following the rules and doing what he's told...

Well, Susan is definitely less than pleased, to put it lightly. Even if he still trusted the Ringmaster, even if he wasn't in the Carnival, he still wouldn't enjoy being put in a situation like this. But when he doesn't get to choose and he's just pushed into it, he's even less happy.

And the fact that the last time something similar to this happened, his brother was turned into a vampire, well... That doesn't help the situation any.

Which is why it shouldn't be at all surprising to Lauren to hear his brother on the radio for only a short conversation before forcefully putting it down and stomping off to their bedroom. He doesn't want to play along, he doesn't want to do what she says, and after how things went down last time... He doesn't have a choice, and it's not fair.

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Of course it's not really that hard to figure out what Susan's upset about. Lauren heard the talk on the radio, even if he didn't participate frequently. He knew what was going on, and how even people more trusting of the Ringmaster than Susan were on edge. It made sense that something like this would get his little brother worked up. Especially after what had happened before. ~~He can still remember feeling his sire burning alive.~~ He shoves the negative memories away. Nothing like that was going to happen here. Everything would be fine if they just played along, right?

Lauren didn't actually believe that, but he wanted to and he needed Susan to believe it too. He didn't want a repeat of what had happened before.

He gives Susan a few minutes alone in their room, thinking the time might help him calm down, (Ha!) before he makes his way over their as well. He shuts both of their radio's off, thinking it might be better if they didn't have to listen to anyone else's worries for the exact moment at least. As Lauren ducks into their room (antlers added quite a bit of height to a person) he looks around for his brother, hoping he at least hasn't decided to turn himself into a cat to avoid having a discussion. Again.

"Susan?"

Susan is still very much a half-elf when Lauren enters the room, although a very angry half-elf who's just petting his familiar in his lap and grumbling to her.

"I don't want to go. Why should we have to do it just because she wants to talk to someone?"

He doesn't know if Susan is talking to him, or to Fluff. He decides to answer regardless, sitting down next to his brother and watching him angrily pet a cat.

"Maybe she has to, in order to get something for the carnival."

"Then she should tell us that! How can she think we're okay with her just making us go along with her, when she never tells us anything and it's all dangerous places!"

"Maybe she can't, or maybe she just didn't think to." He pauses, before continuing. "Not everyone can read people like you can."

Edited 2017-09-27 21:27 (UTC)

"Well, I don't like it!" He flops back on the bed overdramatically, Fluff vacating his lap to sit on the end of the bed instead.

"I don't want to be civil, or do what people say, or any of that!"

He watches his brother, almost amused by his dramatics, but concerned more than anything else.

"I know you don't."

He rolls over onto his stomach to glare at the wall, just overall not happy.

"I just won't do what she says."

He sighs, looking watching his brother as he tries to think of what he can say here. He want's Susan to behave, but he can't very well just tell him that.

"Please don't get in anymore trouble."

SMOOTH.

"I'm not going to."

He looks Susan over, suspicious.

"Why?"

"Because I'm not trying to get in trouble, I'm just not doing what she says."

"And how will you do that without getting in trouble?" Lauren asks, rolling his eyes and looking exasperated.

"I don't know yet!!" He doesn't care that he isn't making sense, just trying to express his distaste, but still. He knows he's being silly and just can't stop it.

Lauren sighs, just staring at the carpet before shaking his head. He knew Susan knew how ridiculous that sounded. There wasn't really anything he needed to do to communicate that.

"I know you don't want to go along with her... And I don't think there's anything wrong with breaking the rules every now and then... But I don't want to see you get hurt."

"I just want to go home." But obviously he can't, and he doesn't even get to have any input to what happens to him.

Lauren hesitates, before he continues, voice quieter than before.

"Even if we return to Faerun, do we really have a home there anymore?

He wasn't expecting a question like that, and it pulls him out of his own thoughts as he thinks about it.

"I mean... It's still our world, we can't just leave it."

He doesn't know if he agrees or if he doesn't. The woods near Phlan had been their home for so long, and now all of that was gone. Although he'd hated it here at first, he couldn't say it was without it's own fun. The lack of control was a problem though. Still, that wasn't what they were supposed to be focusing on.

"I just mean, if you're with me I don't care where we are." The one thing he absolutely could not lose was Susan. It didn't need to be said. "That's why I need you to do your best to stay safe."

He's quiet in response, thinking that over. He thinks he gets what Lauren means, and it does make him feel almost silly for getting worked up over it... Still, though, he's worried, and that doesn't make him want to cooperate with anything.

It takes him a bit to actually answer, and when he does it's quiet, as things often are with Susan when he finally gets around to talking about his actual feelings.

"I'm just worried something might happen again."

"I am too." Of course he was, there was no point in hiding it. He didn't like the idea of being at some stranger's beck and call anymore than Susan did. Then again, he was always worried about something. Stuff like this was rarer for Susan, maybe he simply didn't know how to deal with it yet.

"But, if you we both keep an eye out at least they can't catch us off guard."

Not again, not like before.

It takes a second before he rolls over and sits up, finally not angry as he nods.

"Okay... I can do that."

"I know you can."

He smiles a little.

"Then how come you were so worried about me?"

He smiles back.

"Just because you can, doesn't mean you will."

"I'm going to though!"

He's still smiling, amused at Susan's insistence.

"Promise?" he asks, as though he doesn't believe him despite the reassurance.

He laughs a little, knowing Lauren is just teasing.

"Promise!"

He throws an arm over Susan's shoulders and laughs.

"Good."

He pushes at Lauren's arm, squirming to try and get away.

"You're gonna squish me."

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are these boys ever not dumb?

never not dumb

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