lostcarnival | ⇨ THE PRINCE IS DEAD

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⇨ THE PRINCE IS DEAD

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 178 - B1: Day 6
Where: The Carnival and sometimes on top of the Heart of Stone.
What: Now that the Prince is dead and gone, there's a lot left to sort out. As the remaining servants are liberated and those captured by the Prince are tended to, it's time for recovery and goodbyes.
Warnings: Nothing in particular.

HOME GROUND↴

At long last, it is over. The Prince is dead, and all of his stolen Names have been restored - all that's left to do is treat the wounds and move on. For the first day or two, the Ringmaster will be arranging passage for the servants that are left, all of which have remembered their names for the first time in years. The earth elemental that had been trapped and forced to serve as the Prince's manor, the Heart of Stone, is happy to help for the moment. It appreciates the Ringmaster's mercy, and is free after untold eons of imprisonment.

Yet, there are plenty of aspects that are far from simple. There are still servants left mad and transformed into beasts, with no easy way to change them back. The Prince's spells outlive him, and those bearing his poison and his curses will have a difficult road ahead of them. Though most of the bestial servants have been rounded up, and a large number that had been reduced to unmoving statues returned, even the Ringmaster can't return them to normal so simply.

The next week is for rest and for settling remaining affairs. If you want to bid farewell to any particular NPCs, or assure care is given where it's needed, now is the time to do it.

► A CURE: The Ringmaster will tell everyone simply - there is no simple way to undo another fae's magic. The Prince's powers were essentially on par with hers, which means that those who have been transformed to stone and those that were cursed into beasts and driven insane are not something she can trivially fix. It will take the work of the carnival and a couple weeks of treatment to shed the curse of stone, and the maddened servants are an entirely separate matter. She will do what she can, but for the most part she is arranging for the Prince's servants to be cared for elsewhere. At least for now, the Ringmaster will be animating the stone portions of people's bodies with magic, though those portions will still be a bit clumsy and numb feeling.

► THE NEW HEARTSTONE: In the absence of the prince, the Heart of Stone will be taking over the remains of the Prince's realm and preventing it from collapsing into void. As it turns out, the manor had been an earth elemental all along - a form of Wyld Fae almost on par to the Prince and Ringmaster themselves. How the Heart of Stone was enslaved is a long story presumably, but the Ringmaster considers it to be a sign of the Prince's own depravity. The Heart will be allowing visitors for the first couple days of this period through the portal, but keep in mind you are essentially just walking around on its body. At least the realm has a floor, now, instead an endless abyss surrounding it.

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Susan of course is ready to continue the teasing, but then Lauren comes out with an actual honest question like that and it confuses him enough to give him pause. He even glances over his shoulder back at his brother, trying to see if he can figure him out. What sort of question is that?

It throws her off-Carly finds herself even choking when the question is asked, shaking her head with how off guard it leaves her. Does she care? There's no question about that after all, so-

"Wh- Of course I care..!" she protests loudly, looking almost worried, or even scared. She cares, but she was the one to help take them both down in the 'hunt' for that reason, and she wonders-perhaps even fears-how much of the feeling they would have had lingers as a result. But... "...Lauren... ...Did... ....does it feel like I don't..?" she whispers anxiously, searching him over with her eyes.

He takes a step back, eyes going wide in terror at the shake in her voice. She sounded like she was going to cry! He looks to Susan for help, begging his brother to help him with his eyes.

"It's not a feeling!" If course caring was a feeling, but that isn't what he meant. "I mean. I just didn't know. I wasn't..."

SUSAN...

Lauren how are you so bad at talking to people? Susan just doesn't understand. He turns back to them both, especially because of the pleading look in Lauren's eyes, trying to think of what he can say to calm Lauren down so they can actually have a conversation since apparently they have to now.

"Lauren just isn't good at telling what people think! So I think, you must have confused him..." Even he's not entirely sure where Lauren is trying to go with his question, what he's actually asking, and so that's the best he can do for now.

"W-Well it really sounds like-" Ooof! Even she doesn't know what he's trying to say. After some huffing and pouting, she eventually settles for trying to explain...her end? "...You can't say caring isn't feeling..! Caring is definitely a feeling," she protests, nodding.

"...And naturally...it's something that you reflect in your actions, I think! I do a lot of things for a lot of people, because I care about them-about if they're warm, or if they're comfortable..."

The woman frowns. "...So...if something makes that seem fake, or like it's not there at all..." It matters a lot. More than...most, in their case, granted, but it matters a lot.

"...Has it ever seemed like I don't care?" she repeats, more calm this time at least.

His shoulders hunch up, hands raised as though to put a barrier between them. Of course caring was a feeling, he didn't mean it felt like she didn't care, only that he had never known she cared. It feels stupid to even say that now though. Susan was right when he said Lauren wasn't good at telling what people thought. Of course he wasn't good at it. He never had been and Carly should have known that. She shouldn't be getting so upset and yelling at him for something like that!

He moves a step back, embarrassed and a little bit angry, but most of all nervous and wanting this to stop.

"I can't... I'm no good at. I mean. It's hard to know w-what. Um." He takes another step back before just turning and running away. He doesn't want to leave Susan alone though. So he just runs into the bathroom, locking the door behind him.

If Susan were feeling better, he would chase after his brother. Unfortunately he isn't, and sudden movement is hard, and so although he makes a move to stop Lauren, he stops with a wince and instead watches as his brother locks himself in the bathroom. At least he didn't go anywhere... Still, though, hiding isn't really much better.

After a moment he looks to Carly again with a small apologetic smile.

"Sorry... Lauren isn't very good at saying what he means." He's sure she already knows that, but it can't hurt to remind her.

"HEHH!?! L-LAUREN!?" WELP.

He's gone. She blinks a few times, before looking back to Susan. "I...I mean I knew that part, but...." She trails off, sighing. "Hauuuuhhhh.... ....I made a mess of it didn't I...."

He shouts to Susan from the bathroom in elvish, purposefully speaking in a language Carly doesn't understand.

"Why is she mad at me?"

He really doesn't understand, and he hates things he doesn't understand.

Edited 2017-12-04 04:13 (UTC)

Susan shakes his head. "It isn't your fault, Lauren just doesn't understand... There really isn't anyone who really cares back home and -"

And then his dumb brother is yelling in a language Carly doesn't know which is of course a terrible idea, but he can't just ignore him. He gives her another small smile before slowly walking to the door. He isn't gonna yell across the trailer, thank you very much.

"She isn't mad. She's just confused because you're not explaining your question very well and it sounds like you think she doesn't like you at all."

"Hehh...!? N-No one at all?" Well now she sounds like she's going to actually cry, whoops. "I... ...I mean, you told me a few things about home but...."

There's an unspoken THAT'S SO SAD, that she's biting back, as Susan goes to converse in elvish.

"I like her..." He answers back, almost petulantly. He thinks he's starting to get it though, maybe at least. He forces himself to answer again, this time without hiding his meaning by speaking in a different tongue.

"I like you. I just didn't know." That's all. He just didn't know she cared. That was the only reason he asked. He didn't want to hurt her feelings or anything like that.

"...I'm not good at understanding people."

It's obvious to everyone, but it's still hard to say it aloud. It makes him feel very very stupid.

"Sorry."

"You should come out now." Because honestly he doesn't want to be having a conversation through the door. It would be easier for everyone that way...

He heads back towards Carly, although he just sits down on the bed for now. He's pretty sure they're going to want to talk instead of going back to work, and he's still pretty exhausted. He might as well sit down while they do that.

"Mnh? ....Like? ....As in.... ...'Like like'?" What is she, 7?? Still, the question is asked, and she hovers nearish to Susan and the door before moving back to give both boys some space. This is all very...confusing, incredibly confusing but-

"....Lauren..? ....It's alright, really..!" she insists, her smile somewhat weak. "I... ...I don't even know what I'm supposed to be feeling half the time, so I bet a lot of people don't know what I'm saying, right?" she laughs, the sound equally frail.

"...Um..." She pauses. An awkward, anxious pause, looking from Susan to Lauren, and back...

"...It's okay. ...Not understanding things like that all the time, I mean. ....You didn't upset me, I mean it..!" Despite. You know. Giving her a brief worry.

She's just like that.

He nearly hits his head against the door when she asks that. He's just going to stay in here until he dies. He just ignores the question of 'like-like' for now, because he doesn't even know what to say to that.

"I just meant. It's not your fault I didn't know. You're very good at... Caring."

Probably she is at least. It wasn't like he was paying any attention before now, or even knew how to recognize that kind of thing at all, apparently.

Why are they both so hopeless?? Susan just doesn't understand.

"Lauren is bad at telling, and bad at talking. And Carly starts to ramble and stuff when she's confused. Neither of you messed up so just come out of the bathroom and talk like normal!" Normally he might not be so blunt about it but he's sick and he's tired and he doesn't want to have to translate all night.

"AH-" HARSH....

"Ahaheheheh...." She twiddles her fingers a bit, coughing. ".....Y-Yeah, that's me, I guess..." But also-

Let her just melt, for a moment, and glow, a lot. "....You mean it? I'm good at that kind of thing~?"

Susan. Don't be a dick. And Carly, don't melt, it's embarrassing, and awkward. After a moment of reluctance Lauren opens the bathroom door. He glares at his brother before awkwardly avoiding looking Carly's way.

"I mean... I think so." He's not the best judge of that kind of thing, but. "Um, thank you for sewing things."

He doesn't even understand why Lauren is glaring at him, when he's just trying to get them to talk to each other, but fine. He just stays quiet, watching and hoping that they can actually figure this out on their own. If they can't he can just butt in again.

Whether Carly is aware that Lauren is avoiding it deliberately or not, she beams-and continues to do so, her light threatening to brighten a bit too much perhaps. She has yet to notice-just busy smiling at the elder of the brothers after all.

"Ahh~! W-Well, it's the least I can do after all!! There's no reason for me to say no!"

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⇨ THE PRINCE IS DEAD

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