⇨ THE EPILOGUE

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 61
Where: The Carnival
What: After all the rescues team return, it will be matter of tending to the wounded and getting the hell out of dodge. The Ringmaster can handle the fleeing part, but someone will need to look after those in the medical tent. Or, maybe, you just want to show up and ask what the hell happened.
Warnings: Some messed up consequences of faerie fuckery.

IN REPAIR↴ As the minutes tick past, all four rescue groups will eventually return. Everyone in the carnival is encouraged to help out, ensuring that the rescues and victims both are taken care of after the fact. You can tag in here as rescuers taking care of business around the carnival, victims recovering, or other workers checking in to see what's going on. This log is for general aftermath threads, made by anyone.

Comments

[hippocarnival]

Yuya pauses, before letting out a soft breath and offering Steven a smile. "If you were, we were both wrong. I couldn't leave them behind, either. Maybe they would have been hurt worse, or..."

Yuya shrugs a shoulder. They'll never know since that's not what happened, but they know the Rose Queen well enough to take a guess what she might have done. "I wanted to stop her from taking you, too."

[starseedling]

He feels like people will be mad at him, like Connie was. At least Yuya seems to understand.

"I just wanted to help them, but... I feel like I might have made it all worse." He blinks away tears. "I feel like I keep doing that even when I don't mean to. It's my fault the Rose did this to me, too."

[hippocarnival]

"It's not your fault," Yuya shakes his head, then leans forward to brace his hands on Steven's shoulders for comfort. "You didn't know. You weren't trying to do any of this, and... and those guys keep hurting all of us. If it wasn't you, it probably would have been someone else, and you know that's not better!"

Not that Steven should suffer in their place, just... well, while it could have been better, it also could have been worse. Yuya's memories of that month in Portland, and all the damage the Rose Queen did, are still strong. "And look, even after she got you, you found ways to help us get you back. Not everyone could have done that, but you could."

[starseedling]

Steven sniffles and rubs his face, looking up at Yuya again. He just can't stop thinking about how this should have been avoided somehow, and how he keeps making stupid mistakes. But, hearing otherwise helps.

"I was scared Joker was going to make a deal with her. When I came back in, it looked like she was trying to get him to do something, and I couldn't deal with someone else getting pulled into it, too."

[hippocarnival]

Yuya nods slowly as Steven continues. At least his words got through a little bit.

"I know. I was really scared too, what was going to happen to them. I couldn't let Gongenzaka or the rest of them face the Rose Queen alone while I ran away." Even if that might have been preferable to them. Even if she wanted Steven, there was nothing thst meant she wouldn't hurt everyone else anyway.

He rubs the back of his neck. "Maybe we could have come up with a better plan, but... I'm not sorry about going back. Changing the person who gets hurt doesn't make it better."

[starseedling]

Now, that is something that makes sense to Steven. It's a feeling that is both good and bad. On one hand, he wasn't objectively wrong for that he did. On the other, it really does feel like there is no right answer a lot of the time.

"I don't know why people feel like it's okay to hurt themselves for me," he says, sounding confused about the entire concept. "Everyone wants to save each other, but... it never works. You just hurt them in a different way."

[hippocarnival]

Yuya worries over his lip briefly, turning his gaze down before he offers a shrug in response.

"Maybe... maybe that's just how love is sometimes." There's a brief flash of guilt in him, but he tries to squash it down quickly. "It's worse to see someone you care about be hurt than be hurt yourself."

It's not a satisfying answer, but it's the best one Yuya has from experience. Some people you really will do anything for.

He wrinkles his nose. "And I guess Joker sees it as his responsibility to keep us safe, since he's our Supervisor."

That too.

[starseedling]

"Yeah," Steven agrees softly, nodding his head a little. "He does. He told me that." He doesn't really think that it's actually Joker's obligation to do that, but he understands why someone would want to protect the people he's in charge of.

"I guess this was probably pretty scary for him." Steven obviously feels pretty guilty, too. Does he wish it had been different? It's impossible to say without knowing the alternatives.

[hippocarnival]

"I think it was scary for all of us... but you know, that isn't because of what you did." He looks back up so he can offer Steven a reassuring smile."It sounds like she was going to come anyway for the Rose... and she hurt a lot of people in Portland."

Her cruelty didn't come just from wanting to possess Steven. That much Yuya won't let him hold against himself. "If you're worried about how he's feeling, then the best thing to do is get better."