and it starts sometime around midnight

[decohere]

Who: ava & co, lots of volunteer opportunities!
What: shadow aftereffects where ava's a bit Off, and halloween festivities. open mingle haunted house!
When: early through mid october, pre-event
Where: featuring the coffee shop and a haunted house in the bowling alley
Warnings: n/a

o. then she leaves with someone you don't know
(ota early October, interactions around the ship, Maxwell getting his book back...)

The flowers have died off and their effects with, but the damage roots deep in Ava's heart where the shadows lurk, nourishing them. She said things she regrets, did things under the influence of flowers that she holds herself responsible for. Refuses to make excuses, because she much rather believe herself a terrible twisted person rather than confront the vulnerability of her mind. There's nothing more terrifying than losing control over the one thing she's relied upon to survive. It doesn't help her memory of September is spotty after the forget-me-nots wrecked so much of it, leaving her filling in the blanks.

The shadows left behind from Maxwell's interrupted ritual whisper to her during the nights, how to be stronger. More powerful. It doesn't manifest in Ava as it might some others, this desire. She doesn't seek to take control over others, doesn't pick fights to assert dominance. When the shadows finally fully manifest, her form defies the natural cast of light, bending around her. Her staticky afterimage loses its iridescent glow and becomes swirls of pitch black. As does her blank gaze.

Her voice becomes toneless, usually relaxed posture stiffening. Even those that don't know Ava well should be able to immediately recognize something is off.

"Nothing is wrong," she flatly insists otherwise.

Sometimes she can be found thumbing through a certain spell book, eyes narrowed in concentration as she's determined to make meaning out of it. 

i. but she makes sure you saw her
(ota, bars and cafes etc)

She's aware that half the ship's population doesn't know what Halloween even is. And that the other half that was here during the last one probably isn't eager to repeat. But the closer her favorite holiday approaches has Ava itching to celebrate. It's the one year anniversary of her first kiss with Peter, after all.

It starts with hanging little ghost and bat-shaped paper cut outs in some of the common areas, trying to make the place feel more festive.

"Do you want to decorate this one?" she offers a paper pumpkin and black marker to somebody sitting nearby. "Just draw a scary face on it." Maybe if she can teach enough people about the holiday, they might want to join in. Her ultimate goal is to convince enough people to dress up and pass out candy for trick-or-treating.

ii. she looks right at you and bolts
(ota, cafe)

She starts wearing the collection of costumes that she saved, doing laundry to get out all the storage wrinkles. Alternating each day between an oversized pumpkin sweater that's her favorite for reasons she only secretly smiles, a wrapped mummy dress, a silly vampire costume complete with fake teeth, and a black cat onesie that she looks particularly comfortable in.

Ava takes up post behind the counter of the cafe again, humming 'spooky scary skeletons' on repeat between customers because she can't remember any other Halloween songs.

It's been awhile since she's practiced latte art, and it clearly is taking a bit of trial and error. She's surrounded by mugs of endearingly wonky looking animals drawn into the foam. Bears and cats and frogs and something that was supposed to be a rabbit... "Take one. It's pumpkin spice."

iii. as she walks out the door
(ota curious onlookers and set up volunteers, Spirit Halloween, path to the bowling alley)

Halfway through the month she begins raiding the Spirit Halloween for decorations. Hauling cackling animatronics and bundles of fake spiderwebs and buckets of fake blood through the promenade, into the glass elevator and up, to the bowling alley where she's piled her supplies. It seems like the perfect location to set up a haunted house with its ambient black lighting and open lanes. Anyone caught watching or asking what she's up to might be recruited to help out.

But constructing the barriers to the maze turns out to be more of an ambitious endeavor than she anticipated. She arranges a few mirrors, huffing slightly in annoyance, before sending off a come help me texts to her friends that seem more construction inclined.

iv. your blood boiling, your stomach in ropes
(ota, haunted house prep and spooky volunteers)

Once things start coming more together, she begins recruiting more friends and particularly spooky looking passengers to participate in the scaring. "You just wait for somebody to wander in and go..." dramatic pause. "BOO!" she tosses her hands up in a very spooky way in demonstration.


v. oh, and your friends say, what is it?
(ota, haunted house opening mingle)

The day it's ready to open, Ava posts various signs around the ship advertising the haunted house. "ENTER IF YOU DARE!!!!" is written across the floor in dripping fake blood, awaiting guests. She's dressed rather self-indulgently as the corpse bride at the entrance, directing anyone brave enough in to the awaiting horrors.

Do you dare?

vi. you look like you've seen a ghost
(ota, wildcard)

Comments

iii. as she walks out the door

[moonlesstides]

Grace passes by Ava on one trip of decorations and is curious but, you see, engaged in prior plans. On her way back with Starbucks Sand Dollars, though, seeing a second trip, she pulls up short with a curious look, sipping her tea very loudly.

~...Magic one, I believe those skeletons to be fake.~

[decohere]

"Vegan."

[moonlesstides]

Grace leaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaans in and pokes the decoration.

~No, this is not a vegetable either. I believe you have been deceived as to the edibility of this.~

With Someone You Don't Know

[freedomsuitsme]

"Refuse to make excuses, because it's better to be a terrible, twisted person than to confront the vulnerability of your tiny, mortal mind."

"Dear Mrs. Starr, I believe you have something of mine. I'd like it back, please."

[decohere]

"Given it is currently in my possession," Ava's words drift like fog between them, not bothering to look up as her fingertrip traces line by line. "It is now my possession. That is how you said the game works, isn't it. How you win."

[freedomsuitsme]

Capturing pieces is key.

"That's how chess works. This game isn't chess. I'm not sure what this game is anymore. Metaphors aside, I won't excuse petty theft. You may have taken it, but that doesn't make it yours. And it certain doesn't make Them yours."

iv. your blood boiling, your stomach in ropes

[pineapplesalmon]

César actually looks positively delighted by the idea, jumping slightly at the BOO and then laughing lightly about it. "Count me in! I've got experience with haunted houses. Altered an old hotel with my brother once, although that was a very quick job."

[decohere]

Ava looks slightly yet delightedly surprised at that, he hadn't seemed the sort to participate in such activities outside of his lab work. Or at least their conversations never went that direction.

"Well I won't be running background checks to verify your credentials," she grins. Because nothing is more terrifying than HR.

"Got any ideas we can incorporate?"

[pineapplesalmon]

"Too bad. I'd pass." César does not fear HR.

César has layers. Like an onion. See his fashionable hair.

"Honestly, I can make some pretty creepy booming noises in my emu form. And I've got tools, fabric, and paint to help make sets. The haunted house back home required technology that I don't have access to here. But the "put your hand into something creepy in order to get to the next room" is always a classic.

vi. Wildcard

[redlightgreenlight]

The list of people to check in with is long and Ava probably should have been higher on it, but she had to check with her closest loved ones and Grace first. She knows Erin sent out texts, but she's not sure if Ava got one.

Ava, I'm back.

Partially thanks to you.

I'd understand if you wanted some distance for a bit, but I wanted you to know.

Valdis knows Ava has been spending time in the cafe and she does stop nearby in case Ava does want to see her.

[decohere]

She did not receive any texts, no updates of the situation at all. So she's naturally wary at first, the claim that Valdis is back. And that it isn't some sort of trap from Tiamat to lure her back out. Especially with the claim she's somehow helped...

But there is a faint hope. She adds a bit of creamer into her tea, and ponders over a response for a bit.

how do i know it's really you?

[redlightgreenlight]

Erin can confirm. So can Max and Cassandra.

ii

[thismaskismybadge]

The way Gwen stops short probably gives away that she didn't expect anyone to actually be at the counter, but she rolls with it quickly enough. "Huh. I guess it is the season." Beat. "Which is weird, actually. It was like, March, at home? Now like, three months later, boat time—suddenly October."

[decohere]

"It was 2018 one day and now it's no specific year at all," Ava glances up from her concentrated effort to make a ghost latte.

"And now it's more than a year and a half and there's somebody here from more than five years later in my timeline. It's all fake anyway." Because who knows what happened to the time during their imprisonment within the Labyrinth. Had it been hours? A month? Does it matter?

[thismaskismybadge]

"Time's always been a little fake, but this is like, an whole new level of fake." Only, it's not actually on the level of fake she was used to at the Society; you could go from 2099 to 1980 in the blink of an eye. But normal civilian girls don't multiversal time travel, and guess what she's pretending to be? "It's taking some getting used to. My life did not used to be this interesting."

She lies. Like a liar.

She points, vaguely, "Do you mind if I like hop over the counter and root around the cakes and stuff?"

Haunted house

[millay]

Maeve is not really certain what this is or what is happening, but she had seen some of the signs and since Ava is doing this, she's here. She pauses as she gets to the haunted house, look at the fake blood and tilting her head slightly. She doesn't immediately recognize Ava as she gets closer, trying to decide what to do. She wore her best Tommy Bahama dress and now she's not sure if she's over or under dressed.

[decohere]

She's had plenty help set the whole thing up, and put out flyers in some of the busier parts of the ship to advertise.

But so far, nobody has come. Ava's trying not to let it bum her out too much, she's used to a good chunk of the ship not wanting much to do with her given her controversial associations and general unpleasant demeanor.

She's almost given up hope for the day, when Maeve approaches. Ava nearly perks up, but instead stays in character. She slouches and holds her limbs in a broken sort of way that she hopes is unnerving. She's not the best actress, but, she tries. "Welcome home, dear. I've been waiting for you..."

She opens up the creaky door to the haunted house, and thick fog dramatically rolls out. "Dinner's almost ready."

[millay]

Maeve arches an eyebrow at the words, wondering if someone is controlling Ava. "Dear, is it?" And dinner's almost ready? Is a haunted house supposed to be a food-related event? She's rather confused by the mixed messages. The confusion seems particularly evident as she stares at the fog, then Ava, and then the door again.

"I'm confused."

v

[sabigoe]

Here comes Fio, shuffling over to the entrance of the haunted house in the same frilly white dress that she showed over the phone. The hood is down, with a crown of fake flowers on her head. A ballerina princess, like she said.

She knows she can trust Ava. Maybe if she weren't standing there she would be creeped out like she should be over Halloween decorations...

"Wow, Ava... you look spooky... and cute!" She beams. The reference does go over her head though. "What are you supposed to be?"

[decohere]

"The corpse bride," Ava says in a cheerfully spooky voice. Fio might recognize it as the same dress she got married in, repurposed because it's too pretty to wear only the once. "You're very cute too."

No, this isn't in character for the haunted house at all, but... well. It's Fio and she doesn't have the heart to act too scary.

"If you come in," she opens the door. Fog rolls out in a cloud. "I can show you around."

[sabigoe]

"Ohhh...! The corpse bride!" Fio copies Ava with a similarly cheerful, spooky tone that hardly sounds 'spooky' from a child like her. Well, she's unfamiliar with the character or whatever work of fiction she comes from. But she can tell that the costume is a corpse and a bride! Upon receiving a comment in return, she giggles and does a quick full spin in place to show off how fluffy and swishy her dress is.

With a little excited bounce of her heels, she bounds onward through the door. "I'm not scared!"

v

[bubblegumheart]

Chrissy's costume is a hastily put-together remix of the one she'd worn last year, which is to say that she's shown up to the entrance of the haunted house wearing her cheer skirt paired with one of the Hellfire Club shirts she'd received last year, along with the cat ear headband she'd been wearing last Halloween. Only she's taken the time to modify it to look more tiger stripey.

When she spots Ava, she smiles and waves as she approaches. She doesn't immediately recognize what the older woman's costume is meant to be, but at the very least, she can appreciate the creativity that's gone into it. "Hi Ava!"

[decohere]

After the way last Halloween went, she's glad somebody else trying to get into the spirit. Ava flickers forward, inches from the girl's face. "Hello, Chrissy dear. You've been out late, haven't you? Forget to call?"

And then she vanishes, the door swinging open to let out a cloud of fog. As it clears it reveals a dark kitchen through the entryway. "Dinner's getting cold," she calls from inside.

v. haunted house | OTA | references to Sharky's weed party

[myagic]

i.
If asked about the brown cat ears and tail she's sporting, Rita will take advantage of the supposed 'holiday' to absolutely insist "It's a costume!" Nevermind the way the tail swishes or the ears twitch in agitation. No, there were definitely no incidents involving magic usage combined with questionable substances.

ii.
She gives the haunted house setup a critical (totally no trepidation involved!!) eye. "This is silly. Everyone knows there's no more ghosts here anymore." And if she wasn't already obvious enough on a normal day, those ears are pinned slightly back.

ii. haunted house couple's tour

[neverleave]

Natsuno isn't going to claim his own purple cat ears and tail are a costume. So what if he played with sigil magic while high? This is the Serena Eterna, where everyone has made at least one poor decision and no one gets to judge.

He thinks the haunted house looks pretty fun. Knowing Ava, she must've put a lot of work in it and more importantly, he'll get to see Rita freak out.

"Yeah, no ghosts. So that means you won't have a problem going in, right?"