on this the night all hallows' eve

[sailmods]

who: the living and the damned
when: October 31st, 8PM to 11:59 PM
where: around the main pool on deck 6
what: HALLOWEEN PARTY, 1/2
warnings: TBA

[as you exit the elevator and walk towards the pool deck on Halloween night, you follow a sort of labyrinth of panels and decorations. about halfway through the maze, a scythe swings into your path, and a tall animatronic crackles to life:]

It is harvest time. I can smell it in the air. And I sense your soul is ripe for harvesting as well. When your time comes, my scythe will cleave your soul right off the vine like a ripened pumpkin. Time for carving!

[welcome to Halloween aboard the Serena Eterna.

the Infinite Spirit Halloween has been put to good use by a crack team of Mizuki and Ebalon, and half of it seems to now be located around the deck on the main pool. the pool has been dyed a swamp-like green; fake plastic vines and (hopefully) fake plastic limbs float in the waters. there are fog machines studded throughout that are putting out a frankly dangerous amount of fog, and it can be pretty difficult to tell if your next step is onto the floor or directly into the pool.

there is food available on a long table on the side, but it’s entirely the usual fare found in the buffet, though there are also two punch bowls: one is a delicious fruit punch, and the other is about 99% vodka and then a single orange. the bar is also open, with extra liquor bottles scavenged from the other bars on the ship. Halloween music plays from unseen speakers.

Friday is here, and dressed in costume, but never seems to stop fussing and rushing around long enough to actually have a conversation with. but, hey! Jenny is here! hooray!

have fun. you have ‘til midnight.]

Comments

[skaikru]

Yeah, that's the consensus.

( or at least it better be amongst the masses, or clarke's gonna frickin' riot. this whole month an absolute shitfest, if one person buys into this party being fun without at least an ounce of dread, she's lost faith in humanity.

but also, hey! one of the few people she might shake off her attitude enough to approach. hi jenny, don't mind clarke in haphazard nurse gear/war regalia standing a deck chair or two away, and watching that swirl of fog like it's the worlds most interesting puppet show. )

[stormpirate]

[... blinks.]

Sexy combat nurse is a new one. [a slight grin. with a twist of her fingers, the air currents shape the fog into... a cat. honestly that's the only one she's good at don't ask for more.] You never struck me as a party girl.

[skaikru]

( well. in stiff and equally unexcited company, a grin might as well be an invitation. don't mind if she does drag her feet around that chair and draw close enough to admire the cat, even bringing up a hand to mime scratching its head. )

Not at all, last time I had a little fun, you ended up stuck back on the ship. ( SHE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT DIRECTLY, BUT — ) Parties are starting to feel like a bad omen. I just don't want to see anyone get hurt.

[stormpirate]

Some things never change. I wish that was comforting.

[a pause. she frowns.]

... Have you... You talk with Friday, right? Is she... okay?

[skaikru]

( ah, jeez...

well, you know, she wants to trust jenny very badly, and thus comes blunt honesty where everyone else has just gotten the cold shoulder and evasive answers. )

Haven't talked to her since I made her angry, and she told me I kill my mother in my future timeline. But I've seen her running around lately. ( seen the burnt out lightbulbs, seen mess and blood and muck and the general ship falling apart. ) No, I wouldn't say she's "okay".

[stormpirate]

... Yikes. You gotta piss her off real good to get her to do that parlor trick.

It's just that... Ever since I got here, past that first day... She hasn't let me speak with her once. She's always... busy, I guess, and she is, but...

[skaikru]

( a shrug, as if to say: "that's my superpower, cap, i always piss people off" "thank you for your applause, i'll be here all forever week" "it's okay, you can say you're impressed".

but the topic switches, and this feels. messy. not her place. yet there clarke goes, sitting down on the edge of the deckchair anyway. she knows enough about what went down on the tender to have extrapolated from there, in addition to engaging jenny's wrath once she'd woken up. )

I'd imagine she's probably concerned about what you'd even say to her, if given the chance.

[stormpirate]

[beat]

... Yeah, okay, fair. [SIGHS] You'd think I'd have... some idea, after a fucking month...

[skaikru]

A month's not that long of a time. Despite... everything that's happened in it.

( literally so much, she's so tired... another beat, then: )

What are you going to say to her?

[stormpirate]

Every month feels like seven years, here...

[a pause]

... "I love you?"

[skaikru]

( gosh, if a sentiment ever registered so severely... also how did her seven-year-actually-one-month stint start with the mushy puddle of her best friends insides and somehow end in relationship talks with pirate jenny... )

...Not a bad start. You ever tell her that before?

[stormpirate]

Only every day! [scoffs] Who do you think I am? I told her I loved her before she even believed it!

[skaikru]

I think that's lovely. And a good thing you told her so often.

( elbows to knees, and her right arm (the un-fireball-burnt one) comes up so clarke can slot her chin into her palm. )

But you would have rather died on the tender, right? How many times did she undermine your wishes, and you two went a month without talking before?

[stormpirate]

... [her shoulders slump]

Never... We wouldn't go hours without talking...

[skaikru]

( oh, that's sad. and relatable. (not the same sort of love, but also why has it felt like natsuno's gone out of his way to avoid her lately?)

if they were closer friends, or even just closer in proximity, clarke would have offered some sort of physical comfort. a hand on the elbow, a bump of the shoulders. but alas. )

Then maybe try something different. Maybe...

"I'm so angry with you. But I need you." "I trust you, implicitly." "I miss you." "Thank you for saving my life."

[stormpirate]

[...]

Wait, should I be taking notes? I should write this down... Do you have a pen? I'll write it on my arm...

[skaikru]

( ...snort. )

I can text it to you, if you want.

But the takeaway is supposed to be... Just be honest. You can still be angry about it. She can still be firm in her convictions. If you love someone that much, it shouldn't be that hard to forgive them.

[stormpirate]

Ugggh, that sounds... I'll just repeat what you said! That almost sounded like something that made sense!

[being honest is haaaard.]

[skaikru]

That's plagiarism.

( too much time around palamedes. )

And I'd bet Friday could clock it if you're just reading her a line...

( be honest you hurricane bitch, it's usually worth it in the end. )

[stormpirate]

Only if you snitch.

... I'll talk to her. After this stupid party... Maybe she'll be less stressed out once it's all over.

[skaikru]

( would she snitch? not to friday. is there still a challenging raise of the eyebrows here? yes — i absolutely could snitch.

yet... ultimately, another shrug. vague gesture at their surroundings with her bandaged arm. )

But it's not the party stressing her out, is it. Mizuki did most of the work. It's everything that's going on. Nothing's mending itself, there's revenants in the bodies of passengers. Did any of that ever happen when you were on board?

[stormpirate]

... Wait. There's what?

[skaikru]

( U. H. )

Revenants. The shades.

Ghosts?

Former passengers, forcing themselves on people among us. You... you didn't come to the meeting, did you.

[stormpirate]

What fucking meeting?

[skaikru]

The literal "ghosts are possessing our loved ones" meeting??