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]

( 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??

[stormpirate]

... Okay, so that... wasn't just a weird orgy euphemism?

[skaikru]

( the amount of disappointment in this tiny human vs the amount of blood that just rushed up and stained her ears... )

No. We don't hold emergency meetings just to fu — ( strangled garbled sounds of frustration. aka, an ugh. )

[stormpirate]

Oye, I am new here, remember? I don't know how you people do things!

[skaikru]

W... we hold meetings. We've had two just this month! Jenny —

( desire to rip her hair out only barely resisted. )

But you're not new, here. You've done all of this before, and if there's something different going on this time around — like possessions — we need you to tell us if that's super abnormal and deeply concerning.

( chill out clarke, calm, cool, collected. )

So you — in your entire first time on this ship, never saw anything like this?

[stormpirate]

[thinks...]

Not that I can remember. Which isn't saying much, but... I do feel like I would remember if that had ever happened.

[skaikru]

( oh my god we're doomed. )

Do you at least have any suggestion as to how we deal with it?

( bc the brig is only so big, and people want their friends back. )

[stormpirate]

[shrugs]

Kill them? What else would you do?

[skaikru]

They're in the bodies of people we care about, and I haven't heard any assurance that they'd come back normal if we did kill them.

( for as passionately as she speaks on this topic, it's with an air of distance. this plague of possessions hasn't really touched the select few people she cares about, none of her friends are possessed, no way no how.

she will still rally the cause for those put-upon faces at the emergency meeting. ...to a point. it's a royal "we". )

[stormpirate]

Why ask for my advice, then? You know I only have the one plan!

[skaikru]

Because —

( mega frustration has clarke feeling challenged, and standing pretty abruptly. legs of the deck chair scrape a little on the ground, shrill and grating. )

Jenny.

( and backtracking immediately, invoking godsnames. )

Gaubenex. Your plan didn't work in the end, did it.