I won't pretend that I intend to stop living

[mildwildchild]

Who: erryone in Pride
What: recovering from the events of December 7
When: late December 7/early December 8 - ???
Where: Pride HQ and wherever else they're allowed to go
Warnings: Carnies? references to I Will Twist the Knife


So maybe you've just gotten back from the most mellow kidnapping ever and you're itching to tell your bandmates about what went on with the cool helmeted guys while everyone else was at that stuffy party. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait a little while to tell them, but that's okay - surely you can keep yourselves occupied until everyone else returns.

Or maybe you're one of those who wound up at that party of Naomi's, and your night was a little less fun. Now you're back at HQ, possibly with mended physical injuries and almost certainly with a few new psychological scars. Now's your chance to check in on your friends and bandmates who missed out on all the trauma and deal with things as best you can.

Comments

[mildwildchild]

[That gets a disbelieving, somewhat worried stare. Jamie's head tilts to the side a little as he tries to make sense out of this.]

...no. That's - we've been here for...a while, right? I mean, this - [He indicates the scar.] - it should be - it shouldn't look like this if, I mean, that's -

[He trails off, breathing a little jerkily. He doesn't think Luci's lying to him, per se - all he can assume is that he's hearing things wrong, or he's hallucinating, or something.]

[stylistic_disloyalty]

I know, I know. [Luci runs her fingers through Jamie's hair, trying to soothe him before he has a panic attack.] Like I said, there's a lot going on here that we don't understand. You're alive, stick with that for a little bit. Okay?

[mildwildchild]

Okay. Okay. Yeah... [He lets his eyes slide shut for a few moments, trying to focus on her words, her voice, her touch. Childish as it sounds, he's hurt and scared and all he wants is to be soothed right now. Eventually, once he gets himself a little more under control, he opens his eyes again and sighs.]

...I'm sorry. I'm acting like a freak, I know.

[stylistic_disloyalty]

...darling. Jamie. You and I were both just attacked by members from another label, then magically teleported to an underground medical bunker. You're reacting how any normal person would, I'm just the one trying to keep you from hyperventilating while you're injured.

[mildwildchild]

[That sinks in, finally, and he looks up at her in concern, feeling a prickle of guilt for not noticing earlier.]

Jesus, I didn't even - are you okay?

[stylistic_disloyalty]

I'm fine. He got me pretty good, but it's nothing too bad. [She smiles and runs her fingers through his hair again. He shouldn't think about her, he'd only worry about what Lesedi was going to ask of Luci too.]

Do you remember who did this to you?

[mildwildchild]

[Jamie freezes up for a second, then lowers his head to avert his gaze. His voice gets very quiet.]

...yeah. It - it was Luce. From Flowers Over Bones.

[stylistic_disloyalty]

Luce?

[Luci can't believe it, she has to look away from Jamie for a moment to process it.]

That's insane, she's like... she's like everyone's mother, Virgo and Pride.

[mildwildchild]

[Jamie shrinks gradually away from Luci, gingerly drawing his knees up to his chest and folding his arms over them, looking ashamed.]

...yeah. I - that's why I thought I could trust her. [His voice tapers off into a low mutter.]

[stylistic_disloyalty]

Jamie... [Luci rolls Jamie back towards her and tries to unscrunch him. Tensing his muscles while healing probably wasn't so good for him.] It doesn't make sense. If Luce wanted to kill us, she would've done it when we were hanging out behind all the trailers at the festival. Something's not right here.

[mildwildchild]

[Jamie lets her do what she will - he doesn't have the energy or the inclination to put up any resistance, really - and runs a shaky hand through his hair, trying to focus on what she's saying.]

Maybe she just...wanted someplace more private to do it, y'know, the festival was pretty public and there were all those crowds around, somebody would've seen something if she'd tried it there...

[stylistic_disloyalty]

Yeah, but that party was pretty public. There weren't many places where people wouldn't go, the whole house was full of people. And she wasn't the only one. Johanna Mason pulled a goddamn knife on me, and tiny little Shen finally got me.

[mildwildchild]

So it was just people from Virgo?

[Jamie looks worriedly at Luci's arm and then away again. He thinks about this for a little while, nibbling his lip.] There were some Virgos that weren't doing stuff like that, though. At least - I don't think they were. One of the other people from Flowers Over Bones had the chance to hurt me, but she didn't.

[He looks at her beseechingly. He's so lost right now.] What do you think's going on?

[stylistic_disloyalty]

Sounds like it. [The guy who attacked Terry, Luce, Haru, Shen, Johanna... all from Virgo. Intense label rivalry, that's what this looks like. But why would they go along with it when none of them seemed to care about the rivalry?]

I don't know. But I'll find out and when I do, I'll let you know. [She hates seeing him so distressed by things they can't fix right now. Luci leans down and works his lip out of his teeth with a kiss.] I promise.

[mildwildchild]

[The kiss surprises him, so much so that he almost jerks away from it out of reflex, and even though he can't really enjoy it under these circumstances he takes it as a gesture of comfort and affection and relaxes a little. He feels terrified and helpless and this is not the sort of face he wants to put on for Lucifer, but he supposes that she's let herself look exposed and vulnerable in front of him before, so maybe she won't judge him too harshly.

[He tries for a watery smile and reaches for her good hand.] I'll hold you to that. Thanks. For...being here.

[stylistic_disloyalty]

I wouldn't want to be away from here, I'll tell you that much. [She smiles and lets Jamie take her hand. The poor guy looked scared out of his skin-- and if Luci was being honest, she wasn't doing much better. But somebody had to be the backbone in their group, and staying and helping is making her feel like she has at least a little courage.]

This is going to be okay. Don't worry.

[mildwildchild]

[He gives her hand a squeeze, and though it seems fairly robust to him it's actually pretty weak - he just doesn't have the oomph to put into it right now.] I hope you're right. It -

[It doesn't seem like anything's going to be okay, but that's a thought he can't bring himself to finish. He huffs out a shaky attempt at a laugh instead.]

This is all...pretty fucked up.

[stylistic_disloyalty]

I know, I know. [She covers Jamie's hand with hers.] It's really fucked up. There's no part of this that I feel any peace with-- but it's not something to think about right now. Right now, you should sleep, Jamie. I'll be sure you get home.