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

[punchesyu]

Yeah...

[That's what he's hoping for too, slumping in his seat a little bit.]

At the party...when I passed out, I was pretty sure I was a goner. Everything was starting to get cold. How...how are we still alive right now?

[notahobby]

Lesadi.

[He swallows.]

She did it. She brought everyone back.

[punchesyu]

She did?

[He's confused, and mildly terrified.]

If she's got the ability to do that...then... [He doesn't finish that thought. That's scary. His body trembles a little at the very idea.]

[notahobby]

She can also turn her fingers into giant fucking claws and rip right through a person if she wants, in case you missed that part too.

[This is followed by a particularly long drag on his cigarette and a hard exhale, his mouth setting into a firm line afterwards.]

[punchesyu]

[He glances at him in terror.]

T-That's not cool to joke about. [He knows it's not a joke.] I...sort of remember that. I kind of wish I could forget it. You...you're okay, right? I mean...did she have to revive you too?

[notahobby]

Nope. Not a scratch. I just partied all night.

[He says this with the somber tone of someone with survivor's guilt, though technically everyone survived.]

[punchesyu]

[He breathes a sigh of relief. Thank god that Maxxie got out of this without getting hurt. He's thankful for that.]

I'm almost afraid to ask...what happened after Naomi...

[Died. Horribly. He hadn't seen it, he'd lost consciousness.]

[notahobby]

She took us to some place where everyone was getting fixed up, and then she took me and a couple other people back to where you and... everyone who wasn't...

[He takes another shaky drag of his cigarette. His voice has been oddly steady, but now it starts to falter.]

I can't, I can't do this right now.

[punchesyu]

It's okay. You don't have to say it.

[He could pick up that much. Maxxie must of seen them in the sorry state they were all in when they'd got moved to the lab. He feels for the guy. That had to of been traumatic.]

What matters is we're all alive, right? And with a hell of a lot more to think about.

[notahobby]

[He frowns and hesitates before he speaks again, trying to keep his voice from breaking.]

I just don't get it. Why would they do any of that? We're just pop bands, there's no reason to want us dead.

[punchesyu]

[He's silent for a moment. His body visibly shakes, thinking on it. People want them dead. All of them from Pride, wasn't that it? It's a jumbled mess of what he can recollect.]

I don't know. [He replies shakily.] M-Maybe we're getting in the way of their sales really badly, or maybe they just hate us on principle...it doesn't make sense. I mean, that's murder! Did they seriously think they were going to get away with killing a bunch of us like that?

[His voice is lined with fear.]

[notahobby]

I don't know. I don't know...

[He shakes his head, like he's physically trying to get the memories out.]

And Lesadi... she wasn't even surprised. She was just angry.

[punchesyu]

What the hell? I'd be freaking out if I were her...

[But if he actually bothers to think on it, he shouldn't be surprised- Lesedi transported them here by some kind of magic, and he doesn't get that either.]

[notahobby]

Oh, she was freaking out.

[Maxxie says this with an air of "make no mistake," because Lesadi's livid face is not going to be something he's going to forget quickly.]

But she wasn't scared or upset, she was angry... like all of you were just toys that Blanche broke or something...

[punchesyu]

What the hell? I get that we're sorta at the bottom of the totem pole here, but...

[That's seriously messed up, he thinks.]

These are lives we're talking about.

[notahobby]

That's what makes this so fucked up!

[He shakes his head and takes another drag, like that's going to help push the memories out.]

[punchesyu]

[He feels so unnerved. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't grateful for being alive, but on the other hand. That's some messed up news.]

She's...gotta care, right? Or else she wouldn't of saved us.

[notahobby]

I dunno, man...

[He looks out at the sky, feeling small and lost. He can't make sense of all this and he just wants to stop thinking about it.]