I'll tell you all how the story ends

[cleartranquil]

Who: Ghost Quest kids and all those who want to see them.
What: So as it turns out, going against the label might've been a bad move. Who knew, right? 
When: Feb 3rd and after 
Where: Pride HQ
Warnings: Talk of torture, aftermath of violence, aftermath of brainwashing, dudes there's some dark stuff.

For the past three days, the troublemakers and ghost helpers of Pride Records were kept locked away from their friends and their bands. 

As far as everyone else knew, they were just gone. And then they were back. 

They are all worse for wear, some far more than others and some much more mentally than physically, but they are all returned to their penthouses, finally, at the end of their ordeals. 

But, at least they're back. Somewhat in one piece. For the most part. 

Comments

[blindfoldcode]

"Kinda." Things are fuzzy, still. The world is more blobs than anything else. Sometimes her eyes just blink out. They hurt like hell.

But she'd take being blind forever over Tiger still being hurt. "Don't worry about it."

[tigermillionaire]

He remembers when they did that, though his thoughts had already been scattered at the time. He didn't really get why it was happening, at first. They spent a lot of time making it clear to him afterwards.

He feels like something good should have come from this, like there had been a really good reason that they took the risk in the first place. It's just so hard to contemplate right now, and anything that put him at odds with his keepers seems inexcusably foolish.

"What did we do?" he asks softly, after getting lost in his head.

[blindfoldcode]

"Whatever we did," Kido still doesn't quite understand everything that went down, "we hurt Lesedi with it." She slows her steps to reach up and hold one of his hands.

"Everyone told us to run. We didn't. I shouldn't've let you go, kid. I'm sorry." She has to take a deep breath, then, shaking. She feels like she's choking. He's hurt and he might not get better and it's all her fault. She promised she'd look out for him and...

[tigermillionaire]

"I don't remember why I wanted to go," he says, his voice still hollowed out but ringing with a sort of despair. "It doesn't make sense anymore. I can't...I can't feel..."

He trails off. He doesn't have the words for what's missing, but he knows that it's gone.

[blindfoldcode]

She only lets go of his hand to wipe the tears from her face. She can't stop them. Hearing and seeing Tiger like this is just... She's seen a lot of terrible things, she knows what it feels like to die, she watched her sister die, she knows she's been betrayed, she knows that she's a monster, she knows that life is just generally so fucked up, but...

This is the most painful thing she thinks she's ever felt.

"We rescued someone. Or something. I think. And it's gone now." At least someone's out of Pride's clutches.

[tigermillionaire]

"Oh..." he says softly, remembering for a moment what she means. He wishes he could feel happy, or accomplished, but he doesn't. All he can feel are the thoughts drilled into his head over and over again - that he shouldn't have rebelled, that it wasn't worth it. That he was a traitor to his label.

"We...we did the wrong thing. W-We..."

He sinks down against her shoulder, shivering. He still can't cry, even now, like something has been cut off from him.

"It was okay and now it's not."

[blindfoldcode]

"I don't think it's ever been okay." She runs her thumb across his hand before she tries to fall back into a stride. Everything hurts. She's a monster and now she sees why.

"Not sure it will be again, either. Just... just don't hurt yourself, okay? If talking about it hurts... you don't have to."

[tigermillionaire]

He does fall silent for a while, apparently taking her invitation to stop. The world passes him by like something on the other side of a thick sheet of glass. Part of him feels weary enough to sleep.

"I don't know what to do," he mumbles. He's too broken to function. All he can do is hurt.

[blindfoldcode]

"You just... hang on, okay? I'll find a way to fix it. You don't have to do anything but hang on."

[tigermillionaire]

"I'm glad you can see," he says, circling back to that earlier though, as she carried him along. He swallows. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry I wanted to go. You protected me."

[blindfoldcode]

"Not well enough. Don't apologize--this isn't your fault." It's hers. She's an adult. She knows not to do this kind of thing. She doesn't tell him her eyesight's still bad or that it blinks out when her powers flare up.

[tigermillionaire]

He hugs her more tightly. Even when they get to the penthouse he isn't going to want to let go.

"I don't care."

[blindfoldcode]

"I do. You're just a kid. You're supposed to be able to trust us."

[tigermillionaire]

He shakes his head, against her neck. He does trust her. They both knew what could happen if they did what they did. She wasn't wrong about anything, and it had been his idea.

"Are we going home?" he asks.

[blindfoldcode]

"Yeah. I don't want you to zone out and hurt yourself again. I can get you something if you need it." Before she locks herself up again.

[tigermillionaire]

"Can I stay with you?"

It's a question he's asked her many times before, in the past. They've made sleeping together such a habit in past weeks, it feels natural to him, even now. He doesn't want to go back to being alone.

[blindfoldcode]

Her breath shakes when he asks that. Her voice is quiet. She shouldn't've followed him. "You don't want to be around me, kid. You're just gonna get hurt again."

[tigermillionaire]

"I do..."

He doesn't know how else to argue it but that right now. He doesn't want to be alone again, and he misses her. He'd thought she was too hurt to find him before, but now that she's here...he doesn't want to let go again.

"I do."

[blindfoldcode]

"I won't let anything get you again, Tiger." She lifts her hand to her eyes again, trying to get rid of that extra layer of blur that the tears are causing. "So don't be scared."

[tigermillionaire]

It's hard not to be scared, when there are so many unknowns. He doesn't even fully know what's happening to him now, except that his gem was important and now it's broken. It's made it so much harder to think, and to feel.

He sniffles into her shirt.

"Please stay."

[blindfoldcode]

Oh no don't cry. She feels even worse now. "I'll stick around until you sleep." She doesn't want Lesedi connecting her fuck ups to Tiger anymore.

[tigermillionaire]

That seems to be enough to satisfy him, for now. He nods a little, and then falls silent, letting his thoughts go until they finally make it up to his room in the penthouse.

He'll stir, then, seeing where they are. He shift a bit, making it easier to slide down when they near his bed, forgetting that he is still really damp all over.

[blindfoldcode]

She'll set him in a chair instead, looking around for something slightly warmer than his usual attire. He's wet and with his hair wet he might get sick and if he gets sick she doesn't know if the crack will get worse or something she'll never forgive herself.

"Think you can manage to get changed, kid?"

[tigermillionaire]

Oh...yeah. He'd been so sleepy he'd forgotten about being wet. He shakes himself a little, like he's rattling the confusing stuff away from the forefront of his mind, and then nods.

"Yeah..."

He peels off his tanktop and dumps it on the floor, and then gets up to look for new boxers. He's got some long sleeved shirts and sweaters in his wardrobe, most of which with stars or the like.That stuff is all pretty normal. Once he has the boxers, though, he looks over at Kido uncertainly.

He's present enough to not want to embarrass himself or her, and he's not sure what to do.

[blindfoldcode]

Kido hands him a sweater and ruffles his hair for about a quarter of a second before she jerks back like she's burned. She looks away.

"Get in bed, ok?"