interstellar5555 | I'll tell you all how the story ends

Entry tags:

I'll tell you all how the story ends

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Wow Pinkie, now that's dedication.]

Okay...

[Another mumble. He doesn't go anywhere, but he also doesn't...actually do anything but continue to sit on the floor, until he vaguely reaches out his hand for her, as if for guidance.]

[Okaaaaaay...Pinkie takes his hand and stands, as if to pull him upright. But then she just stands there.]

You...want me to carry you?

[He gets up with her, blinking heavily like he's trying to clear his thoughts. Asking if he wants to be carried? His gut impulse is that he does, even if he doesn't need to. It makes him feel safe, especially with someone like Pinkie.

Instead of really giving a good answer off the bat, though, he responds to that gut feeling by moving forward and wrapping his arms around her in a hug, hiding his face against her body. He can't believe he's back here, with her. It all feels so far away.]

[Ohhhhhhhhh, Tiger.

Rather than pick him up, Pinkie leans down again to hug him back.]

[He's glad for that, as messed up as it all is. He remembers feeling so alone when he was down there, even though Kido was there the whole time. They couldn't help each other. His voice is soft.]

Can I stay with you?

[Pinkie wraps her arms around him tightly, burying her face in his shoulder for a moment. Then she picks him up for real.]

Yeah, of course! C'mon. [Let's just go to her room, then.]

[He nods back into her shoulder, pretty much happy to go wherever she takes him. He wraps his arms around her, holding on tight.]

Thank you...

[Pinkie doesn't really feel his weight in her arms. Even if she did, it's not far to her bedroom. Now more than ever she wishes it were different - it just looks like a hotel room still, full of fancy furniture and decorations in colors she didn't choose. She lays Tiger down in her bed and pulls the covers up over him.]

Is there anything you want? I can make you some food, or get you some water, or whatever you want!

[Oh, okay, he guesses he's sleeping now? He doesn't really know what he wants - his head still feels so weird, and his body feels off, like he's developing the flu. He sits up a little, looking at her, trying to figure out what to say.]

I think I'm hungry, but I'm sick...

[They weren't fed much while they were being imprisoned - he should really be hungry, but his appetite is gone.]

We...we really got in trouble, Pinkie...

[He doesn't have to sleep if he doesn't want to! Pinkie mostly just doesn't think he needs to be up and wandering around. Now, she leans forward to hug him, patting his head with one hand.]

It's okay. You're back now! So everything's...it's all gonna be okay!

[She leans back, swallowing.]

You might wanna eat anyway. You get sicker if you don't... [She trails off uncertainly. That's true, but it applies a lot more to normal sicknesses. Eating's probably not going to do anything about all this glowy stuff.]

[He isn't all that good at making his own decisions at the moment, anyway. He's fallen into a mindset of just doing whatever he's told without thinking about it. He didn't even try fighting back against this beyond a certain point. He couldn't.

He is comforted by hugging her, though, and holds onto her without question until she leans back. He feels bad for making her deal with this.]

I'll try...

[He looks down at the bed uncertainly.]

I'm sorry.

Okay! I'll just...I'll make you some toast!

[That's easy, right? A simple kind of thing for his stomach to take. But Pinkie doesn't get up, instead sitting down on the bed beside him.]

Hey, you don't have to be sorry! It's not your fault!

[He presses his hand over the cracked gem on his belly, for once not worrying about whether anyone looks at it or not.They already know. Everyone already knows, to a depth that makes him feel violated.

His voice wavers a little.]

Yeah it is. I broke the rules, it's my fault.

That doesn't mean they get to do this!

[Pinkie's hand hovers briefly over his stomach and the weird gem thing, before moving back to his head instead. Her fingers feel too thin and wobbly and weak, turning her stomach a little even as she runs them through his hair.]

They're in charge. They shouldn't treat you this way. Anyway, I should've been keeping a better eye out for you.

[He finds it comforting - enough that he pushes past the blankets just enough to lean against her side. He feels like he deserves everything that happened to him, but he doesn't feel like she deserves to be guilty about it.]

No...don't...don't feel bad. I had to...I think I had to do it, but...

But I shouldn't have...

[She wraps an arm around his shoulders.]

That doesn't matter. Even if you did the worst thing EVER, they should never ever have hurt you like this!

[He can't really claim that they didn't hurt him, or that it wasn't that bad, because it was. It's hard not to feel like he deserves it, because it's something that's been forced into him. The associated feelings are rigid and unnatural, and more than enough to trap him while he's like this.]

I don't think they want me here anymore...I got all messed up.

[He presses his palms to his temples.]

I wish I could go home.

...yeah. Yeah, that'd be nice.

[It's not that she wants him gone - far from it. But if it came down to never seeing him again and knowing that he was safe at home somewhere? Of course.]

Where'd you used to live, anyway?

[He knows what he should say. That he was born on the East coast, in the mansion belonging to the father he hates. But none of it seems true anymore. It's not the backstory he wants to have, anyway.]

Somewhere far away...

[His cloudy eyes stare into the space ahead of them.]

With my real dad. I...I can't remember.

Yeah.

[Pinkie guesses she already knew the story, but it doesn't seem like a real thing anymore. Maybe it never did - just the way he never talked about it, or had any stories from when he was younger. Like it might as well have not even happened.

Anyway, she gets not remembering things.]

That sounds nice.

It was on a beach...

[He nods, obviously agreeing with her observation. It had been nice. Everything had been nice.]

Just me and him...in a van...and there was the ocean...

[The ocean is so central to all of his thoughts about his real home. He doesn't think he spent much time there in the world he remembers here.]

I never really saw the ocean until lately.

[Even now, it's not like she goes to the beach or anything. The idea of trying to swim, when some days her legs just don't bend right, is too frightening.]

I grew up on a farm. With...my parents and sisters, I guess.

Did you like it there?

[All of his memories of his real home are fond, whereas his memories of his home here are almost exclusively negative. Why does he feel like that? Why did they make him feel like that, if they aren't real? It's too much to take in.]

I guess?

[She shifts, uncertain with relating all of this.]

I don't remember it too well.

Me neither, but...

[He shakes his head, leaning into her again after she shifts.]

But I want it back. I want...me back...I'm sorry...

I'll tell you all how the story ends

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