You laugh until you cry; you cry until you laugh

[sailorgenerous]

Who: Virgo musicians - Ghost Quest people and their friends
What: When eight musicians go missing, what happens to those left behind? What happens when those eight come back far worse for the wear?
When: Feb 1st-3rd and after
Where: Virgo HQ
Warnings: Talk of torture, violence, brainwashing, etc. It's ugly in here, folks.

The past three days have not been kind. The hauntings were odd, yes, but when your friends went missing without warning or a trace - well.

How have you been coping? Have you been coping?

And then they came back just as suddenly, and...it looks like your worries were not unfounded.

This isn't good, is it.

Comments

[heymcfly]

[ He raises his head, and his eyebrows raise. ] Luce?

[ To be honest, a lot of these people he doesn't know yet. There's some he should know better than others, but what can you do now? But being with people he knew were down there with him, stuck in those weird ass pod things and going through the same stuff he was...it was hard. And something that he really didn't like to think about, especially when it came to them.

Marty offers a small smile, which is obviously strained. ] You okay?

[ Probably a stupid question... ]

[giglio_madonna]

Oh, you know me. Keeping on.

[Which is to say, she's not okay at all, but Luce tries to put on a smile and brush aside her own status. It's not a very sturdy thing, but, for the current day, it's all she has.]

[She'll bounce back. As far as Luce is concerned, there's no other choice.]

I wanted to check in on everyone. See how they were doing.

[It's the least she can do.]

[heymcfly]

[ She said she's doing good, but there's something in her tone that tells Marty different.

He can't blame her, not after all the stuff they just went through. Who could walk out of that 'okay' at all? That shit was going to be scarred in their memories forever. Including hers.

But he doesn't bring it up; if she doesn't want to talk about it, he won't pry. Marty can definitely understand. ]

I'm...okay, I guess. [ He holds up his arm. ] Could be better though, I guess. Not sure I know how I'm gonna play guitar with a bum hand, y'know?

[giglio_madonna]

[For a flickering second, the look in Luce's eyes darkens, and it's probably the first hint that the attempts to retrain her might not have gone exactly according to plan.]

[Give her the first chance, and she'll show Blanche the wrath of God, so help her.]

[It's gone quickly, however, and she bites her lip as she surveys the damage.]

It's foolish of them- we're only here to play, and Defying Atmosphere has been through so many rough patches already. If they'd taken out one of your legs, at least you could still play then.

[heymcfly]

[ Marty sees that. For a second, there's a flicker in her eyes that screams...something bad. But the next time he blinks, it's gone. It's probably a trick of his head, or something. What did he do that would cause anything like that? And this isn't the first time he's seen weird stuff. Not since he met up with those group of people.

Instead, he focuses on what she's saying about his band. Especially the broken leg part. That at least makes him smile. ]

Yeah, least I could ride around in a wheelchair. [ He shrugs. ] The doc said not to play and to take it easy, but I can't do that, not to my band. We're never gonna get anywhere if I just bum out everywhere.

[ He leans a little closer in. ] Just don't tell Rarity? She'll have my ass.

[giglio_madonna]

[That draws out an exasperated sigh.]

You know... I suspect Rarity would find out either way.

[heymcfly]

...True enough, I guess.

[ He crosses his arms, which is kind of awkward. ] I swear she has eyes in the back of her head. Like my ma.

[giglio_madonna]

A gift among women who try to stay in charge, you know.

[A laugh that's only slightly forced out.]

It's better to have your band behind on you on these kind of things, too...

[heymcfly]

[ That makes him laugh a little! Marty wants to feel homesick in some kind of way, but he doesn't. He can't right now.

...Ignoring the fact that he can't really remember home at all. ]

Yeah. I don't know where I would be without 'em. [ He's quiet for a moment. ] We're like a family, y'know?

[giglio_madonna]

That's how an ideal band should be, if you ask me.

[Flowers Over Bones, by this point, means very much the same. Even if she knows that there's another family waiting for her somewhere else.]

And Greg, Meril... They're both fantastic people. They'll look after you.

[heymcfly]

[ Marty smiles at that. Greg and Meril gave him the best introduction when he first came, so why would they give him up after a broken wrist? There had to be something else he could do for the band- he just had to find out what it was. ]

Maybe I'm being too hard on myself. [ He looks over to her, shrugs. ] I just gotta find something else to do. Maybe I can pass an add or two around.

Don'tcha think?

[giglio_madonna]

Maybe. Keeping busy might be good for all of us, I think.

They can't say we aren't doing our work.

[At least that's one thing her warring mind agrees on, even if for different reasons.]

i spelled ad wrong smh sorry bout that

[heymcfly]

[ That's true, at least. It gets a grin out of him! ] Right? Least there's something good out of this.

Maybe.

[ Marty offers a smile. ] What about you? What are you gonna do?

ha ha s'cool

[giglio_madonna]

You mean in general or...? [A vague gesture to her notebook.] Getting back on track is a start.

And.. It depends on some things. I've been sort of demoted, in a way- some of the veterans might ask for my assistance on things. Angel wasn't very clear on that, I'm afraid, so...

[heymcfly]

Demoted? [ Marty's never heard of that before. In a way, it's kind of unsettling...he didn't want to get demoted. Did that happen to everyone? Now all of a sudden, he's really wishing he didn't screw up his hand. ]

How could they do that? What'd they demote you from?

[giglio_madonna]

Having- [freedom] -personal time. If someone asks me to do something, then... I have to do it. Even if it's a small task someone else could.

[heymcfly]

So basically you gotta be a maid.

[ It's not a question. Knowing Marty it's probably wrong, but- ]

That's bullshit! What the hell's their problem?

[giglio_madonna]

It doesn't really need to be asked, does it?

[Because she went down to the basement. Because she freed Arpegius' sister. Just going through all that torture wasn't enough.]

[heymcfly]

Yeah, I guess. [ Still wasn't fair though. Then again, what was fair here?

Marty rubs the back of his neck, pushing the hair out of his eyes. ] Sorry about this. For everything, I mean.

[giglio_madonna]

I made my own choice in this, you know. There's nothing for you to apologize for.

[heymcfly]

That's...true.

[ He nods, and tries to give the best, most convincing smile he can manage. Which in truth isn't all that great. ] If you need anything let me know, okay? I'll try 'n help. With whatever I can. [ Which probably isn't a lot, but hey. ]

[giglio_madonna]

Just promise me you'll be careful.

We're being watched, now, and... I don't think people are just fired, here.

[As if it needs to be said.]