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

[nibelungvalesti]

"What we did was foolish," Meril said with flat, blanket condemnation -- though the words were not hers so much as coming from her. But she immediately softened. "But you are my friend, Luce, and will remain so no matter what."

[giglio_madonna]

Bullshit something vicious and cold but unmistakably hers hisses. As usual, it clashes with whatever was done to her, and Luce has to force herself to move on. "After everything... All we have is one another."

[nibelungvalesti]

"Exactly so. Now more than ever, and that is certainly not something I will ignore. So, of course you may call upon me as needed!"

Implanted ideas beside, Meril had learned loyalty.

[giglio_madonna]

"No, no, I'll be fine- besides. You need to look after your own right now... If anything else happens to you, I don't know how Greg will carry on."

She remembers what Meril told her at the New Years party, after all.

[nibelungvalesti]

"Greg Universe will understand that I will not abandon a friend." Meril looked back at Luce with a hint of steel in her eyes. "He knows me well enough to know that."

[giglio_madonna]

An exasperated and fond sigh leaves her. "You know, things tend to get a bit messy when everyone is trying to protect each other."

[nibelungvalesti]

Meril's look turned wry, if no less fixed. "And is the alternative better?"

[giglio_madonna]

"Someone simply always gets disappointed when one of the others gets hurt trying to protect them," she sighs, still smiling faintly. "But no... The alternative isn't much better."

[nibelungvalesti]

Meril nodded, pressing her point. "Exactly so. And you would not like people who were selfish and had no desire to protect others, even as you do not desire to be protected yourself."

[giglio_madonna]

For some reason, that makes her laugh. A dry one, not really mirthful, but it's something. "You'd be surprised. I like people for all sorts of reasons. But... that's besides the point. Do you think you'll be alright...?"

[nibelungvalesti]

"Yes. I am, after all, not alone."

Quite the statement for the Ice Queen to make, wasn't it?

[giglio_madonna]

"No, you aren't." Finally detaching with a faint smile, Luce squeezes her shoulder.

"You know where to find me if it ever gets to be too much."

[nibelungvalesti]

"I do, and I have not forgotten. The reverse is true as well." Though Meril expected Luce to be MUCH more stubborn about it than she herself was...