WEEK 4 AFTERPARTY

[stanboozled]

[After everything has settled - after all that craziness - Stan stands up, putting the voting box down on the ground.]

Okay, kids. I know you're scared, and you don't know what's going on - and I know it's hard to trust either me or Red with what's happened these past weeks. Hell, with what just happened.

[He takes a breath.]

But I want you kids to know that I'm here for you. I'm not gonna pretend like this is some silly summer camp, because I can't. I can't go back to how I was seeing things now that I see them right - my brain's good at taking a pounding and coming back just as good as ever.

And - though it might not seem like it, Red's here for you, too. We've...talked some stuff out. A lot of stuff. And...

[Stan lifts a hand to his face, rubbing at the bridge of his nose before continuing.]

I can't stop this. Neither can Red. But that doesn't mean we're just gonna sit by and let you kids just die because of some stupid rock. When she gets back, she's - gonna get into contact with someone higher in the organization she works for. And she's gonna ask if we can take this rock thing out. Break it, or - something.

From now on, you kids don't need any tickets to get stuff from me. You can just ask for it, but - I can't stop you from getting weapons, or anything dangerous. An' you're still gonna have to keep doing this, because we need time to contact whoever she's gonna contact, and go through all that red tape. I don't know how long, but -

This? It's gotta go on. And....I'm sorry, kids.

[He quietly sits back down, staring at the flames.

That's all.]

Comments

[itsagazebo]

Time? How much fucking time, Stan? Days? Weeks? Are we just s'posed to keep killing each other til you guys find out?

[Sorry, Stan. He's still on edge after... everything.]

[stanboozled]

[He doesn't blame Eddie, honestly.]

...Weeks, probably. At least enough time before the eight week.

[trashmouthtozier]

When she gets back? They shot her!

[stanboozled]

She's too valuable to lose, kid. They wouldn't kill her.

She told me she was gonna try and make it easy on whoever got voted - she knew she'd be punished for it.

[fallbymyhands]

Pines. . .

What happened to Red? Who shot her?

[someone from the RV park?]

[stanboozled]

Same people who shot Ren back when you first got here, probably.

[lovebun]

[ Sorry, Stan, Usagi just kind of numbly nods. Happy birthday to her, I guess. She's just kind of. Not okay.

But she's here. ]

[kitchen_witch]

[While everyone's brooding, and Stan's telling a strange story, Lillith brought out a cake she had waiting in the kitchen, a lemon zest shortcake topped with whipped cream, plenty of strawberries, and a single lit candle, setting it in front of Usagi]

[diesifkilled]

[And once again, Shirou is here to hold her if she'll let him.]

Sorry.

[lovecolored]

[ putting her hand on Usagi's shoulder

She's still not good at this comforting thing but damn if Usagi isn't the sweetest person in camp, she doesn't deserve this shit on her birthday :') ]

[linearcrash]

[ Just going to approach Stan. ]

Hey... if you need help with anything...

[stanboozled]

...I'm not gonna put any a' you kids through any of this.

[He looks...serious.]

There's stuff about this you don't need to know. And all I care about is getting as many of you kids out of here as I can, alive.

[killtheanimals]

[Most important question:]

We haven't hit the conditions for the final protocol, have we?

[stanboozled]

What? No! That's only if -

[He pauses, then shakes his head.]

...You're fine, kid.

[lovecolored]

Is there anythin' else ya can actually tell us about what's goin' on? Like why we have rocks parasites in our heads in the first place?

[stanboozled]

...I can't. I'm already takin' a chance just talking to you kids like this. If I say anything else, they might...

[He mimes a gun.

Pretty obvious where he's going with this.]

[velocirainbow]

[ Cielo is just gonna plunk down and sigh. He is no longer Dyaus, at least? ]

... An' of course, we got no way we could jus'... defeat dese guys ourselves, right? Talcott said... something about de people keepin' us here bein' de real problem, right? Your "superiors" sound like de problem. We need to deal wid dem first. Dey prolly gwon kill us faster den dat stone.

You think dat stone cappin' our powers? If I could jus' access de Mantra Grid, I'd be way better equipped to help deal wid dis...

[stanboozled]

Don't try it. Seriously - don't.

[He shakes his head.]

These guys have countermeasures in place if you kids try to break out - and that includes your powers.

[love_seriously]

[ We're sorry, Floe is not available to take your call, please leave a message after the beep. ]

casually moves here

[soylentprotag]

[He'll lead the way here, keeping his Arc between them and the rest of the night -- moving them closer to the light. It makes sense that Floe would respond to the way he talks, the firmness of it; sometimes he forgets, because they're all out of place and time and she seems so much more easily settled here despite wacky gender theory... but she's a soldier too, at home.

Eventually, they reach the campfire, so he'll tug gently until she sits again. She can stay here. He'll wait a little.]

You heard Ichigo and the others. [maybe she won't be able to absorb it right now, but he says it anyway, something to say; something to tide her over] We won't let things end this way. Things are changing, Floe. We won't give them what they want.

[Of course he doesn't know yet what the change is; it's unsettling, everything that's just happened, but there are still no more attacks. Yet. They have time to regroup.]

[le_mat]

[Ren isn't asking Stan anything: the others have that covered. He's just staring at the fire, shuffling the tarot cards over and over.

Something about what Stan is saying is bothering him, but he keeps silent]

[itsagazebo]

[Eddie's going to walk over and plop down next to him]

Are they telling you anything?

[kitchen_witch]

[Stan, you get a slice of cake too]

[stanboozled]

[....You know what?

Stanley pines has never turned down cake, and he's not about to start now.

Nom.]

After Stan and Burning Clothes

[linearcrash]

[ Once he calms down, Nine is just going to lay down on the ground between the beach and the fire pit. Still close enough to hear the chatter, but also close enough to hear the water. His blazer is folded up under him for a pillow and he still doesn't have a new shirt, but Tal's hat is resting on his chest. He's just going to try to look up at the stars. ]

You know... I never really thought about space before coming here, yo.

[ Or catch him leaving his blazer for a moment to grab some cake before going back to his spot. He won't turn down food. ]

[lovecolored]

[ floating nearby ]

Even though ya look up at it every night?

Burning Clothes

[finalguard]

[ After Stan's confession talk has quieted down, Boa and Nine are going to head to Cabin 4 to remove all remaining clothes from the trunks there.

They'll carry them back and start tossing them into the fire, careful not to actually smother it in the process. ]

And that's that.

[ Boa sighs in relief about that a little.

If you want to talk to him later, he continues hanging around the campfire for quite some time. ]

[itsagazebo]

[Eddie's going to help with the burning. Partly because it fucking makes sense, partly because burning something helps him feel better.

After that's done, he's just going to plop down somewhere nearby his friend and stare at the fire.]

[soylentprotag]

[He's still standing, and watching, and occasionally pacing around the campfire with his Arc up like that will actually make the place safer somehow -- with all of them here together, when what's out there is either more ancient, or more powerful, or more willing to just wipe them from the face of the Earth like they almost did before -- but he's listening.

Lenka eventually ends up next to Stan, staring into the fire. Maybe making sure he doesn't get a tranquilizer dart in him for talking.]

You said something about taking the rock thing out. You're talking about the stone god. Some way of stopping it. But you want to buy time.

[It's probably not as conciliatory as it could have been, under the circumstances. He has no reason to be hostile to Stan; but he's just watched one of his own die, he's on full alert for more people getting shot with bullets longer than some of their hands and they're expected to buy time with their lives.

It's not new, but it's not great, either. But he's listening.]

Stan... why are we doing this? The trials. Red knows exactly what happens every week.

[And by extension, perhaps Stan will, too.]

[stanboozled]

...We're doing this because it's got to happen, Kid. There's...A lot at stake here.

[He doesn't look happy about it, but it's the truth.]

And I'm sorry. This is the best we can do - so...you gotta keep going. For everyone's sake.

After... everything

[itsagazebo]

[Eddie's not going to run and hide this week. He's going to sit cross legged on the ground by the fire, staring into the flames as he thinks.

He pulls a small rock (a regular rock, not one of those weird-ass ones growing in all of their heads) and plays with it between his fingers. He'd gotten all of his anger out yelling at Lance before the execution, now he's just tired... and confused... and worried... But he doesn't look scared. Not right now, at least.

He's also not wearing his fanny pack. If anyone had been paying attention to him at all, he hadn't been wearing it during the trial, either, but there were more important things to talk about than his fashion choices.

He's not making much of an effort to talk to people, but he won't stop anyone who wants to talk to him.]

[soylentprotag]

[Lenka comes to sit next to him at one point, finally setting his Arc down next to him with a clank, the shield still opened; but after a good amount of time at the campfire with no movement around it and Stan's assurances, he feels like he can take some time to sit, at least. Check on people. Take a look at who's still here.

He watches Eddie with his rock for a moment -- there's been an entirely different variety of screaming this week, which is pretty noticeable, and also the different fashion statement... which is less noticeable but still something.

Maybe the younger kids are getting used to this, too, in their own way. That's maybe not such a good thing; but it could be necessary.]

... Did you lose your pack, Eddie? The one around your waist.

[killtheanimals]

[After getting an answer from Stan, Mitsuru settles himself by the fire, staff on the ground behind him, absently eating cake from Lillith because really, at this point, why not?

There's a lot on his mind. The ten person minimum, the final protocol, the knowledge that they're all infected and currently have no cure. Four more weeks and in one he'll be twelve, which also means...

So anyway, feel free to bug him if doing so is your wont. Kid looks pretty worn out, though.]

[itsagazebo]

[Eddie sits down next to him. He realizes he hasn't really talked to Mitsuru much... honestly, the kid kind of weirds him out... but Boa really likes him, so he's gotta at least try to give him a chance.]

Hey...

Hey Look More Food Is Here

[trashmouthtozier]

[a little while after the Great Cabin 4 Clothes Burning, Richie disappears for a short while and comes back carrying ... a garbage bag because it's the only thing he could find that worked. he starts setting up the contents at one of the picnic tables: some of the leftovers from what Chuuta, Shirou and Lilith have prepared in the last couple of days, some bags of chips, some celery sticks with a jar of peanut butter and a butter knife, a loaf of bread, a package of Velveeta slices, and some lunch meat]

Okay guys, I'm no Julia Child, but ... dinner?

[he'll throw together a sandwich for himself and go sit by the fire after he's set up the spread]

[linearcrash]

[ Taking the celery sticks and the jar of peanut butter. ]

Hey thanks, yo.

A while later...

[yunolikebugs]

[Gonta's probably gonna take advantage of what Stan has offered, but...

Right now? He doesn't really know anymore. After everything that happened, he's kind of sitting here, hugging his knees...

Stan mentions Eight Week, Gonta counts his fingers.]

We gotta stay four more weeks?

[AAAAUGH.]

[homeecspacecop]

If they've been doing this for this long, I don't think Red asking them nicely is going to do anything. [Chuuta says, in response to Stan's announcement. He doesn't trust any of the adults further than he can throw them, especially after Red's lies.]