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

[trashmouthtozier]

[guess who else helped? yep. this guy.

guess who's holding Eddie's hand, now? still this guy.]

Why did they even have clothes in there when there weren't any other people?

[finalguard]

Maybe sometimes this camp hosts larger groups...? They ran it before and all of that.

[ Or they just wanted to actually make it easier for killers but, eh, dreary thought.

Also eyeing those hands, but saying nothing. ]

[trashmouthtozier]

... Needing to go through even more people than they are now?

I hope Red gets back with good news soon. I really wanna take these assholes down.

[itsagazebo]

[Eddie nods his agreement, giving Richie's hand a squeeze]

Me, too. Stan said all we can do is keep going through the motions til they sort shit out.

[finalguard]

If nothing else, we're really getting used to the motions by now.

[trashmouthtozier]

I know, right? Lemme guess. Tomorrow nothing will happen, then Monday some crazy shit will go down and we'll hear that fuckin' voice in our heads again. Wednesday Stan's gonna have us do some Big Group Thing and then on Friday - wham. And then we're all back here again. I'm beginning to wonder why the fuck adults look forward to the weekend, am I right?

[itsagazebo]

[He snorts]

Yeah, I know, right? It's all the same fucking shit every fucking week.

[finalguard]

Well, I'm looking forward to a Sunday of nothing happening, so there's one day of the weekend that we don't have to write off just yet.

[trashmouthtozier]

Yeah. Now that we know the lake cat isn't actually trying to eat us, this heat is making swimming look pretty good...

[itsagazebo]

Hey, yeah! You think we could?

[finalguard]

Swimming's also a good work-out.

[ THE COMMENT YOU DIDN'T WANT, BUT GOT. Boa is a useless jock. ]

[trashmouthtozier]

[honestly, Richie has been thinking since he saw Eddie training with Cielo Thursday night, and -]

Yeah? I didn't think about that. Let's see if we can, then.

[a certain Derry tradition will also need to be upheld, of course, but they'll cross that bridge when they get to it. but it's still about distance, Eds]

[itsagazebo]

[Eddie nods]

That's a great idea!

[NO IT FUCKING ISN'T! It's always been mass, asshole.]

[finalguard]

It's a plan then.

[ And having a plan like that is just... really relaxing. ]