Event | Sinbrilee | Bacchanal

[ironwood]

Characters: Any and all!
Date: August 24 - 30th
Location: Sinbrilee
Situation: An ancient festival of an ancient city, all are welcome at the Bacchanal!
Warnings/Rating: Please label threads as appropriate.

Death and destruction cannot curtail the single most important festival celebrated by the denizens of Sinbrilee: The Bacchanal! The ghosts in and about the city have begun to gossip about high fashion and festivities, sending any that inquire to the Amphitheatre -- a grand, circular structure nestled in the west side of the city.

This structure bore the fall of Sinbrilee and the wear of time with dignity, having lost handfuls of archways and one long stretch of wall to crumbling decay. Despite this, it is obvious that the amphitheatre once hosted many a display and every more festivities than the mind can grasp. This was their solace and safety; here is where the people of Sinbrilee came to find the mind's escape from all that threatened them and their great turtle.

Ghosts have been busy throughout the week, clearing paths through debris and hanging great cloth banners of soft blues and greens to disguise the more blatant signs of its decline. Many hundreds of them shimmer and slid through the area, providing for tables upon tables of food, offering drink, and overseeing competition of sport and skill (some even denying death's non-corporeal curse to enter).

Here, well... Here is where the party begins!

Food & Drink | Music, Discussions, & Dancing | Wrestling & Competitions

Comments

[bereavements]

Stiles talked to Batman. [ Or, knew of him. How did this get to be a competition. At some point, he's relaxed and stopped being so flustered. ] Everywhere has its dark side. [ Maybe he's speaking from experience. ] Everyone, too. [ He's definitely speaking from experience.

He does make a face. What? ] No. No, I don't. [ A shake of the head. Somehow their love still endured. Interesting. ] Have you been anywhere else? Outside of LA?

[traitorously]

Spiderman definitely beats batman. Mostly because batman hasn't given me an aerial tour of the city yet. [She gets a little subdued when he says that, though, and the reminder of her own dark side is enough to stop her from slipping back into his mind to see what kind of personal experience he might be drawing from] I have way more experience with that than I really like.

[His expression startles a giggle out of her, though, even as she skips ahead to his question.] Outside of LA? [There's a pause] Well, you remember how I told you I got kidnapped? Let's just say this isn't exactly my first trip to another world.

[bereavements]

Did you ask? [ Wait. ] Spiderman did, didn't he? [ Well, that is cool. We probably all have. Or, do. Sooner or later. Hard to get away from it.

Wait, why is she giggling? Is he being funny? Is it a funny question? ] Really. You've had another trip like this. Floating octopus? Whale!

[traitorously]

Batman hasn't seen fit to introduce himself yet, but I totally will ask if he does. [She sighs.] You know, part of that myth is that Selene lets the moon go dark as a lesson to us. A reminder that even in the darkest times, the light will always return. Your words of wisdom for the day.

[Why had she brought up Nefandus? It's not like there are any happy memories for her in that place. Maybe it's the talk of darkness that makes her need to voice some part of it. Even to someone who's still kind of a stranger.] Kangaroo! I lived in its pouch. [She shakes her head] It wasn't really any place. Grey mist. Like another dimension laid over the top of ours, or in between. My friends rescued me, in the end. You can see why I preferred LA.

[bereavements]

You really believe that? That the light will always return? You don't think that sometimes, the light just goes away? [ Sometimes, your dad is killed, you're pronounced fugitive, you're exonerated for your crime, you terrorize an innocent girl and enjoy it thanks to Derek Hale, you get your mind right, finally, but then you get kidnapped, rescued, almost kidnapped again, dumped in an ice bath to retrieve those memories, terrorized by psychotic alpha twins, terrorized thanks to wolfsbane at the motel from hell with the largest number of suicides recorded ever, and then your friend DIES. Also, you find out the person orchestrating all these fun sacrifices is your hot English teacher. What a waste of hot. Not that that's the most tragic thing but she was hot. It's the truth. ]

Warm. [ But, he knows she's just making a joke. ] Because your friends are in LA. I have... one really good friend. My other two friends died. Stiles is ... becoming a friend? I don't know.

[traitorously]

[She's quiet for a moment. It's not like she hasn't had her doubt] I have to. Evil can do a lot of really awful, horrible things, but it only ever actually wins when you lose hope. Even if you can't get things to work out for yourself, maybe you can help someone else.

[That gets a twitch of her lips, but they're treading sad ground here, and it flits away again] I'm sorry about your friends. [It's a simple statement, but there's a depth of understanding there] I've lost a lot of people close to me over the past few years. I only ever had one friend growing up. [There's another pause from her before she just nudges his shoulder with hers, softly] I'll be your friend.

Don'trejectherdon'trejectherdon'trejecther. A part of Catty supposes that she could mess with his head to make him think that he's her friend, but that's kind of...the opposite of friendship. She doesn't want to get friends that way.]

[bereavements]

[ He waits. Patiently for her answer. ] Yeah. Maybe. [ Weirdly enough, it's what Isaac does. Help Scott. Listen to Scott. Try and help Derek but that blew up in his face. Work with everyone to help Cora. ]

You didn't do anything. [ You didn't kill them. ] I had zero friends growing up. [ Well, he had his brother but a brother isn't a friend, it's a brother. This conversation IS sad. But, she manages to get him to smile. ] And I'll be yours. If you want. [ Duh, Isaac, it goes both ways. ]

[traitorously]

Isn't thinking that way better than the alternative? It's not like losing hope ever actually helped anyone.

[She debates continuing with this thread of conversation, before deciding they could both use something a little more upbeat. She doesn't want to think about how typical it is that she got a cute boy alone and started talking about their dead friends.

She gives an exaggerated sigh, and shoots him a knowing look] Did you go around telling people you were an alien princess, too? I mean, kids are all about playing pretend, but it turns out that if you really believe that, they think you're kind of weird. [And Isaac is going to find himself on the receiving end of another one of those bright smiles of hers] I asked, didn't I? I definitely want to.

[bereavements]

Scott makes sure I don't. [ He's good like that.

He shakes his head, letting know that, no, he did not do that. ] I was just quiet. [ And then he also became a fugitive and people don't befriend fugitives? It's hard not to smile when she gives her own bright smile. So, he does. It comes on his sort of like a surprise as a lets out a laugh. It's like he's taking pain away again. It's a new sensation he doesn't experience a lot. ] You did. Good. Then we're friends. [ What do they do now?

He starts to walk again, preoccupying his mind with putting one foot in front of the other. If they do this maybe it won't be awkward. Is it awkward? Is it the silence that's awkward if it is? ]

[traitorously]

Scott sounds like he's worth keeping around.

[She wins a smile from him, and there's a small chance that Inner Catty totally fist pumps.] That's a shame, you'd look cute with a tiara.

[She gives a pleased hum of agreement when he decides that they're friends, walking easily alongside him. She doesn't feel too awkward - he'd just admitted that he was quiet, right? But Catty's a chatty kind of person, so she can only deal with it for maybe half a minute before breaking it] Hey, so do you have powers in your version of Earth? Like, some people have superpowers and things, and there's a lizard guy and another guy made out of rocks walking around this place. Anything like that where you're from? [Considering how worried she was about being experimented on by the government in her own world, it's kind of a relief to be in a place where things like that don't have to be a secret.]

[bereavements]

He is.

[ His mouth curls into a smirk. ] Cuter than you.

[ He's fine with her breaking the silence. It's easier, really. But, she asks that question and Isaac contemplates what he should say. On the one hand if he's honest does that mean they're bonding? On the other, he knows he and Scott are playing the part of regular teenagers as long as they can. Scott wins out, as does his secret. ] No. Maybe, but I don't know. Anything's possible. [ He smiles, eyebrows going up. ]

[traitorously]

[Okay, that smirk definitely suites him, even if he's being super rude. That comment earns him a smack in the arm] Excuse you! I could totally rock a tiara, thank you very much.

[One more peek can't hurt, right? Catty knows from experience that this is the kind of thing people lie about, after all. Sure enough, she sits in on his deciding not to be honest; she keeps herself from scowling by sheer force of will, and debates for a second whether or not she wants to push further, see what exactly those powers are.

...Using an ability that she totally hasn't told him about, and would also lie about if asked. Okay, Catty can recognise when she's being a hypocrite (like, 80% of the time). She pulls out of his head and resolves to stay out (for real this time!). Instead, she tugs a little nervousness into her return smile, like she's feeling shy about something] So you're not used to running into superheroes, huh? [A brief pause, and then the words just trip out of her mouth] What if I told you I had them? Powers, I mean.

[bereavements]

[ His smirk is now a grin. ] Okay!

[ Oh, she's really opening up. How can he react semi-shocked. Should he? He hasn't gotten this far before because people either suss out what he is or they know. ] Superheroes, nah. [ Not a lie. Though Scott could be one. If he named himself Super Something. ] I don't know. I'd believe you? You got kidnapped in school and we're on a turtle in between life and death.

[traitorously]

[Honestly, Catty is kind of curious to see how he'll handle that one, too.] Right, the whole getting kidnapped to another dimension thing. I guess I sort of gave myself away there.

[She's about to show him her shadow ability, when she stops. This isn't someone she's trying to freak out. And she's had enough people see the dark side of her that she doesn't want to indulge in even the most superficial aspect right now. She's still a goddess, and maybe it's time she stopped hiding from that.] I can time travel. I mean, it's kind of messed up here, I can't change anything when I go back anymore, but that's my party trick.

[bereavements]

Little bit. [ But, nothing's wrong with that. ]

You can time travel? [ What? ]

[traitorously]

[Her expression can't seem to decide if it wants to be smug or nervous.] Yup. Hence the whole alien princess thing. Which I'm not, by the way, it's just what I thought.

[bereavements]

[ It should. Indecisive expressions are no one's friend. ] What are you, then? If not an alien princess thing?

[traitorously]

[A goddess. A Follower. A member of the Inner Circle of the most evil thing ever to have existed. None of those are really things Catty wants to admit to. Her thumb rubs absently over the brand on her wrist, a phoenix seared into the skin there]

Just a teenage girl with abilities. It was kind of a big secret back home, we were afraid that if people found out, the government would want to experiment on us or something. [She laughs] It sounds dumb when I say it out loud, now. But it's nice to not have to hide it. [There's a brief pause] I mean - that doesn't freak you out, does it? I know it's weird, but our lives are kind of the definition of weird right now.

[bereavements]

It doesn't sound young. People are afraid of what they don't understand. Or, they're taught to hate and to hunt. [ He really gets that, Catty. ] It doesn't freak me out. [ But, why would it, really? ] Unless you're going to kill me because you told me.

[traitorously]

[Whatever irritation or resentment she might have at being lied to, dissipates when he says that. Some people had reasons for hiding, after all. She knows that.] Okay, that's a relief. I'm definitely not going to kill you. And this is only the third time we've had this conversation, I promise. [A wink.]

[bereavements]

[ That's .. sort of funny, Catty. ] Was I better at it the other two times? [ Is he flirting? Is he flirting remotely well? ]

[traitorously]

[She tries. He gets an easy shrug] I hear practice makes perfect. [Is she flirting back?? Or making fun of him?? Both? Teenagers.]

[bereavements]

So, you want to do this again? [ Wait. Wait. He just . give him a moment. He just asked her out again, didn't he? ]

[traitorously]

Specifically, this exact thing? [There is a large chance she's going to make him spell it out]

[bereavements]

If we went back in time, it'd have to be -- this exact thing. But, it would probably be a waste. So, maybe something like it but ... not this. People think we're leaving Sinbrilee, anyway.