(no subject)

[opening_act]

Who: Exael and the Unlucky Contestants
Where: The Game Tower
When: 86, Evening

[ Between one step and the next the walls (or streets, or open air) around you changes. The sight before you is a room inside the game tower, a new pressure at your neck. Reaching up or looking at the people around you reveals it to be a collar, titanium with a small green blinking light set in the center. ]

[ the screen flickers on, on your cellphone. It's a half-second, blink and you miss it— Exael, chewing on a nail, looking uncharacteristically nervous— then the moment's gone and she waves both hands and smiles for the camera. ]

"Ladies, gentlemen, honored guests! Units of all stripes and sizes! I come offering you a game and a few familiar words, rearranged for the occasion!"

Her carnival barker demeanor shifts for a moment as she lowers her head to say: ] "Glory to the highest, and on earth peace—" [ her head snaps up, her pigtails bouncing with it, and she's grinning again, all pomp and energy ] "even if we're not getting much down here! So let's kick up a ruckus, put on a show, and see how much good goodwill alone can manage! If you wish to save your fellows, now is the time speak!"

[ The rules appear on your phones. ]

[ Rules ] [ Rooms ] [ Results ] [ Endgame, Revivals & Winners ]

Comments

[foolishjourney]

[that's okay the 100 points from losing can go towards replacing his outfit, he doesn't mind, its a worthy cause

definitely hugs him back, firmly at that, not even caring that his face and hair were getting smeared with blood as he rested his head against his shoulder]

If I had just argued a little harder...

[foolmetwice]

[gggguh. . .]

[his wounds are mostly stitched up by now, but his entire head and neck throb]

Nah. . . we were prepared for this.

[Mars was prepared for this]

[foolishjourney]

That's exactly why I tried to explain you all deserved the vote.

[because they thought they weren't going to get one. because, as he suspected, they didn't.]

Honestly... we were pretty sure we were gonna die, too.

[foolmetwice]

[blinks a little at that first comment, but. . . he doesn't seem surprised or upset that HSS didn't get LiliS's vote after all]

Because you guys are new, right?

[a beat]

Yeah. . . I was afraid of that, too.

[foolishjourney]

Yeah. We didn't think we'd made any strong impressions on any other teams yet, for anyone to care enough to save us. That's why our vote ended up being BARiTONES, I think... they're in the same boat.

[foolmetwice]

[ah. . .]

[Hiryuu had been right, then. . . to a certain degree]

Do you know if BARiTONES was the team that protected you?

[foolishjourney]

I don't know. I'll have to ask around, most likely.

[foolmetwice]

Yeah. Probably.

[a pause]

Hey, Lily. . .

[foolishjourney]

Hmm...?

[foolmetwice]

Can you-- I, uh. I mean, would you--

[hm why is he stumbling over his words here]

[foolishjourney]

I don't understand.

[foolmetwice]

[. . .]

[thunks his forehead against Lily's shoulder]

Stay with me tonight?

[foolishjourney]

...Yeah. Of course.

[very gently moves to run his hand down Mars' back soothingly]

[foolmetwice]

[breathes out a relieved sigh, relaxing a bit with that touch]

Okay.

[foolishjourney]

We should get out of here and get changed.

[foolmetwice]

[. . . draws back, lifting a hand to instinctively wipe at some of the blood on his cheek]

Yeah. Probably.

Sorry, uh. . . about your clothes.

[and all the blood]

[foolishjourney]

It's fine. Clothes are clothes. Easy to replace.

[foolmetwice]

. . . I'll front you the points, if you want.

[foolishjourney]

No need, it's only like 50, I think.

[foolmetwice]

. . . 'kay.

[he won't argue, then. he likes to hang onto his points after all]

[foolishjourney]

[you need those for your terrible habit, Mars. your terrible, expensive habit.]

Let's go?

[foolmetwice]

[don't ask me how many points he's spent on cigarettes so far]

Yeah.

[TO HEART SOLDIER]

[foolishjourney]

[follows along!!]

[foolmetwice]

[Mars is very quiet on the trip there, trailing bloody footprints as he goes. he doesn't seem distant or hazy, however; instead, his eyes are focused on the path ahead, every step purposefully steady and careful]

[when they reach Heart Soldier, he leads Lily directly to his room, without reference towards the blood trail he's still leaving behind]

[foolishjourney]

[that's okay, Lily understands the need for quiet. he can imagine how Mars is still needing to adjust to and absorb what happened, too...

when they get into his room, he's gonna start shucking off the layers of his clothes that are bloody, and wiping the blood off of his face with it, since it's already ruined anyways]

Do you want to grab a shower first?