it's halloween, lo-ween, everybody!

[sos_pilot]

Who: Everyone's Invited!
Where: Various decorated carriages!
When: Horseshoe 31.
What: Della is hosting a Halloween party! Come for treats, tricks, and trouble!
Warnings: N/A, will update it needed.

The room is dark…why aren’t the lights on? But as the doors fully open, a voice begins laughing darkly…

… although if you’ve ever heard the voice of Della Duck, you’ll recognize her immediately.

“Boys and girls of every age, wouldn’t you like to see something strange?”

Suddenly there’s a big THUD as someone drops from the ceiling, the lights flash on, and Della herself, dressed as a zombie – ripped apart clothes, fake blood here and there, drawn on scars - wiggles her fingers before laughing joyfully. “Happy Halloween, everybody! Let’s party!”

Tasty Treats

A big buffet table of candy and punch has been laid out! Mini chocolate bars and multi-colored lollipops, gummy worms and candy corn, all sorts of sweet and sour shenanigans, ghost-shaped cookies and mummy-looking muffins! There’s plenty to eat, with absolutely no healthy alternatives.

There are also small wrapped bags of candy with the letters “T.o.T” written on them. If someone tells you, “Trick or Treat!” you have to share your candy! Or keep it to yourself, you monster.

Haunted House

Thanks to Seto Kaiba’s projections, a neighboring carriage has been converted into a Haunted House! While it’s all a trick on the eyes, it gives the illusion that there are several floors of spookiness. Each floor has a different theme –

#1 Serial Seriousness – Every so often, a masked intruder pops out at you, with long claws or chainsaw, ready to give chase! Be careful, or you’ll be the next victim!

#2 Zombie Zaniness – Moans and groans of the undead can’t be unheard. Rotting arms will try to swipe at you through the floorboards!

#3 Ghostly Games – You can see through them, and they can see you too! Each mirror reflects a different dastardly demon!

#4 Deadly Doctors – In this hospital, it’s not the awful health insurance that’ll kill you! Beware the bloody nurses and their extra big needles!\

#5 Fishy Fears - … Wait, what? … Okay, this last floor was clearly designed by Della. It’s like Under the Sea, but with sharks and octopi and kraken - and Della insists this is the worst floor.

Feel free to have your characters braving the house, or trying to scare people within!

Dance Floor

If being haunted isn’t your thing, nothing wrong with getting your groove on! Ask DJ Della what kind of song you’d like to play, and she’s happy to put on the list, from a classic Monster Mash to something more somber and soulful for you slow-dancing-romantic-vampire-types.

Turnip Carving
… Look, they didn’t have pumpkins. Anyway, you’re encouraged to carve scary and silly faces in these veggies! There is a contest, but everyone will be a winner, from “Most Realistic” to “Most Depressing” !

Movie Mania
Kick back and relax – and be horrified – at the otherworldly horror films! Like the horrific monster mime, “That”, the relentless umpire-mask wearing killer, “Monday the 20th”, and the endless array of the undead, “Midmorning Of The Not Wholly Alive”!

Some of you awful people might be thinking of popping up and scaring the theater-goers and this is /winkwinknudgenudge/ totally not approved. /plausible deniability/

Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark
In one secluded, quiet, and verrry dark carriage, lit only by candles, here you are encouraged to tell the scariest stories you can think of! What eerie legends will you share from your world, or do you dare to make it up as you go along?

Make your own top-level, and happy haunting!

Also, if your character would like to dress up, costumes are available for this night only!

Comments

[ayao]

"Plenty." he answers without hesitation, "You are like me; our heads hang on a thread. If you can do anything to better your odds, do so."

Meng Yao brushes off the front of his robes and peers around.

"Befriend Wei Wuxian if you can. He seems to have a better understanding of our situation than most."

[xue_yang]

"You don't have to worry about that. We already seem to have an understanding or..get along." He isn't sure what to call it but they have talked a few times and Wei Wuxian has tried to help him.

"I've also talked with Lan Wangji at times." And that is the one who he should hold the most grudge with as the one who basically took him down. So if he can be agreeable with those two people then clearly he is on the right track.

[ayao]

"Good." he plucks a candy out of the bag he had been given, unwraps the chocolate and presses it to Xue Yang's lips, "Prove yourself to them and you will be safer. They believe in justice and not...ah...jumping to conclusions."

Besides Lan Wangji has some adorable rabbits that Meng Yao doesn't mind petting.

[xue_yang]

He takes the chocolate into his mouth, capturing those fingertips with his lips as he does. Then releases them as he chews on the chocolate, eating it before responding.

"It doesn't matter if I have them on my side. They won't protect me if someone else decides I'm not worthy of living. I'm on the outskirts looking in on this little circle of cultivators."

He doesn't have the family ties or the sect bonds that every other cultivator on the train has. His closest people are Meng Yao who people already have a hard time trusting and Xingchen who..perhaps doesn't hate him at least at this moment.

[ayao]

While there is truth in that statement, Meng Yao doesn't like his friend feeling so...left out. To say he understands is an understatement. Meng Yao has been pushed out (and left out) of the Cultivator circle since he was born. Men like them need to be stubborn.

When a door closes, break a window.

"So you're just giving up? I didn't know you were so grim!" he lays a hand on Xue Yang's chest, "Do you think so little of me?"

[xue_yang]

Xue Yang might be on the outskirts but he also doesn't particularly mind it. He knows that his actions are what put him there, and he has never claimed to be particularly loyal to anything. So it isn't surprising that most of the cultivators here don't like him.

"You're the only one who might have any chance of keeping my head attached and also the only one I can say that I trust to stand by my side on occassion." But he also figures that if a choice came up between him and some of the others, it probably isn't his side that Meng Yao will chose. He knows that his loyalties still lie elsewhere.

"It's not that I am giving up, it's just that I already know most of them will never accept me even if I change."

Why would they after all he has done? And he isn't about to apologize for any of it. He has tried to understand regrets and get himself to accept his own feelings on things he has done, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't still make some of the same decisions. He would still follow Meng Yao through whatever path he chose to take and support him how he can.

[ayao]

The loyalty Xue Yang gives him matters to him. He has done a poor job of showing his gratitude and he has a feeling he gets worse about it in the future. Pocketing the bag of candy, he wraps an arm around Xue Yang's waist and leans against his side.

"Come dance with me?"

He can't fix what the others think or how poorly he behaves in the future, but he can do better here and now. Xue Yang has been so good to him - ready to support and protect him - and now Meng Yao wants to return the favor.

"I can do better than that. I won't be such a disappointment."

[xue_yang]

"I was never disappointed." He always understood why the man did what he had to do. He never held it against him for how he had to send him off. He was able to enjoy a few good years after that.

Xue Yang looks towards where people are dancing and for a brief moment there is a rare feeling of insecurity. "I'm not really sure how to."

[ayao]

"Then you'll have to rely on me." Meng Yao isn't going to relent. He wants to be out there, swaying with the others. The lights aren't bright and everyone is far too focused on their partner to notice them.

"We can do better." he decides, taking hold of Xue Yang's hand and tugging on him gently, insistently, "Circumstances needn't stay the same."

[xue_yang]

He lets himself get tugged and follows to the dance floor, watching the others as if he could possibly get some understanding about what they are doing with their bodies. Sword fighting is a dance in a way so he knows that he is more graceful then most and wouldn't be a complete mess on the dance floor. But that doesn't mean he is particularly confident in this, unlike with a sword.

"I'm trying." He has been getting better and he will also try to do better about dancing..but he is definitely going to rely on Meng Yao to guide him through it.

[ayao]

Meng Yao pulls Xue Yang close, rearranging their arms until he is satisfied. Yes, he trusts the other man will be graceful. He has seen him move on the battlefield - and behind closed doors. Gently, he guides them into a casual sway, their hips almost touching.

"I know you are." he tucks their heads together with a sigh, "Which is why I will never say I do not know you."

[xue_yang]

Xue Yang doesn't really care how others view him, and even when doing something such as this where he feels less then perfectly confident, he still doesn't care who sees. But there might be a small piece of him that wonders what others might think if they see Meng Yao with him. Even among people not from their world...he carries the title of murderer and few dare to get close. But the man's words carry weight and it eases some of those thoughts.

He moves with him, mimicking what he saw the others doing but letting Meng Yao lead him through it. "I will feel grateful for that then."

[ayao]

"Mm I'm not sure if it's a blessing or a bane." Meng Yao laughs humorlessly, not particularly caring who sees them. If Mingjue spies them, the man already knows that Xue Yang is special to him. If Huaisang sees them, he is likely already well aware that they work together.

As for the rest, so? Everyone is allowed to mingle with whomever they wish.

"My head is as wanted as yours."

[xue_yang]

"At least in this place, the heads will get replaced. Let them come and do what they must." Xue Yang isn't afraid of dying. He has already done it once..and then died in his head a thousand times because of what Wester did to him. What is one more, or a few more times on top of that?

He continues to move with Meng Yao, losing some of the tenseness he had when they started this little dance and relaxing into it.

[ayao]

"I'd rather that not be necessary." he grumbles, slipping his arms around Xue Yang's neck and resting their cheeks together, "But I suppose if it helps calm them, I will offer my head."

The last thing they need is an angry mob in such close quarters! Meng Yao smiles a little when he feels the other man relaxing. Just as he thought! Xue Yang is a fine dancer.

[xue_yang]

He doubts that Meng Yao will actually ever have to feel the blade across his neck. He has a feeling the others are far more content to have him around again then they realize. Perhaps all a bit tense to see what might happen on the train or if he decides to pursue the same path even here. But for the most part he thinks they will accept them.

"I'll be your shield so they get it out of their system." He doesn't mind being the one who dies so that Meng Yao doesn't have to.

He places his hands on Meng Yao's back, drawing him close.

[ayao]

Maybe; maybe not! If Xue Yang tries to stand between him and his punishment, he will prove that their friendship isn't one-sided. Meng Yao has some bravery in him and he won't settle for Xue Yang dying on his behalf again.

"No. If it happens, I will bear it. All I ask is you welcome me when I return." he smiles against the other man's neck and places a soft kiss there, "I'm sorry you died at all, Chengmei. That was never what I intended."

[xue_yang]

He smirks with a soft laugh, "I'll make sure to meet you in the luggage carriage." Since that is where everyone returns to. He'll wait for his return or be in the suitcase next to him already.

"You don't have to be sorry for something I'm not mad about." He had accepted his death and he definitely didn't blame him for it.

[ayao]

"How romantic!" he teases and pulls back just enough to readjust his fuzzy ears, "Are we able to release ourselves from the luggage or do we require help?"

That part actually unnerves him, but he has never been at ease with stairsenclosed spaces.

"Because of Xiao Xingchen?" Meng Yao knows all about falling for someone so far above you.

[xue_yang]

"I don't believe we need help. I don't think they are locked shut. I'll make sure to open it if it is." It would just be cruel to do so. But there hasn't really been that many deaths apparently on this train to know all the details.

There might be the smallest of pauses in his steps as that name is brought up. "Yes." He's barely learned to accept that knowledge himself, let alone admit it out loud.

[ayao]

"I'll wait for you." he murmurs, noticing the pause and pressing their bodies back together. It feels good to be like this, though he smiles sadly upon hearing Xue Yang's answer.

"Do you want him?" if so, Meng Yao will do everything he can to help him, "I've never seen you this drawn to anyone before."

[xue_yang]

"Yes..But I don't want to force what I want on him. He should make his own choice. And with what I have done I may never be his choice." Because Xue Yang has already made him do too much. And forcing himself on him now would only make Xingchen lose even more trust in him. He'd rather just stay back and enjoy just being able to be around him.

"He is a light...and I extinguished it. I just want that light to come back."

[ayao]

"I fear the same outcome with Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen." Meng Yao whispers for Xue Yang's ears only, "They are unbreakable pillars to me and I want to be like them. But I also want to have them."

The question is: will he ever be worthy of two great men? Can they ever feel anything warm for him?

"Lights can be lit again. Find what makes him happy, Chengmei, and give him all of it. Help him heal from what you did and show him you have changed day by day."

What else can they do?

[xue_yang]

Considering everything this man did to Nie Mingjue, it is still hard to believe he wants such a thing or thinks of him in such a way. But he understands what Meng Yao says probably better then anyone. They both wronged the people they hold the highest in their hearts.

"I told him how I felt." Admitting it was something he had promised himself he would do after xingchen left the first time. He wasn't going to miss a third chance. "All I can do is prove to him that I won't make the same mistakes. You can as well."

He turns his face slightly to try and see the man's face from the corner of his eye, "And until they all understand that, we are each other's pillar."

[ayao]

The heart is complicated and deep emotions can't be silenced overnight - if ever. Nie Mingjue may always distrust him (at best!) yet Meng Yao doesn't want to accept that the man betrays him. He wants to live in a dream where there is a possibility of earning the eldest Nie's heart.

"What did he say?" he puts aside his concerns and meets Xue Yang's gaze, nodding at the conclusion. But then the other says something rather sweet and Meng Yao finds himself smiling genuinely. That doesn't happen often.

"I have a handsome pillar." and he isn't ready to relinquish him to anyone.