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]

"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.

[xue_yang]

He laughs at the compliment, "A handsome pair of pillars." But his amusement is short lived as he considers what Xingchen had said to him so that he can respond to the question that was posed to him.

"He said he wasn't sure he could trust me to change..that I would have to prove it somehow."

Which he can't exactly find fault in that. He had done much to make Xingchen lose trust in him. he can't expect that it would come back just from a confession. He isn't really even sure he deserves to get that trust back but he wants to.

[ayao]

"You can prove it." he embraces Xue Yang a little tighter, closing his eyes. They can both prove it. Then there won't be any need for beheadings - though what bothers Meng Yao far more is the pain he sees in Nie Mingjue's eyes. And Huaisang's tears.

He wants to prove that he is a man who lost his way and not an irredeemable monster.

"This is the path we have chosen. I will help you and you can help me." he opens his eyes, determined, "I believe in you."

[xue_yang]

Meng Yao might be better off if he just tossed him aside. For some, having Xue Yang at his side will only make him harder to trust. But he nods.

"Let's prove them wrong." He already knows he has changed a little. He simply has to find a way to make Xingchen understand that. At least he has one person on his side.

[ayao]

And what happens if he too is tossed aside? He has no desire to be alone.

"I am prepared." as much as he ever will be, "Stay with me and you won't regret it."

They will achieve what they desire or fail together. Meng Yao smirks and quickens their steps.

"What if we end up being together? Would that be atrocious, Chengmei?"

[xue_yang]

He smirks as well, looking slyly at the other man. "I don't see anything atrocious about that at all. Perhaps that is the tactic to consider. Make them jealous and realize what they are missing."

There are worse things that they could do and if nothing else at least they know they can support one another.

[ayao]

"I need to teach you how to be more romantic." he tuts and gives them a little spin, placing his hands on Xue Yang's waist, "You're too blunt; you will embarrass your Daozhang."

Lesson number one: tread carefully and be gentle.

[xue_yang]

Subtlety is not Xue Yang's strong point. He wrinkles his nose at the thought of romance. "If I'm not blunt how will I ever make him understand?" He has no idea how to tread carefully with such things. His experience with romance is close to zero.

[ayao]

"Slowly... Seduce him." Meng Yao slides his fingers up Xue Yang's sides, "Compliment him, learn about his interests and find ways to include yourself in them." his eyes lid with a sly grin, "Try to get him to drink some wine."