one thing's universal, life's no dress rehearsal

[stagemanagers]

[Prom night! The greatest night of your young lives if you watch any Western high school media from the past 60 years. The looks, the music, the copious amounts of fancy snacks, the sore feet from dancing heels and then spending the rest of the night in bare feet- it’s all part of the bigger package.

The courtyard and the roof have both been decked out in a special way for tonight, despite no one really seeing Hester or anyone/anything else decorating. There are round tables set-up in both places, covered in yellow-gold tablecloths. Some of them have platters of snacks laid out on them, one has a large punch bowl that never seems to empty no matter how many drinks are taken from it.

On the roof there’s an extra table with pencils, small slips of paper, a box wrapped in gold wrapping paper and a notecard labeled Song Requests. Just write a song, pop it in the box and within a few minutes it starts playing! Weird, there doesn’t seem to be a sound system anywhere...

Red paper lanterns have been strung around the outline of the roof and between stakes in the courtyard, granting soft romantic light for a night to remember. Put on your best costume shop formal wear, get ready to lose your shoes after an hour and sneak in liquor even though most of you are of age.

After all…tonight belongs to you.]

Comments

[tailor_made]

[As it so happens Hester is also a great dancer. She's able to keep up with Eurydice step for step, happy to let her lead as they sweep across the dance floor in a swirl of dark blue and soft pink.]

[fourbutts]

I only learned Sunday!

[ She laughs lightly. ]

But yep, that's me. One of the five Spring Fling Queens, apparently.

dance...

[barberic]

[Benjamin was going to ask her for a dance, anyway, but she beats him to it by minutes.

Still, he'll take her hand gladly, getting up from the dinky folding chair he's sat in with a grunt of effort and making his way to the dance floor with her.]

You look heavenly tonight.

[comeandfindme]

You?! [ wait. wait how shocked she is sounds awful— ] I mean- I didn't think you'd be into that kinda thing.

[ This serves as the perfect distraction from her own nerves, for the record, so. Good job! ]

[inaclearing]

...sorry. I'm sorry.

[There's a sigh, of breath and of moving cloth.]

I'm sure it's just stress. I'll probably forget all about this in the morning. [...] You look nice, Pere.

[comeandfindme]

No!

[ She doesn't mean for it to just...come out. It's quick, desperate. But she still doesn't want him to leave. She still turns about trying...trying to find him. It's a hallucination. He's here. You should stop. Please just stay with me. The dueling thoughts are at war. ]

Don't... Don't sound like you're about to leave. Don't just...say that. [ No one deserves to be— ] ...Don't forget me.

[ Peregrine Wells has spent almost six weeks here. Tonight, she's let herself have a nice time. But she's never stopped hurting. Just like with Jacob, every bit of pain digs another hole into her. She can cover and hide her scars for only so long. Because week after week of heartache and loss, stress and threats— it's broken her down.

If this isn't real, then she has nothing to lose. If it is? ]

Come and find me. Please.

[ Then she has this. At least she has this. ]

[tailor_made]

[Hester's soft smile doesn't change but she does subtly curl her fingers down, just enough to hide her wrecked nails.]

Diriger ou suivre?

[Lead or follow?]

[mayavericks]

[Maya gives a deft nod, before standing. There's no hiding the pleased smile on her lips, of course. She leans in close, almost close enough for them to share the same breath.]

Suivez-moi

[And she begins to lead Hester.]

[employeeoftheyear]

[Spongebob smiles as he listens to Angus. He loved his friends unconditionally, sure, and he trusted them with his life. But it's still a pleasant surprise when someone pulls a selfless act like this.

That's what he loves about being himself. The world was just full of neat little surprises that will find a way to brighten his life.]

It'll be plenty, Angus, thanks. And don't worry, I already know plenty of my kind right here.

[He looks at Angus and smiles, before gesturing to everyone else at the prom.]

[tailor_made]

[Hester lets herself be led, matching Maya step for step with a surprising amount of grace and poise while the music plays.]

Vous amusez-vous?

[Are you having fun?]

[brokeforgood]

Sure. [She follows after him, carefully arranging the flowers across the tables. She's being weirdly detailed about it-- it's sweet, almost, in contrast to the usual chaos that Farrah typically carries with her.]

So-- is there a story with the flowers?

[employeeoftheyear]

[Spongebob beams at her.]

Yeah! They're pretty similar to stingrays!

[There's a silence. Before he frowns slightly.]

Wait, do stingrays looks like eagle rays? I'm suddenly realizing that you're looking a little different than I remember.

[employeeoftheyear]

[He smiles.]

Of course I remember my favorite song from my favorite movie! Why do you ask?

[comeandfindme]

What? [ Oh no. Did they miss a concussion or something yesterday? Is this from the sickness? ] Uhhh, how do I look different?

[employeeoftheyear]

[He looks her up and down, scratching his chin.]

I dunno, you kinda... kinda remind me of how a human looks like.

[comeandfindme]

[ Her mouth drops open. ]

You're seeing me as a human. Like- skin, hair— all of it?

[employeeoftheyear]

Yeah, exactly!

[Spongebob just looks incredibly confused.]

Gee, it's kinda weird. I could have sworn that eagle rays didn't have such long limbs. Or limbs at all.

[... Just give him a bit.]

[employeeoftheyear]

... You know, I barely remember what happened right after the car crash.

But I remember how scared you were.

[He holds her in a shaky hug.]

I never wanna scare you like that again, Maya. You mean too much to me.

[comeandfindme]

[ Peregrine puts her fingers together, one after the other, to give some emphasis. ]

And fingers? I've got fingers, and legs, and a distinct neck?

[inaclearing]

[There's a moment of shocked silence. Of course, impossible as it is to see him, it might simply be silence. But Peregrine knows Brett well; she knows how he might respond. When he does so properly, it's in a low voice:]

She needs us now out there...

[And this time we will find her.

It would be a nice thing to be able to say. But if she's out there somewhere, still needing them, then she's been waiting for over a month now. No one has found her. This is...confusing, muddled, and most likely there's nothing real about it. It would be easier to detach, to treat it like nothing more than a story to observe. But it also feels like the closest he's come.]

Please. Please, just - tell me how to find you. I've been trying, but I don't know how. Pere -

[He never trained with Howl. He was a part of the search party that found her once, but that was only because the kids brought him along. Brett can't do much of anything - except to sense, in a vague way not much suited for a podcaster from the city, that a storm is rolling in.]

Pere, the...the weather's gonna change. Stay put tonight, make sure you've got everything you need. [He doesn't quite know why he says that. Maybe it's just the fear that she might be cold.]

[feudalladyshandmaid]

Well...

[She glances from him, to the ukulele in his lap.]

Think you could teach it to me?

[That would be a fun way to spend the evening, right?]

[comeandfindme]

[ She thinks...that he's gone. That delusion or miracle, she's scared him away. Peregrine wraps her arms around herself, as a way of comfort. But then—

Relief floods her, just as uncertainty does as well. How can she tell him if she doesn't know herself? ] I don't know. I don't— Look...this place is like in a void, and nothing's what it looks like, I— I think it's really a...an abandoned junkyard. It's not Minnesota, but the- the trees, the sky, nothing's right—

[ For the first time since she arrived at the prom, she shivers, audibly. She's cold. But she's also scared.

The weather's changing. Orpheus said that too. He'd meant it to be positive. She knows, from experience, Brett means the opposite. ]

...I'll...okay. I'll stay put. [ Thursdays, they...tend to be dangerous, don't they? Peregrine quietly makes a note to make sure wherever she sleeps tonight, she has her emergency supplies with her. Always be prepared. ] It's okay. I'm... I'm not alone.

[feudalladyshandmaid]

It's a great gimmick, I've got to hand it to her. We're the only two who regularly have swords, so, guess it was only a matter of time.

[mcfife]

[Angus doesn't even remember Spongebob seeing the others as sea creatures. First and foremost, they are comrades. Mumble and the SQUIP were considered to be just as human as everyone else (LSP, too, if her image on the poster indicated anything) so what was a sea sponge? Despite the confusion in the past, he is one of them now.]

You're all invited, of course. Once we escape, we are taking full advantage of The Wizard's universe-hopping powers and seeing everyone's homes. You'll fit in just well anywhere you go. We'll make sure of it.

[Angus sits up, keeping his hands hidden behind his back.]

How about a dance? Your legs can still move, can't they?

[whatyouwant]

It'd be better if everyone weren't so sick, but yeah!

[Elle sips her punch.]

It's nice to have an evening where we can all unwind.