An Early Mardi Gras

[bayoublues]

[That was certainly...an ordeal, alright. These trials just kept getting worse and worse as time went on. Within the span of twenty-four hours, six more people died. Four of them had been friends. And Lekmet, he--he thought--

Never mind that. Everyone else was probably hurting just as bad as he was. Last week, Kim had told Louis that he shouldn't be alone while he was sad--that sympathy probably extended to everyone else. He had to do something to help. The dead deserved a decent send off.

Well, except maybe Negaduck. But that's different.

After the trial, Louis seems to have disappeared back into his room. After a few hours, though, a messy, handwritten note is shoved under everyone's door.]



(EARLY) MARDI GRAS PARTY
-JAZZ
-DRINKS AND FOOD
-FUN AND FRIENDS
[He neglected to put the location down on the invite, but one can follow the sound of Louis's trumpet into the dining room. The place has been draped with colorful, half-finished banners--gold, purple, and green. Further down the table, a few bottles of alcohol and fruit juice have been neatly lined up next to a stack of paper cups. There's also a pasta bar set up, with individual bowls of spaghetti, pasta sauce, and Parmesan cheese. Hardly Mardi Gras food, but it's the only thing Louis knows how to make. At least there's also a plate of beignets.

Standing at the back of the room is Louis, playing trumpet like his life depends on it. His repertoire for tonight? The songs he's heard while watching humans parade through New Orleans on Mardi Gras. Songs about being carefree, about forgetting your worries, about enjoying life while it lasts.

Louis doesn't seem particularly interested in talking right now. He's not going to let people mope tonight. They deserved a good fucking party after everything, dammit, and they were going to get one.]

Comments

[hasit]

Not often, no.

[She presses her eyes shut, feeling the weight of his head resting against hers, and Leia's shoulders deflate a little bit.]

—I know. I know, Stan.

[It's her one consolation; that she doesn't have to keep up that facade in front of him. That she can cry, without feeling like she's letting down the whole group by showing weakness.]

[stanbyme]

[He sighs, closing his eyes and just sitting there with her.

He could try and reassure her that they'll get their shot to get out of here soon. That they're gonna go down there and save Kim, and Dipper, and everyone else (except maybe Negaduck).

But anything he could say feels pretty hollow, when he can still hear Kim screaming and sobbing in the seconds that felt like hours. When his heart only just stopped racing from the adrenaline that gripped him, made him hold Leia and Mabel tight when he thought they were all gonna die.

So he's just. There. And hoping that for the moment, that's all he needs to be.]

[hasit]

[His silence is better than anything he could say to her, really. There's nothing that could shake out the awful sight of Kim laying there, screaming, bloodied and limbless. The best thing right now is that she can squeeze her eyes shut tight enough to make light dance behind her lids, instead of that awful image.

The near-death? That hardly fazes her, anymore. By all rights she should be floating through space, frozen and lifeless. But losing everyone else...

Her hand grips Stan's collar, just enough to ground her, and then she pulls back, takes a deep, shaky breath.

Later. She can cry later. For now, she just needs to be here, with everyone else. They all need to be present for each other.

[stanbyme]

[He stays close to her, even when she pulls back.]

We'll get through this.