club_gomorrah69 | Halloween Party (backdated like a mofo)

The theme for this year's annual Halloween Bash is Heroes and Villains. The club has been redecorated for the evening, and it seems as though each corner has a different theme. And we're not talking the campy sixties type stuff, but the more recent movies from both Marvel and DC.

One half of the room is DC, complete with areas that look like the Batcave, the Fortress of Solitude, Arkham Asylum, and the Legion of Doom's lair, which has dartboards that have various heroes faces on them.

The other half of the room has the Avenger's Tower, The ship from Guardian's of the Galaxy, a throne in space with Thanos, and Hydra's lair.

They all meet in the middle at the dance floor, which gives off a kind of supernatural glow that seems to throb along with the music.

All the employees are dressed for the theme, as various heroes and villian's sidekicks and henchment.

Let the fun begin!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

mia_j

She takes half a minute to collect her thoughts and then gives Wes a wry look. "I'm surprised you're not already asking." He almost never lets those things go.

"You want the quick version or the long version?"

From:

the_darling_one

"Um, whichever version will get me in less trouble?"

From:

mia_j

Her expression is possibly the saddest reassuring smile he'll ever see. "You're not in trouble. You remember last year, when you helped me get through everything after John cheated? Well it was all for nothing. Not that what you did was all for nothing. I still appreciate it. But I went through it all for nothing because John never cheated. It was all a lie. It was fake."

Mia eyes her drink as she speaks and then takes a sip. She's pacing herself tonight.

From:

the_darling_one

His brow furrows. "Some kind of memory thing?"

From:

mia_j

She nods, her expression turning hard, her jaw twitching until it tightens as well.

"They used a piece of alien tech to turn us against each other, to make us so annoyed with each other we'd fight over the stupidest shit we never fought about before. Then there were fake memories of fights, too, over time. And finally the fake memories of him cheating. It was done to both of us. So he couldn't even deny it or defend himself."

What was done to them still makes her feel sick to her stomach and makes her heart hurt.

From:

the_darling_one

"That's...a hell of a piece of technology..."

From:

mia_j

"You're telling me. Try having it used on you with no idea what was done until over a standard year and a half later, which makes you guess everything you thought you knew. The memories were -- seemed perfectly real."

Her hand is gripping her glass tightly. "They're gone now. Most of them."

From:

the_darling_one

"Most of them?"

From:

mia_j

"I kept a couple of them." She swallows hard again. "So I'd remember what I went through and why I am the way I am now."

From:

the_darling_one

"Yeah, I've done something similar myself, so I do understand why you might want to keep a few, despite the...hurt."

From:

mia_j

Mia lets out a soft breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, glad she doesn't have to explain that part any further. She just nods a bit.

"I've changed too much. Everything has."

From:

the_darling_one

He nods. "Sometimes things happen that change your whole world. So you just...have to put the pieces back together and start a new one."

From:

mia_j

Mia glances his way, almost sure that part of what he's talking about is his and Aidan's deaths.

"I'd already started to build a new one. But at least I know the truth now. And I don't think I can go back to the old one, even if part of me wants to really bad. I'd be gone all the time again. All the new friends I've made, you guys, I'd hardly see any of you again. And I just can't do it."

Even if it kills a little part of her inside.

From:

the_darling_one

"You could never go back. Some things just...can't be returned to no matter how much you want to, and so moving on is the only option."

From:

mia_j

"I'm glad that someone else gets it. Not for what you went through to get there." She looks at Wes sadly. "You okay?"

From:

the_darling_one

"More or less, sure. You know how I am this time of year. I had K'tanya leave me with some memories, like you, so I would know why sometimes things...just aren't okay."

From:

mia_j

Mia can't remember if she ever heard about this or not. "How much did she take? Or should I ask what did she leave you with? I don't wanna say anything that you don't know about now."

From:

the_darling_one

He smiles a bit. "I only had her take one memory and the things associated with it, and that's Aidan's death."

From:

mia_j

"So you know he died, and you remember us looking for how to... get him back, but you don't remember the exact memories of him dying?" She wants to make sure she gets it right.

From:

the_darling_one

"Exactly. Those are the only ones I had her take because I had changed too much to not know why, but those where the ones that had done the most damage to me and everyone around me. Even after he came back."

From:

mia_j

"Everyone around you?" Her expression is sad that he thought he was damaging to those around him. At the same time, she has her own ways she thinks she hurts the people around her so she might be hypocritical if she says anything.

From:

the_darling_one

He gives her a bit of a smile. "You of all people should know what I mean."

From:

mia_j

"I know that I'd rather have you, issues and all, than have some fake, made up version of you missing a bunch of memories."

Mia reaches over and takes his hand, nothing beyond friendship behind the gesture. "I hope you did what you did cause it helped you, and not just because you thought it would be best for other people. Your issues and your flaws are a part of who you are just as much as your strengths are, and you aren't you without all of it. These whole stolen and fake memory things that've been happening to me just reinforced to me that our memories make us who we are. You take those away, or change them, and everything about us changes."