april catchall [ota + closed starters]

[laruetheday]

Who: Clarisse + you
What: It's aaaa generic birthday mingle! + some closed starters
When: April, particularly around the 15th
Where: Earworm

Content Warnings: Drinking and potentially those Special Mushrooms that are available at Earworm



[ What do you do when you're turning twenty one in a month of perpetual darkness, but your blood type isn't making you hallucinate or want to punch yourself in the face until you fall into a coma for one of the first times since you arrived in Trench?

If you're Clarisse, you park yourself at Earworm and pretty much just stay there.

For the first half of April—particularly on the fifteenth and the days close to it—Clarisse can be found hanging out at the club—either inside already, or lingering near the entrance. If you're already on her (very short) list of friends she's probably texted you an actual invite; but the fact that she's somehow survived another year seems to have her in a good mood, and even if she doesn't know you too well, she'll give a nod when she recognizes you. (Or, potentially, even if she doesn't recognize you.) ]

Drink?

[ ... And, listen, if she's already drunk, she might offer you a mushroom, too. Because why not. ]

Comments

[possessum]

( Every month here sucks in a different way, and this month seems to take the cake — something he's probably thought about each month prior — but it's a bad time.

It's dark outside, always, and Peter's confused all the time. Not just the usual confusion, but a triple dose brought on by the fact Paimon's keeping him in some weird demon-drugged state. Doing shit to his head in order to try and keep him from getting too Corrupted, and it helps, but it doesn't come without side effects.

John Constantine's gone. That's a hurt that Peter hasn't even remotely touched upon. He can't. Not yet. He just pretends like it's not there, numbs himself to it.

And there's Luna. Who's so badly Corrupted by the middle of the month that it's hard to think of her as Luna some days. Peter's a fucking nervous wreck (more than he usually is), and Paimon's working overtime with the mental manipulation to try and appease that in him.

It means that when he makes his way to Earworm, Peter just stands there inside for like three minutes straight, completely confused by the new environment and checked out. Then his brain juices manage to kick in again and he remembers why he came here. One good, normal thing inbetween all the awful, horrible shit.

He spots Clarisse soon enough and makes his way up to her with a hand shoved up through his hair and a Hey, immediately appreciative of that offer. Peter's not too experienced with alcohol, but right now he'll take anything. )

God, yeah. It's been a day. ...Night. Whatever. ( He gives one of his trademark smiles that somehow also looks like a nauseated wince. ) Do they even serve anything here that isn't like... blood?

[laruetheday]

[ Peter's... definitely looked better, and Clarisse feels instantly guilty for dragging him out like this. Second year in a row, too, like she's some douche who forces everybody to celebrate her birthday even when they've got other, more important shit happening in their lives. ]

I don't think it's blood. [ She doesn't know that it's not, but she's also not planning on asking anybody.

Instead, she makes her way to the bar and orders two glasses of Whatever It Is for herself and Peter, then maneuvers her way back through the crowd to where he's waiting. She takes another, closer look at him and frowns, concern in her expression. ]

You okay? You can leave if you're... sick or something. [ Or Something is more likely, given that it's Trench. ]

[possessum]

( Peter wishes he was joking about the blood concerns, but in this place...? You never know. Everything seems to revolve around blood.

But he's accepting the drink without much suspicion when she returns, peering into it only for a second before taking a sip. Not blood, just something that feels nice and strong, and he's giving a thumbs up before he looks at her. )

Oh— no, I'm okay. Just— ( There's a beat of hesitation. Though he doesn't know the extent of it (like the heated text arguments that go on into the early hours of the morning), he does know Clarisse and Paimon aren't exactly cordial. It's a subject he doesn't often bring up around her directly. )

—He's kind of fucking with my head lately. You know... him. It's technically like... to help me, but it's making me feel kind of weird? It's okay, though.

( He definitely wants to be here. Being dead for Clarisse's birthday last year was a total bummer, even if he tried to make up for it by providing lots of weed for the belated get-together. )

[laruetheday]

[ The mention of Peter's demon has Clarisse making a sour face, which she tries (and fails, probably) to cover up by taking a drink. She still has no idea how much, if anything, Peter knows about her own relationship with Paimon. Whether he knows that Paimon has texted her at two in the morning, or that he made her hallucinate that she was choking on bugs that one time. ]

What do you mean, to help you?

[ Whatever Peter's views are toward Paimon at this point, Clarisse's have only gotten worse. She doesn't trust that whatever he's doing is actually for Peter's benefit, and it's pretty obvious by the look on her face. ]

[possessum]

( Paimon has, conveniently, not informed Peter of these crimes against one of his best friends. Honestly? Peter still pretty much thinks the last time those two interacted was the whole Nectar Incident way back when. Being attacked by a needy demon and subsequently punching him out and locking him in the bathroom had to have left a sour taste in her mouth. And Paimon's clearly never gotten over it, because Peter still finds angry child-like drawings of a girl with a spear from time to time. (Her eyebrows are always drawn like that thing off Angry Bird, to emphasise how Mean the demon thinks she is.)

The look on Clarisse's face definitely speaks volumes, and Peter winces right before he answers, because all of this shit is so unpleasant. )

So I don't get Corrupted again. I guess he's like.... keeping certain wires from getting crossed or something? I don't even fucking know.

( Is it concerning thinking that this thing is mentally manipulating him? Definitely, but Peter honestly doesn't know what else to do. He's terrified of what Corruption does to him. )

I just want to give people a head's up in case I like. Go into a coma for a few minutes or something.

[laruetheday]

Oh. [ Clarisse scratches the side of her neck, visibly uncomfortable at the thought of Peter going unconscious without warning. ] Thanks for the heads up.

[ She goes quiet for a few moments, but then: ] I haven't... gotten Corrupted yet. Like at all, I don't think. [ Even back in September and October, when she was so depressed she barely left home and spent most of the month curled up on the couch waiting for her head to explode from pain, she stayed herself. ]

It's gotta be from my godly side.

[ She has no idea if that's the reason why. Maybe she's just lucky, and her luck will run out eventually. ]

[possessum]

Really? ( It's a relief, honestly. Not that he doesn't trust it not to hit her someday, because this place is the worst, but.... it's sincerely good to hear that Clarisse hasn't had to worry about Corruption, yet. If her godly side gives her some kind of defense against it, Peter's really fucking grateful. )

Man, I hope you never do. It's... hard to come out of. Luna had to do a whole-ass ritual for me.

( He winces again, taking a softer sip of his drink now before casting a look around. )

You wanta sit down somewhere? I already called and told them to come out and sing you Happy Birthday, so we need to get that going.

( .......He's joking. He would not do that to you, Clarisse. )

[laruetheday]

[ Clarisse just nods, taking in the words with a somber expression. She knows coming out of Corruption can't be easy, because nothing here is, and she's not at all surprised that there's some kind of ritual involved. (Or maybe that's just a Luna thing, but still.) She supposes she should be grateful that it hasn't happened to her yet and might not ever. One of the only bright sides to this shitty-ass place.

Luckily Peter brings her out of her thoughts by tapping into an idea even more horrifying. Clarisse barks out a laugh and tilts her head in the direction of a table. ]

I would literally kill you. [ She might!!! ] Seriously, when I was five my mom tried to get the waiters at Friendly's to sing to me, but then a telekhine blew up the kitchen and we had to leave before I got my cake. Bad memories. [ ... She's also joking. ]

[possessum]

( Despite the heavy topics floating around just moments before, Peter can't help giving a laugh of his own at that. He has no doubts that Clarisse would literally kill him. Fortunately, Peter would rather be killed than draw unwanted attention to himself or someone he's with. And he knows she's not a huge Party Person, anyway. )

I have no idea what a telekhine is, but it sounds horrifying. ( He doesn't like the name of that!! ) Buuut, I'm here to make up for long-lost cakes.

( Peter slides to sit, setting his drink down with a soft clink on the table and pulling a little container out of his bag. The top's urged off to reveal a little round chocolate cake, in a lot better condition than last year's cupcakes. It's fancy and dainty, maybe not exact ClarisseCore, but all the stuff he'd browsed had been really decadent-looking. At least it looks like it tastes extremely good. )

I got it from Lysithea's bakery. Totally fancy, cost a ton. I had to pay like... eight seashells and give a couple drops of blood.

( Which is said with a grin, because he's definitely poking fun at the whole weird bartering system here and Trench's fixation on blood. He hates this place!! But at least there's cake!! Peter pulls out two equally fancy little forks, handing her one. )

Bone apple tea. ( ...He's from the Meme Generation. )

[laruetheday]

[ Holy shit, this is like the nicest cake Clarisse has ever seen in person. It looks like it belongs in a magazine, or something, and even though the flowers and butterflies aren't exactly her style, she still looks impressed. Also, it looks like it might not have mushrooms in it; always a major plus around here. ]

Damn, Peter, this is cute. [ She taps her fork against Peter's in a dorky little toast (to herself? to cake? who knows!) but stops short of actually cutting into the food. She almost doesn't want to ruin it. ]

Man, my friend Silena would have loved this cake. It's... like, exactly her whole vibe. [ And honestly, props to Clarisse for sounding mostly like a normal human as she says this. Maybe eventually she and Peter will be able to talk about their dead loved ones without sounding like they just got punched in the stomach. This is progress. ]

[possessum]

( There's a wide, white grin as Clarisse taps her fork to his, pleased — mostly because she seems to like the cake. Finding ways to do nice things for people is... hard, here. Harder than it even was in Deerington. Peter still feels like a fish out of water in Trench, like he's an extra on a movie set. Walking around not sure where to go. Finding stuff to celebrate is its own struggle. At least back in Deerington, you could get cards and a balloon from the pharmacy.

He did manage to find a present for Clarisse too, but it's.... He's not sure it's going to be something she can actually use.... He tried, y'all. )

Have you told me about Silena yet? ( He doesn't think he recognises the name, but Peter's painfully aware that his demon-addled mind forgets details a lot of the time. And he's..... going ahead and sticking his own fork into the cake to take a bite, not registering yet that Clarisse is actually hesitating to do so. ........He wants to try the cake, okay..... )

Holy shit, this is good.