2nd Annual Halloween Block Party!

[gish]

The leaves have turned gold and orange, the air has grown crisp, pumpkins both carved and uncarved have begun to crop up. It's time to don your costumes, light your candles, pray you don't see any spectres (or do!), rev up your sweet tooth. Why?

Halloween is Here!

Inhabitants of the Nexus may recall the festivities from last year, but even if you're new or your memories are foggy, the fliers and invites have been floating around for the past two weeks or so. They urge anyone who wishes to celebrate the spookiest time of the year with friends, food and festivities over at The Crossroads Café. The entire block is sectioned off for the shindig, in fact! Black and orange streamers festoon the café and trees, along with hanging (plastic!) skeletons and bats, plenty of jack-o-lanterns and candles.

Welcome, one and all, to the Nexus 2nd Annual Halloween Block Party!

• Costume Loan: If you don't have a costume ready or are lacking access to one, the Café staff has you covered! Next to the coat closet is a rack of various options for dress-up with a sign simply stating: Feel Free to Borrow! Outfits, hats, accessories, masks; anything a person needs for a perfect last minute costume is there for the taking.
  
  
• Inside the Café: The doors to the Crossroads Café are propped open and awaiting your arrival! Seating inside the Crossroads Cafe comes at a bit of a premium, though for those who need the warmth and enclosure of inside there are certainly several tables inside, as well as couches and seating areas all around the bonfire outside the cafe.
  
  The lights have been dimmed for this special occasion and the display cases as well as the counters are laden with foods and treats from all over the Nexus. The far counter has been converted into a bar area for anyone in need of some liquid courage. On one table sits a large table set aside for people to share their own Halloween themed treats should they so choose. For now it's mostly empty, save for a large bowl in the center with a sign reading: Candy Exchange Program. There's sure to be something in there you've never seen before if you dig around long enough!
  
  
• The Bonfire: Out in front of the cafe in the middle of what is usually the street is a large bonfire in a rather large fire pit. Plenty of tables are set up near the fire, showing off pumpkins carved in all manner of spooks and designs. Seems like folks are welcome to bring their own jack o'lanterns and other festive creations if they so please.
  
  There's plenty of seating on one side of the large fire, though the other side gives way to a large, open area.
  
  
• The Dance Floor: On the far side of the bonfire where usually the outdoor seating goes is a marked off area for a dance floor. The large speakers ensure anyone walking by won't be able to miss the fact that there's a party going on. Several floating lights bathe the area in a golden light altogether separate form the light and heat the bonfire provides.
  
  Music from many different worlds plays continuously throughout the night. It beckons one and all to let loose and enjoy themselves on this night of celebration.

((Check out the OOC post here!))

EDIT 10/31/17: Something's gone wrong. [Phase 2: NIGHTMARE has begun!]
((Here's the OOC post regarding Phase 2!))
Here's where people go to wonder what the heck just happened. [Left Behind thread!]
EDIT 11/28/17: The Nightmare is over. [Finale thread!]
((Thanks for playing, everyone! And happy holidays!))

Comments

[losthunter]

The sound of more people in the Nexus cafe had carried to where Hunter was at the back of the cafe itself. Maybe they got the gate open.

He moves forward, noticing that there are more people in the cafe now. It fills his heart with desperate hope. And he starts looking around for Jim.

His height is an advantage, since he is able to spot two Jims, one laying on the other, nearby the bar. Hunter rushes towards the scene, gently getting closer to the one wearing shards of what would have been a Van Gosh costume. Hunter knows a little first aid. He checks the pulse of both Jims. Concerned for them both.

[boldygoing]

They're both alive, maybe a little gray with exhaustion, but both breathing. The bearded captain stirs at the feeling of a hand at his throat, and a spike of adrenaline washes through him in an instant, convinced that the next thing he'll feel is teeth closing around his throat, or the blade of a knife ramming into his windpipe.

He lets out a startled cry, eyes flying open, arms flailing to knock away probing fingers. Where the fuck...? Everything seems wrong and he doesn't know why, can't remember what happened, his last clear memory involving fighting some terrifying undead werewolf guy. And it did not go well.

He rolls to the side, off the odd lump he'd been resting on, disoriented but ready to fight for his life, eyes darting around unseeing, not understanding where he is. What's going on.

[losthunter]

Hunter flinches back from the flailing attack. He forgot to take caution. It had been so long since he was on the streets... and reacted with the same shock and surprise when he was woken in the middle of the night.

"Jim..." Hunter's voice is soft and pleading. "You are back. You have returned."

[boldygoing]

It's like waking up after being sick, his memories an almost feverish jumble of pain and running and hunger, and his whole body protests at being upright, at trying to move. He's exhausted and sore, the surge of adrenaline the only thing keeping him going, and his bloodied fingers curl into imaginary claws on reflex, ready to defend himself.

But the voice... the voice is familiar, and he blinks, warily eyeing the blur that slowly resolves into a face that he knows. No. Not Hunter too. But this...

He looks around wildly. This is not where he remembers being. There's no oppressively bright moon hanging overhead, no ominous whispers and chanting, no strong stench of decay. Another layer to the Nightmare...? How deep does it go? He can't take much more of this.

He can't even remember how he got here.

"Where...?" His voice is rough, almost a growl, like he hasn't used it for a while.

[smartass_captain]

"Nnngh...."

A pained groan identical to the bearded Jim's but coming from the floor sounds off from somewhere underneath Jim's left arm. The elder Captain is still curled up on his side-as though trying to make himself small as possible. He barely shifts under the younger captain's fussing and noise making but still seems to be struggling to come to.

After everything they survived he's so exhausted. It would be so easy just to lay here forever. But there's noises. He hears himself.

"Gh..ah?" Blue eyes open and Jim stills to a corpselike state, not even daring to breathe while the unfamiliar location greets his still bleary eyes. He's also panicking though his manifests more in holding as still as possible and trying desperately to put together where this is. How much danger they're likely to be in.

[losthunter]

Hunter looks from one Starfleet captain to the other. He is not sure how he can help either of them right now. And he runs a hand over his head, nervously.

"You are back in the Nexus cafe." He says, using a stronger voice, trying to get both Jims to focus on what is real.

[boldygoing]

The cafe? But...

No. No. It wasn't a dream and he hasn't gone crazy. One glance down at himself proves that, even if the aches and pains didn't already, his shoulder feeling odd beneath the stretched-out cloth now tangled loosely around it. Jim holds up his hands in front of himself, palms upward, baffled. Shouldn't they be...?

He takes a staggering step back, damn near trips over spilled bottles of some kind of liquor, catches himself on the edge of the bar. This sure feels real.

"We're... out?"

[smartass_captain]

"...Out. Like...out out?"

They've spent so long talking to just each other that neither is forming full sentences yet. The older captain pulls himself upright until he's sitting on the floor with his back against a cupboard. He draws his knees up and winces at the jolting pain that shoots through them both when he does so. The pain never was muted even in the nightmare, there were just more important things vying for his attention constantly.

Like the younger captain who is now thankfully human shaped once more.

"...You're back."

[losthunter]

"He was missing?" Hunter is trying to make sense of what happened.

"Maybe the Gateway they were trying to open worked. However you got back..." Hunter continues to keep his distance.

Forgive me a second while someone storms right through your tender moment ]:

[conjuredskies]

"Where is he?" The conjurer's voice can be heard cutting through the babble of reunions and questions and alarm well before he actually appears. In fact the first visible sign of him is the spectral wolf that darts through the crowd and runs straight for the Jims. It reaches the bearded one and sniffs him, then backs away a step, ears flattened, and wheels around to the other. This Jim gets sniffed at anxiously, up and down until it sticks its transparent nose in his face, whining all the while.

"Jim! Step aside!" No, the hooded fellow in white isn't sparing a moment to glance at Hunter and his friend. As soon as he shoves through the crowd he lunges past them and throws himself to his knees in front of his captain - the only one, so far as he's noticed. His hood is jostled loose in the process, and what can be seen of his hair is not its usual black. His face is no less pale, his voice frantic as all his words escape at once. "Jim! Oh gods, I thought I'd- are you hurt? Can you speak?"

He reaches out automatically, hands gripping Jim's shoulders, wisps of golden light flickering over his fingertips. All the many reasons he's given himself to hesitate and hold back are forgotten in the moment, overridden by the need to make sure Jim is safe.

[smartass_captain]

Ghost Wolf....?

Jim's reaching up before he even thinks not to and burying his non-injured hand into the wolf's translucent fur. Hey there boy. Jim sees you. They must be out if Ghost Wolf is here. He's going to tell the other Jim and Hunter that very same thing when a hooded figure is on his knees in front of Jim and the rest of the world ceases to exist.

Reaching out. Bleeding out. Crying for help.

No. No not like that at all. Felix is safe. Here and alive.

"Felix..." His good hand clings to Felix's sleeve, trembling like a leaf. "Felix."

[conjuredskies]

"I'm here. You're here. You're safe, you're back, I have you." He's shaken and shaking, from the fear and the relief, the power poured into the ritual and how suddenly he had to shake free of it. He lifts his hands to cup Jim's face, reassuring himself that the captain is right here, that it feels like him. "I won't allow anyone to take you again, I'm sorry..."

He swallows and looks back for a moment, only because he must. He has to know his brother is safe before he can whisk Jim away to privacy. His gaze falls on his familiar and he tells it urgently, "Find Stratos."

While it disappears back into the crowd he lets out a long breath of relief and focuses on Jim again, quickly moving to catch up the hand he's favoring. "What happened- are you hurt?"

Given the way Jim looks, he's sharp enough to backtrack on the question he started asking. Physical wounds are both an immediate and relatively safe concern.

[smartass_captain]

"You...y-you.." And Jim can't hold himself together. The shaking won't stop and seeing Felix here solid and alive underneath his fingers has the captain falling apart where he's sitting. Tears stream silently down his face and he chokes on whatever words he was going to say as he drops his gaze in shame.

He still sees Felix bleeding out in his arms every time he shuts his eyes. Can feel fresh blood dripping down his arms and soaking into the cloak the figure had been wearing. Dying in Jim's arms in the one place he never wanted Felix to ever have to experience firsthand. Witnessing his panic attacks over the years have been bad enough.

But Felix is here. Alive. Unharmed. His grip with his good hand tightens to something near painful, so desperate is he to make sure Felix doesn't disappear in his arms like the dying figure had.

"...M'hand. Other stuff, it doesn't matter. W-w-were you here this whole time?"

[conjuredskies]

"I'll heal it. I..." His voice falters. His hands twitch with the unwanted memory of the twisting pain that tore through him last time he tried to heal Jim. Maybe Felix can't heal him.

He's too worried by that thought to think about his answer to the question. "I was here. I wanted... wanted to see you, at least. Didn't want to be... well. Hiding away any more." Though he still asked for a hood.

[smartass_captain]

Jim's too utterly exhausted from his ordeals to process insignificant things like Felix still being in costume considering how long Jim's certain they've been gone. The dissociative fog that had got both captains through this mess alive is turning into a numbness to his surroundings as he clings tightly to the only thing his mind will allow him to focus on.

"You're here. Safe."

It wasn't Felix. It wasn't him. Jim pulls Felix forward and clings to him with both hands, ignoring the sting in his sliced one. His knees hurt worse and are also ignored.

"C..can we go somewhere else?" Somewhere safe? There are no safe places anymore. But somewhere safer than here, at any rate.

[conjuredskies]

There's a pang of guilt as he wonders where Jim feared he was. Realizes that maybe in staying away he's caused his love more pain, more anxiety. And yet here Jim is, pulling him closer yet.

"Of course," he promises. "Of course..." He looks around as the ghostly wolf returns, Stratos in tow. The elder Caelus's face is pale, and though he carries himself straight and unhurt his face is pale and taut, the bright Starfleet uniform spattered with blood, something strange in his voice and manner when he catches sight of his brother.

"Felix! Are you hurt? Is Jim?"

"No no, I wasn't taken. Jim is- I need to take him home, Stratos. Are you...?"

"No." A curt answer, a shake of his head. "See to Jim. Look after him. I will... deal with matters here."

Felix just nods gratefully. Stratos is a full-grown war mage, after all. Powerful and experienced in defending himself against magical and physical assault alike. In the moment it doesn't occur to the frantic and unfocused conjurer that Stratos can't take care of himself just fine. "Come on, Jim. Let's get back to your ship..."

[rumormonger_nya]

A second figure steps out of the shadows once Felix and Jim have gone. Nekomata doesn't carry herself with the levity and carelessness she usually does in this place. She's bloody, tails curled protectively around herself as she follows Stratos' every move.

They haven't spoken since they made their escape. Now though, she's reaching out and touching his arm gently.

"Come on. Let's get cleaned up, boss. You gonna come quietly or am I gyonna have to carry ya?" As if they both don't know Nekomata can do no such thing if Stratos so much as protests. She has an image of their dynamic to uphold, and she has to wonder if Stratos will appreciate it as much as she thinks he will at the moment.

[smartass_captain]

Back to the ship.

Jim doesn't even look up at Stratos right now. Doesn't register the same empty look in the elder Caelus' expression. How can he when he's so busy clinging to Felix as though he'll turn to smoke and vanish if he lets go for even an instant? One more thing to feel guilty over, later.

He'll let Felix take them back to the Enterprise.

[boldygoing]

Jim has already been attacked by one unexpected wolf thing today, so the sudden appearance of a ghost wolf has him startling again, and he damn near finds himself growling at it before the part of his brain that isn't just screaming constantly catches up and cuts it off before the sound can leave his throat.

What was...?

Then the wolf is gone and the older captain is quickly approached by someone who Jim doesn't recognize, but clearly knows his counterpart, judging by the concern writ in every line of his body, the frightened tone in his voice as he addresses the other. Safe in the arms of... whoever that is. Safe.

Jim's eyes dart back to Hunter, things starting to click into place as he turns his attention from his doppelganger, vague and twisted memories starting to trickle back in of what happened after the bite. Running. Moonlight. Hunger. He starts to shake a little, a delayed reaction put off far too long in favor of sheer survival. "Hunter? We're... really here?"

[losthunter]

The sight of the Ghost Wolf was quite unusual, and really at first Hunter thought that the creature had belonged to one of Hermione's friends. But no... it seemed like the Ghost Wolf was looking for a specific person. That being the older James T. Kirk.

Hunter had flinched when Felix pushed his way towards them, and told him to Step Aside with such commanding authority. He really feels out of his comfort zone here.

He watches for a moment as Felix and the other Jim connect, noticing how they look at each other tells him all he needs to know.

Then he returns his gaze back to his Jim. Who is shaking now, but still has put some distance between himself and Hunter. And nervously, he runs both hands over his head, trying to collect himself. He has to be strong right now. Jim needs answers.

"Yes. You are."

[boldygoing]

At that confirmation, Jim staggers forward, his hands reaching out to grasp at Hunter and pull him close in a hug, twisting his fingers in the fabric of Hunter's clothing like he's afraid that if he doesn't hold on tight enough, the other man will turn to smoke between his fingers. "Oh shit oh shit."

He'd be happy to see you if he wasn't so horrified, Hunter.

But Jim clings to him like he's the only thing keeping him from breaking down, and he might very well be. Relief crashes down on him like ocean waves, powerful and punishing to the one caught in their undertow. They're out. They made it.

And Jim has no idea if the monster that lurks inside of him unseen is the one he thinks it is.

[losthunter]

Hunter wraps his arms around Jim, when the other man pulls him close. And keeps a warm embrace around the other man, trying to be the strength that Jim needs.

"I'm right here." Hunter whispers. He doesn't know what horrors that Jim would have experienced in the Nightmare realm. But is so glad that Jim is back. He made it out.

"I'm right here." Hunter whispers again.

[boldygoing]

Jim shuts his eyes only for a moment, too disturbed by what he sees in his mind's eye when he does, afraid that the Cafe will dissolve and he'll wake up in the Nightmare again. He pulls back just enough to press his forehead against Hunter's, warm and solid and safe, drawing every drop of comfort he can from the contact. A small light in the darkness, a tiny spot of hope in the horrors that lurk in his memories.

"I want to go home," he whispers.

[losthunter]

"I will take you to my apartment." Which Hunter hopes can be a safe enough haven for Jim tonight. He pulls out his PINpoint, keeping one arm tight around Jim.

[boldygoing]

A thousand things flit through Jim's thoughts in an instant, an endless litany crying for safety, a place to hide and lick his wounds, instinct to hide himself away warring with a desperate desire not to be alone. And dominant above it all, the dreadful knowledge that it's a full moon back on his Earth, that the beast he fears still lies within him would awaken the instant he sets foot back on his side of the portal and begin the slaughter anew.

He doesn't even know what he's already done. Whose blood he's tasted. Whether... whether there's more. Nausea twists in his stomach and he holds tight to Hunter, afraid to let go. "Yes."


[OOC: Continues here.]