entrancelogs | + FOURTH WALL EVENT: HOUSE PARTY +

+ FOURTH WALL EVENT: HOUSE PARTY +

Who: E V E R Y O N E
Where: Wonderland's Second Mansion, near the southern walls
When: Sept 1st to Sept 10th
Rating: G to PG-13 (please label higher ratings, thank you!)
Summary: It's a whole party mansion! Have a look inside, explore, make yourselves at home! And don't forget to have a look at the Fourth Wall Master Post for event rules, puzzle clues, and more places to mingle!
The Story:

Beginning on September 1st, something more than grass has suddenly grown near the southern walls. A second mansion has sprung up overnight! With only three floors and a strangely makeshift look about it it doesn't seem to compare to the original at first glance, but there's plenty enjoyment to be had inside!

The first floor houses a series of restaurants, diners, and coffee shops. No matter your style or intentions, this floor will find something to your taste! (Provided you, too, really love the colour red.) Of course all foods and services are free, and provided invisibly and without delay - no need to tip the unseen magical forces! ♥

The second floor is this mansion's beating heart - quite literally so! Disco beats shake this massive dancefloor 24/7, and the open bar provides party refreshments for responsible hydration and/or happy cocktail hour. Invisible DJ not playing your song? Man the turntables yourself, or sneak off into the karaoke corner! By the way, it doesn't take a keen observer to notice the common theme of this floor's design.

(Although it falls to the curious party guest to notice the peculiar paint splashes on one of the walls, and a little patience to stick around long enough for the travelling spotlights to reveal their message.)

Despite the busy party below, the third floor is surprisingly quiet, and pleasantly so. It invites crisp and clean comfort, be it to sit, to sleep, or to mingle in the comfy common rooms in front of their warm chimneys. From single bedrooms to large dormitories all guests have plenty of room to make use of fluffy pillows galore, be it to sleep on, to fight with, or to build.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah, no, his hand is not leaving his weapon until he knows what is going on. And once he knows that... well, it depends how he feels. And whether he gets a satisfactory explanation.

And the idea that this could be a version of him is, frankly, bullshit. He gives the other person a hard look, not at all impressed. Did this guy think he was stupid? "Voice modulator," he says bluntly. "A voice is easy to fake."

Was he always this stubborn? Jesus. ...Is he still this stubborn? --Not important. The sigh Wash breathes next is long-suffering and tired, but he nods. Sure, voice modulator could be a thing, so clearly the only way he's going to get this across and get out of this bizarre conversation is to show that he's not here just to pretend to be himself. Or whatever.

"Fine," he relents, hands going up to his helmet, he thumbs at the clasps and tugs it off to reveal his face. It's the same face, mostly, just... older and more tired after years of stress and hardly any sleep. Helmet shifted into one hand, he rests it under his arm and raises his eyebrows at... himself. "Convincing enough?" Or is he about to be attacked, because he's really... not in the mood for that.

Stubbornness is one of the things that got him into the Project in the first place which... okay, when he looks at it now, doesn't seem so good. But still... He isn't going to stop being a stubborn asshole now.

He watches as the man reaches up to unfasten the clasps of the helmet, and there's a hiss as the seals are broken. And then... oh then...

Wash gasps, can't stop it breaking out, when he sees the face. It's familiar, the one that he sees in the mirror every day. Except worse. He's never looked that exhausted, even here. He looks like he's been punched. A few new scars. Wash stares for a moment, stubborn to the end, and then forces a harsh little laugh. "You look like shit."

The gasp doesn't really shock him, or anything, and he just holds the stare as long as it lasts. So far, this is probably one of the better ways this could have gone, considering getting shot was probably still on the table. When the laugh comes though, his expression flattens.

"This is what you have to look forward to," he deadpans, tilting his head just slightly to one side. Tell him he looks like shit if you want, but it's your future that you're ultimately insulting here, kid. Still, Wash doesn't actually blame him for the reaction, and at least an attempt at humour is better than looking at him in horror, or something. "Enjoy what you have now, because it won't last long."

The laugh dies off the longer the other man... the other version of him, holds his gaze. He isn't lying. He looks like he's been through hell a few times. And it isn't something that Wash likes to think about. Not when he's barely slept in days, when the nightmares are getting worse, and when he sees flickers of electric blue out of the corners of his eyes.

"Or this could all be a hallucination or Wonderland fucking with my head again. It likes doing that. Because I am fine."

"Sure." Oh yeah, he remembers that. The denial. Wash nods slowly, in a way that makes it clear he doesn't actually believe what's being said. Obviously he knows that desperation to believe anything but the idea that he's not okay, and obviously he can empathize. However, he also knows that he's not fooling anyone, and that the longer he waits to break, the worse the fallout is going to be.

"You came from... where? Looking at you, I'd have to guess pretty quickly after Epsilon. Right?" Like he even has to ask, with those dark circles under his eyes but no sign of any further damage outside just yet. "I'm not going to argue about whether or not you're fine. You don't have to believe I'm real if you want to be that obstinate about it. But look, I'm alive. Assuming that I'm not some Wonderland-induced hallucination, that means you're still going to be alive, and you'll be fine." Or, what passes for fine right now. Still closer to real fine than younger him is. "Take that as you will."

It's... kind of funny, standing here, talking to himself. Telling himself the kinds of things he wouldn't have minded hearing years ago. It might not be the greatest reassurance ever, or may not seem like it now, but there had been so many times in the past that he'd been sure he was going to die, or that things were never going to get any better... Seeing that at some point in the future, he's doing okay? That might have helped. This version of himself standing there hasn't even been through the worst parts yet, so... who knows, maybe this'll help. Maybe it won't. But he's not going to stand in front of his past self and be a dick about his denial.

He scowls. He knows when he's being condescended to. He also knows when he is being condescending, and he can't believe he's in a position where he is suffering through both of those at once! This is bullshit.

His unease only grows when the other him pinpoints pretty much exactly what he last remembers. No-one should know about that, except Carolina, possibly York. No-one who was here anyway. "You don't look fine," Wash replies, rather than agreeing with his assessment. Carolina had said that too, that he would survive, that he'd be fine. He didn't believe her either. And the other him looks awful.

He folds his arms over his chest, still looking at him and trying to work out what he should feel. He should punch him. He should walk away. He should do about a million things and he can't figure out which one is the right one.

"I remember the alarms going off," he finally concedes though. "And North running out of the med wing." And leaving him alone.

No, he doesn't look fine. That's because it's taken a long time and surviving a lot of shit to get to somewhere that's actually okay. Wash isn't sure of how much to divulge, though. He doesn't want to go into detail because that will only freak him out, but he also doesn't want to give some bullshit lie that things aren't going to be so bad.

"Right. Because Tex came back for--" For Alpha. But he thinks better of saying that. "...Because Tex broke back in. North and South leave to stop her, and I-- and you're left alone." Little does he know that he'll be left alone a lot longer than he probably realizes. Jesus, that's a shit place to leave things. Running a hand through his hair, Wash glances off to the side and shakes his head.

"...What do you think is going to happen?" He asks after a moment, eyes flitting back to the face he remembers looking in the mirror at years ago. The question is genuine--he's curious. ...And hoping that there aren't many high hopes. "Whenever you get back, what are you expecting to return to?"

That is far less information than he wants. Or more information depending on how he feels during any given second. He isn't sure he wants to know, but Carolina had told him enough to pique his curiosity.

"Yeah, 'cause they ripped Epsilon out of my head." And that hurts with a raw ache he isn't sure how to describe. He'd wanted Epsilon. He'd wanted an AI so badly and then... He clenches his hands into fists at his sides, fioghting down a wave of memory and pain so sharp it burns.

He glances back at his double, jaw set in a stubborn line. He doesn't know how he can be so calm about this. "Carolina said that the war ended. So fuck knows."

Truth be told, he's not all that sure how he's managing to be so calm about this either. Maybe he's tired enough that being in Wonderland is enough weirdness that he can handle seeing a younger him, who knows? He sure doesn't.

Even he practically winces when he hears the thing with Epsilon put so bluntly by a version of himself so fresh after the incident. If he thinks it's bad now... he's in for a pretty shitty surprise within the foreseeable future. Stifling a sigh, Wash nods, rubbing a hand along his jaw slowly.

"Yeah, it did." He replies after a moment. Did he really expect to go back and resume fighting aliens like nothing happened? No consequences from Epsilon? He can remember being stupidly naive about the Project and believing the best in it, but after Epsilon, he couldn't have assumed that it would continue, right? "Things are pretty unpredictable after that." Not that they'd ever been terribly predictable to start with, but. It gets worse, for sure.

How else should he put it? He knows what they did. He knows they left Epsilon in for long enough to hurt, and then tore him out and left him unconscious and suffering. There's no gentle way to explain that and if he goes into details he doesn't think he'll be able to stop.

"I bet they are," he says, a sour note to his voice. He has to think that's what he's going to do. He doesn't know how to do anything else and he doesn't want to admit that anything is wrong. "We never did any good."

"No, we didn't." He agrees with that much, obviously, and he knows damn well how hard it was to have to come to the conclusion. There's a breath of a laugh, humourless and weak as Wash shakes his head. "You don't even know the half of it yet."

He's... not actually trying to be cryptic, but he also doesn't want to discourage himself, this younger him, any more than that with the full truth.

"But it's more complicated than just that. It's..." Trailing off, he frowns, trying to decide how to word it. It's complicated, but he's already said that. How the hell else do you elaborate on the mess that's been his life without giving away many of the painful details? "...It's not just the consequences of Freelancer, but the aftermath. It's the fallout and your own mistakes and... And things I'm not even sure how to explain without getting long-winded."

It hurts to have that confirmed by more than his own thoughts. They'd never done any good. Their entire purpose had been a lie and- he stops and narrows his eyes at the other him. Does he really sound like that? That laugh was anything but happy, like broken metal.

"My mistakes? I haven't done anything! The only mistake I made was trusting them in the first place." But what the hell choice had he had?

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+ FOURTH WALL EVENT: HOUSE PARTY +

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just... pretend we use the same pb...

Totally the same PB

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