stateofdecay | surprise party for court 🐮

WHO: Prescott + Beau, Bunny, Carter, Duke, Emmett, John, and Nat (& "folks who might not know court but would think she's extremely cool" – Beau). However, anyone can join — OOCly, it's open to all.
WHEN: Sunday, November 17. Evening.
WHERE: Prescott fire house's kitchen.
WHAT: A surprise birthday party for Court! Planned here.
WARNINGS: I made AI generate the main image and it's horrifying.

court's 36th birthday!!!

the gist

it's court's birthday!! arlo arranged a surprise party in the kitchen of prescott's fire house and invited whoever he thinks her friends are.

celebrate, eat, drink, and if you can't get home safely at the end of the night he'll roll you into a bed in the bunkhouse.

while only some characters were officially invited, feel free to write anyone in! just say they were at prescott on business idc.

the details

zelda deemed the theme to be ~~unhinged~~ cow print and raided the danforth walmart for decorations, including cow print diningware and inflatable horses.
arlo made egg-free veggie burgers and chocolae mousse.
everyone else brought whatever they brought; i'm not listing them, you do it.

& because no party's complete without a stupid drinking game, there's drunk jenga!

code

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"God. Was it that bad." Carter, who had played her part to the best of her ability before, tries to remember every single detail of tonight and how stupid she'd probably come across. And since she's been sober for almost two years, every single detail is inconveniently burned into her mind.

She very gently drops her head into her hands. "I should be more careful. Actually. We have a business meeting next week."

"Not that bad. I just know you." Leaving behind the trash for Prescott to deal with, Beau links arms with Carter and pulls her toward the exit. A united wall of we're going, don't talk to us with an extra side of I'm getting you out of the Hot Responder Embarrassment Zone.

The air is cool as they step outside, fresher than the smoke-tinged air from the burn pits in Meagher Valley. "Should I be encouraging or discouraging you?" Beau asks.

Bolstering herself, Carter makes her face a blank slate for about thirty more seconds before allowing it to fall in horror at her own behavior. She lets her head fall gently on her twin's shoulder.

"I don't know. I don't really have time for an identity crisis. Here in the apocalypse." But she's not really having one. Which is maybe the only concerning part. "Honestly. She's intolerable enough that I think she'll just discourage me herself."

"You should do it. Nothing douses attraction like learning they're a fucked up person too," Beau says, far too confidently for a serial monogamist with questionable taste in men. Carter is little better than she is, but the boys she collected always seemed so... mild. Easy to discard.

She wonders if her sister ever still thinks about Curtis, and can't bring herself to ask. "Also, it's the apocalypse. You could just shoot her."

Edited 2024-11-20 02:44 (UTC)

"Does that still work if everyone left alive is fucked up." Carter muses, standing all the way up. She knows she's fucked up. Beau's probably right. Turn in the jenga block, get it out of each of their systems, move on. But it's a little fun to just be distracted. Have something to think about other than how many zombies she can shoot in the head and how much insulation they need for a container. That's enough.

"You know. I almost did. Today. With the sheep. Could've left her in the bank with all the useless money."

Beau starts giggling at this story, a girlish slip when she's usually in tighter control of her image. But Carter can always pull it out of her—the only soul here who understands what she was like when they were children, and less guarded about everything.

"If you ever have to hide a body, you know we'd cover for you. But in the meantime..." Beau shrugs one shoulder, still holding Carter's arm as she leads them to the car. "It doesn't have to mean anything."

Carter loves that little laugh. It reminds her of simpler times. Before they both discovered the need to hide themselves. Before Carter ruined everything for years. Her smile becomes unguarded too, something more gentle and soft than anyone else gets to see.

"It wouldn't mean anything." She confirms, in a low voice, like they're teenagers talking about crushes again. Speaking of. "How's it going with the boy you aren't kissing?"

"Oh my god." Beau rolls her eyes, because boys are stupid and trivial and not worth discussing, and because she rolled her eyes too when they were fourteen and Carter caught her texting her first crush. The memory of that boy has faded, but she recalls still the feeling of huddling under the covers with her sister, so no one could overhear their secrets.

She drops her voice to a whisper. "I approached him at the last party. And then he messaged me. And then I messaged him." And there were other little conversations, not that Beau is keeping track. "And he approached me at this party. So. It's my turn to talk to him. If I feel like it."

surprise party for court 🐮

END OF THE NIGHT: Carter & Beau

END OF THE NIGHT: Carter & Beau

END OF THE NIGHT: Carter & Beau

END OF THE NIGHT: Carter & Beau

END OF THE NIGHT: Carter & Beau

END OF THE NIGHT: Carter & Beau

END OF THE NIGHT: Carter & Beau

END OF THE NIGHT: Carter & Beau