unknownseas | (too late) you're at the party

[Well, it's safe to say that trial fucking sucked. Therefore, some sort of afterparty is in order. Constantine is admittedly not good at throwing parties without some sort of liquor or other drug involved, but that's where Data and Sylvando guide him.

First order of business--invites. Upon returning to your rooms, crumpled pieces of paper have been taped to the doors. Written in poor handwriting is the following:]

meet at the lounge
bring whatever you want
[Simple, but effective. The lounge itself has been livened up a bit with Sylvando's help. Some nicely patterned fabric has been draped around on the tables to liven up the place a little, and snacks from the café and vending machines have been placed out for people to peruse.

A few supplies from the first aid room have been gathered, as well, for those who may need it. But perhaps the help is unnecessary, as tomorrow will likely bring another New Years Eve. And with it, another week of despair and frustration.

But for now, they can forget about that and pretend that all that matters is the present.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

CAN'T EVERYTHING STOP HAPPENING FOR JUST A MOMENT?!

[...

...wow, something actually came out. A whole sentence. Somehow it does...it does make him feel a little lighter, like he finally spit something poisonous out. It's...Constantine was right, this does help]

Oh, wow, uh...well, that happened.

[Constantine braces himself for the scream, but--wow. He flinches ever so slightly, eyes widening at the outburst.

The silence that follows Filbo's scream is deafening. Constantine pauses, looking down towards Filbo and raising an eyebrow.]

Must've been holding that in for some time, eh, mate?

[.....]

You feel any better, then?

The last two weeks were awful.

[And although Freyja has been a huge help when it's about not keeping his issues all bottled, he still had a lot inside, really]

Yes, I think I feel better. I guess I did want to scream that for a while already.

[He offers Filbo a genuine smile--a rarity, when it comes to John Constantine.]

Screaming's good for the soul. Ought to do it more, sometimes. [A pause.] Uh, probably best if other people knew what you were doing. Since, you know, people getting murdered and all that.

[Really, he should take his own advice sometimes...but screaming on the Murder Ship is probably somewhat concerning--at least, when there isn't anyone else around to witness it.]

...Whatever happened to those little strawberries after the trial, anyways?

I'll try to keep the screaming to a minimum.

[His vocal chords already ache a little from the one he just gave, he may have overdone it, haha]

Oh...that. I have the one Adeline got. It's in my room, the other--Plumeria still has it. Last I checked she was gonna keep it as a little pet.

[And Filbo is majorly displeased about it, now that he has his missing memory back. But he also can't bring himself to tell Plumeria 'hey give me that grumpdamn strawberry', so he's just going to keep an eye on them and hope she'll keep little B.B. under control]

[Constantine scratches the back of his neck, frowning ever so slightly.]

What's up with those Strabbies, anyways? You didn't quite explain what they did during the trial.

[NOT THAT IT SEEMED RELEVANT AT THE TIME BUT....y'know, now he's curious about the living strawberries.]

Right. I dunno yet how I'm even gonna bring them up -- well, I already have an idea of how to get the key points announced, but I guess...maybe with you I can get a grip of how to do it? I mean, you have faced demons. Bugsnax aren't gonna be a surprise in terms of weirdness...

[He had never thought he'd be having these conversations on this cruise ship, but apparently that vending machine thought it was a good idea to give Strabbies to people, so what choice does he have, really]

So, six months ago I was part of this expedition to an unexplored island, Snaktooth Island. That's where the Bugsnax are from, and they--they're pretty much what you see: food that kinda behave like bugs? They taste great, and there's so many kinds, but there are these side-effects, the main one being...aaaaah...

[Welp, here goes nothing]

...they turn part of your bodies into food. I mean, everything's still there, your bones and muscles and everything still exists! It's just covered with this casing made of food, and stays on you for a couple weeks if you don't eat another Bugsnax of any kind.

[As Constantine listens, his expression twists and grows more concerned as Filbo continues to speak. When he concludes, Constantine looks aghast. Yeah, this is probably about on the same level of absurd as most of the other things he's gone up against.]

Jesus Christ. That's kind of horrific, actually. Like...weird surface-level parasites or something.

[Like...like some sort of apple and Eve situation or something, except it's cute sentient food with googly-eyes. He looks over Filbo again, as if expecting his arm to be a pretzel and he had just missed it for some reason.]

So...what happened? Everyone decided that their limbs looking like food wasn't trendy anymore?

[Filbo shudders a little at how Constantine describes them. Uf, spot on, pal, spot on]

...well, the island was a dangerous one, you know? Lots of earthquakes, and there are a ton of skeletons around from past civilizations and stuff? So I guess it was only matter of time before things got pear-shaped. There was an earthquake, and then the volcano erupted, and then a few hundred Bugsnax tried to murder us all because eating too many will kill you, all in one night. It was kinda a miracle we got out of there alive. If just one thing had gone wrong, we could...we all could have...

[It could have ended so badly. Escaping alive was a miracle, and now not even half a year later he's in another deadly situation, and this time people are dying for real. It's been a shock, really]

...and now there are some of those here. You know, I think we're not in mortal danger because we're on this ship instead of on Snaktooth, and it's impossible there'll be enough Bugsnax to cause any real harm-- [Thankfully, the threshold for real tragedy is high enough for it to never turn into a real concern] --but, uh...they must be my responsibility. Because they're from a place I know. I'll make sure to warn people around.

[Constantine grimaces. That...escalated quite quickly.]

Yikes. If I see any islands named Snaktooth on my search for a vacation spot, I'll be sure to steer clear.

[....]

Wouldn't it be easier just to toss 'em over the side? That way, the only trouble they'd cause would be for the kraken below.

[Or maybe that's cause more problems...imagine a kraken addicted and ravenous for Bugsnax.]

I doubt Davy Jones would take kindly to having a kraken with strawberry tentacles. I'm pretty sure that'd be a death warrant for whoever threw them.

[You don't mess with Davy Jones' kraken]

I have been thinking of just...just k-killing them, but I don't even know what'd happen after a while. I don't wanna find out if it makes things worse by, I dunno, making there be two Strabbies instead of one.

[He has seen dead Bugsnax only from a distance and only for like fifteen minutes. It's not impossible they reform or something!]

[Maybe they could feed it to the Captain, when they finally confront him....]

So I guess in the meantime we just keep them trapped and wait 'til they die. [He grimaces.] What a grim end to a little creature like that.

[BUT IF ITS, LIKE, A PARASITE....THEN ITS FINE RIGHT]

I dunno what I'm gonna do if others take them as pets. I mean...maybe it's for the best? Because that way others can help keep them under control? As long as they're not eating them they're not too bad as pets -- at least Strabbies are willing to play along and be harmless, I know that. But I sure dunno how to tell them when we manage to escape this ship and return home I'm gonna have to take their new pets with me.

(too late) you're at the party

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