laugh ourselves to death !

"Jessicaaaaaaaa," with sing-song voice, Theo swings himself into a nice comfy seat next to her. "I got a present for ya! Guess what it is." @surejess

Oh look! May decided to give her another sibling! Information downloading... background adapting... memories entering... registering it as close to real... registering it as what had happened all along... Ah yes, her triplet who had listened to her about the Creator and had agreed that she should kill their parents! Okay! "Ya know, I'm gonna be pretty disappointed if it's a horse head! Ya gotta at least put those on a pillow, ya know?"

"Ya know, truth be told, I have no clue what happens when I do it! Just had t' make sure you're down!" She understood it when she had some specifics to work off of -- like if he'd said he likes piña coladas and getting caught in the rain -- but when there was nothing? Her assumption was that it felt like some kinda high to most people ( she hadn't met anyone it hadn't worked on yet, but there would always be the outliers! ), but... she supposed she'd let him be the judge of that. With his permission, she did something... very unceremonious. A shame, what considering half of the things she did otherwise required something really over the top, but this one... all she had to do was touch him -- transmit the spirit of fun through touch! "How ya feelin' now?"

max doesn't know exactly what to expect from this grand display of power, but... it's not this. it's not some massive burst of joy that rockets through him, more just... the loss of all those bad feelings he's been wrestling with. maybe a little happier than he was before... hell, even this party doesn't seem so bad anymore. maybe he should make his way to the ring after all. it seems like a good idea! even... a fun idea! "actually? pretty good," he says, even smiling. not his condescending smirk, but a real smile. that's going to be weird later, but right now? fun! "thanks again."

"This is for killing mom and dad!" Dolly yells, running full speed at Jess. KACHOW! The only thing on her mind is their parents' murder as she rugby-tackles Jess to the ground. "I can't believe you did that! You are so selfish, Jessica!" she huffs, pulling her arm out of its socket. She lifts it up over her head with her free hand, then smacks her twin right on the noggin' with it. "I never liked clowns. I just told you I did to make you feel better." What a lie! Dolly loves clowns. She thinks they're hilarious, even if their makeup is terrible.

Ya know, Jess had learned to always expect the unexpected -- that was par for the course when it came to being a work of fiction! But, while she could certainly say she was not ever expecting Dolly to forgive her... she could not say she was expecting to be body slammed, especially when she hadn't even noticed she was there! A crater forming, and the symbols '!*%?' appearing over her head, it looked like her physics had kicked in! -- good, because if this was gonna go from a single body slam with some doll arm whacking to any kind of actual fight, Jess was gonna need to get creative with defense! Violence was fine -- fun sometimes! But she wasn't planning on getting violent towards Dolly -- she'd learned her lesson! And in what world would that do any good!? Anyway, what was she supposed to say? She wasn't gonna defend what she did! -- but she also wasn't a fan of getting attacked, even if it was objectively hilarious... So, instead of saying anything, she started twirling her wrist around until it was fast enough to propel her upwards like a helicopter. Thanks, physics! "I'm not gonna try t' defend myself, Dolly -- I told ya everything I can!" Blah blah blah, murder in the name of free-will isn't defensible, blah blah blah, they felt it and we feel it (the former was a lie!), blah blah blah, that is absolutely insane, blah blah blah. What was there to rehash at this point? And, though the clown comment stung (she didn't mean it, she's just upset!), Jess had to ignore it in the name of, like... prioritization? "Whaddya want me t' say? That I am happy I killed 'em? Or that I can bring 'em back t' life? 'Cause neither's true!"

"uh—" that's the exact kind of question that catches him off guard. fun? him? there's a reason he keeps his free time to a minimum. "i mean, i just like hanging out and shit. and partying. and drinking. i don't know, what else is there to do around here?" more importantly, without being too strenuous. everything he likes, as it is, is too much for him to take. it's hard being the life of the party when you're not, technically speaking, supposed to be partying! "...i mean, the fact that you asked makes me feel a little weird. but fuck it, do it. make me have fun." if he regrets it later, he regrets it later!

"Ya know, truth be told, I have no clue what happens when I do it! Just had t' make sure you're down!" She understood it when she had some specifics to work off of -- like if he'd said he likes piña coladas and getting caught in the rain -- but when there was nothing? Her assumption was that it felt like some kinda high to most people ( she hadn't met anyone it hadn't worked on yet, but there would always be the outliers! ), but... she supposed she'd let him be the judge of that. With his permission, she did something... very unceremonious. A shame, what considering half of the things she did otherwise required something really over the top, but this one... all she had to do was touch him -- transmit the spirit of fun through touch! "How ya feelin' now?"

“Hey, this is all on you. I’m just reacting to it!” Two hand-like appendages rise defensively, followed by an awkward shrug. “Sure you’re not afraid of sentient meat or somethin?” Kei half-joked. Despite being the embodiment of horror, she doesn’t actually get to know what a person’s greatest fear is, at least not until she turns into it herself. This whole situation was a different thing entirely, however.

Jess had no clue what this slab of meat could be referring to in reference to... reacting to it, but whatever it was, she could take a healthy guess that her version of it sure was abnormal! Not surprising. "Well, I can't say I've ever really considered my feelings on sentient meat... I think I'd be confused if a steak started talking t' me, but I don't think I'd be scared..." First thing that confused her: this chunk in front of her. Second thing that confused her: talking steak. Third thing? Remained to be seen!

"ignoring the party? that's the whole problem—there is no party. anyone can get some booze together." max is just one of those people that finds no appreciation in the human spirit—boo hoo, no moon. that happened once a month anyway! and as entertaining as some of the fighting had been, that's not something sol city is in short supply of, either. it's all just more of the same old thing. tail swishing, he huffs, "i mean, what do you think a party is? a lot of people standing around looking at the sky? not really my idea of a good time."

"No, no -- I mean whaddya do for fun just in general? Ya know, what you'd be doin' right now if you weren't here!" Max had a great point! The 'party' wasn't really a party! Ya know, she supposed it was kinda fair -- it had been advertised as a faire, after all -- but where there was a crowd of people with an abundance of booze, you'd expect a party! "If ya wanna skip over that, though, then if I got your permission - " - she may have indirectly gotten Gray's, but... they were all very tricky! - " - I can just make you have fun." It would probably be better if she could just create a scenario tailor towards what he found fun in everyday life -- ya know, made it so his fun wasn't entirely manufactured -- but whatever he chose...

no feelings, no problem. whatever issues ezra found with the rest of her doctrine-philosophy-reality, he would readily admit that the slogan was a catchy one. he often thought similar things, himself! it was just instead of saying that other people's feelings didn't exist, it was more like... not his feelings, not his problem. maybe it's just meant to be—he would be happy to bastardize all the good parts into his own world view, no problems indeed! "we can start with anyone you like. i'll even let you go first, since you've been out of practice so long. 'course... before we start... i don't suppose you've got something you can use to keep the roaches from scattering, so to speak?" yeah, yeah, yeah... none of it matters, or whatever... but maybe it's also a good idea to be a little bit smart about it? but for all he knows, she could be some ultra-powerful goddess-like figure that caused the mere idea of consequences to vanish on the spot. still, just to be safe...

As much as Jess would love to assume they had plot armor to protect them, there were a lot of times she'd assumed that and had been proven terribly wrong! Ya gotta learn the hard way that the creators really don't care, don't ya? That they'd rather you get screwed over? Sure, sure, she knew she was still being controlled into setting up some precautions for Ezra and herself, but... hey, it was still a good idea! "I got an idea." Now, who would Jess be if she did not put her Bag of Fun to good use at any given moment? She withdrew it ( or... allowed it to manifest from thin air? ) and pulled out a comically large pencil, about half the size of Ezra. Lugging the thing to the first door and, man, just really wondering why she hadn't waited until she was actually at the door to take it out, she lifted it like a damn weight ( she could bench 220! ) and, as best as she could, drew chains and a padlock on it. For as sloppy as the drawing was ( sue her, it was hard to draw well with a 3.5ft pencil! ), the world just knew what she wanted it to be, actual chains with a padlock manifesting into existence (thanks, Megan Fox!). Phew. Oh, but she wasn't done yet! No, no -- maybe she should've stopped by Ezra, seen if he could do anything himself, but she was inexplicably determined! It was gonna be the first time she killed anyone in 10+ years -- and, at that, the first time she killed anyone who no one else cared about ! yippee ! -- so she really had to put the effort in! To just fast forward through essentially writing the exact same thing -- lugging the pencil, drawing sloppy precautions, said sloppy precautions turning into the real thing, all that jazz -- the precautions were in place! Finally dropping the pencil ( and the pencil proceeding to disappear from existence ), she returned to Ezra and clapped her hands together. In between breaths, she nodded, "Ya think we got enough precautions now?"

"uh... alright, so what if i had to stop drinking?" turns out he's been laying it on a little thick. the two he's had tonight are enough to tip him over—any more and he'll be sick. which unfortunately means it's been really, really hard to have a good time! "and... you know, aren't into that woo-woo kumbaya shit? like what else? for the record i'm trying to have a good time, not just look it."

As a Fun Lord™, Jess could certainly help the fella out -- he'd definitely come to the right person! The only problem, you see, was that she did not know what he found fun. Sure, she could just literally force him to, but, in the reality he and most others saw, that would probably be considered going against his consent -- ya know, just... literally forcing him to, and all. "Well, whaddya find fun? Ya know, just ignoring the party entirely, what are some fun things t' ya?"

Even more puzzling was the stranger’s reaction to it. “Huh,” was all she could say in response to it all. “Hang on, this isn’t it…” Kei held a… well, some sort of fleshy appendage that used to be her hand, up in the air. “Sorry, it usually doesn’t take this long. I’m actually not sure what’s happening.”

She has the good grace to be kind about his mistake. The joke—with no clear strain of hidden of anger!—is such a shock that Morrigan nearly wants to question her more. The impulse to ask her to be angry at him is a short lived one. He simply finds more coins in his pocket and nods, relieved. "What did you get there?" Morrigan asks, even though he thinks it's a now spoiled strawberry milkshake. She could ask for something else! He'll offer more once they get to the stall. Morrigan wants to move on fairly quickly but the ballons is cool and he's always felt safer around women, particularly ones who are a little... kooky? It feels a tad mean to even think, but there's no other way to describe her. "That's real cool, by the way, your balloons. I'm so sorry for that—" he begins but trails off, fully aware he's likely to get annoying. The last thing he wants to is to test anyone's patience after that fuck up. "You want anything else? For the trouble."

Did Jess actually care about that strawberry milkshake enough to get the fella to buy her a new one? Not at all! She hadn't even remembered it was there until he brought it up! But would she let the fella buy her a new one? He seemed the type who'd be upset with himself if he didn't, so who would she be to deny him that opportunity! "Strawberry milkshake, but I'm not attached t' that." ( aka, she just liked the color ! ) "Ya think?" Well, that was some good news! "There tends t' be two real different opinions on them. Ya got the 'real cool' crowd -- " -- such as this kind stranger! -- " -- and ya got the 'balloons should not be sentient, that is an abomination, kill it now' crowd. Direct quote!" Oh, to think -- if it weren't for that crowd, she could possibly bring back the pigeon population all by herself (granted, in balloon form)! "Ya don't need t' give me anything else -- the trouble is minimal!" (The trouble was already non-existent, but this guy really wanted to atone for the sin of dropping a coin into her milkshake.)

"i wouldn't know. never met the guy personally." probably won't anytime soon, either! ezra has never been the worshipper sort, and while carelessness might as well be his middle name... he's not too keen on kicking the bucket anytime soon, either. he eroticizes dying, not being dead. those are two completely different things. "can't say i've really thought about it like that. i just do what i want whenever i want." more or less. now that he's nearing forty, every once in a while common sense rears its head. certainly not often enough to keep him out of trouble, though. truthfully, whatever strings do or don't exist don't bother him much. they really like torture. wow, imagine that! so does he! and so does god, as far as he's ever been able to tell. the similarities are there, but not exact that ezra feels inclined to do much more than observe the idea. she's a funny one, she is. "how about it, then?" he asks, baring his sharp teeth in a grin. "if it's like you said, and we can kill anyone in here.... consequences free... how about it? no feelings, no problems, right?"

"Ya know, I'm not real surprised t' hear that. Most of them like their creations thinking they're real." Jess was pretty sure she was the only person in Sol City who had ever kind of met her creator -- you know, not in the sense that they'd been able to shake hands, but in the sense that they were aware of each other's existence and could have some titillating conversations... in Jess's mind, but still conversations! "Happy t' hear ya still believe that!" He was not, in fact, doing whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. He was doing whatever Gray wanted whenever Gray wanted it, but Jess didn't need to be a broken record! It had taken Jess long enough to accept the absurdity of their reality. In the grand scheme of things, nothing mattered! It was very depressing... until it wasn't. What she found meaning and happiness in was not something she could control, but she had been allowed to find it in their absurd reality. There was a certain peace to knowing there was nothing you could do and that, in the end, nothing you or your second cousin or Dick Van Dyke did mattered. Thus, who was she to not execute the oldest form of creativity? "No feelings, no problems!" Yippee! Gesturing to the man that she had been constantly referring to, she asked, "Whaddya say we start with that little guy?"

"you look like you're having a good time. what's your secret?"

"T' look like I'm havin' a good time, or t' having a good time?" There were secrets to both! She was quite talented at both! She could teach a class on both! But, tonight? Ya know what, she was having a good time! "Ya ask anyone else, they're probably gonna say boozin' it up helps!" But did booze work on Jess? No, no it did not. "Ya ask me, you just look around! Ya got everyone putting their wishes in those little lanterns that are gonna be real pretty when they fly - " - granted, the wishes meant nothing - " - and ya got the nice music playin' and ya got all that kinda food that you really only get at fairs -- and we don't really have fairs!" As hopeless as their hope was, what wasn't there to appreciate? "The secret's in seeing everyone's hope!"