KTostada

Château de La Lune

---

---

Ivanna (Brendan)

---

Location: Château de La Lune
Skills: N/A

---

---

Ivanna let herself check out of conversation for a moment as she ate, trying to keep up and finish before the next dish came out, without commpletly destroying her makeup. Honestly, judging by how un-smudged the glass was, she was at least doing okay at not destroying her lipstick. She'd been tempted to ask for a straw or go get the one she'd brought from her room, (no self-respecting drag queen travels without a straw), but she knew enough to also know that you don't drink wine from a sippy straw...even if you really want too. It would be funny to see the faces of these fancy people if they saw her sipping wine through her bright pink barbie sippy straw, but she also might make a fool of herself in front of the person who's opinion she actually kinda cared about. She took it slow on the wine anyway, since she was apparently going for drinks after this.

She was still surprised someone as cool and sleek as Millicent wanted to spend more time with her. It was nice too. The wine wasn't so bad tasting now. Enjoying her food, Ivanna over heard bits and pieces of conversation. It seemed people all around were a little nervous. But what did they have to be nervous about? Ivanna thought again of the note she'd found in her room. She hoped her hiding place was good enough. Why was everyone else on edge, though? Had something happened? ...Oh shit, did she just overhear the word murder? Well, drag queens had the phrase 'slay', maybe 'murder' was some kind of straight person slang. Ivanna couldn't tell who'd said it. But no one here was gonna actually die. This place was way too fancy for that. Fancy people probably had something else they did instead of dying. Like going into those tubes and freezing. She'd find someone to ask about it later. Ivanna hoped she didn't look weird, just eating and not talking to anyone. Maybe she could go talk to Felix again, what was he up too? Or she could try to make more conversation with Millicent...she'd have to think of something real cool to say though, first. She was a magician, right? Maybe Ivanna could ask her to show off some tricks...Ivanna smiled trying to think of what she was going to say to Millicent later when they got drinks.

Château de La Lune

---

---

Ivanna (Brendan)

---

Location: Château de La Lune
Skills: N/A

---

---

Ivanna set down the wine glass, trying to not let her face show how she knew absolutely nothing about wine. She looked around to see everyone already in conversation. The whole room felt so much calmer now that whatever he was called had been removed. She took another sip of the wine, bracing herself a little better this time. Ivanna wondered if Felix and the other staff would happen to have any of those mango beers she was used to drinking with SuperFetch. She sighed and stared as a plate was set in front of her. She really didn’t want to start thinking of home again.

She looked around. Some of them were being given new cups of wine, dark wine this time, but some, seemingly at random, still had the light wine…no, wait! Not at random!! Not! At! Random!! Ivanna clenched her fists with excitement. She knew this! It was only the people eating the fish who had white wine, because… Never but can’t you listen this once/red wine and fish, you’ll look like a dunce. Ha! Ivanna did know something about wine! And Ivanna’s mom had told her a musical theatre degree wouldn’t prepare her for the ‘real world’. Ivanna knew how many minutes there were in a year, too. She was totally in the right major. She looked around for someone to impress with her knowledge, and found one person looking at her already, the blonde woman seated right next to her.

The woman stumbled through an apology over what that other guy had said before introducing herself as Millicent. Millicent! Ivanna had always loved that name. It gave such a specific vibe. A nice vibe, a vibe this woman definitely had. The woman continued, saying how much she loved drag queens. Wow, this woman, who looked so…cool, and pretty, and, like, put together, seemed to think Ivanna was cool?

Ivanna introduced herself and tried to think of something cool to say. She could comment on the wine maybe, she noticed that Millicent had drank some and still had a normal facial expression. Maybe Millicent actually liked wine. Maybe she was one of those ‘contasoors’ or whatever. Wine talk could be good. Ooh, she should say the thing about the wine and fish? Before Ivanna could decide what to say, Millicent kept talking, inviting Ivanna for drinks after dinner. Ivanna smiled and accepted, gladly. For a moment she’d been worried no one would want to talk to her besides the butler, had hesitations about just spending the whole day in drag among these fancy people, but people around here seemed actually pretty appreciative of drag queens…well. Mostly.

Ivanna heard the clink of forks across the table. Oh, right, she was supposed to be eating. She made a quick steak pun and picked up the utensils. Millicent was smiling. Good, the joke landed…wait, why was she looking at Millicent again? She needed to finish her food. They were probably right about to bring out the next thing. Ivanna forced a smile and a few more sips of wine and started eating the steak…holy crap, it was incredible. It even made the wine taste a little better. Did the chateroo people really get to eat like this all the time? So much better than the steaks Ivanna would get from the dollar store. Ivanna would have no trouble finishing this, she even managed to drink a little more of the red wine. Her guess was that it was a Cabernet, mainly because she didn’t know the names of any other kinds of red wine.

Château de La Lune

---

---

Ivanna (Brendan)

---

Location: Château de La Lune
Skills: N/A

---

---

As Ivanna opened her eyes from the death drop, she was surprised to see someone standing by her. Looking… impressed? Maybe Ivanna did have the stuff to impress people. He even called her iconic! They had a short conversation about how to pronounce the name of the place (Ivanna definitely got it right that third try), before he waved goodbye and entered the dining room. Ivanna’s smile faded just a little. Iconic. That was what SuperFetch would always say, practically her catchphrase. God, Ivanna really missed her drag sister. She entered the dining room.

Ivanna’s smile returned and she forgot all her sad feelings as she stared in amazement at the fancy room, mumbling various expletives in awe as she noticed each new fancy aspect of it. It was gorgeous. She felt like an actual queen, instead of just a drag queen.

As she was seated, she was reminded quickly that she was in fact only a semi-humble drag queen, as a being who could only be described as ‘some guy’ said something about her being a fake woman.

Ivanna glanced at the person, awkwardly. Should she say something? If SuperFetch was here, she’d tell Ivanna just to leave it…SuperFetch knew her stuff. Ivanna stayed quiet.

To Ivanna’s amazement, Sam spoke up. In Ivanna’s defense.

What’s-his-face McSomeGuy responded, calling Sam’s response trashy.

You know what? Fuck it. Ivanna was gonna say something.

She had no idea how her words would be recived, but Sam fist bumped her. Ivanna could have said more, probably, but she saw Felix across the room. She excused herself from the table and went over to Felix, who greeted her politely and asked what she needed.

“Felix, I’ve got to tell you, I just thought of something so clever. Why do drag queens and butlers get along so well?”

Wadsworth smiled as Ivanna came up to him. “I do not know, why?”

“Cos they're both always…serving!” Ivanna laughed at her own joke for a moment then looked up to check Felix's reaction.

Wadsworth’s smile grew and he gave normal. “That is true, and funny. Thank you.” He needed to get back to work.

“You're serving so much more than dinner, my friend. Okay, byeeee! Thanks for your hard work, Felix!” Said Ivanna.

Something that, with hard and dedication, could perhaps one day resemble a salad was being carried out. Ivanna completely forgot! This was a dinner!

“Ooh!” Ivanna gasped excitedly, “What is that avant-garde bullshit!” She said, intrigued. She started to follow one of the salad-to-be plates when a loud noise, like a shuffling, caught her attention.

She turned to find that Some Guy seemed to have been just…punched in the face? Ivanna gasped.

“Oh my god!….anyway, salad. She returned to her seat, to find that she had been served one of the pre-salads… and a glass of wine.

She was more of a rum and coke gal…or mango beer…or margaritas…but this was a fancy place. She had to try to be fancy. The thought of drinking wine was always weird to her, but Wines was her (non-drag) surname, it was time to live up to it. Sitting down, she was finally able to notice who was sitting on the other side of her, a blonde lady with immaculate vibes. There was something almost magical about her. Ivanna tried to look fancy and composed as she sipped the wine, immediately failing once she actually tasted it. She coughed a little. “Oh…g-gosh. That's…uh. That's. Wow. A…fine…year.” Said Ivanna, trying to compose herself.

Château de La Lune

---

---

Ivanna (Brendan)

---

Location: Château de La Lune
Skills: N/A

---

---

Whoever was in the bathroom had exited by the time Ivanna got in. Too bad. They wanted to meet a new friend.

Fancy dump was even fancier than expected. Which meant that it had to be the first dump. What was that other person doing in here if not using the toilet? Were they just splashing in the sink water? Did Ivanna have a splashy weirdo for a bathroommate? They kinda hoped so.

Ivanna washed their hands and then lingered in the restroom a moment longer, pulling their phone from their pocket and staring at the text history with the only person they ever texted anymore. They wanted desperately to tell everything…no. Ivanna put their phone away and opened the bathroom door.

There is a knock on the door of the bedroom. A deep male voice calls out. “I am here for your dinner card.”

“Oh! Yes, coming!” Ivanna rifled through all the stuff on the desk to re-find the dinner card and made her way, opening the door.

An older man waits on the other side. “Hello, uh, mademoiselle. I am here for your dinner card. Your bags are ready for you as well.” He gestures behind him where Ivanna’s bags are waiting.

Ivanna hands him the dinner card, “Slay, thank you so much. Oh, my stuff! Thank you. Oh, uh, I’m Ivanna, who are you?” Ivanna held out one hand while also kicking the smaller bags into her room with one foot.

“I am Felix Wadsworth, the butler for the La Lunes. It is a pleasure to meet you, mademoiselle.” He takes the card, placing it carefully in his jacket pocket and helps her bring in the bags. He seems offended by her treatment of the bags.

“Your name is Wadsworth? Have you ever thought of going into drag? That’s an amazing drag name,” Said Ivanna, getting the last of the bags in. “Or do you prefer to stay in…butling? Butlering? Butleelerr…ing…”

“My joy is being the best butler I can be,” Wadsworth said. He smiled slightly. “Have a good evening mademoiselle, if you need anything please feel free to ask and I will endeavor to meet your needs. Dinner will be promptly at five.”

“Hell yeah,” Said Ivanna, “Nice to meet you, you’re slaying the butling game. See you at din din, Felix.”

“Thank you.” He gives a slight head nod and exits the room knocking on the next door.

"Ooh! Ooh! Oh my god, Felix, I just thought of something hilarious--oh, he's gone. I'll tell him at dinner.

Ivanna checked the time on her phone. They said to wear something fancy...what was fancy? Sequins, right? That was fancy. Ivanna changed as quickly as a drag queen could, now in a sequined jumpsuit, with an even more sequined belt and matching high heels and choker necklace. Their nails now also had sequins, and a few fake gems were on their makeup.

They did some slight further unpacking, putting clothes in drawers, some of their makeup on the nightstand, and their stuffed rooster, Cockamamie, (who was also in drag, of course) on the bed, tucking her in under the covers. Ivanna checked the time and found it was up. "See you later, Cockamamie," She said to the rooster plush, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do, or answer the door for strangers. No, wait, do answer the door for strangers and see if you can figure out anything about the note...I'm... talking to a plushie." Ivanna saluted the rooster before rushing their way downstairs, losing only a couple of sequins along the way.

Of course, they were aware that this was a fancy foyer full of fancy people, and not RuPaul's Werkroom...that wouldn't stop Ivanna from testing out a grand entrance. They had to practice for when the world noticed their talent. If the world noticed their talent.

Ivanna hesitated, then walked into the room at the very last second they could before being late, hoping that not too many others were gonna be coming last second and missing their grand entrance.

"I called mother...she said I could slay for dinner!" Ivanna struck a grand pose and held it for a few seconds, then death dropped before slowly opening their eyes and standing up, trying and failing to not to be obvious about the fact that they were checking if anyone was impressed by their entrance.

The Dead Don't Die.

---

---

Juniper Mayfield

Location: Beyond the Veil
Skills: N/A

Juniper was more than fine with getting out of the city, which surprised him. He should be at least a little sad about getting out of the place he'd lived almost his whole life, with no idea of when he was going back, but at this point he was just his will to survive. If it's dangerous out here, he'd get out for as long as needed.

He really, really didn't want to die, but he also really, really didn't want whoever that was outside the bar to die either. He nodded at Waverly's advice about not using the guns yet. That was smart and maybe also something he, the zombie expert, should have already thought of, but whatever. As long as someone thought of it. He had no good weapon, but if he needed to defend himself surely he'd find something. He stepped towards Waverly, standing behind her, eyes darting around looking for something he could use if he needed to, growing increasingly worried he would need to.

Château de La Lune

---

---

Ivanna (Brendan)

---

Location: Château de La Lune
Skills: N/A

---

---

Ivanna had her hand on the doorknob to the bathroom when she the sound of the door opening from the other side. Dangit! Whoever she was sharing a bathroom with had beaten her to taking a fancy dump! The poop would be much less fancy not being the first. Defeated, she turned back to her room. A place as old and fancy as this, there was definite secret tunnels underneath, maybe the entrance was in her room? A queen could dream, at least. She went to check under the bed but got distracted by something on the desk. There was a schedule, not that an improv queen like her needed one. She tucked it in her pocket just in case. There was a history of the hotel--boring, no mention of secret tunnels. A card asking what she wanted for dinner, she circled steak because she was a queen of standards. She picked up the card, wondering if she was supposed to leave it here or hand it to someone or--what was that underneath?

A small note.

Ivanna hadn't asked herself many questions when she agreed to join the contest, but occasionally one would pop into her mind on the ride over. Who were these people? Was the contest legit? Was it safe? Was she worthy? Were snacks going to be provided?

But there was one question she hadn't thought to ask.

Who nominated her?

The edges of the note grew damp with sweat from Ivanna's hand as she re-read the single sentence on the note. How did she not consider this? Apparently, someone had. She briefly considered eating the note, to dispose of the evidence, but decided against it. She should keep it, in case she needed to prove she was being blackmailed...was she being blackmailed? Were they just asking a question? Maybe someone was just very curious about who nominated her, and only capable of communicating through creepy note? She hid the paper somewhere no one would find it.

But the question of who nominated her still stood. Ivanna's chest ached as she thought about it. The note didn't say anything about who did the nominating. Not that it needed too.

Wait, who knew about--

"Ah, dammit, I still really need the bathroom."

Ivanna bolted back to the bathroom. It sounded like whoever was in there was just washing their hands, but just in case, Ivanna knocked and gave a warning:

"Hey bathroomie, it's me! I kinda can't hold it any longer, so hide what needs hiding, cos I'm gonna come in! Protest now, or forever hold your pee!" Ivanna gave a few moments for them to get dressed before cautiously opening the door, as slowly as possible to still give them more time.

Château de La Lune

---

---

Ivanna (Brendan)

---

Location: Ivanna's sad little apartment, Los Angelos, CA
Skills: N/A

---

---

Ivanna always loved when a story started with a mysterious envelope.

Narratively speaking, letters are a captivating way to start a story. Grammatically speaking, they are the only way to start a story.

Ivanna knew there was something special about a fancy envelope with both her names, though she failed to recall any stories where drag queens got to go do cool things after getting a mysterious letter. She started to slide one of her fake nails under to open it when she heard footsteps down the stairs. She put the letter back on top of the pile of mail, then flipped it so that the letter was hidden under the usual bills and coupons for random resturants, placing it on her counter just as her best friend, Superfetch, returned from the upstairs bathroom. Ivanna didn't know where this instinct to hide things from their bestie was coming from, but she still scooted the mail pile away a little further before Superfetch returned and threw her arms around Ivanna. They'd been shooting makeup videos, both in drag, like they did every weekend, unless one of them was competing in something. It would be hours until Superfetch finally left, and Ivanna got to actually open the letter.

Who were these people? Why did they want Ivanna? It didn't matter. She was going to go. She decided that before she'd even finished reading the letter.

---

---

Location: Château de La Lune
Skills: N/A

---

---

The plane flight had been amazing. No one else was on the plane, except for a flight attendant. They didn't run out of Terra Blue chips, and Ivanna had gotten a record-breaking low number of panic attacks: seven. Maybe she was getting over her fear of planes, although the flight attendant would not agree. Ivanna took some time to fix her running mascara--no, she did not regret taking the entire plane flight in full drag--and made her way.

The Chateto or whatever it was called was so to Ivanna's taste. So fancy, so over-the-top. She was lead to a board that posted room assignments.

"Ugh, that's the photo they used of me? I've looked way hotter..."

Ivanna found their way to their room and was pleased to find some absolute design...choices, blue flower print everywhere, as if her dead grandma's exact couch had exploded and taken over the entire room. Beautiful. She'd been told there was an hour until dinner, but knowing old people, Ivanna was expecting it to be at least two hours. Thank Ru she was already in drag! That would not be enough time. It did mean she didn't have anything to do for two hours...she was tempted to photograph the room and send it to Superfetch, who would absolutly hate how much granny it was giving, but stopped. She hadn't told Fetch she was here. She hadn't told anyone. She hoped she could find some other drag performers around somewhere. She hadn't seen anyone in drag yet, but surely there were some somewhere, for her to compete against? What even was this competetion? Should she have thought before she came here? Should she have told someone? Should--oh wait, there was a door on the other side of the room! That must be the bathroom! If it was even half as nice as the rest of the Chatito, then it was time for Ivanna to finally take the fancy dump she'd deserved all her life.

The Dead Don't Die.

---

---

Juniper Mayfield

Location: Beyond the Veil
Skills: N/A

Juniper felt a weird relief when he heard Waverly declare that the beings were zombies. Then he felt a little weird at the fact it brought him comfort. Probably it was just that having a label for something makes it easier. Plus, Juniper knew about zombies, though his thoughts felt a little scrambled right now, he was having difficulty recalling everything he'd spent all that time studying about zombies. Faintly he could hear Stacy talking about how the bar had some supplies that could be useful.

Juniper tuned back in more as he was told that it would be safe to stay in the bar, even if for only an hour or two. He didn't want to cause commotion while everyone was trying to rest, but his anxious thoughts were building. Eventually he did say something,

"What about after that? We have to like, figure out where else is safe....if anywhere? Or is the whole world zombie'd?"

The Dead Don't Die.

---

---

Juniper Mayfield

Location: Beyond the Veil
Skills: N/A

Juniper watched, feeling a little awkward as all the people who knew each other talked. He stood by the bar unsteadily, not sure what to say as they discussed another person he didn't know. In his mind he tried to think of different things to say, should he ask who this other person was or just say quiet? Or should he be focusing his attention on what was going on outside...? He turned back towards the window.

He turned back hearing the mention of looters and evacuation. "Looters?" He paused awkwardly trying to figure out what to say or even if he should be interupting at all right now. "Do we need to go...or...I don't mean to rush anyone."

The Dead Don't Die.

---

---

Juniper Mayfield

Location: Beyond the Veil
Skills: N/A

Juniper waved awkwardly to Ameer and Stacy, completely unsure of what to make of new people. Waverly was still kind of stranger to him, evn Kaitlyn was kind of stranger to him. Then he glanced back over his shoulder at the military vehicles. These people were still more trustworthy. As Waverly continued talking, he glanced around the bar, taking in every detail. It felt weird to be in a bar, one that didn't look to far off from the ones he'd perform at, while still knowing that the world outside was in all this chaos.

He brought his attention back to the real world just as Waverly was placing a hand on a radio and introducing it. As scared as he was of the situation he couldn't help but smile at the name. He laughed a little, feeling a little at ease from Waverly's friendliness. "AM and FMy. I get it." He laughed a little, "That's a genius-y name." . Slowly and unsure if he was allowed, he stepped slightly closer to look at the radio.