lostcarnival | ⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 1

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⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 1

Who: Anyone, anywhere in Portland.
When: October 1st - 7th, 2017
Where: Portland area, in the new reality.
What: Memories begin returning to the displaced as the fall gets chillier. How the hell did we end up here, again? Also, apparently, the fair is in town.
Warnings: Individually marked!

PORTLAND BY NIGHT↴

Memory regains will come into effect at the beginning of October, to whatever degree you've decided upon, and may be regained at whatever pace you desire from then on. For those with their full carnival memories, it will be like waking up in the body of someone else - for those with half and half, it will be like rapidly recalling sets of memories from a totally different life. Those with full amnesia will simply feel as if this is how it's always been.

Unfortunately for you, memories aren't the only thing you have to deal with. The supernatural community of Portland is bustling all of a sudden - could your presence and these events somehow be related?

► THE OUTER CIRCLE: As of the start of the month, the Portland Circle of Enlightenment will find itself starting to get swarmed with members from other chapters. Most notably, it would seem that a small cabal of top mages from the North American Enlightenment Council will be making their home in Portland's HQ. For anyone but the highest of ranks, the purpose behind their visit will be unclear, but it seems like something is definitely up on a metaphysical level. The Circle will be buzzing with rumours of unique planar activity and threatening omens. It seems that it all started with an unusual flare of activity in the planetary ley-lines, starting approximately a week ago. However, even if you would usually be the type to keep tabs on such things, you will find that you oddly have no memory of observing this phenomenon yourself.

► THE ANIMAL FAIR: Good news, the fair is in town! Or, at least, it would be good news... if this was a regular fair. Instead, what's being observed is a bunch of nearly identical flyers, spread all around Portland - each of which bears only the words "THE ANIMAL FAIR", a seemingly bloody paw-print of unknown origin, and the directions to a vague forested location outside of the city. It's dated for October 7th, and all instances of its posting having been discovered with a scattering of rose petals, crow feathers, and pre-burnt matches laying on the ground around them. Most are taking this to be some kind of bizarre viral marketing campaign, but others may know better.

► THE EARTH SPIRIT: If you have connections to The Pack or any of its many variations, you'll probably hear whispers of something very odd that occurred last week - according to the elders, it sounds as if the Earth Spirit, the magical and spiritual center of the planet, has suddenly taken a wound. It's not clear why or how, but there is a fair bit of concern among spiritual types, as it is werebeast belief and nebulous magical fact that the magical forces within the earth are the source of all magic here, as well as the source of life. While many werebeasts claim to have felt the Spirit succumb, you strangely have no memory of such an event occurring. Though things do feel strange, if you know how to tap into the Spirit yourself.

► THE WAR CRY: Though Anath's rain of terror across North America lasted for the first fifteen years or so of the Severing, most independent demons have had enough time to start taking the arch-demon's relative inactivity for granted. For that first while, the warrior queen had seemed determine to rebuild an army on earth by forcing her scattered brethren into service - only for her to gradually settle down in a fortress somewhere in Texas and dig in her heels. Of course, this was too good to last - it sounds as if she and her demonic legion have begun tearing their way up the west coast, their goals remaining a mystery. Their destination, however, is almost certainly Portland.

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It's not uncommon for kids to make their way to the Sanctuary, and Yuya realizes he's lucky that he had a relative take him in despite his supernaturalness. Still, seeing Steven sleeping in the chair makes him stop. That's probably not as comfortable as a bed.

He approaches Steven and moves to put a light, gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Hey." He speaks low, trying not startle him. "Hey, wake up."

Steven apparently isn't sleeping super deeply, because he startles awake as soon as he's touched, already starting to babble out an apology. He didn't mean to fall asleep! He swears he's trying to work! He's just so tired...

But then, as his eyes focus, he realizes who he's looking at and where he is. His rose petal wings have floofed up, but then they settle again, folding nervously behind his back and beneath the blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

Yuuya tried really hard not to scare him but apparently that's nearly impossible at the moment. Steven blinks at him, still a little stunned.

"Hi," he says, quietly.

Yuya lifts his hands up in a pose of surrender. "Uh--sorry!" He chuckles, bringing his hands back down with an abashed expression, putting his hands on his hips. If he's scared, he's probably new. So Yuya smooths his expression to be as friendly as possible.

" I'm not going to make you work. What are you doing sleeping out here? Did they give you a room yet?"

Edited 2017-06-02 19:00 (UTC)

Steven is embarrassed for his outburst, but at least he isn't immediately frightened anymore. He flushes a little, looking away.

"Yeah... I just..." He trails off, not really sure how to talk about it. "I wanted to be out where other people were, in case... something happened, I guess."

"Did you just escape recently?" He asks bluntly, crouching down closer to Steven's level. He's heard what Changelings have to go through, and that's what he assumes Steven is by appearance alone. "Miss Helen keeps this place really safe, so you don't have to worry. But if you're scared I can stay with you for a while? My name's Yuya."

Steven grimaces slightly, and then nods. Is it really that obvious? He glances at the wing over his shoulder, and self consciously touches the thorns growing in his hair like a horn tiara. Yeah, it probably is.

"I'm Steven," he says, a little more stable. "I just... I got out a few days ago." The further he is away from it, the more messed up it all seems. Which is impressive, since it was pretty messed up to begin with. "I'm worried she gunna..."

He trails off, not wanting to say it, shaking his head a little. He doesn't want to jinx it.

"You're not going to have to go anywhere you don't want to," Yuya reassures with a smile. It's a round about way of saying it, but if Steven isn't ready to voice that thought then he won't either.

"Are you hungry? I think the kitchen is almost always open here."

Yuya doesn't really have anywhere he has to be, right now. He figures he can stay with Steven until he's less skittish about the Sanctuary.

He probably needs food, on a biological level. He's just been so stressed lately, his body has written off the idea of eating completely. It's more Yuuya's welcoming personality that makes him want to come along than the offer of food. He nods a little, smiling slightly. He appreciates what everyone is doing a lot, even if trusting people is really hard right now.

"Sure," he says, sitting up a little. He's wearing an oversized sweatshirt beneath, with a hole cut in the back for his rose petal wings. His wings stretch out as he stands, stiff from sleeping in the chair. He'll follow Yuuya to the kitchen, and eventually he'll speak up along the way.

"Why are you here?" he asks.

Yuya straightens up and lets Steven make it to his side before her turns to accompany him to the kitchen. Of course, he watches the wings as they move--subtly, but he's always interested in the mote obvious ways that other people are unique.

"I only visit, but I've been coming to the Sanctuary to learn how to use my ESP for a while." He stretches his arms out and wiggles his fingers. "They're all really nice here, and people have helped me a lot. I don't break things unless I mean to anymore!"

Mostly. He laughs.

"You have... ESP?" he asks, and he sound like he's a little bit in awe. Like, factually speaking, it's not like he hasn't seen plenty of crazy shit in Faerie, but it sounds more impressive when a human's doing it. Also that sounds way more scifi than usual.

"What can you do with it?" he asks, actually sounding sort of enthusiastic about something, which is a first in this conversation. He's opening up, just a little bit.

Yuya nods emphatically. "Yeah! I have telekinesis, which means moving things with my mind. And, uh, I'm kind of an empath."

That's an understatement, but being really in tune with nearby emotions is always a little more awkward to explain. And it doesn't wow people as much as making books float. "I've had it since I was little, but I wasn't always good at controlling it."

Well, Steven must be a lot of fun to be around right now, then. That conceptually feels familiar to Steven for some reason, but he's not sure why. Steven realizes that he's staring vacantly at Yuuya a few moments too late, and half smiles in apology.

"That's pretty cool," he says. "My dad, he could..." But, he stops there, as if remembering something unpleasant halfway through his thought. His dad had been a warlock for his mom, and... his powers can always been hers, hadn't they?

Sorry, Yuuya, he's not doing too great at communicating properly right now.

"Yeah?" Yuya tilts his head, turning his gaze away so he doesn't stare himself. He developed a habit quickly of looking at the floor when someone started to feel strongly... it probably makes him look shy if he wasn't so talkative.

"Your dad was supernatural too?" Maybed his father was the fairy? But fsiries don't lose their abilities, did they? "What's he like?"

Steven bundles his over-long sleeves around himself scrunching up his face to try to avert the inevitable crying session that feels like it's coming on.

"He's... a human. I'm not anymore," he says, more like he's working through a thought that having a conversation. "I never was?"

He grabs at his belly reflectively, remembering a flash of old pain. He can still feel it, under his shirt. He starts tearing up, because he feels so helpless like this - this boy is just trying to talk to him like a normal person but he can't stop having some kind of crazy episode every other sentence. He hates it, and more than anything, he wishes he could make it stop.

Yuya purses his lips and tries not to cringe--Steven's pain isn't awkward, he can't hold it against him at all. But that tugging of doubt and tears is making his throat hurt. Maybe it was a bad topic, but he can't just ignore that it made Steven upset.

He moves to put his hand on Steven's head, to stop them both for a moment. He takes a deep breath, then turns to look at Steven. "Hey, that's okay. You're not alone there. I bet you're still great."

Steven stares at Yuuya, tears trickling down his cheeks. It might seem out of nowhere, but Steven finds himself acting regardless, driven by instinct and need. He suddenly moves to wrap his arms around Yuuya in a clinging hug.

Feeling like he can touch people, like he can be touched, is the only thing that makes any if this feel like it's real.

Unfortunately, he's still got all those thorns under his shirt.

Yuya snaps his teeth with a short yelp as the thorns prick his skin--thankfully he has enough clothes they aren't tearing too much. He's quick to silence himself before he crouches down to his knees and wraps his arms around Steven as well. It stings, but a little bit of needling to his skin doesn't compare to the heartache that's coming from Steven. He won't push him away after something like that.

"Everything's going to be okay now. Promise." His tone is absolutely certain, because even if that isn't something he can make sure of himself he has every bit of faith in the Sanctuary, Miss Helen, and... surely Steven's Dad, too. They don't all reject their children for being different, right?

Steven hears him, but he's not sure if he can believe it yet. Still, the sentiment helps. It takes him a little while to calm down after that, trying to convince himself that Yuuya would protect him for the time being. He's got too much stuff to sort out right now, and every time he thinks of something new, all the progress he's made seems to tumble down again.

Eventually he'll sniff and pull away, nodding slightly as he wipes his nose on his sleeve. He was emotional enough that he forgot about his thorns this time, but if he knew he had prickled Yuuya he would feel terrible.

He fishes for Yuuya's hand though, and tries to keep hold of it.

Yuya gives Steven's hand a gentle squeeze and lets him hold on. He offers him a smile, speaking lowly to keep his own voice from wavering. "What's your favorite food? If they don't have it, I bet they can make it."

There's no earthy reason this should be such a difficult question, but over the last few years he's not had much choice or variety in diet. Everything he's eaten has been fruit or things like it... he can barely remember what anything else tastes like, with the way his thoughts are so jumbled.

He pauses uncertainly, trying to come up with the right words.

"A donut?" he asks, like he isn't sure himself.

"Donuts are great!" Not as great as pancakes, although he's not really sure why he thinks those are better... well, they're feeding Steven anyway.

He stands back up to take Steven to the kitchen with a little more pep in his step. With the variety of diets and people the kitchen serves at all hours, when they get there donuts are not at all hard to find. It's an American staple after all.

Yuya points at the selection. "You can probably have more than one if you want. Go ahead and pick!"

Steven is surprised to see how well stocked everything is, whether its sensible or not. He hasn't really been spoiled for choice, historically, so suddenly having options again is weird. He stares at the selection for a long pause, before eventually picking out a chocolate one.

His appetite still isn't very enthusiastic about anything, but the treat tickles something in his memories that feels more vivid than usual. Donuts are something comfortable and routine, aren't they?

The sudden rush of familiarity gives him pause, which just results in him kind of staring at the donut for a weirdly long time. He misses his dad, he thinks, with a sudden intensity.

Tentatively, he tries to take a bite, and his expression upon doing so is mixed. Mostly, it's just kind of surprising.

Yuya picks just a plain glazed donut himself. While Steven stares dumbly at the donut, Yuya puts a gentle hand on the top of his head--just a feeling of comfort while he copes. It has to be overwhelming, this sudden rush of changes. He wonders when Steven was taken away by the Fae... but that's not a question he should ask right now.

Especially not with that feeling of loss he's picking up.

He takes a big, messy bite of his donut and attempts to say something to Steven--something that just gets horribly muffled in the dough and glaze and frankly, isn't really coherent.

He swallows and tries again. "These are pretty good! Bob doesn't let me eat stuff like this all the time, and never this late."

He swallows, letting the sensations of it sink in. It's a different texture than he's become accustomed to, and its nice. He relaxes a little bit with that realization, and then looks up to Yuuya, seeming genuinely curious.

"Who's Bob?" he asks. Is that his dad? If he is, why is he calling him Bob?

"Bob's my guardian." Yuya waves his hand, taking another bite of the donut. A small bite, but not one that stops him from talking while he's chewing. "My third uncle removed. He's been looking after me since I was six."

The Sanctuary

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