[OPEN] how long is forever?

[atouts]

WHO: Childermass & anyone.
WHAT: Childermass returns from his unfortunate vacation in the Matrix.
WHERE: The carnival, Trailer #19, the cookhouse.
WHEN: End of D32, on into D33.
WARNINGS: Mentions of torture, will update if anything else comes up.

[ D32, by the tree phones; closed to the first person to find him ]

Why he'd been released after giving so little information, Childermass can't be sure.

He wondered if they had picked up anyone else, someone more likely to talk about the carnival than he was. Perhaps that had made it less useful to keep at him, when someone else was more chatty, although if that were the case, they sure didn't mind trying to keep on "convincing" him. After all that effort, just to have him wake up back in the zoo, intact again, for the most part (the memory of broken fingers still has him rubbing his knuckles, often and uncomfortably). Part of him — the sensible, forever cautious part — wanted to stay and find out, to know, but the rest of him was exhausted. Caution be damned, he needed to get out, so that was exactly what he did.

Funny how only a few days ago he was telling Mr. Strange how bizarre it was to already consider the carnival home, but stumbling to the nearest phone and finding himself back among the trees, with that mad circus up ahead, is a relief. Back at last, after nearly five days of missing, he'll let out a sigh and lean heavily against the same tree the phone is hooked up to.

Now here's a man who looks worse for wear, but at least he's still standing, right?

[Late D32-D33; open to all]

Afterwards, whatever it is that comes afterwards, Childermass will be wisely leaving his supervisor a note about taking a day off to rest — if that's no problem, of course — and then holing up in his trailer to, for the most part, sleep. It won't be very restful, though, so more often than not he'll be found up with tea, trying and failing to write for any real length of time, or spending an awful lot of time staring at ceiling from where he should, but isn't, sleeping.

Basically, trying to avoid everyone, but he'll probably answer the door if someone shows up, assuming they're polite about it at all. Considering the door isn't actually locked, the odds on that might be against him.

Or, failing all attempts to get some actual rest, on the day after his return, one might find him having, by some miracle, made his way to the cookhouse. If only for some coffee and to — again — get absolutely nowhere with writing in one of his various memo books.

Comments

[pipers_son]

“Ha. I’ll note that.” The tent can handle fire getting a little out of control, as can most places in the carnival, he’s sure. However, well, other workers… Particularly those made out of, say, wood… Well. Not as easy. Still, he has a sneaking suspicion it’s going to take a lot of work convincing Strange out of it.

For now, he shakes his head. “It was just a call ta make sure ya were doin’ alright. Have ya asked for the cooks or Zecora for somethin’ ta help ya sleep? I’m sure either of them could whip up some sorta potion or the like.”

[atouts]

Easier than he might think, if Strange is already guilting himself over setting Childermass on fire. Though that isn't something he'll mention himself, even if he does still wear the telltale evidence of a bandage wrapped neatly about one hand.

"Ah, no," he admits to not having asked either of those for, well, anything. The cooks are less of a problem, but he's already avoided Zecora for this long. He's not about to break that lucky streak. "I would prefer not to rely on potions for such a mundane problem."

And after saying that, he'll leave off leaning against the door frame, looking as though he only just remembered something. Probably his manners, because he'll step back from the door a moment and gesture back towards the inside of the trailer.

"I'm sorry. Did you want to come in?"

On one hand, leaving his boss to stand outside when they could be sitting probably shouldn't be a thing. On the other, the Doctor's side of the trailer is likely an unholy mess, but there's not much Childermass can do about that.

[pipers_son]

Well, Joker won’t blame him much for that. By all means, he’s gotten used to the ridiculous and magical for all sorts of solutions- the wooden arm functioning as his only good one is a testament to that. Probably plenty of mundane ways he could have been brought back to fine health, but, well, he supposes the Ringmaster thought it’d be faster, or more interesting. Either way, well, it’s certainly set his view on magical solving the mundane.

But he knows it’s unreasonable for other people, especially those still so new to the carnival, to immediately think the same. Especially people like Childermass, who know the tricky business that dealing with the Fair Folk can be. Sure, none of the cooks or Zecora are that, but, still. It’s enough to make a man wary.

At the invitation, Joker gives a polite bow of his head. “Well, if ya don’t mind…” Making sure to keep his wings tucked in close and his antlers not smashing into anything, he steps in. The Doctor’s chaos isn’t anything new for him, earning just a faint amused smirk if anything, before he looks for a place to at least lean against. “Sorry that you’ve got such a, ha, excitable roommate, but that sorta thing is a bit outta my control.”

[atouts]

"I do not," Childermass assures him, letting him by.

Once Joker is in, he'll close the door again and retreat to find his own spot to sit. For the most part, he's taken over the table attached to the side of the trailer, which has at least two little journals laid out on it and a variety of other pieces of paper. It's neater than anything of the Doctor's, but it's also clear enough that he's at least been trying to keep busy if he cannot sleep.

Whether he's been successful at it is uncertain, since that's a lot of attempts at drawing something out on those papers, only to be crossed and scribbled out again. Those, though, he'll shove to the back of the table when he sits down at it.

"Oh, he's fine. He doesn't seem to stay here all that often, so it hasn't been an issue yet, nor is he quite as bad as certain other gentlemen."

And no one needs a full three guesses to figure out who that is, right?

[pipers_son]

Interesting work, but Joker knows better than to give it any more than a passing glance. Not because he’s polite- frankly he’s the exact opposite at times- but he knows when things are liable to go over his head and now seems like one of those times. He’s a clever guy, he likes to think, or else he wouldn’t be where he is, but he’s not exactly academic. With his workload even before he took on the wardrobe manager position recently, he’s not even thought to change that about himself.

“Well, he’s quick as a whip, if ya can get him ta slow down. Ya might find interestin’ things ta talk with him about, although you’ll have ta forgive him when he goes a little…. Ah, what’s the word… off the rails?”

[atouts]

Not as academic as he might think, in this case, at least not in the case of the drawings. The notes, on the other hand, would definitely cross that line, even though Childermass himself would be surprised to ever know that he'd just been considered academic in any sense. Never mind that it's probably truer than he'd like to admit...

But that's all been pushed aside, more to move the scribbled out failures than anything else.

"Getting him to slow down must be the trick I've yet to discover, then. Much of what he does go on about feels a little beyond myself..."

Aliens aren't really a thing in his England.

"Not that I mind. I've spent a good portion of my life listening to men ramble on about magic, so what's one more rambling on about something else entirely?"

[pipers_son]

“Yeah, he’s a bit spacey,” Joker says, and grins.

Childermass isn’t going to get that joke. It’s debatable how many of the people in the carnival right now would, actually, considering things. That’s not going to stop him at all from finding it hilarious as his own private joke.

Moving on… He gives an understanding nod. “Eventually, listen ta enough of his chatter, and ya start ta puzzle out what he’s goin’ on about, too. It takes a while, but, hey, some folks are quick when it comes ta that. Just… probably best ta make sure that him and Strange don’t stick around each other for too long. Might enable each other inta somethin’.”

[atouts]

He's right, Childermass does not get the joke. One might even say it passes so far over his head that it's in orbit (which is another joke he would never get). Yeah, he frowns briefly, but he lets it pass. Joker is a strange man and not even the strangest, so he gets a lot of leeway here.

Oh, but he will grimace noticeably at the very thought of the Doctor and Strange meeting.

"Now there's something I'll be stopping at any cost. I'm not sure the carnival would survive those two teaming up, especially for a magic act..."

[pipers_son]

“Just tell me if they start talkin’ ta one another.” Joker waves his hand about. “I can’t make any guarantees that I can make ‘em stop once they’ve gotten started, but I can at least… I dunno. Smack ‘em upside the head and distract ‘em for a minute so that disaster is averted for a little bit.” Sometimes in the carnival, that’s the most you ask for.

"But if either of 'em get ta be too much, let me know, and yer free ta use my trailer ta rest in for a while if ya care ta. I haven't been usin' it much lately myself."

[atouts]

"I think I'll be more than capable of dragging Strange away if it does come to that," Childermass will at least try to reassure Joker on that point. No real need to get more people involved, if something like that even becomes a problem. For the most part, it might just be funny.

Although the offer to use the trailer does get a curious look, a raised eyebrow. Why wouldn't he be using his own trailer that much lately...? Does the man not sleep? But he won't pry.

"Well, if you're sure about that, thank you. I'll keep that in mind."

And hope he never has to. He has no idea what he'd find in a trailer like Joker's, but considering the man's sense of style, well. It would probably be an awful lot of pink.

[pipers_son]

More like he hasn’t been sleeping much, coasting on more naps than anything, he has to admit. Then again, that’s what happens when you have a skeleton crew in half the carnival. It hadn’t been half this bad in the aftermath of a certain attack, but, then, they hadn’t been doing a whole lot of performing then, had they?

For now, however, he waggles his fingers in easy dismissal at the thanks. “Nothin’ ta thank me for. I’m yer stage manager- watchin’ after my lot, especially with the kind of things that can happen, is the least I can do.” Some of the other supervisors might not have this kind of view, with only Psi being as nosy as he is, but it’s how he thinks. To him, in some way, circuses will always mean family.

Best not to tell folks that, however, because they tend to get funny about it. Instead, he just says, “All ya would have ta do is let me know ahead of time. It can be a bit messy sometimes, and I wouldn’t want ya walking through anything.” His words are finished off with a chuckle.

[atouts]

Sleep is a thing people need, Joker. Come on now... Not that Childermass would have much room to chide him over that, even if he did know. It's not like he's catching up on any much needed sleep over here, either.

"Of course. Although, for some reason, I can't help but imagine it's full of fish bags and terrible shirts," Childermass says lightly enough. Sure, the previous situation was god awful, but he can still take the time to comment upon Joker's bad taste. "Still, I think I'd rather survive those given the choice between that or endless ravings."

[pipers_son]

“Hey now!” Joker’s snickering shows he’s, once again, not particularly offended. Childermass got fortunate that his boss is easy going and hard to really bother. “I’ll have ya know that I only have a couple of those left.” His fingers rap along the tabletop- a little sharply, but only because they’re wood instead of any meaning behind them. “Didn’t know how many folks we would end up recruitin’, so I thought better a little more than runnin’ out early.”

[atouts]

"If not those, then something equally ridiculous," he'll shoot back, but it's still in good humor. He's well aware Joker's the easy-going one, which is a nice change of pace as far as bosses went. "You seem the type."

[pipers_son]

“Well, you’ll have ta find out for yerself, won’t ya?” Joker’s grin is a little sly before he considers something. “Anyway, I’m a lot neater than ya might think. I used ta do a bit of butlerin’, when I wasn’t runnin’ a circus of my own back in England. Easier ta travel around a lot, too, when ya don’t have ta run around like a chicken without its head.” And it’s fine to admit that little bit about his history, he thinks. No one here would recognize Kelvin’s name if he said it, and he doesn’t to tell anymore than he cares to. All his secrets can remain as such.

[atouts]

Now that's unexpected. Of all the people he would have pegged to be in charge of someone's household-- well, no, that's insincere. Joker is a strange man, but he does manage one of the larger staffs in the carnival. Maybe it's less it being unexpected and more his own bias.

Still, he leans back and raises his eyebrows at the admission, somewhat surprised.

"Really? Then perhaps I am wrong, though I must admit it's hard to imagine you stuck wearing black."

[pipers_son]

That makes him laugh again, a little harder than before. “Ya wouldn’t be the first! Too somber a color for someone like me. If God wanted me ta not standout, he wouldn’t have given me red hair.” Joker winks playfully. It’s probably true, anyway. A redhead in East End? He was always going to stand out.

“I always feel like I’m goin’ ta a funeral when I dress in black, anyway… No offense, of course.”

[atouts]

Red hair and the personality to go with the attention, at that, but he won't say as much. It'd be just as easy to take that as a compliment (something Childermass rarely gives out, anyhow) as it would a curse.

"None taken," he'll assure Joker. He knows how stuffy he looks compared to everyone else here. That some of the more modern types around take him as being dressed "fancily" because of it is something he's found endlessly funny. "Considering the change in occupation, I should rethink the lack of color someday, but some habits may be too hard to break."

[pipers_son]

Honestly, Joker wouldn’t mind dressing ‘fancily’ on a more regular basis again. Don’t get him wrong, he loves all the other fashions he’s come to see in his travels while part of the carnival, but there’s something reassuring about his usual circus-wear: jackets and waistcoats and patterns marring the usual sensible English fashion just a little bit. But there’s only so much trouble he’s willing to go through on a regular basis, and he saves it for performance weeks.

Still, he grins for now. “Well, if yer ever interested, let me know. I’m sure we could add a little color, liven things up. I bet you'll look fetchin' in bright green.”

[atouts]

"Bright green?" Childermass can't even decide if Joker's being serious about that or still joking around. It could very well be both. "That... is certainly not a color I'd considered before. I am not sure bright anything would suit me all that well."

Baby steps, okay?

But it feels like the topic has gone off on a long, winding tangent. It isn't that Childermass minds that — quite the opposite — but he can't avoid the original reason Joker's visiting forever. He'll lean off of the table, sitting up straighter.

"Though it's only getting later, isn't it? If you're confident enough that I'm not about to keel over at any moment, I am sure you have better things to be getting to."

[pipers_son]

“Of course, of course~.” Chuckling, Joker gets up again. He’s done his duty, which is getting Childermass to imagine himself in an obnoxious color, so really what more can he ask for? That the man isn’t sleeping well is still a little worrying, but he’ll just have to hope it works out. Sometimes, the only cure is the passage of time.

“Keep in mind what I said about Koel or any of the other cooks helpin', alright?”