It's a dangerous business, going out your door.

[empty_vessel]

WHO: Jimmy Novak and everyone.
WHAT: Orientation, changes, and wandering during breaks.
WHERE: Trailer #12 or various locations around the Carnival.
WHEN: The day after his arrival. (D33-ish.)
WARNINGS: None.




The first day on the new job was always overwhelming. So much information thrown at you that it was hard to keep track of it all. Trailer, clothes, kitchen, grounds.... It all blurred together into one giant mess of light and sound. It was better during the day, but that wasn't saying much. It was still a lot to take in.

And the new additions didn't make things any easier. The horns he could kind of live with (mostly by hiding them under a hat) but the ears were going to drive him bonkers. They twitched. Constantly. Picking up different things and giving him randomized surround sound, with a new focus point picked every three seconds or so. He was about ready to go grab a knit cap from somewhere just so the damned things would stay still. But all in all, he could deal. His face hadn't turned into a giant all-consuming maw, and he was still driving.

He was calling it a win.

Now he's showered, dressed, and stuffing the ears under a cap after all. The first day was his to get the lay of the grounds and stop by the kitchens to check in with Head Cook Babic. He starts off reminding himself to Keep an open mind. and that gets amended with And for the love of God, don't stare. shortly after seeing some of the transformations among his co-workers.

Comments

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

"It always seems there's more to do," Zecora commented to herself as she strode on up, the better to offer him an obsidian hoof to shake.
"Hello and welcome! You must be new."

[empty_vessel]

Jimmy blinks, a little surprised at being addressed by a ho-nope. Zebra. He only hesitates a moment, trying to cover his surprise with wiping his hand on his jeans before returning the shake. "Yeah. First day on the job. The name's Jimmy. Jimmy Novak. It's good to meet you."

The hat twitches a little as the ears try to keep picking out everything Jimmy should be paying attention to. "Sorry. It's a lot to take in right away, y'know?"

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

"Zecora is what I am called," she said, returning the shake very carefully. Her hooves, ever since they had become volcanic stone, were sharp.
"And please don't be appalled.
As strange as it all may be
It is quite pleasant, you'll see!"

[empty_vessel]

"I don't know about appalled yet, but it's bizarre and inching into overwhelming." Waking up and seeing the ears and the horns had been mildly horrifying, but still no black goop, so.... he's rolling with it.

"It's something, I'll give it that." He looks back over, briefly wondering who Zecora was before she got changed. "Does everyone get.... Changed? When they sign up?" Jimmy's not sure if this is even a question that he should be asking, but he woke up with horns and ears. He's asking.

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

"Over time, the magic air
Finds its way everywhere.
Some change less, some much more
But everypony shifts, that you can't ignore."

The question was very fair, and Zecora didn't mind answering it. She had been uncomfortably surprised with that fact herself.

[empty_vessel]

"That's... oddly comforting, believe it or not. That it's not just something I walked into again, that it's this place and an... ambient magical effect." Because God knows he'd had enough of weird things directed AT him to last a lifetime.

"Do you know if they go away when your contract is up and you leave?" Yeah, he was probably thinking too far ahead, but going home and having to explain this to his family wasn't really an enticing thought.

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

"I think when you at last leave here
It will wipe the changes clear."

Not that she had proof, but it fit in with the other things she knew -- primarily that you went back to when you came from.

[otoko]

[Gongenzaka...is pretty big. Granted, height wise he's only about a foot taller than he's used to...

But 7 foot with that much bulk is. Pretty big.

Something that big takes a lot of food, especially when they like to keep active and fit too, so running into him on the way to the kitchen? Pretty easy. ..Staring?

...Woefully, it is probably even easier.]

[empty_vessel]

Jimmy's in a bit of a rush. Stopping to talk to Zecora had eaten more of his time than he'd thought, and now he was hurrying to get to the cafeteria and orientation. Actually being given any real work wasn't that likely, but he wasn't going to start off getting on the head cook's bad side by being late. At least, that was the plan.

Whud!

He looks up, and keeps going up. Randomly, it occurs to him that he might have finally found somebody bigger than Sam Winchester. "Uh. Wow. I'm, I'm sorry. Totally my fault."

[otoko]

Auh!

[The best part of that?] No, it is fine; I, the man Gongenzaka, am quite unharmed... [He's actually younger than Sam.

Not that he sounds it.] Mn, however, I should ask you if that is the case for yourself as well; are you alright, yourself?

[empty_vessel]

"I... Yeah. I'm okay. Nothing hurt by the ego." Jimmy checks his nose, check the hat, nothing broken or peeking out... He's good.

"It's good to meet you too." He smiles and offers a hand. "The name's Jimmy. Jimmy Novak."

[otoko]

[Well, that's good then...There is a sigh of relief from the great fanged 'thing', and though it takes a moment (and an instinctive start to a bow), he offers his own hand to shake.]

Gongenzaka Noboru; a pleasure as well, despite the 'run-in'..!

[empty_vessel]

"I'd like to stay and chat, but I really should go. I'm.... Running late." He winces in preparation of the chewing out he's likely to get when he shows up to the kitchens late on his first day. "I'm really sorry, but I can't talk right now."

[atouts]

Staring won't be as much of a problem when it comes to Childermass. He looks normal enough yet, his changes not so obvious, not so physical. Silver really isn't a typical eye color, for example, but beyond that, he appears quite human, albeit a very tired human. Maybe that makes him the odd one out. Who knows.

In any case, he's hanging out in the kitchens when Jimmy shows up, even though he doesn't look at all the part of someone who should be working back there, dressed rather old-fashionedly as he is. He's really only back there to pocket something to eat before taking off who knows where else, although he'll pause in his pantry raid when Jimmy walks in.

When it turns out not to be the head cook, however, he'll finish grabbing an apple and shut the cupboard.

"Haven't seen you back here before," is what he says in place of any greeting.

[empty_vessel]

"What a coincidence, haven't seen you around here before either." Jimmy eyes Childermass off warily. He doesn't look homeless, though. And Jimmy glances over his shoulder to make sure the Chef Babic isn't there to catch both of them.

"Since you're looking for something to eat, the door's around the other end. If you've got special meal requests or accommodations you want filled, you can write it down and I'll see what I can do." He can't make any promises, and Babic will probably have words with him when she finds out, but if he can help, he wants to. "Now, please, get the hell out of the kitchen before Chef Babic finds out and nails both our asses to the wall, please?"

[atouts]

Definitely not homeless, also not at all inclined to be shooed off by someone he is guessing is trying to get through their first day. Sure, it'd be a kindness to give him no trouble, but, no. Sorry, Jimmy, he's going to lean casually against the counter under the same cupboards he'd snagged the apple from instead of doing anything like leaving.

"Oh, I doubt she'll go that far on someone so new," he says, unperturbed at the thought of the head cook doing, well, whatever. It's not that he thinks she couldn't if she really wanted to, but really. Nail their asses to a wall? He raises his eyebrows at him. "You are, aren't you? New to the carnival?"

[empty_vessel]

"Probably not> But yes, it's my first day, and I was already late, so I'd really prefer not making it any worse." First day or not, he was very much the odd man out, trying to fit in. He'd been more or less underfoot all day, until they'd shoved a tub into his hands and told him to go pick up the forgotten dishes in the hall.

And after slinking back in to drop off the dishes, there's another surprise waiting for him. Somebody raiding the pantry. "If you're not going to leave, at least back up a little so somebody walking by won't casually notice?"

[atouts]

"Most the people who would notice aren't like to care," Childermass replies, about as inclined to move as he was to leave (which is to say, not at all). "Though if you are so worried, I'll set them right about my being here. It can hardly be considered your fault."

If he's going to be a pain, he'll at least be a fair one. This time, anyway. Next time, Jimmy might not be so lucky.

[empty_vessel]

Jimmy sighs. He is so done with all of this right now. "Fine. I've got enough to worry about without you adding to it. Just try to make it look like you weren't in here, okay?"

"Just let yourself out however you got in here." He picks up the can he was sent into the pantry to get, and heads back out.

[pipers_son]

It's during one of those moments where Jimmy just can't help staring at someone- or rather something about someone- that he'll hear a quiet laugh from not too far off. The perpetrator isn't one of the strangest folks in the carnival, but that's not saying much considering he still has plenty to him such as a pair of large feathered wings folded behind him.

"If ya keep gapin' like that, the whole carnival is gonna know yer a newcomer sooner than not," Joker say with a dry grin, looking maybe just a little ragged from the running around he's been doing. The bread he's holding loosely in his one good (if gnarled and wooden) hand is his idea of a break or, trust him, he'd still be running around more.

[empty_vessel]

At this point, Jimmy's starting to think that it's obvious that he's new simply by the fact that he's still obviously human. Not that he'll say anything like that, that would be rude and uncalled for.

"It's fairly startling, and I don't know how much I can really help staring." He has to admit that. More at the wooden hand than the wings. Wings are almost commonplace, in Jimmy's rather unusual experience. Wooden hands are much more bizarre.

[pipers_son]

The blatantly human bit is a bit of a giveaway. When you’ve been in the carnival for two years, it’s the kind of thing that sometimes yells “newcomer”. It’s the inhuman ones that are a little trickier… Although Joker makes it a point to know just about every face in the carnival.

Fortunately, he’s pretty easy-going, and just chuckles at the response he gets. “Well, you’ll get used ta it soon enough. Can only see so many strange things before it’s just one more set of wings or extra arms, yeah?”

[empty_vessel]

"True. You get exposed to the unusual long enough, that it turns into the new normal." And there's a lot of new normal to take in. Wings, talking zebras, his own new ears... Yeah. There was a lot of weird to take in.

"It's just a lot to take in on your first day. New job, new roommate, new living arrangements, weird magical transformations.... I'll get the hang of it eventually. It's just the front-loading of it all that's throwing me for a loop." Jimmy smiles and shrugs a little. The sooner he gets the hang of it, the easier it'll be, really. And the Carnival has nothing on Heaven. At least everyone here has a recognizable face.

[pipers_son]

“That’s the ticket~.” Nipping some of his sandwich, Joker hops up to his feet. “Well, if ya ever need help, let me know. I’m Joker, the Stage Manager! And, ha, currently doublin’ as the wardrobe manager, too, but that’s more temporary. At least, I hope so!” Even as he laughs, he’s not exactly lying. Double shifts are killing him.

[empty_vessel]

Jimmy nods, smiling back. "The name's Jimmy, and if I'm on shift in the kitchens, I'll see if I can find an extra coffee for you. Or deliver, if I've got an odd shift." Not knowing how the kitchens are set up, Jimmy can't offer much. But if they don't have coffee, then something is beyond wrong.