[ota] have to believe we are magic

[kingsroads]

WHO: Jonathan Strange & you!
WHERE: various points around the carnival
WHEN: Days 33/34
WHAT: actually doing his job + failing a bit at magic + accidentally succeeding a bit at magic
WARNINGS: n/a!

in the main tent: showing off some
To the surprise of everybody, Strange is actually doing his damn job. Granted, his damn job of a magician instead of his damn job as a mercenary with the Nightrunners, but he's staying in the carnival for now, trying to keep an eye on Childermass as best he can. After all, Strange knew in theory that Childermass knew how to rest, but he wasn't entirely sure if he knew in practice.

So here he is, in the main tent, actually practicing. Sometimes you can find him just staring at a candelabra, as if staring will magically make it do something. Other times, Strange is actually working magic, as a giant top made out of the dirt floor of the tent spins around the stage, or animals made of straw prance around the area.

The most notable thing about all this? Strange looks downright relaxed as he works his magic, possibly the most relaxed he's been since he first arrived.

anywhere: like the one thing childermass is better at than him
Something's weird about that patch of shadows out of the corner of your eye. It almost seems like it's trying too hard to be shadows. The stillness is unnatural and you can't shake the feeling you're being watched. It's not changing with the light, instead the shadows remain just shadows, no matter what. Occasionally, facial features can be made out in the shadows, that of a tall, wild-haired man, concentrating very hard on not being seen.

And then the shadows sneeze. Whoops.

"Damn," Strange can't help but swear to himself as he suddenly becomes visible, peeling himself off the shadows of whatever building he's up against. He sniffles a bit as he carefully rubs at his nose with clawed hands. "I still don't entirely understand how he manages to do it so well."

trailer 29: sorry y'all his bad
Strange is in his trailer (which honestly, is a bit of a mess, with stacks of paper on too many surfaces, this is what you get when you give the eccentric a closed space.) He sits at the table, a candelabra in front of him. Match lit, Strange mutters something under his breath before he lights the candle.

What he muttered was a summoning spell, something to summon a faerie. After all, it worked back home, why not see if it works here, while they're in faerie. The worst that could happen was that it didn't work, after all (Strange has very low standards for 'the worst that can happen') So, as the candle is lit, you find yourself randomly in this guy's trailer...and wow, is Strange a bit confused at your arrival.

"Hmm. It wasn't supposed to bring in workers."

( ooc: so because I thought it's hilarious, I kept Strange's ability to summon fairies except, surprise, it's weird in the carnival and he's equally likely to have summoned someone tainted with faerie magic aka characters in the game. This'll default more to veteran characters/characters with more changes but if you want your character to have been pulled out of what they were doing to appear in some rando's trailer, I am all for that! drop me a pm or plurk @allikateor if you have any questions! )

Comments

[kingsroads]

She's...blue.

Well okay, this is unexpected. As Lapis looks around in confusion, Strange is just staring at her in confusion. Because look, he's only encountered a handful of faeries in his life, but they've all looked...well, more human than this blue person. And not blue. Did he mention she was blue?

There's a pause before Strange eventually decides on what to say.

"Your stuffed bear seems to be wet."

[mirrortide]

"I know?" That's the point of it, after all. But also completely not why she's here. This absolutely isn't her trailer? There's not enough stuff laying around.

"Why am I here? How am I here?" She looks under her bare feet and nope, no warp pad. She looks back to him. "Where even is this?"

[kingsroads]

"Trailer twenty-nine," Strange answers, as if that's the most obvious answer of them all. Where else would she be? He wouldn't be in other people's trailers (well, except Childermass's), so naturally she must be in his.

And, while the trailer isn't messy with stuff, it's messy with papers: Strange has all sorts of papers and notecards scattered all over the trailer in seemingly no rhyme or reason.

"And you're here because I've summoned you. This might be terribly insensitive, but are you a faerie?"

Look, she's blue. He's got no idea what Lapis is.

[mirrortide]

"No. Why did you summon me?" Lapis is, absolutely eyeing that door. She's only just learned what "faeries" are (in the vaguest sense), but she's not really sure why anyone would want to summon one.

Are they valuable, or something? They don't seem valuable, they seem like a pain in the butt, honestly.

[kingsroads]

"Well I didn't mean to summon you." He's still talking as if it's the most obvious thing ever, annoyance creeping slightly into his tone, like it's entirely Lapis's fault she's not on the same bizarro wavelength that Strange is on.

"I cast a spell to summon a faerie. I don't have the slightest idea why it brought you here instead...though it is possibly due to the fact that this carnival is teeming with faerie magic." He pauses for a moment before rushing past Lapis to grab a seemingly random sheet of paper to bring to the table, with the candleabra.

"Did you happen to bring an inkwell and quill with you? I must have misplaced mine."

[mirrortide]

Lapis, naturally, very deftly backs up to avoid any and all accidental contact with this strange human. She'd rather not catch crazy. "A what and a what now?" An... inkwell? Quill? Was she supposed to know what those were somehow?

"You know what, don't answer that. I don't care." She's just going to go towards the door, bear still leaking water aggressively all over the floor as she moves.

[kingsroads]

"I wouldn't leave just yet if I were you," Strange idly responds, not really looking at Lapis as he continues to search for that inkwell that really, has got to be around here somewhere, he's got that idea about 'summoning going wrong because of faerie magic' in his head, he needs to write it down! He's rummaging through all sorts of things, looking in places that you wouldn't expect an inkwell to be to begin with (under the bed, under a table, etc.) Still, as Strange looks for a writing utensil, he decides to actually explain to Lapis what he means by that instead of being needlessly cryptic.

"If the magic worked properly, your summoning here is tied to the candle. I simply have to blow it out and you'll return back to where you were. It would be a bit annoying if you left, started a conversation, I blew out the candle not knowing you were in a conversation, so that conversation got interrupted." He pauses. "Also, your bear seems to be leaking."

[mirrortide]

"Then blow it out so I can leave." Her tone is a little clipped as she speaks, mostly because she'd really rather not be here stuck with a human who was seemingly incapable of working magic properly. She doesn't know what business a human has being able to do magic, but whatever.

"I know it's dripping. I was working on my Meepmorp." But at least he has a point about not interrupting her conversations. Also at least she didn't just suddenly vanish while she was talking to Peridot or Greg or Steven. Then again, they were probably used to weird things happening.

[kingsroads]

Strange walks over towards the candelabra, seemingly to blow it out...but then Lapis explains why the bear's dripping and honestly, he's just so confused at her words that he just pauses before blowing out the candle, giving her a confused little look.

That explanation told him absolutely nothing.

"Meepwhat?"

[mirrortide]

"Meepmorp." Lapis supplies, without any further explanation in a very helpful manner. "Are you going to blow it out or what?" The only reason she isn't is because she's under the assumption that she's not the one who can put it out to return back home.

[kingsroads]

"After you tell me what precisely a meepmorp is." Because that is not an explanation and Strange knows it. Look, Lapis mentioned this thing. He wants to know what this thing is, please tell him what the thing is, he's nosy and has no idea what a meepmorp is so tell him, Lapis.

[mirrortide]

"A meepmorp is a meepmorp." Or, Art, as it's known to everyone else. But it's a Meepmorp to Lapis and that's what matters. "There's nothing else to say about it. Now blow out the candle." Before she makes you. There's probably not enough water in the bear to do any real harm though. Small blessings.

... Also Peridot has probably told her not to attack anyone.

[kingsroads]

"That's hardly an answer!" Strange responds with a scoff, having seemingly forgotten about the candle in the first place. The mystery of meepmorp is too pressing and must be solved. "If I show you what a spade is and you ask what it is, the answer to that isn't 'a spade is a spade'. I need a description!"

Kick his ass, Lapis. Or, kick his ass with what little water there is in the bear.

[mirrortide]

She'll do it. Already the Lapis can feel the water at her finger tips, just waiting and ready to be called as she's yet again denied the chance to leave. She clenches her fist, and the water picks itself up off the floor, floating a foot off of the ground. She's not doing anything yet, she's trying to be patient. Peridot and Steven would probably be proud of her?

"I don't care what a 'spade' is." Her tone is undeniably clipped. "Let me go home. Now." It's not- It's not home home, but it's close for the moment.

[kingsroads]

"Surely it isn't that hard for you to simply tell me what meepmorp is!" Strange can't help but exclaim, voice raising, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. Come on Lapis.

Though the water...that is interesting. It's something that Strange can do himself, so he's assuming that Lapis is a magician. That doesn't explain the blue thing, though.

[mirrortide]

The bear is suddenly dry as Strange raises his voice, and Lapis moves her hand, water wrapping around his neck. And then she yanks down on it hard, more or less slamming him against the table. Look. She tried the patience thing. It didn't work.

"Blow out the candle. Now."

Sorry Steven. Sorry Peridot. She really tried here.

[kingsroads]

The problem with being a gentleman is that you expect other people to follow the same gentleman style codes. As such, he is not expecting Lapis to actually get violent in the slightest. So, Strange simply watches in confusion as Lapis wraps the water around his neck and slams him against the table.

Well that hurt.

"What was that for?!" he can't help but yell as he glares at Lapis. But, to his credit, he's heading over towards the candle, bending down towards it as if to blow it out. He looks up at Lapis, as if she's magically going to change her mind about him blowing out the candle and sending her back to where she was.

[mirrortide]

"I told you I want to leave!" Yeah, no, sorry. She's absolutely not about to change her mind, and if he doesn't blow out the candle, he'll be slammed against the table again. Until he decides to comply. Because violence always gets you your way, doesn't it?

[kingsroads]

Well Strange has no desire to get slammed into a table again. He may be mad, but he's not an idiot. So, in one swift motion, he blows out the candle, sending Lapis back to wherever she was previously before she was summoned.

She's somebody else's problem now.