[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]

Well. He was certainly getting an image of Ash's world that he hadn't expected in the first place. Strange had a quintessentially British way of magical conflicts: even though he liked showing off, don't make too much of a fuss.

"It was a bit too Dark Agesy. We mostly solved our problems through the press. Norrell wrote an article about some aspect of magic, I wrote a rebuttal piece a few weeks later, so on and so forth."

[amusicaladventure]

To be fair, they weren't that way with most mages, but in blunt turns, Ash was a couple miles of leg and a couple more of curves, and that tended to make people susceptible to such things think with the wrong brains.

"Okay, that is pretty classy, actually. Please tell me they were full of droll, biting wit, you know, 'I must surely have misinterpreted the distinguished gentleman's argument as he cannot have been so blind as to make a mistake of a magnitude comparable to polishing the floor with an overripe banana'."

[kingsroads]

Strange snickers, obviously enjoying this. "Of course! 'While I understand how the distinguished gentleman might come to this stance, I cannot help but find his overall summation to be erroneous, full of mistakes, and simply idiotic when compared to the current state of affairs'."

[amusicaladventure]

Ash giggled into her fingers, then looked up over them brightly. "See, now that's the kind of duel that makes a girl swoon. If you don't call her an idiot during it. Maybe there IS a little something to all that talk of classiness, I like that a lot."

[kingsroads]

"If you ever need any help with that sort of pretentious academic nonsense, I've got plenty of experience. I wrote a book back home, you've got to be versed in that sort of thing to write a book in the first place."

There's a hint of pride in his voice as Strange talks about his book.

[amusicaladventure]

"Awww, and let me guess, you don't have a copy here or anything." Ash outright pouts, a bit dramatic in her sulky look and crossed arms.

[kingsroads]

"Alas, I don't." Strange shook his head, mirroring Ash's dramatic sulk with a dramatic sigh of his own. "I've been contemplating writing another, but that would be a memoir—there's not as much academic insulting in that type of genre."

[amusicaladventure]

"You could write it all like an elegant rebuttal. To life itself and everyone who stood in your way!" Ash said, shaking a fist dramatically.

[kingsroads]

Grinning still, Strange mimicked writing with a pen as he talked. "Chapter Eleven, a rebuttal against forces beyond my control. Followed of course by Chapter Twelve, a different rebuttal against the beliefs of certain English gentleman as detailed by my time in a faerie carnival. How does that sound?"

[amusicaladventure]

"Perfect," Ash said, eyes shining as she brought her hands together. "I'd read it."

[kingsroads]

"In that case, you'll be the first person I'll tell when I finish the book!" If he ever does in the first place. Strange's attention span has slowly been growing worse the longer he's at the Carnival. Still, he's talking about it with so much confidence that of course he's going to finish the book, right? Right!

[amusicaladventure]

She didn't really expect him to finish it. All the more so since her heavy implications that witty repartee was sexy were going right the heck over his head. "You'd better. I scratch if I'm angered!"

[kingsroads]

Damn straight they are. He's got a horrible attention span, romantic tunnel vision for his wife, and a tendency to forget about other things when caught up in his own thoughts and own plans. Sorry Ash, any sort of sexy implications aren't gonna stick.

"Is that a cat thing or a personal thing? I hope this isn't rude, but you do have rather catlike ears," said with a little gesture towards her ears.

[amusicaladventure]

Once again, this carnival inspired her to look down at her chest and wonder if these things were on.

"Little from column A, little from column B. I mean if you had these --" She lifted both hands, popping all her claws demonstratively. Actually a very alien look, the way her fingers slip open where she ought to have nails, and long curved talons emerged. "--wouldn't they be YOUR go-to if you got mad? Oh, and don't forget the tail too," she added, twisting her hips to flick it at him.

[kingsroads]

Strange can't help but let out a little gasp of shock as the claws popped out. Because that was unexpected! He has claws himself, though they're much smaller, less curved, and always there. Ash's talons...well, he didn't know they'd be that long.

"They're certainly imposing," he has to admit, focusing more on the claws than on the tail (or the hips). "Does it hurt when they slide out like that?"

[amusicaladventure]

"No way." Ash flexed them a couple more times, retracting and exposing them. "They're just like a cats. Totally natural as far as I'm concerned."

[kingsroads]

He just keeps staring before shaking his head a little, giving Ash a small laugh. "This might sound a bit silly but learning about all the different worlds and all the different people out there," said as he gestures towards Ash, "well, it makes me glad I joined the Carnival in the first place."

He wasn't going to stay here forever—he did want to leave after his year and a day. But it could be a much worse contract.

[amusicaladventure]

"My world's kind of like this place," she said, letting her hands fall. Without her claws out they looked perfectly normal, except for faint slits where the nails ought to be. "Lots of different portals meet there, it's a nexus. So there's all sorts of different people and places there that cross."

[kingsroads]

Different worlds, different people from different portals...the level of potential here is off the charts. "What's the strangest place you've heard about in your world?"

[amusicaladventure]

"Ohhh, boy. I'm not even sure how to answer that." Her tail flicked back and forth, entirely outside of her conscious thought, as she contemplated the question. "You know there are like a million different Earths out there?"

[kingsroads]

A brief flicker of confusion flashes over Strange's face because there's that many? He was just getting used to the idea of multiple Earths, and now there's a million of them? Good Lord.

"You have more experience than me with this sort of thing, so if you say there are a million different Earths out there, then I suppose I shall believe you."

[amusicaladventure]

"Well, that might be hyperbole. But it might actually be underestimating, too. The universe is infinite, you know." Ash shrugged, turning it into a lazy roll of her shoulders. "I bet if you asked around you'd find other people from 'Earth' right here, and they'd all be a different time and probably a different one from the one you know."

[kingsroads]

"I already know that people are here from a different time than me," Strange can't help but remark, with a little laugh. "Were you here during the Matrix?"

[amusicaladventure]

"Oh yeah." Sour face; that place had been SO boring. Couldn't use her magic, couldn't even be herself. "That was an Earth too, wasn't it?"

[kingsroads]

"It was. And it was over a hundred and fifty years in my future." Strange had asked around, looking at newspapers as well as chatting up any sort of person in the Matrix. He hated the Matrix for plenty of reasons, the fact that he was out of his depth reigned first and foremost.

"Most of the other carnival members from Earth treated that world as if they were used to the cars and building sizes. I had no idea such things existed to begin with."