lostcarnival | ⇨ THE CELEBRATION

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⇨ THE CELEBRATION

Who: Everyone, especially YOU.
When: Day 60 - Day 65
Where: The Celebration
What: The carnival workers are invited to spend the week within the realm of the Celebration, the grounds of a party that has been going on for centuries. Accommodations are luxurious, but those with keen instincts might notice something off about this whole arrangement... (Questions can go to the original setting post!)
Warnings: Booze, drugs, sex, and everything in between.

THE CELEBRATION↴

If you observe that the layout of the Celebration grounds seem inconsistent, then you would be correct. In reality, what lies at the end of each corridor depends largely on what the guests of the Celebration want at the time - if a few people find themselves craving a drink, a bar may appear. If a group finds themselves wanting to dance, a club will open up. This goes on at all hours of the night, and given how many dedicated partiers fill the building, the services are well used. It isn't instantaneous, and the Host has to consciously decide to provide that service, but the changes are fast none-the-less.

► ROOMS: Each trailer pair will be assigned a room to themselves - whether or not it has two double beds or a single king sized bed seems essentially random. Hopefully you aren't too sensitive about keeping that space to yourself. The curtains at the far side of the room don't actually lead outside, but instead to a walk-in closet filled with the Host's best guesses at the type of clothing you might like. They may not hit the nail on the head, but at the very least all the clothing will be in your size. The styles could be just about anything, from any universe, but they do tend to average out to clothing that is Earth-ish. Either that, or clothing that looks like they are meant for elves from a high fantasy novel to wear.

► SHOPPING: If none of your pre-picked outfits tickle your fancy, plenty of boutiques and clothing shops can also be found around the grounds - whatever you're thinking of, you'll probably be able to find a shop appropriate for it eventually. Though, maybe it doesn't really count as shopping if you don't have to pay for any of the things you take back to your room with you? Unfortunately, from the sounds of it, you won't be allowed to drag all of your haul back to the carnival with you, so you better enjoy it while you can.

► DINING: There is no daily schedule to follow, after you arrive. You are free to attend the dining room whenever you wish, and will be seated at large round tables with whoever else may be around at the time, and can either order from the menu or most dishes you may think of off the top of your head. If you don't like the fine dining experience, there are also a selection of smaller cafes and eateries that open and close at varying times of day - and, of course, you can always call for room service.

► ENTERTAINMENT: There is plenty of live music around the grounds (not that you can ever seem to remember who the performers were afterwards) whether it comes to harp music while you eat or a full set of DJs in the club you found. If you are inclined to look for them, you may also find some cozy lounges with big screen TVs, and access to a multi-universal quantity of films. What's there or isn't there is unpredictable, but if you come from a standard variety of Earth you probably recognize some of them.

► SUBSTANCES: You don't have to be coy about it - just ask one of your servers, and you'll be able to get whatever kind of vices you might be craving. Drugs, alcohol, ice cream... it's all good. If this sounds like a nightmare for potential addicts, you would be correct. It's not uncommon to see people clearly over-indulging in certain locations, though guests are usually escorted back to their rooms if they take ill - only to see them back at it again the next day.

► SPA DAY: If you'd like to take a swim, pools of various aesthetics are easy to find. So are hot tubs, and saunas, and Host servants who are willing to give you a massage or manicure. If the party crowd isn't your scene, there are plenty of more low-key opportunities to indulge.

► GREENSPACE: There is one park area on the grounds, which appears to be constructed on the rooftops of other parts of the complex. While there are trees and greenery, there is no real sky that you can see - only the illusion of one. It may start to occur to you over time that no window or rooftop actually leads to any kind of outdoors. The Celebration really is there only thing here.

These are really just examples, and you can get creative with what kind of services you find offered while here, when it comes to generally mundane comforts. It really feels like the Host wants to win you over, as if you staying just a little longer has some sort of intrinsic appeal.

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There's no immediate response, just a little splash as Snake moves, waiting for one of his snake friends to give him something to say. When none of them do - they're all busy relaxing in the hot steam - he tries to talk himself, but it's already been about a minute. "Alright..."

Joker is willing to wait a minute, although any longer and he’d really get worried, and he can’t help but laugh at what he hears. “I guess it’s a little more than just ‘alright’ if yer all like that!” Still, he’s glad for it. Snake deserves nice things like this. “Guess yer gonna be in there for a while, huh?”

"Mmm." With a little affirmative noise, he allows himself to sink further into the water. It's very... relaxing. Probably the nicest thing about the place, so far. It's crowded, it's noisy, but this? This is almost heavenly. He's almost falling asleep...

Eventually, though, the water goes cold, stirring him from his reverie. And admittedly his nap. His snakes are wandering the room, and he gathers them gently and sets them in the sink before wrapping himself in an over-sized bathrobe and setting a towel over his head. Then and only then does he leave the room, snakes in his arms.

“Just don’t fall asleep!” is Joker’s only advice before he steps away to get somethings. By the time Snake has come out, the room is filled with excess pillows and blankets, and Joker seems to be humming as he constructs the most involved pillow fort imaginable. “There ya are. I was wonderin’ if I’d have ta break the door down ta see if ya were safe.”

"'We didn't follow your advice,' says Wilde." Snake translates only one of the many hisses from the ball of tired snakes before setting it down on the bed and allowing them to untangle. He selects three snakes (Emily, Donne, and Bronte), and lets the rest into the drawers of the bedside table, where it is warm and cozy.

With the snake situation stable, and with only non-poisonous specimens in tow, Snake might be able to leave the room safely... But he needs clothes to do that. For now, though, the pillow fort seems a better distraction than anything outside. He hands Joker a small throw pillow that seems like it'd fit in a gap that currently needs support.

Another laugh at Bronte’s honestly, but Joker keeps working on his massive pillow fortress cheerfully until Snake is handing him one as well. He flashes a smile to him, putting it in place. “Thanks. Anyway, you and yer friends can have the bed- I think I’ll just stick with makin’ my own sorta thing.” Besides, best give the poor guy plenty of space for any nightmares…. Not to mention whatever Joker is like when he’s asleep. He’s not entirely sure, but he doesn’t want to trouble Snake with it.

Snake looks dubiously at the enormous structure and then at Joker. His expression is easily readable - 'Are you sure?' After all, Joker's the tired-looking one. He may actually need the bed.

“Hey, I’ll be fine!” Joker tries to wave off Snake’s unsaid concerns with a laugh. “Anyway, it’s easier for me like this. I never quite feel comfortable on regular beds anymore. I mean-” His wings flare out a bit, although he’s careful not to hit Snake. “I can lay on my stomach, but it feels too stiff most of the time.”

Snake pauses, then nods. That seems to check out, but...

"'Won't these pillows get in the way? And are you sure you don't want someone warming up the bed?' says Emily." To his credit, Snake doesn't fumble the words, and barely blushes. He's used to Emily's nature.

God bless Emily, to be honest, and Joker chuckles a bit as he turns around proper to lean down so that they’re face to face. He’s trusting none of Snake’s snakes will bite him, at least while Snake himself is there.

“It’s a temptation, I won’t lie, but I think you’d be happier with such a charmin’ cute guy like Snake instead, yeah?” he says playfully, clearly teasing him.

Ok, that? That makes him blush. Meanwhile, Emily leans forward and flicks her tongue at his nose. "'Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn't,' says Emily." But then she curls back around Snake's neck, somehow acting coy.

Another laugh, and he straightens up again. “Well, we’ll be here for a while,” he says cheerfully, “so there’s no rush ta decide anythin’, really.” That’s how it always is for their stops. Joker is fairly sure that this won’t be like how it was in the Summerlands, where the Ringmaster almost forgot they kind of needed to get a move on, but, hey… “I plan on goin’ out for a bit, just ta see what there is. Want ta come along?”

A pause, then he nods. It'd be more comfortable going out with Joker, and he'd like to get the lay of the land. Plus, it'll give his snakes much-needed privacy. Well, most of them. Some are coming with him; he can't be voiceless at a party. Bronte, so he can voice his own shyness and discomfort when he feels that nervousness they so often share; Donne, for kindness and advice; and Emily, because she wants to go. There are still six snakes in the bedroom, though. He wonders if the Host speaks snake...

“Then I guess it’s settled!” In some way, Joker supposes he’s glad. This place seems like a nice first stop for Snake. Sure, it’s everything he’s not- loud and full of people and all of that- but it seems… nice. Hell, it even seems a bit better than Atlantis, frankly, where you had to watch out for sharks and giant crabs. They’ll be fine here, he tries to tell himself, and smiles as he heads for the door.

“Course, we can have a destination in mind as we’re wanderin’. Want ta get somethin’ ta eat, maybe? I hear we won’t have ta worry about clothes, either, so we can always try and look inta what that means.”

Snake moves to nod, then pauses and looks down at his own bathrobe. Even if he wants to eat, he's not willing to leave without getting dressed in a different outfit. He's naked under this simple robe, after all.

So he goes to the closet, shifts his snakes to one hand, and opens the door. It's relatively obvious which outfits are his, they're shorter than Joker's, but... he's not sure what to make of them. They range from the fantastical to the familiar. His face falls.

Oh yeah, people should change into decent clothes, huh.

Joker hangs about a bit, not feeling much shame in someone changing around him- it’s not like he’s going to peep. As the closet is opened, he glances over and cracks a grin. “Well, they sure go for fancy stuff, huh?”

Emily curls up around an especially ostentatious piece, but Snake ends up going with something with several layers in red, white, and black. It takes him a minute or two to get changed, then he clears his throat.

"'Joker, we're ready,' says Donne." And indeed they are, though Snake is fidgeting with the asymmetrical hemline of the new outfit, which is somehow as soft and comfortable as a well-worn, tailored suit. Something wriggles under the red sweater as Emily climbs back onto his shoulders to give him a nose boop. They match!

Joker occupies his time with Snake choosing his outfit by fiddling with his enormous affront to god of a pillow fortress. When he speaks up, however, Joker is immediately up on his feet and casually tossing a pillow behind him. “Then off we go!” He keeps the door open for Snake, glancing around to make sure their hallway is still devoid of people. Baby steps for his introverted snake charmer. “We can always find other clothes too, if ya decide those dont’ suit ya.”

"'I like them!' says Emily." Snake is tugging at the sweater a little, trying to make good space for Bronte, who needs good socialization at least as much as Snake himself. None of his snakes will be cold, at least.

He moves out of the room, and is pleased to find that there's no one out there. It's a huge relief. However, he's not confident that will be a consistent pattern. "'Joker, is there anywhere you want to go?' says Donne..."

Heh. Somehow he’s not surprised that the snakes like comfy looking clothes like that. “Well, ya heard the lady,” he chuckles before pausing outside their room and humming in thought, shifting from one leg to the other. Where to go, where to go. There’s so many choices! “Well, somewhere with lots of people would be my first pick, but…” He smiles at Snake again. “I think that wouldn’t be yer fancy, huh, Snake?”

Snake simply shakes his head. No, that would not be his first pick. It wouldn't even be on the list.

"'Someplace quiet would be nice,' says Bronte." The other snakes curl gently. Even outgoing Emily can be overwhelmed.

“Somewhere quiet, somewhere quiet,” Joker muses, already leading the way as he taps his chin. For that kind of thing, outdoors would be best…. But does a place like this even have an outdoors? Some stops are just not conducive to that kind of thing-

Yet even as he’s thinking that, they step into a hallway that seems a bit quieter than some of the others, and there’s an attendant opening a door for them with a bow. It makes Joker quirk up an eyebrow- he’s still not used to that kind of treatment- before he takes a look at where they’ve ended up and whistles. “Well, a park outta do it, don’t ya think?”

Snake's eyes widen at the sight. He wasn't expecting this. He's not sure what he was expecting, really, but not this.

There are carefully groomed paths, fountains, bushes cut into all kinds of shapes, but also soft-leaved hedges designed to cover all kinds of dalliances. But that's not what Snake pays attention to.

There's a sky. Something's wrong with it, but it's more of an open space than he was expecting. The part of him that was expecting to feel claustrophobic this entire trip relaxes slightly as he gazes at the "stars."

Good- that's the kind of look he wants to see on Snake's face. Grinning, Joker nudges him in the side and herds him along. "C'mon! What kinda place would ya like ta sit at? We can have a picnic, or somethin' like that. What do ya say?"

Really, it's a nice idea to Joker, at least. They can enjoy all the food of a new world, with none of the crowding of other people. Well, hopefully.

"'Somewhere small and cozy,' says Bronte..." Snake's still a little distracted by the sky and the cultured wilds of the place. It's like a formal garden.

Spying such a place, a shaded grove of trees, he points. There are even some stumps arranged like a table, though their growth rings are... odd. As in non-existent. As if the grew overnight.

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