lostcarnival | HELL OF A HANGOVER PT. 1

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HELL OF A HANGOVER PT. 1

Who: The people who escaped!
When: Very early Day 66 to Day 67
Where: The Carnival
What: The Ringmaster brings everyone she can back to the carnival after getting kicked out the Celebration, a bit worse for wear. Those that have resolved their threads at the Masquerade can start trickling over here as they sort things out.
Warnings: Angst, mostly likely, as well as potentially graphic injuries.

RETURNING HOME↴

About 45 minutes after the conflict with the vampires begins, the Ringmaster will finally show her face at the Masquerade - and immediately be mortified by what she sees. Though initially mostly confused by the fact that there's been problems over the week, and characteristically obtuse about what's going on, as soon as she realizes the severity of the threat she will launch into action. If the Host managed to miss the combat already going on, they won't be able to miss the Ringmaster tearing up the joint and looking for her people. She's quick to scoop up those that have managed to gather in the dining hall - but unfortunately her arrival seems to be the vampire's cue to retreat.

Her attempt to challenge the Host about this will result in the being finally losing their patience and banishing all the vampires and all of the carnival workers from the premises, forcing them back to the portals they arrived from and launching their remaining belongings out with them. The Ringmaster will be pretty fucking pissed off when they return (once again) and will tell everyone to take the time they need to recover, but to stick together and stay safe for the time being. She has a plan to chase down the carnival members that have been stolen, but it will take time.

► BEER PONG: Apparently the Ringmaster spent the entire week playing a nonstop game of beer pong, against several dozen of the Host's bodies. She hadn't quite won yet when the Masquerade began, so she was late. Whether or not she was caught up in the same spell as everyone else is up to interpretation, but the answer "definitely probably." She won, for the record.

► MISSING: Upon doing headcounts, it will turn out that all the supervisors are missing, as well as several regular workers - a few of which will have been spotted as freshly turned vampires during the fighting. Whether that was the point of the attack or not is unclear, but it's pretty clear that the Ringmaster is a little bit devastated about it - particularly about the supervisors. However, she will refuse to talk to anyone long enough to get into too many details.

► THE PLAN: The Ringmaster will announce that she intends to get everyone back - it's just a matter of figuring out their way back to the dimension they've been stolen off to. She guarantees that she will find it, but that it may take some time. In the end, the workers will have a total of two days to recover and plan - during the evening of Day 67, she will be leading a rescue mission to get them all back. You don't have to come, but lives do depend on its success.

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Strange can't help but pause at that. His breakfast is forgotten as well as he listens to Jimmy talk. After everything the other man had been through, to finally be free of that angel, only to deal with the loss of his wife and possible loss of his child? Nobody should have to suffer though that.

That poor man.

"I'm sorry that happened to you," Strange quietly remarks. Because it is. He doesn't have any children himself but Strange knows that if he ever does, like hell he's going to lose them or let them suffer like that. He doesn't really know what else to say, but he must say something. There's a pause before Strange continues. "It's...certainly nothing like what you've experienced but I've lost my wife as well." It's immensely more complicated than that but now isn't the time or the place. "So if you ever want to talk about your family, I'll listen."

"It's...." The breakfast fork is toyed with as Jimmy starts talking. "I'm going to try to change it. Go back and stop myself from saying yes." He glances around, as if expecting the angel to interrupt them at any given second.

"As you know, this place doesn't just travel in space, it can travel in time too. And if I can go back. Go back to when I agreed to the angel's request in the first place, then I can stop everything else from happening." There's no hiding the desperation as he looks over at Strange. "It's stupid and risky and there are so many ways it could go wrong, but I have to try. Just, please. Don't tell the angel." Jimmy's definitely paranoid now, but it can't hurt to ask.

Strange can't help but grimace as Jimmy mentions traveling in time. He knows next to nothing about time travel, but he's heard enough lectures about keeping the timeline safe, keep things in order, I'm not going to tell you this because the timeline, and so on from Childermass that the matter's a sore subject.

"Of course I won't tell him," he responds, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. Why would he? Lord knows that if anybody deserved a second chance, it would be Jimmy. "I'd offer my help but I'm afraid I know nothing with regards to time magic. Sans and Papyrus might, though."

After all, didn't they mention something about time travel when Strange bothered everybody about how they died? He'd imagine Jimmy would want to keep this relatively quiet, but if he wanted to ask somebody, why not one of them?

"I'm less worried about the time magic, mostly because I won't be actually doing any of it." There will be plenty of timeline shenanigans, though. So it might be worth it to ask.

"As soon as the angel figures out what I'm trying to do, he's going to try and stop me. And I've got five minutes. That's it. Five minutes convince myself that everything the angel's been telling me is either out of date, or someone's been stringing the angel along, and he's feeding me the same line." Jimmy rests his elbows on the table, clasping his hands in a gesture reminiscent of praying, if he had any faith left.

"Talking isn't an option. I was with him for years, and the most conversation we had was the sales pitch at the beginning, and the.... exchange in the warehouse." Another drink of orange juice to try and settle his nerves, or at least get his composure back. "He was convinced that he knew best, knew what he was doing, right up until Lucifer killed us both."

Jimmy looks up at Strange and manages another attempt at 'I am totally fine.' "I'm sorry for dumping this on you, and thank you for listening. It's... the magnitude of it. It gets to you."

That omelette hasn't been touched in a few minutes. Unsurprisingly, the conversation is making Strange lose a bit of his appetite. This is a heavy conversation and one that Strange isn't entirely sure he'd be much help with in the first place. How set in stone was the past?

Still, the least he can do is offer a supporting hand and listen to Jimmy. And there are some things about this plan that Strange understands perfectly. Who wouldn't take the opportunity to go back and fix things, especially if they were as drastic as Jimmy's situation?

At Jimmy's apology, Strange shook his head. "There's no apology needed. Really, I'm glad you told someone. I can only imagine how badly something like that can settle on the conscious." Except...he can't imagine, he knows. Strange is a big ol'hypocrite who really should talk to other people about his problems, but is instead filing them all away for him to deal with on his own.

"And the more you think about it, the more time you have to sit and pick it all apart. Worst case scenarios, and everything ending." Jimmy sighs and shakes his head. The Lord's Work. Chosen for something better. He hadn't fully thought about the ramifications then and he didn't care about them now. Jimmy had a shot at fixing this, and damned if he wasn't going to try.

"So. He's here. Have you gotten a look at him yet?"

"I have." And oh, Strange can't help but be a bit grumpy about this part. Their first conversation went incredibly awful, mostly because Strange took personal offense at being called a witch. A witch! He was a magician, thank you very much, one of the greatest magicians of the age, not a woman from children's stories.

"I don't think I like him very much." The angel did make some valid points in their conversation, of course. But stopped clocks are right twice a day. There was just something about his personality that 100% rubbed Strange the wrong way.

"That's lots of peoples' first impressions of him. And their second, usually. And their third, for a good amount of them." Castiel's people skills are underwhelming at best.

"He's blunt to the point of being rude, honest to the point of abrasive, and he uses the 'I don't understand humanity' line like it's an excuse. As if he didn't have me right there for almost three years." Jimmy sighs again, surprised at how pissed he is about this. "It's.... disappointing to think that you were chosen for something special and finding out you're Heaven's equivalent of a rental car."

What the hell's a rental car.

Strange looks a little blank at that turn of phrase because it's flown right over Mr. 1810s head. Still, rental car, he can get the general gist, it's disappointing that Jimmy thought he was something special but heaven didn't treat him like anything special.

"Didn't you say he traveled with those hunters or something like that? Surely he must have learned how to understand humanity from them at least a little bit." After all, hang out with people enough and you're sure to learn about them, about their likes and dislikes.

"You'd think, right? Nope. They were almost as bad at people as the angel was." From what Jimmy remembers of the Co-Dependent Tango, if they couldn't fight it, get information from it, scam it or sleep with it, it didn't ping on their radar.

Jimmy can't carry a grudge like that for long, though, so he looks back at Strange. "But you're doing all of this for me, and there's obviously something bothering you. There must be something I can do to help you. Besides breakfast, I mean." They'd eaten most of it, at least. Before they'd gotten sidetracked.

There's so much bothering Strange. From finding out that his wife is still alive to the fact that he's still not entirely certain how to grapple with the fact that he killed a vampire during the Celebration, there's so much on his mind. And he's not entirely sure how to talk to Jimmy about certain things.

He pauses for a moment before he explains, in a slower and more deliberate tone of voice, obviously choosing his words carefully. "I've always tried to live by certain principles, even when I was at war. One of them is that a gentleman doesn't kill. I'm afraid I broke that principle during the chaos of the masquerade and I'm terrified I'll break it again on the rescue mission."

Strange doesn't notice this but his hands start trembling slightly as he talks, an entirely subconscious reaction. He knows he'll most likely have to kill a vampire to help save those taken. But he just really doesn't want to.

Jimmy nods, giving Strange's words the gravity they deserve. "And things like 'self-defense' and 'protecting others' only go so far." The shaking hands get noticed and Jimmy goes to get Strange the fixings for a cup of tea. A mug of hot water, tea bag (herbal), and the basket of creamer and sugar packets. Even if Strange doesn't drink it, he's got it to fidget with.

"I can't say that I know what that's like, and I'm not going to insult you by trying. But if you want to talk, I'm always available to listen." It's not much. Strange is his friend, though, and if Jimmy can help, he will.

They're noticed by Jimmy but not by Strange. He's staring off into seemingly nothing as he talks, thinking things over as Strange's hands continue to tremble.

"After all, surely the vampires were human once. Does it still count as murder if you kill something that once was human? And considering that we once were human as well, how would that enter into it?" Strange snaps back to reality as he looks over his hand, looking at his claws as well as the fish scales that dot the back of his hands, that he knows are scattered on his neck as well. Was it even worthwhile thinking he was still human to begin with, as changed with faerie magic as they all were?

"There's no simple answers with any of this." And Strange kind of hates it.

"I'm not a trained professional by any stretch of the imagination, but I think the fact that it is still bothering you is a good sign. That even if it's anyone's guess whether or not you're still physically human, and let's be honest, you're flipping a coin for a lot of people in here at this point." His hands come up a little to forestall the response from Strange.

"I think yeah, it's iffy on if anyone that's been here long enough is still human. But I think that since this is still disturbing you so badly, and that the potential of having to do it again in the future upsets you as well, that your essential humanity remains and in the long run, that might be more important."

Strange opens his mouth, as if to say something, but Jimmy's hands hush him up. Frowning slightly, he listens. Jimmy does have a point, both with regards to how human (or not human) some members of the carnival are and of how his essential humanity is most likely still intact. After all, he didn't think of himself as fae. He thought of himself as Jonathan Strange, English magician.

"I suppose with the vampires, since they've given up all semblance on being human and want to make others like themselves, you could argue that their essential humanity has long since vanished." Maybe. He hopes. That sounds like a wonderful justification at least and Strange might be clinging onto it for a bit for hope and support.

Jimmy nods. "I think that's a big part of it. You'd have to get the finer points of how it actually works from somebody else. But when you stop seeing them as people and start seeing them as targets then it takes something from you too."

"Just keep in mind that I've only been in an actual fight twice, and one of those was almost my first death, so I obviously didn't do very well." He smiles, trying to lighten the mood a little, before continuing. "But I'd start with the idea of not getting to comfortable with the idea of killing someone, and then see if the other Nightriders have any other suggestions." It's underwhelming, as far as advice goes, but Jimmy's never going to see the kind of fighting that Strange will. Not willingly, anyway.

"The problem with that is a few of the other Nightriders are far too comfortable with killing already." It's said with a small smile, Strange trying to hide the fact that he's not too sure what to think about that. After all, Lambert was a witcher. And he handled himself expertly in the masquerade, killing those creatures without a thought.

Of course, the duties of a witcher were different than the duties of an English magician. But still...it's something to ponder.

"I suppose I'll have to see if some of the other Nightriders have any suggestions."

Jimmy winces, wishing he could be of more help to Strange. "I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help." He'd rather refrain from giving bad advice and getting someone hurt, than weigh in on something he's got zero successful experience with.

"The lessons. When would you want to start?" With as enthusiastic as Strange was, there's no way that he could possibly forget, and it doubles as a lovely topic change! "Maybe I could show you how to cook in exchange?"

Edited 2017-04-02 07:16 (UTC)

Oh thank God, let's swap the conversation back to magic. This is obviously more up Strange's alley as shown by him relaxing the moment Jimmy mentions the lessons.

"Obviously after the inevitable mission to hell," Strange responds, with a nod. And really, depending on how badly things go, they might need a few days after that for rest and recovery. Strange isn't so sure, something which really annoys him the more he thinks about it.

"I've written down a spell for you to start off with—a spell to see what my enemy is doing." Which, at least in Strange's mind, he automatically assumes that Castiel counts as Jimmy's enemy. "We'll start with that and, once you've perfected it, work our way up to a more general scrying spell. The spell itself is back in my trailer. I'm afraid you'll have to find the components on your own—don't worry, though. It's simply a a mirror and something dead. Dried flowers will suffice. As for your other question, I would like to learn how to cook."

He had servants back home so they generally took care of everything. But the idea of surprising Arabella with a home-cooked meal sounds...nice. It certainly sounds like something he would want to do, at least.

Jimmy nods. "That shouldn't be too hard to find, no. Although... Is there a necessary size I would need? Beyond the obvious 'big enough to see through and get a good picture', I mean. And if I can't find a mirror, would the basin of water work, or is that the more advanced spell?" Yes, he's already running through the map of where the pans are and which one he could make off with, with minimal chances of it getting noticed.

"With the cooking lessons, I have to warn you that I'm pretty hopeless at baking. I follow the recipes, get the ingredients just right, and nothing. It doesn't come together, it doesn't rise... About the most I can manage successfully is the premade stuff they sell at the store. But the basics of chopping, frying, stuff like that? That, I can show you, and I can always ask for advice from the rest of the staff for things that I don't know." But he kind of suspects that Strange will mostly want quick and easy for meals between projects.

"Small enough to carry, large enough to see through. And the basin of water is for a more advanced spell--it's used for more general scrying than this spell."

Though really, one could probably use the basin in the spell in the first place. After all, mostly what mattered is the reflective surface. Strange's thoughts just trail off into somewhere different and magical theory for a few moments before oh, right, Jimmy's talking about cooking, best to pay attention, and he snaps back to attention like someone who's just realized he's been daydreaming.

"I don't have much of a sweet tooth so any other basics that aren't baking sounds wonderful." Jimmy is one hundred percent right on that guess. Even if he learns all the ins and outs of cooking, the probability that he'll stick to something quick and fast is pretty darn likely.

Jimmy has to think about that one. Not where to get the supplies, but can he borrow them if he has to, without them being noticed for a while. "I think I can find a mirror, yeah. Or just see if the one in the bathroom pops off the wall. The flowers should be...." He stops and looks back towards the pantry. "Can probably use some extra herbs from here too."

"That sounds fine, then. And we'll start with something simple for cooking lessons too, say.... grilled cheese sandwiches." Simple to make, hard to screw up, and they can always upgrade with more fixings.

"If not, I'm certain you can ask one of the supervisors for one." He's not entirely sure whether finding a mirror would fall under Psionic's foreman keep the carnival running duties or Joker's stage manager find things to keep an act going duties. Still, at least one of them should be able to help.

And it's one hundred percent obvious from Strange's smile that he really likes the idea of learning how to cook grilled cheese sandwiches. They were something he didn't really eat much of in London, but since arriving at the carnival, he's spent a good chunk of time wondering why he didn't eat much of them in London. They're friggen delicious.

"That sounds like a perfect place to start!"

"It sounds like a plan, then. Is there food you don't like? Besides sweets, I mean. Allergies? Dietary restrictions? I'd rather not plan on making grilled cheese sandwiches with bacon and find out that you keep kosher. Jimmy smiles, preferring to err on the side of caution. "I'm guessing no, but I'd much rather ask and find out before we get going."

"And with the spell, should I have a go at it as an independent study, and come to you if I have any questions or accidentally set something on fire?" Not that Jimmy expects the latter, but his luck isn't the best. "And probably run over in a joyous rush if I figure it out?"

"Not really," he answers, with a shrug. "I do like eggs, though, both scrambled and boiled." He gives a little nod towards the half-eaten and probably slightly cold by now plate of scrambled eggs. Those were pretty darn good, at least in Strange's opinion.

With the spell though...he frowns, thinking. What would be best for Jimmy? "Well, I imagine you'll have to partly take independent study no matter what." After all, there would be times when either or both of them were busy and couldn't help out the other. "But what if we agreed on a time and place for regular meetings? That way you could practice, I could critique, and then we could talk about magic in general."

Because sure, Jimmy could do this just as an independent study...but Strange really liked the idea of just talking about magic with someone. He wasn't going to let this opportunity slide.

HELL OF A HANGOVER PT. 1

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aaaand that's a wrap?