[OPEN]

[dontpokethat]

Who: Ginko and ANYONE
Where: Wherever animals are kept
When: Variable? Let’s say anytime in the week after Orientation (10/16-10/23)
What: Ginko tries to do his job, with “tries” being the operative word
Warnings: weird animals? Potentially bitey weird animals? To be added as necessary

A carnival can’t be fully experienced with just one sense. Just looking or listening isn’t enough; taking it all in requires much more than that. Of course, while smelling one’s surroundings might bring its own benefits in other parts of the carnival… well. Not so much here, unless you really like the smell of wet fur, animal waste, and lots of hay.

The menagerie is unlike any zoo that could be found in most worlds, if only for the sheer variety of animals kept there. The Ringmaster likes to pick up specimens from different worlds, the more unusual the better, and the end result is… well, not necessarily chaotic. But it’s definitely highly varied, and pretty strange.

Most hours of the day, anyone who happens to wander into the area, by accident or intentionally, is likely to run across Ginko at some point. He’s always been inclined to take his work seriously, and that certainly hasn’t changed since he started working here. The fact that he’s the only veteran keeper left after the recent mass exit doesn’t really help matters, either, and the end result is that he spends even more of his time in the menagerie than could be accounted for just by regular shifts.

Depending on when one comes by, he may just be mucking out the stalls - but a lucky visitor (or one who has the schedule memorized) may come by for feeding time, or in time to watch the process of grooming or exercising those animals that need it.

Closed to Bonnie

Ginko has to admit, after several weeks of trying to keep up with all these animals on his own, he's pretty glad to be getting help again... though he'd be happier about it if it weren't from a young child who clearly doesn't want to be here.

Unfortunately, there isn't a lot he can do about that but to try and make sure this is as good an experience for her as it can be - which means making sure she's as prepared as possible for the work ahead.

It's fairly early when it comes time for Bonnie's first work day, but not ridiculously so. Ginko's already fed those animals that need to eat early, and he's waiting at the edge of the menagerie when she arrives, cigarette in hand and elbows resting on the fence. He raises his free hand when she gets close, giving a small smile. "Hey. You ready to meet these guys?"

((OOC: Closed prompts might be added later! For open stuff, feel free to take a look at this (in-progress) spreadsheet to get an idea of what all animals there are! If you want to assume something is there but aren't sure you should, just message me.))

Comments

[wild_magic]

"She says she doesn't see what the big deal is, but I think they're awesome. I've seen lots of animals before, but none of these!"

[dontpokethat]

"She said that, huh?" Despite the phrasing, nothing about his tone suggests that he doubts it. That would be pretty ridiculous after all he's seen here.

He smiles, glancing up at the surrounding pens. "That's not too surprising; most of these are pretty rare even in their own worlds. That's what really draws the Ringmaster to them."

[wild_magic]

"They all come from different places too?" He looks around again, taking them all in. It would definitely explain the variety, and it probably makes more sense than his thought of them all coming from here originally... Especially since he still isn't quite sure what 'here' is.

"Are they stuck here, too? Do they get to go back to their worlds after a year or do they have to stay here forever?"

[dontpokethat]

"That's right. She picks these up from all over."

Ginko breathes out a puff of smoke in something resembling but not quite reaching a laugh. "They're pretty much here for good, from what I understand. Unlike us, these animals aren't contracted workers; they're mostly just picked up and kept."

[wild_magic]

"Oh." He doesn't look very happy about that, looking over at the nearest animal.

"Do they like it here, at least...?"

[dontpokethat]

"Most of them seem to be pretty content, yes."

At least, he hopes they are. It can be hard to tell with some.

[wild_magic]

"Well... That's okay, then, if they're happy here."

[dontpokethat]

Ginko nods wordlessly, then, with another glance at the notepad in his hand, sighs and pushes himself to his feet.

"Better get back to it... while you're here, you want to meet some of these guys? It's good for them to get used to newbies fast."

[wild_magic]

His face lights up at that, and he nods excitedly.

"I really can?"

[dontpokethat]

"Don't see why not. It's about time to feed some of these guys, anyway - but I am going to have to ask you to try not to startle them or anything. That goes for your friend, too." He tilts his head toward Fluff.

[wild_magic]

"We won't! I know they're probably skittish and stuff, like the animals in the forest, so it's okay. I just want to see them."

[dontpokethat]

"Good. Let's get going, then."

He starts walking, making sure he's moving slow enough that Susan can keep up. "I'll have to go pick up some food from storage, but if you've got any questions about the ones we pass by, just let me know. ...And don't mind the rat king if it starts chattering at you, it just gets whiny around feeding time."

[wild_magic]

He follows along, still curiously peering at them as they go.

"Which one's the rat king? Does he have a crown?"

[dontpokethat]

"Uh, not really. He does have six heads, though, and they all want to be fed individually... ah, there we are."

He nods at a pen up ahead, where the massive, multi-headed rat inside has just noticed Ginko's approach and started chittering accordingly.

[wild_magic]

"Six heads?" Now this he has to see, it sounds awesome. He looks at the pen ahead, and starts to run to it before he remembers to slow down so he doesn't scare any of the animals.

[dontpokethat]

The rat king seems pretty curious about this new person, and, when Susan approaches, hunkers down to his level to snuffle at him. Of course, as Ginko catches up, a couple of its heads twist to stare up at him, chattering expectantly.

"Yeah, not just yet, guys." He reaches between the bars to pat one of the whiskered snouts trying to poke through at him. "They're... not too great at being patient."

[wild_magic]

"They probably have to be not patient 'cause if they are then the other ones would take their food. You can't really wait when you have a bunch of other heads trying to eat too, right?"

He pauses, just looking at them curiously still through the bars.

"But I guess they probably only have one stomach, don't they? Or are there six different ones, but then if there's six then what happens if one of the heads doesn't eat enough, can it starve to death?"

[dontpokethat]

"So far as I know, they all share one stomach - but not a sense of taste, which I guess is the key here. Maybe they just all want to be totally sure the body as a whole has eaten, or maybe they just want to taste the food."

Honestly, he can hypothesize about this all day. He may take care of these animals, but in a lot of ways, the ways they actually function are still mysteries to him. Which of course means he'll take any chance to talk about how they might function.

[wild_magic]

He laughs. "Maybe they're just stupid and don't know that they all share the same one! That must be really weird though, to have one body with a bunch of other people... Is it like they're all brothers?" He looks back into the pen to try and see if maybe staring at it some more will give him the answers.

[dontpokethat]

"Very possible. Though, to be fair, they don't have much of a way of knowing that."

He gives a thoughtful hum, then steps away to wait until Susan is ready to move on. "I guess so. It does seem like they have their own personalities sometimes, but I might just be imagining that... but it's fully possible that their brains could develop differently."

Rat king cognition??

[wild_magic]

"Well, if they have different heads then they must all be different from each other, right? It must be weird being stuck together like that though... I know I wouldn't like being stuck to Lauren."

He finally stops looking at it so carefully, and steps away himself once he sees that Ginko's stepped back.

"What other cool ones do you have?" Of course he thinks all of them are cool, but he wants to see what he'll get introduced to next if he asks. Obviously it must be the coolest one.

[dontpokethat]

"I suppose it must. Hopefully they don't mind too much, though."

He looks around with a hum. "That's pretty subjective... the fire eye is pretty interesting, though. Should have time to stop by that one, at least, before getting back to feeding."

[wild_magic]

"Fire eye? What's that?" He's never heard of one of those before, but even just the name sounds pretty cool.

[dontpokethat]

"It's a creature like a flaming wheel with an eye in the middle - hence the name, of course."

He starts heading for the next pen, talking as he goes once again. "They can be pretty difficult to contain but this one's enclosure seems the work alright. The big difficulty is taking it out for exercise without causing it damaging anything."

[wild_magic]

"That sounds so cool... If it's a wheel how does it exercise? Does it just roll around?"

He follows closely after with only a glance back at the rat king (and another at Fluff, who's decided to just stay behind).