[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

[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).

[dontpokethat]

"Pretty much. Also tries to set things on fire sometimes, but that's usually, uh. Discouraged."

He glances over his shoulder, too, raising his eyebrows slightly at the cat still sitting there. "...You sure you wanna let her stay over there?"

The rat king isn't really what he would call dangerous, but it is... big. And currently hungry.

[wild_magic]

He glances back again, then shrugs.

"She'll be okay. Fluff can take care of herself." Even when something happens to her, he can just resummon her anyway, so he's not worried. He's too excited about seeing some new thing, anyway.

"But anyway, why does it try to light things on fire? Is it just confused or is that just what it likes doing? I guess maybe it just likes doing that, fire is pretty fun sometimes..."

[dontpokethat]

"Can't be sure. It seems to be partly related to the fire eye's aggression, so it doesn't do it as much as it used to. But it might also be for fun. ...Though I can't say I understand that as well as you seem to."

He finally points out the enclosure, a space carefully designed to adequately contain the fire eye without bursting into flames - though there were some piles of grass and wood chips scattered inside to give it something to burn up. "And there it is now. Don't touch this one, okay?"

[wild_magic]

"It's okay, I'll be careful!" Whether that means he won't touch it is up for debate, but at least for now he just runs over to that enclosure now, staring in awe at the creature inside.

"I don't try to light things on fire, anyways, sometimes it just happens. I can't control it... Maybe that's what he does too."

[dontpokethat]

Yeah Ginko is just going to... stand close enough by to pull Susan away if necessary. Just in case. The fire eye's single eye fixes on them both as it rolls around its exhibit.

"You think so? I guess that could be a possibility. In that case, I guess it's getting a little better at handling its fire."

[wild_magic]

"Maybe! I wish I could get better at mine, too... My magic's really cool but sometimes it blows things up on accident. But at least I don't have to get locked up like he does!" The way he says it is like it's the most normal thing in the entire world to have things just blow up around you on a regular basis, and honestly to him it really is.

[dontpokethat]

"...Ah. Yeah, blowing things up on accident sounds like a problem." He's just... going to hope Susan doesn't try to use any magic in the menagerie. That might be an issue.

"Well, yeah, fortunately locking up people isn't really how we do things around here." Tricking them into falling into debt and forcing them to work under contract, yes, but not putting them in cages. "Who knows, maybe you'll get a chance to go somewhere out of the way and practice your magic while you're here."

[wild_magic]

He laughs a little. "I guess, maybe. I'm used to it though! It's happened as long as I can remember. As long as I don't break any more things here then I should be fine."

[dontpokethat]

"Hmm." There's probably a few sentences' worth of doubts implied in that hum alone. "If you're sure. But I'd say better safe than sorry, myself, if practicing might help."

Especially with, you know, the risk of incurring potentially years and years of debt.

[wild_magic]

"Well... I tried, before. Lauren even sent me to a magic school. But it doesn't work, I guess, 'cause my magic's too strong, so it's okay. I just have to not use it except when I need to." If only it were easier to not just decide to use it for fun. It's hard being an impulsive kid.

[dontpokethat]

"Yeah? That's too bad." He frowns thoughtfully at the fire eye for a few seconds. "...Well, with any luck you won't have too much need for it here, anyway."

[wild_magic]

"Maybe... Even if I don't need it though I like using it so it sucks." He shrugs a little, though, as he looks back in the enclosure too. Maybe he should just use his magic anyway, and not care if it destroys anything else. That's not very good though and Lauren would be mad...

[dontpokethat]

"That's too bad. But you'll probably end up better off overall if you do try and keep a handle on it. And who knows; you may get chances to use your magic every so often, anyway, if you find a time when it'll really be worth it."