what's cooler than being cool? ice cold

[kingsroads]

Who: everyone!
What: hey wait a minute, why's it suddenly cold oh for fuck's sake Strange...
Where: the carnival + Alola
When: all of day 76!
Warnings: none, will edit if needed

the Carnival
Surprise, it's now winter.

Starting from the early hours of day 76, the Carnival is covered in snow, the temperature rapidly dropping from 'nice' to 'freezing.' Patterns of frost cover everything and icicles dangle from most buildings. Try to be careful as you're walking around, patches of the ground are frozen over and incredibly slick. Nobody be that dumbass who tries to stick their tongue to the ferris wheel, you're just going to regret it later. Enjoy the fact that almost anything that used to be a liquid is now frozen solid. All in all, it's like someone flipped a switch from summer to winter--there was absolutely no sign something like this would happen in the first place. Why not ask around to see what's up? Or, just enjoy the change of weather and pelt your friend in the face with a snowball, that's also an option. The Carnival re-enacting the plot of Frozen lasts all day, though things finally start to melt and/or magically vanish once dusk settles.

For all you vampires who've slept through most of this, the effects of winter still linger a bit after the faerie's vanished, though in slowly diminishing form. The temperature's a bit warmer and some of the liquids have started to melt, but it's still a bit uncomfortable. It's hard to clean up an entire magical wintery hellscape by yourself, okay?

Alola
Due to the way the Carnival drops people in Alola, it's entirely possible to miss the fact that something weird's going on at the Carnival. Still, some of the winter wonderland manages to seep it's way into the tropical paradise. For most people, the changes are noticeable but easily dealt with. The temperature drops to something more chilly but not downright freezing. Occasionally there are small flurries of snow, but they'll end up melting fairly quickly. Locals are downright confused, mentioning that really, it shouldn't be this cold, this weather is weirdly unseasonable.

Also, what's that weird little ice fox that keeps showing up? More and more ice Pokemon feel a little bit braver thanks to the cold temperatures and are willing to venture out into areas that ice Pokemon might not normally live in. Go train all your fire cats by having them beat up the sentient ice cream cones, everybody.

( ooc: here is the relevant ooc post! This is an open mingle-style log, so feel free to create your own threads, tag around & have some fun! )

Comments

lambert, and ota!

[whattaprick]

[ CARNIVAL ]

Lambert really, really hadn't wanted to come back here. It proves to be a particularly terrible idea because the moment he steps back through to the carnival and he ends up somehow in the one patch of snow that's shin-deep.

For the record: bare legs and snow don't go well together. A sentiment Lambert proceeds to express at the top of his lungs with a loud, hollered--

"FUCK!"

--that announces his return. However, he's here with a purpose, which means despite having to clench his teeth against chattering, he's forcing himself to move through the snow and navigate the ice to the lakeside. That does involve having to get through the trailers, though, so anyone who isn't holed up inside (and even those who are) might catch a constant stream of quiet bitching as a horned man in quickly-soggy floral shorts and a tank top slogs through the slush and tries not to slip through ice, trailed by a curious-looking donkey-creature that doesn't seem nearly as bothered by the temperature.

[ ALOLA ]

Once he's satisfied himself that all the snow and ice is nothing more than a spell gone awry and doesn't need anything killed to fix it, Lambert is fucking right back to Alola, good luck everyone else. However, he can't quite shake the chill from his bones.

Clearly, the solution is to warm up. So this means he's dug a pit on one of Alola's beaches, dragged in stray driftwood, and set the whole thing on fire. So yeah, Lambert's right beside a bonfire that is definitely breaking ten different kinds of safety regulation, exhaling in relief as he drops down on the sand next to it.

"That's better."

Carnival

[sunflowerfields]

"Language!" Hinawa says in a sing-songy voice as she rounds the corner with blankets in her arms. "Here, this will get you to your trailer so you can change your clothes."

Then she spots the donkey. "Would your little friend like one, too?"

[whattaprick]

Who or what would ever care about Lambert's potty mouth in the Carnival? At least one person, apparently, and it's enough of a surprise that he can't do much more than dumbly accept a blanket, throwing it around his shoulders.

"I think Pig's fine." Pig being the Mudbray, who has ... perked up noticeably with another person present. It snuffles closer to Hinawa out of curiosity.

[sunflowerfields]

Of course she cares about Lambert's colorful vocabulary- there are children and baby Pokemon present! And gosh, she seems awfully pleased with herself to have caught him off guard enough that he doesn't say anything else.

She turns her attention to the Mudbray and gives its mane a good tussle. "Well, aren't you just the cutest little thing!"

[whattaprick]

Ordinarily, Lambert would warn people off touching his things, but he's resigned himself to accepting that Mudbray will let just about anyone and everyone pet it without much protest.

"Don't let it fool you, it just looks cute to get food." He... actually doesn't know how to check if Mudbray is a girl or boy. The mane isn't actually very tussle-able, being stiff with mud as it is, but Pig seems to like it anyway, ears flicking happily at the attention.

[sunflowerfields]

"Oh, now that I don't believe for a second!" She laughs, still petting the little creature's head. "Speaking of food! You two must be in need of a warm meal. Should I bring something to your trailer?"

[whattaprick]

"I wasn't actually planning on sticking around for long," Lambert answers, with a little shrug. "Not really a big fan of the cold." And not just because he's not dressed for it.

"You work in the kitchen?"

Alola

[thevictoriandetective]

Quite suddenly and without warning, there's a person nestled on the far side of the bonfire, having quite quickly carved out a nice little pit to lay in and read a book. He seems to have either not noticed Lambert, or most likely not cared to ask if he could stay.

His coat, scarf, and other clothes are piled up in a soggy mess near the fire as well, as a tiny dog-like pokemon, a Rockruff, curls on on Sherlock's bare chest. He slipped a bit on the wet scales--someone had obviously pelted the detective with a few snowballs. Slightly obnoxious brightly colored swimshorts completed his ensemble, his pants cast off a few feet away.

[whattaprick]

Lambert doesn't really care about random people coming up to his fire -- it's a huge blaze, it was always going to ask attention -- so he doesn't acknowledge Sherlock, either, though he registers the body taking up space on the other side. It's only when he cracks an eye open to check if he needs to add more wood to the pyre that he properly recognizes who's there, and he can't help snorting.

"Didn't peg you for a dog person," is what he'll say by way of greeting.

[thevictoriandetective]

The Rockruff perks up, noticing Lambert. His posture is alert, slightly defensive, but as Sherlock scarcely reacts or moves, this new person must Not Be A Danger.

"Ruff." It's a small, high-pitched bark, a tentative greeting.

"Why not?" said Sherlock, not looking up from his book. He scratched the Rockruff's head. There was a happy yip and a few errant licks from the small Pokemon. He had not, unfortunately, owned a dog--childhood trauma would do that to a person. Even despite all that, Sherlock secretly adored dogs, it was one of the few things that could melt his heart.

[whattaprick]

"They usually take a lot of energy." Which is a way of saying, well, you're a snake dude, that cold blood probably doesn't give you a whole lot of that.

"Seems like you get along, though." He wiggles his fingers at the Rockruff, idly. "Pocket-sized, too. Convenient."

[thevictoriandetective]

Sherlock merely shrugged, even though he got the subtext of what Lambert was saying. "He's not boring, and fairly well-behaved." The little guy seemed to want to stick pretty close to him, at least.

Toby tilted his head, and after a tentative sniff, barked once. "Ruff!" He seemed to accept Lambert's presence, and wagged his tail a little.

"Truth be told, I've always wanted a dog." A pause. "Have you picked up any Pokemon yet, yourself?"

[whattaprick]

"Well, well. The Carnival really does make wishes come true." Even if the words were sardonic, at least the tone was light-hearted, so he probably didn't mean that cruelly.

The Rockruff was kind of a weak-looking thing, but appearances could be deceiving around here. It would just be Lambert's luck to be suplexed by a dog for making it thing he meant to insult his master.

"I've picked up a couple. They're handy for getting around."

Carnival

[amusicaladventure]

"You ain't k-k-k-kidding."

You think you have trouble, Lambert? Ash dressed for a day on the beach, which Alola seemed to mostly consist of -- so her shorts are even shorter, and she's wearing flip-flops. The poor girl was so wracked by shivering she had to struggle to form words.

"We-we gotta get somewhere warm..."

[whattaprick]

"We were somewhere warm," Lambert answered, gritting his teeth to keep them from chattering. Ash wasn't going to get much sympathy from him, because at least she had fur! That was warm, right?

His Mudbray was completely unbothered by these developments, looking at all the white fluff around them with a touch of curiosity, ears perked. In all its life in Alola, it had certainly never seen anything like this.

"I'm heading back there as soon as I check on something," the witcher added, finally, striding forward through the snow. It was only regrettable that the lakeshore was so far away from the entrance, but at least it would take them by the trailers and some of the bigger tents.

[amusicaladventure]

Yeah. She had fur on her ears and fur on her tail. That's about it. Not exactly toasty, man.

"Hey, you're gonna f-freeze if you just -- " But he was already taking off, leaving her to scramble on behind. She couldn't just let him get frostbitten!

[whattaprick]

No matter how much Lambert might bitch about how the cold feels, his body wasn't actually that susceptible to it. Winters in Kaer Morhen, that stretched on forever and wall you into a drafty ruined castle, were arguably far worse than any of this.

... Of course, at least in Kaer Morhen, he had fire. So.

At a particularly deep drift of snow he doesn't feel like wading through? Lambert just straight up holds out his hand and generates a stream of fire, melting it down into slush as he wades on through.

[amusicaladventure]

Cool!

You know, not SUPER cool, she could do that sort of thing too, but he didn't take any invoked spells or tricks to pull it off, which was always fairly impressive. Ash, on the other hand, WAS cold -- at least until she began to sing a song under her breath.

The two of them now paced through the winter terrain to the instrumental sounds of 'Ring of Fire', though Ash at least kept her voice low enough that the lyrics weren't intruding. This may potentially ruin Lambert's dramatic stride, though.

[whattaprick]

Lambert might not need more than a gesture to cast magic, but it's also hardly infinite. When the flame sputters out, they've at least made it to the tents, and the brisk walk means that he's managed to warm up some, at least.

"You've got a song for just about anything, don't you?" he asks, over his shoulder.

[pipers_son]

Oh, good, something actually happening at night for once. The light is enough to draw Joker's attention, a moth to a flame, and he doesn't bother to hide his footsteps much as he comes walking along. That doesn't mean it's still not a little difficult to notice him, but.... Vampire instincts. What can you do?

"Not carin' for the carnival, or just interested in roughin' it out for the night?" he offers lazily as he steps into the firelight.

[whattaprick]

Lambert does have witcher senses, so it's not impossible he wouldn't have picked Joker up if he was actively trying to sneak around ... but though he hears him approach, he doesn't acknowledge him until he actually speaks.

"The Carnival's fucking freezing," he says, bluntly. Of course, by now, Strange is mopping up that mess, so there's less snow on the ground, but yeah, you couldn't pay Lambert enough to go back there even now. Like with most of the Carnival's now-vampiric residents, he regards Joker with a touch of wariness, but otherwise not much else concern. So far, no one seems like they've snapped, but that can always change...

"This isn't really 'roughing it,' anyway." It's practically a paradise, honestly, compared to some of the places he's been.

[pipers_son]

"True." Shrugging, Joker flops down on the ground opposite of Lambert's position in the bonfire, letting his wings stretch out lazily to absorb the heat a little. He swears his balls were in danger of freezing off for a few minutes, there...

"I think most of us wouldn't have minded much if we'd come here instead of Celebration." Even without the vampire attack, although that didn't help.

[whattaprick]

"I don't know about that. At least back there I didn't have to pay for anything." Lambert's half-serious about it, but half-kidding, as he amends that easily enough with: "Free shit doesn't make up for free will, but it definitely helps make it easier."

He sizes up the stage manager, casually looking him over to assess how this whole vampirism nonsense has been treating him. Lambert's had a lot on his mind since just before they showed up here, turning the Ringmaster's offer over in his head, but it occurs to him he hasn't really caught up with the man. That he's a vampire is obvious enough, he was probably injured along with everyone else kidnapped.

"You'd like it more if you could actually go out in the sun." Statement, not question.

[pipers_son]

On the surface, Joker is still wearing the same smile as usual. What it takes to wipe it off his face remains to be seen (or, at least, he’d rather no one ever find out), but it makes for a good enough mask that he’s mentally doing okay. Physically, well. While bandages have been removed from his hand, it’s still clear that it’s healing from having a dagger go straight through the middle. Tender new wood is over it, discolored from hiding what is clearly bright red blood beneath its surface. His wings also rest tenderly from where they’re spread along the ground, still feeling the wounds on his back. Koel’s lovely cooking (and, more importantly, the ingredients she’s used) have helped, but, well… Iron is a nasty thing to someone more fae than human. At least his feathers have grown back.

The blunt statement has him grinning a little more dryly. “Well, wouldn’t anyone?” He shrugs. “More people around in the daytime, and we both know I’m a chatty sort.”

[whattaprick]

"Yeah, I don't think I can imagine you ever shutting up," Lambert agrees, apparently satisfied with the once-over and looking back to the fire. He'd offer help, but the trouble is, how much of what's conventional medicine works on a vampire? Lambert's never been in a position to treat one. The one thing he knows about vampire physiology is that they heal quicker with blood in them, but...

Actually, it's Lambert, so he's precisely rude enough to ask:

"You getting enough blood in you or not?" All casual-like. He hasn't really delved into the revised menu the cook's put together, but from what he's seen, it's fairly serious stuff. "Thought you'd be healed up by now."