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

[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."

[pipers_son]

There’s something to be said about honesty. Mainly, that it makes Joker burst out laughing, shoulders shaking. Honestly, he’s glad. Better someone be upfront and honest than tiptoeing none-too-subtly around the issue. “I got plenty of blood, don’t worry. Koel’s a lifesaver, bless her heart.” Or whatever she has in that body of hers, anyway. Who knows.

“Anyway, it’s just slow healin’. There used ta be marks around my wrist-” He waggles his hand, showing nothing but perfectly healed bark where the handcuffs used to be. “-but they’re gone, so I know it’s possible. S’just iron on us who’ve been here for a long while.” Letting his hand fall, he shrugs. “The more yer changed, the more iron stings. The Ringmaster don’t care for it ta be in the carnival for that reason.”

[whattaprick]

"I think I picked up on that much," Lambert confirms, with a small frown. It's also what he'd seen, with Koel and Zecora bound up ... not a pretty sight. Though what he's seen of them suggests they've recovered quickly enough, or at least quicker than Joker.

Then again, they also hadn't had their physiology forcibly altered. Even beyond what it already has, at any rate. Lambert sizes up Joker's wooden hand with idle curiosity. Reminds him of a leshen, he thinks, but it's only the one arm...

"Is it worth it, staying so long?" He doesn't mean to ask, really, it just sort of comes out naturally. Ringmaster's offer's been sitting at the back of his mind, an open-ended question he can't shake off.

[pipers_son]

Before, Joker would have answered immediately, no real hesitation. However, now… Now things have changed, with the arrival of two of his family members and in such a tumultuous time. So instead he thinks carefully, resting his chin on the back of his wooden wrist and the hand hanging limply.

“I suppose it depends on what ya want,” he answers finally. “You’ve already seen the worst kinda trouble this place can get ya inta…. So it’s just a matter of if that’s a good enough price for ya ta pay.”

[whattaprick]

It doesn't really bother Lambert that Joker takes a while to answer; the quiet isn't really that quiet, here, where the sound of waves on sand and creatures in the undergrowth are never far away. When Joker finishes, he glances over, brows raised.

"Kind of expected a different answer from a Supervisor. Aren't you all supposed to be trying to get us to stay longer?" He's joking, mostly. But knowing the nature of how the contract works, everyone who's been here for long is definitely someone who's made a conscious decision to remain.

[pipers_son]

"I'm a charmer, not a miracle worker," he says, chuckling. "After what just happened, I wouldn't be holdin' my breath on guarantees. People sign up for weird places and simple work. This sort of thing has a tendency ta scare 'em away." Trust him when he says he knows from experience.

But he glances over Lambert again consideringly before adding, "Some are sturdy enough, 'course. If ya can handle a trip ta Hell, well, ain't like it can get much worse."

[whattaprick]

That's enough to get a snicker out of Lambert. "True enough. Not the kind of thing you can make people forget with a sweet in their mouth and a pat on the ass."

The witcher cocks his head, lips pursing. "It was a little more bloody than I thought a carnival was going to be, but at least I'm used to that. This--" he gestures at the peaceful scene around them, the lapping water and the crackling bonfire. "--is a little different. Keep waiting for the other shoe to drop."

[pipers_son]

"For us who've been here a couple of years, that was the other shoe," Joker admits plainly, no faffing about. With the vampires having attacked once, well, there was no telling when things would next go south, was there? It's just that all the new folks- and there are a damned lot of them, now, with the exodus of the last attack- have never experienced it.

Makes him wish they'd talked a little more to the newcomers about all that.

[whattaprick]

"I think I gathered that much," Lambert shrugs. Sure, it would have been nice to get a heads up -- especially with him participating in the ritual that was supposed to thrown the Morningstar off their tracks -- but in the end, they all made it out, minus one Nightrider. All the trauma along the way was incidental, though he's aware he's probably a minority with that particular opinion.

Though this does remind him -- he'd asked the Ringmaster about it and gotten no satisfactory answer, maybe Joker will have something else to offer. "How much do you know about the people the Ringmaster's tangled with in the past?" he asks, idly. "Got the chance to ask one of the vampires a few questions during the masquerade. Seems like someone else with a bone to pick with her was helping them find us."

[pipers_son]

....Oh christ. Joker presses his fist between his brows and just sighs.

"About as much as you do," he says dryly, utterly unsurprised that someone else is pissed off. Great. What does their Ringmaster even do to earn this? Besides be herself. "Only thing I know much is that she's pretty friendly with another fair lady, so ta speak, who kept us around ta recover after the first attack."

[whattaprick]

"Fan-fucking-tastic," Lambert answers dryly, like he doesn't think it's fantastic at all. It's not remotely reassuring that a supervisor doesn't seem to know any more than they do about what's going on, though he could have guessed as much from how things went down during the damn Celebration...

"Any chance you might recognize her by description? White hair, drop-dead gorgeous?" It's not much to go on, and his wry expression says as much.

[pipers_son]

Welcome to the carnival, Lambert. Joker still listens, although he doesn’t think it’ll do much good, and shrugs helplessly at the description. “No one I’ve run inta or heard of yet,” he answers. “I don’t think I heard any of the workers before me talk about it either, although I could give it a go rememberin’. I’d ask the Ringmaster, but…”

He quirks up an eyebrow pointedly. It’s the Ringmaster. Getting straight answers out of her sometimes is like trying to cut your own hair, a lesson Lambert should know by now.

[whattaprick]

"I'd get better answers asking a fish," Lambert concludes resignedly. Oh yeah, he has a pretty good idea of how evasive the Ringmaster can be confronted with direct questions. Maybe one of these days, he'd just have to actually challenge her to a game or something to figure shit out. For now, though...

Oh well. Time for a change in topic!

"So just how long do you have to be in the Carnival to get those?" Lambert smirks, gesturing over his shoulder to vaguely indicate where wings might be if he had them. "Convenient way of getting around, though they probably don't make it comfortable to sleep."

[pipers_son]

Topic change accepted!

Twitching his wings out, Joker grins. "What, these lil' ol' things? Funny ya ask, I actually got 'em a year inta my stay here." He tilts his head down with a knowing little quirk of his eyebrows. "In fact, a certain someone thought they'd make a pretty fetchin' reward for steppin' up ta the job of stage manager." Well, they're not the worst "gift" he's ever gotten, and Joker has to admit that there's nothing quite like flying.

"Sleep, and gettin' clothes, on and on. But hey-" He shrugs. "I manage well enough. Get a little hammock sorta thing in my trailer, lay on my stomach, works well enough."

[whattaprick]

"Hah. Smart." Lambert laughs, short and sharp. "Though you might have asked for them, since they actually seem useful instead of just coming from whatever mess we get into."

He takes that opportunity to run a hand over one of his his own golden horns idly, indicating what he means. Honestly, the most annoying thing about them is they really do limit his options for sleeping positions. Good thing he was already a stomach sleeper himself.

[pipers_son]

Ah, yes. The horns dilemma. As a man who has to deal with antlers himself- although at least not ones the size of freakin' moose, thank god- Joker gives a sympathetic nod. That's a problem that the carnival and all its poor involved bastards have had to deal with since.... probably its inception, honestly, now that he thinks about it.

"Frankly, I woulda been fine before without 'em, since I try ta stay away from some of the real magic stuff," he says honestly, "but after a while, well, ya learn ta just stay away from the dumb and dangerous stuff since there's no point for anythin' else." A snicker finishes off his sentence.

[whattaprick]

If Lambert had been given moose horns, alas, he'd be cutting them off all the time. The golden horns are weird, but easy enough to ignore until he has to do something mundane like duck under a doorway or slip a shirt over his head. Lambert's going to have to invest in button-ups from now on...

"Can you stay away from it?" Lambert wants to know. "Seems like trouble finds the Carnival no matter what, anyway."

[pipers_son]

"Well, yer in the Nightriders, so, no, not for you." Joker grins, fangs catching the firelight. "Shite luck, mate."

Ha. Yeah.

Still, Joker consider the question a bit more seriously after that, and shrugs as he does so. "And frankly... It depends. I've worked here for two years, now, and honestly? The worst trouble we had before that vampire incident was when some tosser of a king tried ta behind some of us. Anythin' else... It could be troublesome, but it wasn't dangerous- difference, ain't there? I mean-" And his mouth twists a little. He's not feeling charitable to the Ringmaster right now, but... "If a world has real dangers, she... does tend ta let us know what stupid things not ta do. Or, at least, stupid if it would hurt the bleedin' carnival."

this tag made me laugh horribly, tbh THANKS JOKER

[whattaprick]

That's enough to make Lambert smirk. "Yeah? Well, I've been told a million times no witcher's ever died in his bed, so that's nothing new."

All joking aside, it's true: too many witchers he's known have died not to be proof of that. Joker's perspective is interesting, as a veteran of the Carnival, though it doesn't line up with Lambert's experience much thus far. He really must have picked a hell of a week to stumble in...

"How well did you know the Nightrider?" Is he going to react as violently as the Psionic had, he wonders? Well, only one way to find out. But while he's making up his mind on whether to accept the Ringmaster's offer or not, he might as well try to figure out everything he can.

HE'S HERE TO HELP

[pipers_son]

"Huh, Mari?" That's enough to earn a slight frown from Joker, but not because he's ever had anything against her himself. It's... more a frown of pity. Most of them managed to get out of Hell, after all, and yet...

"We got on alright, I like ta think. Decent lass although, y'know- still a bit young, especially when she took on the job herself." He winces a bit at his next words. "Was the one in charge durin' the first attack, the event that got us all in this mess. Don't think she ever really got over it."

UH HUH

[whattaprick]

Now that's a bit more information than Lambert was able to pull from anyone else, so far. Lambert can't help hiding the interest in his expression or the way he leans forward a little, but he figures there's no point in feigning disinterest or that he doesn't want to find out more; if Joker's willing to talk about it.

"So she as young as she looked? I thought that she was using fae magic altering her appearance." What does it say about Lambert's world that his first assumption was that, really... "What happened then? I've heard a couple of people talk around it, but not a lot of the actual story."

What's interesting, too, is that Joker hasn't changed back from being a vampire yet -- a choice, or inability to? That question will have to wait for a while.