MUSHI DISASTER

[dontpokethat]

Who: Anyone and everyone; it’s a mingle-style log!
What: A sudden spike in the mushi population brings some trouble to the carnival.
When: Around day 87-90
Where: All around the carnival
Warnings: Illness, potentially some minor body horror, and so on



[Following the recent disappearance of Ginko and Tanyuu’s mushi repellent, there will be a sudden increase in the number of mushi in the carnival this week.

This is a mingle-style log, so just post a toplevel, tag out, and have fun with mushi disasters! Event information and questions are here.]

Comments

[dontpokethat]

It was... in a bottle? ...Dammit. [Ginko sighs and pushes his fingers through his hair, but doesn't wait too long before starting in on his explanation.]

Sounds like you ran into a yadokaridori. The good news is, this should fix itself if you just go about your business like usual; the bad news is that it will take a few days. And there... isn't really a way to hurry it along, unfortunately.

[whattaprick]

[ If Lambert weren't so distracted himself, he might actually have picked up on the fact that she's 'caught' a Mushi, too ... but as it is, the mention of his 'technique' makes him smirk and nod, waving her off lazily.

Catch you on the other side, Rita! ]

[pipers_son]

At least he knows it's something up with him. It's never easy to convince someone that there's something wrong with them when they're really determined to say they're not. Sympathetically, Joker reaches over to give a small squeeze to Greg's shoulder.

"It'd be easier if it wasn't," he admits. "But at least if it's you, then we know who ta go ta for a fix. Have ya seen Zecora yet?"

[stillwinningthehardway]

"What makes them so special, do you know? I'm guessing you have more humanlike animals too where you're from - you know, they bleed and breed and everyone can see them, and if they have abilities it's because they have strong legs, or flame sacs, or high midichlorian counts." Star Wars animals can get very Extra.

The one mushi that had flowed up onto Scout's boot has settled for now in the shadow under another table, skulling around probing for nothing she can figure out. She keeps an eye on it in case it decides to move. "Do you know why they're so attracted to you?"

[fragileandsoft]

Greg starts to reach over, before hesitating. Not knowing if it's okay to touch his son, if it will cause him even more discomfort... it makes him feel sick. He settles with touching at the wilted roses in Steven's hair, cupping them against the snow. Surely at least they could use the warmth.

"I'll be here for you the whole time. You need me to get you anything, you need to stop for whatever reason, just let me know."

He wishes so badly there was more he could do. Anything he can think of would only make it worse, though, so he just has to wait. Wait until Steven lets him know.

[fragileandsoft]

"Got some asprin for the headache. Must've worn off while I was working." He blows out a breath. "It's been a while since this sort of thing flared up, it really caught me off guard. This place... well, it's done a pretty nice job keeping everyone healthy." Whatever else goes wrong, he sure can't fault it for that.

[puddingemote]

If a lot of weird things happen, Tamaki feels like Zecora might be pretty busy, and he doesn't want to take up her time. On the other hand, if this is something she can fix, he should probably go see.

It takes him a moment, but then he nods slowly in response. It's really the only sensible next course of action. He just hopes he can get a more concrete answer for how to fix this.

[kingsroads]

"If it does eat me, I'll let you know." It's said with a wry smile on his face, like Strange is privy to something that Lambert isn't. Eventually he'll tell his boss about that whole 'I bought a rebirth' thing...eventually.

[fragileandsoft]

"Yesterday morning. Or--what time is it. I guess it's the day before yesterday by now? U-uh, about, about two days, anyway." He scratches at his neck, trying to read Ginko's expression. "Is it... you know it? Can those things really do that?"

[anti_nonsense]

I suppose that clarifies some things, but then... what, it's up to random chance whether someone happens to have that ability or not? [Rita's never experienced anything like this before, being able to see things that others can't... Did she always have that ability?]

[anti_nonsense]

[That gets the message across.]

... You can't. [But she's still annoyed.] Great.

Well... mute or not, you've been here longer than me, right? Is there someone around here who'd know about weird stuff like this?

[anti_nonsense]

[Rita's giving him a dry look.] That's all well and good, but what would we even look for?

[atouts]

[ Childermass watches the last silverfish get blasted before the stumble brings his attention back around to Rita. He makes a move as if to help steady her when she wavers, but then she sits, that's good enough. He'll leave her be and step back again. ]

Are you sure? You are in a realm different than your own now. That might have an effect on your magic.

[atouts]

He wouldn't blame him. Even Childermass has yet to pick up on his own troubles, assuming, for the most part, that the sun is just a little too bright today. Again, he squints longer at what Lambert's written than would normally be needed for him to read through such short sentences. That's... annoying. Annoying enough that he takes a moment to bring a hand up and rub his eyes with the back of them, then try again.

Sadly, that also means the awful drawing of Baker and Rita's name pass by without him making sense of them through his blurring vision. Maybe some other day he'll see at least the picture and probably conspire to steal it for himself, if only for humor's sake.

"If she needs to be kept warm, just return her to her Pokeball," he says after he's actually managed to get through the words and think on them for a moment. "If the mushi are external, wouldn't they get left behind?"

[whattaprick]

From the look on Lambert's face, it's not an idea that's really occurred to him, and that will give him pause, working it through his head. He doesn't really understand the mechanics of how the Pokeballs work, how it distinguishes between Pokemon and everything else in its environment. It would help if he understood how the mushi worked himself, but he doesn't, so he can't help but turn to what he'd do for a normal creature, forgetting they aren't really anywhere normal at all.

You really think that will work? It's probable that Lambert hasn't had -- or been humbled enough -- to ask that question many times in his life. It shows, in the way he holds himself after he puts that question to Childermass, shoulders drawn up and back stiff, though he's looking at him intently. Even if he'd beaten Childermass soundly a time or two in Alola, he knows he spent a lot more time actually figuring out how things in that world worked. He'd trust his call on something like this over his own.

[hippocarnival]

[Zeco-san... who is Zeco-san, he doesn't know. ] Are they one of the doctors here? It can't hurt to ask. This is kind of serious, isn't it?

[There's already enough edge because of the Mushi, let alone if it--wait.] You didn't touch one of the Mushi, did you?

[hippocarnival]

[Ah. Yuya looks at least relieved to hear that. He'd rather they weren't both dealing with this.] That's good. I guess you're really imposing now, so they know better than to mess with you!

[hippocarnival]

Sure, I'll let you know. I'm Yuya by the way--uh, if you need to find me first, I'm in trailer fourteen.

[anti_nonsense]

That's possible, but the magic energy is processed entirely through my blastia, not through me. Any abnormalities in that energy wouldn't normally be felt by the user... [She folds her arms over the table and leans onto them, resting her head.] Focusing on casting artes can take a small amount of mental energy, but... [Actually, maybe that's the problem.]

Maybe I just didn't have that much energy to spare. I've been feeling like crap lately. Kind of like a flu, or something. [Rita's never actually had the flu before, so she's just guessing.]

[whattaprick]

That's just gonna get her huff of amusement -- helpfully telegraphed by the way his shoulders rise and fall -- and a roll of his eyes. Sounds just like something Vesemir would say. Nine hundred years old, though? He can't help squinting at her suspiciously at that.

How old are you? Forget asking more probing questions about the rest of that, this seems more important to answer at this time!

TIMESKIPPING AROUND, let me know if this works for you o/

[whattaprick]

[ Lambert does not take this news particularly well. His expression trips from mildly frustrated to apoplectic all over again, muscles in his neck standing out as he gesticulates and silently shouts, the are you fucking kidding me needing no translation. Eventually, however, the silent diatribe comes to a stop, the effort clearly too much to keep up, as Lambert is left pinching at the bridge of his nose.

Fine. Not fatal, not permanent, just a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things. There are worse ways to be cursed. That doesn't mean he's happy about it, though, so without any further word of explanation, he literally walks away, leaving Ginko in his dust.

Not that, for practical reasons, he can really stay away for long. There are mushi around the Carnival, and like it or not, Ginko's a mushi master. Lambert still has to seek him out to ask for clarification on how to deal with something or other, and fortunately at some point he starts showing up with paper, so he can communicate other than with increasingly obscene hand gestures. He seems less angry than the first time, though it ratchets up again when he has to bring his snow-plagued horse to be diagnosed.

There is one bit of news he can offer Ginko on locating the mushi repellent, which he scrawls on a notepad and thrusts under his nose impatiently the next time they bump into each other. ]

Tracked the smell of the repellent to the lake. No trace of where they came out, so either they can fly or they drowned. I keep catching the scent of it around the carnival, but it doesn't lead anywhere, so I think they've got an accomplice fucking with us.

[ And then, well. He actually takes a look at Ginko's current state, which makes him blink, scrawl on another piece of paper, and shove that under his nose as well: ]

You look like shit.

[stillwinningthehardway]

Silence is a good look on Lambert, it makes him appear however falsely to have attained some reserve.

"Seventeen. If I don't get killed I could make it to three hundred." The way Scout says it makes it sound like a very outside possibility. As a Jedi, even if she's not a knight, she ages better than a lot of people. Then again where she's from humans with good medical care regularly make it to a hundred twenty. "People like me last longer sometimes. There was another human who made it to eight hundred, but... not in the kind of shape the Grand Master is, still smart and strong."

She still admires Yoda, and misses him. The best thing about being in the Carnival again is not feeling it as old friends and teachers die far away, not waiting braced for the dwindling list of those who are left to shorten further.

[starseedling]

Steven wishes he knew what he wanted. Or at least, he wishes what he wanted didn't lead down a path of inevitable pain. He just wants it to be over with so he doesn't have to think about it anymore, because something about the whole idea weighs on him heavily.

After a while if feeling uncomfortable, he leans against Greg. Ginko had said that body heat could help. Maybe he should just suck it up and go all the way. Maybe a few hours of pain would be better than even more hours of somewhat less pain.

"Ginko said body heat could help," Steven suggests halfheartedly. "Maybe... Maybe it would be better that way."

Part of it is that he'd just like a hug.

[perverses]

Right, on Rin's back. This would be embarrassing if Shima actually cared enough to not look like a huge wimp, but with how much his knee hurts? Screw dignity, he just wants off this dumb mountain! So he hangs onto him, still giving the Pokemon a side-eye.

"Weren't the hellbats enough...? Now ya got some weird green giant mouth monster," he says, sounding like he just can't believe this. "But nah, I didn't take one. I don't want to be saddled taking care of a pet! Besides, the one I did have, uh... Kind of didn't like me... so..."

Rejected by Pokemon. Oh well.

[atouts]

"What does that...?" It's getting harder and harder to focus without squinting, the headache the sunlight has been giving him only worsening with a bizarre swiftness. "...will it work?" Yes, he's pretty sure that's right. "Unless the mushi are acting like a parasite from inside, yes, it should. They're very specific about what goes into one of those contraptions. I have a book on it, actually, but—"

But good God, his eyes. He tucks the pot and lid under one arm, freeing a hand to cover his eyes for a moment, shielding them from the nice, sunny day. That immediately lessens the growing pain.

"...what in the bloody hell... I was fine before I came out here," he mutters, trying to take his hand back off from over his eyes and only finding himself cringing away from the light (and the witcher and horse both) and slapping it back down again. He turns away, not quite doubling over, but close, as if putting his back to the sun overhead might help any.