lostcarnival | I would have picked a quote about shadows [OPEN]

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I would have picked a quote about shadows [OPEN]

Who: Childermass & open.
What: Having finally gotten his shadow teleport spell to work, Childermass is trying to iron out just how to control the damn thing...
When: During the Mainframe stop, before Performance week.
Where: Around the carnival.
Warnings: n/a

i. all around the carnival

It's a whole lot of trial and error, it seems, this shadow magic, but at least Childermass doesn't anticipate ending up anywhere deadly as he goes from shadow to shadow, place to place. He's found early and late in the day works best, when the sun is forcing shadows to cast at an angle. Night time only deepens and darkens the entire world, which, in theory, you might expect to make it the easiest time of all, but there is such a thing as too many doors...

So, during these days before the carnival opens, it won't be uncommon to suddenly find a tall, somewhat dour-looking (exciting as messing around with magic like this is, he just isn't the sort to let on to that easily) Englishman abruptly existing where there hadn't been an Englishman — or anyone at all, for that matter — before! Look fast enough and you'll catch him moving like he's just stepped out of somewhere, though there's usually nothing but shadows and whatever is casting them behind him.

This could be inside buildings, the cookhouse, the Big Top, all around the forest—

ii. or in your trailer, any trailer at all

Or accidentally shadow-stepping straight into the closet in your trailer or maybe even the bathroom, if the lights been left off in there by some chance. There'll be a THUMP of Childermass walking directly into something — a broom, the shower curtain, whatever it is — and then a muttered curse of, "Oh, damn it. Not again."

And here he thought he was going to be better about this than Strange was...

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In retrospect, he may feel a little bad later for this, seeing how the poor man is a bit mad still. On the other hand, he figures Strange will forgive him once he realizes what's going on. Well, possibly. That much no doubt depends on how open Childermass is about trying to explain the how of this trick.

Regardless, none of that stops him from disappearing again the moment Strange is distracted by blowing out that batch of candles. The flickering flames going out plunge the trailer into even more shadow and he manages to pick one out that falls across where he's sitting, though he does make a move as if to stand before he's gone that might be caught out of the corner of an eye. Where he goes isn't too far at all, stepping out through the trailer's shadow outside so he can eavesdrop for the right moment to reappear.

But to Strange, it'll seem like he was there and then... not.

As he blows out the candles, Strange turns back around to grump at Childermass some more about that whole randomly appearing in his trailer thing...only to find that he's alone. "Childermass?"

Huh. Childermass was there and now he wasn't. The obvious answer is that Strange must have either hallucinated him due to the madness or, thanks to his still sleepy state, simply mistook something else in the trailer for the other Englishman. Hopefully it's the latter over the former, mostly because Strange doesn't want to think of the possibility that he's suddenly started hallucinating Childermass. God, how horrible would that be, to have the other man looming over his shoulder for the rest of eternity. No, it must have been a dream.

Still, he's mostly awake and it's close to dawn so there's no point going back to sleep. Might as well start the morning routine earlier than usual. With a loud yawn, Strange turns back towards his bed, as he picks the bedsheets up from off the floor and starts to (badly) make his bed, turning his back to most of the trailer as he does so.

"I rather think Lars would prefer not having the entire place catch fire over losing a bit of sleep," comes Childermass's voice again. He had waited and strained to listen for the telltale creaks over someone lumbering back towards the trailer's beds before, again, stepping in through the shadows.

This time he's leaning casually against the counter in the fairly dark kitchenette, casual as can be.

As soon as he hears Childermass's voice, Strange just spins around, narrowing his eyes as he looks at the other magician. The bed's half made but it is straight up getting abandoned because again, Childermass is there where he wasn't before. He can tell he's waking up so the confusion caused by sleep theory is starting to lose ground. So that leaves...what? The man definitely was there and then wasn't, Strange is 100% sure about that.

"If it did cast fire, I'd simply conjure up some rain to put it out. I'm not that heavy a sleeper, after all, I'm certain I'd wake up if the trailer was burning." He takes a few steps closer towards Childermass...but as Strange's bare foot steps on a few sheets of paper, he pauses to bend down and pick up some of that mess, averting eye contact, but keeping the conversation going as if this is perfectly normal, ha ha, no problems at all, he certainly isn't hallucinating Childermass not in the slightest. "Besides, it wouldn't surprise me if the Ringmaster's put an enchantment on the trailers to make them fireproof."

And once more, when Strange looks away, Childermass steps back into the shadows and is gone. He'll end up the same place, it being familiar enough after the first time. That seems to make it easier, he idly makes a mental note of, repeated visits. Either that or having a recent memory of a place. He'll need to figure out which it is, but later.

So again, he stands still just outside Strange's trailer, listening in and giving it another minute before he plans on reappearing.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Strange is instantly a bit more suspicious about all of this because this is the second time he's turned away and Childermass has vanished from his sight. If the man were to reappear, he knows what he'd do next: just stare at him.

Until then, might as well carry on the conversation. If he truly is hallucinating Childermass, then it wouldn't matter if the other man were actually here or not, would it. Strange is trying to keep his voice light, though there's an obvious hint of irritation at the fact that he can't figure this out at all.

"But back the candles. I found a few in glass jars the last time I borrowed some from storage. I'll use those next time—at least they'd be less likely to catch the trailer on fire." He sets the papers down on the table before looking around the trailer and getting an idea soon after. Walking over to the trailer's front door, Strange tries to open the front door. Hmm. The door's locked. And there's the telltale sound of someone trying to open a door that's locked. That's...good? It certainly means that whatever this is, if it is anything to begin with, it's not actually using the door.

"A fair enough idea," Childermass concurs, once again in the trailer with Strange. This time he's leaning against a bit of wall, not at all in the same place as he was the other two times, arms casually folded as he does so. Just hanging out, just watching, like absolutely nothing here is weird.

He already has a pretty good idea that he won't be able to get away with this much more or even one more time, depending on how quickly Strange puts the pieces together. The man may be a little mad, but he's not an idiot.

"Though I have seen a few lanterns around the carnival, ones that are small and easy to carry. Electric, I think."

Yeah, Strange is starting to put the pieces together. As Childermass reappears, Strange narrows his eyes. Alright, this has gone straight into aggravating. He starts walking over to the man, watching him all the while.

"Do you plan on driving me even more mad?" Strange can't help but complain, still looking at perhaps-Childermass all the while, not breaking eye contact. He's at least got part of Childermass's nonsense figured out...now time to figure out the rest.

Partly to verify that Childermass is here, partly out of utter spite, Strange reaches over and attempts to pinch the other magician hard on the arm. This isn't him being petty and spiteful at all! This is just Strange trying to verify that Childermass is physically here (after all, you can't touch hallucinations), it's certainly not the result of Strange just getting all the more annoyed at this in and out bullshit.

Well, the pinch just earns Strange a frown and him pulling his arm away, stepping back and away from the wall as he does. He's definitely solid, definitely there, existing in that space. Once he's put a step or two between them, though, Childermass shrugs, remaining nonchalant about his stupid little game.

"Not in the least," he answers along with that shrug. "I just thought you might want to experience first-hand how it feels to have someone barge in on you whenever they please. Seems like an important aspect to note, if you ever write something about teleportation through magical means."

The pieces fit themselves together with Childermass's last words. Teleportation through magical means. So did the other magician learned some of that magic as well! Honestly, Strange is more curious than anything else. What was he traveling between? How did he do it? What sort of spell did he use? That nosiness is coming out in full force.

"My writings would be even better if you showed me how you did it—with me watching this time, of course." He's trying his hardest to sound grumpy and to sound annoyed. After all, Childermass just messed with him for seemingly no reason. Logically, he should still be put out. But a little hint of wonder creeps into Strange's tone. If Childermass has managed to figure out some teleportation magic of his own, then of course Strange wants to see the results for himself.

Seemingly no reason aside from idle amusement. Childermass isn't typically prone to that kind of entertainment, but it's nice to have one up on one of the greatest magicians of their time for once. He intends to enjoy it while the moment lasts.

"I can certainly do that," he'll at least give Strange that much. The trick is that he only asked to be shown it, it never mentioned anything about coming back afterward. So this time when he steps back into the shadows of the trailer, gathering them around him not unlike how his original trick with shadows before had worked, he'll vanish off to who knows where else in the carnival and he won't be back, at least not in the trailer.

Where he does end up is in the Big Top, emerging out of a shadowy corner near where he knows at least one mirror prop is kept for the sake of fairness. It wouldn't be any fun if he went somewhere that Strange couldn't follow.

When ten seconds pass, Strange is still thinking that Childermass will return any moment. When thirty seconds pass, Strange is starting to worry that he straight up got ditched. After a minute passes, Strange is entirely certain he got ditched. One scrying spell later tells Strange that Childermass is in the Big Top. Of course, the problem here is that Strange still isn't wearing any shoes, thanks to Childermass waking him up. So it's all swears and grumpiness from Strange's end as he puts his shoes on and tosses a vest over the shirt that he slept in.

He still looks unkempt as hell, but at least he's trying to look decent. Thankfully, Childermass has to wait for less than five minutes before Strange appears out of the mirror, complaining mostly for the sake of complaining. "First you wake me up, then you lead me on a chase?"

Still, the magic was impressive. And, now that he's seen the trick, Strange isn't so petty as to not acknowledge when someone's performed impressive magic--almost as impressive as the sort he performs on a regular basis! "I hate to admit it but your shadows are probably more practical than my mirrors. After all, there's always light."

By the time Strange catches up, he's already found a place to lean casually against a few prop boxes and idly chew on the end of his pipe. He would smoke, but he's since run out of what pipe tobacco he had brought along and he's pretty sure the stuff that Ginko grows won't be to his taste at all. Still, it's a habit, and the pipe's long use at least has a taste and smell clinging to it. He will lower it when the disheveled magician finally catches up through the mirror and raise his eyebrows at the man.

"Oh? Are you not having fun?" Childermass, being a huge jerk. Just as planned. He will relent, however, upon Strange admitting shadows are, in fact, much better. He'll let a faint smile turn up a corner of his lips at that. "Been working on it for awhile, but I only had real success recently. It's a bit of a cross between how the Roads seem to work and how the Warden and Joker do their own teleportation."

Strange nods approvingly, a wide grin spreading on his face as Childermass explains the magic. That irritation is fading as Strange's curiosity and nosiness grows even more. Yes, it does make sense that Childermass would incorporate some of Sans and Joker's magic in his spells as well. After all, that was entirely what Strange himself did with Norrell occasionally: copy the man's work, add his own additions.

"It's a pity I can't access the Roads while in the Carnival—I'd take you there myself and you can fine-tune the spell that way!" Strange can't help but give Childermass a small 'what can you do about it' sort of shrug. Because really, what could he do about it? Nothing in the slightest. "We'll simply have to visit them after I've sorted everything out back home."

Because obviously he will sort everything out back home, Strange is still blissfully unaware of that whole 'surprise you're stuck in the black tower' nonsense.

There's a pause after he says that, about visiting the Roads back home. Childermass, as ever, doesn't betray much through his expression, but there is a pause, one just as easily applied to him possibly considering the idea and nothing more. In the end, he just shrugs back.

"If you say so, Mr. Strange," is the safest answer as ever. "Though the Roads themselves did not give me as much of the idea as how you used to get to them did and how you get around even now. There's nothing but darkness between shadows, certainly no roads, but I can go from one to the other, not unlike you do your mirrors."

Whereas Strange interprets the pause as Childermass debating whether he really wants to explore a different and possibly dangerous realm with a madman or not. After all, Arabella thought the Roads were dangerous, Childermass probably thought so as well. Worrywarts, both of them (though the trait is more endearing on one than the other).

"Truth be told, I've only the slightest idea of how I get around now to begin with," said in a very matter of fact tone as if that's not slightly worrying. "By all accounts and purposes, the spell shouldn't have worked here." He cast the spell to enter the Roads through the mirrors, not go from mirror to mirror. Perhaps the Carnival simply cut out the middleman? Magic adapting to work and to fill in the gaps of the spell. They are in a realm full of magic, after all, it only makes sense.

"Of course, I've adjusted the spell since then. There's no use casting a spell with superfluous elements, after all. But most of my adjustments are based on some of the principles of reflection used in scrying magic--which I hardly think will help your shadows." SHRUGS. Sorry Childermass, he's not going to be much help.

"That's fine," Childermass replies, waving off whether Strange can or cannot help. That much doesn't matter quite so much anymore. "I've managed to get down how to get from place to place by now, at least within the carnival."

As if to prove that point, he vanishes into the shadows yet again. Another reason he chose the Big Top to appear in, that after hours when it's not in use, it's not exactly the most well-illuminated of places. No spotlights and such on when they aren't performing and all. Thankfully, he doesn't go far this time. When he reappears, it's only ten or so seconds later and he's stepping out from behind the mirror Strange had used. Simple as that.

"Though I've found it works best if I've seen the place I'm going before. Trying to use only a general concept of where I want to end up has led to a few..." Well. He may as well admit it. "Unfortunate instances."

He can't help but raise an eyebrow as Childermass uses the shadows to move behind the mirror. Again, it's impressive. To think that Childermass had already mastered such fine control over his magic. And, more importantly, that he mastered such fine control over it without Strange even realizing Childermass had that sort of shadow magic to begin with. All the more reason to not spend any time in the Mainframe.

But unfortunate instances? Now that's worth talking about!

"Go on," Strange remarks, with a wry little smirk. "You can't say something like that and leave it there."

He says, knowing full well that Childermass will probably just leave it there to begin with. After all, why would he willingly describe a goof-up to Strange? Might want to sweeten the pot a little. "I'll tell you an unfortunate instance of mine in return."

What Strange doesn't know is how hiding what he was working on was all a part of the plan and, with luck, he'll never know, but moving on. Look at how unconvinced he is about that, Strange, just look. He wonders if he already knows of all of his unfortunate instances, though, but that in mind... It might give him an idea of what else he's been up to when he wasn't been able to keep on eye on the other magician.

And so, while he does roll his eyes, Childermass does, after a moment of considering it, does say, "Oh, fine. I imagine the one you will find the funniest is that I now know more than I care to about our witcher friend's bathing habits. He showers with the lights off."

Which is still so damn stupid, he can't even believe it.

Edited 2017-05-18 01:06 (UTC)

Strange just frowns in confusion. That's exceedingly dumb. One needed to see in the shower. Sure, Lambert probably had some stupid witcher nonsense that let him see in the dark or smell the soap better or something like that, but it's the principle of the thing. You just didn't shower in the dark, that's not how things are done! As such, he can't help but shake his head slightly, still confused by the whole matter.

"That makes no sense! Surely he knows he's liable to trip over something that way!"

Apparently this is the point that confuses the magicians more than anything else: showering in the dark. He can't imagine what sort of chaos emerged once Childermass accidentally walked into Lambert showering but really, if he was showering in the dark, then he deserved whatever nonsense happened afterwards (of course, most people probably don't expect others to wander in their shower to begin with, but details, details).

"I said about as much as that to him and he just got upset. Apparently, it's fine because he can see in the dark," Childermass says, shrugging. He idly folds his arms across his chest, leaning a bit to one side, one shoulder against the mirror. It's sturdy enough, in the frame that it's sitting in. He is, of course, going to leave out the part where he then tries to escape the dark shower and they both end up in the lake.

So, since that's all the story Strange is getting, he nods towards the other magician, raising an eyebrow. Cleary, that means it's his turn.

Strange simply shakes his head at Childermass's explanation. Whether he could see in the dark or not, it still was a little bit ridiculous. Oh, Lambert's probably used to bathing in the dark what with his witcher lifestyle and everything, but that doesn't mean he has to keep going at it! He obviously embraced plumbing (which is downright wonderful in Strange's eyes, he loves sinks), so why not embrace electricity?

Still, it's his turn to describe one of his unfortunate instances, so Strange sits down on a prop box, mulling things over as he does so as he decides what to say...and, most importantly, what could best shock Childermass.

"Back on our world, I put a dead mouse in my mouth to help become mad." It's said as if that's a perfectly normal thing to happen! And it's just said so bluntly and so up-front that Strange knows Childermass might want to at least pry a little bit more about this.

Aiming to shock Childermass, as it turns out, takes a lot more than 'I stuck weird things in my mouth when I was already a little unhinged'. Sure, the mouse earns a brief quirk of an eyebrow, but seeing as Strange finally did manage to become mad, he can only assume even worse things went in there than a dead mouse.

"Something from the lady you turned into a cat, I imagine," he says to that, recalling mention of it from way, way back, closer to when Strange first arrived at the carnival. "Or are the two somehow unrelated?"

Yeah he straight up drunk soooooo much weird shit while trying to become mad, no surprise there. But again, Strange is just talking about this as if it's perfectly normal, no biggie, not kind of gross in the slightest.

"The two are related. The poor woman was completely out of her mind. I gave her her heart's desire, being a cat, in exchange for a vessel of her madness, the mouse she was about to eat. I had attempted to consume the..." well he can't say 'mouse corpse', can he "...the, ah, vessel then and there. I put it in my mouth, found it to be far too potent, and then brewed it down to a more manageable tonic."

He gives Childermass a little shrug, before the slight teasing returns. "I'd be happy to repeat the process as a demonstration, if you wish. We simply need to find someone else who's mad." Because it sure as hell won't be Strange casting that sort of spell on himself.

"And then got on with being mad," Childermass can't help but chip in, yet managing to sound bored with the entire ordeal. Truthfully, he isn't, far from it, but it's always been the safest bet when actually trying to avoid an argument. "But no, I see no need to demonstrate. I doubt we're actually short of mad people to do that with here, though they may protest far more than your cat woman."

A lot more. Also, the Ringmaster might not like the whole 'her workers being turned into things' when it isn't her own magic doing all the turning. You know, just a little.

"I also ended up in one of the pantry of the cookhouse," he says after a beat, taking it as his own turn to offer another location he ended up while practicing. "Not as disastrous as someone's shower, but it did surprise them."

I would have picked a quote about shadows [OPEN]

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