lostcarnival | ⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 1

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⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 1

Who: Anyone, anywhere in Portland.
When: October 1st - 7th, 2017
Where: Portland area, in the new reality.
What: Memories begin returning to the displaced as the fall gets chillier. How the hell did we end up here, again? Also, apparently, the fair is in town.
Warnings: Individually marked!

PORTLAND BY NIGHT↴

Memory regains will come into effect at the beginning of October, to whatever degree you've decided upon, and may be regained at whatever pace you desire from then on. For those with their full carnival memories, it will be like waking up in the body of someone else - for those with half and half, it will be like rapidly recalling sets of memories from a totally different life. Those with full amnesia will simply feel as if this is how it's always been.

Unfortunately for you, memories aren't the only thing you have to deal with. The supernatural community of Portland is bustling all of a sudden - could your presence and these events somehow be related?

► THE OUTER CIRCLE: As of the start of the month, the Portland Circle of Enlightenment will find itself starting to get swarmed with members from other chapters. Most notably, it would seem that a small cabal of top mages from the North American Enlightenment Council will be making their home in Portland's HQ. For anyone but the highest of ranks, the purpose behind their visit will be unclear, but it seems like something is definitely up on a metaphysical level. The Circle will be buzzing with rumours of unique planar activity and threatening omens. It seems that it all started with an unusual flare of activity in the planetary ley-lines, starting approximately a week ago. However, even if you would usually be the type to keep tabs on such things, you will find that you oddly have no memory of observing this phenomenon yourself.

► THE ANIMAL FAIR: Good news, the fair is in town! Or, at least, it would be good news... if this was a regular fair. Instead, what's being observed is a bunch of nearly identical flyers, spread all around Portland - each of which bears only the words "THE ANIMAL FAIR", a seemingly bloody paw-print of unknown origin, and the directions to a vague forested location outside of the city. It's dated for October 7th, and all instances of its posting having been discovered with a scattering of rose petals, crow feathers, and pre-burnt matches laying on the ground around them. Most are taking this to be some kind of bizarre viral marketing campaign, but others may know better.

► THE EARTH SPIRIT: If you have connections to The Pack or any of its many variations, you'll probably hear whispers of something very odd that occurred last week - according to the elders, it sounds as if the Earth Spirit, the magical and spiritual center of the planet, has suddenly taken a wound. It's not clear why or how, but there is a fair bit of concern among spiritual types, as it is werebeast belief and nebulous magical fact that the magical forces within the earth are the source of all magic here, as well as the source of life. While many werebeasts claim to have felt the Spirit succumb, you strangely have no memory of such an event occurring. Though things do feel strange, if you know how to tap into the Spirit yourself.

► THE WAR CRY: Though Anath's rain of terror across North America lasted for the first fifteen years or so of the Severing, most independent demons have had enough time to start taking the arch-demon's relative inactivity for granted. For that first while, the warrior queen had seemed determine to rebuild an army on earth by forcing her scattered brethren into service - only for her to gradually settle down in a fortress somewhere in Texas and dig in her heels. Of course, this was too good to last - it sounds as if she and her demonic legion have begun tearing their way up the west coast, their goals remaining a mystery. Their destination, however, is almost certainly Portland.

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Normally, Lambert minds his own business. He's seen the guy out on the grounds a few times before in passing, maybe even spoken to him in a 'hey, can you get out of my way' sense, usually while he's nose-deep in a book. He assumes he's one of the students, but he doesn't really know who he is or what the hell he's about. Today, though, he also happens to be walking and trying to cram a sandwich into his mouth while reading something on his phone.

There's a twinge in his stomach, something that instinctively makes him take a sidestep and turn -- just in time to avoid getting his food knocked to the ground, and for him to realize that was a close call. Once the immediate surprise is over, it takes no time at all for him to scowl.

"Hey! What the hell is your problem?!" He certainly seems to be feeling the chill of the October air. In fact, he might be a wee bit overdressed for the weather, already wearing a jacket that might be more suitable to winter than fall.

Edited 2017-06-04 22:48 (UTC)

How had he missed that one? The guy hadn't even been paying attention!

Scowling over his failure, it takes Tamaki a moment to realize that this guy can actually see him, and more than that, he's actually confronting him. Tamaki attempts to draw himself up to his full height, which is about six feet tall, and folds his arms.

"It's just a prank. Don't get so upset."

Lambert doesn't seem too intimidated by their difference in height. If he wasn't holding food, he'd be folding his arms as well, just to make himself look bigger.

"I'm not upset, I'm annoyed," like that makes any difference. "A prank's supposed to be funny, at least. This is just harassment." He gesticulates with the hand holding the sandwich. "What do you even get out of it, huh?"

A few seconds satisfaction and then the return of emptiness, honestly, but Tamaki lacks the self-awareness to admit that.

"I thought it was funny." He shrugs, like that's all that matters. "You can keep your dumb sandwich."

"It's the principle of the thing, you asshole," Lambert bites back, gesticulating with his sandwich. "How would you like it if someone--"

The thing about attempting to shove someone in the shoulder is that it usually goes over a lot better when they are, say, actually solid. As it is, when Lambert pushes out and puts his weight behind it, he nearly overbalances, because there isn't anything there.

It does also mean that his hand is now halfway through Tamaki's shoulder. Which he'll stare at, blankly, before delivering an eloquent:

"Oh for fuck's sake."

Tamaki watches this misguided attempt to shove him with some amusement, bursting into laughter at Lambert's exclamation. It's pretty hilarious when people don't realize he's dead.

Still laughing, he twirls around Lambert, feet no longer touching the ground. Once he's back to being face-to-face with the man, he grins.

"That was a good one."

If Lambert was going to start developing supernatural abilities, of all things, why couldn't it be useful ones? Instead, what he gets for his pain is his fingers suddenly feeling cold as hell -- which is why he'll snatch them back quickly to himself, glaring at Tamaki as he floats around.

"You're a ghost," he says, flatly. Obviously. A few passing students warily eye the guy talking to thin air while scowling and clutching a sandwich, but Lambert ignores them, focusing on pushing up his glasses so he can briefly close his eyes and press his fingers against them like that might helpfully turn his utterly useless spirit vision off.

Did it work? Haha, no of course it fucking didn't, because he looks up and the ghost is still here. Terrific. Moving to Portland has been the stupidest decision of his whole life.

"Duh." Tamaki rolls his eyes, floating from side to side in front of Lambert. "So you can't touch me. Or do anything; I'm already dead."

It's freeing in some ways, like when people can't retaliate against his bad behavior. That doesn't truly make up for it though.

But he doesn't give the game away to some stranger, instead grinning. "What are you gonna do about it?"

Lambert pauses to think about that, actually, before he shrugs, shouldering his backpack and turning away.

"Go home." And with that, he shoves his sandwich to take another bite and starts walking as rapidly as he can. He's not about to re-enact the plot of a cheesy Hollywood ghost movie, nope, he can see ghosts but that doesn't mean he has to deal with them. Whatever issues are keeping a kid tied to a school, of all things, Lambert wants nothing to do with. He'll just have to make sure to avoid this particular path in the future.

Edited ( ) 2017-06-08 22:58 (UTC)

Now that's no fun at all.

Tamaki pouts as he watches Lambert start to leave, before lifting several nuts that have fallen off the tree with his ghost powers. He takes aim and begins pelting the retreating student's back with them.

He really doesn't appreciate being ignored.

Lambert grunts when the first nut hits his shoulder, but it isn't until he gets hit by the fourth or fifth that he'll whirl around, glaring.

"Shouldn't you be haunting something, or whatever it is ghosts do?" He does have a reasonably more nuanced understanding of what ghosts are than that -- at least according to the stories people tell about them, not practical experience -- but this one hasn't given him a reason to care about it. But being able to move objects around like that probably puts it squarely in the category of being a poltergeist or something similar... not that he's any expert.

Good, he turned back around. Tamaki pauses, letting the last of the nuts drop harmlessly to the ground without pelting Lambert's face.

"The guys went to class so there's no one to haunt up there."

It's kind of hard to be a dorm-room-haunting ghost when there's no one in the dorm room to haunt.

"So I'm haunting this tree, I guess." He shrugs.

Lambert squints at Tamaki. Is this ghost for real?

"That's not how hauntings are supposed to work," he objects, mostly out of principle. He doesn't really study ghosts in more than a general sense, since they seem not remotely related to werebeasts and things of that nature. But he knows some things.

"Haunting's supposed to be a place that has a strong emotional association, a reason it keeps ties a spirit to the land of the living." He looks at the tree, scowling. "The only thing I can imagine anyone associating with this tree is napping."

Tamaki rubs the back of his head, looking at the tree. "Eh? What's wrong with naps, though?" He used to take them all the time when he as alive, particularly during class... but that's beside the point. It's not like he can really nap now that he doesn't sleep.

He looks back at Lambert. A strong emotional association, huh? He can't say he really has one to this place specifically, but it's not like he's prohibited by the ghost police from living here.

"I didn't want to stay where I died," he says finally. "They didn't like me there."

The first question stymies Lambert a bit, and he opens his mouth and closes it a few times before he eventually scowls. "Nothing, I guess. People just don't usually have feelings about them one way or another."

But then the ghost drops that on him and Lambert scowls reflexively, looking around as though he almost expects to see Tamaki's body around, despite what he's just said...

Baker's proof enough a ghost can wander from its place, and if a ghost dog can do it, why can't a human? Still, it makes him uneasy, a whisper of dread at the back of the mind that he can't shake off.

"I wouldn't want to stick around somewhere I died either," is what he'll concede, gruffly. Never mind that it's all wrong, that part of his brain nags at him that isn't right, ghosts have to form some kind of attachment to their death, whether it's to a place or a treasured object. "Seems like that would get boring pretty fast." Something about what Tamaki said earlier nags at him, and he frowns. "Who are 'the guys'?"

It's a little more than just that, but Tamaki doesn't correct him. Maybe it is weird for a ghost to do what he's done, to move on to somewhere other than where he died. But Tamaki isn't hunting for revenge for his death. He isn't even really looking for closure. What he wants is something different.

And a feeling he could never fully understand drove him to move toward a dorm. A large gathering of people.

But he doesn't really have the vocabulary to explain. He focuses on Lambert's next question.

"Sora and Sean. They live there." He points vaguely at the dorm building. "In my room. So I haunt them."

Lambert glances at the dorm building, brows raised. His forgotten sandwich is still in hand, so when he moves to cross his arms, he almost smears dressing across his hoodie before he catches it and takes a bite out instead. Hell, if he's going to be dealing with a ghost anyway, he might as well be fed while he does.

"And they're just ... okay with that?" Realistically, there isn't much someone could do against a ghost without a whole battery of supernatural abilities, he supposes. it's still weird to think about.

Tamaki watches him the chew the sandwich with an unusual intensity, and for a moment his face and arms look even more drawn and dead than they have this entire conversation. It takes Lambert finally speaking again for him to tear his eyes away.

"Not really." Who would be happy with a ghost living in their room? Especially when he goes on a tear and breaks things - they're all lucky he hasn't gotten the idea to break Sean's terrariums yet. "One can't see me, the other is like you. And there's an annoying angel. He'll try to get rid of me eventually."

He says this with certainty, even though said angel has said numerous times he doesn't intend to send Tamaki on to the afterlife.

"But it's my room."

That intensity is uncomfortable, and so is the way that Tamaki's appearance changes -- he doesn't turn skeletal, but it's there enough to make Lambert's skin prickle when he catches sight of it. There's definitely something off about this ghost, even factoring in all the things that shouldn't exist about him...

Something else about what he said catches his attention, though, and he grimaces. "Ah. Angels."

He's spoken to one and that whole situation was kind of awkward. Does this guy's angel have a million eyes too? Never mind, Lambert doesn't want to know.

"I thought moving on was what ghosts are supposed to want."

Tamaki narrows his eyes, and then, though he doesn't appear to move, he's suddenly several feet back from Lambert, as though he thinks Lambert might try to grab him.

"No. I want to be alive."

If he moves on, it really will all be over. He'll never live on this world again, at least not as Tamaki. Anything he wanted to do would never be done. Anything he ever did would be forgotten.

"I won't move on. I don't want to."

Lambert's not so sure what about that should have spooked the ghost, but it kind of makes sense, if he thinks Lambert might be about to exorcise him or something crazy like that. Which he isn't, because though Lambert might know some of the theory behind you do such a thing, he definitely knows jack diddly squat about doing it, or what he'd need for it.

(Bones. Whatever object is tying the wraith to this earth. And a lot of fire and silver.)

The passing thought throws him a little, and he frowns, shaking it off in focusing on the present moment. If a ghost has so little to be afraid of, having something that does worry them is probably a good thing.

"Should probably stop hitting food out of people's hands, then." He shrugs. "Keep doing that and you'll get the attention of someone whose job is dealing with that kind of thing. There are enough of those around here." At least if the internet classified ads posts he sees around the place are a reasonable indication. How many of those are cranks versus being legitimate, though, he doesn't know.

Edited 2017-06-19 16:55 (UTC)

Whether Lambert thinks it should or not, Tamaki does seem disturbed by this line of thought. He glances around himself, like the Ghostbusters will pop out at any moment and suck him up in their weird canister thing.

"Th-that hasn't happened yet," he says, as though that will prevent it from ever happening. "Why would someone exorcise me? I knocked food down, but I didn't hurt anyone!"

Surely there are worst ghosts out there to get rid of. He doesn't even want to be dead! He wants to be alive! It's just not fair.

"Doesn't matter. In this city? All you need to do is piss off the wrong person once," Lambert answers, with probably more bitterness than a simple statement like that should warrant.

... but, it's not really any of his business, is it? He's not trying to re-enact Ghost. Given that it' ridiculous to continue standing around with a sandwich, talking to thin air -- he's gotten a few weirded out looks already -- Lambert sighs, tucking the sandwich back into its plastic and putting it away into his bag.

"I don't know who you are or what happened to you... but shouldn't there be something better you can do?"

Tamaki wonders about that; it's a kind of bitterness he's familiar with. Though his death wasn't due to pissing someone off, some of the other ghosts in the area have been through similar things. Maybe Lambert is one of the ones who got lucky.

But it's not any of his business, either, and when the topic changes, he goes from looking frightened to looking put out all over again.

"I can't do a lot of things. Can't eat and can't sleep. Can't talk to most people. But I can let them know I'm there."

The room he lives in is known as the haunted room. That's something, very small but still real.

"And it worked on you. Now you know I'm here. Are you gonna forget?"

All this, to be remembered? Doesn't this kid have anyone he left behind, anyone who'd mourn him being gone? In that case, Lambert can almost understand why he's so desperate. The desire to be seen, to be recognized by others?

He can understand that all too well.

"It'd be easier to remember if I knew your name," Lambert says, finally. A name's something he can look up, at least. The way the ghost is dressed, the way he talks, he must have died not that long ago.

⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 1

going with this being their first meeting, let me know if this works

it works great!

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