lostcarnival | [OPEN] In Rides the King: Day 103+

Entry tags:

[OPEN] In Rides the King: Day 103+

Who: Jack and YOU!
What: Jack's come here on a mission and he really doesn't care about socializing, but bug him anyway! Just an intro log to get him assimilated before the AU event.
Where: The Carnival, the lake, wherever.
When: Day 103~105

a; arrival, gamer's circle - 103
[It was performance week, but Jack's late arrival meant he didn't actually have to work yet. He wasn't exactly thrilled with the job he'd been assigned either, but he had full confidence he would excel at it. He was supposed to be a Talker, so all he needs to do was learn more about the attractions he was supposed to talk about.

He thinks.

Unfortunately, Jack has no plans to make himself useful until he's asked. While he walks himself and his bike--which is essentially just a motor on a giant wheel--through the park with the sole intent of getting to his trailer and staying there, he has to walk through the gamer's circle first. The flashing lights and noise just make him look more sour than usual, at least, until he comes across a stand where you shoot down strafing, cut-out clowns with a water gun.]

Hmph... [That annoying smile. The make-up. Those two, tufts of hair on either side of its head. It reminds him of someone irritating.

Just for that, Jack steps up to the plate, grabbing the water gun with bravado.] Is that the best you can do?!

[He's really taking his aggression out on those clowns.]

b; by the lake - 105
[The carnival itself didn't really interest him. Jack wasn't here to have fun; he was here with a goal in mind, and because of that he didn't feel inclined to "goof off". It's only been two days, and while his conviction hasn't wavered, he'd much rather be somewhere quiet and alone. Meeting Carly here was an unexpected twist.

He's taken to sitting on one of the rocks far off to the wayside of the lake, tossing smaller ones into the water. It's just something to do while he thinks.

Why not ruin it for him?]

c; wildcard - 103~105
[Jack is probably in the way or being loud, somewhere, somehow. We can hash out an idea on my plurk

danderly or just wing it!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Jack's confusion and unease are written clearly on his face, more so now that he's gotten a good look at Carly's, and all the unfamiliar features accompanying it. It doesn't add up. Those marks were...]

Carly! [He pulls back, reaching up with both hands to grasp her shoulders, his jaw clenched. Seeing her cry in this state is a bizarre sort of reassurance.] Is that really you?!

[The answer seemed obvious, but there was no one, simple answer. He needed to know if this was the Carly he knew. The Carly he had lost to the Dark Signers, and who he had a bond with that could not be replaced or replicated.

He needed to know if that was her talking, and not the thing that possessed her.]

Heh? [This is. Odd-but as she blinks she quickly tells herself that it's not THAT odd. She turned to ash last she saw the guy after all. Also Aslla was....being himself. So it goes to follow that he'd be worried, right? (It clearly has nothing to do with her actual appearance)] I-

Of course it's me..! [she replies, frowning lightly.] Aslla Piscu can't even try to possess me here, the Ringmaster would disintegrate him on the spot..!

[These are Important Details, probably. But if there were any reason to ask about her being 'her', she's pretty sure that would be it.] I can even prove it..! It's really me, Jack..!

[Jack watches her explanation with scrutiny, before softening somewhat and pulling his hands back. He's not so sure about that part about Aslla Piscu, but it at least doesn't sound like it's an immediate threat. It was looming, nonetheless.

All of this only leaves him with more questions.] I believe you.

But Carly, the Dark Signers were defeated!

[He defeated her. It was her wish, but that didn't make it any less painful. It shouldn't have had to come to that.]

How is it you remember what happened--and that mark is back?!

Hahhhh... Thank goodness...after what happened, I- [...Oh. Carly doesn't get to finish her words, as she has the rest of Jack's to deal with instead. Stepping back from their embrace, she takes a look at her arm a moment, half muttering her initial answer.] Well, Aslla Piscu came in here with me, and I'm still technically...AH-

[She hurriedly changes where the focus of her words lie, waving her hands in defense.] I-It's true, you defeated me...but that's when I found the Carnival..! In the netherworld, where the dark signers and their gods were to go after their loss..! [The Dark Signers were defeated is something she knew would happen at least-the reason she made her contract, after all, is tied into it. And-] It's-

....how... ....Wait, how did you know everyone else won already...

[He doesn't like the sound of any of that. Jack clenches his jaw again, letting a small noise of frustration slip, but he's keeping it bottled it up. It's not directed at Carly.

Illiaster had talked about changing the past in order to change the future, and the Ringmaster had said she could return them to the point in time they came from. Then was the Carly here from...the past? It sounds like it, and he believes her--everything she says, no matter how outlandish it may sound, even if he second guesses it. She wasn't the type of person who would lie to him about something like this.]

I know because it happened! [Jack reaches out to grab her arm, covering her Dark Signer mark. The awful mark.] This all happened because of me...

Heh-! [When her arm is grabbed, she's caught off guard-but there is no avoiding what he is talking about, after all. The hummingbird shines, and with it, come the darker memories of what occurred. The countless souls devoured, all without her conscious memory.... She wonders, if that could be why she was destined to forget. Aslla's presence being ever constant, what would happen to her mind, when he was torn from it?

It leaves her silent, and saddened...but-] ....But it meant I was able to see you again, [she admits, unable to look him in the eye.] ....I...

...If you're from the future, but I'm still here while we're talking... ...That means I 'forgot', doesn't it... [That was what they said was 'meant' to happen. Aslla Piscu returns to the earth, the Crimson Dragon revives her to her untainted state...

...And she forgets.] ....Jack-if...if you're here, you know what the Ringmaster can do though, right..? ...You know what that means, don't you..?

[His grip loosens as his own Signer mark glows red, shining through his gloves, but doesn't pull away even as it burns through him.]

You forgot, but it's better that way...! [He gestures with his other hand, wide and sweeping.] Getting involved with me only make things worse. You don't have to remember the pain or sadness, I can bear it alone!

[Her own mark also begins to sear, but while she grimaces, she bears with. She bears it, and finds herself looking to Jack in shock. Better? It is a shock that is brief, as the remaining words hit. So clearly, it's not for lack of care, but...

...But with steely eyes, she not only pulls her arm back, she brings her palm right across that perfect cheek-, a resounding 'smack' sound coming over the air.

She did NOT go through three years for this!] What kind of idea is that?! [Tears are dotting her eyes again, and her face heats and blushes orange, as she bites through her words.] Bearing it alone? No one should be doing that!

More importantly, what do you think I've been doing, while working here? Looking forward to you?

Looking forward to remembering you, after it's all done!

I made a contract to make sure I don't forget, Jack... ....And I'm not taking it back..!

[Pain shoots through his face, snapping his head to the side as he stands shell-shocked from Carly's slap. He drops his hold on her other wrist entirely. What just happened?

Her words take a several seconds to filter in through the shock, and Jack blinks, slowly turning to look at her again with a large, red, and hand-shaped mark on his cheek. He lifts his hand up to touch the mark, wincing as his fingertips barely graze it. Did she just hit him?!] C-carly...

[There's a few seconds of silence, as Jack takes in the last bit of her declaration.]

I understand now, you've brought me to my senses! [He feels foolish for not realizing it sooner; Jack clenches his fist.] You're opposing the destiny that's been laid out for you--and carving a new one!

[Those seconds give her enough time to...realize what she's done herself. Did she slap-oh yes she definitely did, that's a bright stinging mark...

Somehow, she manages to keep her face steeled with resolve however, rather than immediately backpedaling. It perhaps serves to cement what she said as reality.

And when he responds as he does, she finds herself smiling. ...Still crying a bit, which is why she pauses to wipe her eyes again, but...] ...Exactly..! But...

[Um.] If you're here, that means you made a contract too doesn't it..? If you were ready to leave me forgetting, just what were you going to do then..!? [SO MEAN]

[Jack lowers his hand, but he's unwavering now that he's come to an understanding of Carly's conviction. That stinging in his cheek is an ever-present reminder of that.]

I had something else I needed to do. [A pause.] I hadn't even considered it.

Not even considered- [Now that's an odd thought. She knows he's a man of Stubborn Grit, but to think that even this matter didn't at least, well. Ghost into being... (Then again, he'd hardly ever admit that it had...)

Carly frowns, her feathers half raised with the emotion.] ...When you say that... ...Hey. Jack, we at least stayed together, didn't we..?

...Even if it's all going to change, we had to have managed somehow, right? [And how long would it have been, for that matter, if it weren't the case? How long?]

[Jack falls silent, unsure of how to tell her now that all these feelings are bubbling back up on him. It's frustrating. He had accepted things as they were, figuring they were for the better--his life headed in other directions, and he had been unable to reconnect with her after those precious memories had been left solely in his care.]

We have coffee sometimes, and you come to my duels.

['We have coffee'. It seems close, yet distant. The sort of thing she would do with Psiionic, or Ashleigh, or so many others. Her smile starts to fall. But she can't think of the words to say.] ....Oh, [she finally 'says', if it can be considered a word.] ...It's...like that...

[It feels cold. Colder than she's ever felt despite not even being alive. And hopelessly, she adds-] ....how long?

...You're from my future, the one I haven't changed, right? [she asks, her voice breaking.] ...How long has it been for you..?

Right... [The unchanged future. He wasn't entirely sure, but that seems to be the case now. Carly's disappointment is palpable.

Jack seems tense, and he looks elsewhere.] Over half a year.

[That long. ....That long tells her that her contract isn't somehow taking real time. She's been here...so much longer after all, so much more than that and yet...

Carly swallows, and struggles with her words, nothing but air coming out from her mouth. Her eyes search the ground, but for a number of moments...nothing.

Nothing.] ....I'm sorry, [she finally says, swallowing.] I... ...I've made you wait, haven't I? Even though time doesn't pass while we're here, [she 'laughs', the sound broken by some tears,] We've come from times so far apart..! I....

[....She can't just cry over this. Deep breaths-she takes a deep breath, and nods.] ...Well...

...I guess, we're here now, right? And it's going to change now, right? So we can't think about that!

We have to move forward!

[Jack's hands tighten into fists, trembling as Carly goes on, her voice tearful and broken. He eases them up slowly, and reaches up with his palm to smudge away her tears. It's clumsy and really only manages to make her face wetter.] ...That's right, so stop crying! Half a year is nothing in the grand scheme of our lives.

[He pulls his hand back into a newly determined fist.] We're here to fulfill our contracts and move towards an ideal future, not dwell on the mistakes of our past!

Hah... RIGHT! [She needs to shower now though, tears all over dammit Jack-

But, she'll pump a fist to join him. Even if, in the back of her mind, she's already realizing that they'll be half a year apart anyway...given when she started her recent contract...

(Maybe she can talk to the Ringmaster about that)

Jack, here, living here, working here...the more she thinks about it the more excited she is, and-

hey wait a minute] Ah....

....Though, Jack, this is the Supervisor's Grove... ....if you just started here, shouldn't you have been assigned a trailer..? ...Did you walk too far..?

[Jack grins for the first time he's been here, and bumps his fist against Carly's. That seals the deal.]

Hm? [He lowers his hand, but he still seems in a brighter mood than before.] Impossible, I followed her directions exactly. My trailer's back here.

[Jack procures the key he'd had earlier, showing it to Carly.] Now I just need to remember which number it was.

S-SERIOUSLY!? But that doesn't make sense, that only happens if a supervisor agrees to-

[....................Carly goes quite silent, staring at the key for a moment as her words trail off.

She then begins to develop a very odd, and probably worrying smile.] Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....~

Then they must have made an excep-- [He blinks, lowering the key.]

What is it?

We're sharing~ [She quickly pulls out her key, and then grabs one of Jack's arms to lead him off.] First I get promoted, and then you're here, and now we're sharing~!! This is the best day ever~!

[Jack pretty much just lets himself get pulled along, only stumbling a little in the beginning.]

What? How can you be so sure?!

Just follow me, we can test it~~ [She, after all, knows which trailer is hers. It's a bit of a climb, but among the somewhat awkwardly arranged trailers they come to the one she knows now to be hers-and releases the other's arm.] Go on! If the key doesn't fit, then I'm wrong, but I bet it does~

... [Jack obliges, following Carly all the way up the steps to her trailer. The way they're all haphazardly stacked on top of each other reminds him of home--his real home.

Once they're at the front door, he gives both the key and Carly a stern look.] I'll see for myself.

[He inches the key forward, into the lock, and...

It turns. There's a finalizing click as the lock is undone; this was his trailer.]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject