lostcarnival | ⇨ THE SUMMERLANDS

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⇨ THE SUMMERLANDS

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 138 - Day 152
Where: The Summerlands
What: The Ringmaster brings the carnival to the Summerlands immediately after being freed from Portland so that everyone can take a fucking nap. Her included.
Warnings: Individually marked! Most likely discussion of torture and trauma in here.

DAYS OF SUMMER↴

You made it! And things are back to normal... more or less. Upon waking, you will be greeted with a clear blue sky and gentle breeze – the carnival has found itself situated between a pair of mountain peaks, with great fields of flowers extending in the distance. In the other direction, you’ll see mountain-top cities and tall waterfalls accenting vast swaths of forest.

Some of you will already know this place. It’s the Summerlands. You game here once to rest in safety nearly a year ago, and now you’ve come to rest once again.

► WAKING UP: Shortly after the carnival arrives, the Ringmaster will send out a somewhat cryptic radio message - but her immediate location won't be clear. Whatever items you had on your person at the time the Severing was broken will still be on your person, including whatever clothing. All of the animals and pets of the carnival will have returned to the grounds as well, though they are currently free from their designated living spaces. Things in the carnival will appeared to have naturally aged a month, as if the carnival was been sitting here empty and waiting while everyone was in Portland. The lawn needs mowing.

► SUMMER CITY: After the Summer Fae become aware of everyone's presence, they will welcome you into their city. There are stairs that lead up the sides of the mountains, but thankfully there are also magical means of getting up there as well. The Summer Fae will be willing to help workers with the injured as needed, offering herbal remedies and healing magic to those that want it. You'll also be invited to join them for dinner, but they will not be particularly offended if they are turned down, for now.

► SUMMER PEOPLE: The fae here will mostly enjoy the company of any carnival members that offer it - it doesn't seem that much happens here besides day after day of peaceful meditation and relaxation. It is not uncommon to see Summer Fae spent days doing exactly the same thing, whether that be enjoying the weather, listening to music, or dancing - the day and night periods may be similar to earth, but when you don't need rest it can all blur together just the same. Some of the fae work on feats of agriculture or craftsmanship, and while there is no particularly need to work in this place, they take pride in the fact that they do.

► NEW ARRIVALS: Though the Ringmaster will not be offering much guidance for the first week or so, eventually the carnival will begin running for a few small performance sessions, off and on, as a thank you to their fae hosts. The carnival will also be open to receiving new arrivals during that period, and so there will likely be some newbies to train and get orientated as well.

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"I think so." Lambert has to rummage in his head and Portland Lambert's rapidly fading memories for a bit before coming up with the appropriate mental images to go with the words, more or less. It feels like he's heard about something like this before, he's certain, but it's like having a word you can't quite remember at the top of your tongue--

"Are you talking about being in a boy band?" he blurts. Does Lambert even understand what a boy band really is? Fuck no, but the phrase is what springs to mind, and it just ... feels correct.

Although it's also going to make him look at Tamaki dubiously. "How did you end up doing that?"

Edited 2017-08-18 16:00 (UTC)

Boy band isn't quite the same thing, but when Tamaki thinks about it, he supposes it's about the closest thing America has. And that's where Lambert learned that term, he's sure. It's close enough that he just nods his head in confirmation.

"I used to dance outside train stations. Boss saw my dancing and said he wanted to give me a job. I told him I'd only talk if he bought me food, so he bought me spaghetti."

As though talking about food reminds him, Tamaki pops another caramel leaf in his mouth.

"He said I could be on TV so I agreed. And then I got hired after he got permission from Sensei."

Lambert blinks, staring at Tamaki quizzically.

"And you didn't think any of this was a fishy way to get someone to work for you?"

Like Lambert has any room to talk. His 'jobs' consist of hunting down sniveling peasants who stuck a note to a bit of wood to figure out who died or what's eating their sheep.

He actually looks like he thinks about it for a moment.

"Mm... Guys would come up to me sometimes. To ask me to be an idol, or a backup dancer, or work in a host club. But all of them were kinda shady. So I always said no."

He plucks off yet another leaf, squinting at it. "But Boss seemed a lot nicer than them. And he gave me a real business card. Sensei was skeptical too, but I think he won her over. So it's okay."

He suddenly holds the leaf out. "Do you think these are safe for Pokemon?"

"Well, good to know you weren't running off with just anyone who asked. Though you did sign up for a Carnival." Lambert's lip can't help curling in amusement at that. Ah, well, common sense kind of goes out of the window where this whole business is concerned, anyway.

But Tamaki is asking him a question, and Lambert squints at the leaf offered to him, cocking his head.

"No idea. Baker eats fruit all the time and it doesn't seem to bother him, so probably." There is the issue that Baker is a dog that can spit fire so maybe the whole what is and isn't safe to eat thing is kind of a moot point. "Were you thinking of bringing some back?"

"Yeah. Riori likes sweet things, so I'll keep some for her. For treats"

He goes about collecting some for that reason, stuffing the leaves in the pocket of his hoodie. Hopefully it won't melt like real candy on the trip back.

"I only signed up for the Carnival because I played too many games." He looks back at Lambert, returning to their previous topic. "Wasn't it like that for you? Or did you just want to be here?"

They probably weren't meant to be taken like that, but it's not like Lambert's going to stop Tamaki. He is, however, going to lazily point out:

"Watch out. Keep feeding her stuff like that and she might get too fat to fly."

Not that he actually knows if that's possible, but he can't resist teasing Tamaki about it. Speaking of teasing, though, he can't help snickering at Tamaki's expense. It's a little cruel, but on the other hand, he can't really say he's surprised that's how Tamaki ended up here.

"Got tricked into it, did you? I wasn't looking for this place, but I caught on to what it was pretty quick. Normally not the kind of thing I'd get involved with, but ... I wanted something."

Tamaki frowns in a way that is more like a pout, both at the comment about Riori getting fat, and Lambert laughing at him. He is perfectly good at taking care of her, and what does Lambert know, anyway?

But he is curious. He doesn't know many people who first joined the Carnival because they wanted something, but he does know most of them do it because they don't want to go home, or they have something or someone they want to protect.

"I didn't know," he huffs in response to him being tricked, but it makes him even more eager than curiosity does to turn the conversation to Lambert. "What did you want?"

"Revenge," Lambert says, plainly. He never really looks gentle or anything like that, but there's something hard in his expression for a moment, the smirk turning into something crueler for a second before it relaxes again.

Most of the time, Lambert might dick around the Carnival, but once in a while he does act like the monster hunter he's supposed to be. He won't leave Tamaki in suspense on that, at least, continuing after a beat.

"Friend of mine got killed. Haven't had much luck tracking down the bastard -- he's good at covering his tracks -- so I asked the Ringmaster to help me."

At the mention of revenge, Tamaki's eyebrows go up in surprise. It's not like he ever doubted that Lambert was a tough man or anything, but that's a pretty heavy motive. Tamaki wonders what happened, and for a moment he thinks Lambert is going to leave him hanging just like his friend Yamato, many months ago when he announced he joined their idol group for revenge and then, frustratingly, left it at that.

But no, Lambert goes ahead and tells him, and Tamaki is grateful. At least some people are honest. His expression grows soft, and he frowns.

"Sorry. About your friend." His fingers absently kneed the sleeves of his hoodie. "I hope you catch the guy."

Even if it's a little crazy when he realizes Lambert might actually want to kill him back, and knows it's not just something from a movie; it's real.

"I will," Lambert says, with simple, hard-faced certainty. There's no 'hope' about it, no doubt in his mind: he's going to track this guy down, remind him who he killed, and then get the satisfaction of running him through with his damn sword.

... But right now, they're in a stupid faerie garden where everything's made of sugar, and a sun that basically never stops shining is over their heads. It's a little hard to maintain a murderous mood like that, and Lambert shrugs, relaxing slightly.

"Not going to happen until I get home, though. Guess I don't have to worry about it until then." This is just the sort of people the Carnival brings together, it seems: a witcher and an idol. In any other life, there'd be no reason for them to be standing here. Though now that he's thinking about it, Lambert frowns, realizing there's a part of Tamaki's story that doesn't quite make sense.

"You said your boss had to get permission from someone before he could hire you. Why?" 'Sensei' means nothing to him, sorry.

Edited 2017-10-28 23:52 (UTC)

"Mm." Tamaki nods in response to him not worrying about it, though he's glad for the relaxed change in tone. He hardly thinks Lambert is dangerous, and he can understand wanting revenge on someone who killed a good friend, but the topic still makes him a bit uncomfortable.

At Lambert's question, he gives a shrug.

"'Cause I'm a minor, the director of my foster home had to give me permission." He pops another leaf in his mouth. "They wanted me to live in a dorm. I'm not an adult, so I couldn't do that without her letting me."

He knows other people at the Carnival have seemed somewhat mystified by legal proceedings that are foreign to them, like the concept of drinking ages. He hopes his explanation cleared it up for Lambert.

Luckily for Tamaki, Lambert knows what a foster home is ... if only by virtue of spending a month believing he was raised in one. Still, it doesn't hurt to ask:

"A foster home means you don't have any family, right?" Though it's swiftly followed by a quizzical expression and an even more important question. "Wait, how old are you?"

"Seventeen." He raises an eyebrow back, wondering how old Lambert thought he is.

After a beat, he adds, "And I have family." Though he's quick to correct this, he doesn't sound offended. "My little sister, she got adopted. When I get out of here, I'm gonna find her." A pause while he considers, and then he adds, "My mom's dead, though. If that's what you mean."

That gets a snort, but not much else. Seventeen, seriously? Lambert lives in pseudo-medieval Europe. Even Carnival changes aside, people don't usually end up as tall as Tamaki does. Still, the way Tamaki phrased that ...

"Yeah, I was wondering about your parents." Tamaki has a little sister, huh? He didn't exactly seem like a big brother type to Lambert, but appearances are deceiving, after all.

"Hmm..."

Tamaki goes to sit down on the bench, considering. Not so long ago, he wouldn't have any trouble telling anyone about this, but since he became an idol, things have been... different. A lot of people were quick to use his situation for their own gain, either to get something out of him or to get views from a curious audience. Some people even claimed he made it all up, so they could get people to buy their magazines.

But Lambert has no reason to use this against him, and nothing to gain from it. For the most part, he seems pretty trustworthy - at least, he was helpful towards Tamaki and others during Portland, so in Tamaki's opinion, he's a pretty okay guy.

"My dad... is a useless drunk. And an asshole. He put my mom through hell." Tamaki sounds pissed off as he says it, though he stays calmly seated. "So she died. I was three, Aya was a baby."

He sighs and rolls his eyes. "He'd come around sometimes. To the foster home. Yell at everyone and say he wanted his kids back." A shrug. "Guess he got bored. Eventually."

Lambert is significantly less restrained in his reaction to that than Tamaki is, immediately scowling and crossing his arms as he snarls out his response.

"Fucking bastard." Right now, tail thrashing behind him and sharp teeth bared, he looks like he'd be happy to punch Tamaki's dad in the face if he was actually here to punch. Since he isn't, though...

"Sounds like a piece of shit. Guess you didn't lose anything, not having him around." He pauses. Lambert isn't usually a master of tact and delicacy at the best of times, but even he can guess this next bit's going to come out a bit crude. "Did he kill your mom?"

Like, that's what you're making it sound like, Tamaki.

Tamaki watches Lambert's reaction, and is glad that he seems to understand. Tamaki would happily punch his own father in the face, and has done so, but others tend to think that's a bit of an extreme reaction. But Lambert, he gets it, and Tamaki feels grateful.

As for the question, though. He goes silent for a moment, looking down at his knees.

"...Yeah," he finally says, though he gives a shake of his head. "Not..." He makes a motion with his hands, like strangling someone. "Not the way he can get arrested for. But I think so. If he hadn't done those things... if she didn't have to work all the time for him, if he didn't yell at her and..." He clinches his fists, his voice trembling. He wishes he could have done something, but he was only a child, and he was helpless to stop it. "She collapsed one day. From stress. But it was his fault. Understand?"

Oh, Lambert understands. Probably better than Tamaki even thinks.

"Sure, I know how this story goes. Lemme guess: your dad was a deadbeat who spends all his time feeling sorry for himself and drinking away his problems. But he didn't have the decency to just drown in a ditch somewhere. Instead, he acted it out like it was you and your mom's fault he couldn't catch a break and kept looking bad because she was the one keeping everything together and making sure he even had money to spend getting shitfaced."

His lip curls in scorn. "Did he beat her too, or did he at least pretend he was more of a man than that?"

As Lambert talks, Tamaki just sullenly nods along. That's all about right; he was so young at the time, but he remembers his mother's worn face as she handed him a King Pudding and told him everything would be alright, as she rocked the baby so it wouldn't cry and make him angry, how he'd come in angry anyway and she would try to chase him out of the bedroom so he would yell at her instead of him and Aya. He remembers his mom sliding money into his pajama drawer and telling him not to tell. And he remembers at least once, his mother with a bruise on cheek...

"Maybe. I don't remember." He scratches at his arm nervously. "If he did, it wasn't in front of me..."

He doesn't really feel any better about it because of that. With a heavy sigh, he shrugs, and then searches Lambert's face, before saying what is rapidly becoming obvious.

"You too?"

"Yeah." Lambert snorts. "Guess you get shitty dads no matter what world you live in."

He crosses his arms, scowling as he relates what really is a pretty dry version of story. Just the facts, but delivered in a harsh, bitter voice that says clearly how much he resents the fact of it still, even after all these years...

"Dad was a drunk who liked to beat the shit out of me and my mom whenever he got the chance. Drunk or sober. People knew, but..." He shrugs. "Figured it wasn't any of their business. It wasn't a big place, everyone had their own problems."

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⇨ THE SUMMERLANDS

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sweet sweet thread necromancy

it's aliiiive

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