lostcarnival | ⇨ 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

...Ha. He wonders if Psi has any idea what a familiar sentiment that is to him. There's a reason he keeps his thoughts to himself so much of the time.

"I guess... sometimes, when someone tries to find out what's happening with them, it can make people defensive, for one reason or another. That doesn't mean that it's wrong to want to figure it out and help them."

He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers, before he slumps over. He's confused and frustrated and he doesn't know what to do.

"I've been trying to help Foster... But somehow I only ended up making things worse."

So is that right? Or is it wrong, since he'd only botched everything up in the end.

...Ah. Foster.

"Foster is... kind of a difficult case." Ginko sighs, his ears drooping. "He... doesn't want to be helped. I hate to say this, but I'm not sure how much headway you can make with him if you try to be direct about it. But that doesn't make it wrong for you to want to do something; you'll just have to adapt."

He frowns, irritation crossing his features. He can't help it, he thinks of Foster and he gets annoyed.

"I have all these... Stupid memories." He brings a hand to his forehead, trying to sort make sense of memories that don't feel like his own. He and Foster had been- Well, not friends, but something close at least. And then, of course, there had been Ginko, a friend to them both. Psi smiles, just a bit, giving Ginko a look.

"You were real cute over there, you know?"

Ginko gives a quiet hum. 'Stupid memories' about sums it up. He still can't say for sure if he'll end up regretting trying to get along with Foster like this, but... he knows now that it might be possible. He can't imagine leaving that possibility unexplored.

Psi's comment gets a disapproving frown. "I wasn't cute, I was just a dumb kid. I basically never had any idea what I was doing."

Yes, twenty-four is a 'kid' now. Or at least, it is when he's talking about himself.

He just laughs at Ginko's response before stepping closer. He's still slimey, still kind of distracted, but he can focus on Ginko, enough to smile at his frown.

"Do you ever know what you're doing now?"

Ginko doesn't actually seem to notice Psi moving closer; mostly, he seems busy being indignant.

"I do! You of all people should know that I know what I'm doing with the animals, for one thing."

And that's also kind of cute.

"I meant in general. Other you was pretty good at his job too."

Before, you know, Psi got him fired.

"...Fair enough." Hey, maybe Ginko wouldn't be so defensive of his professional skills if he wasn't so aware that he sucks at eveything else.

"So, basically, I couldn't have been cute because I wasn't really that different from how I am now."

"Hey," Psi starts, admonishing Ginko though he's still smiling. He puts a slimey hand on Ginko's face. "It's just the opposite, really."

And then he goes in for the kiss.

Ginko is just about ready to start arguing with that (and possibly to gently remove the slime-hand from his face, sorry Psi), but the kiss catches him by surprise. He goes very still, his good eye wide, and it takes him a few moments to even think to lean into it in response.

Psi should be surprised Ginko actually leans into his slimey kiss, but he's forgotten all about his sliminess at this point, so he isn't. He's still happy though, when Ginko returns the gesture. It's not a long kiss, not a very passionate kiss either, but it's long enough to get Ginko to stop insulting himself and that's good enough for the Psionic.

"Thank you."

He laughs, his ears flicking sheepishly. "For what?"

Edited 2017-09-29 01:54 (UTC)

"For being with me" he answers back, the truth so simple there's no need to hide it.

"It means a lot."

Ginko can honestly say he wasn't expecting that answer - and it shows. He's actually speechless for a moment, blinking, his ears flicking forward and back.

"I--" He swallows hard, and looks away, his shoulders hunching. "It means a lot to me, too. That... you'd want this. With me."

Psi didn't expect Ginko to react like that either. He doesn't know why Ginko hunches up his shoulders or why he looks away when he speaks. It's like Ginko thinks it's something he isn't allowed to say. That doesn't bother the Psionic though, it only makes him want to tell Ginko again. He wants to keep telling Ginko how much he means to him until Ginko expects to hear it.

"Why wouldn't I want you?"

Ginko hums, a sound that can't seem to decide if it's amused or uncomfortable. He's still looking away.

"Where do I even start? Better question might be why you do."

⇨ THE SUMMERLANDS

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