lostcarnival | [Closed]

Who: Crow Hogan, Jack that Ass, and Carly Nagisa
When: Day 145
Where: Near the Wardrobe Tent
What: Crow didn't get the memo about the future and yells and/or punches everyone from his world for the crappy things they may or may not have done
Warnings: Angry birds

Crow's still in the process of getting his bearings in the carnival. But most of all, he's pushing down his grief -- it's only for a year and a day, a year and a day and he'll see their faces again -- and trying to fully commit to trusting this stranger who held the only hope he has left.

After figuring out a decent place to park his D-Wheel, Crow had loped off to get a lay of the land. Which is how he ends up passing by the Wardrobe Tent. He doesn't expect to see anyone he knows; they're all back in Satellite or Neo Domino City, after all.

So when he sees a familiar silhouette, it throws Crow for a loop. Last time he'd seen Jack, the guy had been in a helicopter, despite having lost his title of King. What's he doing here? Did he want his title back so badly after Yusei beat him that he cut a deal with the Ringmaster?

It's with a scowl that Crow approaches Jack, calling, "Jack!"

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[Crow snorts. Jack's as ridiculous as ever. But the corners of his lips curl into a small smile before he raises his hand and bumps Jack's fist.]

Uh huh. Without Yusei here, who's gonna keep your head on straight?

[Crow hasn't forgiven. He hasn't forgotten. But he'll welcome having Jack back, gladly. As for the Dark Signer... Crow turns to her.]

Who are you? Why do you care?

["You helped break Satellite," goes unsaid.]

I'm his girlfriend, naturally!!! [Carly huffs, cheeks puffed as much as her feathers.] And- And obviously I didn't intend to end up a Dark Signer..!! Those sorts of contracts aren't totally signed with free will you know! All I heard was someone ask if I wanted to live after Divine threw me out of the window and..!

And...

[...And her feathers droop, her eyes welling up at the memory-not merely of what occurred, but what she did.] ...And I couldn't even...move on my own, after that...I...

[She knows Aslla Piscu is going to die now. She knows-but somehow, the realization of what she had willfully buried in the back of her mind stings that much more as a result, and she looks away.]

...And...And anyway, I live there... I'll... ...I'll still live there, after the Crimson Dragon brings me back, like he apparently does...so...

[~~ok but what was that about girlfriend~~]

Hmph. I don't need him. You'll both just get in my way. [Jack snorts as he draws his hand back and places it at his hip. He takes Crow's teasing in stride, for once.

Then he loses just about every ounce of composure he has when Carly declares herself his girlfriend. Jack jerks around to face her, arms up at his sides like he doesn't know what to do with them.] Wh-whaaat?!

[This is news to him! But he can't even voice his indignation when Carly goes on, and the news gets far more grim, filling in blanks he'd long accepted he would never have the answers to.

Jack narrows his eyes, teeth clenched and lips taut.] Carly... Who's Divine?

[What. What?]

What!?

[Crow's eyes bug out comically. Jack and her??? Crow's voice unintentionally grows loud.]

You leave for a year and I find out you're shacking up with some woman!?

What's that supposed to mean, 'shacking up'..!! Don't make it sound like we shouldn't share the trailer!! [Carly no-

Also- Right. Divine.] AH-!

Well...when I was trying to look into the Signers and Dark Signers more...I found a lead through the group that Aki was with, 'Arcadia'...Divine is the leader, but...

[Well, really all the information she found at the time seems moot for now, what's more important is. Divine.] ...He... ...he caught me looking into his files on Rex Godwin... [Annnnnnd the rest, as they say, is history also-] Anyway, that's not the point!! Divine should be gone as it is, with what happened to that building after!!

We've shared rooms well before this. [Or rather, Jack took over a room in Carly's apartment. Either way, that's his haphazard defense; the implications of "shacking up" flies well over his head. More than that, he's distracted.]

Ghh... [He grits his teeth. It's hard to simply accept that this man named Divine was already dead; that there was nothing he could do. Carly's involvement was his fault. That wasn't news, but it still stung to have the point hammered in to an old wound.] Next time, just mind your own business!

[She's struck entirely silent, not by his first words, but by the last ones. Her eyes are wide-and her feathers raised, her feet just inches above the ground...and for a moment, it even seems fire is smoldering from her shoulders, from her wings, betrayal caught in her expression.

But she says nothing, not for a number of moments. She says nothing, as water begins to well up at the corners of her eyes, still wide, still frozen...

Until finally, shaking, a small burst of fire, feathers, and seeming pixels erupts in the spot where she was, a hummingbird the size of a large pigeon swooping away at top speed-leaving behind specks of water rather than the things that she created in her transformation.]

[Crow had started this conversation angry, but now he can only feel bewilderment. If anything, he suddenly feels like a third wheel to all of this, all of his anger blown away by the sheer absurdity of the situation.

Jack's supposed girlfriend isn't just a Dark Signer, but a bird, too??]

I have no idea what is going on.

[But you know what? Crow's staying out of it. Folding his arms, Crow comments.]

You're on your own with that one.

[Jack's jaw drops, immediately realizing that he said the wrong thing. It's rare for him, but it does happen. Reaching a hand out, he tries to placate the situation.] Wait, Car--

[She's much faster than him. Gone in a flash, Jack is left standing there looking just as bewildered as Crow for twice as long.]

...Fine, it's better this way! [Dismissing the matter entirely, he turns back to Crow and stomps right past him.] I'm here for one reason, and one reason only. There's no use in petty distractions!

[Wow uh. Yeah okay he's staying right out of that one. It's not like Jack is going to be going anywhere far while they're both apparently working for the ringmaster. So Crow leaves then both to their own devices.

It's only days later that he sees Jack again at the cookhouse. Crow's managed to get himself a breakfast of bacon and eggs -- whether that is made by one of the cooks or Crow sneaking in to use the kitchen is anyone's guess -- and raises a hand in a lazy wave.]

Hey. You eaten yet?

[When Jack storms off, it's usually best to leave him be until he cools off.

Days later everything has more or less blown over, and Jack has done his best to secure an empty table far away from any other patrons. Then Crow comes over.]

Crow. [After greeting him in turn, there's a pause.] Not yet.

[He was just sitting here.]

[Typical Jack. Crow slides into the seat across from Jack and pushes his plate of food over.]

Here. Eat up.

[He can always get more for himself later. A pause.]

So... girlfriend, huh?

[Closed]

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i'm so glad this is how this comes out also fuck surprise feels-

even jack is confused

no one knows what is up

not even the sky knows

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crow caught in the middle of this awkward fight

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