[Open]

[hippocarnival]

Who: Yuya & everyone
When: Day 146-152
Where: Around the Carnival & Summerlands
What: Recovery, new changes, and continued antics while the carnival has a nice, long break.
Warnings: None, probably?

[Handstands]
[Yuya's in significantly better health than when they first arrived. He can still feel the residual pain and his stamina is rebuilding, but he's much more lively than before. He also realizes he needs to rebuild his strength, so even if he can't perform yet he's at least practicing so that he'll be ready to bounce back into action as soon as he's cleared.

He's taking his exercise outside the tents so the rest of the performers have plenty of room, and instead can be found tending to his errands around the carnival... on his hands. Just walking on his hands, knees bent for better balance as he navigates from the trailers to the cookhouse for lunch.] Excuse me! Coming through!


[Shadow]
[His shadow has been acting up since he returned. At first he was sure it was just a trick of his mind, but the long it goes on, the more chances he has to see that it is, in fact, just moving on its own sometimes. Okay, that's weird, but he just tries to ignore it. Only it doesn't end there, and by the second week it's taken on a different shape entirely. That's not uncommon, he's been assured, but when he finds it morphed into someone a little broader, taller (older), with hair that spikes up... it's unsettling.

He knows who it looks like. He's standing, shoulders tense as he glares at his own shadow. In the middle of the walkway.]


[Summerlands]
[Yuya's come to accept the Summer people. They're certainly not at domineering, volatile, or frightening as the rest of the Summer Court, and plenty of veterans--not the mention the Ringmaster seem to trust them wholly. So he's navigated deeper into the city, to one of the miracle gardens hidden behind pillars and wisteria.

It's a very small, circular garden, flush and green with scattered flowers. The greatest concentration of them, currently, is around Yuya--who's sitting down with dried fruit to snack on, looking serene.

It's easy to tell what's going on, because as soon as anyone steps in with a positive feeling flowers will start to sprout near them. The better they feel the bigger, brighter, more beautiful the flowers become. They smell wonderful, and something about that scent will bring good memories more easily to the front of their mind--no doubt generating more good feelings and more flowers. It's cyclical.]


[Wildcard]
[???]

Comments

[anti_nonsense]

A friend like that, huh... [Rita's never had a childhood friend or anything, but it sounds... nice, she guesses. She's not sure why, but she finds her mind wandering to thoughts of her own friends...]

So you're saying you'd get in a lot of trouble without her? That explains a few things. [There's a slight smirk on her face.]

[hippocarnival]

I got in trouble anyway. [Usually with Yuzu. He laughs, looking down at the flowers.]

I was bullied a lot as a kid, but I could always trust Yuzu. And when I was sad she always cheered me up. [Those memories are a little painful, knowing he could never return the favor. Absently he reaches for the stem of one of the pink flowers, but he doesn't quite pluck it free.] And I felt like as long as she believed in me, I could do it.

[She did so much for him, saving her is the least he can do. A year of his life is nothing, for that.]

[anti_nonsense]

[Rita listens, though her expression doesn't change much as he speaks. She's not used to sincere conversations like this. Being trusted, supported, and cheered up by someone... It sounds like the two of them were close.]

[Which brings her mind back to the question...] What happened to her?

[hippocarnival]

[Ah. That kills the smile on his face immediately, and his face scrunches up as he tries to keep the pain controlled enough that he can tell her. There's a moment of silence, and he shifts forward, plucking the flower from the ground.]

Our home was invaded, and they were after her. She got away, but they never stopped chasing her. I tried to find her before they did, but--[Every time it was too late. Or too little. Somehow they always pulled her from his grasp.

He crushes the stem between his fingers.] I had to save her, so I got the Ringmaster to help.

[anti_nonsense]

[Rita looks away while he answers, her gaze drifting to the flowers once again. She knew it was a question that could only have an unpleasant answer. In a way, she understands. At the very least, she knows what it's like to have someone to protect, even if it's against seemingly insurmountable odds...]

Hmph... I figured you'd be here for some altruistic reason like that. That's just like you. [At least, it's not too different from his Portland self, who'd throw himself into danger without a second thought if it could help others.]

[And if what he's saying is right, it looks like betting on a contract will pay off... for him, for Yuzu... and for Rita's goals, too.]

[hippocarnival]

[Yuya snorts, spinning the flower between his fingers.] I didn't know you were analyzing me like that.

[It reminds him of Reiji, really, always calculating the situation--and the people--before him.] I don't regret it at all.

[anti_nonsense]

What? [That catches her by surprise. Rita doesn't want to look like she was paying close attention to him, or anything.] ...I'm just saying, you're that predictable. [And yet, she's the one embarrassed here.]

I study a lot of things, but people aren't really one of them.

[hippocarnival]

Am I really? [Now that he thinks about it, he can think of a couple other people besides his best friends who were able to read him easily. Like Jack (the Jack he knew, anyway). Guess that comes with starting to wear your heart on your sleeve instead of hiding behind and act.] Well, as long as my performances are exciting and unpredictable...

[anti_nonsense]

The acrobatics? [She shrugs.] ...I guess? I don't really pay attention to that kind of thing. [Even though she does backstage work for most of the shows and technically watches them...]

That stuff can't be easy to pick up, though. Did you already know how to do it before joining the carnival?

[hippocarnival]

[Yuya pouts a little at that, for a moment. But the chance to talk about his performing brightens his spirits.]

That's right. Back home we have a game called duel monsters that's really popular, and you play it on a big holographic field. I'm an entertainment duelist, so I learned a lot of acrobatics. But I've still been learning new stuff here, like the silk ropes with Tamaki.

The Ringmaster probably makes sure people are doing things they're already capable of. Is it the same for you?

[anti_nonsense]

[She tilts her head as he mentions duel monsters. Not only is it hard to visualize what a game like that might look like, but... hasn't she heard something similar to that before? Something that new guy from the other day mentioned...]

[But he asked her a question, and she considers her answer for a moment before replying.]

Me? ...Sort of. The technology here is alien to me, but I'm normally good with machines, so I picked it up pretty quickly. I can use magic to enhance the visual effects, and I have a chance to familiarize myself with the technology... so it's not too bad.

[hippocarnival]

It is that different? [The technology is probably the most familiar thing here for Yuya. Except, you know, with more magic. But he can recognize a microwave.] So you studied magic at home and here you help with all the set-up for our shows, right?

[anti_nonsense]

[Rita nods.] Completely different. My world doesn't have machines that run on electricity. We use blastia for everything.

So... yeah. That's about right. [Come to think of it, Portland used electricity too. She wonders if that's the norm for a lot of worlds...]

[hippocarnival]

[No machines that run on electricity, or no electricity at all? Are they in the coal age or somehow even more advanced? So many possibilities.] What's blastia?

[Yuya's just going to have her tell him instead of trying to guess.]

[anti_nonsense]

[Now that's a question Rita's always happy to answer.]

Blastia are an ancient technology, restored in recent generations. They convert a substance called aer, found in the atmosphere, into magic energy, which we then use for practical purposes. Heating, lighting, safety, clean water... even magic. We have all of those things thanks to blastia.

[She wears a fond smile as she speaks, almost like she was talking about an old friend instead. Around her, several new sprouts begin to grow from the ground.]

[hippocarnival]

That's... kind of how electricity works, I think? [Something something energy and conversation, he doesn't really remember the details. Science is hard.] Except without the magic.

[anti_nonsense]

Hmph. The applications are similar, and they might both convert energy, but the devices themselves are completely different.

And versatile as electricity is, it still can't compare to the beauty of a well-constructed blastia formula. [She says it matter-of-factly, but even among mages, Rita's about the only person who sees that much beauty in them.] Besides, the magic's an important part.

[hippocarnival]

So you have to have a blastia to use any magic at all? [They must be pretty compact, then. But also less free-flowing than fae magic seems to be, or the magic surrounding Portland.]

[anti_nonsense]

Ordinarily, yes.

[She brings a hand up to the choker on her neck, tracing her fingertips around its red-jeweled center.] ...This my blastia. Without her, I never could've become the mage I am today.

[Around her, those sprouting flowers open, blossoming into colorful chrysanthemums. The blastia might be an inanimate object and a useful tool, but to Rita, it's much more than that.]

[hippocarnival]

[The thing about magic happiness flowers is that it makes how much this means to Rita very apparent regardless what she might say. He wat he's then blossom out the corner of his eye and it brings a smile to his face.

He can kind of understand it. His Odd-Eyes is a lot more than just a piece of a game to him, after all.] How long have you been studying magic?

[anti_nonsense]

I've been learning since I was old enough to read, but in an official capacity... since I was ten.

[Which is a point of pride for her, so those flowers are still steadily blooming. Becoming a licensed researcher is an accomplishment in itself, but it's almost unheard of for a kid that young to do it.]

[hippocarnival]

[Yuya just assumes "official capacity" means "school". He is probably overestimating how broad the application is.

He absently spins the plucked flower again, propping his chin on his hand.] That's a few years, right? Why pick magic?

[anti_nonsense]

Hm...? [It strikes her as an odd question. Rita's never really thought of doing anything else.]

I grew up in a blastia research facility. It was never really between studying magic and studying something else. If I didn't become a mage, I probably would've ended up in an orphanage somewhere instead.

[hippocarnival]

[That's not the answer he expect and he turns to her with mild surprise.] What, really? Then your parents...?

[anti_nonsense]

[She nods. The movement of the flowers comes to a stop.] My dad left when I was a baby, and my mom died when I was little. I've been on my own since then.