⇨ WISMUTH

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: S2:D6-D11
Where: Wismuth and the Carnival Grounds
What: The carnival enjoys a few days in Wismuth, a coastal city on this planet's version of the American east. However, there are a few things very unique about this version of the planet...
Warnings: The usual, wholesome fun.

PILLAR OF CREATION↴ Upon arriving, things in Wismuth will seem pretty peaceful. It's a massive city, with no shortage of things going on, but things like violent crime and homelessness are at an all time low. You can wander the streets without much scrutiny, presumed to just be tourists, and most people here come across as helpful and friendly. ► VIBRANCY: The main thing that sets this planet apart is its vibrancy - AKA, the raw creative energy its filled with, flowing from its status as a Pillar of Creation. There is no literal pillar, but Wismuth and its planet is a place where Creation's energy comes through strongest. As a result, everything here feels somehow more real, more intense in a way that's hard to put a finger on. Life is abundant, and its bleeds through in every sensation. ► ATTRACTIONS: There are plenty of things to see while going around the city. First and foremost, there is a lovely beach area bordering the ocean, and a number of tourist aimed attractions built around it. There are giant malls, movie theaters, live stage performances, museums and all kinds of other points of cultural interest. Anything you can do in a big city you can do here, but better. ► ALLOWANCES: The Ringmaster will be giving everyone a reasonable amount of local currency for a few days on the town. You can't make any massive acquisitions with it, but it's more than enough to eat out, see some shows, go to the beach, and whatever you like. You can feel free to pick up some casual supplies, like mundane clothing and souvenirs. There will be more given out later, after the performance week. ► PERFORMANCE: Performance week is starting early this time, after only a couple days of exploration. When the carnival has already been on vacation for a month, the Ringmaster figures they may as well get right to it, and then do more touring afterwards. Members of the local populace will find themselves in the carnival once performances begin, dazzled by the other worldly sights. Magic doesn't seem to exist here, despite the fact that it will flow easier for people bringing it from other worlds.

Comments

Victor Nikiforov | OTA

[genice]

morning cuppa, s2:d10 |

It took him two days of sorting through his own head and the sheer overwhelming amount of new, at times contradictory information to settle on things he could do in order to keep himself on task. First and easiest to address was training; he woke himself early, dressing and heading out while trying to make minimal noise. Teenagers usually liked sleep in his experience, and he had no desire to wake Shima if he was still sleeping.

Jogging was a way of getting himself moving, warming up as he wound through the trailers and picked a path at random. He had a vague plan of circling around to the cookhouse eventually, knowing that meant aiming toward the center of the carnival. Along the way, he waved at anyone who didn't happen to resemble a cinder sprites, asking the same question after saying good morning with a cheery smile. "Do you know if there's any decent black tea at the cookhouse?"

watching any performances, any day |

He observes and makes notes for himself on his phone, using an app he already had to jot down abbreviated thoughts in Cyrillic,a deliberate effort on his part. Between shows, he ends up switching over to his camera gallery, sorting some photographs into different folders. It's stupid, he thinks, that he misses someone so much he can feel it bone-deep, but it's true, regardless. He replays the video he has from practice in Hasetsu before the Grand Prix Final, watching Yuri set up for the quad flip, knowing the intensity that'd been on his face that day. In the warm light of a fading fall afternoon, Yuri gains speed, prepping himself for the take-off. He gets full rotations in, arms tucked in close to his core, and lands; lands without falling, without his hand touching down.

Victor hears himself on the video, exclaiming in English, "Yuri, amazing!" before the now wobbling video ends. It's a blessing if what everyone says is true. Not being known to be missing for a year means only Victor has to feel this particular longing. Yuri doesn't have to endure it at all.

wildcard |

( ooc: hit me up for a wildcard and either spin me something within the first few performance days, or i'll spin something random for us! )

morning cuppa

[anti_nonsense]

Rita sits on a lawn chair out in the trailer park, her wings draped lazily over her shoulders and her eyes glued to the pages of an open book in her hands. Her hair and clothes are somewhat disheveled; she pretty much looks like she just rolled out of bed, or perhaps didn't bother sleeping at all.

She glances up at the greeting and subsequent question, then shrugs. "Hm? Probably. I've only had their sweet teas, but it looked like they had a large selection."

[genice]

Life was much easier when wings were decorative and largely related to costuming decisions, but in keeping himself from looking overlong at hers, he does note the colours are rather lovely. It can almost be a stray thought. Much easier to work with that way.

"Ah, thank you! From what you saw, did it look like bagged tea or loose leaf?" He's bright eyed, exercise having woken him up even if sleep were inclined to cling to his awareness.

[anti_nonsense]

"I don't know... loose leaf?" She furrows her brow, uncertain. This definitely isn't the kind of detail Rita tends to pay much attention to. In truth, the cookhouse probably has a bit of both.

"Does it matter? Tea is tea, whatever way they make it."

[genice]

Loose leaf sounds wonderful; he grins, hands resting on his hips. She seems less impressed, but it's not like she needs to be. "I say it does, some argue it doesn't. Loose leaf tastes better to me as long as no one's scorching the water."

He waves again, this time as an introduction. "I'm Victor Nikiforov, recently contracted with the carnival."

[anti_nonsense]

"Rita Mordio. Been here a while." She gives her own name in response to the introduction, eyes narrowed all the while.

"You're awfully cheerful, Victor, considering it's only..." She looks around, as if searching for a clock, but there isn't one out here, so she just finishes with, "whatever time it is now." Early. It's too damn early.

[genice]

He laughs at that, giving a slight shrug of his shoulders. "I'm usually a morning person." When he isn't hungover, though to be fair, he always knows when it won't be an early morning. "It's nice meeting you Rita. I can leave you to a quiet morning if you'd prefer?" If so, he'd simply head out to the cookhouse and figure out tea, then get into brainstorming over what he'll be doing as a performer off the ice. He doesn't mind simply chatting with people, but he's just as comfortable taking himself out of people's space if there's no reason he sees himself needing to be there.

(Yuri.)

Morning cuppa

[tacosgay]

Taako grins, headed towards the cookhouse himself; it's where he works, after all. His long, thick hair is pulled up into a big bun today, to keep it out of the food; it also puts his long, pointed ears on clear display, and they shift expressively, one quirking up as he responds.

"We most definitely do."

His ears aren't honestly the most odd thing about his appearance anymore; he also has a small pair of pointed horns atop his head, and a smattering of violet freckles across his face that seem to glow, even in the sunlight.

But, hey. He seems pretty friendly, right?

[genice]

It takes years of having a very ingrained public persona to not end up staring at Taako's ears. Not because they're stranger than much of what he's already seen. No, it's that they move expressively, which provokes the very childish instinct in his heart to clap his hands and exclaim, Ears!

It's pointlessly endearing for no great reason past the faint association he has with his dog, who is about the only (fairly important) part of his life with expressive ears. It makes the glowing freckles and the pointed horns feel more carnival natural, but here he is, trying to reign in his very silly thoughts in favour of a look of genuine pleasure and another happy, immediate thought.

"Be still my heart! Is there any chance it's loose leaf, or am I hoping for too much?" He does give in to the urge to clasp his hands together in front of his heart: tea is worth hoping for with everything he has.

oh no how cute

[tacosgay]

Okay, this guy's cute. Taako can't help but grin even more broadly at that reaction, though he also quirks an eyebrow; given he can't exactly read his mind, he has no idea what beyond the tea has the new guy so overjoyed.

"Uh... yeah, I mean, we've got that for sure," he says, and he beckons to Victor, indicating for him to follow. "If you want it that badly, my man, I'm on my way there now, and I could definitely get you a cup going."

[genice]

Taako is spared: it's probably not the most enlightened thing to be knee-jerk reacting with ears! and a pleased mental emphasis. Tea, at least, is both genuine and apparently even more pleasing, since the confirmation of loose leaf tea being present at the carnival has Victor practically sparkling with delight. "Thank you, that'd be wonderful."

He laughs, falling in step and adjusting stride, keeping a polite distance since he's been jogging and sweating as an extension. "My name's Victor Nikiforov. I signed on recently," not willingly, but the stupidity of getting a bean bag dropped equating ending up in a year of work-debt still blows his mind a little with how stupendously ridiculous it is, "One way or another."

He offers a wave of his fingers and a sincere smile, in a genuinely good mood at the prospect of tea.

[tacosgay]

"Yeah, uh, I can tell you're new around here," Taako says as they make their way towards the cookhouse, smirking wearily. "Seeing as they haven't put any weird, uh, extra peripherals all over you yet."

A pause.

"And, uh, because I haven't seen you around before. I'm Taako, hail and well met and all that."

He entertains the idea of telling the story of how he wound up signed to the carnival; he decides against it pretty quickly, however. It doesn't exactly paint him in the most flattering light, given he was caught cheating at one of the games.

Performance watching

[everybodypanic]

Jinx wasn't one to particularly respect other people's personal space. Hell, she sometimes didn't respect other people to begin with. She was also the type to let her attention wander, if she wasn't already busy or focused. So when this one guy was busy watching his phone, she just decided to walk up next to him and see what was so interesting.

Ice skating? Ugh, lame. But at least...

"That spinny part was kind of neat."

[genice]

He laughed, turning his attention toward Jinx with a small smile. "The quad flip? You'd never believe he added that to his program in the last few months. Or that he's landed it in international competition when he hadn't even been consistently landing it in practice!"

He could state who he was talking about, but she hadn't asked, so he stayed about as vague. Victor quirked up an eyebrow, still smiling. He hasn't pulled his phone away, leaving it where it ended with the shaky view of the boards and ice beyond them. "Have you seen much figure skating before?"

[everybodypanic]

"No way, I don't know the first thing about that kind of stuff." Which was why she'd called it the 'spinny part' just now.

"So who was that in the video just now?"

[genice]

He grins, the expression softening into a fond smile as he slides his finger sideways, bringing up another video. He doesn't hit play. "Katsuki Yuri. Japan's top male figure skater. I've been coaching him this season, and was about to be competing directly against him too, if all went well."

He expects it will. He has every confidence in Yuri, and enough in himself to spare, as long as he's in competitive shape. It's what he worries about for being here a year. He won't have time to get back into shape before he'll be competing again at the far side of his time here. He doesn't mention engagements or dating; the warmth of the gold ring on his right hand carries a multitude of meanings and emotions. He'd been looking forward to talking with Yuri to figure things out more concretely, but... he's here for the time being, and Yuri is not. "He'd just won silver at the Grand Prix Final, which is one of the three most prestigious international competitions in a figure skating season, and was about to be skating in the Japan Seniors Championship. He'll get gold there, no doubt about it."

[everybodypanic]

Figure skater coach, huh. They sure did bring in just about anyone to this carnival. Jinx wasn't really the type to read too much into his words, and she also didn't notice the ring on his hand right away. She just wasn't all that perceptive and bright to begin with.

"Digging the confidence there. If he won silver then you two must've been doing something right, at least."

It... almost sounded like a compliment.

Morning Cuppa! Or. Uh. Hm.

[criticallyfucked]

The nice thing about the wee hours of the morning is that no one is around.

'No one,' as a category, means not only Papyrus and the Psiionic, but the vast majority of the Carnival, with whom Foster gets along like a house on fire most of the time. And he specifically prefers it that way--not to put too fine a point on it, he'd much sooner they get it over with and kill him or he be directed to kill (almost) any of them than.... well, anyway.

The point is, 'avoiding everyone' is the reason he's out at the crack of dawn with a bottle of magical cleaning fluid and a squeegee, stretching his long equine legs at a brisk trot while he does a cleaning round.

So please, then, imagine his surprise when a silver-haired but otherwise vanilla-ice cream-on-a-white-plate plainass human pulls abreast of him at a strong jog.

Forgive him, Victor, because he's too busy giving you a Stare to answer that.

this is the morning stare-a-thon

[genice]

Victor likes this time of the morning for similar reasons of now one being around, though he enjoys people, enjoys seeing the world in that stillness before everything comes fully awake. He also enjoys some time to be on his own, but he's not trying to be on his own today.

Which is how he's ended up here. Jogging next to a horse-like bodied individual with startlingly furry arms and a cow's tail should be more than enough, but this individual also has ears that would be endearingly large if the mushrooms growing on them as a whole and the claws poking out of the ends of their arms didn't add up with all the rest into something very strangely put together. Holding a squeegee.

He manages not to stumble, keeping pace, and staring back. His eyebrows climb upward and he laughs, shaking his head and one hand, as if to dismiss his first question. "Sorry, it looks like I'm interrupting your morning routine?"

He has no idea what Foster is actually doing other than jogging with things in his hands. He has to look up simply to see Foster's face properly; but focusing on Foster's face is far easier than trying to make sense of the whole of the rest of him right now.

(He can add furry-armed centaurs to his mental inventory of "people who work here." Gaunt or otherwise, it's another first.)

Winner gets doughnuts!

[criticallyfucked]

The fact that this guy is keeping pace with him is the most jarring thing to Foster. Normally once he gets up to a trot, most people break into a run or fall behind--this guy is either a pro athlete or something more than human.

He's gripped with the need to go faster--to take it up to a canter, a lope, speed on ahead and leave this man in his dust.

The element of surprise has a lot to do with why Foster doesn't just do that right away--he's not really the most articulate to begin with, so what comes out of his mouth is extremely rude.

"Yes."

And he does pick up his pace--not a lot, but if Victor doesn't make an effort at it, he will get left in a minute or so.

Foster is nothing if not petty.

Loser gets the holes!

[genice]

He debates for a hot half-second if he'll keep up or not, but he's already made the decision and adjusted the length of his stride, moving faster without getting into outright running territory. No point in putting that degree of stress on his knees, even if he did end up here in his newest runners. He might be getting a brushoff, but that'll confirm itself shortly.

For now, he chooses to ignore it, keeping an affable expression on his face. "Right, I won't keep distracting you for long." A pause, since he's speaking along with the cadence of his pace. "My name's Victor. What's yours?"

Introductions are usually a necessity somewhere along the line, if even just to know who one wished to avoid. He's been working on actually remembering everyone's name here, once he's been introduced.

How DARE you be wittier than me!

[criticallyfucked]

Foster would have just pushed himself up to a canter, just to spite Victor--or test him, whichever--but there's something about the audacity of the man just introducing himself like that, with no fanfare or admission of Foster's... anything that he's actually stalled into answering.

In his own way.

"... Victor. Let me give you some advice." Their two-beat paces--Foster's trot and Victor's jog--beat asynchronous time. He's gotten better at this in some ways. Not at speaking to people, specifically, but at--yes--answering them. At telling them the truth, and having them see it. His expression has only changed from one definition of nonplussed to the other, his blue eyes bright with dim pre-dawn light.

"You shouldn't waste your time introducing yourself to garbage. Do you understand? It'll just be taken out at the end of the day!"

CUPPA JOE~

[flashover]

By the time Victor makes his way around to the cookhouse, it's already later in the morning. Late enough for Rin to be awake and heading over to his job. He HATES getting up early... so he makes the cinder sprites do a lot of the prepwork in the early morning, before he's even awake. He just had to instruct them the night before!

He waves back at Victor with the same cheeriness, albeit a bit more sleepy.

"Black tea...? Um... I think we have some..." he says, then lets out a wide, gaping yawn.

[genice]

Rin, with that yawn, provokes Victor into a low chuckle. "I'd offer to make you some too, but if you're not sure we have any, then it might not be to your taste. What's the selection of jams like?"

Why not try for something nostalgic in the morning? He glances around the cookhouse, taking in the general look of it all. It reminds him of cafeteria, which he supposes isn't far from the truth.

"Ah, if there are any." He looks back to Rin, smile still cheerful, even annoyingly awake, but less overbearing.

[flashover]

Rin grins a bit, opening the door for Victor to walk in before heading in after him. "I'm more of an energy drink kind of person! Though I've gotten really attached to coffee since I got here."

It is very reminiscent of a cafeteria, like one at a grade school... but a lot nicer. The tables are made of nice wood, the chairs have comfy seats, and the lighting isn't overbearing. There's a coffee and tea station, but Rin rarely restocks it, so he doesn't know what goes into it. He heads over to it, and frowns.

"Hmm... looks like everything in here is in little bags, so if you're looking for loose leaf, we'll have to go back in the kitchen. And... jams? Oh man." His grin only brightens. "I think you'll like what we got. Come with me!"

Rin heads toward the back of the cafeteria to the kitchen area.