🎶 He's the left hand of God on the stage 🎶

[likethelight]

Who: Allen and you!
When: Day 28 and onward
Where: Getting lost in the forest first, then reluctantly Around
What: The unluckiest hobo Exorcist clown-acrobat of an endearingly stupid shounen protagonist is here!



[ Once there was a boy with no home who joined the circus.

Actually, there was a boy who no home who joined the circus twice. Both times kind of against his will.

This was a very unlucky boy.

This was also a very very dubious boy who tiptoed around the carnival without announcing his presence the moment he was set loose on the grounds. Who eyed the trailer he was supposedly assigned to and....... decided to give it a rather wide berth and continue exploring while remaining unseen as he could. Funny, he acts more like a fugitive than some semi-well-dressed Victorian kid.. that's kind of a weird... tattoo he has on his face, too? Scar? But it looks like there's a pentagram..

Which is to say he lasted about an hour before he attempted to hightail it into the woods and escape. He has promises he made!! Screw this, he can't stay in any place for a year, let alone this one!! HE'S PROBABLY NOT EVEN GOING TO BE ALIVE IN A YEAR SO ALL OF YOU CAN SOD OFF

Which is also to say it takes him even less time to get woefully lost. And then a bit longer still before he finally admits it and finds some slightly less mossy rock to flop down on.

He rakes a hand through his somewhat overgrown hair. There are definitely some twigs there. ]

Haah.. even Timcanpy.

[ Does he sound a little sour? He sounds a little sour. He'd been shouting "Tim???! TIM!" for the last half hour after all. This is the worst. ]



[ Alternatively, after he comes sulkily back you may also find him:

1) In the cookhouse, surrounded by stacks of empty bowls piled far higher than he is tall and doubled over with gusto into demolishing his current one. No, seriously... it looks like this kid has just eaten thrice his weight in literally every dish that was being served. Including the ones he'd never heard of. There's a questionable-looking carcass on the table next to him...
2) In the medical tent after it's dark and he thinks he's alone, trying to very surreptitiously snag some gauze and unbuttoning his shirt to... look incredibly confused at not finding a wound on his stomach? And starts poking at it?? What?? Excuse him??
3) Sitting towards the edge of the grounds after dark, his back to a tree and looking up at the lights of the Ferris wheel in a way that's quiet thoughtful as much as it's... morose? No, it's just a faraway sort of expression that's as bittersweet as it is uneasy. Looking up at the Ferris wheel like it's been a very, very long sort of time as he sucks on his now very-polished spoon. Ah. Dinner had been smaller than he would have liked.

He'd also seem to have a plump sort of golden... ball? with wings? accompanying him now and seeming to mimic and compliment him as a small golden shadow might. He would appear to like sitting on heads.

Wildcard if you want, he'll be poking around everywhere! And tag in whatever format you are most comfortable in! I vastly prefer brackets for my personal writing; if they drive you nuts drop me a line and I can make adjustments. ]

Comments

[likethelight]

[ Those who know magic and those with inflated egos.. somehow it always goes hand in hand. It's tiring. And people wonder why Allen found it gross that he instinctively knew the magic of the Ark.

Well, he found it unsettling for other reasons too.

Speaking of — that isn't the.. best of associations to Allen.. "like music..." He rubs at the back of his neck for a moment. ]

Is there a reason to learn all of that?

[ In Allen's world it's all for the sake of winning a war so that's understandable. And it'd have to be something similarly important to sign away part of your life to gain arcane knowledge, right? ]

[kingsroads]

[ In Strange's mind, that's a dumb question. And he looks at Allen with a quizzical little frown, like he's not entirely certain what he just heard or how to answer it. ]

Of course there's a reason. I want to learn about it.

[ Sure, Strange did end up using magic in a war (and will not shut up about it should Allen press). But for him, magic was less of a profession and more of a purpose. He wants to learn about magic because he likes learning about magic. That's reason enough. ]

[likethelight]

[ Look, Allen is a simple kid. The emotions and reasons of people for why they do what they do — he understands that on a gut level. He exists on the gut level. But wanting knowledge for the sake of knowledge...

Then he just looks confused. ]

Isn't there a point to wanting to know anything?

[ Literally! Everything he's learned he has because there was a very specific thing he wanted to accomplish that required it!! ]

[kingsroads]

The point is that I want to learn it.

[ Is he not explaining this correctly? This is amazingly simple for Strange and yet it seems Allen's having a hard time grasping the concept. He's frowning a little as he mulls his words over, trying to think things over and come up with an explanation that would make sense. ]

There's still so much about magic that we don't know and can't explain. I know I can never learn everything about it, but I want to know as much as possible.

[likethelight]

[ — oh.

Actually he did right there. "I want to know everything I can.

Because maybe if I did...

something would change."

He blinks for a second there, expression smoothing a bit. A little contrite even, maybe. Maybe. ]

So you're like a scholar then.

[ It would explain some of the odder and more eccentric behavior. ]

[kingsroads]

[ Oh. That's an easier explanation than some of the ones he was giving. Duh, Strange.

As Allen's expression smooths, Strange gives him an ironic little smile. There we go, this should clear some of this up and explain a few things. ]

I have written a book and a few articles on the state of English magic. So yes, like a scholar. I've my book at the carnival if you want to read it.

[ he doubts Allen does. But hey, might as well at least make the offer. ]

[likethelight]

[ It would go clear over his not-quite-illiterate head. Look when you're a grubby 1890's British orphan nobody wanted who grew up in the circus... it's a miracle he's as educated as he is, mostly from worldly knowledge and travel. Although you wouldn't want to see what his concept of a comma is or penmanship. ]

There's a state of English magic? [ He will side-step it for the more relevant item there. And will—a little sheepishly and not without a healthy sense of caution still—take his seat again, Timcanpy following him like a mirrored golden shadow. ]

I didn't think most people even knew it existed.

[kingsroads]

[ And thus Strange and Allen learn that they come from different Englands. Because Strange just frowns at Allen's question. People didn't know it existed? That...doesn't make any sense. ]

Of course most people know it exists. I used magic in the war, the papers reported on that if nothing else.

[ Of course, considering that Strange doesn't specify which war he's talking about (the Napoleonic Wars), that gives Allen even more questions about this whole business. ]

[likethelight]

[ ???

Well now his interest is caught for entirely different reasons. ]

War?

The holy war? [ Most people don't know it exists either. The wars in Europe are pretty far off too! Not that Allen really pays that much attention to human wars... He kind of hates them and has no place in them. ]

[kingsroads]

What? No, I'm talking of the war in the peninsula.

[ Holy war? What the hell did magic have to do with the church? Absolutely nothing in Strange's world, magic was more closely defined with more natural things than organized religion. ]

What war are you talking about?

[likethelight]

[ The holy war!! What peninsula where and who cares. He's bad at human wars... and geography.

But he blinks for a second though. ]

Most people aren't aware that's what's going on... but there are those trying to destroy the world with akuma — the weapons made from human souls. They prey on humans and create strife and conflict where possible to make people even more desperate so they can take advantage and kill them.

Exorcists are the other side and try to stop that from happening. [ In... theory. But that's not a nuance to share. ]

That's the holy war. [ In a nutshell.

If you ignore him and that he's the unwilling host to the "third" side of the war that throws every possible kind of wrench in every possible scenario. And that it's been a long time since it was as simple as Allen paints it.

But let's not dwell on unpleasantries. ]

[kingsroads]

[ Well that's...weird. Strange's frown tells Allen straight up that he has no idea what the holy war is. This is the first time he's hearing of it. ]

How odd. My England doesn't have anything like akuma. If anything, it's more like this one: some of our biggest problems are the fae.

[ Actually, some of it's biggest problems are 100% caused by Strange himself but he's keeping that tiny little detail quiet for now.</small. ]