[Open]

[hippocarnival]

Who: Yuya and you!
When: S2:D28-32
Where: Carnival Grounds
What: Yuya wakes up with a couple new changes, and general carnival shenanigans
Warnings: Proooobably none?

[Balance Beams]

[Yuya woke on the 28th with no trace of Creation in him—just a little reminder on his face, of tiny stars around his cheeks and  eyes that shine in the light gold of his soul color (and his other fae mark looks lighter as well.

He has a new appendage.

He’s not exactly happy about it—a thin, lizard-like tail in iridescent orange scales that’s about as along as he is tall. His tail isn’t big, so it doesn’t shift his center of gravity too much. Still, it’s just enough that Yuya notices it when trying to practice for the upcoming performances. He’s left slightly off center, and that’s not going to do in front of an audience.

So he’s taken to long hours in the big top, using the only inches high balance beams with very thin widths to try and orient himself with his new tail. Sometimes it flails wildly or Yuya teeters one direction or the other with his face pinched in concentration. He makes it to the other side easily, but it’s not as smooth and refined as he’d like it to be. If you’re walking by, try not to get smacked in the face, the legs, the anything.]

[Magic "Practice"]

[Alternatively, now that he no longer has his Guardian abilities, Yuya’s back to fairly typical magic practice. He’s got his staff out by the training area, using the glowing crystal at the end to draw various patterns on the ground.

Smiley faces, that is.

This is absolutely practice. It’s rune drawing practice or. Something.

They don’t last more than a couple minutes, but there is a constantly moving pattern of smiley faces (smiley suns, smiley flowers) going across the open field.]

[Wildcard]

[Hit me]

Comments

magic practice

[kingsroads]

[ In his time at Wismuth and hitting up a remarkable amount of children's arcade places, Strange has amassed a few shitty prizes. There was one decent one but for the most part, it's pixy sticks, tiny little army men, and bouncy balls in his coat pockets. Today he's got a bouncy ball that he's been fiddling with for the past few minutes.

He pauses for a moment as he spots Yuya practicing his magic. Or, in Strange's mind, he spots Yuya having fun with his magic. Really, what magical application did smiley faces have? And Strange instantly knows of a way to make this actual practice. ]

Shields at the ready!

[ And then, without any more warning, he chucks that small little bouncy ball at Yuya's head. ]

[hippocarnival]

Huh? [Yuya looks up from his drawing, his reaction delayed in his attempt to actually notice Strange before he even heads the actual warning of 'put your shield up'. Which means he gets bumped in the head, and he jumps back a step.] Hey!

[He looks down at the ground, crouching to pick it up and look the toy over.] A bouncy ball...?

[He realizes, suddenly, that Strange probably isn't going to wait to throw something else at him, and then his attention snaps up and he holds the hand and ball out to project a smaller shield.]

[kingsroads]

[ Strange isn't waiting. He takes a few steps forwards, walking towards Yuya, before throwing his second tiny projectile (another bouncy ball) at the barrier. It ricochets off, hits Strange right in the forehead, then bounces back on the ground.

Which, okay, he should have expected that. That projectile is going to stay on the ground for now as with one hand, Strange reaches into his pocket and chucks the third and final tiny projectile (a tiny army man) at the barrier. His other hand is being used to lightly poke at where the bouncy ball hit him and to check to see if he's bruised. ]

[hippocarnival]

[Needless to say, bouncy balls and green army men don't stand a chance against Yuya's shield. And from behind it, he looks awfully amused when Strange manages to hit himself instead.

He slings his staff over his shoulder with a grin. His tail swishes slowly behind him.] It's definitely too strong for that now, Mr. Strange.

[kingsroads]

I can see that much. [ Strange is good humored though, as he bends down to pick up the various projectiles. ] I'll have to try fire the next time.

[ he is not joking in the slightest. Though, the cocky grin on Strange's face tells Yuya that he doesn't plan on outright charbroiling the kid. But hey, if you can shield against a rock or a bouncy ball, that's the next step: something more dangerous. ]

I like your tail, by the way. New addition?

Balance Beams

[everybodypanic]

[Jinx was there as well, at the Big Top and practicing her upcoming performance. Diving and rolling through some hoops might not seem like much, but it will seem more impressive when the hoops are on fire come the big day. She really, really wants them to be on fire. But she'll save that for later.

Practice is easy enough and she takes a break after a while.

Heading off, she feels a certain something smacking the side of her head.]

Ow! Hey what the hell was-

[Tail. And Yuya.

But mostly tail.]

Did you... always have that?

[hippocarnival]

Sorry. [Yuya slowly rights himself, pulling his tail to the other side of the beam as he looks over his shoulder at Jinx.]

No, it just... grew in other night. Grew out? [He looks at his own tail, expression uncertain. It's still weird, he didn't feel anything until he woke up in the morning.]

[everybodypanic]

Oh, yeah that's gonna to me too, isn't it?

[She's pretty unchanged, even now.]

What do you think I'll get? I'm hoping for something really cool and ferocious!

[hippocarnival]

I don't know, I think it's random? [There's probably something to be said for changes reflecting your inner soul or something... but it mostly seems to be completely random.] I think it was a couple weeks before it started happening to me... but it's different for everybody.

[everybodypanic]

And you've been here for how long and you're still changing? Doesn't it ever, like, stop or something?

balance beam

[whattaprick]

"You're overthinking it."

Lambert, unsurprisingly, has chosen the prime asshole moment to pipe up from somewhere behind and off to the side, right when Yuya's particularly struggling with his balance. The witcher's grinning, his own tail lazily waving back and forth, as he watches Yuya. Who knows how long he's been standing there, anyway?

[hippocarnival]

Yuya jumps at the sudden interruption, flailing his arms as he plants both feet flat on the beam and catches himself before he falls over. He sighs on relief once he's steady before looking around for Lambert.

"I'm not thinking about it, I'm feeling it." As if that makes any more sense. "What're you doing here?"

[whattaprick]

Makes enough sense to Lambert, really. He runs on instinct half the time. When Yuya asks that, though, he simply shrugs.

"I was looking for Strange. See if he's up for sparring practice."

[hippocarnival]

"I haven't seen him." Not today, at least--maybe everyone is still recovering merely from Wismuth. Yuya, though, has a lot to make up for before performances with this trail. Besides, he doesn't feel all that bad in the end of it.

"I've been here all day so far, so... maybe he's in his trailer?" His tone is quizzical, he's definitely just guessing.

[whattaprick]

“Probably,” Lambert agrees. He seems disinclined to leave just yet, watching Yuya as his own tail flicks thoughtfully.

“How long have you been in here?”

BALANCE BEAMS...DAY 31

[betheman]

[To say that it's 'good to be back' would be...putting it quite lightly, really. Gongenzaka of course found out fairly quickly into his own morning routine that he didn't come out of it as unchanged as he thought, but compared to spending three days dehydrated and then growing a bush, being 'alarmingly flexible' is...Fine. He's fine with that, it's really nothing to worry about after everything else.

But speaking of new changes, it is with mild surprise that he comes upon the tent to greet Yuuya only to spot him fairly close to the ground-and so, the once more enormous 'taur comes trotting in, eyes wide as they take the tail in.] Hmmnnh...you appear to be growing more used to this, fortunately, [he observes, complimenting his friend at least.] Exactly, how long have you been practicing, however?

[There are probably other things they could or should talk about (such as the fact that Gongenzaka is here at all, and that the plan for an Egg is even now more than ever likely to end up necessary), but really, it'd be nice to go back to something more 'normal' for at least the first five seconds of a conversation.]

[hippocarnival]

[Yuya stops halfway along the beam, turning to look at Gongenzaka.] Oh--yeah.

[Sure, they can totally pretend he took having a tail so suddenly well. At least, his balance is getting back to where it was.]

Uh... I took a break an hour ago. [So, a long time. That's probably not a surprise to Gongenzaka, who's been dragged into Yuya's power trainings before. When he sees a setback, he's determined to climb over it. Still, he offers Gon a smile.] How's it feel being big again?

[betheman]

[It's not four legs, and you're not on the ground, Yuuya. So you're doing GREAT. In any case, he merely nods, before going slightly red in the face with a laugh.] Ahahaaa...

W-Well, I, the man Gongenzaka, certainly would not say I am 'dependent' on being as tall as I am... ...but to not be the size of En is certainly something I, the man Gongenzaka, am quite grateful for..!

Regardless of actual strength, it did not seem as though many were taking my words seriously... [It was quite different from Yuuya's desperate attempts to keep Friends Safe, suffice to say.]

[hippocarnival]

[Yuya just won't say how distracting it was that Gon was basically a purse dog.]

Don't worry, I know it was for something really important! [Creation and saving the world and helping his friends and all that.] You just had to be small and cute for it.

[And Yuya has permanent proof of that. He makes it to the end of the beam, then nimbly twists on his feet and starts walking the other way across it.]

[betheman]

Aaah! When standing in for Sans however... [The scratching behind his head continues, along with the nervous laugh. That did not go well, and he's just glad at least one or two members of Security still took his word as Important.

Regardless.] W-Well! It is good that I, the man Gongenzaka, will not require that form if we need 'Creation' again...

[...He hopes. He can't really 'ask' Creation what their boon is or will be. Hrm.] With any luck, beyond what was spoken about on the radio, things should perhaps return to a state of 'calm' at least...

[espigeon]

One afternoon while Yuya is practicing, Julien wanders into the big tent, gives him a nod, and without a word flutters up towards the high wire, his wings kicking up a short-lived wind. He rises to try and land on it and grasp with his feet, but he's huge and heavy and the wire is pretty fine, so very rapidly he overbalances and pitches over, still hanging on to the cable with his feet.

The end result is a giant pigeon hanging upside down from a line that's now slanted on either side, though even a sudden four hundred plus pound weight isn't enough to break it or unmoor a side from wherever it's attached. Julien bobs a little bit in the air and then is still, his wings folded.

"Ow," he says, his voice amused and pitched to carry all that way down. "Maybe I didn't think this through. Landing on small things is always so much harder than I expect. Hello, Yuya! Oh that's a cool tail, is it new?"

[hippocarnival]

Yuya looks over and waves from his spot on the beam. He doesn't get much more distracted than that, until Julien calls out again. Then he does a double take, because there is now a giant bird hanging like a bat on a very thin tightwire.

"Uh--" Yuya stops, craning his head back as he looks up. "Yeah, it's new... you might be a little too heavy for that?"

It's magic, but not magic to support 400 lbs.

[espigeon]

"Hmm. Yeah, I've never tried to hook myself on a wire before, but that makes sense." It's kind of digging into his feet in an unpleasant way too, his whole weight on a thin strip of... whatever high wires are made of. Julien spreads his wide wings, white on the backs and varicolored cyan and darker blue on the insides, and unhooks himself with a little bit of difficulty.

And instead of falling just sort of drifts. "Oh, hey! You weren't kidding! Not that I didn't believe you, but - cool! Dude, this is awesome."

He starts moving his wings and tail with some care, suspecting that if he flaps as vigorously as his bulk usually requires he'll carom into a tent wall. At first this just spins him around or sends him tumbling head over tail, quickly or slowly depending on how carefully he moves, but Julien's had a long time and a good perspective to learn about aerodymanics, and it's not long before he's using little flicks of his flight feathers to control his speed and position reasonably well.

[hippocarnival]

Is that was Julien was really here for? Yuya can't blame him if he looks like he's having fun, and watching him somersault through the air is enough to elicit a laugh out of Yuya.

"I guess it has to be as safer when you have to get used to changes all the time." Not that every change would throw off someone's balance or navigation, but enough of them probably do. Tails and wings aren't at all uncommon around the carnival.

[espigeon]

Julien manages to orient himself, back downwards, belly up, a different kind of upside down than on the wire, and swivels his head to point his beak at Yuya, visibly cheerful despite the lack of facial expressions issue. Yeah, this kind of is what he’s here for. “You ever incorporate this in your act? Or... well, I guess without wings you just drift down. What if you brought fans up, would that be enough?”

He probably should have bought those null-gravity tablets on the Moon but honestly, he’d also really wanted that computer, and with all the various purchases he’d made... well, really, both were things he’d just wanted to play with, and he could get air-floating elsewhere more easily than he could get any fun tech. Even if it’s probably better that he doesn’t pull this again, putting this body’s full weight on that poor high wire.