lostcarnival | ⇨ SPACE OLYMPICS

Entry tags:

⇨ SPACE OLYMPICS

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 30 - Day 44
Where: The carnival, Zargon, and Olympic Spaceship
What: Things return back to normal as the carnival performs for aliens of all sorts at the Space Olympics. Or at least, as normal as it can be when you've got an underfunded and falling-apart spaceship hovering over a deadly planet.
Warnings: Sports and people's inability to do them.

REACH FOR THE STARS↴

At first glance, the Space Olympics seem marvelous. Aliens from all over the universe, of all shapes and sizes have joined together in an intergalactic display of teamwork and sportmanship. What could be more inspiring than that? It's only when you hang around for a bit that you notice things aren't exactly in tip-top shape.

► OLYMPIC SPACESHIP: This is where most of the events are held. It's a massive spaceship spanning hundreds of miles and consisting of multiple floors. Teleportation discs and space public transport can take you anywhere on the spaceship in a blink of an eye. It has almost every amenity an athlete can think of: multiple gyms, practice arenas, saunas, etc. Likewise, there are plenty of things for civilians and spectators: merchandise stands, shopping malls, grocery stores, and television screens everywhere so people can watch the event. Shuttles to and from Zargon arrive on a regular basis.

► ZARGON: Facility wise, Zargon itself is less impressive than Olympic Spaceship. The carnival and the athlete's village comprise most of the habitable areas. Both are concealed underneath a large biodome, the main thing making the area livable. Enterprising Zargonites have set up stands that let people explore outside of the biodome. Rent a spacesuit and you too can enjoy Zargon's natural wonders, such as the distant red plateaus and the stunning solar winds. Just try and stay away from the toxic mold, naturally occurring pockets of hallucinogenic gas, and ten foot tall Zargon Death Flytrap.

► 1980s TRAINING MONTAGE: Since carnival members can only attempt to medal in one event, why not try different sports to see what that one event is? There's equipment for all sorts of sports: gymnastics, swimming, biathalon, snowboarding, etc. They've even somehow brought space horses up here for Space Dressage! There's also equipment for sports that carnival members might not have even known existed: Space Gymkata, Space Pooh Sticks, Space Limbo Skating, etc. The sky's the limit!

► A BIT OF A BUDGET SNAFU: The Space Olympics is kind of falling apart. After performance week, the carnival is drafted to help out and keep the Space Olympics running as smoothly as possible. This means fixing buildings, breaking up fights, helping in the kitchen, trying to sell merch, etc. If there's a feasible problem, the carnival members will be drafted to help fix it. The biggest problem of all is the multiple mechanical failures: artificial gravity stops working, temperatures on the ship rapidly shift from hot to cold, and the snow machines for Space Slopestyle won't turn off.

► PERFORMANCE: Performance week will start early this stop, to try and get everyone back into the swing of things after the chaos of Wismuth. Athletes from the village roam the carnival, taking in the sights and sounds. A lot of them haven't ever seen anything like the magic of the carnival and it's workers and will proceed to ask question after question about how all of this works: turns out that sci-fi and fantasy don't crossover as much as one would think. Still, don't be alarmed when you turn the corner and there's a Hutt trying his hand at test your strength.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Shura needs help. Cole's got this. Unfortunately, Cole looks like a Dalek and can't really do much to offer a hand for Shura. Still, he's a big metal...thing? Anyway, he's large and he's stable and has a silly little plunger arm for her to grab onto.

They'll just figure out the rest later.

Cole whirs up to Shura, stopping behind her as she limps and stumbles and flops around. "Take my arm," he says. There's a bit of a robotic filter to Cole's voice but the intent sounds genuine enough. "I can't do much but I want to help. It'll steady you."

Shura does need help. A lot of help. Probably more help than just one paid professional can offer, but she's managing. Mostly. Kinda. She still hasn't fallen over, though she's just about to when she hears something behind her. Reacting in a drunken instant, she swears, pivoting on her heel. Except pivoting makes it sound like she's moving in a controlled and agile way. No, she's flailing, reaching and grabbing at anything as she stumbles over herself, which means she will take Cole by his little Dalek arm. Once it's in her hand, she has to stop, stare hard at the machine in front of her. These didn't look real. This was some cheesy prop or something. But still, she's clinging to him for the second, afraid of falling to the floor.

"This ain't yer arm!" It's his nose, obviously. It's too hard to figure out what's underneath the glamour, feeling her head spinning as she tries to focus. Ugggh, she might puke.

And Cole stays where he is as Shura grabs his arm and holds on tight. He gives Shura a look of his own, as his eyestalk looks her over. Yep. She's drunk. "It's my arm here," Cole explains, as if that makes sense.

There were teleporters to the village, near the carnival. Hopefully one of those might be working. Because otherwise...Cole's got a feeling that if Shura goes on a shuttle to the carnival, she'll puke all over the floor. He's dealt with drunks before, he's metaphorically held back people's hair, and he knows that the human body is capable of holding a surprising amount of vomit.

"Come on," Cole says, as he slowly whirrs forward. He thinks he knows where a teleporter is on this floor. That would be best. "I'll help you home."

Shura's not drunk. She's trashed. Which is why she can't just let this arm thing drop, even as Cole tries to move on and try and take her somewhere better to inevitably puke. She's not budging. There's a point to prove.

"Nuh-uh, it's yer nose. I know whadda nose looks like, and this izza nose." To illustrate, she'll move her grip to the tip of his little plunger arm, squeezing the end. "See? Nose!"

Likely, noses aren't super important for robots, but it's still probably pretty rude. Whatever, she's pretty well distracted by this point. What was she doing here, anyway? He couldn't take her home even if he was the sweetest robot in existence, she was stuck at the carnival because of that dumb contract.

.....what the hell is he supposed to do here. See, Cole's strategy for helping out trashed people involves the use of his arms and his legs. As he currently doesn't have things like 'fingers', this is making the strategy so southward fast. He doesn't really react as Shura squeezes the plunger arm...though it's odd how a robot with no face can radiate uncomfortableness.

"I don't have a nose," he points out, as he goes back to slowly wheeling Shura in the general direction of teleporters. Or, at least, he doesn't have a nose like this. He's got a nose normally, of course. "I think you squeezed my arm?"

Why his arm is a plunger, Cole doesn't know. But he picks up on Shura's worries, her distractions. She wants to go home. And well, she's right. He can't help with that. But it might be best if they talk about it later.

Let her go, Cole, let her go. She'll survive... somehow. Or maybe they can fumble through this together and hope for the best. At least she's kinda letting him guide her in the direction of the teleporters. Kinda sorta in the sense that she knows she'll probably fall if she doesn't start moving with him. It's a very slow process.

"Ya think" Clearly, Shura doesn't quite believe this. If he doesn't know, how was she supposed to believe him? Jeez. "What else is it, if it ain't yer arm and it ain't yer nose?"

"But it is my arm!" Cole points out, slightly confused. "You think it isn't, but it is!"

Sure, the little plunger arm can't do things like bend. Or pick up things. Or move all that well. But it's still his arm! He knows it is! Why can't Shura realize that his arm is his arm?

Cole continues to slowly move towards the exit, assuming that Shura's just going to keep following him. He'll stop if she needs him to but otherwise, they're going to keep moving.

Shura moans. Jeeez, why was he so fixated on his nose being his arm?? ~~at least she's not assuming it's something else??~~ "Whatever, I don' care what it is!" Because arguing over what this appendage is is really just giving her more of a headache. But for now, she'll let him keep pressing them on to the teleporter, and she'll even stay quiet until they're close enough for her to realize that they were actually going somewhere. Which reminds her--

"Ngggh, I need some water. We're gonna get some, righ'?" Wait, where were they going again?

"We're going back to the carnival," Cole explains, not really realizing that he's picking up on Shura's worries and thoughts and things that she never said out loud. "You'll get water there."

And a snack. And possibly brought back to the trailer. Cole is sticking right at Shura's side as she navigates being drunk or until she passes out and falls asleep. Because this? It's not all that good.

The teleporters are within sight. It's still going to take a moment or two as the world's slowest Dalek whirs towards the teleportation pads.

Wait. That's.. . She didn't bring up the carnival. Shura's brow knits together, trying to figure out just what was going on. It's possible that he was just that perceptive. It's also possible that he had less than honest intentions. Sure, little robot was being nice, but why?

"Oi--oi-oi-oi--who are ya, anyway?"

She shifts, moving to stand on her own feet. She's drunk, but she has just enough of her wits about her still not to be a complete trainwreck.

"I'm Cole." That is not an answer. And yet, Cole is treating it like it's an answer and it's good enough for Shura.

And so, since he has obviously answered this question to the best of his abilities, Cole continues to try and wheel Shura to the teleporters.

"Cole," Shura repeats, clearly not convinced that this is the whole truth. Cole the carnival employee? Cole the human/Narn eating alien? Wait, where was his mouth??

"Why are ya bein' so helpful, huh? What's in it for you?" And even though she doesn't trust him, she still will follow him to the teleporters.

Cole, a spirit of compassion who's purpose is to help, empathize, and cheer up people, does not have any idea what Shura is talking about. Why would there be something for him in the first place? That'd be silly.

"It's what I am," he simply answers. "I help the hurting." As they reach the teleporters, Cole zips over to a computer station. And hmm. He's seen people do this before, but they had hands. They have reached the first snag in the journey.

"Can you press this blue button twice?" he asks Shura.

"I ain't hurtin'," is her automatic reply. But she would be. She'd pass out once she was back in her trailer and when she woke up, she'd be in for a world of pain. Maybe she should make tell Rin ahead of time that she needed something to cure her hangover in the morning? Did he even know how to make that kind of thing yet?

Her reverie is interrupted by Cole asking her to follow a rather basic instruction. Fine, she can do that much, not really thinking about it as she reaches out to start smacking at the blue button. And maybe the green button, too. The more she presses it, the faster it'll work, right??

"Not yet," Cole simply responds, as he waits in the teleportation area. Shura isn't hurting yet. But he's seen drunk people, he knows that Shura's going to get a hangover at some point. Better she be back in her trailer and hungover than sprawled out on the spaceship.

Once she presses the button, however, Cole calls out to Shura. "You need to come here too!" Assuming she does so, there's a ten seconds or so pause before the teleportation starts and both Cole and Shura are beamed down to the carnival, back in their proper bodies.

Cole takes a moment to wiggle his ears and flex his fingers. Just ignore the fact that there's what looks to be a small tongue emerging from the palm of one of his hands.

'Not yet,' like he's wishing a hangover on her or something. Never mind that she was bound to have one anyway... But Shura somehow manages to make it back to Cole in time to catch the ride down to the carnival. Unlike Cole, who was perfectly sober and standing firmly on his own feet, Shura ends up face first on the grass, having stumbled during her scramble to get to the right spot after hitting the switch.

"Uwaaah--it's cold!" And... grassy. Shura slowly turns to look at the robot, vaguely confused by the shape of the man in front of her. It's going to take a moment for her to put two and two together and realize that this was the robot. The tongue on his hand is her last concern, honestly. This would be the first time she's seen something like that before. Demons. Contracting with them had weird effects.

Now that he's himself again, it's easier to pick up on Shura's thought, her worries, her hurts. And as the possibility of demons crosses her mind, Cole can't help but frown. His ears droop and the mouths on his hands close up, as if this will somehow help him look normal.

"I'm not a demon," he can't help but point out, as he offers a hand to Shura in an attempt to pull her up to her feet. "I was a spirit then a robot then a spirit again. But never a demon."

No matter what other people here or home thought.

"I didn' call ya one," Shura replies, looking at his hand to make sure that there wasn't anything about to lick her before she reaches to take it and slowly haul herself up.. Wait, had she been talking about loud? She might have been looking at him funny, but it wasn't because she thought he was a demon, not strictly speaking. Besides, even though she grumbled a lot about the demons she had to deal with, it wasn't like they were all bad. There was Rin, after all.

Edited 2018-04-19 21:45 (UTC)

Cole adjusts himself and shifts his position so that, if she wants to, Shura can lean on him and use him as support. And then, he starts to walk towards her trailer.

"Thoughts fly fast, you say it but you stay silent," Cole murmurs, almost under his breath. "Is your Rin the one in the cookhouse?"

He knows that multiple people can have the same name. He's met two Lamberts, after all. It's best to ask.

"Thoughts fly fast?" She echoes, just sharp enough to catch that murmur as she uses him to balance her weight for a moment as the ground rocks under her feet. There's a brief wave of nausea that rolls over her, and she considers puking. But no, she'd be puking on this not robot or demon but a spirit guy, and he's been just helpful enough that she doesn't want to barf all over him. She takes a deep breath instead, swallowing down the bile rising in her throat.

"Nn, yeah, that's my Rin." There's a sense of pride about that. He's an idiot, but yes, that was her student, and most days she was proud of how far he had come. But wait-- "Ya readin' my mind or somethin'?"

She sounds remarkably calm when she asks. Confused and a little concerned, but calm.

"I can't read minds," Cole states, despite the fact that he just obviously read Shura's mind. Still, this is apparently a point of interest for him that he feels the need to clarify. "Sometimes I can tell when they aren't thinking. I just know."

He continues to move slowly towards Shura's trailer, letting her use him as a balance. Cole moves his arms to help support Shura and hold her up as they sloooowly walk towards her trailer. Though, Cole's perceptive: at any moment where Shura looks like she's going to hurl, he stops walking. He's...going to have to hold her hair back at some point, isn't he.

Fortunately for Cole, Shura's icon's are a lie and they only have to worry about her long bangs. Unfortunately for Cole, Shura doesn't quite believe that's the whole truth.

"If ya ain't readin' my mind, how'd you know I was thinkin' 'bout him, huh?" It was entirely possible that he just happened to see her with Rin, it wasn't like she hid the fact that she knew him. But it just didn't add up. It's good that they're taking it so slow, since trying to think has Shura stumbling even more.

And thus Shura being relatively recent canon saves Cole from having to deal with hair puke.

At her question, however, Cole frowns a little. "I know things. Mostly hurts, things that throb, but occasionally I know helps as well." Cole's cryptic bullshit probably has Shura mentally stumbling to match her physical stumbling. He's talking like this makes perfect sense and obviously Shura's going to know what he's talking about.

"Rin is both," he explains. "You care for him so much and he doesn't even know it."

What's with this guy, he absolutely makes no sense. But there is one thing that he says that Shura focuses on.

"Oh!" It's an unfortunate choice in wording; even though she's more comfortable with admitting her feelings for the brothers, Shura's still just extra enough to try turn it around on him. "Throb? Aaah, I ain't got anythin' throbbin' for a kid like him." Even if he was older, still totally not her type. But really, why did he need to know anything like that? He already knew she was fond of him, and that was all he needed to know.

Cole wouldn't recognize innuendo even if it danced in front of his face with a sign that says 'hello there, I am innuendo.' As it is, Shura's attempt at teasing falls amazingly flat as Cole looks over at her with an expression of slight confusion.

"Of course you do," he answers, as if it's absolutely obvious. "You have your heart." Duh, Shura.

⇨ SPACE OLYMPICS

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