[OPEN]

[churchninja]

Who: Howard Link and you!
When: Days 42-45
Where: Various locations around the carnival
What: A newbie gets his feet wet
Warnings: None for now. Will update as needed o7



[ Day 42 - Newbie ]
One moment you're thinking things can't possibly get worse, and the next you're somehow surprised when they do.

It was his hurry to escape one situation that first brought him to this strange place, but now an entirely new development means to keep him here. What is 'here'? According to the Ringmaster, 'here' would be an interdimensional carnival traveling through the multiverse. Naturally there is no going back the way one came. The moment he was given his contract and trailer keys, he rushed off to check. The door he'd entered through is gone, and any others serve a practical use.

Had Link not pinched himself, he wouldn't have believed it. The shock of pain had assured he was indeed awake and in control of his own actions, but the presence of so many… oddities... now gives him reason to believe this could be some elaborate hallucination. Perhaps the Atuuda had drained him more than he'd thought. Whatever the case, his feet still work and he can't risk standing idle. Hallucination or not, Walker might very well be here, possibly drawn to the bright lights, sounds and scents of circus life, and it's in their best interests to find a way out together. Any moral dilemmas stemming from their last encounter (does it even count as theirs?) will simply need to wait.

But now he finds himself saddled with a new predicament. For reasons he can only fathom, he can no longer sense Walker's life force. In any other circumstances this might mean Walker is not here, but Link finds he cannot sense any. Regardless of how human his target appears, his attempts to read auras leave him with nothing but a throbbing temple and a twinge of pain in his chest. With time working against him, he resorts to the reliable method of skulking through shadows, stalking the unaware and sleuthing through carnival fliers.

Day or night, during your job or your spare time, you might feel as though you're being watched on the carnival grounds. It could be anywhere. Maybe you're watering your flower pots at your trailer or you're tending to a patient in the medical tent. He might even find himself spotted, and it never occurs to him to look into a mirror to discover the bright, glowing dots on his forehead why.


[ The Big Top - Day 43 and onwards, mostly around showtimes whenever those are… ]
When turning over stone after stone yields nothing, it may be more feasible to let your prey (should it even exist in this place) come to you. The bait might not be perfect but the ebb and flow of crowds provides excellent cover. Group after group make their way into the Big Top, taking in show after show. Link is usually among them, always in the very back where he has a good view of the rows ahead. The tent tends to be packed with performers, guests and athletes -- some of them several times his height, some of them several times his length -- and he often moves about to keep his sights clear.

The performances themselves are merely a distraction and you may find him sitting or standing next to you, looking way too stern and serious for somebody watching an amazing space show. He doesn't even clap for the acts or have popcorn.


[ The Cookhouse - Day 45 and onwards, any time ]
Well, this is it. This is where he's to labor away for the next year and a day.

The cookhouse is surreal but its atmosphere is as pleasant as it can be in these conditions. What conditions, you ask? When Link had first been thrust into this world and all of the antics accompanying the Space Olympics, he'd wondered that himself. An answer has yet to come to him.

Fortunately, enough people come and go to keep his hands busy, and if nothing else it's work he's familiar with. He supposes he ought to be grateful. Someone had enough consideration to assign him a job with an oven. And yet, despite the subtle familiarity of the kitchen, Link has never felt more out of place.

Lost, he manages the only way he knows how: by making himself useful. He can be found poking around in the kitchen, clearing tables and tidying the dining areas. Depending on the time of day, he may have already been working hard for a while and will have his sleeves pulled back to his forearms. May he take your empty plate? Should he? Maybe he'll just sweep again…


[ Wildcard! ]
Feel free to run into Link just about anywhere on carnival grounds. During the days leading up to off week, his snooping can take him pretty far but he'll be avoiding the Olympic fanfare whenever possible. If you'd like to work out something in particular, just hmu on Discord (Bans#5363) or PM this journal. I'm new here so don't hesitate to let me know if I get something wrong o7 I'll match prose or brackets.

Comments

[churchninja]

A shift in her demeanor prompts his own. Does she think him a common hoodlum now? Well, he's sure there are plenty of those here but he isn't among them, and it irks him that she might think so.

In order to avoid meeting her eyes, he begins to clear away the dirty plates. One by one, he moves them onto his tray. Slowly, now. Let's not run out of things to busy ourselves with.

Guarded, he says, "... I was searching for someone who might be here. In my hurry to find them, I looked in on shows I did not pay to see. Each time I only glimpsed the stage before moving on, and yet that has been used against me..."

[fortuneglass]

Carly has Little Sympathy.

Go figure. "...If someone was missing, you should have notified a patrol officer, or similar," she answers calmly. "And that's assuming they're not an adult for that matter..! As it is, you must have seen more than just a few seconds through a tent flap in that case...you still have to enter those areas to see the stage otherwise..."

She is, naturally, making some steep assumptions.

[churchninja]

Oh, how far he's fallen in just a few short days. He's gone from a strict rule-monger to someone arguing against regulations. The irony isn't lost on him. If only expectations were clearer here, he reasons to himself. How can anyone be expected to follow such harsh rules when those rules seem imposed just to be broken? It reeks of a set-up.

A touch of sternness makes its way into his voice as responds to her accusations, "It's true I trespassed but… At the time, I thought it best to avoid a scene with authorities. An officer would have frightened them away when I wanted nothing more than to find them and leave. That is all."

[fortuneglass]

"Hmnnnhhhh..." She's lightening up SLIGHTLY, it seems, but only slightly, as Carly's arms are still crossed. "...If that were the case, you could just warn them about that, couldn't you..? Our officers aren't exactly uniformed... ...it's pretty easy, especially where we are right now, to blend into the crowd..."

On the one hand, her tone has calmed significantly. ...On the other, she's not exactly holding back on her excuses and accusations either...

She might just be Bias.

[churchninja]

He gives her a quick glance while moving the last dish onto his tray. She's clearly unhappy, but then so is he. Despite that, there's a small part of him that feels she's justified in her suspicious of him. After all, he's the outsider here. Besides, a typical civilian wouldn't be wary of authorities. She can't possibly know why he must be.

He exhales, weary. "Yes. I do not agree with it, but knowing what I do now I realize it was my mistake. In the beginning I truly thought I was acting in everyone's best interest, though there is nothing to be done about it. It has been a painful lesson, but a lesson nonetheless."

[fortuneglass]

Unhappy, but she is an enormous softy as well. It doesn't take long at all before she's deflated entirely, her tendency toward the positive coming through. "Mnnnhhh... ...well as long as you don't go around blaming the Carnival..." she mutters, frowning a bit-but it swiftly turns around for a large smile, excitement returning to her voice.

"I'm sure you'll have a good time here anyway~! It just takes some getting used to, and before you know it, a year will be over~! You might even want to stay longer!~" Let's not jump to conclusions here-

[churchninja]

She's so optimistic. He can't help but be reminded of someone else, but the shock of familiarity is more like a slap in the face than any bittersweet feeling. So much could be happening in his absence, yet she expects him to settle in and enjoy his stay as though it's nothing more than a vacation.

"Staying longer is out of the question," he says, evenly. "Even a year is far too much. Everyone will be wondering where I have gone. Don't you think about those you have left behind?"

Stern and sober, he gives a quiet tsk. Distantly he wonders what life must have been like for her to prefer being here. Surely she was fully human like him at one point? Maybe she was lonely or simply drawn in with the promise of a grander, more exciting lifestyle.

[insidescoop]

Carly's response to that is honestly to stare, with rather wide and perhaps even baffled eyes.

"..............You.... ...no one told you time freezes?"

That seems like a key detail to tell your new people. "...Time doesn't pass where you were before. ...You just go back at the same time you left..."

[churchninja]

He stills with his hands tight on the edges of his tray. She's staring at him, but he stares right back as though she's suddenly sprouted an extra pair of wings. There's a long pause while he tries to recall if this was mentioned during his conversation with the Ringmaster, but he'd been in such a hurry to start his search that he probably walked out before it could come up.

"... Then... When I return, everything will be exactly as it was the moment I left?"

[insidescoop]

"Of course!" She nods, and begins entering a bit of an expositionary speech- "Everything is right there, to the very second- which, ahe, get's a bit interesting on the off chance someone from your future arrives, because then they start talking about all these things they saw you doing, and you end up thinking 'wait I haven't done that yet!!', but then you realize 'oh it's the future'..! So..."

Someone's speaking from Experience.

[churchninja]

Goodness, the look on his face right now… It's like she's told him something that's simultaneously the best and worst thing he's ever heard. If it's true, then perhaps things aren't as hopeless as he'd thought. But if it's true, how on earth does one even make sense of it?

Stunned, he settles his tray on the table a little harder than intended. The plates rattle but luckily nothing spills.

"But how is that possible? If time ceases when I leave, how is there even a 'future' for someone to come from when I haven't been home for time to move forward?"

Why is this a thing...

[fortuneglass]

"Well, I'd say it's because...we're not in that world. We're on a different wavelength entirely..! So at any point in the timeline, someone could come over here, even if you haven't seen that part..."

This is getting confusing. "...Think of it like a bunch of strings coming together, I guess." More confusing.

[churchninja]

Confusing? Plenty, though nothing else has made sense so he isn't really surprised. In fact, this may very well be a blessing in disguise. Were he able to speak someone from the future, the information would be invaluable. However... Were he the one further along in their timeline, how much would he reveal?

Really, this ought to make him feel better but somehow he finds himself more conflicted than before. His expression grows tight again.

"I see… So, it's entirely possible for me to have experienced events that have yet to take place for someone else..."

[fortuneglass]

"Mmm, pretty much! Mostly I've seen people who are...'ahead' of me, so..." ...Probably definitely Ab-so-lute-ly possible then. "It's just a matter of sorting things out from there though, really~ Whether you want to know about things or not..."

No one wants to be...'Surprised' by things after all.

[churchninja]

"... If only it were that simple. Nevertheless, this will give me much to think about while tending to my chores."

He idles for a second more but, grimly, begins to gather up his tray. He glances up to her, his furrowed brow softening just a tad.

"Thank you for your help. In return, I suppose the least I can do is put forth a proper introduction. My name is Howard Link."

[fortuneglass]

"Not a problem~" She does like being able to help. ...Even if not everyone really finds the help 'helpful'. (She's trying). Regardless, she keeps his name in mind and gives her own. "Carly Nagisa~ Wardrobe Manager! Nice to meet you!"