⇨ CAMPING GROUNDS

[ringleaders]

Who: Everybody!
When: Day 64
Where: The Camping Grounds
What: While the Ringmaster attempts to purge the carnival of magical tracing spells and deal with the angry fire fae in her belly, everyone else is getting sent on an emergency camping trip with some unusual local fauna.
Warnings: Camping.

CRYPTIC CAMPGROUNDS↴ You're given about three hours to prepare, after the Ringmaster tells you her plans for the coming week. There is a vast selection of camping equipment at your disposal, and the means to take along enough food for the length of the stay. The wilderness of the planet you're left on is nearly idyllic, but some people just don't like the great outdoors. ► CRYPTOZOOLOGY: As it turns out, the carnival won't be alone here. There is a varied ecosystem of cryptids to be found as well, living in relative peace and mostly reacting to the newcomers with curiousity. More details can be found on the plotting post. You are free to NPC the cryptids as much as you need to, as long as you stick to the behaviours described. ► DREAMSHARING: There is a player plot going on which will allow characters to share dreams! These are specifically more dreams than nightmares, and the mushi-adept characters will be here to help. ► CHILLAX: There isn't any plot twist for this setting, so this is mostly an opportunity to decompress from the last plot and get ready for the future. The Ringmaster will show up occasionally to help with needed medical treatments and check on things, but won't stick around for long.

Comments

[dressedtothe]

The spell of disenchantment to 9S is much like seeing Strange's mental defences coming online. Defences that are attempting to eject him out. Well, that makes this a bit harder now that Strange has twigged onto his presence. If he can just shut that down...

But humans aren't quite like a machine. He can't quite dismantle them in the same way.

"Stop using magic."

It's a command that directly opposes Strange's current plans, so it's a matter of the power behind Strange's invocation plus Strange's will pitted 9S' own will.

[kingsroads]

He'll at least admit to this part: Strange has no clue.

"I'm not entirely sure," Strange admits, with a little shrug. "Nobody else in the carnival can scry and barely anybody else has ranged magical effects." He pauses, mulling things over before he continues. "I can't sense when you're warding things and I'm not there. But because I'm not the target, that probably makes a difference."

d, stupid fight time

[kingsroads]

It's been like three days since he revived and Strange has been on an emotional roller coaster. Reuniting with people! Fighting with people! Fighting with even more people! All this stupid business about the nightrunners! Honestly, Strange just wants to sleep for around ten billion years until this stupid camping trip is over, but he keeps setting things on fire every time he puts his head down on something.

And, he's got to yell at Childermass about the whole 'keeping secrets from him for months on end' thing. Trying to be more open his ass, Childermass hadn't changed. Childermass would never change. Then, after that inevitable screaming match, Strange can just hang out in the woods by himself and be a creepy loner.

It's about an hour or so after their fight over the network that Strange finds Childermass. His expression is pure 'let's get this over with' as he cuts to the chase with a blunt and direct, "You should have told me."

[kingsroads]

Likewise, his toys weren't so fancy either. Thanks, 1800s. Strange blinks back surprise as the device lights up and makes this intensely weird noise. That certainly is a thing. A...very weird thing.

He can't leave the conversation like this, not when there's something new and interesting to poke at. So, without really thinking about it, Strange turns on his third eye: eye shaped burn scars on his forehead, hand, and forearm light up with magical fire as Strange squints at the phone.

"It's not magic in the slightest," he murmurs to himself, not really realizing that Shura probably wasn't expecting this guy to set himself on fire. And wait, space kids? "This is a children's toy?" he asks Shura, not even bothering to hide the fact that he's downright confused.

[whattaprick]

Lambert cocks his head. He's pretty sure Yuya isn't talking about Childermass, and the chance to turn around the questions on him is a welcome one.

"Who are you talking about?"

[kingsroads]

As the shield vanishes, Strange gestures with his hand and the spike of earth retreats back to the ground as well. If Reira says she's done, then they're done. And he'll offer an honest assessment.

"To be frank, it is a good shield. But none of the magic I cast was anything close to full strength." There's an unspoken 'and so, it'll be useless in an actual fight' but Strange refrains from saying so. "More practice with the shield should increase your stamina and make you more used to the magic. And when you practice, the practice should be closer to what we did instead of simply casting the shield."

If Reira wanted to defend herself against things, then she had to practice...well, defending herself against things.

[kingsroads]

Whereas Strange desperately wants Tyki to methodically break down how his power or his body worked. This is something new and interesting and he wants to poke at it with a stick until he finds a way to figure out what it does.

He gets the taste thing, though. Good food and drink is something that most people take for granted.

"How does your power interact with other magic?" Strange's tone implies that he's got an idea brewing in his mind.

As he talks, he reaches up and undoes the top two buttons of his shirt, so that it's easier for him to access a large spot of mirrored coating on his shoulder. This also means that Tyki can get a glimpse of the mirror coated stab wound scar on Strange's chest, right near his heart.

[hippocarnival]

"Huh?" Yuya looks confused at first, because to him it seems so obvious. But that's because he's in his own head, so of course he knows.

"Oh, Gongenzaka." Yuya glances aside, ashamed. "I made an awful promise with him. I still don't know if it was right, or fair, or..." He shrugs helplessly.

[atouts]

And here he hasn't even had a chance to tell the Ringmaster never to let Strange near Ignatius. Due in part to Childermass deciding to take a moment to prod broodily at the campfire over in his own neck of the carnival's campsite and calm down some. If he just charged in (metaphorically, over the radio) to try and bully anyone into blocking anyone else, well, he really doubts that would work out well for him.

That's blown all to hell when the subject of his ire storms on up to make demands, however. Childermass looks up, so does Baker (who was lounging on the far side of the camp). It's only the magician who scowls at Strange, then turns back to the fire and gives it a final stab with the stick he'd been turning ashes over with.

"Why? So you could stick it in that book you're writing and cause me no end of trouble?"

[hippocarnival]

"Maybe the Ringmaster has a similar spell you can test it with." He puts a hand to his chin, thoughtful. "The ward probably means Nightshade can't find you like that even out of the carnival, but we should know for sure you'd know, right?"

It'd probably be a big help if Strange could know if someone was scrying for him--both for his personal safety and in case someone's looking for him to look for the carnival.

[whattaprick]

Lambert watches Yuya, clawed finger tracing the spine of the book, with no small mild confusion. It feels like the thread of conversation has gotten away with it a little bit, so it seems wise to clarify before properly weighing in.

"What do you mean, an awful promise?"

[kingsroads]

"Because we're friends," Strange points out, as if that's obvious enough. "And because this is a stupid thing to hide from someone."

Did Childermass have such little faith in him that he thought Strange would ditch everything and burn all bridges just because he and Lambert were kissing? That's what stings him the most, the fact that they kept what Strange views as something relatively inconsequential hidden from him for months.

Strange isn't sitting down, but his hands are jammed into his pockets, as if keeping them there will prevent him from doing something stupid. Because he really knows he needs to keep himself calm, partly so Childermass doesn't get any more leverage over him, partly so Strange can keep himself from setting things on fire.

[hippocarnival]

"I made him promise to leave me to die, if I said so." The words feel no less vile coming out. In life, it's enough to shut him up and trap him in his thoughts. But these are his thoughts, so he keeps going.

"Gongenzaka's always protected me. He'd do it no matter what, but I don't want him to if he'll die for it!" He looks up at Lambert, distress etching itself more strongly on his face. "I don't want to lose him. And I don't want him to get hurt anymore, but... I know I'll still hurt him, making him the one who has to stay behind."

[whattaprick]

Lambert considers the words, mulling them over.

"That's a pretty shitty promise," he agrees, coming over to stand by the railing. Almost casually, he asks: "Would you hate him if he couldn't do it?"

[reflash]

I am taking a break. [Yukio says. He's... actually kind of taking a break? He's working on Aria memorization right now, not doctor stuff.]

i need to get little kid yukio icons

[reflash]

Mmmhmm. [He says, a little noise of assent. Then he closes up his textbook and his notebook.]

Nee-san, did you get the plants I need from the herb shop? [Yukio can't get into the shop yet, he's not a certified Exorcist. But he wants to work on actual hands-on Doctor things.]

[hippocarnival]

Yuya blinks, surprised by the question before he shakes his head.

"No. I couldn't." Maybe frustrated, at first. Grieved, if it really meant Gongenzaka was gone. But hate him, for what, for loving Yuya that much? Yuya can't really fathom it.

"I know it hurts him to try. I'm not as weak as I used to be, but I don't think I can be strong enough to guarantee the Fae won't be stronger. We could really..."

Lose it all. Yuya lets out a breath, his shoulders slumping a little though his grip is still tight. "I don't want it to hurt so much, but I don't see any way it won't."

little crybaby yukio faces oh no

[exaomori]

[Shura makes a vague groaning sound. Seriously, it was calculus?? Sure, the kid was smart, but someone needed to rein his ambitions in just a little bit. He was going to burn out at this rate.]

Yeah, yeah, I did. I ain't gonna forget something like that.

[They're in the bag on the counter, but Shura isn't in a hurry to get up and get them. Instead, she's reaching to pull something out from her lower seal, casually setting it on the table in front of Yukio.]

Take a break for a minute, and I'll get that stuff out.

[Yukio can probably recognize what Shura set out. It's some snack that's been trendy and hard to find. She may have noticed him looking at it one day when he didn't have the pocket money to get it.]

[anti_nonsense]

"Right..." Rita breathes a sigh of relief. That is a pretty good application of that sort of ability. Maybe she shouldn't have worried...

Still sitting with her legs partly covered by her sleeping bag, Rita reaches out with a hand, blindly seeking his hand while her gaze drifts elsewhere.

"I don't mind," she says after a moment. "Letting you see my dream, I mean... We can try it." Her hand finds his, and she curls it around, lightly holding it. "But... dreams can be pretty weird, you know. Do you know what you're getting into?"

[exaomori]

The pleasure was what this was all about, wasn't it? It suits Shura just fine.

"Edo? Ahh, we really are from different times~. It hasn't been called that in a long time. It's Tokyo now." Not that Shura's really a good choice to bring home to dad in the modern era, but that isn't the point. "But that's good, that's good~! You've had sake then, at least. That's not so bad, but shochu is better."

[pipers_son]

"They were just a bother, huh?" Amused, Joker rests his hand on Feathers' head to keep him from running off again. At least the bird is trying to reach over to lift stray feathers (and leaves, and things that are apparently both) from her head.

"They've been buggin' Feathers, too. They keep stealin' his food when he's not lookin'."

[kingsroads]

The problem here is that 9S is telling Jonathan Strange to stop using magic. And considering that Strange has built his entire identity and entire life around magic, not using it doesn't make any sense. The command doesn't really take.

His will falters for a moment but Strange continues to cast the disenchantment spell on himself. At the same time, he's attempting to let go of the tree because yeah, that's stupid.

[kingsroads]

"You'll have to get used to nudity," Strange teases. And before Rita can question him, he continues. "9S wants to learn about humanity. I'm certain there's a couple of essential human experiences that he'd want to learn about with only you."

Like sex. Strange is implying that 9S will want to have sex with Rita at some point. Can androids even have sex? Hell if Strange knows. He does know that 9S probably doesn't have any junk, but he also knows that there's so many different ways to be intimate. They can work around that problem if needed.

[kingsroads]

"I did go home to England for a bit, during Greysol," Strange points out, as if he's connecting some of the dots for the first time. "That would have been a perfect opportunity for her to find me and snatch me back up, but she didn't." It'd be a perfect opportunity because Strange knows he spent 50% of that stay absolutely bonkers and the other 50% he was down for murder.

As for the Ringmaster...Strange frowns a little.

"Let's wait and ask the Ringmaster once we're done camping. I'm certain she has her hands full dealing with everything at the moment." And also because he doesn't want the Ringmaster to be the one to drop the bomb about just how badly Strange made things worse for himself by taking on Ignatius's agreement.

[kingsroads]

Strange might be a self-absorbed magician with no regard for his own safety and the world's worst impulse control. But unlike Herbert, he knows how to talk to and deal with girls. So while Herbert looks puzzled about the Ringmaster being embarrassed, Strange can't help but chime in with,

"Of course she'd be embarrassed about all this," said with a vague hand gesture to encompass the giant Ignatius clusterfuck that the word 'this' implies. "You saw her at...I wouldn't say a moment of weakness, but perhaps a moment of vulnerability. If she had the choice, I'm certain she wouldn't have let anyone see her, not until she's dealt with the Ignatius matter."

The answer to him is obvious. RM's embarrassed because her cool, confident, 'I'm the Great Beast and I'm amazing' front got a few rather large holes poked in it.