⇨ 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

[soft_focus]

Naturally, Reira shakes her head immediately. Though presumably, she is responding to his second question. "Mnh...he said it's supposed to be a 'vacation', so I can't do school things now. It's why I couldn't pack any of my books, or the pieces... ...just in case I lost them."

She does, however, briefly unzip the pocket of her vest to check something before zipping it back up. "I'm working on magic things instead because of that..! And, um..." She looks back to the lake. "...I guess meeting all the animals, and making sure Eagle doesn't eat any of them..."

[hippocarnival]

Eat them...

"That's good! But you know, there's lots of fun things we can do while we're here. Like sitting around telling stories and roasting smores is popular. Or watching the stars, going on walks..."

He pauses, looking around and then just... vaguely gestures. "You know, we should all sit together one night and do just that! You and me, and Reiji, Gongenzaka, and Yugo."

[soft_focus]

It's an eagle that's almost as tall as her. It's gonna chase those jackalopes, Yuuya.

Not to mention the fish. "...............What's a smore?" She recognized everything EXCEPT that part. Also she's already doing everything except that part. So.

"...Everyone at the same time? Do we have to find a big spot to sit then?" she wonders, blinking. They are not the smallest bunch, thanks to changes after all.

no rest

[whattaprick]

Normally, Lambert's content enough to lounge in his tent and sleep off his remaining fatigue. At the moment, though, he's at loose ends -- because Childermass has gone off on whatever the Ringmaster has called him for. He didn't get into specifics, but Lambert can guess it either has to do with him or the Ringmaster's stomach problem, but either way, he'll have to wait on the outcome.

So he's out walking with Butcher to take his mind off things, enjoying the regained strength in his limbs after sleeping off yesterday's exertions. The Mudbray is bounding about, frolicking happily enough -- until he picks up the rumble of earth around the same time Lambert does.

"Butcher--" he starts, but it's too late. The Pokemon is set on playing, and he bursts into the area Strange is working in, hooves stomping on the ground to create a shuddering quake of his own at the magician.

[kingsroads]

When Yuya catches his eye, Strange finishes casting the spell he's working on. Then, only a second or so later, he mutters a different spell and waves a hand. The earth retreats to ground level: there's only a few traces that Strange had messed everything up terrain wise in the first place.

He looks over at Yuya and gives him a little smile. Strange still seems a bit tense but he's trying his hardest to seem more relaxed.

"Hello there," he says with a smile. And then, Strange spots those marshmallows. And his food brain goes into effect because huh...he is kind of hungry. "Roasting some marshmallows, I assume?"

And can he eat some anyway. Strange is downright staring at that bag of marshmallows now.

[hippocarnival]

"We'll make a spot to sit! I'll get Gongenzaka to help set it up." He's getting excited about the idea even before he's asked anyone else, but he can't see any reason why any of them would decline. They're all friends here, or at least friends of friends.

"And a smore is a snack you make with a marshmallow, chocolate, and graham crackers." He presses his hands together for emphasis. "And you press it all together like a sandwich! You'll like it."

Not the least because it's sweet.

[soft_focus]

This is, suffice to say, the new focus of her attention and the most baffling food item she's heard of since sweet-potato salad (seriously, marshmallows??).

"...How do you make a sandwich with marshmallows and chocolate..." she mutters, squinting at Yuuya with what is likely disbelief.

[hippocarnival]

When the earth settles, Yuya walks towards Strange. He shakes the bag once it's referenced. "Yeah, I was going to see if you wanted to join me. Ready to take a break?"

Yuya, at least, seems to be relaxed. There's still a slight air of exhaustion on his face, but it's more a faint trace than any sign he's still feeling terrible. Like a student the week after finals are over.

[prazerbutterfly]

It's kind of adorable how much she devolves into her notes and he takes note of that. When he's not called out after a minute or so he'll assume it is alright to keep examining the information. It at least fills in a few pieces of he missed when it came to conversations. As much as he wanted to listen to everything that was almost impossible.

He raises a brow lightly with a small chuckle under his breath at startling her, "Five minutes perhaps. I didn't want to disturb your concentration."

[kingsroads]

There's an awkward pause. Because yup, Strange knows about the whole torture thing and he is definitely not a fan of it. But on the other hand, he's glad to see that Rita's alive and in one piece. But on the other hand, Strange knows that as soon as he brings up the Ignatius thing, Rita's going to yell at him again.

So, while Strange figures out what to say, Rita takes the initiative. "Hey," Strange responds as well.

They're great at this. Strange keeps the conversation going as he asks, "Were you hurt in the rescue attempt?"

[hippocarnival]

"You put the chocolate and marshmallow in the middle so it's shaped like one. I'll show you how to make one when we get together." Or sometime, because there's no way he's letting her go this trip without trying it. Reira's had too much of her childhood robbed from her as it is.

He hopes when they go back, the war with Academia really will be over and they can have the space of peace again.

He blinks once, then glances around. "Uh, if you're done, did you bring a towel?"

[soft_focus]

"...But it wouldn't be flat enough, or soft enough, or..." Well apparently they're not talking about smores now, so never mind.

Reira just blinks. "...Why would I need a towel here? I can get a towel from the tent." There's nothing wrong with running around wearing a swimsuit and a soaked vest! Nope!

[hippocarnival]

So much doubt over the smores... but Yuya doesn't elaborate when Reira explains her lack of towel, raising an eyebrow. "If you run around wet, you might catch a cold."

Which isn't going to do if he's going to encourage her to stay up late with them, so Yuya reaches to gently start nudging her back to camp. "Come on, let's get you dried off."

[soft_focus]

"How does being wet mean you get a cold?" she protests, blinking. "It's not even cold now. It was a lot colder on the moon." Remember, the moon, where she was in her shirt and shorts for a good long while until Julien had a panic and rushed her back to the Wardrobe tent?

Good times. But here she is being nudged along. "I always walk back to the trailer for my towel after going in the lake at home..."

[hippocarnival]

"It still makes your body colder so you're more likely to get one, or something like that." Yuya is definitely the wrong person to ask for the specifics here. "Is Reiji teaching you anything about health...?"

He assumed so, he definitely assumed she was doing pretty standard curriculum for an elementary school kid. The nurse is basic stuff.

[kingsroads]

Fun fact: Strange is more aware of his dreams than most, to the point where he yelled at someone in canon for barging in on his dream. So, since he definitely knows this is a dream, he feels no shame in even more making out.

Eventually, he comes up for air, gives Arabella a wicked grin, then turns to look at Carly. "Come now! Surely a man can kiss his own wife in his own dream how much he wants?"

Arabella, being a figment of the dream herself, doesn't seem to perturbed about the surprise, you aren't real thing. "I'm sorry you had a break up, by the way," Strange adds. "Who were you seeing?"

Good job, Captain Oblivious.

[soft_focus]

There is a blank stare. "...I don't feel cold though," she repeats, blinking slowly.

"...I still didn't get a cold on the moon..."

Naturally, she has not answered the actual question At All.

Closed to Lambert

[periphrasing]

On one hand, Peridot has been doing so much sleeping lately that it's becoming sort of ridiculous. On the other hand? It's generally a nice and relaxing activity, and she deserves a break. Besides, from her understanding of things, one of the main purposes of camping is to enjoy sleeping outdoors and being under the stars or whatever, and she's not about to deprive herself of such a vital camp experience.

Unfortunately, her dreams aren't quite as sweet and benign as her waking surroundings would hopefully encourage. She hasn't been infected with the mushi yet, and some of her lingering stress is still hounding her even as she rests. Case and point: She's back at the Beta Kindergarten, a canyon that's all red sandstone with with peculiar, vaguely human shaped holes pockmarking it's smooth, curved walls. It's broad daylight, but curiously enough, there's no heat from the sun, even though it seems to be beating down hard from above. Spindly alien looking machines cling precariously to the walls, casting shadows on the canyon floor below.

Peridot isn't out in the canyon, though. She's lurking in one particular hole which eclipses all the others here in size. She runs her hands up and down the walls, feverishly inspecting each millimeter of it while muttering under her breath, brow furrowed with concentration.

[dressedtothe]

"Yep. I fished a few times back on Earth. Marine biology was one of the few types of lifeforms still thriving after the ecology got all messed up. We returned plenty of marine data back to the Bunker, but I haven't seen anything looking like this." He half turns, looking at the furry trout. "I wonder what kind of evolutionary advantage the fur serves..."

Anyway! He shoots Rita a soft smile. "Sleep well? You looked so peaceful, I didn't want to wake you."

Compared to how she was sleeping before...

[hippocarnival]

"I said might, Reira." The moon doesn't prove anything. "So is that a no?"

Yuya's not much for the education system himself, but this is basic life skills, isn't it? He hopes Reiji isn't neglecting the physical stuff.

[soft_focus]

"I don't know. I'm just answering the questions in the books that everyone brought back from Wismuth- niisama looked at them to try and make a 'school day' for after I finish my work with the animals though, so he probably knows. ...I didn't want to cheat." Which is to say, she hasn't read ahead.

That's cheating, right?

[fortuneglass]

OOog! She could pout- and probably is, as she averts her eyes and crosses her arms. But even she can't argue with Strange's logic. After all, well...it is, very clearly, a dream of some sort. "I guess that's fair..." she grumbles, glancing back. "...You still made it really obvious though..! And-!"

The woman sighs. "...Jinx..." And sighs again. "...But she's been gone since we left the Athenaeum... ...'went home', it looks like, since the Ringmaster didn't say anything about her being gone for any other reason..." So it wasn't an official break up, but it might as well have been.

[hippocarnival]

"I don't think that's cheating... but if you had a workbook for it, you probably would have seen it by now."

Well, that's fine! He'll just make up for where Reiji's lacking. "I know enough I can tell you about that stuff. Like making sure you bring a towel when you go swimming so you can dry off."

[soft_focus]

"How would I see the questions I haven't reached yet..." Without, you know. Reading ahead.

Or anyway. "..I'm still not cold," she insists, still apparently insisting on No Towel. "...If I bring a towel, and leave it somewhere, I'll have to make sure I get out of the water at the same spot."

....Where....did she initially enter the water from....

[hippocarnival]

He's pretty sure a health textbook is not going to be mixed with the math and science, even in Wismuth.

He's not exactly following this new protest, however. "Well... yeah? Most people do that when they bring stuff to the beach. It's the same as you going back to your tent every day when you camp."