⇨ 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

[anti_nonsense]

"He's fine," Rita assures Steven, though it probably sounds more dismissive than anything.

With Yuya trying to pull Strange out of the egg, Rita simply turns around and faces away. She wants to make sure he's safe and himself again, so she's staying nearby, but if he's coming out naked, she doesn't want to see it.

[whattaprick]

"Don't worry about it," Celandine scolds. She won't let him pet her right now, since she's uncertain of his mental state, but she'll stay close.

Now that Lambert's gotten his blackmail material, he should probably help Strange out. He's not to heavy lifting or bending over right now, but... his tail works just fine, so he'll use that, wrapping it around Strange's upper arm.

"Lift on three," he tells Yuya. And then, at no one in particular-- "Can someone grab a sheet? We should get him to West."

[hippocarnival]

Yuya hooks his arm around Strange's, then pauses and glances between him and Rita. If she weren't here, he probably wouldn't think twice about Strange's bare ass... but she is, so he shifts his jacket off and awkwardly holds it out while he continues to balance one side of Strange.

"I have this if no one can get a sheet now." It'll at least cover his hips, because how many sheets were brought in lieu of sleeping bags by the carnival? He looks back up to Lambert, waiting for his cue.

[whattaprick]

It’s a nice gesture, but it isn’t enough to cover what Lambert considers more personal than Strange’s junk: his scars. Mirrored scar tissue makes it impossible to disguise exactly the extent of the damage he’s sustained over his time in the Carnival, from the obvious like the shot to his shoulder and where Zangetsu stabbed him, to the scratches on his arms from Nightshade binding him, all usually hidden under stuffy Englishman clothing. It takes some of the amusement away from seeing him this way.

Celandine watches anxiously, tail flicking.

“Come on, up,” Lambert orders Strange gruffly. “One, two, three—” On the last, his tail tightens its grip on the magician’s arm and hoists him with surprising force.

[kingsroads]

Even without witcher strength, moving Strange is like moving a gangly magician sack of potatoes. He's not putting up any resistance, instead he's blinking goop out of his eyes and just going with the flow. His hair sputters and starts to smoke as it tries to relight itself on fire. Lambert and Yuya easily pull this slimy naked Strange out of the egg. And good news! He's too groggy and out of it to bitch and moan about the naked part.

[sunflowerfields]

Well, there are plenty of others to make a big fuss out of the naked part for him.

Like Hinawa, who approaches covering her eyes with one hand and holding a large bedsheet out with the other. "H-here, cover him up, for goodness' sake!"

It's bad enough you guys drew dicks all over the egg, nobody wants to see a real one!

[starseedling]

Steven, who isn't even remotely concerned with weenies at the moment, takes the bedsheet from her and scurries over to help.

"Thanks, Hinawa."

As Yuya and Lambert hold him up, Steven will wrap the bedsheet around Strange's waist like a towel, hoping it won't fall off.

"There," he says. "Do you feel okay, Mr Strange?"

He doesn't know if spitting will help.

[anti_nonsense]

Rita waits until the body language of the others seems to indicate it's safe to look before turning back around to see the magician.

"Talk to us, old man," she urges him, glancing at Steven. His question should be simple enough for him to answer, if he can garner enough awareness to do so.

[hippocarnival]

"We don't have to crowd him," Yuya grumbles as he hefts Strange up with Lambert. Nevermind he's part of the initial crowding, but he's pretty sure a little space is warranted for Strange to come to his bearings again.

He does still give Steven a grateful look when he wraps the sheet. "Thanks--can we get him to a tent or something first?"

Lambert probably has the right idea, getting him to the med tent if not the doctor.

[kingsroads]

At Steven's question, Strange groggily looks up. For the first time, he notices that huh, there are a lot more people here than he thought. He sleepily looks around everyone assembled before he gives everyone a wide smile.

He's not going to say it out loud, but the fact that there are so many people here who came to see him and help him when he, erm, hatched means the world to Strange.

"I feel fine," he answers, as he looks from Steven to Rita. "Just tired." He's becoming a bit less groggy and a bit more alert, but he still sounds tired as hell. Strange leans a bit more on Lambert's side than Yuya's, completely unaware that Lambert's bandaged and bruised to hell and back. "That whole business takes more out of you than I thought."

[anti_nonsense]

Rita meets Strange's gaze briefly, then looks away, her shoulders heaving and falling with an inaudible sigh of relief. With that stupid smile and his reply, she's gotten the confirmation she needed: he's himself again.

Part of her imagined she'd be throwing a punch at Strange the next time she saw his face, but looking at the state he's in now, it wouldn't be satisfying. For now...

"...Looks like you guys can handle this. I'll leave you to it," she says to the others, perhaps abruptly, before turning and walking away. They don't need any more hands to carry him to the medical tent, and anything she wants to say to him can be said later.

[whattaprick]

"Yeah, it turns out dying is a lot of work," Lambert says, sarcastically. "Who would've thought?" He doesn't wince as Strange leans against him, though he does tense up. Celandine watches with bright gold eyes, tail lashing.

"Come on, you're well enough to talk, you're well enough to walk," he prompts, putting as much authority as he can in his voice as he shifts his grip so he's using one clawed hand to hold Strange up. "One foot in front of the other. Move it."

And provided Strange can semi-cooperate, he'll start to frog-march him to the medical tent.

[starseedling]

Or Lambert would be, anyway, if Steven wasn't getting in the way by coming right up to Strange and hugging his arms around his waist with a heavy sigh of relief. He laughs with just a touch of hysteria, like a pressure he's been holding onto since they were both trapped in the gardens together.

"Oh man," he says, sniffling a little. "We made it out. Both of us!"

[kingsroads]

As long as Steven's giving him a hug, Strange isn't moving. He's being held upright almost solely due to Lambert and Yuya so Strange isn't going to try and hug Steven back, but he does look down at Steven. That wide smile shifts to a gentle one as Strange lets himself get hugged.

Yuya and Lambert can deal for a moment. Sorry, buds!

"We made it out," Strange repeats. "After all, the carnival doesn't leave people behind."

Those few sentences were a lot more effort than Strange was expecting. He puts more weight on Lambert, shifting his position so Lambert's bearing a good portion of his weight.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya comes to an abrupt stop as Steven latches on. It is best to get Strange somewhere he can rest more stably as soon as possible, but hearing Steven's relief is enough for Yuya to relent himself, as least for a moment.

He smiles, leaning slightly in an attempt to follow Strange's weight in case he topples. He drapes his coat over his shoulder before reaching to ruffle Steven's hair, mindful of horns.

"Yeah," he agrees, and his heart feels so much lighter now than it has in days. Everything's going to be okay, for everyone. "How about we get Mr. Strange somewhere he can sit, and then you can hug him as much as you want."

He says, under the expectation Strange is not going to argue with Steven hugs.

[spaghettimonster]

As his job was eggsitting, and all these good friends have Strange well in hand, Papyrus loiters back by the tent. It seems all is well, firey hair and all. Nobody is newly hurting, people are healing, and there are hugs galore. A victory for friendship, and he coos to see it.

"While you all do that... I'll clean up back here," he calls out. "Come find me if you want to keep your egg! As, a keepsake, or something."

[whattaprick]

“Strange,” Lambert sighs, finally, “Don’t make me carry your fat ass.”

Because, as is perfectly evident to everyone around them, the Nightrider is finding this a challenge. A consciously helpful, coordinated man he could manage, but right now it’s like wrestling with an oil covered seal.

[starseedling]

Steven smiles even more brightly in response to Yuya and Strange, gentle feelings of relief and wellbeing radiating from him empathically. He doesn't even notice. What he does notice, however, is Lambert struggling with holding Strange up.

"I can carry him, Lambert," he says, before glancing over to Yuya as well. Steven is small, but he has his ways.

[whattaprick]

Lambert squints at Steven, baffled at the assertion. "You? But you come up to his knee."

Like, he's not exactly doubting his ability, he's just sort of skeptical of the physics of it. And Steven may not literally come up to his knee, but close enough! That being said, shifting his weight a bit makes him go pale as a sheet, so there isn't any choice -- he's shouldering off Strange's weight and pushing him at Steven and Yuya with a grimace.

"Fine, take him." Catch, kiddos.

[kingsroads]

And Strange doesn't even try to steady himself or not move or cling onto Lambert as he's shoved. Nope, he's falling towards the small children, this is his life now, please catch him, Steven.

[hippocarnival]

"Hey--" Oh, Yuya is not expecting to suddenly receive almost all of Strange's weight. He throws his arm up and makes a valiant attempt to brace against his right, but he's already teetering towards Steven before he can catch his balance.

[starseedling]

As it turns out, Steven is mostly ready, and can also pretty trivially shoulder all of Strange's weight. The only challenge is his relative lack of size, and trying to keep Strange from just noodling over top of him - he puts his hands on either side of Strange's chest, trying to figure out how to deal with this.

Ultimately, he gets one hand behind Strange's back, and then tries to swoop the other one under his knees. This would work for anyone who wasn't incredibly short, but for Steven, it leaves Strange not far from touching the ground with his butt.

"Uh..." Dealing with the weight is trivial, but the balance is less so. Steven frowns and then considers another idea. "Let me try something... it might be kinda weird."

Steven then uses his magic to bubble Strange entirely, suspending him inside a large pink orb and hovering over Steven's head, braced with his hands. Strange will mostly find himself floating in the middle of the bubble rather than touching the outsides, so he better keep his limbs tucked in.

"There! Don't break it, okay?"

[kingsroads]

Okay! He's in an orb now! This is his life!

To Strange's credit, he doesn't break it. Mostly because he knows that he's pretty much just covered via a sheet at the moment and reaching out to touch the bubble means that there's a high chance that someone would get a glimpse of dick or ass. But he is interested in the composition of the orb. While he's too sleepy to talk or do much, he's awake enough that he can just metaphorically flip on his third eye powers and stare at the pink orb for a moment or two.

This means that not only is Strange's hair still on fire, but now his forehead, hand, and forearm are also on fire.

[whattaprick]

Losing Strange’s weight makes it easier for Lambert to remain upright, which he does, still swaying slightly. No longer having to wrestle with a dead weight magician also means he can notice other things, like—

“Oh, for — is he even more on fire?”