⇨ 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

FIRE DANCING -> BIRD DATE? | D68, EVENING

[alphudo]

By the time evening hits, Yuusei's generally back from wherever it is he runs off to in the day, often times early enough to help Carly set up whatever festivities she wishes to partake in that night. It's incredibly unlikely that she'll need help getting a fire going, but he can at least help arrange a space for a pit of sorts. If anything, he noticeably busies himself with something else whenever she goes to actually light it for what might be obvious reasons.

Still, if he can help out, then he'll absolutely try to. He's not a bad cook by any means, so while Carly and Nuna set up the rest of the circle, Yuusei tends to the food to make sure none of it burns. Having many hands is nice for this reason.

Having many legs, however, is not great for dancing. He's quite content with sitting and watching, thank you. Or at least, watching as intently as one can when having Dark Signer fire fairly close to one's face. Should Carly's eyes meet his, though, he'll offer her an encouraging smile.

[insidescoop]

Carly, having had at least one glass of faerie ale and definitely one or two more of otherwise mundane alcohols, isn't so quick to accept the refusal. She pauses her dance while Nuna keeps at it, the marowak's own flames more of a blue-hue than a violet, and practically whines.

"Hehhh..! Come on..! You have to at least try, right..~" She can tell there was silent refusal, but also, she doesn't 100% want to simply take that to heart.

[alphudo]

His smile wavers and curls up tighter into a nervous grin when Carly slows and stops to approach him specifically. A chuckle rumbles in his throat as he glances elsewhere, lowering his head. "...I am," Yuusei murmurs over the crackle of the campfire, "and I will always be at this rate, a lousy dancer." What is it with (former) Dark Signers asking him to dance, and why can't they understand he's just bad at it?

More importantly, though, he would very much prefer to keep a good amount of distance between himself and those flames.

[fortuneglass]

"Pssh! You don't have to be good at it, it's about letting loose, and having fun..~" Though as she says that, Nuna is starting to grumble. HOW DARE YOU IGNORE HER PRETTY BLUE FIRE!! HOW DARE!!!

"You're not that worried about your coordination still are you..?"

[alphudo]

HE'S NOT IGNORING YOU NUNA HE'S JUST DISTRACTED--

"I... A little bit?" He stands up, although he still has to look up to speak to Carly. "I can walk just fine now, but... Listen I could barely do anything competent with two legs, it won't end well--" His excuse is breaking down help.

[fortuneglass]

Carly, ever oblivious, simply shakes her head- though she does disperse her flames, much to her pokemon's chagrin. "I could always help you know...you never know when we'll have to dance our way out of a place~!"

That sounds both horribly fake and horribly likely.

[alphudo]

Despite the near-painfully embarrassing thought of actually having to dance their way out of a location, Yuusei finds himself much more able to at least consider the offer once those flames are gone. And, indeed... he does take a hesitant step forward. "Well...

"...alright." It wouldn't much be in the spirit of things to back down from this, now, would it?

[fortuneglass]

Well her fire is gone, Nuna's sure isn't. But Carly is already eagerly pulling Yuusei to his feet, floating upward to ease any awkward height gaps. "Wonderful~! Now we just do what comes natural~"

Carly that only applies to ONE OF YOU.

[alphudo]

Nuna's fire isn't as Dark Signer-like it's fine--

But oh man Yuusei's really starting to wonder if Carly gets where his current anxiety is coming from regarding the whole actual dancing thing. If he can barely do anything with two legs, please tell him what he's expected to do with four.

(Also YOU CAN FLOAT CARLY THAT'S CHEATING)

"I-I don't..." He follows her closer to the circle but otherwise doesn't do much more than awkward shuffling. Don't get him wrong, he's trying to figure out what feels "natural", but it's not as simple as when Gon requested similar: he knows how walking should feel.

[insidescoop]

"...Don't what?" She is, suffice to say, entirely clueless. She does not get it at all.

"...You've never just danced around for fun? Or run around just to do that, or jump, or..?"

Don't lie

[alphudo]

If she's seen him at any point throughout their camping trip so far, she'll know fully well he can run just for the sake of running.

Yuusei, on the other hand, certainly doesn't seem like he's all too convinced that'll help. His grip on her hands tightens somewhat. "Those aren't the same thing...!"

[insidescoop]

Carly is gripping back, and tugs him to the left. "Of course it is~! This isn't a ballroom! It's for just fun!" she laughs, still a bit giddy from the somewhat glimmering tumbler she had a drink from earlier.

Well this explains SOME obliviousness... "If you combine them all it's dancing for fun~!"

[alphudo]

He could really use a drink right now himself to be frank, but oh well, maybe later. He staggers a bit as she pulls him (and he probably would've staggered more if he was drunk) and overcorrects to regain his balance - twirling Carly around him in the process.

Well this... isn't going terrible so far? What??

[insidescoop]

"WWHWOOHOOO~!" And a spin is exactly what she was hoping for, apparently! "See~! That's a start, isn't it? Just move!" she cheers, beaming brightly. "Whoo!" Have another spin, though that's tricky when she's the one trying to initiate.

[alphudo]

Yuusei has absolutely no idea what's going on. "I-I guess so...!" He spins her around again anyway, getting the general gist of what she wants him to do with her tug against his arm. He tries to move himself more with her as well, his claws stumbling underneath himself but recovering quickly enough afterward. This isn't so bad...!

[insidescoop]

"And I know so~!" Carly sings, 'hopping' backward to tug him along. "Jump with me..~ We can't just spin, you know!" They'll get dizzy! And sick!

Hopefully Nuna isn't jealous, though she seems fine so far...

[alphudo]

This is true, Carly is drunk so let's not get the poor bird nauseous, yeah?

This is something that comes more naturally to Yuusei, giving a short "gallop" of sorts to keep up with her, and hey wait naturally--

He leans back to pull her closer to himself before sidestepping, wondering if she'll follow along or if she has her own plans.

[fortuneglass]

"Whoo~!" The answer is yes, she will go along quite nicely! She's giggling quite warmly actually, moving to adjust her arms so she can more comfortably keep hold. "That's more like it..!~ See! You're a natural~" At nonsense dancing at least, but hey, the entire point is nonsense dancing after all, and it's hard not to remain in a good mood when such opportunities to forget the worries of the week are there. "~Most coordinated~"

[alphudo]

He snorts at the notion that he's anything remotely close to being "coordinated", but he admittedly hasn't proven her wrong yet, and he breaks out into a grin as they guide each other around the campfire in any which way. This is nice, really really nice... Even if it's nonsense, it's fun nonsense.

When he went into this, he figured he would've stopped after a handful of minutes, but as those minutes tick by, he becomes less and less aware of them. Soon he's following Carly's pace, taking things as fast or slow as she'd like because at this point all that matters to him is the moment and no matter what she does the moment is good.

Eventually, though, Carly will find herself being tugged upward into a spin, and if she catches the motion in action she'll see it's because Yuusei's rising onto his hind legs, and it's only meant to be for a moment, but those few seconds are certainly enough to let the dirt come loose under his claws...

"AH--!"

...as he pitches backward and falls to the ground.

[fortuneglass]

That's what camping is meant to be for after all- letting loose, having some fun, and for at lest a few nights, forgetting about the worries of the rest of the world. It's good to take that break- and with a shout of surprise and a chorus of laughter she moves up into the air with the other, giddy and giggling at the sudden shift. And then-

"HEEEH-!" They're on the ground.

There is a blinking pause, before she curls up into a fit of laughter. "Ksshfhf...HHHAHAHhaHAHA! Man, Yuusei..! For someone who doesn't think they can pull off dancing, you really had good ideas..~!" They're on the ground Carly. The ground.