Lost Carnival Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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lostcarnival2018-12-27 10:10 pm
ringleaders) wrote in lostcarnival2018-12-27 10:10 pm
Entry tags:
⇨ THE SUMMER COURT
Who: Everyone in the Summer Maiden's entourage.
When: Day 129 - Day 131 (Subjectively experienced as only one day.)
Where: The Summer Court
What: The Summer Maiden returns to the Summer Court for the first time in eons, leading a posse of carnival workers and Summer Fae. The Summer Queen has initiated a peaceful Elysium for discussions to take place, with dozens of the Court in attendance, but the true tone of the negotiations has yet to be unearthed.
Warnings: Fae being bitches.
When: Day 129 - Day 131 (Subjectively experienced as only one day.)
Where: The Summer Court
What: The Summer Maiden returns to the Summer Court for the first time in eons, leading a posse of carnival workers and Summer Fae. The Summer Queen has initiated a peaceful Elysium for discussions to take place, with dozens of the Court in attendance, but the true tone of the negotiations has yet to be unearthed.
Warnings: Fae being bitches.
SUNSET OF AN ERA↴ The phase shift takes few minutes to complete, when it's time. The Summer Maiden gathers everyone together - her guard of Summerland Fae, and her carnival wards - and activates the spell to bring them to the Summer Court. It's been planned with the Summer Queen, she says, and they should have her cooperation. Nothing has been settled in terms of negotiations, but at the very least, the Queen was not willing to shut down the opportunity to see her daughter for the first time eons, along with her lesser children, Ignatius and Gild. The Summer Maiden has recommended that everyone dress formally and conduct themselves with respect, but she is not forcing anyone to do so. It simply seems like the best way to make an impression. When they arrive in the Summer Court, they are in a courtyard. The Maiden's light magic fades and they will see themselves in a garden of alien trees, with golden towers rising up around them in all directions. Two Summer Court fae are waiting for them at an ornate gate, but it isn't until the Summer Maiden has claimed her role as an adjudicator or the present Elysium that she breaks the barrier surrounding her party. She tells everyone that it is safe to go forth but to be cautious. There is no way of knowing what direction negotiations will take. The guard leads them in, and they will find themselves in a spacious and life-filled throne room, with massive trees that function and supporting pillars and the throne itself. A variety of True Fae that the carnival has never seen before are scattered around the room, waiting with a thick air of tension. As the Summer Maiden leads them in, she will announce herself to the Queen, and claim all those present as under her protection. The introductions are brief, and after the Maiden is done, the Queen will ask to speak with her privately. There is a clear nervousness beneath the Queen's veneer of control. As the Maiden joins her at the throne to speak about personal matters, everyone else is free to explore the throne room and mingle - if they dare. ► STICKING OUT: There are some notable reactions going on as the Maiden's entourage arrives. In general, the Court Fae respond strongly to Ignatius's presence - both the fact that he's turned up as an ally to the Maiden, and his curious magical transformation. Ignatius, for his part, holds back and tries to keep to himself, looking like he's trying to hide a significant amount of stress. To the Gilded Mark, there is a particular note of resentment, which she mostly seems to ignore and focuses on staying close to the carnival folk. The Starlight, the Whirling Rainbow, and a few other Summerland Fae have come along, and they all hold back as the Summer Maiden discusses things with the Queen privately. In general, the Court Fae eye the carnival with a mixture of curiousity and disgust. ► TOUGH CROWD: There are dozens of Summer Court Fae here that no one will have seen before. They mill about the room as if this is an uncomfortable formal engagement, eyeing up the Maiden's entourage an gossiping with one another. The opinions they hold of the situation vary wildly - some seem more of the attitude that the Court would be better off if the Summer Maiden were to die and be replaced, where others are openly optimistic and excited about the potential of reparations being made. You are free to make up/NPC any of these fae as long as they aren't doing anything radical, like trying to break the Elysium. Some of them will treat the visitors as threats, while others may even attempt to ask them questions about the situation. ► ACCOMMODATIONS: There is food and drink provided while negotiations endure. Normally you may want to be cautious about accepting this kind of thing, but given that it's part of Elysium, they are obligated to not harm any of those present. So, if you want, you will be able to enjoy faerie ales and other luxury foods that have the capability of being distractingly tantalizing to mortals with low self control. If you need some space, you are free to go back out to the courtyard where you arrived. There are few fae out there, but it is still covered by the Elysium. Take some time to settle in - this could take a while, and there's sure to be drama before it's over. Later on, there will be public discussion. |
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"Even if you say that... you'd leave even if we needed you. I--I can't believe it's true when I'm left wondering when you'll turn your back because you decide being with us is just getting in the way of seeing your wife!"
He doesn't want things to end like that. It's a foreboding future that hangs over them, and he can't hope against everything that Strange won't have to make that decision.
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Granted, it's equal parts that and Strange's determination to not fuck this up and to make certain his way back home is solid and secure. He doesn't want to bet everything on some fae he barely knows. It should be either under his own power or by a method or person he trusts.
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"That's not really it, is it?" He presses the heel of his palm to his eye, trying to clear his face. "I've told you--I've tried to tell you, but you won't listen when I say how much you mean to me. So isn't it really that we're the ones you don't need?"
Yuya's beginning to realize that how much he loves Strange, how important he is to him, it doesn't matter. It's a slap in the face to have Strange buckle down on how unneeded he is when Yuya has tried to desperately impressed again and again how important he is. How far Yuya would go for him, too.
"You don't need me, and you don't want me as much and--it's not fair to say you care when all I have to look forward to is if you're going to abandon us to something like Polaris."
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"What do you want me to say?" he snaps, finally failing at keeping his cool. "That I'd abandon my wife for the carnival? That I would forsake the person who I've done everything for, who I've loved my whole life in exchange for people that I've barely known for a year?" He laughs a little, putting his hand to his head as if to stave off a headache.
"God, how I wish I could do that so you would stop thinking of how heartless I am and I wouldn't have to make this choice in the first place. But I can't."
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Strange pauses for a moment to try and regain his composure. He's being looked at and whispered about. And he is not going to be the person to ruin negotiations by flying off the handle. When he speaks again, it's through gritted teeth.
"I care about you, just as I care about Rita and Ignatius. And you're right. It will hurt if I have to leave all of you in a terrible situation. But whatever situation the carnival is in, I have faith that you'll escape it and come through, with or without me."
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He sucks in a sharp breath, trying to steady himself. "What I mean is... if that's your decision, then why let it get that far? Do you want the last time we see each other to be something like that?"
Yuya won't ask him to stay. He's made his place clear. What he doesn't understand is how Strange can be all right with letting it reach the breaking point when he's already decided where his investment in the rest of them ends. They both know the impending dangers and consequences. Hoping things won't get that bad is, by this point, naive even for Yuya.
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"Needing is different than caring-something I just realized a few days ago. I am not needed. This is not like England: there is nothing I can do for the carnival that only I can do. Hell, half the time the carnival is better off without me. And I am not needed by any of you. I choose to be with you because I care."
He's not going to argue that point about priorities. Because in Strange's mind, he isn't one. There's a few people Yuya would choose over him. But that's okay? Or at least, he needs to accept that it's okay otherwise he'll drive himself mad again.
"As for your last point, I have no idea how far or not it would go. All I know is that if I'm given a choice that I'm certain will work, I'd be a fool not to take it."
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He takes a step back, a tremble running through him. "Then I can't really believe in it, right? Because if I rely on you and that's when you leave, I don't..."
He's not sure he can bear how much that'd hurt. He can't pretend things are the same, that the fear they'll reach that unknown point before Yuya even sees it coming. He's never had a friendship break, and to shatter over a rejection is terrifying.
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He doesn't know what else to say. Sure, he wishes he could tell Yuya that of course he wouldn't leave the carnival, of course he'd be there if a problem happened, of course he would save Yuya if he was in trouble. But in Strange's mind, he didn't do any of those things when the Ringmaster was still alive. It would be foolish to try and promise that now.
"I'm sorry that my priorities aren't the way you want them to be."
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But he can't cope with a friendship haunted by uncertainty. He has nothing to quell the uncertainty, and if he's been blindsided once then can he really trust his own judgement to actually expect it the next time?
It hurts, and Strange apologies like it's Yuya's fault it hurts, and... maybe it is. Maybe his fault was putting his faith in someone who he thought was showing him care because Yuya was someone that mattered enough to receieve it. But if Strange would drag out how meaningless Yuya is when push comes to shove, was it ever that Yuya was someone he loved?
"So... I have other people to protect me, too, and you don't have to."
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"I still view you as a friend," Strange points out, as if he can somehow salvage this sinking ship just a tiny bit. "And I am glad I met you. You're a kind, strong young man and you deserve better than me and this situation as a whole." Yuya certainly deserves better than being stared at like a freak before going off on a dangerous mission to rescue someone who Strange isn't sure if she deserves it.
"I just wish I could be the sort of man you'd need."
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But it doesn't fill him with the same warmth anymore. It's more like knives twisted into his heart, to see Strange act with the same gentle way and be unable to trust it anymore.
"Maybe," is his final, half hearted response. Maybe he deserves better, that's not at all what he's worried about. He teeters back a bit before slowly turning to walk anyway from the table. He wasn't ever that hungry, anyway.
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That could have gone better. But at least they were on the same page...and better Yuya be disappointed in him now than disappointed in him later if he manages to leave. Strange is taking that small comfort where he can find it.