(Untitled)

[floozyfacade]

The many island changes aren't lost on Olive. From the moment she wakes up, it seems to her that everything is different - that the air around her home is now redolent with the sounds of amusement park rides and the smells of fried food, and she's so eager to see everything that she nearly runs out of the house in her pajamas (which are probably,

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[pointzerothree]

Of all things to wake up to, this has definitely been an unexpected one. For Eduardo's part, it hasn't been tempting quite so much as distracting; all the bells and whistles and lights make his usual quiet walk up to teach a hell of a lot louder than usual, even more so with the people already starting to congregate around rides and food stands, apparently intent on wanting to take advantage of it even so early in the morning. Theoretically speaking, he can't say he blames them, but he's never cared much either way about this sort of thing, which probably has a lot to do with lack of exposure. He doesn't know for certain, but he's pretty sure he could count on one hand the number of time he went to any sort of amusement park growing up. It hadn't been a priority, and so it isn't now.

Coming across Olive, though, he isn't surprised to see her all lit up, brighter than the rides themselves, and for that, he sees the point. There's little he likes better than when she looks so pleased, even if it's something else that's the cause of it. Her smile infectious, he grins back at her as he crosses the distance left between them, close enough to kiss her cheek just because he can. "You look like you're having fun."

[floozyfacade]

Olive nods, emphatic, reaching for his hand with her free one and taking a step back. Tugging him along with her, she grins. "I was coming to find you," she says. "And I am, yes. Come on, I want to ride everything." She's caught a whole lot of chatter along the way, but she's not sure she's heard right about some of the things around here and she knows there's plenty she hasn't heard about yet. All of that, though, every last thing is on her list at the moment, known or unknown. She hasn't been on a single ride yet - that much, she's managed to be good about - but now that she's found him, that's about to change.

"No one's turned into anything weird yet, right?" she adds, brow furrowing slightly. "We're not all gonna... become donkeys or something because we had the funnel cake." It's not quite a statement, but given that everything still seems fine - better than - it isn't really a question either.

[pointzerothree]

"I have yet to see a single person-turned-donkey," Eduardo says, as serious as it's possible to remain while stating something like that. It's true, though. Wary as he's inclined to be of anything that just appears like this, remembering all too well the space station and how it seemed great until it came hurtling towards them, he hasn't seen anything wrong with any of this so far, and he's witnessed a good deal, even if he hasn't partaken in any of it yet himself. For the time being, at least, it's all ostensibly safe. That's enough for him.

Letting her pull him along with her - he wouldn't have expected anything less, really - he shakes his head a little, mostly just at the absurdity of the entire situation. "So if we're riding everything, we have to start somewhere. Any thoughts?"

[floozyfacade]

"Everything," Olive chirps, then stops, torn between options. "There's a dinosaur ride, and apparently there's stuff all over the other island, and in the other direction, there are go karts. I can't decide. I want everything. There's even Small World, which is probably going to be the scariest thing here. When I was little, I could not be convinced those dolls didn't come to life at night. I'm still not completely convinced." Around here, it seems like her childhood horrors stand a much stronger chance of being true. At least they live a considerable distance from that one.

Which isn't at all to say she doesn't intend to drag him there, too.

[pointzerothree]

"Isn't that the one with the creepy multicultural dolls?" Eduardo asks, brows furrowing in something like confusion, a comment on how walking to dinosaur territory was probably more exciting than the ride would be cut off by what sounds a little too plausible for this place. Granted, having never seen them himself before, he can't really attest to their apparent creepiness, but either way, he doesn't want to deal with anything potentially dangerous coming to life, especially not dolls that sing a really fucking obnoxious song. (He didn't grow up under a rock; he does know that much.) "Are we sure we want to go near that?"

[floozyfacade]

It is, really, probably the wrong question to ask Olive. She lights right up and starts toward the Compound, backwards for a couple steps before turning. "You've never been," she says, like this is somehow something to marvel at. She knows not everyone grows up within driving distance of a Disney park, that probably the vast majority of people actually go on these rides, but to her it's just part of life. "Yes, yes, it is the one with the very creepy, very happy dolls. And it's not the middle of the night yet, I think it's safe, so why not?"

[hereand_now]

Wolf doesn't understand any of what's going on, only that the island is much, much louder and much brighter than it usually is. Because it's outside, though, it doesn't bug Wolf so much and the smells are amazing. The moment before he spots Olive, he has his head tipped back, sniffing the air deeply to enjoy all the scents that reach him. He has no idea what most of them are, but if they're food, he thinks he needs to try them all.

"Olive!" It's very nearly a roar, a sound that could be terrifying if not for the large smile plastered on his face. (What Wolf doesn't know, what he'll never know, is that his happiest smile displays an awfully large collection of teeth, that the roar and the teeth combined are a little overwhelming.) "Olive, everything smells so good."

And then, spotting the guy with Olive, Wolf's smile gets even larger and he sticks his hand out to shake. "Hi! I'm Wolf, right here and now!"

[pointzerothree]

It is, he can't pretend otherwise, more than a little disarming to have someone bellowing his girlfriend's name, the figure that the stranger cuts an imposing one anyway. For a moment, Eduardo is left stunned by it, somewhere between intimidated and on the defensive, looking questioningly towards Olive, his inherent protectiveness of her surging up before he can even stop to think about it. Just that moment is all it takes, though, for him to relax, exhaling slowly and starting to smile when he realizes it must be an acquaintance of hers, albeit a fairly daunting one.

"Eduardo," he answers, shaking the offered hand in a manner that's still more professional than anything else, a habit he hasn't been able to break. "It's nice to meet you, Wolf." He glances between the other two. "So you two are friends?"

[floozyfacade]

"Yeah, we are," Olive chirps, grinning between them. She's not sure she'll ever wholly get used to that first moment when she sees Wolf and all those teeth, but he's such a sweet guy, it's hard for her to feel bothered by any of it. His enthusiasm buoys her own in turn instead, as if she needed any help with that. She gives Eduardo's hand a squeeze, reassuring.

"Hey, buddy," she adds to Wolf. "God, I know, this place smells incredible. And it tastes even better, you have to try everything, you'll love it."

[hereand_now]

Wolf pumps Eduard's hand enthusiastically, ignoring any and all rules he's learned about shaking hands in his excitement. Even all these months later, it's still one of his favourite things to do. His hand just continues to go up and down, up and down until he finally realizes what he's doing and he grins at Eduardo.

"Sorry, Jack says I shouldn't shake for so long, but I like to shake, right here and now!" he says, squirming happily for a moment. "How come it's like this?" he asks, looking around again, the smells in the air distracting him. "Never saw nothing like this back home, not ever. Except the market place, but it's not the same. Smelly, but different smelly and none of these lights."

[pointzerothree]

It is, Eduardo has to admit, more than a little endearing, though he still feels like there's a piece he's missing to this whole equation. That doesn't matter when the combined enthusiasm of both is infectious, rubbing off on him about as much as it's possible to, leaving him to grin in return as his hand falls back to his side. All of this - the carnival, everything - might be out of his element, but that doesn't mean he can't try to enjoy himself.

"Don't worry about it," he says with an easy shake of his head. "It's a fair, or a, an amusement park. They don't have them where you're from?"

[floozyfacade]

"Things are a little different in Wolf's world," Olive explains. She still doesn't know exactly how different, but she's picked up enough, and there's no point wasting time trying to explain and all right now. There's an entire amusement park before them, and with introductions done, she has every intention of enjoying it. "Anyway, we're all here now, and I want to ride everything before it disappears. It's all fun things to ride on and games and food, Wolf. Have you been on any rides yet?"

[hereand_now]

"We have the market," Wolf says, but he doesn't think it's the same thing at all. There's food at the market, but there aren't any of the things called rides and when Olive asks her question, he shakes his head. There are plenty of things he wants to do, but the rides sound a little scary.

He'll try them, though, if she wants him to. "What are they like?" he asks. "I never been on one before."

[pointzerothree]

"Oh, they're lots of fun," Eduardo promises, though it's from following Olive's lead more than anything else. He could take or leave the rides themselves. Still, to explain them, there isn't really any better way to, at least not one that comes immediately to mind. "Really exciting. And there are some slower ones, too, that are..." Trailing off, he turns his head. "You know,it might be easier to show than tell. What do you think, Olive?"

[floozyfacade]

"Oh, absolutely," Olive says, nodding. She tends to be all in favor of talking endlessly, sure, but actions do speak louder than words, not least in a situation like this. Besides, almost more pleasing than the idea of enjoying them herself is the notion of introducing Wolf to all this. She glances around, then makes a split-second decision, leading the boys in search of a monorail station.

"See those tracks up there? They're for the monorail. It's like a train, kind of, and it'll get us over to the other island." The rides there are, from the gossip she's overheard, the best kinds (and in this situation, she'll trust gossip). They can start with that before introduce Wolf to rollercoasters.

[hereand_now]

When Olive points up, Wolf follows her finger to the tracks, his mouth dropping open. In Jack's world he's seen some strange things -- the cars for one -- but he's never seen anything like that and he isn't even sure what it is. A little tremble starts to work through him, but it won't smell bad, he has to remind himself of that, and it won't be as loud as things were in Jack's world.

He can't hear or smell like a Wolf anymore. Things on the island are different.

"Does it go fast?" he asks. If it goes fast, he'll be okay.