(Untitled)

[odunham]

Though she could hardly count herself among the hardier island citizens, Olivia had been around long enough to know not to trust anything that popped up over night, especially when it all seemed to do nothing but want to entertain the island

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[pylean_cow]

"Remind me to never, ever get on your bad side," Fred says as she comes across Olivia at a shooting booth.

She's not usually one to just start conversations with people that she doesn't know that well-- at least, not on the island-- but she and Olivia have talked a few times, and Fred knows her through Dr. Bishop. Plus, it's kind of hard to not be so cheerful that you want to talk to everyone when you have a ball of cotton candy the size of the one Fred's holding.

[odunham]

"I have to remind myself of that sometimes," Olivia replied, not bothering to clarify when she turned to give Fred a smile, mentally distancing herself from the game and all it entailed. She still carried her gun around in her backpack with her from day to day, but it'd been so long since she'd fired it that shooting those targets was as reassuring as it was discomfiting.

She lifted a hand up to point at the cotton candy, and she could practically feel her teeth ache. "I see you're enjoying yourself?"

[pylean_cow]

"No, mostly just the food," Fred replies, because she hasn't really gone on any of the rides yet. She's not entirely sure that she will; she doesn't exactly trust the roller-coasters in a dimension that sent them a plummeting space station.

"It's a safe bet now that it's probably not poisoned. Though, I guess there's still a chance that it'll turn everyone who's eaten it into monkeys in a few days."

The damage already done if that's the case, Fred pulls off a large piece of cotton candy and stuffs it in her mouth.

[odunham]

"Monkeys," Olivia repeated, looking slightly concerned as she reconsidered the funnel cake that seemed to sit like a stone in her stomach. "That's a new idea. I figure if everything's working out just fine today, we're only being buttered up for something horrible this Halloween."

She blamed her continuing boredom for the hint of excitement she got at the thought of any sort of action at all.

[pylean_cow]

"Well, probably not monkeys, but something just as unpredictable," Fred clarified, mouth still half full of cotton candy. Maybe the carnival food turning them all into primates was improbable, but it definitely wasn't impossible in this dimension. Actually, it might be one of the more normal things that the island had done in the year that Fred had been there.

"And I really hope not. Maybe this'll be like Mardis Gras or New Year's Eve. Fun without a catch to it."

If Fred doesn't sound convincing, it's because she's not actually convinced. Maybe she should try and find a way to get her axes sharpened, just in case.

[odunham]

"That would be nice," Olivia admitted. Walter seemed to be beyond himself with delight once he'd discovered what had happened, and while Olivia took a more measured approach to it, she couldn't deny that tiny spark of excitement. "I haven't experienced Mardis Gras or New Year's Eve yet, so I don't exactly know how to deal with something completely magical being nice just for the sake of it."

[pylean_cow]

"I was pretty suspicious at first, but it's nice," Fred says, and tries not to be weirded out by the fact that she's the apparently island-veteran in the conversation. Usually, it's the other way around: people who have been stuck there for two or three years telling her how things have gone in the past.

"You know, as far as spontaneously appearing parties go. The food's pretty amazing, too."

[odunham]

"I do miss good food." Most of the regular carnival food smells that have been drifting in the air the entire day are appetizing, but only for so long. Olivia looked at the giant swirl of sugar and gave a shrug. "Mind if I try a bit of your cotton candy?"r

[pylean_cow]

"No, go for it," Fred replies, holding out the ball of cotton candy in Olivia's direction, "I think this might be a case of my eyes being bigger than my stomach. I guess I just got so excited because it's been so long since I've actually had cotton candy, even before the island."

And as it is, she's probably going to be wired for hours afterward.

[odunham]

"Oh, I understand," Olivia said as she tore off a bit of cotton candy the size of her thumb. "I've had far too many snacks, half of which Walter wanted as well. He's in heaven right now."

[pylean_cow]

Fred's seen enough of Dr. Bishop's unorthodox culinary experiments in the lab, that she can only imagine how much he's enjoying the island's sudden transformation.

"...I hope this doesn't mean the lab's gonna be overrun with attempts at recreating deep fried Oreo recipes once it's all gone," she says.

Though, actually... that might not be so bad.

[odunham]

"Knowing Walter, you might want to prepare yourself." It would do him well to work on something relatively harmless, as the stress of not being able to make too much sense of the island and all its various idiosyncrasies put more stress on him than Olivia thought he could handle for a long period of time. "But you might get some milkshakes out of it. He does make an amazing strawberry shake."

[pylean_cow]

As long as strawberry shakes happen in an area of the lab where the milk wouldn't be easily mistaken for some cloudy white chemical, she's all for it. The last thing anyone wants to drink is strawberry flavored sodium bicarbonate.

"The second the ice cream and fruit hit the lender, you'll be the first person I call," Fred replies.

[odunham]

"Thank you," Olivia said. At the end of the day, Walter's crazy schemes and distractions were more than enough to take with the promise of one of his milkshakes. "Have you tried any of the rides here yet?"

[pylean_cow]

"Not yet," Fred replies, shaking her head, "I don't think I'm really ready to trust spontaneously appearing carnival rides. They're precarious enough under normal circumstances."