Take leave of all reason in step with the bleeding (Carnival -- Last Days)

[traveling_folk]

[[Final daytime post -- there's going to be a Midnight Show post later, so if you want a black ticket, now would be the time... or if you'd like a ticket handed over in a previous post, that can also be arranged.]]The Carnival's time in Chicago's coming to a close, and things are ramping up for a grand finale, indeed. The shows are getting more

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[sarkraticmethod]

To be perfectly honest, Sark really had no intentions of setting foot in this place, but April wanted to come and given that this could very well have been the start of all of the trouble with Ragnar, he couldn't very well refuse to go, now could he?

Admittedly, this is veering into territory not fit for his kind of whimsy, but given that he's wrapped rather obviously around April's pinky, he's not going to complain, even if it is filthy. And hot. And rather annoying. And he had to convince himself that he was not allowed to figure out how to shoot someone with those little guns they use at the game booths. (Although taking out his frustrations on those little targets did win April a stuffed animal as well as briefly made him feel better, so there's that.)

And now they're wandering the grounds, searching for something else to do... Or, well, he's sure April's searching. He's attempting to figure out what the grand appeal of cotton candy is. Other than being sticky and sugar-covered... Sugar.

[girlorgun]

April, for her part, is carrying a plush tiger that's almost as big as she is. She looks much younger than she is, as she drinks this place in.

She can feel darkness underneath the fun, but she is determined not to focus on that right now. They are here to have fun.

"We could go on the swings!" she says. "Or get our fortunes read by the funny box," she adds, pointing at it. "We should do that, do you have money?"

[sarkraticmethod]

Sark is in the process of actually licking the cotton candy residue off of his fingers in about as delicate a way as one can actually do that, which means he can actually get into his wallet without spreading the stickiness everywhere

[girlorgun]

"Any fortune can be good," April says firmly as she walks up to the machine. "You make it yourself, after all."

She stops in front of the machine and peers through the dirty glass at the mechanical gypsy inside. "Do you think she likes it in there?" she asks quietly. It doesn't really matter if Sark hears her, let alone answers. She's just asking the universe.

[wegotwork]

Before he arrived here, Sam wasn't entirely too fond of clowns. Or jesters, or anything having to do with carnivals, for that matter.

But now, he's actually finding that he's enjoying himself as he makes his way through the crowd, narrowly avoiding the flamedancer. His gaze finally settles on Max, and he proceeds to watch with some curiosity.

[marvelousmax]

"And now," Max says, "I'll need a volunteer from the crowd for this next trick. We've got a free ticket to our special midnight show for our volunteer, and, darlings, if you think the show's impressive now, just wait until you see what we've got in store for you tonight... A show to thrill and inspire, absolutely not for children, the elderly, or those of frail constitutions! A very special show, indeed, a special treat for a town that's treated us so well. Come on, any takers?"

He looks through the crowd for raised hands. "Come on, don't disappoint me, ladies and gentlemen..." Another quick scan, and his gaze fixes on Sam. "Why, hello there." His tone's brazenly suggestive. "There's certainly a lot of you, isn't there?"

[marvelousmax]

And that's when Max's 'lovely assistant' reaches out and grabs him by the ear, pulling his head down while he flails and makes noises better befitting a little girl. "Aren't you forgetting something, honey?"

"Ah... yes... ow! Sabrina, my lovely assistant... and wife! Wife!" She appears to be twisting his ear a bit harder, though that doesn't stop Max from stage-whispering, "She hates it when I don't sha-- OW!"

Sabrina smiles as the audience bursts into laughter. "Still," she murmurs, "I do like this one. Care to volunteer, sir? I promise you," she says with a smirk, "I'll make him behave."

[wegotwork]

Sam's standing near the edge of the crowd, though his height certainly causes him to stand out considerably. His arms crossed against his chest, he listens to Max's words, one eyebrow lifting curiously at the sound of this midnight show. It might actually be worth investigating, if he can get his hands on a ticket.

He's still musing over this when he realizes that not only has Max started looking for volunteers, he's actually talking to him. Sam immediately flushes and starts trying to think of something to say in reply. Luckily, he doesn't have to think very long, because Max's assistant (who introduces herself as his wife) leaps to his defense.

"Well, uh... yes," he manages, suddenly feeling like a complete idiot.

[killwithmymind]

Nagi is at the carnival today and he does not want to be here at all. However the fosterthings thought it would be a lovely family outing, whatever the hell that means, so here Nagi is despite his many attempts to get out of going.

Before Nagi could even start figuring out where the closest coffee shop was, one of the fosterspawn latched onto him, declaring that she wants to do everything that Meanie-Nagi does. Nagi knows the brat will rat him out if he leaves the carnival, so he stays. Plan B involves finding the lost-and-found so that he can ask about an iPod he supposedly lost.

Unfortunately, the fosterspawn notices the haunted house, and she thinks it looks fun. The fosterspawn is now quite determined to drag Nagi in to it. The effect is rather like a very determined lapdog as far as Nagi is concerned.

[maybealover]

Gemma's running the haunted house today, rather than performing, and given how this is the last day of the Carnival, she's more than happy to up the scare level on her tour of terror. They'll be lucky if they even make it to the dungeon before they start seeing things.

For the moment, however, the door to the haunted hause is open and Gemma is waiting for her prospective victims to arrive. Of course, when they do reach the foyer, the door will spring shut on them, but that's just part of the show.

And, as for her, well, she'll happily emerge from the shadows once the kids are good and freaked out by the eerie silence of the place and the whole door thing.

[killwithmymind]

Nagi lets himself get dragged through the door by the determined little four-year-old, but makes sure she's putting most of her strength into trying to drag him. He is only entering this place under protest, thank you very much. This is dumb, and Nagi would rather be... he'd rather be doing English homework.

Nagi's not at all surprised by the door snapping shut because he's seen too many Scoobie Doo episodes, but the fosterspawn lets out a squeak of surprise and her entire manner goes from dragging to clinging. Nagi sighs. "It's a haunted house. It's supposed to be scary." Clearly god hates Nagi, and this is dumb. He checks for exits, decides which can be broken through most easily, and notes where Gemma is. He won't give her away because it's good to let the enemy think they have the element of surprise

[maybealover]

Gemma's not overly fond of children- they're easy to scare, but they unless they just had traumatic lives, their memories generally aren't that fun to play with

[with_coffee]

Robin has not seen Ruvin in two weeks. It has not gone beyond his attention that that's the same amount of time that the carnival has been around for. It's possible that he's simply being paranoid (which is actually true), but don't try to tell him that. There have been posts of the journal talking about how creepy it can be so that did not help lessen his paranoia in the least

[abitofaspin]

O hai, Robin.

Mari's been standing outside her tent on a smoke break, watching him poke around the tents with some general interest in his current emotional state. He's one of those overly emotional people that it's fun to fuck with and she's been having a slow day today, so naturally poking the bear is a perfectly good idea as far as she's concerned.

"Hey, sweetness, you look like you could use a glimpse into your future," she calls out to him, flicking her cigarette away.

[with_coffee]

Robin snorts. He doesn't have much faith in fortune tellers, especially ones at carnivals. There are plenty of psychics out in the big world that can do it, but they don't tend to work at traveling circuses.

He raises his eyebrows at her, but doesn't walk away even though that's exactly what he should do.

"No, I don't. I look like someone wandering around a carnival, minding his own business." Cause sticking his nose into tents is at all conducive to minding his own business, at least he sounds more tense than inherently pissed off.

It could be entertaining if nothing else. It's not like the rest of his search has garnered any results, but... he's not her sweetness or whatever. He never used to mind pretty women calling him pet names. Sex had been a great distraction at what point, and it usually started

He raises his eyebrows at her and folds his arms over his chest with a nonplussed expression. "So what? Have you got a crystal ball or something tacky like that?"

[abitofaspin]

Mari snorts. Yeah, that's exactly what he looks like. And he also looks like a guy with a stick rammed up his ass too- she could probably do something about that, turn him into a real, enthusiastic go-getter who does insane things at the drop of a hat.

Or something. She'll figure that out later.

"As a matter of fact, I do," she grins. Granted, it's not like she actually uses it, but it's there, being tacky. She gives him a come-hither finger wag and vanishes into the tent- if he follows her, awesome. If he doesn't... Well, someone will get him eventually. No one really leaves the carnival unscathed.

[cyfor]

Cy is an addict or something. She's not even doing anything this time, just sitting under the cover of one of the rides while gears and machinery whir on dangerously close to her head. Her eyes are unfocused, her position unsteady. She sways and makes little preeting sounds.

"Hi-ho-hear we go, it's winding up to wind on down, where's the bleeding heart flow to when it's crushed against the dam?"