+ Somewhere a Grandiose Carnival Was Going on in the Sky +

[vitaelamorte]

Who: Everyone!
Where: The grounds of the Mansion
When: March 9-16
Rating: PG-13 (warn if you go higher)
Summary: The Red Queen has thrown a carnival for everyone!
The Story:


From Friday, March 9, through Friday, March 16, the gardens and grounds of the Mansion will be a sprawling a carnival. The masked, unspeaking vendors will be selling trinkets and running free game booths. Carnival rides, exhibits, and foods represent all of the various cultures of those currently residing in the Mansion.


Of particular note, and perhaps incongruously, everything is decorated with red hearts.

Use this log for any and all of your carnival needs!

Comments

[eatsyourscience]

[Ever since getting that card from the box by the mansion door, Souji has been wandering around with the cards he received. He's guessed that they represent Mirrors, but he's never actually met Mae--the most he knows is that there is a girl who looks like a cat--so he's really not sure how to distinguish her from her Mirror.

When he finds this Mae near the rides, given her thoughtful self-labeling, it's easy enough to figure out she's the Mirror.

He comes up, waving a little to get her attention.]

Mae? I have this.

[He holds up the card he received.]

[somethingbroke]

[There's another human approaching her. Probably a Real. Reals tend to be a bit more relaxed, less cautious about approaching people. Less smart, maybe, but she knows that might be stretching it a bit.]

[Hm. He knows her name.]

[She tilts her head slightly and takes a tentative step forward. He's holding something. A card? She looks between his face and the card in his hand. It doesn't seem like he's a threat, at least not right now. She tilts her head the other way and leans forward to get a better look at what he's holding.]

[It's...got her picture on it. She's never...actually seen a picture of herself. She's seen her Real, which is close enough. But she's never seen her own face before. How does a picture of her even exist?]

[Who wrote this? How do they know things like--what she likes, what she doesn't like? She's mute, yes, that's obvious. The information isn't the problem. Why does a card like this exist? Do other cards exist? Does everyone have one of these now? Are all these Reals gonna be coming out of the woodwork to talk to her now? And why does this card exist? Who made it? It's covered in hearts...is it the Queen? Is this her doing?]

[Is it a warning? A sign of a punishment to come?]

[She's started breathing fast. Her grip has tightened on her baseball bat. She hefts it a little, adjusting it on her shoulder. She looks up at the human's face and he's gone all shapes. Like an abstract painting, just swaths of color. Useless, pointless, unreal.]

[She makes a sharp sort of wheezing sound and holds out a hand, palm up, making a forceful gesture. She wants the card. She's going to get that card, even if she has to take it.]

[eatsyourscience]

[Souji takes in the change in her demeanor and her body language. He notices her adjusting her grip on the bat and, knowing exactly what that card says about her, he knows that getting hit with that bat is a real possibility. He's not too worried about getting hurt, but he doesn't really want her to get worked up enough to do something like that anyway. So he does the smart thing and hands over the card.]

I got it from the box by the door.

i hope this is okay

[somethingbroke]

[Good. He's smart. She snatches the card away and steps back, holding the card close to her face and glaring as she examines every inch of it. It's gotta be magic, right? Gotta be some sneaky magic.]

[Her eyes flick up at him at the explanation. The box. Right. Just like last time, at the winter ball--someone is trying to bring someone back. Whoever, whatever it is, it's all bound to be massively inconvenient. Especially if it's spitting out cards like this in the interim.]

[It's paranoia. She can distantly acknowledge that. Paranoia. But paranoia keeps you alive in Wonderland, especially when you're a Mirror. She refuses to be toyed with.]

[So she tucks the bat under her arm and starts ripping the card into tiny, tiny pieces.]

totally fine!

[eatsyourscience]

Wa--

[Too late. Well. He doesn't know if something's going to happen because of that, but after a moment, when nothing does, he relaxes a little.]

...I guess I can see why you wouldn't like that.

holy shit

[somethingbroke]

[She squints hard, expecting pain. Like maybe it's a voodoo doll. But nothing happens. She doesn't disappear into thin air. Good.]

[She shreds the card to bits, then drops them to the ground. Then she stomps on them for good measure. She lowers her bat and twists it into the dirt until some of the pieces are practically buried.]

[Then she glares up at the human, daring him to say anything else in protest.]

wow

[eatsyourscience]

[He watches all of this, surprised at how thorough she's being with destroying this thing, then looks back at her.]

...I don't really think you needed to worry about it.

y i k e s!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[somethingbroke]

[She squints and bares all of her teeth at him. Then she digs into a pocket with her free hand and digs out a small notepad and a pen. She doesn't usually bother to write actual notes, but she's furious, and she needs this stranger to understand why. The Reals are all like this. They don't get it. How could they ever?]

[She digs the pen in deep enough that she leaves grooves in the paper as she writes, then holds the notepad up to him.]

WE ARE NOT THINGS

[eatsyourscience]

[He leans a little closer to read what she wrote. He nods.]

No. You're not.

[He straightens up again, thinking over ways to salvage this situation.]

I'm glad I found you. You should get to decide who has that information.

[And destroy it if she wants. Unfortunately, he already knows what the card said, but he can't really undo that.]

[somethingbroke]

[She's still squinting at him, waiting for him to say something stupid and offensive. Waiting for him to give her a reason to bash his brains in. But he doesn't.]

[So maybe he's different from other Reals. She nods vigorously. The cards shouldn't have existed in the first place, but she should get to decide what to do with it. And she did. Not that she would have let him interfere, but still. It's the principle of the thing, and she appreciates that he understands that.]

[She looks away for a moment, then quickly presses her palms together in a sort of praying gesture. She tilts her head forward a bit. She hopes that gets across that she's grateful. Still pissed, but grateful.]

[eatsyourscience]

[He has a feeling he had a narrow miss with that bat, so he smiles a little, kind of sheepishly, and shakes his head.]

The only other person who saw it was the Real Mae. I was looking for you and found her instead.

[Hopefully that isn't a problem... He knows sometimes Mirrors and the Real things have complicated relationships.]

[somethingbroke]

[The Real Mae. That's not ideal, but she assumes that the Real Mae has heard plenty about her already. Mae doesn't really have any particular inclination to ever meet her in person. So this should be fine. She sighs quietly and shrugs.]

[eatsyourscience]

[Well, at least that didn't upset her.]

My name is Souji. I'm sorry it was under these circumstances, but I'm glad to meet you.

[somethingbroke]

[Souji. She's heard that name thrown around. One of the old-timers, sort of.]

[Is she glad to meet him? Maybe. She's at least glad he brought her that card, instead of showing it to anyone else. So she nods.]

[eatsyourscience]

If you ever need anything on this side, let me know. I'll do what I can to help you.

[somethingbroke]

[Thumbs-up.]

[She supposes this means she owes him one. Ugh.]