+ 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

[mypartnerintime]

The fact that they can get into the ride so quickly is a plus and a minus. Plus because she doesn't have to agonize over the long wait in line, slowly coming to regret the decision more and more. Minus because... well there's no real time to back out.

"No, I have. Just... not in a while." She sits down next to him and exhales slowly as the restraint lowers into place. "It'll be fun," she adds, in a voice that sounds entirely unsure.

[postictal]

“Yeah,” says Tim, without any confidence whatsoever, sounding an awful lot like he’s trying to convince himself more than he is anyone else. “Fun. That...I mean, that’s why people get in these, right?”

The ride lurches forward with an abruptness that wrenches his gut. Though that might just be the nerves talking.

It probably is.

[mypartnerintime]

"..."

The ride crawls slowly up to the peak of that hill- where they'll have a chance to look out over the carnival and stare down at the ground a long, long way away. The anticipation is likely worse than the fall that will follow. Max feels her hands begin to sweat as she grips the restraint.

"I swear, this was less scary when I was younger," she says, mostly to distract herself as they near the peak. "I'm gonna close my eyes."

[postictal]

Fortunately, Tim has no hangups about who witnesses him being an abject coward, as he's pretty certain that he is one, through and through. He's not ready to screw his eyes shut just yet, but his heart is already thundering in his chest, and this slow, creak-cracking ascension up the coaster's slope is unbearable.

"Here it comes," he says, more as a warning to himself than to anyone else. If this is how he handles a much more shallow incline, compared to the larger beasts, how the hell is he going to manage those as well?

The thought is snapped clean from his head when the cart swoops down the incline with a rush of air and a skip to his heart.

[mypartnerintime]

She closes her eyes- and then forces them open again. Chloe would never let her hear the end of it if she chickened out of watching. The view that meets her is rather distressing as the cart is now tilted downward, and man people do sure seem tiny from up here... at this alarmingly high altitude.

(It's not that high, really, but it always seems higher when you're up there.)

"Holy-"

And then, with an unceremonious jerk, the entire ride shifts into free fall. Her curse is cut short as the breath is pulled from her lungs in a gasp. More like a forceful wheeze, really.

Her hands grip the restraint, knuckles white. As the ride picks up speed she wonders why any sane person would subject themselves to this.

[postictal]

Funnily enough, Tim is wondering the same thing. The adrenaline hasn’t caught up to him just yet, his mouth dry and his heart thundering, breakneck. The sensation of being very high up off the ground does not help. Nothing helps, in fact. Every part of this is terrible.

He wants off this wild ride, he thinks. He might actually be sick.

At this point, he’s just locked himself down until the whole thing is over.

[mypartnerintime]

Max, in comparison, actually starts to feel a little better after that initial dread. It's fast, crazy, and the twists and turns make her stomach squirm, but then the fear starts to fade. The chair and restraint seem secure during even the worst of the roller coaster's maneuvers. After a few moments she finds that she can start to enjoy the ride itself, assured that they won't end up as bloody stains a hundred feet away.

Of course by the time she starts feeling this the ride is practically over. But she catches herself grinning as it nears the end. The feeling is closer to how she remembers it from her teenage years.

[postictal]

He sits, frozen, for several long seconds once the ride finally jolts to a halt, processing what the hell just happened and how he feels about it. No answers are forthcoming. His heart won’t quit hammering. Christ. Jesus Christ.

When he finally gets to his feet, he’s more than a little wobbly, his hair a windswept disarray atop his head.

“That was...” His mouth is dry. He swallows, tries again. “...something.”

[mypartnerintime]

Max lets a loud huff out as the ride stops, allowing herself to fall back against the seat and- finally- to let her death grip on the restraint ease.

It takes her a moment to respond to Tim. "That was... actually pretty awesome," she says, grinning as she turns to look at him. A small laugh escapes her at the sight of his hair- not that hers is any better. The restraints come off, but she doesn't quite trust her knees enough to stand just yet.

"Crazy but good crazy, right?"

[postictal]

Is there a type of good crazy? Hell if he knows. He's never encountered it, and he's pretty sure that all his fucking baggage discounts him from being anything other than a liability.

"I'm...I guess." He sounds winded. He's gonna need a few moments to actually process how he feels about this once the adrenaline high dies down. At the moment, his blood's rushing too loudly in his ears, his heart thudding too heavily in his throat, for any clear thought to manifest.

"...are they all like that?"

[mypartnerintime]

Max struggles to her feet, slowly getting out of the ride to stand next to Tim.

"...Pretty much I think?"

She laughs. It's not a very hearty laugh because she's still out of breath.

"You're the one that didn't want the chicken route."

The words are out of her before she fully realizes what she's saying. That was a different timeline, wasn't it? It's easy to forget sometimes, especially after a ride like that. She frowns for a moment and then pushes through, hoping he doesn't find the statement strange.

"...So what next?"

[postictal]

"...did I?" He has no idea, and fortunately for Max, he doesn't have the wherewithal to question the discrepancy any further. Maybe she caught him eyeing the bigger one. That must've been it, right? Something like that.

He opens one hand in a loose shrug.

"I guess it was kinda...go big or go home. That kinda thing." In retrospect, he's plenty glad he didn't.

[mypartnerintime]

"...Big's still an option." She gestures at the larger roller coaster in the carnival. "But I guess we should quit while we're ahead."

One is enough for Max. She won't complain to riding another one, or even the same one again, but at least now she can say she didn't chicken out.

[postictal]

"Yeah. No, I'm - I think I'm good." He breathes out, one last hush of air, and tries to shake something of himself back into place with a swift jerk of his head. It doesn't seem to work. He still feels slightly winded.

Guess that confirms it: he's not one for rollercoasters after all.

"Think I'll stick to watching from now on," he says, belated and slightly shaken.

[mypartnerintime]

"That sounds like a plant." She smiles at him, glad for the experience, but happy enough to end on a good note. "I'll see you around?"

[postictal]

“Yeah.” God, why’s she even bothering? It was at least easier to figure out where he stood with her back when she hated him vocally. He might’ve assumed this was her taking some grotesque kind of pity on him, but even that seems dishonest.

Whatever the reason, she’s trying now. He can give her that much.

“I’ll see you.”