Open Log + Closed Prompt

[nadine_he_loves]

Who: Nadine + Open
When: August
Where: Horizon, Nadine's Domain
What: It's a carnival!




Nadine rarely changes much in her domain, save to shift it from season to season or decorate for major holidays. But every now and again she has cause for something a touch more dramatic.

On the last month of summer, she makes one of those changes. In the town square that is the centerpiece of her little patch of the Horizon, the shops and town hall and church and open green park have been replaced with a small town style carnival. The sort she remembers from her childhood in New Hampshire.

The towering Ferris wheel dominates the space, surrounded by a variety of rides such as bumper cars and a Gravitron, a Viking swinging ship and flying scooters, a freefall tower and even a small roller coaster with a fanciful dragon theme to it. Besides those are the tamer rides - a 'haunted' house that's not at all scary but more silly, a tunnel of love, and of course the skeletal carousal that's always there. But for this month it's in bright carnival colors, blues and pinks and yellows.

The horses are still skeletons, though.

And the other trappings are there, game booths and food stalls and vendor booths along the midway. There's even a stage from which a spectral, unseen band seems to be playing classic rock, and a little wooden dance floor in front. Nadine hasn't made any staff for the carnival, as whenever she tries to make people in the horizon they just come out as shadows. Not the vibe she's going for here. But the rides and games function as though manned, and the food stalls have all variety of fair goodies on display for the taking.

There's a sign by the entrance booth that reads 'WELCOME - PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL' - for anyone who may wander in when Nadine isn't there, or simply without warning.








While Nadine is happy for anyone to come and enjoy the little summer fair, she does have some specific purpose for the place.

She doubts Geralt and Jaskier have anything like this in their world, and she imagines another touch of good old fashioned American summer fun would probably do Julie some good. She knows it will do her some good. What better way to enjoy themselves than all four spend a day at the fair?

Considering the amount of time they all spend with one another in various groupings and pairs already, it just makes sense do something as a foursome. It's like a double date, though she doubts Julie or Geralt would describe what's between them as dating. Nadine wouldn't, either, but they're still something of a pair. Just a different kind than her and Jaskier.

She'd extended the invitation and it had been accepted, and she's finding herself rather excited about the whole thing. Life's probably going to go straight to hell again before too much longer, it always does, but for now...she's going to enjoy a day out with her lover and her closest friends.

Comments

double date.

[gynvael]

[ Carnivals mean something a bit different in his sphere, but not so different that when Geralt arrives he doesn't recognize some elements. The festivities, the decorations, the food are present; the machines and games are new. He does recall Julie telling him she won a fish in a bag once. Geralt's been idly trying to see if such a thing exists in Nadine's version.

Is it all rather frivolous? It is. Does it matter? No. They deserve some frivolity.

Whether he arrives with Julie or alone, whether he sees Jaskier already waiting with Nadine or not—eventually he finds himself with the three of them. They're between some rotating skeletal horses and a long carriage shaped like a dragon that loops around some tracks at an absurd height and an even more absurd speed. Is it something Nadine has spawned from her imagination? Does it exist in her world as a form of entertainment? He's a little concerned it's the latter.

Geralt eyes the structure with some suspicion, as though he's waiting for it to collapse despite knowing they're in the Horizon. ]

[princessvegas]

[ Courtesy of a life spent in the Midwest, Julie is a veteran of fairs and carnivals. School, church, county, state, street, art, agriculture -- it's a full-blown culture when you're from somewhere that there's nothing else to do. So it's with great glee that she moves through the little funfair. She's certainly dressed down to suit the environment; all the crystals and glitter are swapped for an off-shoulder white top and an extremely short pair of denim cutoffs. Her ponytail bounces merrily as she walks. In one hand, she's got a paper cone bearing a large cloud of blue cotton candy.

Coming to a stop next to Geralt, she peers at the rollercoaster for a moment too, like she's trying to see what's making him so wary. The fact that it might fall apart at any moment is part of the fun! It's not a real traveling carnival unless there's a slight risk of death. ]

You don't get to judge it until you try it. [ Her voice is teasing. ] Nadine, what's your favorite ride?

[nadine_he_loves]

Viking ship.

[Nadine doesn't even have to think about it. The Ferris Wheel is a close second, but it's always been the Viking - or pirate, or whatever - ship that she had to ride first, back in the days of her youth. God, it's been so long since she had a chance to enjoy a fair. It's another of those things she felt silly doing alone as an adult.

Oh, she'd gone to the State Fair a few times, but she hadn't gone on any rides or anything like that. Just looked at the animals and ate some food and listened to the C-list oldies band desperate enough for the gig. There's something terribly lonely about a fair as a single adult.

This is much better.]

Right at the tip in the back so when it really gets going you feel like it'll just keep going right into the sky. But then it drops.

[The carnival atmosphere has her in high spirits, too, and there's excitement in her voice as she talks about the ride. Even better, as it's the sort of thing one dreams about - they have it all to themselves. No crowds, no lines, no drunk teenagers...

The ideal date.]

[postocular]

The Horizon is unlike anything he's ever experienced before, and honestly, magic, in general, is a bit of an overwhelming concept to grasp and accept as the truth of the world. Magic has only ever been in stories and imaginations. He'd attended the group gathering to 'access' this magic place, but he really doesn't want to think about what he'd created when he didn't remember who he really was. His own area (domain??) looks much more like home than it had before, but the people that he'd made felt wrong.

Those weren't the people he knew, but if it's the only chance he gets to see them anymore? He'll take it. Needing a break from his own issues, he starts exploring the Horizon. Carl was told it wasn't horribly big, so it was possible to view it all by foot. He walks past things he doesn't understand and domains that look like something from a fantasy movie.

There's one that catches his eye, and instead of skirting around the edges, he heads toward the quaint little city blocks that remind him of home. Not the home they'd made in Virginia, but like their little suburb in Georgia. The Ferris wheel is a point of awe, and seeing it moving gets a little speed in his step. Once he gets to the center square of the small city, he has to blink hard. It's a fair. An honest to god fair. It smells like fry oil and funnel cakes even though no one else is around to run things.

He doesn't know how long he spends, just wandering around the little carnival, not really participating in anything. Just taking it in. It seems weird to just help himself even though the sign had said to. Instead, he sits on a nearby bench, watching the skeletal horses go around and around. They're morbid, but there's something macabrely comforting about them.

[nadine_he_loves]

Nadine intends to leave the carnival up for the last part of summer. It just seems fitting, and it's nice to hear it and see it even when she's just in her little house - which is also undergoing some altering. Too long it's been a shrine to what's been lost, and she no longer wishes to live in the midst of that. So pictures and little remembrances are being moved to the basement.

But now it's time for a break. In jeans, sneakers, and an oversized New Hampshire University t-shirt, she wanders out to the carnival. It's bright and cheerful and just what she needs at the moment. It's grim business, essentially dismantling a memorial.

But the warm sun and deep blue sky with it's smattering of perfectly puffy white clouds soothes her spirit immediately. As does the strains of carnival music that spreads over her domain from the center. It only takes a few minutes to walk down the street and through the entranceway...

And then she pauses, head cocked curiously. That's a kid that she doesn't know, sitting on a bench and watching the lazy spin of the carousel. He's a little younger, it looks, then most of the 'kids' Nadine's gotten used to. Not much, a high school aged kid without a doubt, but younger than 19 or 20.

"Hey," Nadine calls out, resuming her approach but slowly. Her tone is friendly and she doesn't pitch her voice too loud. "Welcome to my little corner of the Horizon."

[postocular]

He's transfixed by this horse skeleton-go-round with its peppy music, lost in that feeling of nostalgia that kind of makes his chest hurt when he hears someone speak. He jumps, startled, and turns to look where the voice came from. When he catches sight of her, Carl relaxes, his shoulders slumping as he offers an embarrassed smile.

It feels like he's been caught with his hand in a cookie jar even though the sign said it was fine. He doesn't know why he didn't expect anyone to be in what is clearly her domain. Then again, it's really easy to fall into the habit of not expecting people to be anywhere.

To the outside, he probably doesn't look that out of place in a carnival- a worn pair of jeans and some grubby work boots and a plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows over a plain shirt. The bandages covering half his face and the battered sheriff hat that's seen more than its fair share of bad days are the only real things about him that stick out.

Probably the only thing that sticks out to most people, come to think of it.

"Hi." Carl raises his hand and wiggles his fingers in greeting. "Did you make all this?"

[cointosser]

[While the others have been chatting, Jaskier has simply been staring skyward, watching what he can only describe as a giant wheel turning. He thought he knew what to expect. A carnival! At last, a word he understands! Carnivals are not a strange concept on the Continent, even if they were rare and generally tied into some sort of harvesting festival outside the cities.

But this.

What is this?

There's a thousand things to stare at but it's the wheel that catches him, spinning with this swinging... things, rocking back and forth.

Nadine bringing up the Viking ship (whatever a Viking could be), at last, has him looking away from the wheel. There is a thing shaped like a ship, which he can only imagine is what she means.]

Is this... like Las Vegas? With far fewer lights.

[It's the only thing Julie or Nadine has showed him that any semblance to what he's looking at. A much smaller version, of course, from what he could tell, but even pictures could only show him so much.]

[gynvael]

[ His eyes go to Julie when she arrives beside him, then to the cloud in her hand. It takes him a second to realize it's spun sugar floss, made blue. He sniffs it without hesitation—something she is likely used to by now—but it doesn't smell of any fruit or berry as he expects. Just sugar. Hm.

The Viking ship appears less like a death trap. Possibly because he can better envision the basic concept of a swinging ship as compared to the giant metal wheel or the twisting carriage rails. Both Nadine and Julie seem eager to ride these structures, so. They must've survived it at least once in childhood.

He makes a soft noise—at once amused and relenting. Far be it from him to deny anyone the chance to fall from a great height in the safety of the Horizon.

How high does it swing? Has anyone ever been flung from these unwittingly? ]

[nadine_he_loves]

"I did." Nadine smiles, slowly approaching with her hands in her pockets. She wonders if he's new, or if she just hasn't seen him before. Solvunn and Thorne are mostly mysteries to her now.

Either way, children are always welcome in her domain. And anyone under twenty counts as 'children' to her. Besides, he looks like a kid who could do with a little fun. There's a certain air about him that's all too familiar.

Like the kids in Boulder. Like Joe.

"I grew up in towns like this one, and there was always a fair at the end of summer. So I thought I'd make one for myself up here. And anybody else who wanted to have a little fun at the carnival."

She stops a few feet away, not wanting to crowd him.

"I'm Nadine. I'm from New Hampshire."

[postocular]

"That's awesome. When I was younger, our town used to do stuff like this, too. There was usually a barn full of animals people raised to show off."

He relaxes as she approaches, and there's something about her that feels familiar- or at least takes his guard down. Maybe she reminds him of Maggie, all smiles and warm welcomes but with an anger that anybody on the other side should be afraid of.

"Carl. I'm from Georgia, but before I came here I was in Virginia." At least that's what he remembers being told. It sounds right, but with no civilization, everything kind of bleeds together.

[princessvegas]

[ She is, actually, completely accustomed to Geralt's inclination to smell everything; she even wordlessly holds the cotton candy out closer to him to accommodate it.

Pointing at Nadine, her grin widens. ] That's my girl, you get it. It was always a pirate ship back home, they used to fly a little Jolly Roger up at the top of the thing. Only wimps sit in the middle.

[ Jaskier's comment draws a surprised look, if only because the two concepts are so distant from each other in her mind. It's not that she can't see the resemblance, because she can. It's simply that the two exist in different spheres of her brain. Her nose wrinkles a little and she wiggles her hand to signal "kind of". ]

Mm, like a little bit, I guess? Lots of neon lights and stuff in both. Oh, and Vegas does have a Ferris wheel and rollercoaster, but they're way bigger'n these. [ She tears a piece of the cotton candy off with two fingers and delicately puts it in her mouth before she continues. ] This is like, what pops up in small towns once or twice a year for a bit. They make their money and move on. We have lots of bigger fairs and carnivals, though. And Vegas is in a league of its own.

[nadine_he_loves]

"Livestock competitions." Nadine nods. "We had those, too. But I'm not so great at making animals, so I skipped that part. There's some cows outside of town, though."

Not that 'town' is more than a couple of blocks. But there are a handful of generic looking cows out in the fields, that don't move all that much and seem to be eternally grazing.

"It's nice to meet you, Carl from Georgia. You're welcome to hang out and enjoy the carnival. It's pretty fun, not having to wait in line for anything. Do you have a favorite ride?"

[nadine_he_loves]

Yeah, Vegas does have a lot of lights and sounds and so many things happening, but it's so much bigger than this. Like if this were a whole city, but there were huge luxury hotels and casinos everywhere and elaborate stage shows every block. And I mean huge, I'm pretty sure this whole town square could fit in one Vegas hotel.

[While Nadine never actually made it to Vegas, she'd seen it on television plenty - she'd liked that sensational crime show set there - and she did see the view from Flagg's penthouse. It hadn't been real, exactly, but it had been as real as this right here.

But she can understand why Jaskier would make the connection, with what little context he has for Las Vegas.]

We'll show you pictures sometimes. Or a part of it. It's too big to recreate in the Horizon in total. But this, like Julie said, is small-town fun. The carnival or county fair is pretty much the highlight of small town summer where we come from. They usually just set up for a week and then they move on, and where I grew up, almost the whole town would come to the fair on the weekend. Even my first family took us, once. I don't remember it much, I was five I think, but I remember being mad that I wasn't big enough to go on all the rides my brother could.

[There may have been a candied apple as consolation, but she's not sure if she's conflating memories. That happens, she's found, with the old ones.

But today is about making new memories, with what she's come to think of as her real family.]

And I promise all the rides are safe, no matter what they look like. They just feel like they're not. They're fun.

[postocular]

"I always liked the petting zoo part, especially the rabbits and chickens." Carl looks around at what she has made and thinks about it for a moment. "Yeah, I can see how they'd be hard. People don't look right, either. They're...I dunno. Flat?"

He still doesn't really understand everything about how the Horizon works, but some things had been explained to him already. It's probably a lot of trial and error.

"Definitely the bumper cars. Carnival games are always good, too. What do you like, Nadine?"

[cointosser]

[Jaskier is trying to imagine it. The amount of scale that is. This entire place fitting in a -- well, he doesn't know what a hotel is, but he can guess it is some sort of structure.

This place is the size of Novigrad's market. Which isn't tiny, by all means, and it's still the largest market he's been to.]

I've run into traveling carnivals on my travels, but they were nothing like this. A few shows, or musicians, and a market, at most. [These things -- these rides -- did not exist on the Continent. Nothing like it.] I would love to see your Las Vegas at some point. If only pieces of it.

[Jaskier laughs to himself, taking in the swinging -- ship? -- again.] So you go out on these things to scare the shit out of yourselves for fun? [How can a man who followed a monster hunter on said hunts for a good time ever understand such a concept?] Well, how about this ship you're talking up, then? I won't even sit in the middle! And if I should be flung off of it, then I believe that'll be half the fun.

[gynvael]

[ At the end of the day, he can acknowledge scaring the shit out of yourself for fun sounds typical for the average human. It's half the reason curses are unleashed from old crypts.

Geralt lets most of the talk of Vegas pass by unremarked upon, though part of him has been curious, too. He's seen parts of it, bits and pieces from Lloyd's domain, but not near what he imagines the scale of it encompasses.

A beat. He turns his head towards Jaskier. ] I can assist if you wish to be flung.

[ For optimal fright. Is he joking? Perhaps. He could probably catch him on the downswing before Jaskier hit the ground. Not that he's sincerely contemplating this. Entertaining image, though.

Well. Here they are. He pushes open the metal gate that leads to the ship. He'll pile to the end of it with everyone else, following closely behind Julie. ]

[princessvegas]

Ooh, y'know, we can do Vegas movie night! Viva Las Vegas, Diamonds Are Forever, Ocean's Eleven -- he can see old Vegas and new Vegas. [ She gently prods Nadine's shoulder with a grin. ] Plus, you know he'll love Elvis, right? We'll have to get 'im a shiny jumpsuit.

[ Geralt's quip makes her cackle as she goes through the gate after Nadine and Jaskier. She leaves the cotton candy on the unmanned operator panel before boarding the ride, hand outstretched behind her for Geralt. Once seated, she lowers the safety bar (making sure it clicks twice, of course), which seems to signal the nothingness running the ride that they're ready to go.

The first few swings are slow and gentle, like always. Building momentum. But the pace doesn't stay that way for long. ]

[nadine_he_loves]

"My people always come out like they're in a bad video game. Glitchy. So I don't bother anymore. But it's okay, I don't need to make people here."

She has people in the real world, and plenty of people who visit or wander through her domain. It doesn't feel empty, without people.

"And I like the bumper cars, too. And the Viking ship. I was never any good at the games, though. Except the one where you throw a ball into a bowl and win a goldfish, and I don't think they're allowed to have that game anymore."

Everyone was 'good' at that one. She'd even won a fish, once, that had ended up living five years.

"Have you ridden of the rides yet?"

[postocular]

"There's not really a ride I don't like? Maybe the ones that go upside down. The Viking ship is good. I think the last one I rode was a pirate ship, but same thing." He makes a back and forth motion with his hand.

"My mom never let me play the game with the goldfish, she always felt really bad for them. I was always really good at the ring toss, though. Not to brag, but I won a lot of those little finger skateboards."

He shakes his head. "Nah, I was just kind of enjoying all the noise. Back home was pretty quiet. But I'm here if you want a ride buddy!"

[nadine_he_loves]

Oh my god...Nobody is getting flung out of anything. This isn't Action Park.

[Though she imagines only Julie would get the reference. Still. No one is going vaulting out of any of the rides. Unless Geralt throws them but it just isn't that sort of outing. Though it does give her another idea for later...]

But yes, that's a perfect idea, a Vegas movie night. Or an Elvis movie night...because I haven't gotten to Elvis when it comes to sharing classic music from home with Jaskier.

[There's a lot of music she wants to introduce him to, Elvis just hasn't come up yet. But Julie's right, he'd rock a classic Elvis jumpsuit. And could probably do that hip thing...

She slides into the seat herself, a little feeling of giddy excitement pooling inside of her as the bar drops. That building, anticipatory thrill as the ship starts to move, seeming labored at first before it begins to build speed and smoothness.

She hasn't felt this in years.]

[nadine_he_loves]

"You'll have to show me your ring toss skills, there's definitely a ring toss booth around here."

It's amazing what good a perfectly normal, familiar kind of conversation with a young person does Nadine. It's like when she was telling stories at the art festival, it just feels like she's reclaiming a lost part of herself.

And Carl is easy to talk to - despite that vaguely wild aura about him, and the clear evidence he's lived through some sort of trauma, he seems a pretty well adjusted and socialized kid.

"And that is the best offer I've had all week. I'd love a ride buddy - it's kind of not the same by yourself. It was really fun the first time, but...carnivals are supposed to be shared."

Some experiences are just better when they're had with someone else.

[cointosser]

Don't threaten me with a good time, Geralt. Besides, when you put it that way, it sounds rather exciting.

[And then, to Julie: a wide smile. He knows, vaguely, the concept of movies. Sort of. Nadine has shown him some, but all he sort of sees them as is sort of like... magic pictures. And if he's honest with himself, they're strange. Uncomfortable, sometimes, even if they are only stories. But he wouldn't mind, he thinks, seeing more of Las Vegas. More than a picture can really show.] I would love that. I'm pretty sure, at least. And this Elvis -- I think Dean has mentioned him once?

[That really doesn't put it into perspective. But he knows the sorts of people his friends anticipate he enjoys: entertainers. Musicians.

(And they're not wrong.)

However, his smile is growing a bit smaller as they approach the -- the ride? The ship? They climb on and there is this rather startling cold, heavy bar across their laps. He does not truly catch on, until the ship begins to move, that the bar is meant to keep him in place.]

This seems... unsafe. Excessively so, actually.

[His fingers wrap around the bar, and as he turns around, he sees the ship is swinging. (Of course it is. He watched it do it.) But it's. It's different. To be on it. To see the ground, and then suddenly see a patch of blue sky.] It's going to stop going higher, isn't it?

[postocular]

"Oh boy, sounds like I'll probably be eating my words then." His focus is a little off, now. It's better, and he's not as bad with his aim as he was back when it first happened. Practice, practice.

He likes talking to Nadine, she makes this all feel pretty normal, and that's something they probably all need.

"Yeah, I get that. Well, where do you want to start? Ooh, oh! Is there one of those funhouse mazes?"

[nadine_he_loves]

"I bet you'll do just fine."

Nadine understands the need for a sense of normalcy. And she can guess that a kid from what sounds like a pretty regular Earth sitting in a very American and familiar bit of the Horizon is probably looking for just that.

In some ways, she thinks, it's easier for the younger Summoned. Kids have very accepting and open minds. The entirety of the situation is likely to be easier for them to grasp as real and possible. But it's the little things, the day to day. That sudden lack of stability and the familiar that often hits harder in younger hearts. And while she's not entirely sure how old Carl is, she'd put him somewhere between fourteen and seventeen. A difficult enough stretch of years as it is.

"And there is a funhouse. It wouldn't be a carnival without one. Maze, silly mirrors, spinning bridge...all that fun stuff. But no clowns. I once saw an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark with a funhouse clown and it freaked me out."

[gynvael]

[ The bar, Geralt suspects, is meant to make one feel safe, which he supposes if you're human, it should. For him, he prefers the option of diving off the side if need be. It's fine. He's snugly inside this odd ship next to Julie. Which beings to swing—not as quickly as he might've thought.

The reality of Jaskier's good time appears to catch up with him in steady increments, akin to a man on a raft watching a dolphin approach that he is quickly realizing is a shark.

Geralt is not really paying attention to the swinging ship. Perhaps he should; it does go fairly fucking high, but aside from a drop in his stomach that reminds him of sliding down steep mountain cliffs, the risk of tumbling out actually feels. Minimal. Now that he's in it.

No, his eyes are on Jaskier: partly entertained, partly concerned. So far, entertained is winning over. This might change as Jaskier grows paler, heart beating faster. Is he going to vomit? Pass out? Can one die of fright inside the Horizon? They might learn the answer in the next five minutes. ]