Test Drive #1 - London, England, Earth 1845

[thegreatestlittlemod]

The last few days of a stop are always either the slowest, or the busiest. The gray days of London in the autumn don't seem to be helping this to be the busiest, with rain driving customers away.

There are still some customers jogging between tents and ducking under game awnings, using coats and hats to try and keep the water off, but tips are few and far between, and a lot of audiences are empty, leaving performers sitting and waiting, or ducking into each other's shows to watch or just say hi, and those on the game alley shouting across the aisle at each other. Food vendors move up and down the aisle and tents with hot cocoa and kebobs to keep people warm.

A few people are out in the city proper running errands for themselves, each other, or the Ringmaster, often in pairs. Maybe the goal is to find six spools of ribbon in one exact color, or to capture a whole bowl full of raindrops from under a specific shop sign, or to replace some pants you tore in your last show. Whatever it is, you're down to the last day to find it.

Are you determined to put on a show despite having an audience of five? Are you chatting with your fellow carnies, bored with the slow day and wondering where you're going next? Are you seeking out something strange and confusing in jolly old London with a friend?

Or are you determined to enjoy the circus on its last day in your city, not expecting a surprise in store for you when it starts to pack up its doors tomorrow?

Comments

[worthallthis]

"Well, I'd be rolling it!" Buck assures her with a little laugh, trying to shake the last streamers at least a little free of mud before handing them over, as well. "Not trying to carry it. I'm no strong-man."

He starts collecting his wooden targets, next. "Are you just out here to rescue idiot knife-throwers? Or am I interrupting an errand?"

[unofficial_ambassador]

“Oh no, I just got back from my little musical interlude in the city -” she rolls her eyes, he knows how it is - “and my own act is already stowed.”

She takes the remaining streamers, adding them to the roll.

“And then I suppose I sensed impending doom and headed this way.”

[worthallthis]

"Impending doom. That sounds a lot more dramatic than just dropping all my stuff in the mud," Buck says with a cheerful twinkle at her, heaving himself and his targets up to his feet again. "Not that I'm not grateful, of course. To the prop wagon with us!"

[unofficial_ambassador]

Inara huffs, mostly in jest, and hurries after him. “Yes, imagine. You standing here, water rising over your targets as you try and wrap the streamers. Wagon leaving without you.”

[worthallthis]

"Oh, I doubt our illustrious leader would leave without me," Buck drawls, though his smile is more wry than amused. He's been with the circus for... a long time, now. Not that he particularly wants to leave, but he also hasn't tried in a long time, either. "But it's probably best not to test that."

[unofficial_ambassador]

This is where Inara had run away to, so even when times are bad she can't imagine where else she’d go.

“I would hope that if such a thing happened, you'd be abandoned somewhere with a better climate.”

[worthallthis]

When you've got a demon for an arm, there aren't a lot of other places you can really go, it's true. Also, he likes it here; he hardly remembers his life before the circus.

He barks a little laugh, but it's friendly agreement rather than an annoyed sound. "True that. Shoulda stayed on the last space station we landed on or somethin'. Weather's always perfect in space, right?" Buck might be a bit of a sci fi nerd. He loves the futuristic places they park at.

[unofficial_ambassador]

“Perfection gets old faster than you’d think.” She hadn't been in space, but the weather had always been perfect where she’d come from.

[worthallthis]

"Maybe, but right now I'd take it over endless days of mud and muck," Buck says lightly. But he's looking around the tents with a kind of fondness, anyway. "Nah, I'm not goin' anywhere, Inara. This is my home, no matter how weird it might be."