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

Skitter / Taylor

[skitter]

Flea Circus: OTA

The tent for Skitter’s act is black with silver cobwebs, because you know, theme. It’s not large, which means that inside, the crowd has to stand close to one another, and close to the large, beautifully constructed doll-house that is center stage.

In sober black, with just a hint of the oil-slick shine of beetle carapace in her hair combs and the broach at her throat, Taylor closes the drape of the door when enough people have come in, casting the gathering into near blackness. She lets them rustle about a moment, adds to the rustling with tiny scratching and chirpings in the grass beneath their feet, the cloth above their heads.

With no fanfare, a match is struck. It flares and settles, letting the audience see that it’s held by the many-jointed legs of a very, very large spider. And as they watch, the spider uses the match to light a miniature lantern, illuminating the widow’s walk atop the dollhouse, and the show begins.

Taylor’s creatures are a circus and an actor’s troupe together in miniature, and the dollhouse becomes a stage for acrobatic ants, for tight-rope-walking scorpions, for a stick-bug taming a pack of mice with a whip made of a cat’s whisker. It also becomes a stage for melodrama, for stalking killers and vicious murders set to the violin tunes of crickets. Roaches dressed in tiny suits and gowns woo one another, while plotting hornets in black robes rub their black claws together. A particularly large millipede roams the house constantly, silent and menacing, occasionally snatching up a wayward performer and devouring it alive.

The show needs no words spoken. Taylor merely stands in front of the door flap, content not to be a part of the spectacle. Until at the end, when a cadre of beetles push close the panels of the house, and she throws open the door to let light spill in again. And reveal that the combs in her hair, the broach at her throat, even sometimes the gems in her ears, are all just as alive as the creatures the audience has just seen.

Shopping: OTA

Taylor’s quick to pack away her show - it’s easy, when most of it is self-ambulatory. So she has time to wander the city and she’s going to.

She has stock to replenish, after all.

Ostensibly, she’s going shopping, and she looks the part, dressed modestly for the setting unless you spot the t-shirt under her blouse. She walks miles, venturing into all tiers of the city but especially the docks. The wares from exotic ports of call are part of what she’s there for, but mostly she’s there for the little stow-aways that came with them. Large spiders in shipments of sugar cane. Massive millipedes along the sacks of rice. The sleeping chrysalises in loads of timber. Taylor shops for trinkets, and builds an army in the shadows and corners to follow her back to the wagons.

V : OTA

[splitinvain]

beast taming
Some of the tents were contained in small, almost cozy environments. Others were in larger spaces to give more room for dazzling displays of man and animal working together. In most shows, the beasts were handled with great care to keep from reacting to outsiders, but in this tent, there was only a line of rope keeping the large black form prowling along the cleared space of grass and the visitors separated. There were other large cats as well in this clearing - two lions with gray on their muzzles, a tiger worrying at a large bone, several sleek forms that could only be leopards. Yet none moved past the panther to the humans past the rope.

And into the space between the panther and the rope stepped a man. Lean with dark hair, all his exposed skin - and there was a lot of it from his waist up - covered in twisted lines of black ink, he leaned on a cane as he walked up to the panther and ran his hand over her head. And in a soft, smooth and impossibly compelling voice, started speaking, "Welcome to my nightmare..." glancing at the visitors he gives a bow "...I think you will like it."

A snap of his fingers and the cats moved. Dancing and swirling around him, pouncing towards him only to miss, weaving between each other in twos and threes as they jumped and leaped. He used neither whip or tools, only his voice calling out in a strange tongue that sound exotic but no one could remember its sound after he spoke. Once and a while the great panther would do a trick that seemed like it was merging with the shadows - sometimes her tail growing spikes, other times looking like she just melted into the ground. But that was impossible really, only just tricks of the shadows cast by the hanging lights and the way the other animals moved, surely. Then the cats stopped their tumbling, forming into a line and bowing even as V turned, the great panther padding out of the shadows to lean against his side and attempt to bite his cane and tugging it away.

"Do forgive us if we startled you; but this is what we are, when the nighttime crawls near."

collecting
The appearance of a circus often meant that strange sights will occur on the nearby streets. In this case the strange sight was a rather pale, lanky young man wearing little more than a laced waistcoat, American 'cowboy' trousers and boots, showing off a riot of twisting black lines on his exposed skin. Sitting calming on his shoulder like a rather disgruntled looking scarf was a very large raptor, possibly of some exotic species that most Londoners would never have dreamed of - or if they had, would never admit to the nightmares that would spawn such things. The only thing that looked almost normal about him was the cane he was leaning on as he stood underneath a shop's awning, eyebrows raised as he looked up to the gray and dreary clouds.

"Once upon a midnight dreary..." he murmured and the bird on his shoulder made a snorting sound and poked him in the cheek. He sighed and flicked his fingers against the bird's chest. "Stop being childish. We still have half a dram left before we're done. Do you see any of the others?"

Almost grumbling like a disgruntle man being told to get out of bed, the bird launched himself into the air, wings surely not glowing in the gloom, no. They were just reflecting light from the guttering street lamps. Watching the bird circle then land on a chimney, V shook his head, looked down at the half-filled bottle and sighed.

Dorian Storm | Critical Role | OTA

[makingmyway]

A. Singing in the Rain

The rather dreary weather in this particular city does make it a bit difficult to enjoy the last few days of their stop here. The rain especially would make it hard for a musician to perform, having to worry about what damage the rain might do to the wooden instruments.

And yet Dorian has always enjoyed the rain. It was one of the things he’d loved and missed about the home he’d left behind; the floating city was sometimes higher above the clouds, but there were times when a rainstorm would be able to reach the tents of his home, and he’d always enjoyed watching and listening to the droplets falling.

And maybe he was still a bit shy around his fellow coworkers, still a bit new to the circus that he hasn’t quite gotten to know anyone that well. But between the thought of finding someone to chat with and still trying to make the most of the day, well…it wasn’t that difficult a decision.

So patrons and circus workers alike will easily be able to find Dorian standing outside one of the side tents. He’s left his instruments inside, safe and dry, and instead uses the rhythm of the rain and keeping time by stomping his foot to help support the song that he’s singing.

Perhaps there is a reason he’s called Dorian Storm after all.

B. Shopping

Of course, Dorian wasn’t going to waste the opportunity to spend at least one day shopping. He feels a bit awkward going into the city though, realizing the people here might not be used to someone of his appearance. But even as he’s walking around, no one seems to notice anything strange. He wonders if it’s part of the circus’ magic, that people aren’t reacting to his blue skin, but doesn’t question it further as he takes a look at the shops available.

He lingers around the clothes shops, though he knows he can’t afford most of them right now. One of the problems of leaving behind a life of nobility means not being able to afford some of the things he still enjoys, like fine clothes. But he’s making do.

Mostly.

He has to remind himself that he’s here to pick up strings for his lute and nothing else. But surely there’s no harm in just looking, right?

Inara Serra | Firefly/Serenity | OTA

[unofficial_ambassador]

I. Around the grounds

The day’s rain is dreadful, and Inara is grateful that yesterday’s wind had not been strong enough to delay her act. Not that she can't do it, but tightrope walking in the rain is truly miserable.

On these final show days, she likes to help others begin packing their acts back into the wagon. Her own is easy to stow: her rope, several types of anchors, and a net if they're on a world with safety regulations; but some others take a lot of dismantling and folding. She typically likes the order and rhythm of packing up, but the circus currently has enough new acts that not everything has its designated place yet, which means this can occasionally get interesting.

II. Shopping

Inara is rushing back to the fairgrounds with a basket full of items: tins of tea, a box of pastries as a gift to the others, some cut flowers to liven up the wagons, and a wax-sealed tube bound for the Ringmaster. He had better be pleased, she had had to whistle a tune outside four different doors before it could be released to her and it had taken much longer than expected.

Despite the hurry, she stops outside of a book vendor to look wistfully through the window. Having too many books is impractical - they're heavy and take up too much of what is already limited space - but she likes to look at them anyway.

Hajime Aikawa | Kamen Rider Blade | OTA

[chalicejoker]

[Kitchens]
There's always work to be done in the kitchens, though with business being so slow today, there's just less of it. Hajime's putting the finishing touches on a batch of caramel apples, and he doesn't appear to be paying much attention to anyone who might walk in.

He doesn't have to. Ryo, the foot-tall mantis who's never seen too far from Hajime, is sitting on the counter watching the door. He'll happily chirp out a greeting. "Hi! You want an apple?"

[Mischief]
Some of the local youths have snuck around behind the kitchen wagon Hajime's been working in, and they seem to be under the impression that they're about to pull off a thrilling heist of all sorts of circus goodies. It's just that they weren't expecting to be caught, and certainly not in a fashion that sends them racing away from the wagon screaming in terror. A few of them are yelling something about a giant bug, and as they go, Hajime steps out from behind the wagon with a giggling Ryo riding on his shoulder. "They must be cowards if an insect Ryo's size made them run like that."

Yeah, sure. They're running from Ryo. That's Hajime's story and he's sticking to it, despite Ryo's giggles.

[Errands]
Since he's got a moment, it's worth going into town for a few supplies. At this point, he's just looking for spices and herbs--expenses, but necessary ones. He wants the food he cooks to have flavor, after all. He's got all the essentials: herbs, spices, and one spinning top suitable for a small boy. Perhaps the outing wasn't solely for business after all.

alphonse

[thirdchance]

ticket booth

Perhaps it's his way of trying to stay out of the rain as best he can—left over caution from having worn his suit as long as he did, rust was forever his enemy—and still be of some use to the circus. And he's also advertising! Calling out to passersby (who might also be looking for shelter) and holding out flyers to the various acts. Only ones that said they'd be open for sure, but he has others in the booth with him.

Every now and again, one of them steps up to the booth and Alphonse greets them with a smile. "Hi there! Would you be interested in seeing our Strong Woman today? Or perhaps spend some time with the Animal Tamer? We even have a daring show involving knife throwing!"

They seem mildly interested, peering around the side of the booth to see a bit of the grounds.

"We're having one last show today, so it's your last chance until we come again!" Perhaps you could help cinch the deal?

polishing

It's busy work, definitely, mostly meant to keep him out of the way, he's sure. But Alphonse doesn't mind it at all, his hands coated in the buffing polish as he works at getting bits of show armor and weapons shiny. It's nostalgic in a way, since he often found himself doing this very same thing when he was back home.

He's humming softly, focused on what he's doing but at the same time his mind seems a million miles away. And yet he also gives the sense of knowing what's going on around him, shifting himself and bits he's working on out of the way as others pass by.

wildcard

[feel free to "kidnap" him for chores, shopping, lessons, companionship, whathaveyou. can work it out with gloryfalling on plurk]

Hu Paws-of-Clay | OC (world of darkness/wta 20th)

[humeansfox]

Performance

Just because barely anyone showed up didn't mean Hu wasn't going to perform her show! The handful of people who braved the rain were treated to a brilliant almost-private acrobatics show performed by the two-tailed amber fox woman in a flowing dress. She moved with grace and dexterity beyond what a human could accomplish...well, surely it was just an amazing costume worn by someone who'd trained themselves for years. Or something like that.

Once the show was over she could be found mingling with the audience, offering hand shakes, bows and cryptic answers to questions. And after that in the backstage area, brushing down her tails and fur. Did she get it mussed up in the show, or by mingling with the locals? Who knows.


In Town

Later on, Hu could be found exploring the town. No longer in her half-fox form, she now appeared as a dark haired young Chinese woman with golden eyes. She's now dressed in lose, but period-appropriate garb. How'd she get it? Its not important, no need to ask about it.

Exploring new cities was always so interesting, and now she's able to see one from a different time? Perhaps even a different realm! It was so exciting, and her curiosity was overflowing. What's that thing? Oh, this shop is so charming! What is it that smells so delicious? Why, look at the people, don't they act and dress so interestingly? She can be found in many places around town, seeming much like an excited tourist. Come join her! She could use someone to babble to, someone who can explain these strange things, or someone she can explain the things she understands to. She won't bite, but she might talk your ear off.


((ooc: Hu here is a were-fox who's recently wandered into the circus and this is her first real time to perform. I wanted her to be new (and she's not au'd) so i didnt put her on the au workshop but if anyone wants to plot out having met a few times let me know. When away from the mundanes she's usually in fox form or half-fox form, both of which she is perfectly capable of speech in.))