VISIT: THE NIGHT MARKET

[inthenightmods]

VISIT:
THE NIGHT MARKET

characters: everyone.
location: the floating night market, docked at the harbor.
date/time: february 7-9.
content: the night market arrives.
warnings: n/a.

and i came down from the stars.

In the wee hours of February 7, strange blue lights appear just under the waves in the harbor, approaching the dock, until they finally surface entirely. They're submarines, glowing a dim blue now that they're up out of the water, and the fleet is five vessels strong. They've brought with them a floating bridge system to attach to the harbor's main dock to allow access to all five submarines, and they start to unpack...

By "morning", under the light of the full moon, the Night Market is open for business!

This time, it's six vendors that arrive:

• Pluto, the Night Market's leader, who rolls out of her submarine in a custom-built wheelchair


• Petra Solano, clever in both cosmetics and manipulation


• Preston Goodplay, a playwright who makes up for his age in spirit


• Kaz Brekker, a criminal entrepreneur specializing in violence and deception


• Alastair Krajac, a Duel Monsters duelist and expert hacker


• Sypha Belnades, a Speaker Magician with control over the elements

They've brought a handful of helpers with them to set up the market and run the various booths and games. Though they have no torches among them, the docks are lit with the blue glow of the submarines, their lights rippling slowly in intricate patterns and shapes, reminiscent of carnival lights.

•••
Accepted currencies at the Night Market include: Building and scrap materials, old tablets, old lanterns, captured forest spirits, torches, information, and most importantly... Plutonium. Of course, attempting to barter is always an option... but these currencies are your best bet for dealing with the various vendors offered by the Night Market.

Congratulations to Gemini and Inky who won our last AC lottery for a chance to play Night Market shopkeepers! Gemini is playing Alastair and Inky's playing Sypha, and we've also got our discord mod Leu joining us with Kaz! Be sure to hit all of these awesome shopkeepers up under the NPC header below! And as a reminder, please direct all plot questions/topics to one of the mod NPCs, as our players and discord mods aren't given any plot info beyond what's already available in the game. This visit, Kit is playing Petra and Danielle is playing Preston, so they can answer plot questions, along with Pluto. P is for plot!

Here are the vendors and their inventories for the current Night Market visit:

PLUTO

• Special orders - Pluto can procure items just like Rastus, but she can get you specific goods from homeworlds. The more specific the request, the more it will cost. Items ordered through Pluto will arrive on the next ferry.


• GPS coordinates - Looking to discover more locations and resources out in the forest? Pluto can hook you up with hints to do just that.


• Lantern charms - These charms can be attached to your lantern to provide BENEFITS as well as DRAWBACKS. The following charms are currently on display, with these labels attached: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom, Intelligence, Charisma. You'll be given instructions for use at the time of purchase, or you can try asking Pluto for more information.

PETRA

• Cosmetic items - Eyeshadow, moisturizer, lipsticks, nail polish, foundation, powder, setting spray—if you can think of a makeup product, she'll be selling it. She'll also offer tips for shades and colors for each individual. That part isn't for sale, it's just an unfortunate side-effect.


• Business advice - Do you want to start a business in this wasteland with no economics? Of course you do. Or maybe you just want to know how to maximize your profits and minimize your efforts in general. She's run quite a few successful ventures, so by all means.


• Manipulation advice - Want to know how to get people in your life to do as you want? It's not good in the long run, emotionally speaking, but it's also very useful in the short-term. Petra's got you covered.


• Potions - Did you miss Aaravos last market? Wanted to nab a potion and forgot? Petra has some! At a markup, of course, this isn't a charity. Potions to change cosmetic features like hair or eye color, potions that cause a swell of adoration or hatred in another person, potions that can even change your gender . . . it's all here. The catch: you have to tell Petra some story of when you suffered. Not necessarily dramatically—it can be an embarrassing moment or a deeply painful one—but it has to be interesting and detailed.

PRESTON

• Costumes and Props - This theater kid is not only an accomplished writer, but a thorough costume and set designer! Though his work might once have been what one would call typical for a ten-year-old little boy with big dreams, being dead for an indeterminate amount of time without much better to do (and making adult friends) can really improve your craftsmanship. Preston's offering a great selection of handmade, one-of-a-kind costumes that span genre and era, so if you're tired of general store chic, this is the stop for you! The discerning eye may notice that his well-painted props appear to be made of paper, but they seem incredibly solid; he must have gotten some help from a certain Paper Master that visited Beacon during the Night Market's last appearance. Oh—if anyone finds themselves acting a bit odd after donning his costumes, there's no need to worry. These enchantments that cause the wearers to become rather in character will probably wear off after a few hours. No refunds.
  


• Screenplays - Ever wanted to read the great works of William Shakespeare as retold by an excitable child? Ever thought that Julius Caesar would make a great comeback in a trilogy of sequels as a creature of the undead? Well, Preston has plenty of manuscripts that he's absolutely frothing at the mouth to share. In fact, you probably don't even need to pay for these. Like, please make a production and tell him how people liked it, later. You might just notice that you've obtained one of his scripts when he shoved it into the hood of your jacket when you weren't looking, even? Don't trample on the career he never got to have due to the unsafe condition at a scam of a children's camp.
  


• Acting Advice - Exactly what you'd think. Actually, he'll just give you unsolicited advice to all your problems. He loves hearing about drama, especially the romantic kind, and the stories inspire him for future plays! Come tell him your stories and receive what is undoubtedly an expert opinion on the subject.

KAZ

• Weapons - Need something to defend yourself? Prefer guns to all those knives in the Armory? Or do you just really, really want to straight up murder someone? Well, regardless of why, you've come to the right place! Kaz has on offer everything from fancy-lookin' daggers to fancy-lookin' guns, from poison to piano wire. (Just try not to wonder how many crimes these items have already been involved in.) If you're hankerin' for something more specific, it doesn't hurt to ask. It's not like he ever puts all his cards on the table.


• Forgeries - If you want a key copied, some handwriting mimicked, or any other sort of duplicitous manufacturing, look no further. Kaz can get you a double of just about any object— though it might not necessarily be the real working thing. Maybe you just want an uncannily accurate reproduction of a Monet for your cabin, or maybe you've got something more nefarious in mind; Kaz certainly won't be asking for your motives. He'll probably still be judging you, though.


• Double or Nothing - Say you're interested in one of these fabulous wares, but you're a little short on what passes for cash here in Beacon. You have one option: Kaz accepts payment in the form of secrets— particularly those which could be detrimental if shared. But you also have another option: betting. You'll need some form of collateral, of course, but if you win, you get to keep it, along with whatever else you want from the stand. Lose, and you forfeit both. What exactly are you betting on? Oh, just something simple like a coin toss or a card draw, something with a 50/50 chance of winning. Sounds fair, right? It's probably fine.

ALASTAIR

• Hacking tablets - He can hack in to perform internal software and app upgrades, changes, and repairs. Included but not limited to: change a network username, upload more songs to Songbird, more storage space, new emojis, camera filters, fix any settings that got messed up. Accidentally set your tablet to Turkish? He can fix that. Fair warning that his music tastes are mostly mid-00s EDM.
  
  (NOTE, to change your IC username just go to the network & tablets page and update your info - after Alastair agrees to do the task)


• App coding - There's not much he can do in three days but if you want a new game or app coded, he can work on that and deliver an SD card on the next ferry. There are a few things he can't or won't do but you have to ask him to find out the limitations.


• Minor tablet repair - He can't revive completely broken/dead ones but a cracked screen or a funky camera, he's got you.


• Prices - In addition to the standard prices, Alastair takes computer parts, song downloads, and Duel Monsters cards in payment. He will dole out better services for greater quantity or quality (read: rare) cards if you've got 'em.

SYPHA

• Spell scrolls - Sypha will happily and excitedly tell you she's a Speaker Magician, and as such has some control over the elements. She has spell scrolls for sale. Single use only! She has a few spells pre-written out, but might be persuaded to go the extra mile and transcribe something custom for you, if it's within the scope of her abilities. As payment, Sypha accepts secrets... about you or others in Beacon.
  
  Fire Balls. Summons half a dozen fist sized fire balls that circle you and can be launched individually or all together at foes. Or friends, if you must be like that. Please don't be like that.
  
  Ice Construct. Encase an enemy inside a block to freeze them temporarily, build a bride, pay for a wall, make a pane so thin and sharp it slizes through practically anything, make a pole for some poor fool to lick, freeze small-ish areas of water, make an igloo. Not big enough to build an entire castle. Can build a very frozen snow man. Lasts up to an hour or until you drop the spell.
  
  Whirlwind. Use gusts of air that can carry you up and through the air (careful application is encouraged so as not to catapult yourself into the lake through sheer velocity), soften your landing or knock over people. Wearing a skirt with this is not recommended, but has proven to be hilarious.


• Skill books - Sypha has a collection of small note books infused with specific knowledge. Now, the books are not for sale... but their contents are. You can absorb the contents of one of these books to gain a new skill - tanning, carpentry, caligraphy, sword fighting, cooking, first aid, fishing, specific languages, peotry, sowing... to name but a few. Just ask what you want to learn, and she will check if she has it available. Perhaps there are even some more esoteric or unusual skills you could gain this way...
  
  The catch? In order to gain a skill, you have to give up a skill.
  
  While the night market lasts, a new skill absorbed from a book sits on hand and forearm like an elaborate black ink tattoo, strange, swirling symbols - but the book you absorbed this from has gained new writing through the skill with which you paid. As long as the night market lasts, you can trade your skill back to Sypha... unless, of course, someone else already absorbed it. Then you might have to hope they trade it back in or seek them out to broker a deal. If you don't want to - or can't - trade the skill back, it becomes permanent a permanent gain and loss after the night market.
  
  Sypha has to agree to the trade. The more specific and high value the skill is, the more you have to pay for it, too. Perhaps she could even be persuaded to transcribe you one of those spell scrolls into a skill book... but you'd have to give up a really valuable skill of your own for that, so better make a damn good offer.


• Memory jars - Unassuming, but beautifully decorated jars that can magically evoke a memory any time it's opened. Do you want the scent of the bouquet your secret admirer gave you that one hazy summer night, when you didn't think you could ever be happy? Do you want to close your eyes and feel your mother's embrace? Do you want to hear your spouse whisper 'I love you' into your ear? It's all possible, no matter how hazy it is to your recollection - magic can reproduce it fully. Sypha can enchant the jar with whatever memory you wish, in as much detail as you wish, for you to indulge in whenever you need something to keep you going, to lift your heart in this dark place, and provide the comfort of things your death forced you to leave behind.
  
  To get a memory to come alive like that on tap, you'll have to open your heart, and share a story very dear to you with Sypha. Speakers, she tells you, are all about bearing witness, collecting knowledge and telling stories to others. What you tell her must be true, and it must be real, and it must move you greatly. You don't have to recount the memory you want bottled - but you have to share something with her that is yours, and that is deep and worthwhile and true. Tell her your story, open your mind and offer up your heart... and she will bottle their contents for you.

DR. SCHICKSAL'S HINT-O-MATIC

• AMA - Does your character have any burning questions they just need to have answered? Dr. Schicksal's Hint-O-Matic is a phonebooth-looking device with a screen prompting the user to input a question. When a question is asked, Dr. Schicksal's Hint-O-Matic will spout out an answer! Questions can be typed in via keypad or spoken aloud, and answers will be automatically read aloud for characters that can't read the screen. These answers are always true, no matter what the question, but this information comes at a cost—your character will be blessed with a random status effect for the remainder of the month. We will check permissions posts before issuing a status effect, and please keep in mind that these effects stack! 😃 Each question you ask it (or say at it, rhetorically or otherwise) will "cost" one status effect. And, yes, you can literally ask anything.

Finally, please use the Night Market Purchases page for all transactions! We're changing this up from how we did it last time so that we can better keep track of what's going where. You're still welcome to thread out purchases on this log, though! Just be sure to note it on the purchase page, as well.

•••
Other than the vendors, the Night Market has brought with them the following attractions:

• COFFEE CART - The coffee cart offers every variety of hot drink a person could fathom, and it's complimentary! A few small tables have been set up in front of the cart around an outdoor heater, glowing happily as it warms this little section of dock.


• CANDY SHOP - Sweet treats offered at the candy shop are also free for the taking, but be careful—some treats carry with them a random status effect that will last for the next hour. The treats and resulting status effects are left entirely up to you players, so feel free to create your own hijinx! This is us trusting you not to break the game, so don't abuse this privilege, and feel free to ask us if you're unsure about limitations! Not all treats will produce an effect, but those that do will have no tells, meaning characters will not be able to strategize when eating the candy. (In meta terms: if you want your character to engage in wacky bullshit, but they're a party pooper and hate fun and wouldn't willingly indulge, this is your opportunity to trick them into shenanigans.)


• CARNIVAL GAMES - The small section of carnival games includes ring toss, skeeball, balloon darts, a shooting gallery, a fishing game, a plinko game, and an RC racing game with toy vehicles. The rules are all somewhat nebulous, but feel free to play out your characters interacting with these games on your own! They're all free to play, and prizes include knitted forest spirit plushies, wind-up goldfish that float through the air, and buckets of those plastic spider rings and finger topper guys that cost like one ticket apiece at Swings-N-Things.


• WHACKY WAVING INFLATABLE ARM FLAILING TUBE MEN - They are also here, and they have a jukebox with them with an unfathomably large selection of songs. This area of the dock is probably meant for dancing.

•••

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VENDORS

[inthenightmods]

DR. SCHICKSAL'S HINT-O-MATIC can be found on the purchase page!

PLUTO

[shookthesky]

[Pluto can be found in the center of it all, splitting her time between manning her vendor booth and spouting orders to her crew. Her voice is soft but severe, commanding an air of authority as she rolls around in her wheelchair. She's not one to stay still for very long. Her lantern is fastened to the back of her chair.

Come chat with her, Beacon bits! She's ready for your questions, and she's definitely gonna want to hear about that cat herd recently...

And if you talked with her last visit, she'll be sure to give you a little nod in greeting as you cross paths, even if you aren't stopping to chat.]

ALASTAIR

[hackeralastair]

[There's a young man who looks very cold in his crop-top and trenchcoat, set up near the closest portable heater with a big damn cup of coffee and some small-tipped screwdrivers on his table. There's also a weird green and black disk sitting nearby with cards in the tray that may look familiar to some. In between customers he can usually be seen thumbing through the cards or dicking around with his own tech.

The signs are rudely hand-written, promising tablet repair and software upgrades for the right price. No magic here, just technology, and a healthy level of sass provided free of charge. What none of the signs say is that if asked about his duel disk or cards, Alastair will launch into way more of a diatribe about a children's card game than anyone really wants to hear.]

SYPHA BELNADES

[desypharing]

[ In stark contrast to Alastair's table, this one features all magic, no technology, even though that might not be all too obvious at first glance. The table bends under the weight of scrolls in elegant cases, stacks of note books and beautifully decorated mason jars. The stacks can sway precariously, and the table bends so heavily it looks like the whole thing might come down any minute.

The woman in charge of this table seems largely unconcerned. Occasionally, she makes precise gestures with her hands and adds a block or support beam magically conjured with ice to keep the table upright. She wears well made robes of mostly blue cloth, has short, strawberry blonde hair and big blue eyes. When she speaks, her accent is vaguely, faintly Spanish, for those who could place it.

At any point during the night market, she has her nose in a book or other, and is always available for a dry quip or pleasant conversation. ]

PRESTON GOODPLAY

[ratefresh]

[Not to be outdone by any of the other vendors, Preston, whose booth certainly resembles more of a stage than anything, is standing up on top of it, dressed like a fancy heckin boy. He has a homemade paper megaphone that he's using to try and get the attention of anyone nearby.]

Come one, come all, to Beacon's one-stop-Broadway! Who says the afterlife can't also be a stage? Come bring the spirit of the theater to your doorstep! The clock's ticking, people! I TAKE REQUESTS!

PETRA SOLANO

[petrafication]

[Is Petra bothered by her companions? Oh, no. Of course not. It's just that one's obsessed with a child's card game, and one is selling spells, and one is . . . whatever the fuck Preston is, a small child with enough mania to last a lifetime.

And then there's Petra, trying and utterly failing not to look over at her companions in undisguised disgust. Preston in particular gets a lot of snapped out comments to shut up, this isn't a contest on how to be loud. Do you catch them bickering? It's likely you do.

Fun!

Anyway. Want some makeup? Better yet: want some advice? How about on how to manipulate your friends and enemies in equal measure? She's good for all of that, and then some. For example:]

You'll look like a dead fish if you pick that color.

[It's not mean. It's just honest, in a very blunt way.]

KAZ BREKKER

[nomourners]

[Standing more often than sitting, Kaz observes the sparse crowds with a sharp eye. When he is seated, he has the air of reclining royalty, one long leg crossed over the other while his jaw rests on the knuckles of a black-gloved hand. His expression is fairly inscrutable, the only indication of any kind being the occasional tapping finger on the top of his crow-headed cane.

Kind of a standoffish sort, isn't he? Only very rarely will you catch him bored enough to be shuffling a deck of cards.

His booth advertises (and displays) a wide range of weapons, as well as "forgery services", whatever that means, but he sure isn't hawking his wares. Maybe he just expects those who want something to know where to go.]

Get your children’s playing cards here!

[mindofathief]

[Someone eventually discovers Alistair’s fervent interest in trading cards, and word spreads quickly in a village. Thanks to a certain bat spirit, Duster has possession of a bank’s worth of cards, ready to be traded for fancy tech and music. The next step is clear.

He drags the treasure chest of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards into a visible area inside the recreation center, far enough that the night market merchants can’t see his plan and close enough that the Beaconites can quickly nab something to trade. For the first few hours, he remains there to explain what this is. Bored, he rolls his double bass and a stool next to it and starts practicing some of the jazzy beats he remembers.

Free music while everyone warms up.

Once he feels the treasure chest is public knowledge, he heads to the night market to make some purchases and stops by the flailing noodle men. He knows that they’re going to be here every time the night market arrives but now that he takes the time to really look at them...

They’re kind of creepy.

He gives one a suspicious look.]

[arsarcanum]

[ Sora's seen what Alastair's offering, and he's had kind of a time trying to figure out what exactly he could give him - he's a little tech unsavvy, so sue him - but he pauses at the rec center to find... a whole chest... of the cards Alastair wants...? Who'd a thunk?

He walks up to this bassist and looks at the chest of cards, then back at him. This seems a little too good to be real. ]

I'll bite. What are you asking for these?

Flailing noodle men

[moderatelymaladjusted]

[The market isn't any less crowded than it was the first time, and Quentin is walking around, subtly trying to make sure no one is actually going to trade a life for information or magic.

The spirits might be out to kill them, but using them as currency feels like it's taking things a step too far.

Which is why Quentin finds himself standing around the flailing noodle men and watching the crowd. Or, the few people who don't seem to mind the music pounding out and he taps his foot (almost) to the beat.]

They can't hurt you.

[mollymocked]

[Yeah, okay, but Molly doesn't need fancy tech, so he's baffled by the treasure chest of cards as he passes by it, figuring that Duster's just getting in on the market aspect.]

God, I hope you didn't just murder a bunch of Tarot decks to get this. Not that they look like Tarot cards, but... Different worlds. Different designs.

Bucky/Soldat | OTA

[worthallthis]

While they do watch the vendors (and make a deal or two, too) and wander around the games for a bit, most of Soldat's time at the Night Market this month is spent between the coffee cart and the jukebox. Yes, there's a lot of music on Songbird, and yes, they spent hours last time the Market was here recording music from the jukebox... but there's still more they didn't have time to get last time, and they're still gonna record it.

And maybe also, just one evening when they're feeling restless, put on some of the ones they know and pull the handful of people they're comfortable with into some 30s-style dancing. Willing to teach, if the rest of the uncultured Beacon residents don't happen to know how to do the Lindy or the Jitterbug or the earliest forms of swing.

Dammit, Soldat's gonna have a little actual fun for once.

[arsarcanum]

Sora knows that the soldier remembers dancing, but he hasn't had a chance to see them in action until just now aaaaaand that looks fun. Like a lot of fun! Oooh, he wants to try that! But he doesn't really think he knows how to catch their attention for a talk while they're currently bopping with someone else, and he doesn't want to distract them from having fun, and he doesn't want the soldier to get stuck teaching him yet another thing, and - okay, look, Sora loves dancing but he doesn't exactly remember dancing with anyone else besides in musical numbers and the only person he's ever fantasized dancing with was Kairi, who is perfect, so dancing with someone is kind of outside of his scope. He doesn't remember dancing socially with anyone.

Yet.

So the kid is just going to keep watching the soldier cheerfully and trying not to make it TOO obvious that he wants in on the action too. Which is just gonna look like sad puppy (froggy?) eyes whenever the soldier ends up looking in his direction. Please rescue him from his own head.

[antiwhat]

As much as Ellever has tried to hide since her lantern finally patched itself together, she can't hide away forever. There are only so many things she can do on her tablet, even with a small collection of musical instruments — though she's tried. And she has, generally, good memories of the last Night Market, even if she'd avoided the vendors and anything other than the games.

She's wandering with a cup of coffee clutched to her person when she notices that someone seems to be actually... dancing. It's not the people she'd thought of as possibilities, either. She tilts her head and just watches from a distance for a bit before she, slowly, approaches Soldat.

Her memories of the incident with her red lantern are fuzzy. But she remembers that she said some weird things to people, and she isn't sure where they left things. Sooner or later, though, she needs to speak to people again.

"I didn't think of you as the dancing type."

That's a good opener, right? Ellever winces slightly at herself.

[really_sketchy]

"It's you." She nearly runs into Soldat while wandering around the night market. The entire atmosphere of the market and music is new to her and it's all a little distracting. She isn't always looking at where she's going. "Sorry. I was just looking around."

She glances past him towards the jukebox and then down at the coffee in has hand. She's tried coffee and she likes it with a lot of cream and sugar to mask the bitterness. "Are you going to listen to music? It's amazing isn't it?"

Naminé was taken away by everything that was here and she isn't sure what to point her focus too.

[endlessflask]

"Hey!"

Eliot remembers him. The guy who couldn't help with cigarettes but got rid of the little soldiers that were poking at his feet by telling him to give up a ring (and he did, thankfully, get that ring back). So he waves when he sees Soldat standing around the jukebox.

"How's it going?"

Quentin Coldwater - open

[moderatelymaladjusted]

[It's the same and yet not, and the schicksal's hint-o-matic still has an almost magnetic pull, which is why Quentin stays away from it and only ventures far enough in to the market to look at the magical wares.

And the noodle men.

They have music, and while Quentin doesn't dance. Ever. Not while not drunk, he still likes to listen to it.

But, mostly, he spends the night at the coffee cart, getting warm by the heater and drinking as much coffee as he can get his greedy hands on, trying to not give in to temptation.]

The hazel-nut one is kind of great. If, you know, you're in to that kind of thing. Nutty things.

[antiwhat]

[ The last time the Market had come, Ellever had spent most of her time at the games and at the coffee cart. This time, she's mostly sticking to the cart and briefly wandering elsewhere, aside from avoiding the vendors. It's nice to get something nice and hot to drink and take her mind off of... everything that's been going on lately.

She's a little lost in her thoughts when she realizes that someone else is by the cart, too, and talking to her. It takes her a second. She shakes her head, as if that will knock her out of it. ]

Hazelnuts are good. [ Did she try that last time? It's so hard to remember, for some reason. ] Is that your favorite one so far?

[completelycrazy]

[Newt's already got some kinda fancy Austrian coffee drink, but noted, guy. He is, however, wrinkling his nose at that phrasing.]

Jeez, why'd you have to put it like that? You coulda just stopped at hazelnut.

[But hey, Quentin, Newt's pulling up a chair to hang out by this heater, too. The Night Market is aggressively his jam, but it's cold out here on the water.]

You'd thing with all the magical crap they have, they'd be able to magic up a bubble of heat around the dock or something.

[arsarcanum]

i. jukebox

[ Okay, soldier. Sora's down with learning how to swing. But in the meantime, if there's something on the jukebox with a pretty solid beat, Sora's going to strip out of a couple of his outer layers and do some b-boying. This is an extremely solo activity, so he'll likely have to converse before or after with anyone who would like to spectate. (Unless someone wants to dance battle which, hey, have at!)

Please at least give him a chance to put his layers back on before the convo, he will get cold extremely fast. ]


ii. coffee

[ He was never much of a coffee drinker in either life, but he likes a mocha every now and then! But there don't seem to be any here. Aaow. He looks over at anyone at the other end of the table. ]

Are there any mochas over there? Or like, hot chocolate? [ Please hold, absolute trash opinion incoming. ] Do you think it'd be almost the same thing if I just mixed a coffee and hot chocolate together?


iii. wildcard

[ If anyone would like very bad swing lessons from someone who learned how to do it like an hour ago, that'll be this guy. Also open to candy shop and carnival game dates! He'll also be checking out all of the shops at some point - yes, including Pluto's - so feel free to catch him at any of them! Please DM or contact me via plurk @ mawiles if you have questions! Will match format. ]

ii

[antiwhat]

[ Ellever has been hiding as much as she possibly can, but sooner or later, she's had to come out and do things. She's been avoiding anyone she talked to while her lantern was on the fritz. Unfortunately, that's a lot of people, and she can't keep that up much longer. The Night Market provides entertainment while she tries to get her courage up.

She's standing there, absorbing the visuals of the Market, when she hears the question and blinks, turning to face Sora. As always, lately, she's wrapped up in her thick corduroy coat. ]

I mean, I think a coffee and a hot chocolate would work just fine. [ A corner of her mouth turns up. ] But I'm not a barista or anything.

ellever brandt | ota

[antiwhat]

i. something wicked;

[ At first, she hadn't wanted to come at all. Since the incident with her lantern, Ellever has been self-conscious of how she'd acted and who she'd talked to. But staying indoors all the time just isn't for her, either, and the call of stretching her legs and checking out the Night Market had been too strong to ignore. She can be found by the coffee cart with an extremely black cup of coffee, staring down into it intently. ]

Do you think I can make it darker somehow?

[ This she asks of a passerby, even though her cup is the color of fresh asphalt. ]

ii. this way comes;

[ Occasionally, she wanders to the games. But she doesn't linger here as long as she did last time. Mostly she picks up a gun at the shooting gallery and uses it to great effect, practicing her aim — which is already pretty great. But practice makes perfect. When she gets a prize, she chooses the wind-up floating goldfish every time. After the first or second prize, in fact, she grins for the first time in days and turns to the nearest person. As always, it doesn't occur to her that they might be busy with something. It'll occur to her several seconds too late. ]

Have you seen these? They're so cool!

i

[endlessflask]

How incredibly edgy and high-school goth of you to say.

[ Eliot's own coffee is getting a heaping amount of sugar in it. He raises his eyebrow at her as he blows on his drink to make it easier to sip. ]

I also feel like saying things like "can I make it darker" in a place where basically no light exists is a little insensitive.

maes hughes | ota

[dadandgone]

i. coffee break
[Maes is adaptable, but if the market consisted solely of this coffee he would be a happy man. He was currently jotting some things down in a notebook, looking out at the people and stalls. Is he recording observations? Is he figuring out what to do in exchange.

He takes a sip of his coffee and reaches over for the open box of truffles. The candy shop had called to him this time and it was hard to resist getting a treat to go along with his coffee. Especially when these particular chocolates were apparently apple pie truffles.

A minute later Maes hiccups, which in itself wouldn't be strange, but the sound is followed by a few colorful soap bubbles popping out of his mouth. He blinks, watching them float away, and then hiccups again...with more bubbles.]

The hell?

[He reaches for his coffee again and tries to drown the hiccup. He sets the mug down and...hiccups again. More bubbles.]

ii. burst your bubble
[Thirty minutes later Maes is still hiccuping bubbles. It's not painful so much as it is annoying. He goes over to the coffee cart. By this point he knows the coffee won't stop the hiccups, but at least it's good coffee.

He notices you standing beside the sugar and napkins. He'd sloshed so coffee during the hiccuping fits, so he probably needs to snag some.]

Excuse me. Can you pass me some of those?

[He hiccups again and while he's almost gotten used to producing bubbles at this point, what happens next is truly bizarre. The bubbles pop out of his mouth as before, but this time they grow as they float into the air. The clear soap turn opaque and...Maes may be crazy but he's pretty sure the words he just spoke are now floating above them.

He stares at it a moment and then looks to you.]

You see that right? It looks like a comic strip.

[He hiccups again. More bubbles. Same effect. He's not just hiccuping any bubbles now but apparently speech bubbles.]

Naminé 💙 OTA

[really_sketchy]

FIRST NIGHT MARKET
(ooc: open to one person who wants to explain things to her IC.)

[Now that Naminé is firmly settled and clothed for the winter, she's beginning to explore the 'safe' facets of this dark world. This is her first time to a market, let alone a night market, and she's a little unclear as to what these things are. She finds pretty charms that she likes and a few other interesting items but Naminé has no form of payment and she'd feel guilty if she took something that isn't hers.

Eventually her curiosity gets the better of her and she voices the questions in her head allowed.]

What is this?

SUGAR & CAFFEINE HIGH

[There is a lot that, as a Nobody, Naminé has never experienced before. Two such things are caffeine and sugar and she is in for a surprise.

There is a bounce in her step that isn't usually there and an excited openness to her attitude that's met with a jittery eagerness that is a little too much for someone so small. She hovers by the jukebox and giggles at the different music that plays out for everyone to dance. She doesn't know how to dance so she watches but it's all a lot of fun!

She's game for anything, elated and a little confused by the entire experience.]

CARNIVAL GAMES

[Naminé is excited to play all the games. It's silly, it's fun and it's a pleasant distraction from the darkness that surrounds them.

She can be found playing all the games and doing poorly at most of them. The one game that Naminé spends the most time with is the fishing game. She wants the cute little knitted forest spirit plush, two if she can manage it, and she is a determined young woman. She'll give one to her new roommate and keep the other. They'll match and be friends forever.

Her knees press into the dirt as she balances the 'fishing pole' over the water, only to frown when she can't catch anything. They're plastic, it shouldn’t be this hard.]

THE INEVITABLE CRASH

[The worst thing about sugar and caffeine is that it doesn't last forever and for someone not used to the excited jolt comes the inevitable sluggish crash.

Naminé doesn't make it back to her room at the Landmark Inn or even away from the night market before she's suddenly too exhausted to continue. She sits on the edge of a wooden log that might have once been a piece of a building and tries to force herself awake.

It doesn't work and in enough time she's spread along the wooden beam, fast asleep.]

closed to bruce

[evulsed]

[ At the top of the hill, Vanitas clenches and unclenches his fists, staring down at the glitter of lights of the Night Market.

It's a last minute thing, maybe a little reckless. What he's after, he's not even sure that woman can get it for him. And beyond that, he doesn't actually know how well they might work for the idea that's percolating in his head— what started to grow, ever since talk of the World Eaters has started to slowly build around him.

Vanitas doesn't believe anyone else is thinking of it the way he is, but then, how could they? He's made of Darkness. He'll always be seeing things from the other side, the side everyone else can't.

He closes his hands tightly. He's wearing gloves so the sensation of digging his nails into his palms is muted, but it's still there, helping him focus. It's just fear, he tries to tell himself, for the upteenth time since he's been fighting with this ridiculous terror. But the truth is, he's not sure he'll be able to do this, and that's almost more embarrassing than the fact he told Bruce he wants to do this. ]

[pearlstrings]

[He thinks it's a sign of growth. Perhaps someone else might call that optimism, but Bruce would like to believe that there's enough evidence behind it to argue the point. Vanitas has never asked for anything like this before, because this isn't a request for company or a thinly veiled need to be met. There's no life skill to be imparted or fight to spin out to burn through his energy. No place to explore. Vanitas is asking for help- and Bruce, who knows how powerful this reluctance is, who knows how carefully he would have tried to bury his own needs in this very same position, acknowledges it by keeping it quiet.

He does not tell anyone else where he's going. He dresses in warm layers- a high necked sweater and a jacket. He brings a scarf because he suspects that Vanitas has underestimated the temperature on the water, and he wears gloves. And then he sets out into the dark. It's easy to pick out the interest of the city residents, especially as their lanterns travel- becoming a small cluster on the docks. He's still a distance away from the night market, but then, he wasn't here for the night market.

Vanitas stands out as a dark cutaway against the stars. An empty space in the night. His hands are by his sides, curled into fists. Bruce approaches quietly on his left and settles mere inches away.]

open/closed - Jukebox

[equinoctials]

[closed]
Although they set off together - Bruce, Vanitas, and Riku - to see the Night Market and what would be on offer, Riku wasn't actually in the mood. He went in solidarity, but when he had a moment, he peeled off for a bit, saying he needed a little while to himself. Unlike the last time he used that excuse, he wasn't trying to have a clandestine conversation with his own replica's lingering consciousness. Part of him felt guilty leaving them, knowing how even the sound and sight of any body of water larger than a drinking glass filled Vanitas with inexplicable terror.

This would be a great challenge for him. Another part of him couldn't help cheering him on. He'd make it up to him later. Maybe he'd get him some of that hot cocoa with the small marshmallows in it, like the last time. He sat, and thought, and drank sometimes from a small flask he'd brought with him. That was dangerous only because of the association it carries, of how he's known people here who try to drown their feelings in the bottom of a bottle, when a desire to quiet the noise in their heads and hearts becomes a habit, a hunger. Riku wonders, sometimes, if sons are always destined to follow the footsteps of their fathers, or the figures who fill up the spaces they leave behind. About the Darkness, and whether it has much to do at all with the dark that fills up this whole world.

He thinks about... memories, and how it seems a little too good to be true to bottle one up neatly in a jar.

Later, he's bargained for not one, but two of them, and in exchange for a difficult tale and an empty mason jar hanging from his clip by the cord around its mouth, he may just have them. But how to get a happy memory when his mood is so sour? He finds the solution over at the jukebox, when he's perusing the seletion, and happens upon something that's familiar enough, and also happens to spy a familiar face out of the corner of his eye.

"Bruce," he calls, beckoning him over, "Hey, come here. Check this out. You recognize any of these?"

[open]
Riku can be approached a few other times: just as he and Bruce part ways, when he hasn't strayed far from the jukebox or dance floor and instead is screwing shut the mason jar he had inexplicably been carrying with him. Or not far from the docks, once he's passed in that jar only to acquire two more. Unlike the other, which was unadorned and apparently empty, one is decorated in a beach theme and the other... it looks like there's a wooden cut-out of a heart suspended inside, on which are burned words.

His mood is markedly different than the overall air of brooding preoccupation he had arrived with, engaging in eye contact more, doing less of the indicators he wants to be left alone, in folded arms and expressions of unsmiling indifference. It's not to say he's cheerful, it's just an improvement.

He's waiting around until a few people in particular are ready to leave and doesn't have any interest in any of the other wares. He has time for a cup of something hot to drink and a few conversations.

closed

[pearlstrings]

He doesn't know what to expect at the Night Market. It's the second time they've appeared on the edge of Beacon's shores and Bruce has just as many questions now as he did then. He plans to visit the Hint-O-Matic, he plans to ask Pluto if she's open to making a deal. He had no true intentions of purchasing from the vendors because it hasn't appealed to him before.

He helps Vanitas make his way down, slowly but steadily, and stands nearby as he makes his purchases. Vanitas is unlikely to stay for long and Bruce had given him instructions to leave without explanation if it became too much. He expects to find himself alone and thus is not surprised when it comes to pass. It's in this gap of time that two things happen- he sees the jars at one of the vendor tables. And he sees Riku.

They hadn't made plans to meet up here together. They'd only attempted to make plans once and that had ended- strangely. But here he is. Bruce turns the moment he hears his name and knows exactly who he's looking for before he sets eyes on him; and there's Riku, lingering beside a jukebox of all things. His gaze roves, sweeps up and down just once, to be sure that the other is in once piece- only to do a small double-take at the empty jar. The question mark sits on Bruce's mouth, but he doesn't open with it. He closes the distance instead, answers the beckoning call.

"I didn't realize you were coming."