funnel cake or bust

[endlessflask]

characters: Eliot Waugh & OPEN
location: The Amusement Park
date/time: Second week-ish of March/a few days after the park's discovery.
content: You know, just a casual day at a weird fair.
warnings: Potential fun being had.



[ Now that Midge seems to be gone, Eliot feels odd staying inside the cabin. Not because he feels like he doesn't belong there, but because it had been nice to have someone around all the time. He appreciates consistency and routine more than he'll ever admit. But, he's a grown up (allegedly), and shit happens and you just have to deal with it when it does.

So rather than sit around in the dark cabin, drinking up Midge's wine, Eliot decides to just go out. He hopes he can meet more people, or maybe even people that already know him from his apparent first time here. Or maybe it's just nice to not sit around a dark house for a bit.

Either way, he can't really resist the appeal of checking out the newly found amusement park. ]

➼ i. DEEP FRIED GOODNESS

[ Is it even a carnival without the food?

Eliot doesn't consider himself athletically inclined enough for games, and if the rides were working he probably wouldn't really trust them. But food? Food he can definitely do, and food he definitely will do. He wanders around the food carts, pleasantly surprised at the normalcy of it all. The spirits seem eager to please, too, trying to lure him into their own specific delicacies.

Okay, so he ends up with a candied acorn that he gently discards when he's out of sight of the spirit who'd given it to him, but there it is. The Holy Grail of amusement park cuisine - funnel cake. And it's real, and there's no battered sticks or leaves, just fluffy, golden goodness with a sprinkling of powdered sugar.

This alone was probably worth coming out here. ]


➼ ii. FUN AND GAMES

[ He's got his funnel cake, so he decides to go see the games. Not that he'll actually play them, but Eliot has to admit he's curious to see what sort of prizes Beacon has on offer. He's not expecting anything amazing, but maybe, sort of, he's hoping for a surprise. Like something useful or something from home.

No. Instead there appear to be fish bowls, bullets, and foliage-stuffed plushies.

Okay, the stuffed animals are sort of cute.

The spirit manning the booth seems to catch on to Eliot looking at them, too, because it's urging him over. Apparently, it doesn't really take no for an answer, despite Eliot knowing he's got no chance. He sighs as he shoves the last of his funnel cake into his mouth and gets a handful of rocks to throw at the bottles.

Unsurprisingly, he doesn't win. He does manage to at least knock one bottle over, but Eliot had avoided sports as a rule during his formative years. He shrugs, and feels sort of bad that the spirit seems to be sad he didn't win. ]

Maybe next time.


➼ iii. TAKE ME FOR A RIDE

[ It's probably good that the rides aren't working. Eliot side-eyes the roller coaster as he goes by it. A ride that's basically assisted suicide? That seems pretty on brand for this place, and it makes him think that he doesn't really want to try any of the others if they ever do get powered up.

Who knows what's lurking inside the Haunted House?

It doesn't stop him from standing there, looking at the defunct rides. ]

Do you think when they work, they light up?

[ Because - What's the point of a Tunnel Of Love if it's just pitch black inside and you can't see shit? But if this all were to light up the way an amusement park should, it'd be insane. Eliot wonders how far the glow would cast. ]


➼ iv. WILDCARD

Choose your own amusement park shenanigans.

Comments

ii. Fun and Games

[moderatelymaladjusted]

[Quentin doesn't sneak off to take a closer look at the amusement part because he's sore that he wasn't the one to find it, no.

That's not it even a little. So what if he really, really wanted to be the one to map out this entire place once he figured out that there was a quest in this somewhere? And so what if he kept going two steps forward and one step back just trying to keep his head clear and his lantern from cracking up?

That anyone found it at all, with the large kill-wheel of death looming over the entire thing like a sick sort of joke, was just... great. Wonderful. Just what this place needed - more reminders that the people who used to live here were really fucking crazy.

The signs and the pamphlets are not doing this place any favors either.

It's dark and it's spooky, even if the spirits seem to be doing their best in cheering him up. Offering candied... somethings and pointing stick-like fingers at the carnival games. Quentin just shakes his head and hurries on, notebook in hand and he's trying to draw a rough map of where everything is.

And this is when he spots Eliot, back turned and collar up but he'd recognize him anywhere. Even in the dark.]

Maybe next time, what?

[endlessflask]

[ Eliot glances over his shoulder, an amused smile on his face. ]

Are you stalking me?

[ He's teasing. He's glad to see Quentin, of course he is, and he looks back at the game booth. Eliot shrugs a shoulder. ]

This game. Maybe next time I'll know how to throw.

[ There won't actually be a next time. Eliot was just trying to make the spirit feel better. ]

[moderatelymaladjusted]

I'm not not stalking you?

[Worst. Answer. Ever. And Quentin steps further in to the light on the game booth while shrugging.]

It's an amusement park. And I've managed to give myself a library headache. It's kind of like an ice cream one, except. No ice cream.

[This might not have been the worst place in the world, if only they weren't dead, if this world wasn't dead and if that giant wheel of death wasn't right there. In another life, this might have been something close to nice.]

This is some place, huh? There's even a haunted house, in case anyone wasn't freaked out enough already.

[endlessflask]

You're such a loser.

[ It's said with a lot of fondness, as if it's an endearment and not an insult, and Eliot can't help but laugh a bit. Then he shrugs, looking off towards where he thinks the haunted house is. ]

Do you think it's one of those really lame ones? You know, with the really bad pop-up skeletons, but you hear it before it pops up so you're not scared.

[moderatelymaladjusted]

[Cue eyeroll and Quentin nudges Eliot with his shoulder once he's close enough.]

Have you *seen* Beacon? It's going to be spirits ripping people's spines out and throwing them at the riders. Or, just straight up making you hallucinate.

[The shivers running down Quentin's spine is less from the cold and more from the memories of that happening and he turns to the games instead.]

Want to watch me try to win something?

FUN AND GAMES!!!!! [lemur]

[reek]

[ Theon has, quite obviously, never seen anything quite like an amusement park. This amount of steel in one place seems wasteful; would it not be better suited for weapons or armor? The amount of food seems excessive; he still doesn’t see the point in eating or drinking, but he does it when his body demands it of him. Right now, it does not. For something called an “amusement park”, he isn’t very amused.

He’s perfectly content to watch Eliot fail at knocking bottles over, though. He smirks and gives a little chuckle. Ninth grade bully strikes again. ]

What makes you think you'll do better next time than you did this time?

[endlessflask]

[ Who the hell is this guy? Why is he always just lurking and being weird and miserable?

Eliot purses his lips for a moment, then he shrugs. ]

First of all, I said maybe. Second, if you can do better, go ahead.

[reek]

[ It’s the only hobby he has here. He was good at being weird and miserable before but he’s really honing his skillset now. He doesn’t want to be a Jon Snow parallel but that is unfortunately what he’s written to be. ]

That’s hardly even a challenge.

[ Theon steps up to the booth and to his credit, he hits the tower square, knocking down the top three bottles. The bottom three don’t budge. Theon knows little of the rigged nature of carnival games, but he knows his aim. He stares at the game for a silent moment, eyes narrowed as he tries to work out where he went wrong. He isn’t playing for a prize, so he takes another shot, despite the spirit’s insistence that he stop. He hits the remaining bottles, but they hardly so much as tip. Theon snorts, turning away. ]

I’ve done better than you, but only so far as I've been allowed. This game is a cheat.

[endlessflask]

My expertise with balls is a little different than throwing them.

[ Eliot doesn't really seem fazed by the fact that Theon's better than him. A three year old girl probably has a better pitch than him. He shrugs. ]

I'm sure you can find other ways to assert your dominance around here.

i.

[scarsolderthanyou]

[Anywhere there's food is somewhere Stone is going to investigate. It's something of a trek, but then, he's also a dragon (or so all the groundlings tell him; it's easier, mostly, than explaining the whole Raksura thing, and being from a world where the word "dragon" doesn't exist, and neither do humans). So he flew for some of it, and leapt through trees for some of it, and finally comes to flutter-- all eighty-foot wingspan of him-- to a landing right in front of the place.

And craning even his neck up in the direction of the top of the coaster. ... weird.

He lingers in his full winged form, all spines and scales and long spaded tail, for a few minutes before shifting down in a cloud of dark mist and wandering in, following his nose to the smell of food. And the smell of someone else alive-ish in here.]

Is that some kind of pastry?

[endlessflask]

[ It's not exactly weird. Definitely not here, sure, but Eliot's seen all sorts of shit thanks to being king of a fucked up fairlytale land. He does raises his eyebrows, though, as he chews the funnel cake.

It's rude to talk with one's mouth full. ]

Yeah, I guess. It's more like a donut than a pastry. Is a donut a pastry?

[scarsolderthanyou]

I don't know what a donut is, so I couldn't even guess. Looks cakey.

[He does obtain one from the vendor, giving it a curious sniff, then a bite. He considers it a moment.]

Not bad. What's it called?

[endlessflask]

[ Not knowing what a donut is? That's the real horror here. Eliot even looks sympathetic for a moment. ]

It's called funnel cake. But it's not really cake, I think it's just easier than calling it Curly Fried Dough.

II (if you'll allow me a redo after February's epic failure?)

[savingthrows]

[ Eleven has been strolling around with a handful of candied acorns and pinecones, unsure about carnival food now, and utterly unaware that it's due to her own lack of understanding what kind of food a carnival is supposed to have to begin with.

The stuffed animals have caught her attention, and she's been slinking past the booth a couple of times, cradling bad carnival food and unsure how the game works until she sees Eliot try. Hesitantly, she steps forwards. ]

I can... win one for you.

<333

[endlessflask]

[ Eliot glances down at her and her arms full of candy coated weirdness, then back at the booth. Honestly, he'd absolutely assume she'd have a better chance than him at this game. He's just never needed to throw a ball before, you know? And his dad sure as hell never had a Father-Son Learn How To Throw moment with him. ]

How about if you win, you get to keep the prize, but I'll show you something better to eat.

[savingthrows]

[ Here's Eleven's secret: She's never learned how to throw a ball either. But she also doesn't quite understand what might constitute cheating in this game, so she just nods. ]

Deal. I don't... know any festival food.

[ She pays the spirits with some of the candied acorns and pinecones - regardless of how unnecessary the payment is - and picks up the rock. Weighs it in her hand... and then it just floats up a little, hovering over her open palm.

Eleven makes a throwing motion, but the rock very decidedly moves on its own through the air and knocks over an entire stack of milk bottles. ]

[endlessflask]

Oh, well, if I knew we could use telekinesis.

[ Eliot snorts, and he rolls his eyes, but it's more amused than anything. And while he probably might have called her little trick "magic", he knows better. Maybe he doesn't use his own telekinetic discipline very frequently at all, but that doesn't mean he doesn't recognize it. ]

I guess that makes us kindred spirits. And it especially means I have to introduce you to a caramel apple.

III

[legalcy]

It's a terrible shame to see standards of ethics discarded in times of great distress.

[The 9-foot-tall robot stands behind Eliot, looking disapprovingly over the dark landscapes of metal. Then again, when doesn't he look disapproving?]

I would not trust anything in this park if the roller coaster lowered the general standard of safety. It is fortunate that they are not functioning and encouraging us to test them.

[endlessflask]

I don't know, death by roller coaster on purpose seems pretty genius. Who doesn't want to die happy?

[ But he agrees that the rest of the rides probably aren't that safe, either. Which is strange, given that the food is normal, and even the games seem relatively fine, too. ]

How bad can the spinning tea cups be, though?

[legalcy]

[He is aware of Cybertronians who wish to die in a non-violent manner, but they don't advertise themselves as something entirely different.]

This is an amusement park. I find all of this immensely disturning.

[He gives the tea cup ride a look. He can already tell where it can fail safety inspections.]

How are those cups designed to avoid spinning at a dangerous rate? What precautions have been made to ensure no one falls out of their seat? By what are the bearings held in place?

[endlessflask]

Slow down there, big guy. I'm a college drop out and a magic school drop out, I'm the last person to really give you an answer there.

[ Though he has a point. Not that Eliot has ever considered tea cups to be dangerous, but, here? They would absolutely spin someone off in a deadly way. ]

Anyway, a good classic carnival ride is supposed to make you fear for your life.

i.

[withsadness]

That smells really good!

[As soon as she hears about the amusement park, you better believe that Mary is all but living in it. It should lose some of the generalized excitement what with the rides not working and it generally being empty and there being no lights, but...well, it's easy to be pleased when you have no sort of reference. She trots over to Eliot like the good friends she has previously claimed that they are.]

What is it?

Re: i.

[endlessflask]

[ Eliot looks at her, mouth full of funnel cake. He chews a bit (isn't it so frustrating how you can't seem to chew fast enough when you need to talk to someone?) before swallowing it down. ]

Funnel cake. Fried down covered with sugar.

[withsadness]

Oohhh, I love cake! I've never seen a cake that looks funny like that, though! I think I'll get one, too! If you like it, I bet it's real good.

[Because Eliot, obviously, has great taste. I mean, just look at him!]

[endlessflask]

It's pretty much a quarter of the reason life has any meaning.

[ Eliot has fond memories of going to county fairs and hiding out by himself while he ate plenty of them, thank you kindly. ]

Do you … Want me to show you where they are?