logsinthenight | Play, My Darling, Play [OPEN]

Entry tags:

Play, My Darling, Play [OPEN]

characters: Eleven & OPEN
location: The Amusement Park
date/time: March 11 to roughly March 18, as she'll be coming back a couple of times
content: It's Eleven's first time at an amusement park! What joy! How does this work again?
warnings: none to start with, will add when necessary

➣ Snacks

[ It might just be that Eleven really knows much too little about amusement park, given that she's never been to one.

Initially she can be found making her way around the park grounds almost tentatively, unsure about the whole arrangement in its strange, quiet darkness. But her dark brown eyes are wide with wonder. Eleven is wearing a purple and brown plaid shirt that's quite clearly too big on her. It doesn't matter, though. She asked to join the camp. Plaid is the camp uniform.

Camp might not be right now, but Eleven wants to make a good first impression. She's never belonged to a camp before, and is quite excited for the first time. She imagines it's sort of like when Mike, Will, Dustin and Lucas play Dragons or Dungeons, only this is for people who can fight. People like her.

When she finally decides to be bold, Eleven approaches one of the vendors for snack foods. Mike and the others, she remembers, had talked all summer about the food at the 4th of July fair, and... well, she's never gotten to go. But there must be something to it... right?

When she walks away with a handful of candied acorns and caramel drizzled pine cones, there's a small frown on her face. ]

Doesn't... seem right.

➣ Games

[ The games are another matter entirely. Oh, Eleven gravitates towards the stuffed animals immediately, even though they're stuffed with leaves - no judgment here, who is she to judge what makes for good stuffing for plush toys? But the other games entice her just as much, and the initial hesitation quickly melts into wide eyes and a look of wonder, thinly veiled excitement.

If you're nearby, Eleven might reach out and curl her fingers into your sleeve, or if you are perhaps playing a game, she might position herself next to you and observe, enraptured. ]

Can you... show me how?

➣ Slides

[ Eleven isn't scared.

No, really, she isn't.

Still, she appears to be hovering around the Super Slide with wide, uncertain eyes and a good portion of hesitation. It's not that big, she knows that.

And it's colourful, so that must mean it's... fun, right?

Perhaps a second opinion is required. And so she lookes at the nearest person, points at the slide and asks just that: ]

Is it... fun?

➣ Rides Part I

[ Here... is the truth: Eleven almost breaks the tea cups.

Perhaps better start a little bit ahead of that.

The rides don't work, Eleven learns as much quickly as she moves around the amusement park. The first day she's disappointed, but easily distracted by snacks and games. The following days, however, it occurs to her that she's strong.

Like... really strong.

So here is what Eleven does: She starts with the bumper cars. Now, she cannot create electricity where there is nothing, sure, but what she can do is move things with her mind. And it's not that hard, with a lot of concentration, to make it one of the cars go. So where there was no movement on the rides before, pretty soon there's a girl sitting in a bumper car, one hand outstretched. The car moves and swerves without her touching any of its steering mechanisms.

From there, it's easy enough to stand outside the ride and make several of the cars move at once.

Or to make the bull buck, to swing the Viking Ship, to spin the Flying Chairs - they might not fly as high as they would otherwise, but they get a little bit of lift, and that counts for something - right? The tower drop is a bit tricky to figure out at first when she doesn't know what it's supposed to do, but once she knows, it's a matter of pushing it up, letting it fall and just grinding it to a halt - and then immediately wincing at the uncomfortable screech of metal there, so maybe that's a pass. The carousel, however, spins in lazy circles, though the horses don't move a lot - too many individual parts, that.

She can't do it indefinitely, and not all of it in the same day. But she can be found in the park on several days, offering to operate a ride or two for interested parties.

The ferries wheel is a no, though, as is the roller coaster. Too big. Now, the fun house and haunted house are simply too complex to operate in whole, but if you'd like to go inside she'll do her best to make things spin or jump out at request - the latter of course defeats the purpose entirely, but what are you going to do.

At any rate - join her for some rides! She will excitedly offer the opportunity to anyone passing by with a big smile. Sure, they might be slower and bumpier and less exciting than they should be - but Eleven is going to do her best to help you have a good time. ]

➣ Friday 13th (Rides Part II + Game mishaps)

[ It's the tea cups that do her in. Everything is spinning, there's a lot of metal, but frankly like the tower drop it's just perhaps a little too much. So on Friday the 13th, not knowing to be weary of such a date, Eleven tries her luck with the tea cups. She's been spending a couple of days at the amusement park, practicing to move the rides. Surely, this will work just as well.

It's perhaps been a while since Eleven looked this elated about the use of her powers. Weird, perhaps, to see them on display after she has kept them close to her chest so much during December and January... oh well, moving on.

Now, the tea cups... She should have frankly just shoved them in the same category as the tower drop, ferris wheel and roller coaster. She still tries, though... and it's with some horrible crunching of metal that she's chased away from the ride by chittering spirits. Nothing broke - probably, maybe, hopefully - but Eleven is hot-faced with embarrassment. ]

Not... trying that again.

[ And other than that, it just seems like a weird day. She gets a snack from the fair, and drops it before being able to take one bite, she tries to play one of the games and has no luck to the point where she tries to cheat with her powers and then nearly breaks the game.

After a few hours, she is quite sullen. ]

Not... my day.

➣ Wild Card - Anything and Everything Else

[ ooc: Feel free to hit me up if you'd like to plot for a different prompt, or just write something different up! ]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

. . . yes.

[She blinks down at Eleven just once, unsure if it's her being addressed. But yes, evidently it is, and what's better than a request for knowledge?]

It's not overly difficult. You simply throw the ball in such a way that it knocks down the bottles.

[Hm.]

Normally, these games are rigged, so the vendor can make as much profit as possible without losing all his prizes. But with these . . . I imagine they offer a sporting chance.

Now. Take the baseball in your dominant hand-- likely this one, [she says, waving her right. She takes a baseball as well and nods down at Eleven.]

[ Eleven listens to the woman - pretty, she thinks - with rapt attention, soaking up the explanations. She frowns a little at the mention of rigged games, although not for the reason one might assume. ]

What is... rigged?

[ She stumbles over the word a little bit, voice catching. There's a little bit of a pattern to her speech that's unusual. She speaks slowly, and sometimes there are pauses in odd moments of her sentences, as if she has to place the words onto her tongue very deliberately.

Still she follows the instructions and picks up the baseball with her right hand. ]

Rigged is a verb: to rig, rigging, so on and so forth. It means to manipulate a situation in such a way that it comes out to your advantage. In this case, it would mean to-- oh, I don't know. Fill the bottles with lead, perhaps, to avoid them being knocked down so easily.

[But hm . . . it takes her a moment she reaches down, gently adjusting Eleven's fingers until she grips it correctly.]

Now. Wind up like this . . . put force into your arm . . . and throw.

[And she demonstrates, slowly but effectively, throwing the ball right at the center of all those bottles.]

I don't know!

[But there's a look of almost manic excitement in her wide eyes as she grabs Eleven's hand.]

I've never been to a place like this before. But I like how it looks, so let's go try it together!

[What's the worst that could happen, right? Giggling, Mary tugs Eleven forward as she heads for the stairs.]

Practicing?

[ no. that's too clinical. he gets it-- amusement parks are always a bit of a mixed bag for him. There was the time he went undercover at a circus-- even managed to drag Dick along with him- but he hates most things clown and funhouse related. it's not entirely surprising that they're discovering more of what used to be a normal life in Beacon.

It's just sad, because none of it works.

It's basically just a dead memory, and he's gotten the impression that El isn't exactly your normal meta who had a nice life before coming into her powers. ]

[ Mary's enthusiasm is infectious, and Eleven can't help but let herself be tugged along without resistance. She can be hesitant about things that make her unsure, up until someone she trusts pulls on her and instills her with that sense of adventure a child her age should still have.

As they make their way to the stars, Eleven still marvels at the entire thing. ]

I've... never been either. I'm glad... you're here.

Edited 2020-03-13 06:09 (UTC)

[ Eleven grins up at him, fingers flexing. There's a droplet of blood slowly making its way down from her nose - nothing unusual at this point. It always happens when she uses her powers. ]

Yes. But... also for fun?

[ She looks a little sheepish about it, as if she's half embarrassed to be using her powers for something entirely, completely frivolous. ]

To rig. Rigging. Rigged. Means to... manipulate.

[ Eleven repeats the words slowly. She places them on her tongue with the methodical care of someone still learning, but the way she speaks doesn't give indications of any particular accent (other than the very generic "American").

And after committing the word to memory, she watches Rosalind carefully, mimicking winding up the ball... and then she hesitates, soft frown creasing her forehead. ]

Is it... rigging... if I use my powers?

[ so there was something else. he glances at the bumper cars, watches as they hit each other, without anyone in the cars to guide them. he could see the appeal, given there wasn't much else that could be done without electricity. ]

Bumper cars is a good target for fun, yeah.

[ he's not gonna judge. ]

You ever been to a functioning amusement park?

Pretty sure you're not actually supposed to eat those, kid. Don't think your teeth can take it.

[Stone, on the other hand, knows where the vendor who ~~sells~~ gives away actual funnel cake is, and he graciously offers Eleven the second half of his.]

Try that one, instead.

[ Eleven nods, because yeah, she had a feeling this couldn't be the real deal. Why would the others get so excited over... this?

The funnel cake though... well, that looks good. Kinda like a misshapen waffle, but not in a bad way, and Eleven accepts the treat and bites into it before she things to ask - around a mouthful: ]

What is it?

[ Eleven shakes her head. ]

There was one... at home. For July. We wanted to go, but... Monsters.

[ Eleven makes a gesture that implies a 'well, what's a girl to do' attitude about it. She doesn't seem broken up about it - not having normal childhood experiences isn't something she's sad about because most of the time she doesn't know it was something she was supposed to have all along. Instead she delights in everything new she gets. ]

Do you want... to ride?

[ peter had never really been to amusement parks as a child: he'd spent his time doing other things — inside, playing with the first chemistry set ben and may had gotten him; outside, cycling along the street near their house in forest hills; outside, at shea stadium, with ben, watching the mets play and inevitably lose.

ben and may had taken him once or twice, he thinks, but at the time the rides had all seemed so large and he'd been afraid of heights. he remembers walking around, holding an ice cream or candy floss, avoiding the rollercoasters and the waltzers (because he'd get motion sick) and anything that used a pendulum as a basis.

he'd try the games — but his aim sucked and his throw was even worse, so—.

but he'd come to one or two as a young adult and as a less young adult, with gwen and with mj. he'd come to more as spider-man, inevitably fighting one of his b or c or z list enemies who, for reasons unknown, seemed to think that their theatrics were, like, family friendly or something. something about playing to a crowd? who knows. maybe he'll ask the next time—.

he's here now as peter. morbid curiosity and a sense of horror has him wanting to look into the quote-unquote euthanasia rollercoaster — he wants to know if there's anything there that will explain why, will give an answer that doesn't make him feel sick to his stomach and make him want to deck someone, or several people, or—.

(he'd said to mj once that he wasn't a violent person, just a person that sometimes used violence as an answer and he thinks that he'd still mostly stand by that, but anyone that decides killing children an acceptable response to anything might just have him reassessing that statement. you know, momentarily.)

he doesn't mean to find eleven, hadn't been deliberately seeking her out. he'd had the thought that it'd be a nice (quote-unquote, god, even the thought that he's thinking anywhere here is nice is enough to make him feel a little bit queasy) place to take her, but only on her terms.

he'd found one of her memories and it'd answered a few lingering questions he'd had about el's upbringing. it'd answered a few more he hadn't really wanted confirmation of, but knowing helps. it puts a few things into perspective. it'd been horrifying, of course. distressing. he might have cried a little, both for eleven and for her lack of childhood. he might have wanted, too, to web anyone involved in that to the top of a very tall building somewhere, in only their underpants, and point out that it the webbing only lasts an hour so they'd best hope that someone else would come along and rescue them—.

but that wasn't the issue. that wasn't why he was leaving it up to her: they hadn't spoken about that yet.

in truth, peter's spent some time thinking, predominately alone — kol had found one of his memories. eliot had. quentin, too, and bruce. the irony isn't lost on peter: he'd spent so long attempting to cultivate his secret identity that it'd become habit even when it wasn't strictly necessary, even when it didn't make sense. logically, he knows that it'd be near impossible to keep it a total secret here in beacon — the population's too small, too entwined with one another for it to really make sense, and yet the thought of saying it was enough for him to break out in a cold, panicked sweat, the memory of may led on that hospital bed—.

and then gwen had arrived. gwen stacy, and he'd used her as an excuse for why he continued to deny that spider-man was peter parker, because if gwen could arrive in beacon, who else? who's next? harry? beck? arcade?

he thinks that it'd probably be easier here, for him, if he'd just admit it at large — I, peter parker, am spider-man, and yet. eliot had found the memory of gwen, his gwen, whilst kol had found a memory of otto. of his death, quote-unquote (it'd raised the internal question of why that hadn't been enough to bring him here, but he doesn't think he'll ever get an answer to that). bruce had found a memory of mj, and that had been—

that had taken peter a little bit of time to get over. not bruce finding it, not the conversation that had followed, but reliving that memory. he'd found himself wondering, again, what was happening with mj back home.

at length, then, he falls into step beside eleven and he glances down at the top of her head for a moment, before looking back at the slide in front of them both. he wonders if it's her first time to a park and decides that the answer's: probably. ]

It's fun, [ he tells her. ] It was one of the only rides I'd even think about trying as a kid. [ even if calling it a ride's stretching it. ]

Edited 2020-03-17 12:29 (UTC)

[Hey, anything Stone gives her will be good to eat, he promises. He certainly doesn't blame her for biting first and asking later, or for talking with her mouth full. Raksuran warriors have much worse table manners. And there's not even a table around here.

He looks pleased at her eating, anyway.]

It's called funnel cake. No, I don't know why, either. I can show you where to get more if you like it.

No. That's simply using your abilities. Perfectly fair.

[She says it firmly, squashing that notion before it begins. Just as Rosalind using her intellect isn't cheating, nor is Eleven using her powers.]

Besides: you're here to win. Rigging implies that you take the role of someone setting up the game.

[A beat, and she takes a step back, nodding.]

Show me what you can do.

I'm glad you're here, too! Everything's more fun with friends. That's what I think, anyway.

[She doesn't actually have enough experience to know the difference between having them with or without friends, but this seems like it'll be a good test of the theory. Mary let's go of Eleven's hands just so they can more easily climb up the stairs together, but while half of her wants to dart quickly up to the top, the other can barely stop looking back at Eleven.]

Can you imagine how it would look with lights? I bet it would be magical!

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Play, My Darling, Play [OPEN]

games;

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slides

rides

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Snacks!

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— slide/wildcard.

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