[GP] Midnight Carnival

[st_aff]

Once, back at the beginning, Songrans had started the Carnival at midnight and ended it an hour later at one minute past. At least, it was reasonable to suppose they had, but, in truth, it had been such a long time ago, it was an article of faith rather than fact. Nowadays, Midnight Carnival began when the sun went down and ended when it came up again. It had been wryly suggested by many more than one Songran that it ought to be renamed "All Night Carnival," but somehow it never was. It made for convenient fiction on the Day of Kosal that all licentiousness had taken place in a single, short, non-existent hour, and so it remained as it was.

What it was depended on who did the describing. It might be wild twists of fortune at games of chance tended by sloe-eyed men and women in brilliant costume. Or it might be fine rice wine sampled from one end of the street to the next until the world spun like Samnang's wheel. For lovers of the Youngest, it might be greasepaint and cartwheels or blindfold-tag in a crowd or blowing soap bubbles at passersby. Chanda's devotees spent the night in sexual revels or romantic trysts under firework strewn skies, while enterprising followers of Vanna might find selling candy or trinkets or operating currency exchange more to their delight.

As soon as the sun set, buildings vomited forth a brightly festooned sea of humanity lit by colored silk or paper lanterns. The night smelled of sweetened puffed rice, rich and salty fish dumplings, spicy chili-fried insects. Turn a corner and chocolate, sugar, cinnamon, gave way to sweat, smoke, wine and sex. By midnight, the Carnival resembled nothing so much as a bejeweled caterpillar comprised of myriad masked and painted faces, in wild distortions of ecstasy, agony, and joy.

Comments

Regina - tag Dyson, OTA

[st_oriedqueen]

Regina skirted the edge of the carnival, watching the revelry without joining in. She must have looked the part of a small girl with her nose pressed to the glass of a sweet shop, because an older merchant with kindness and wisdom in his eyes, offered her a mask. "Thank you, but I shouldn't spend the money."

He shook his head and pressed the mask into her hand. "Masks are freedom. In one, you can be anyone you want. Take it as my gift, and may your eyes shine bright from beneath it."

The mask would have to be telepathic to turn her into who she wanted to be, since she didn't know herself. But the word 'freedom' stuck in her craw. She had longed for it since she first learned the word and had but rarely had it. She took the mask with gratitude, then settled it on her face, and tied it behind her head. She didn't feel freer immediately, but she did drift closer to the crowds.

Re: Regina - tag Dyson, OTA

[st_arknaked]

Dyson liked a good party, and this was a very good party. He'd acquired a mask at the behest of some of the revelers and was at one of the stalls that was selling drinks, a decent ale in his hand surveying the crowd.

When he saw her he didn't recognize her immediately, but as she moved closer he was almost convinced that it was Regina.

Curious to see what she made of the party he retrieved a second drink, and walked over to offer it to her.

"You're missing one of these."

Re: Regina - tag Dyson, OTA

[st_oriedqueen]

Not long after Regina felt eyes on her, a man moved out of the crowds to bring her a drink. She recognized him almost immediately as Dyson, difficult to miss with the image of his naked body emblazoned on her mind. Did he recognize her?

Regina extended her hand to take the ale, even though it wasn't her preference. She could be anyone she wanted, right? Whether he knew her or not, she could be a woman who drank ale with a handsome man and smiled prettily at him. "Thank you. I set my last down, and I seem to have lost it."

Re: Regina - tag Dyson, OTA

[st_arknaked]

"You'll have to be more careful with this one." He raised his own glass in salute, "Slante."

Re: Regina - tag Dyson, OTA

[st_oriedqueen]

Regina moved near enough to touch her glass to his and tried not to think of other men and other drinks. "Slainte." The ale had a bitter taste, but it wasn't unpleasant, and after she lowered her glass again, she instinctively chased the foam from her lip with her tongue.

Re: Regina - tag Dyson, OTA

[st_arknaked]

He watched her lick her lips, and couldn't help but smile at the unconsciously alluring way she did it.

"not the best I've had, but not the worst either."

Re: Regina - tag Dyson, OTA

[st_oriedqueen]

"It's..." The words common and earthy occurred to her, but she allowed them to fade back and chose, "Foamier than what I'm used to." True, since she generally drank wine or spirits. She took another sip and tried to find other words to describe it. "It tastes bitter, like a grain that roasted too long."

She turned her gaze up to his and let herself ask questions she wouldn't acknowledge not knowing the answers to, usually. "What makes an ale good or bad?"

Re: Regina - tag Dyson, OTA

[st_arknaked]

"Our taste buds mostly. Good barley, good water, good hops. everyone likes them put together in different ways depending on their own preference."

Personally he liked a dark stout rather than the more bitter taste of an ale.

Re: Regina - tag Dyson, OTA

[st_oriedqueen]

Subjective, of course. Regina wrinkled her nose in a way that was just visible beneath the mask. "Something else to learn the hard way." A little of her more usual tartness seeped into the words before she reminded herself she didn't have to be the formerly Evil Queen tonight.

"Unless, of course, someone was willing to guide me," she suggested, only mildly flirtatious with the mask containing the usual smolder.

[st_arcrossed]

Rebekah had a mask in hand but she had yet to put it on as she stood still in the middle of the crowd like a statue in a sea of activity. Her eyes were half closed as she let the sounds and smells swirl around her, nearly drowning her senses as she waited for something.

In truth, she was hunting at the moment. This was the perfect place to find someone to feed on and it would allow her to go a longer time before she would need to feed on Sam again. It would give him a little more time to recuperate and she thought that was important.

Her long blonde curls cascaded down her back when she lifted her chin, sorting through the sounds in hopes of finding someone who would be a good target. Maybe someone causing trouble? There was always one or two in a crowd like this. Someone she wouldn't feel all that bad feeding on.

[st_oriedqueen]

Next week, when the sun is up.

Regina's upper lip curled in a snarl of frustration. She'd bent her pride enough to let herself enjoy him and she got 'next week'? He'd probably been mocking her. The whole thing was too... fairy tale, with masks and kisses, and pretenses, to be real.

She snatched an ale off a nearby table and dropped the appropriate coin in its place. She didn't care what it was. She needed a drink. Or three.

As tangled up inside her head as Regina was, she didn't see Rebekah until they were nearly face to face. So much for her efforts at avoiding her ex-lover who didn't know her from Eve. (Lillith, who was she kidding?) "Rebekah," she said with a nod and tried to keep several years worth of friendship and affection out of her voice.

[st_arcrossed]

Rebekah had seen the stunning brunette around since she was kind of impossible to miss. That and there was a strange vibe around the woman, a sort of tension that Rebekah could pick up on but didn't understand. Still, she offered a polite smile because it was someone from the hotel. Someone who was in the same boat as her.

"It's Regina, right?" She asked before the woman could even move on and she arched a brow while tilting her head to the side. "Your name, I mean? Is it Regina?"

[st_oriedqueen]

Hearing Rebekah's voice saying her name--like a question, uncertain, instead of intimately knowing--summoned the sting of tears behind her eyes and she bit down on the inside of her lip to stop them, then nodded.

"Regina Mills," she said after a minute, and then, because she'd had enough of this night already, "If you're looking for a meal, I'll feed you." It was hardly the first time she'd done it.

[st_arcrossed]

Rebekah recognized the struggle to hold back unbidden tears because there had been plenty of times when she had bit her own lip to keep the emotions back. It was rare that she succeeded given her nature and what she was but she still recognized when someone was visibly struggling for control over something.

Tilting her head a little again, she watched with the same sense of curiosity as before but it swiftly turned to surprise. Then she scowled, stepping closer. "How..." Then she pulled herself together. "What are you talking about?"

[st_oriedqueen]

Anyone approached by a vampire of Rebekah's power ought to flinch away, anyone but an enchantress of her own power--or a woman who'd made love to her dozens of times. "I knew you. A version of you. Somewhere else." She ached for the familiarity of that friendship, needed it badly. "It's all right. I'm safe for you. We rescued Hope together, with Hayley. You helped me save my son. We were... friends."

[st_arcrossed]

Having some experience already with the idea of different versions existing somewhere else, Rebekah doesn't immediately dismiss the idea put forth to her. She did blink a little but the further mention of Hayley and Hope both sort of help too.

"Friends?" She really didn't have a lot of those but she was still a touch wary as she looked the woman over. "If you know Hope, who is her father?"

[st_oriedqueen]

"Lovers." It seemed pointless to hide that now, when Regina would be more than happy to take Rebekah back to her bed. "Hope's father is your brother Niklaus, who you usually call Nik."

She paused to let that sink in, knowing it would be as close to proof as she could get without reciting intimate details.

Thorfinn - OTA

[st_artingover]

Even night time in this place was much to hot for Thorfinn's liking, like with his past experiances with world travels, every place seemed hot when his heart ached for the chill of snow and ice. Still, he was an adventurer at heart, and a new world called to him. He had spent most of his day fishing in the hot sun since it was free.

With the sun long down and the heat still around, Thorfinn moved quietly through the Carnival, it was unlike anything he had ever seen before. He had a pair of tunic pants on, but no shirt. He didn't usually like to display his scars, but, tonight he figured few would pay mind yo him. It was hot, and it was about the only way for him not to let the humidity choke him. He was following a smell more than anything as he walked past the merriment around, the smell of cinnamon had caught his attention. Spicy, hot and sweet, it made him curious to find that smell.

Re: Thorfinn - OTA

[st_arkunderitall]

Sansa didn't mind the heat so much. It was true that she had spent most of her childhood in Winterfell but the last few years had been spent in King's Landing which had helped her to adapt to warmer weather enough that she wasn't in shock when she ended up somewhere a lot warmer. Still, she was aware of the fact that her hair was damp against the nape of her neck as she walked down the street with a curious gaze going this way and that.

Then she caught sight of someone walking around without a shirt on and she did a mild double-take when she noticed the scars as well. Of course, she recognized the man and she found herself calling out to him before he could get too far.

"Thorfinn!"

[st_artingover]

Thorfinn turned at the sound of the voice, almost expecting a head of blonde hair to be there instead of the beautiful redhead. Sometimes Sansa sounded like Arneis, he knew she didn't really sound much like her, but the part of him thats always lost in his dark dreams and old memories would overlap the two women, the same as he had once done with Margaery.

When he saw Sansa he smiled for her, he couldn't help it. The smile lit his face up in the rare way that seemed to wash the constant brood away. He moved to make his way towards her, careful not to cut anyone off or walk into anyone. When he came forward, he tipped his head for her, like her the nap of his neck, and his forehead both were damp with sweat, as was his chest but, he was not built for hot places. Even summers for him had always been more like spring.

"Good evening, Sansa." He spoke as he kept his head dipped, at least until the long blond locks started spilling over his shoulder, only then did he staighten his posture and look up at her.

[st_arkunderitall]

There were times when his quiet, brooding nature reminded her slightly of Jon but there wasn't much else to compare beyond that. Thorfinn was different and intriguing in his own right, especially when he was walking around without a shirt and causing her cheeks to warm when she realized it.

Trying very hard to keep her eyes trained on his face, she offered a sweeter smile while dipping her head in much the same fashion again. "Good evening, Thorfinn."

She liked to say his name.

"If I had known you were coming here, I would have asked to accompany you. This place is very busy, I keep worrying that I might get lost." She wasn't sure what would happen to her if she did.

[st_artingover]

He smiled down up to her, she was one he didn't mind having to look up to. He had found her beautiful in both worlds, something like a princess from the sagas. Someone to protect. He tried hard not to brood around her but he often did.

He offered his arm as Margaret had taught him so they could walk together. "I hadn't planned to, it was a last moment idea. I spent my youth exploring, so I guess that side of me never died. I would be pleased to walk with you now, if you want it."

[st_arkunderitall]

"I can't say that I spent my youth exploring but I did often wish to see different parts of the world." Which was why she had pushed so hard to go to Winterfell when her father was made the Hand. It was a decision that she would ultimately come to regret but that didn't quiet the urge completely.

"I have never really seen anything like this before." She added, looking around with an expression akin to awe. Then she was looking at him with a curious smile. "Have you?"

[st_artingover]

"I can say the traveling was the best part of my youth." A grim tone snuck through before he forced it away, offering her a soft smile as he walked along with her. It was always so nice to be around her.

"Nothing quiet so much, the closest would be Jarvik." He explained. "The market where we all trade."

[st_arkunderitall]

Sansa studied him quietly for a moment, trying to figure out the reason his tone changed but she didn't know him nearly so well that she could hazard a guess. She did smile when he looked at her, ducking her head to look away quickly so it wouldn't seem like she was staring.

Then she looked up at their surroundings. "There was a market in King's Landing but I wasn't...I didn't go there often."

It also had bad memories for her but she pushed them away with a little shiver.