[SE] [SWE] up, up and away

so we take our time and skip around some

The egg is taken and nothing is received in place of it (that he knows of, MP AYOOO), and it leaves him relatively empty handed and unfortunately rather alone, which are two things Thorn isn’t that used to these days. He steps away, trying to peer at the games and events going around and wondering if there was anywhere a drink might be procured when he hears a familiar voice, spinning on his heel to look over and see Zavien and some relief finally forces its way into his shoulders. “Hey. Yeah, that’d be nice.” He hadn’t realized he was starving up until this point, but as he spies the food in the Commander’s arms, his stomach rumbles quietly.

Reaching over to help him take some of the food that’s offered, Thorn’s grin brightens a touch as he looks down to see Sol, offering a little wave and a hi to the dragon before he squints around in the vibrant sun. “You wanna go sit down somewhere? Think I saw some lil desert lizards Sol might wanna harass?” He gestures to a quiet spot off to the side where there does indeed seem to be some tiny little lizards trying to steal some food from the event and scurry it away.

Hawthorn

half my love is on the run

enemies to lovers, but you'll never own my heart

Coming away mostly empty handed too (aside from the MP that she doesn’t know is there), the attuned watches her sister start to get into a little fight with the vendor. She winces slightly for the sake of the poor man, stepping away with a shrug and a quiet sigh as her brother arrives to whisk her sister away – leaving her relatively alone – which is not something that Caly is used to by any means.

So, as she pointedly avoids looking anywhere but Kaisel and Flora for the moment, turning to see who she might find to spend the event with. It’s her father’s voice that reaches her first, instantly brightening the otherwise potentially dour mood for her. “Nah, nothin’ far as I can tell.” She opens her hands to reveal them unfortunately empty with a little puff of a sound leaving her. “It’s all good. Came out of an explodin’ mud beast in the Greatwood anyway.” Tucking a stray lock of golden blonde from her face behind her ear, she shoves up her sunglasses to flash Jack a dazzling smile. “You get anythin’?”

Calypso

one-sided, it's pathetic how you think you're being smart

SUNJATA

high as hell, feeling fine
nothing bad but nothing kind

Sunjata’s hands come away with nothing, too, from the egg exchange, leaving him open to glance over at Colt and see what kind of things she’s collected from her egg exchange. It seems painfully obvious that she’d gotten the lucky egg, as if his luck might have changed had he had literally anything else (it probably wouldn’t have, let’s be real, it’s Sunjata.) “You know you don’t have to do that.” He says with a soft laugh.

But he does lean into her space a bit to try and spy the trinkets she’s won, curious and distracted enough that when she grabs his arm with a steel trap’s worth of strength, he sparks up a touch in the scars beneath her hand. “A.. yeah, sure. We can do that.” He half stumbles over the words before the realization hits, spotting the young demigod as he turns to guide her away from the main affair for the hot air balloons.

The least he can do is be kind and get them a spot so she doesn’t have to worry about it at all. And only when they’re finally secured in the seat of the hot air balloon, does he finally take the chance to be snoopy and look over at the demigod that’s caused so much stress.

not a word from me
at least nothing you would mind

// nothing is as simple, I worship, you're my temple //

“Oh meee,” Asta drawls with an easy grin and absolute amusement that his charm has hit as well as it has. He can tell based off of the squeeze to his side as they turn in their eggs, and while he unloads each of his eggs to the vendor (feeling a touch like a hen about them), the butcher’s tail sweeps against the side of Dantalion’s leg as he withdraws his prizes – inspecting them curiously before he hears his lover's question.

Blinking while he’s shaking the snow globe in his hands, he hears the sigh of a balloon losing air with a huff of a laugh that interrupts any kind of answer he has for Danta. “My shoelaces?” He asks, playfully offended that Danta would suggest such a thing. “Darling, we can do much better than that.” As such, he reaches into the breast pocket of his jacket, searching for something when he procures a piece of string (kept on hand for potential small tourniquet needs (don’t ask). “Will this suffice?”

Astaroth

// and heaven, hold your gates open //

Zavien

Sol takes Hawthorn's wave as enthusiastic praise for his 'catch,' tail wagging and head held high as he sits between them like a golden statue presented to the best hunter. The abundance of pride radiating from his companion has his smile widening, sharing a look with Thorn that definitely communicates this is a common occurrence. 

Sharing the load of food, Zavien nods his head, finding the suggestion extremely enticing - a chance to escape some of the hustle, bustle, and overflowing stimulation. "Sounds great. I'm not sure how much longer I can hold these, and Sol should probably work off some of the food he's already eaten." The dragon tilts his head, trying to decide between excitement at chasing lizards and offense at the insult. Zavien ignores him, leaning a little closer to Thorn as he whispers, "You know, I have no idea where he puts it all."

He glances down at Sol, smirking his affection before leading them towards the bench separate from the stalls. It immediately releases the stifling hold on his shoulders, the sounds dimming and the press of people dissipating to something more comfortable. It pulls the tension from his smile, although the darkness still lingers at the edge of his eyes as he takes a seat next to Thorn. "Enjoying the festival?" 

As predicted, Sol immediately drops his bone and takes off for a skittering lizard, a shooting star of gold streaking across the sand.

There's some good in this world,

and it's worth fighting for.

COLT

She's a heartbreak coming in cold
Trainwreck in a red dress

She doesn't pay much mind to the trade of prizes that happens in return for her egg, not once her focus is snagged by Nova, the whole weight of her world tilting into the grip she's got on Sunjata 's arm. The subtle flash that skitters across her skin is kept at bay by her shades, but the flare of it echoes every sentiment inside her right now, rather feeling like a torrent of lightning strikes are landing in every cluster of nerves in her body. It nearly roots her to the spot, but she's got such a clutch on Sunjata that when he agrees to move, she finds the ability to trail along with him, little better than a golden wisp.

Her prizes remain at the kiosk, abandoned.

Purposefully not glancing over her shoulder back towards Nova, and tilting her gaze down towards their feet, she avoids any other displays of the Marins or the Captain. Each moment that passes thereafter allows her to ease, the shift faint but as sure as snowmelt in spring as she settles into a basket with the Flood. With a roar of fire and some manuevering of gadgets she wouldn't ordinarily trust so readily, they lift off the ground, and Colt can finally release the coil of tension. Up here, they're safe. "If this thing tries to run away with us, at least you've got some helpful shifts," she murmurs, more for her own reassurance than anything else. Her attention has lifted up into the warm tent of air above them, one hand curling over the edge of the basket with a grip too strong to be fully trusting of this contraption.

She sighs softly. "Thank you, for getting me out of the house." She offers a fragile smile, because much as she still maybe regrets it, especially now that they're bobbing along the air and she ran into Nova (an inevitability she knew she couldn't fully avoid), she also knows she'd be going just as mad in the confines of her own home. At least here, there's a distracting thrill of potential hot air balloon failure. "Any luck?" She doesn't add Ru's name, but it's implied.

---

Colt leaves her two items behind

Balloon Jellyfish | A translucent balloon shaped like a jellyfish that floats gently at shoulder height. Occasionally changes colour based on the moods of people nearby, but never accurately.

Miniature Burner Dragon | A tiny origami dragon that, when you pull its tail, puffs a warm (never hot) breath of air strong enough to flutter papers or cool your drink.

She's a neon nightmare
Lookin' for a tab to put some trouble on ice

Slow dancing in the living room, time stops when I'm kissing you

Absolutely not worth every coin he spent on it, the enormous Tumsea plush is the diamond of the day, and Kaisel hugs it fiercely to his chest. "It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!" he informs Flora with enough dramatics to warrant his own laughter, the sound competing with the bright seat of it on his features as he peers around the plush edges at her. It's Spice's addition to his shoulder's though that pulls his exuberant gaze from the happy glow of Flora, and Kaisel stiffens immediately for the sniffspection. He holds the Tumsea steady as the pale neck snakes out, but unable to reisist, although he does try to bite onto his lip in an effort to do just that, he suddenly wriggles the Tumsea plush straight towards Spice in an attempt to buffet her face with a sudden onslaught of green softness, making a terrific moaning warble as he goes that he suspects is what a Tumsea might sound like.

Choking out a laugh around the little stunt, he beams back at Flora with agreement, "yup!" Her concerns about space don't phaze him in the slightest, but the offer of a deck-side sleepover is absolutely something he can get on board with. "Ooooh, yes! We could do some star-gazing while we're at it, make a cozy outdoor fortress, and have themed drinks." The theme being, obviously, a mishmash of turtles, stars, and general outdoorsy-ness. With her closer now, he reaches up to gently pat her cheek with one of the plushie's flippers, letting it subside to a soft trail down the length of her jaw and ending with a gentle smack under her chin.

"Hmmmmm," he ponders, twisting that same flipper so the Tumsea is now rubbing its own turtley chin. "I'm thinking...Theodore, Theo for short, Teddy if you're his friend." Which, clearly meant they could call him Teddy. "I said he's sleeping with us, I didn't say he was taking my job," he grins back at her, a more devilish curve sinking some of the previous boyish brightness into something more subdued but no less eager. "I'll always big spoon you, that's a promise." Sealing it with a wink and a quickfire kiss as he leans in, he leaves Teddy the Tumsea in her capable hands.

"Brb, I gotta go turn in my egg," he tells her as he pulls away, leaving her in charge before he zips off to the egg kiosk. After turning over his one egg, a bit behind the majority of the crowd that had gone there, he sees some prizes waiting nearby the stall. Figuring it's a leave 'em and take 'em sort of situation, he swipes up the little toys and reappears at Flora's side with them in tow.

"This is definitely for you," he informs her, passing off the jellyfish ballooon. "It matches your umbrella!" Which hardly seems important since it's not often you need a balloon and an umbrella together, but it seems reason enough she deserves to have it. He holds up his other item though, the orgiami dragon puffing out a little breath. "It's like a teeny Spice!"

---

Kaisel picks up Colt's 2 items and gives the Balloon Jellyfish to Flora

Balloon Jellyfish | A translucent balloon shaped like a jellyfish that floats gently at shoulder height. Occasionally changes colour based on the moods of people nearby, but never accurately.

Miniature Burner Dragon | A tiny origami dragon that, when you pull its tail, puffs a warm (never hot) breath of air strong enough to flutter papers or cool your drink.

Kaisel

I found love in the palm of your hands

open hand or closed fist would be fine

Already starting to deflate a bit at Asta's questioning - hilarious, given that Danta's expression matches the noise coming from the snowglobe - when it turns out that his bemusement isn't the precursor to a no, the Maverick can't stop the grin that spreads across his face. "Better than shoelaces?" he asks, dubious for the sake of it, his tail thrashing its delight at his heels.

"Oho," he exclaims as Asta produces a makeshift tourniquet (of course Danta doesn't question it), accepting the string and blowing a fiery kiss towards the other man in thanks. Tying it to his kite charm, when it rises dutifully into the air to begin flying in lazy circuits around his head, suffice to say that Danta is obsessed. "I think I'm keeping this forever," he decides.

Dantalion

the blood is rare and sweet as cherry wine

// nothing is as simple, I worship, you're my temple //

He’s pretty sure he’ll never tire of the way Danta gets so animated – deflating just as his snowglobe does in its exhale, only to perk up a second later as the butcher offers a much better alternative (in his opinion). He offers the tourniquet with a bright grin, each of his pale sharp teeth on display as he hands it over and leans his face into the fiery kiss blown his way, letting the warmth of the little flare of flame heat his cheeks.

Silently awaiting the pay off of the tiny little kite charm, the butcher’s tail weaves behind him idly until he sees it rise and fly lazily, a small hum of a laugh leaving him in delight. His tail now begins to wag much like his fyrhund shift’s might as he leans in to inspect it fully. “It suits you well, darling.” He compliments, diving in and avoiding the current circuit that the kite is on to press a kiss to his cheek and pull away before the kite can attack him for getting in its way.

Astaroth

// and heaven, hold your gates open //

REMI

the bastion

& my heart ran away with me

Remi arches his eyebrows in quiet, delighted challenge, the corner of his mouth tipping up as if to say oh, we’ll see, his expression all adoring skepticism and absolute confidence in being proved wrong in the most entertaining way possible. His gaze follows Ronin’s for a moment, settling on the sight of their daughter wrestling an enormous Tumsea between laughter and determination, and something soft blooms behind his eyes at the sheer rightness of it all.

He glances back to Ronin with a fond huff of amusement. "Just because you win the biggest prize," he murmurs, voice warm and teasing, "doesn’t mean we actually have to take it home. I’m sure there are plenty of children who'd love to take home a prize won by the White Knight."

As Ronin steers them up to the coconut shy, Remi falls into step beside him, their shoulders nearly brushing. His smile for the carnie is polite enough on the surface, but there’s something razor-thin beneath it, the sort of pleasant expression that makes it very clear he is paying attention. He watches as Ronin accepts the rubber balls with an intensity usually reserved for battlefields and collapsing worlds, and Remi has to press his lips together to keep from laughing outright. His gaze flicks briefly toward the stall owner and then back to Ronin, the unspoken hope settling easily in his chest that the carnie is clever enough not to try anything underhanded, not with Ronin taking this quite so seriously.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

RONIN

the white knight

With his balls in his hand (heh) and a beaming smile for his husband, Ronin is clearly oblivious to what might seem blindingly obvious to anyone else present - that the games are rigged and the carnies are crooks. "Well when you put it like that," he mutters, of giving away the prize if it proves to be too large for the houseboat, "I can hardly say no, can I?"

Already eyeing up one of the coconuts - and yes, the carnie looks more nervous than ever - Ronin is positively (and literally) glowing with delight as he winds up for a throw, and then unleashes the ball towards it. Now, given his strength and dexterity (75 and 101 respectively, if you're counting), perhaps what happens next isn't such a shock, but the Knight looks surprised nevertheless.

Because it doesn't matter how light the ball or how glued-on the coconut; Ronin obliterates it with nothing more than a flimsy bit of rubber at high speed, the shell exploding into shards that tear through the back of the canvas tent. "Oh, shit--" the Knight blurts immediately, delicately setting the other balls down on the counter and holding up his hands in apology.

Before he knows it, though, a truly ridiculous sized kraken plushie is being thrust into his arms, as if the carnie is praying he'll take it as payment and leave.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

so we take our time and skip around some

Finding the day a little bit easier with Zavien’s arrival, the courtesan nods and takes some of the burden of the food from the Commander, finding a soft laugh leaving him as the man leans in to offer his whisper. “Definitely the thighs. It always goes to the fuckin’ thighs.” He drawls in complaint – like he knows from personal experience.

He doesn’t, really, not with how thin he is. But that’s neither here nor there as they step away from the brunt of the crowd to the bench. Settling beside Zavien, he starts to dig into the food, suddenly realizing how hungry he is when Zavien’s question reaches him and he has to pull his attention away from the dragon that zips across the sand after a skittering lizard to look back up at his friend and swallow his bite politely. “Yeah, hasn’t been bad so far. What about you?”

Hawthorn

half my love is on the run

// All I want is champagne and sunshine //

His gaze falls to the object Melita holds out on her hand, unwrapping it with a certainty that leaves him on the edge of a breath to see it. With a mild flourish her hand pulls back, revealing a...chocolate rabbit? A moving, chocolate rabbit. "Whoa!" he offers alongside her gasp as the first hopes snare them both into its magic. He extends his hand without delay, grin growing wider still as it springs around his palm. "Hopefully he doesn't melt out here, would be cool if you can always have him." Iskra's features wrinkle a touch. Since they're in a desert and all, seems like a real possibility.

Warily watching over the rabbit as they meander towards the duck hook game, he's more than happy to turn its livelihood back over to her and focus instead on being the snack guardian. Which means she is freely offered more as they settle, evaluating the rigged, probably, game. "Mabe," he mutters, muffled around another bite, as he observes the game in full. Putting his bag of popcorn in the press of his arm to his body, he offers the carnie some coins in exchange for a hook pole for the each of them. "You should have this one easy," he asserts, since she's the queen of ducks after all.

ISKRA

// Sipping on the stars while we laying under sunlight //

JACK

"That so?" Jack scoffs, exploding mud beast clearly not what he'd expected to be linked to colourful, painted eggs. But Caido is a strange place, and if he thinks about it too much it's liable to give him a headache, so instead he gestures to a stall selling fruit punch (that he intends to spike the fuck out of) that's a very respectable distance away from the hubbub of winning prizes and shouting about it.

"Me? Nah," he drawls, heading over to the stall and assuming that Calypso is following after him. "Based on the look of what a lot of other people got, I ain't sure I missed out," he adds with a smirk. Collecting two cups of punch, Jack offers one to Caly before slipping a flask from his back pocket, topping up the drink with spiced rum and offering it out for her as well.

"How're you findin' this mandatory fun?" he asks, smirking. "If you're bored, a hot air balloon could always crash, so there's that."

no more than I was or than I want to be
when you fall on me like night, I wanna kill the lights

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!