#x.open

When: 31 May 1989

Where: Carnival

Carnival season was a bit of a mixed bag. This year featured some new rides that piqued Luciana's interest--The Ghost Train in particular--and the food featured at such attractions also happened to be one of her biggest weaknesses. Unfortunately, years of shutting herself in dwindled her list of friends somewhat, and too afraid to contact anyone to apologize for her absence, the witch simply began to do things by herself.

Unfortunately, the shine of new activities and her favorite junk foods quickly wore off, leaving Luciana on the precipice of too overwhelmed to really enjoy herself. The last straw came when a gaggle of teenage boys in ripped jeans and dirty band t-shirts collided with her, causing her to dump what remained of her funnel cake into a mud puddle. Stuck somewhere between screaming and crying, Luciana stared at her soaked funnel cake as the boys continued on their way, and only as an afterthought did she send a quick, pointed gust of air to trip the little group of them, but they were too far gone to think much of it aside from perhaps uneven footing.

"Fuckers," she murmured as she picked up the now-dirt-covered paper tray and the remnants of her funnel cake, then turned to find the nearest trash can only to smash into someone else and drop the thing all over again.

"Stop MOVING," she snapped, half to herself and half to whomever had the misfortune of standing too close to her.

His life in Charming began here with the fights, and he didn't see a future without it - it was his therapy, and with the lifestyle the MC offered, it was vital to his daily sense of balance to have this familiar outlet.  Even on the nights he had no intention of getting into the ring, he arrived with a sense of purpose - an unofficial peacekeeper, of sorts. He kept an extra pair of eyes on the goings-on when it was busy, making sure fights split up the way they needed to and know one had a taste for revenge in the alley afterwards. 

They were between fights, and Stray was standing outside of the backdoor to indulge in a cigarette. As he drew in a long, deep drag, feeling the nicotine pull into his lungs and grace his bloodstream with a steadying wave of calm, his eyes flashed upwards to an approaching figure illuminated only a small, flickering light bulb above. Odd - he thought - this time of night people were usually done milling about outside. "Ayy there, mate," he called out, smoke escaping from between his lips, his voice laced with an underlying tone of warning, "y' lost back here, or what?" 

WHEN: 1 June 1989

WHERE: Side Show

If there was one thing Hale had mastered in their time on earth, it was the art of gliding through life mostly unnoticed, a definite boon for someone with a penchant for taking things that didn't belong to them. A negative experience could easily be made positive enough to not be memorable, and distractable enough to allow them to slip away with a ring or a wallet or a watch. Some vampires supported their exceptionally long lifespans with other pursuits; Hale made theirs by way of asset redistribution.

It was this talent that made carnivals particularly fun. People were already distracted, and then add to that the crush of the crowd and the grace with which they moved and everything could be theirs. Hale rifled through a nicked wallet as they remained on the periphery of the crowd, and upon finding nothing of particular interest, they abandoned it atop a fence post that gated off part of the side show stage before they continued to the stage itself.

"See anything interesting?" they said as they watched a crowd funnel towards the show itself, a curl of a grin on their lips as they spoke.

     // OPEN - STARTER //

[ msg ;; ??? ] guess what followed me hommeee