emlekyl 2019/02/04(Mon)11:34 No. 919995 ID: 37201a
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I don't have a good answer for that, and Juno can tell. They smile thinly at me as they get to their feet, clearly finished with their spiel.

"You're not as smart as you think," Juno remarks simply. "And there are people other than me who know that. Better be pretty fucking careful, Babe." They give me one last haughty stare before leaving the dining hall.

emlekyl 2019/02/04(Mon)11:34 No. 919996 ID: 37201a
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I scramble for something to grab onto, something to haul myself back up onto my platform of pride and immutable self-confidence, and land clumsily on derision. "God, they're still so fucking petty," I mutter, pushing some meat around my plate and glancing over at Bashan for a reply. He seems embarrassed, almost; he's stopped eating his food with such gusto, and gives me that same expression of forced positivity.

"Yeah, I guess," he concedes weakly. Frustrated, I give up, and we fall into silence as I eat what I can of my food.

I don't want to believe that there are people that didn't already hate me out there thinking that I burned down part of Lonford Circus for my own personal gain. I did it because Ringleader Smith was treating people unfairly, rolling in money while the rest of us starved, carving his castle out of our bones. If I hadn't killed him, they'd all be dead. How could they blame me for saving their lives? Even if they had to rebuild, wasn't that better than being slowly murdered?

I viciously stab a piece of meat and rip it off my fork, chewing angrily. Why doesn't anyone get it? Why is it always me that has to fix their problems? Before I intervened, we were all miserable and hungry and sick. I'd admired Ringleader Smith, seen him as family, feared him as family. It wasn't easy or convenient for me to confront him, and it was harder still to leave everyone behind and have the blame pinned entirely on me should any nearby city's guard get involved. But it didn't matter, because I burned a few things down in the process. It was for them, not me. Why doesn't anyone get that?

I grit my teeth, looking over at Bashan again. He's finishing his plate off, his tail flicking just a little in response to the tension emanating from me. I force myself to try and think about it from his perspective. The fire was probably pretty scary for everyone, especially the newer folks. A hint of guilt curls in my chest as I realize that it was likely terrifying for Silvy, who'd been something like 10 or 11 years old at that point. They'd been trying to get away from that sort of shit when they came to Lonford.

emlekyl 2019/02/04(Mon)11:34 No. 919997 ID: 37201a
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My irritation is starting to give way to shame. Unwilling to have that conversation right this second, I push my plate away and stand up.

"Sorry for getting in a fight so early," I mumble as Bashan follows my lead. He grins at me, more genuinely this time, and pats my back.

"You've got MANY more to come," he jokes, walking in stride with me as we head out the door. "We should find you a new outfit."

I cringe as I look down at my clothes. Juno wasn't wrong. My shirt used to be a LOT less stained.

"Yeah, alright. Let's go."

emlekyl 2019/02/04(Mon)11:35 No. 919998 ID: 37201a
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The walk to the tailor's cabin is short and uneventful, and the exterior is a simple brick design. The inside is impeccably organised; garments are hung neatly on long wooden racks to the right of a sewing station, where a half-orc woman is working on something that shimmers strangely in the dim light provided by the ball of light she's casting over her work. She looks up, meets my eyes, and nods.

"Heard about you," she says bluntly, putting her sewing aside. "Bronwyn came by. Said you'd want an outfit. Cabaret?"

"Yeah."

She notices Bashan behind me and narrows her eyes. "If you've destroyed one of your leotards again, I swear to Loviatar -"

"I haven't, I haven't! I was just warm!" Bashan hurriedly reassures her. She nods grimly, then turns her gaze back to me.

"Name's Yugo," she explains. "Don't call me tailor, don't call me anything others tell you to. There's nobody else performing burlesque right now, so you have a choice of three options. We can talk about more when you can prove to me that you're worthy of more complex makes, or that you'd benefit from having more than one piece."

"One outfit for every performance?" I skeptically reply, frowning. "They used to give the others three or four outfits at least."

"They aren't here anymore. I am, and I'm better than them, and I can curse your clothes, so don't try it. Understand?"

"Yeah, I - yes," I yield, a little nervous. Circus tailors aren't ordinarily allowed to weave spells into clothes, and I wonder what loophole Yugo's using to get away with it. She nods sharply and a measuring tape comes flying toward me, taking my measurements businesslike as she speaks.

"What would suit your performance style best? Something unpredictable? Something macabre? Or something loose?"

Look, this is fascinating and all, but we need to go find Juno and push their shit in. Teach them a fucking lesson.

If you're going to be using the one for all your performances, go with unpredictable.

So, you're gay?

That's cool, just want to get it out in the open as it may change certain choices.

>>920037
Yeah, he's gay! Also, to clear up your earlier question, Babe is pronounced like the cute pig movie (with a "bay" sound at the beginning, not the end). Thank you for asking!

Macabre is fun. It'll have a cape, for sure, and that's worth it by itself.

>>920065
Why tf hasnt anyone given him shit yet for getting called babe? I mean, that is like the lowest of low-hanging fruit.

babe is a fantastic name! i reckon he should go with an unpredictable outfit :>

let’s do unpredictable. i mostly just want to see what that MEANS

unpredictable sounds fun!

well thats a..lot

ok, unpredictable

>>920215
Whether Babe is a good name or not is irrelevant. What is relevant is that it would be ridiculously easy for someone to give him shit for it regardless of name quality (like a dude named Stacy or Sydney).

>>920347
They're literally circus people. I don't know where they'd get off, unless they were total jackasses like that one guy.

>>920347
He is an elf, doing cabaret, who is as gay as a cocunber. What kind of shit can people give him that isnt simply stating the truth of the matter? I am surprised he isnt called cindy or something else you'd find in cheap brothel.

>Loviathar
Aaaah, this is going to be fascinating

Bashan has been giving Babe shit for things since he got here...

emlekyl 2019/03/01(Fri)10:22 No. 923857 ID: b35aa2
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"Um." I shift uncomfortably, given no comfort by the shrug Bashan makes when I look to him for assistance. "What about the different fabrics?"

"I've told you your options," Yugo says gruffly. She doesn't clarify any further in the seconds that follow, just looks right back at me. I avert my eyes, caught off-guard by how blunt she is.

When I used to perform, it was purely so that I could eat when there weren't enough jingling pockets to empty. Most of my performances had depended on what was necessary; sometimes it was a hall that wanted something relatively classy and clean, and sometimes it was a bar that happened to have a crowd of rowdy drunkards and a big enough table. I'm used to staying versatile and in control, though it's applied itself more to my more recent career of hunting powerful, evil people that seek to hurt the innocent. I take a moment to consider the situation I'm in right now. If I had to describe that in one word...

"Unpredictable," I finally choose. "Mostly because I want to see what that means."

emlekyl 2019/03/01(Fri)10:22 No. 923858 ID: b35aa2
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"Come here." Yugo leans down and looks for something in one of her drawers as I walk over, curiously craning my neck to see what she's doing. As soon as I'm within a metre of her, she straightens up. Her hand shoots out toward me, too quickly to dodge, and she grabs hold of my wrist to pull my arm closer to her. I yelp and pull back as she positions a small needle in her right hand.

"What are you doing?!" I shout, trying frantically to yank my arm out of her grip. "Let me go! I'll kill you!"

"You won't," Yugo says exasperatedly, focusing on holding me down. "Stay still. I just need a little blood."

"Fuck off!"

emlekyl 2019/03/01(Fri)10:23 No. 923859 ID: b35aa2
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Yugo presses my arm hard against her table and jabs the needle into my wrist in one swift motion. Blood blooms from the tiny puncture wound, and I struggle against her iron grip as she closes the wound with a muttered spell and the droplets of crimson circle around the needle for a few moments before seeping into it and staining it red. Distracted now, she lets me go and casts a forcefield over her immediate area as she turns away, preventing me from doing anything to retaliate.

"It won't work without your blood," Bashan pointlessly informs me, smiling apologetically as I turn to glare daggers at him.

"I don't like giving up my blood when I don't have to," I gripe as I walk back over to him, rubbing my wrist as though it hurts. It doesn't. "This is bullshit."

emlekyl 2019/03/01(Fri)10:23 No. 923860 ID: b35aa2
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"Stop complaining," Yugo says crossly, and I look back over to see that her forcefield is down and she's holding a strip of plain black fabric. A small, survival-oriented part of me urges me to get her now while her shield is down and erase the potential of her killing me, but I force myself to remember that she probably doesn't want to kill me any more than a friend would, and choose to inspect the fabric instead.

It looks like some sort of thick ribbon choker, but I don't see any sort of clasp attached to either end. Yugo holds it out to me, and I take it, glowering at her before taking a closer look at it. It doesn't feel like anything I've felt before. Every time I think I've identified it as a certain fabric, it changes, and it doesn't reflect light like it should.

"Put it around your neck. It's magic. It won't strangle you." Yugo is staring intently at me.

"That's not comforting," I mutter, hesitantly lifting it to my neck. I place the longest section over the front, pulling the sides toward each other at the back of my neck.

emlekyl 2019/03/01(Fri)10:24 No. 923861 ID: b35aa2
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As soon as the two ends of the fabric touch, they knit together beneath my fingers, and suddenly fabric starts to web down my body, my clothes disintegrating beneath the garment forming itself around me. For a moment, it seems formless, like a sheet hanging over my body - but then it shimmers, and it begins to sink, and I can see the fabric turning almost powdery as it becomes a rich black velvet. A collar rises around my neck, and what is now a robe extends down to my feet with a deep V exposing a red bodice. I'm thrown a little off balance as my boots are replaced by red heels, but I'm too shocked by the sheer power of this outfit to really notice.

emlekyl 2019/03/01(Fri)10:25 No. 923862 ID: b35aa2
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"Good," Yugo says candidly. "Your original clothes will re-materialize once you remove the choker."

I peer at myself in the mirror nearby, unable to hold back a satisfied grin. I look incredible. Better than any outfit I've had before. They'll have to cancel the rest of the show to make room for me.

emlekyl 2019/03/01(Fri)10:25 No. 923863 ID: b35aa2
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I look over at Bashan, who seems just as starry-eyed as I am. As soon as I look at him, however, the outfit changes. I watch in shock as bright red seeps into the deep black fabric beginning from my choker and quickly dyes the entire outfit, the feathers around my collar turning black. I whip my head around to see Yugo beaming as though she's just seen her child take its first steps.

"What happened?!" I cry, highly offended. "Why'd you change it??"

"I didn't," Yugo says joyfully, sitting back down and crossing her legs. "Bashan did."

"HEY! I didn't!" Bashan defends himself, then catches my eye and agitatedly repeats, "I didn't change it! I would NEVER! Why are you blaming me, Yugo?"

She looks like she's never been so happy in her life as the two of us look to her for answers. "Unpredictable," she says blissfully. "Meaning you don't get to choose how it looks. It's up to your situation and audience."

I frown, turning back to the mirror and assessing the new look. "What, it reads their minds?"

"Something like that."

"I didn't do it," Bashan insists petulantly. "But it looks good this way, too."

"It does," I agree wholeheartedly, turning back around to narrow my eyes at my reflection. The shifting thing could be a problem. I won't be able to plan my dances as well as I could if I'd had just one normal outfit. But the idea of it adapting to the music that's played, or what the audience is excited to see, or even from a new audience member... I have to admit, it'll be pretty entertaining.

emlekyl 2019/03/01(Fri)10:26 No. 923864 ID: b35aa2
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"Thanks," I eventually tell Yugo, reaching up and undoing the back of the choker. It comes apart easily, and quickly I'm in my old clothes again. "I'll be on tomorrow, if you want to see it in action."

"I've seen enough." Yugo seems to immediately lose all interest once I remove the garment, turning back to her work. "Don't fuck around with it and I won't need to repair it."

"I won't," I say pointedly, annoyed at her rebuff. "And I'll perform beautifully in it. You'll wish you'd have come. Maybe I'll never wear it again."

"Wear what you have now. See how far it gets you."

Once again, I find myself unable to think of a witty response. Chagrined, I turn around and stomp out of the cabin, Bashan following behind me with a quick wave to Yugo before we exit.

emlekyl 2019/03/01(Fri)10:30 No. 923865 ID: b35aa2
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I'm not truly that annoyed, but I'm desperate to clean up. I mention as such to Bashan as we walk out, and he allows me to borrow some of his clothes so that I can get clean. (He does not volunteer to come to the baths with me, on account of submersion being "a HORRIBLE idea, it's AWFUL, I'll NEVER do it, not even for YOU.")

We walk to the sideshow cabins and back without event, chatting lightly again. While I'm there, I hide my choker inside my pillowcase. There's no real risk of anyone stealing it, but I don't really want anyone to get curious and try it out, either. Bashan bids me farewell once we get to the baths, and I'm finally able to get myself clean and wash my clothes.

Scrubbing my body in the first moment of proper comfort I've experienced in weeks, I find that for once my mind is clear and I can properly think about where I am and what I'm doing. It's a relief to be able to bathe in warm, clean water, for a start; I recall that the water is charmed to be constantly clean and rejuvenating, so I go ahead and dump my clothes in too, pleased to watch the dirt just disappear from them.

I feel less good about how things are going so far.

I hadn't expected to arrive to uproarious applause, but the unabashed loathing I'd received from a few people had come as a surprise. Juno has hated me ever since I'd turned up here when we were both teenagers, but it looks like they hate me even more now, having been given a reason. And that weird clown threatened to kill me. I'm still not sure what to make of that, but if it was related to the Black Dog, I'd be dead already. They're not the kind of people to bother with threats.

I sigh as I remember that if I'm going to be safe here, I'll need to reconnect with people who'd hate the Black Dog as much as I do. There are still a few people I haven't gotten around to announcing my return to. I was eager to make a grand entrance when I first got here, but since that chance got taken from me, the whole thing feels like a chore.

It'd be good to talk to the security crew to see who's still around, but if the wrong people have stayed, it'll probably end in a fight. I could also head to the cabaret tent to scope out my new workspace and note who I'm up against. As I gaze into the magical water, I consider the possibility of going to the Lucky Charm and talking to our resident warlock about some sort of stealth spell he could put on me. Maybe I can show him my new outfit, too.

Visit the warlock! Getting better acquainted with the possibilities of your new outfit should help you to prepare your show.

Id vote the stage. Need to know what you are working with after all.

Warlock! Magical solutions to problems always work out!

STAGE STAGE STAGE

stage! there’ll be people to talk to everywhere, so you might as well get down to business.

let's go to the cabaret and meet the new coworkers!

emlekyl 2019/03/09(Sat)11:49 No. 925161 ID: 1a4dd8
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After some deliberation, I decide to head straight to the stage. I'm not going to let an outfit someone else designed carry the whole show, and besides, I need to figure out how I'm going to use it.

I finish my business and towel myself dry, hanging my wet clothes on a rack nearby. I am not surprised to find that Bashan's clothes don't fit me well.

emlekyl 2019/03/09(Sat)11:50 No. 925162 ID: 1a4dd8
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This'll do.

emlekyl 2019/03/09(Sat)11:50 No. 925163 ID: 1a4dd8
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It only takes me a minute to get to the cabaret tent, and as I walk in I remember Maggie saying yesterday that there isn't anyone other than me doing burlesque specifically. It shows. There are only a few people in here right now, including several bards chatting amongst themselves and a couple of stage hands wandering aimlessly around the stage.

I also notice Philine sitting alone, throwing a knife idly up into the air and catching it with precision. She sees me walk in and smiles, waving as her knife spins in the air and then catching it easily in two fingers.

emlekyl 2019/03/09(Sat)11:51 No. 925164 ID: 1a4dd8
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"Hey," she says as I walk over to her. "Welcome back."

"Thanks." I sit down next to her, grateful for the company of someone who won't immediately overwhelm me with questions or criticism. "Your hair's gotten long."

"Yeah, my girl thinks it looks good," Philine says smugly. "Stopped cutting it a while back. You don't know her, by the way. She's not from around here."

I raise my eyebrows at her. "So she doesn't exist?"

Philine winks and lifts her knife to her mouth. I watch with curiosity, then growing realisation, then abject horror as she bites down on it hard. The shining metal crunches as she chews it with all the casual confidence in the world.

emlekyl 2019/03/09(Sat)11:51 No. 925165 ID: 1a4dd8
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I can't stop watching. She doesn't break eye contact as she swallows without difficulty, and almost looks surprised at my reaction.

"I'm a sword swallower." She phrases it like it answers any question I could possibly have.

"You... When did you start eating..." I'm struggling to process what she's saying. "I don't think you have to actually eat it."

Philine is looking at me like I'm insane. "I have an iron deficiency."

In a growing state of shock, I reply, "That knife looks like titanium."

She stares at me blankly.

emlekyl 2019/03/09(Sat)11:52 No. 925166 ID: 1a4dd8
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In a hasty attempt to realign myself with reality again, I change the subject. "I'll be working with you in here, on and off," I tell her, trying not to look at her knife as she tucks it into her pocket. "Bronwyn doesn't have much else for me to do."

"Nice. I heard about the cabaret stuff. Was that what you ran away to do?"

"God, no. I got the vigilante bug. Thought I'd try and even out the playing field a little, kill a few tyrants, that sort of thing."

"Cool." Philine glances over to her left as a middle-aged man holding a strange instrument starts walking over from the group of bards. "You seem way more calm, now. It's nice."

"Thanks. It's fine that you eat knives now."

"Yeah."

emlekyl 2019/03/09(Sat)11:52 No. 925167 ID: 1a4dd8
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The bard has reached us now, and he takes a seat next to me as he speaks. "Are you Babe?" he asks, shifting his instrument so that he can sit comfortably. It looks like a combination between a lute and a piano. "I was told to speak to you."

I take a moment to assess him. Philine doesn't seem uncomfortable with this guy's presence, so he's probably been in the circus for a little while. It's likely that either she or Bronwyn told him who I was, and I figure that he's probably not a threat. "That's me," I confirm, flicking my still-damp hair out of my face. "Who're you?"

"Gavin Gladewalker," he introduces himself, accompanying his name with a short piano melody. "Head of music. I'd like to talk to you about what music you'd like to use for your performance tonight."

emlekyl 2019/03/09(Sat)11:54 No. 925170 ID: 1a4dd8
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"Nice assumption there," I scoff. "I'm not on until tomorrow."

"Oh?" Gavin tilts his head to the side, regarding me as though he's trying to figure out if I'm joking. "Bronwyn told me that you were quite eager to get started, and to expect you to come by today and speak to me. You're on after the theatre act."

A hint of panic rises in my gut as I realize I never actually asked Bronwyn when I was going to start. "When did she tell you that?"

"Last night," Gavin answers, and I groan. Of course she told him last night. I should've known she'd get me with something like this. She always does.

"Alright," I sigh begrudgingly. I guess I wasn't doing anything tonight anyway. "What've you got?"

We talk for a while about my act, and he seems very excited when I tell him about my magic outfit. Philine listens in as Gavin shows me some of his music - a huge range of pieces, almost all of them channeled magically from other planes or warping sounds that his instrument makes. He calls it a lukey, and after using it to play me a good deal of his own original music, we narrow it down to four songs.

Noda
Manic Depression
Get Busy
Juggernaut

What good cabaret doesn't start off with some Manic Depression? Probably most, but this one will!

Also I'm pretty sure you can't just start eating knives. I guess it's fine unless it's some sort of possession thing.

Noda. That sounds fun. Freaking keytar...thats going to be interesting.

There is only one choice here. Get busy.

Get busy living~
When it's music that you need, and the rhythm is up to speed!
Put your arms around me when you hear the sound, the sound~

Have them play some Noda.

let's get busy!!!

definitely Juggernaut

Some manic depression leading into get busy would be interesting!

BABE! GETS! BUSY!

Hey, folks. Probably won't be another update for a minute. Moving house is a nightmare.

I do, however, have time to talk about Babequest and post my art for it.

Disthread: https://tgchan.org/kusaba/questdis/res/128610.html

Thanks for being patient with me.