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Closed Masque Carnivalia

[Forgot I never refreshed the page, so my post was screwed up badly ;~;]

Celest wasn't really listening to the conversation going on around her, but rather kept her head bowed and her arms wrapped tightly around her waist, despite the pain it caused her. The rain had stopped at this point, and Celest was completely soaked. Her dark blue hair hung low in her face, and her clothes were sticking to her figure. However, she did look up at Annie when she asked about... her pants? She blinked a few times before answering. "I, umm... I got these from home... Uh... Thanks...?"

This was going to be one awkward conversation if Annie pressed on, which Celest half expected would happen, so she turned her attention to Logan and Connor. Logan seemed to want her and Connor to move on for whatever reason. But she kept quiet about this and looked up at the sky. It was dreadfully dark for an early noon, but no matter. At least the rain stopped. Celest looked back at Annie, then Logan, then Connor, then her feet. This was kind of awkward as it was for her. She felt guilty when being around Logan, and still feared Annie, and on top of that, she just felt awkward altogether when she was with Connor. She sighed deeply as she kelt her eyes glued on her Converse high-tops.
 
Annie felt her brow twitch a little at Celest. "Fine, kill the conversation. I was just hoping to get a little girl talk out of you." She took the plastic hat off her head, now that the rain stopped. "Just go and take care of... That. And I will get girl talk out of you before long." She waved her finger in a circle, pointing at Celest's wound.

Logan called her Annabelle again. He hadn't once called her Annie. She muttered her name under her breath. "Yeah, we're trying to get supplies for everyone. You can tell we already scored. Just going to find some drinks and we'll be back. You two can go ahead and do the kissy-goopy stuff. We'll be around."
 
"I have at least enough for a tank of gas." Connor told Annie defensively. He stuck out his tongue at her in the most childish way physically possible. Logan said that the Merry-Go-Round would have to wait. Connor bit his lower lip. "Alright. No monthly payments, then."

Connor stopped. "... You call her Annabelle?" Happy as he was to see these two, and their loot, that was a strange thing for Logan to refer to her by her full name. Well, if that was what suited the big man, Connor wasn't really in a position to argue. He figured that he should probably take their advice and just leave.

"C'mon, Cel, we'll go to the tent, and give these two some bonding time." He laughed. He took Celest by the hand and continued walking back to the tent. "He's definetly trying to... Wait, I don't know how to finish that sentence. He's nuts about her, that's what I mean. Weird. Annie's not the type I would think Logan would like. Too hotheaded."
 
Celest felt a bit colder after Annie's sharp words hit her like a train. She shrunk back, tightening her grip on her stomach as her tail hung bwtween her legs, and flinched when Connor spoke up. He mentioned something about "bonding time" between Logan and Annie, and she blinked. ... Those two together? It seemed a bit strange to Celest, and apparently Connor was a bit perplexed by it as well. However, as Connor took her hand, she looked back at Annie. The Psychic Carnie said she was going to get a conversation out of her sometime. At this, Celest felt a strange confidence build up in her, and she narrowed her eyes a bit. "I'd like to see you try," she muttered quietly, but immediately regretted it as the boldness soon fled from her. Celest was hastily pulling Connor away from the two instead of the other way around, and she quickened her pace in fear Annie would spat more harsh words at her.

Celest quickly rounded the corner and finally nodded to what Connor was going on about earlier. "They are a strange combination," she agreed, her voice unintentionally cracking a bit. "... But, I... I kind of think we're a strange pair, too..." She kept her eyes forward when she mentioned this, and hurried their pace just a bit more.
 
Connor noticed thatvLogan doesn't call Annie 'Annie'. So, Logan replied, "Yeah, I just have this tendancy to call people by their full first name as I know it. She's the one who told me her name ia Annabelle."

After this, Connor took Celest and went back to the tent. Logan was alone again with Annie. "So," he began, with a note of awkward in his voice, "Shall we continue, then?"
 
Annie heard Celest mutter something, but couldn't make out the words. Given her past experiences with girls in general, Annie guessed that it was something rude and uncalled for. She decided to ignore it, but couldn't hold back when Connor mentioned 'bonding time.' "I'll bond your face to the dirt." She grumbled.

Logan asked if she was ready to continue. She folded her arms and muttered a 'yes,' and continued along the line they had been going. She looked carefully at the vendor. This one had been knocked onto its side, so she could only view so much. She did happen to see a bit of color on it, but it was too weathered to be legible. What a pain.

She ritualistically checked if the door on the side would open. As expected, it didn't budge. But she also checked the window that the owner would have served out of. This, much to her surprise, wasn't rusted shut. It rattled when she pulled on the handle, and was only locked shut. "It's locked." She announced to Logan.

Wanting to do this one for herself, she pulled her hairpin out, and the hair assumed its natural Gardevoir-like position. She put her ear close to the lock, twisting the pin around inside. She had never actually stolen anything, but had often left lockers and other things unlocked just to inspire a bit of terror in them. Sort of a 'don't mess with me' warning. She smiled as there was a click, and she threw open the window. "And there you have it. An equally effective alternative with a woman's delicate touch." She said smugly as she wrapped her hair into a bun again.

With the pin back in place, she stuck the top half of her body into the vendor. "... Oh my god, Logan. We've done it." She said from inside. She came up triumphantly displaying two six-packs of cheap beer. "It's not water, and certainly not healthy, but it's a nice change of pace!"
 
Logan was surprised when Annie held up a six pack. This place really was unpredictable, what with its forests and isolation, and now alchohol. She was right, when she said it wasn't healthy. He didn't think anyone here was legally able to drink, but who would know, he guessed? Logan wasn't sure how he felt about drinking, but if it was better thab the rainwater...

"Hey," he said to Annie, "How many of those things are there?"
 
Annie set the booze down a moment before returning her upper half to the depths of the vendor. "Well," She said from inside. "There's tons of it, actually!" She pulled up several more, until they had a total of seven six packs. "That's all I could find. Well, there was a box of 12 cans, but I couldn't reach. this is plenty, though!" She immediately poked her head back in. Stuck to a small fridge filled with energy drinks was a magnet bottle opener.

"Logan, I'm going to be pretty much helpless in a second, but my ankles should still be up here. You pull me out, and don't crush my bones, 'kay?" She smiled at him before going back in. Her waist sank into the vendor, and her legs floudered around.

A thought popped into her head, and she yelled out, "If I find out you're looking while my dress is like this, you'll really wish you had eaten yourself!" She hadn't considered that her dress would flip up, and given Logan's perverted comment earlier, she had cause to be suspicious. She grabbed the magnet, and ordered, "Okay pull me up! Ankles, Logan, by the ankles. Touch the thighs, and you die."
 
"Oh come on," Logan said, "Give mo some credit, at least. You ankles are nowhere near your thighs!" Sometimes, he couldn't believe this girl. But then, he thought about what he said, and added, "Not that I'm trying to suggest you're leggy, or anything, but... uh... oh forget it! I've not been trying to be perverted, okay? Sometimes my brain doesn't agree with my words."

Logan figured it was in his best interest to help the girl at this point, lest she think he's oggling. He went over to her, loosely grabbed her ankles, and tugged as gently as he could. He managed to pull her out without incident, and Annie was now wielding what appeared to be a small bottle opener. "Nice," he said, "Now there will be a severe lack of broken bottles in my tent. I thank you." He gave a little sarcastic bow, and picked the popcorn machine back up. "Alright, so do you think we're good now, or would you like to go further? I'm really indifferent."
 
Annie looked at Logan shrewdly for a couple seconds after he pulled her out. "I'll give you credit when I feel like it." She stood up on the vendor, loading most of the booze into the machine. She kept one pack with her, pulling out the first bottle and popping the cap off without hesitation.

"I've never had one of these before." She mused, flicking at it. The booze weren't ice cold, but inside the vendor, they managed to avoid becoming flat. She took a small sip. Her eyes widened, and she coughed, spitting it out. "Blegh, that is nasty. How can people drink this by the case?" She stared at the label for a bit, and then shrugged. She took another drink. This time she didn't spit it out, but still wasn't particularly fond of it. She'd hate to waste this bottle now that it was opened.

"I suppose the best thing now is to head back. But we've earned a little rest, I think." She sat back on the vendor, pushing her shoes off with her feet. "After all, this is probably more than those guys have gotten!" She laughed in triumph, taking another drink. As she spoke to Logan, she began absentmindedly taking sips of the bottle.

She began a fairly casual conversation, though she thought Logan might find it not so casual. "So, Logan, are you a ladies man? Go clubbing every friday or anything? Hit on the cashiers at the grocery store?"
 
"... Odd... Yeah, a half-blaziken and half-lucario is a little strange, I admit, but we'll both be human before long, and that little blip with be done." Connor smiled. "And then we can live happily ever after." He laughed a little, already forgetting the conversation about Annie and Logan. He couldn't wait for the two to bring the loot to the tent. He needed food, and quick.

He caught the glimmer of a mirror in one tent, and suddenly remembered. With a quiet, "Oh, that's right!" He ran into the tent, telling Celest, "Just give me a minute!" He kneeled in front of the mirror, making sure he closed the tent flaps. He wanted Celest to see nothing of his process. He grabbed the massive bulk of hair below his shoulders in one hand. He forced a small and constant little stream of fire from his lips so he could see.

And with his free hand, he fished out the scissors. He was able to snip off everything below his shoulders at once, and very literally felt several pounds lighter. He ruffled his hair so it looked natural, then exited the tent. He stopped in front of Celest. A bad thought wriggled into his brains, and he said, "Please tell me you don't like super long hair on guys. That could take forever to grow back."
 
"Me?" Logan looked at Annie, in relative disbelief. He mused for a bit, and said, "Of course. I'm like, completely a pimp." He stopped, and laughed. "No, but seriously. I've never really talked to girls, let alone have a girlfriend. I usually spend my friday nights in my room with a book or homework. To be honest, most of the time the wonderful world of women never really occurred to me, I think because no one had ever stood out to me. Sure, some of my friends are girls, but I would never think about them like that. All of them are too like me for me to find attractive. I've always liked the idea of a couple not being almost twins, but rather like yin and yang," he started to draw in the dirt with his fingers. "I know it sounds corny, but it's my ideal. I know most people want their best friend or their better half, but for me it doesn't have to be so clear cut. If I can find my opposite, but we end up being best friends, or I find out they bring out my best, that's just a bonus." He looked at her, with the beer in one hand and her hair up, wet dress and everything.

"So what about you, Annabelle? I bet all of the guys want to be with you. I know I do." Logan covered his mouth with his hands. STUPID. WHY IS IT EVERYTHING YOU DO IS STUPID? Hopefully she wouldn't try to break his nore or something.
 
Annie listened to Logan's story. "Well, there's your first problem. Whether or not you regularly think about your friends like that is irrelevant. Those are still the first people you should ask out, because whether of not they fit your ideals, you won't get anywhere without the experience."

Logan asked if she was hounded by boys. She was about to answer, and he said that he wanted to be with her, too. She stopped, looking at him just a bit from the side. "... Do you, now? Well, to answer your question, ever since my girls came in, I've been practically hunted. My freshman year, a senior from another school tried to ask me out. That was weird. Eventually, though, one kid went too far. Tried being funny in the hall when I was a junior. I slammed the locker door on his head probably eight times, and have been single pretty much since then, except for a few new kids who didn't know what they were doing. I got suspended every time something happened, which was a lot, but never expelled. Helps when your daddy is the principle."

She looked down at her bottle, and realized it was empty. That was odd. Still being thirsty, she took another one, leaving the empty one next to her. "So," She looked at Logan, leaning forward as though inspecting him for drugs. "Oh, great 'Pimp.' You've never even been to a dance or anything with a girl?"
 
"Yes, happily ever after," the girl absentmindedly repeated, smiling vaguely. "... But I thought that only happened in fairy tales... Right?" Celest looked up at where Connor was as they stopped, but only to find he had fled into another tent, telling her to give him a minute. She blinked curiously at the tent, tempted to see what he was doing, and flinched slightly at the sharp snipping sound coming from it. Of course, it was a bit hard to hear it if she hadn't had her improved hearing, but it was not very loud to her ears anyway.

Celest felt her crimson eyes widen a fraction as Connor stepped out of the tent with much of his hair cut off. She blushed a bit as she noticed he looked a lot better with shorter hair, if not a bit cute... "Um, no, I never really fancied men with long hair..." she answered, looking at her feet to hide her coloring face. "In my opinion, it looks a bit off... Especially when they have the nerve to put it in a ponytail... I've mistaken quite a few people to be very bulky women." Desperate to rid her mind of the scary thought of long-haired men, she smiled at him. "I think it looks really nice," she commented, clasping her hands together behind her back.
 
Connor laughed at her apparent displeasure with men with ponytails. One of the librarians he used to bother on a regular basis kept his hair in a ponytail. He was a big man, too. Connor always called him Conan the Librarian.

"Well, good." He laughed. "Because I didn't consider it until after I chopped it off. I just hope that we're not here long enough for it to grow like that again." He kicked at a rock. "Speaking of the outside world, Cel, I feel a little strange because I don't know something. What's your last name?" He didn't know how, but he had managed to fall for a girl, and she apparently fell for him, without any exchange of family names.

How does that happen, I wonder? Oh, wait, I know. You get locked in a crazy carnival and it starts raining when you try to stop her from hurting herself. How very intimate. He laughed to himself.
 
Celest blinked. ... Her last name? Well, she guessed it was a somewhat relevant question. After all, she had tangled up in a man she didn't even know the last name to, and it seemed rather odd for them to not know what their family names were. "Backwater," she answered, looking up at him finally. "Celestia Jacklyn Backwater. ... It's quite a mouthful, actually." Celest felt her mind go blank for a moment, then she started wondering why she went ahead and said her full name. Didn't he only ask for her surname? ... Meh. Nonetheless, it was probably best to go ahead and tell him her whole name, anyway. She just hoped he wouldn't start referring to her as "Celestia" instead of the shortened Celest, just like Logan called Annie "Annabelle."

"... What's yours?" Celest queried, suddenly wandering off in search of a good place to rest at the moment. She fled into a rather small red tent a few meters away from the tent Connor snipped his hair off in, and sank to her knees. She wrung out her dark hair for a second time and, after vaguely running her fingers over her wound, looked up at the tent flaps where she expected Connor to enter in a few short seconds.
 
"Wow..." Connor listened to the name intently, hoping to memorize it within the next five seconds. "I know this sounds really stupid and stuff, but it's a beautiful name." He followed her into the tent, thinking about how much better it would be if her last name were to be changed at some point.

"My name, my full name, since you gave yours, is Connor Florence Morgan. Not spectacular. I wish my middle name was Sebastian or something cool like that. My name doesn't exactly roll off the tongue." He thought about the name change again. Celestia Jacklyn Morgan. I think I like that name. He smile contently to himself, sitting next to Celest with his knees up, and his feet sticking in the air wiggling happily in a bizarre dance.
 
Celest paused. ... Florence? Was that just a tad bit ridiculous? Who in their right mind would name someone that? It sounded as if his parents wanted to name him that so be could grow up and deal with plants or something... Connor Florence Morgan. ... No matter how you look at it, it just sounds a bit strange with that middle name... Celest shook her head and kept quiet about this, though, and shrugged. "It sounds like I'm some sort of witch or a queen or something... Or 'celestial,' for the lack of better words. But I know I'm not anything like that; I'm far too plain...

"But I like your name, Connor," she added, looking at her feet. She twitched her eyes a bit as she said that, though, because the word Florence was still haunting her in the back of her mind. Her eyes wandered over to Connor's feet, and blinked. "... Are you okay...?" she asked monotonously, vaguely wondering if maybe he had Tourette's syndrome or some nerve disorder. But then wouldn't she had noticed it by now? He would've twitched a bit more, right?
 
Annie left the tent with Logan, telling Tess to clean herself and watch Kiara. Clean myself? THAT should be easy. thought Tess. She trotted out into the rain, shivering at the icy coldness. Once she was thoroughly drenched and shivering, she retreated into the tent. Careful to stay away from Kiara, she shook herself like a dog, sending droplets flying everywhere. She continued flailing for a while longer, before walking to Kiara's side. The little Squirtle morph was out cold again. Tess hunted around the tent until she found a soft scrap of fabric. She trotted to the hats full of water and dunked the cloth, before going back to Kiara. Tess mopped her friend's dirty face. When she was finished, she resoaked the cloth and laid it across her blue forehead. Mustering her strength, she concentrated and was rewarded by the overwhelmingly strong scent of bay leaves.
 
Annie went on a mild tirade about how an attractive body gets you hunted by teenage guys after Logan let his cat out of it bag. She didn't seem angry with him, or so it seemed, but he felt the need to protect himself anyway, "Well, don't take it like that," he began, "Your body isn't the reason I'm interested in you. You remember what I was talking about earlier? The whole 'yin yang' thing I said was corny? That's just it. You're like, the perfect antethesis to my entire being. You are ebrasive, cruel, and a tad sadistic, no offense I think you make it really attractive, and I tend to be shy, quiet, and a follower." He really had no idea why he was saying any of this, it must have made him seem crazy, or at least a little dull. Annie then opened another bottle, and asked him if he had even been to any social gatherings.

"Well, not with any girls. I occasionally go stag with a few buddies, but I've never been on a date. But I usually just hang out at home, because it's easier and doesn't require the social interaction. If you couldn't tell by now, I was never really 'mr. Cool' in my life. That kind of stuff has never really been my speed." Logan looked at Annie, and she seemed invested in her drink. He wondered if she had actually never had a beer before, or if she had just told him that, as to not ruin his image of her.

Then it occured to him to stop staring at her and return the question. "Why do you ask? Were you Prom queen three years running or something? Or are you jusr gauging my experience level to see if you're interested in me?"
 
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