Day 1- Sunset on the Fairgrounds

[Relent<]

"Damn you, Whal-skeee!" Katarina screeched, arching her shoulders back and sitting up to put her bare flank out of range of the pol's fingers. Or rather, who's fingers she'd assumed were flirtatiously taunting her again.
She spun around on her knees prepared to give him a good thump when she noticed Isis amiably offering her the bottle.
"Oh, it take more than small bottle to get me hammer. But I thank for kindness your offering." Unsure of what to do with her upraised hand, she punched Piotr in the arm again, for making her so paranoid by his actions before.

Her feet had been turned toward the fire, lightly dusted in the grass clippings and dirt of the ground beneath her, but glowing a faint shade of pink in the flickering light of the campfire, the shadows from the grasses around its stony perimeter dancing across her soles like the little tongues. The warmth was comforting, though she could not enjoy the show much from this position; still, she had to keep an eye on her neighbor--lest he be so inclined as to seek retribution for her regular abuse of him this evening.

She noticed a woman above the heads of all the other workers that seemed to be taking great pains to isolate herself from their flock. Most suspiciously, as she made eye contact with her, she noticed her quickly look away.
Katarina had never seen her before, but she'd never seen Isis before either. Probably a new hire; they were always popping up.
Then it occurred to her to ask:
"Magishaman!" She blurted daftly, as she turned uncomfortably away from Piotr and Isis to fix her eyes on the idle performer. "Do you work for circus? Are the caravan's catching up?"

 

[Beiseker1]

-Hey! It wasn't me. -Piotr protested nearly loosing my pipe again. -What's more she barely touched you, and you punched me how is it fair? -He wasn't really angry, but sparks in his eyes got different kind of playful.
He was starting to think about revenge, but there was small problem with her being about twice as big as he. Not to mention probably able to smash a man by accident, and not even notice it. And she was expecting him to do something about it. Maybe even wanting him to try. Hard to say, he didn't meet many giants in his life.
Circle of smoke carried his thoughts to the wind.

 

[erraticemphatic]

By careless accident, Erimosi had allowed her interest in the Phauxnorse to be noticed and, exposed, immediately averted her focus, embarrassed and reprimanding herself, although she was inflating the situation a bit. Erimosi had deduced relatively quickly that Katarina was a simple girl, not any kind of threat unless somehow provoked to physical aggression, and was observing her only out of interest and because she was pleasant to look at. Quite unused to it, Erimosi was always a tad overwhelmed by someone larger than her, particularly someone charming and alluring.

"Magishaman! Do you work for circus? Are the caravans catching up?"

Upon perceiving an opportunity for information, her attention abruptly shifted.

 

[Carnivore]

Isis was quite surprised, and momentarily frightened, by the giant woman's reaction, mistaking her for the strange Aygomen Piotr. Yet it put her at ease when the girl decided to playfully thump the man instead of doing anything to her. "Definitely a playful atmosphere between the two of them." Isis thought to herself. "So why did she have me sit in the middle? I feel like I'm the dark filling for some kind of flirt sandwich!" Isis pondered the situation and their relative position, and while doing so had a strange feeling as if she were being watched. She looked up at the people mulling around farther away, but her pumpkin irises couldn't notice anyone looking at her. "Probably just my imagination" she thought, as a chill ran along her back, prompting her to scoot a little closer to the fire.

"Magishaman! Do you work for circus? Are the caravans catching up?" she heard Katarina ask enthusiastically. If he did, the circus appeared worse for wear than Isis expected… not a good sign.

"Hmm, I wonder if our magic man knows. He looks like he came by himself. And maybe a bit too flustered to figure out such things?" her comment came off a bit catty, and truth be told she was more curious than anything else. But the blunt fact remained, and someone might as well have said it.

Getting slightly bored by the combination of a lull in activity and the focus shifting away from her, Isis absentmindedly rummaged through her bag for nothing in particular. It was more of a nervous gesture like twiddling thumbs, nothing in there was particularly useful at the moment. Warming by the fire, she stretched in a sensuously relaxed motion, bringing her arms up to her hair to preen the white puffball of tight curls on her head.

 

[Beiseker1]

Slowly but surly Piotr was getting tired. And not only him, as alcohol went dry more and more of the workers went to sleep. Before anyone could notice only handful of people left near the fire. Rumours from all the others came to Wolski with growing delay. Pipe was already safe in a pocket. He knew he should go to his tent, and lie down like a decent human being. When he finally came to this conclusion his eyes played the trick on him and shut without plans to open up before sunrise. Quite snoring was quickly to be heard.

 

[Relent<]

After a few more hours of merriment and alcoholism, the workers retired to their various tents, and hovels leaving only a sparse few around the fire.
Of those few, many of them were bleary-eyed drunk, or on the verge on unconsciousness. Except for Katarina, who was too large to succumb to so little alcohol and the magician who had had only a few sparing swigs as payment for his performance. Early into the morning, as the moon leaned wanly toward the west, Katarina remained enraptured by even his simplest slide of hand.
Every playing card, infinitely knotted scarf, and levitating coin made her gasps, and quietly applaud with a broad grin.

 

[Taj]

Alex's tricks were in his mind, that of a child's nature but to his giant size audience they were a work of art. He supposed that their kind had never seen nor heard of magic. Which was fine with him...very seldom did anyone seem so engrossed with his performance. Even when he fumbled she still appeared enthralled with what she was witnessing.

Of course the thought had crossed his mind that she felt sorry for him and was just being empathetic with her ooo's and ahhh's...but it didn't really matter. He was pleased to have anyone watch at all. Finally the audience grew tired or bored, or both with his performance and started moving off towards their respective tents. A couple of men set what was left of the bottles by his trunk and left a couple smokes on the lid.

Finally it was just him and the one they called Katarina left. Having performed his last known illusion he took a resounding bow, retrieved one of the cigarettes from the lid, grabbed a bottle and sat down beside the giant sized woman with a sigh of exhaustion. He lit the smoke, took a puff and coughed a couple times followed by a wincing swallow of the bitter alcohol they had left behind. "And that my dear lady," he said quietly, wiping the summer sweat from his brow, "is my show." He stoked the fire with a stick and brought was was left of the burning wood back to life...

 

[Relent<]

Katarina quizzically tilted her head. "Is the magic all used up?"
She could gather that he was tired, but...how? She scooted a bit closer to him, still sitting up on her knees, and took his hand in hers. Turning it over to inspect his palm, she expected to see a fading sort of glow like the embers of a dying campfire resonating throughout it. As he revived the fire with a few pokes, she thought to do the same.

Still holding his hand, she reached over with her other hand to poke his belly. He still felt solid enough; so he wasn't completely used up like the ashes that remained after firewood was burned. If magic was like fire, then he should still have some left. Though...when he ran out of it, would he dissipate? Blow away like dust and soot?
"You're not going to blow away are you?" She asked in a suddenly concerned tone.

 

[Taj]

Used up? Blow away? Having never had dealt with this race before, Alex found the questions confusing. He was still trying to figure an answer when she suddenly took his hand, inspecting it carefully. Her touch was surprisingly soft. With her size he had assumed her hands would be rough...her skin like leather, but it was more like that of one who was pampered daily with lotions. His hand seemed almost the size of an infant's compared to hers.

He was still confused when a poke to his midsection interupted his train of thought. He jumped in reaction and moved his free hand to protect himself. "No," he chuckled slightly more from the sudden poke then the odd questions. "no I won't blow away. I weigh more then I look despite my size."

Pulling his hand gently from her grasp he figured he had better explain his performance before the giant got angry and used him like a shot put. "I'm a magician yes, but they're just illusions." He held up his hands to show her and continued to explain as best he could. "My hands are...well faster then most. I can complete things with my hands before your eyes register what is happening." He wasn't sure if she fully understood so he tried again. "You see while you're looking over here," he gestured with his head to his right hand and moved it so her eyes would follow. "My other hand is doing something completely different." When he was sure she was distracted, his left hand reached out and gently kneeded her ribs...

 

[Relent<]

Katarina flinched, but it seemed less like a violent spasm and more like a surprised jolt. She was almost too surprised by the contact itself to be tickled by it; at least where her brain was concerned. Her body still uttered a soft squeak in reply, and her hands instinctively closed over the offended territory for protection.
Still, it was a moot point to explain the nature of something she couldn't see; distraction and all, it still seemed to her that the phantom tickle had simply appeared from nowhere rather than his playful fingers grabbing her while she wasn't looking.
"So it's tickle magic?" she said in a tone which contained even less understanding.

 

[Taj]

Alex sighed and decided to give up on explaining it wasn't real. That it was all just illusions and slight of hand. He felt she was determined to believe it was some sort of unusual other power. A mischievious idea popped into the magicians head and he chuckled a little. "Well it can sometimes be a tickle magic." He maintained a serious look on his face and changed his explanation. Yes it was lying and Labaryn held lying as a serious offence, but since they weren't amongst a village and no others of his kind seemed to be around at the moment, he was positive he wouldn't be prosocuted for it. Besides it was only a little white lie to amuse a fellow traveller.

"It can take quite awhile to regain the magic ability so to aid in its recuperation, laughter is often used. The best kind is ticklish laughter of course, but to find the right source can be very difficult." He looked around the deserted camp and gave a small sigh. "I really don't know if there is the correct sourse around right now..."

 

[Relent<]

Katarina sat up, eyes wide open and mouth slightly open as if forming an idea. The magician--which she decided must be like unto a physician because the names sounded somewhat similar--was attempting to explain something very complex and quite essential to his health and function.

Attempting to gain more data from his bodily language and tone than his words, she noticed him to sound suddenly weary and forlorn. He was going to blow away! She'd asked him for too much and now the magician was going to die!
"Oh no!" She gasped, grasping his last few words about there being not proper source of tickle magic for him to heal with.

"What kind of source do you need? I'll find one for you. But promise me you won't blow away!" She was quite upset; not unlike a child that brings home a jar full of fireflies one night, and finds them all dead or barely flickering in the morning. But her firefly was still alive, and so long as she had the power to see it stay that way she would give him whatever he asked for.

 

[Taj]

Alex smiled and patted the hand of the giant. "I assure you, I can not blow away." He thought for a couple of moments studying Katarina carefully. Finally, he figured out what was troubling the poor woman so. From her sudden need to nurture, she had thought he was in physical danger. He thought it best to once again re-assure the giantess to help her relax.

"My magic is not life draining dear lady. I assure you I am in NO physical danger. It's a source of emotion." He moved closer, seeing an opportunity to strike. "Laughter is what refills the energy." With that he poked his fingers into a space between her ribs on her right side and wiggle his index finger into the flesh.

 

[Relent<]

Katarina hardly had the time to exhale in relief before a short, sharp squeak was shocked out of her by the magicians sly fingers. Leaned over as she was, her subsequent recoil was met by a sudden loss of balance which found her lying on her side, her knees erected defensively as her arms wrapped around her sparsely covered torso.
After a moment, she rolled onto her back, rolling back her head so that she was looking at the magician upside-down.
"If it harmless...I can help you. But so long as I see you. I hate when it surprises."

 

[erraticemphatic]

Erimosi was quite unable to sleep. Lying in place was making her restless. She was going to get nowhere; her thoughts were becoming recursive, questions of what she was going to do from this point on. At length, she decided she needed to get up and clear her head. She exited her tent and idly walked about a bit, feeling a strange kinship with the stars, quietly humming an eerie tune from a little village she'd visited that had been a large part of her inspiration in her present profession.

(Relent<: You were right. I do indeed see the merit of this system of thread separation. Good show.)

 

[Relent<]

(damn straight XD but temporal games are tricky. Remember, in day 2 Katarina and Eri have not been introduced, so they can't have any direct interaction in the day 1 thread. Also, if I recall correctly, you and Taj did not directly introduce your characters until day 2, so even that interaction will have to be limited. I'm not really sure what you can do here; though I suppose you can observe and get some inside information on character's weaknesses etc. For example, Katarina has already displayed a somewhat slow wit, and difficulty with language. Eri can use that, say, in day 2. And depending on how this scene between Taj and myself plays out, you may even learn a few of Katarina's physical weaknesses. )

Katarina heard the rustle of someone shambling about nearby, and humming to themselves. Before the magician had time to take her up on her offer, she suddenly concealed herself behind her arms and rolled onto her stomach.
"Not here." she whispered, as she raised her hips into the air, propping herself up on her elbows. "I don't want anyone to see..."

 

[erraticemphatic]

(Actually, damn it. I mistakenly posted that here instead of sunset on Day 2 >.<. You have revived all of my criticisms *glare*. Also, sorry for nearly ruining your scene. I meant for that to be a scene opener in the uneventful second day. And, actually, this system is still pretty cool, despite my blunder.)

 

[erraticemphatic]

(So here's what's going on: For some reason, until right now, I somehow gave myself the impression that 3 ongoing threads existed, Sunset on the 1st Day, 2nd Day, and Sunset on the 2nd Day. Now, I've tangled myself up immensely, so I'll wait either for the creation of a Sunset on the 2nd Day thread or wait a while and come back in on the presently active 2nd Day thread.

This has been a classy-assed way of dodging admitting that I'm an idiot sponsored by Featherby and Barnes, a family company.)

 

[Relent<]

(oh no, you're fine where you are. I've decided that Katarina doesn't like your character, and she already has the advantage of size and strength. Future confrontations would be assisted in Eri's favor by what she learns tonight, if you choose to stick around.)

 

[erraticemphatic]

(Furthering my plight, I've carelessly deleted the text of that post before even considering that I would need to repost it. So I will paraphrase myself and reinsert it, as I am interested to see how an interaction might go, since I never did anything conclusive on this thread anyway. Then I'll post again after so that we can have an exchange.)

 

[erraticemphatic]

There had been a quiet commotion around the fire, which Erimosi, in her meditative state, had not noticed even, until it ceased suddenly. Startled by the quiet, she, too, hushed herself. By the fire's glow, she could see that lovely giantess and that silly magician carrying on. Now, she was significantly distracted and tried to inconspicuously keep a longing eye on the girl.

 

[Taj]

Alex too froze, his eyes squinting in the darkness and his ears trying desperately to hear the low rustling again. He was quiet and still for a moment before deciding that whatever or whomever was out there had lost interest and decided to move on.

He glanced over at the giantess and noticing her hips raised slightly decided to take an opportunity while it presented itself. His quick hands darted out and finding the hollow between her hip and midsection, began a quick firm kneeding motion. Even with her in a vulnerable position he noted he still had quite a reach in order to connect with the other hip area. Straining his arms his hand found the far hip side and also began the same kneeding motion. He found the position quite difficult to maintain and knew she would eventually roll clear, so switching tactics he searched out the tendon behind her knee and began a massage like manuvere...anticipating that her stength would soon overpower his tactic and she would soon evade him. While he waited for this to happen, he planned his next attack...

 

[Relent<]

Katarina's shrill shriek pierced the night air like a bullet being fired in the distance before she clasped her hands over her mouth, looking around briefly to see that she had not woken anyone. She still hadn't located their voyeur, and was nervous about their activity being seen.
Still, Alex's fervor prompted still more restrained titters to utter from her being as he squeezed the sensitive areas on either side of her waist. In such an unstable position, she was worried if she lashed out too much she might accidentally crush him; or even worse, punt him like a rugby leather over the horizon.

As his fingers removed themselves from her midsection and instead began to knead her knees, she dug her fingers into the dirt, releasing a slow, gradual whine as she tried to keep quiet and still. Finally, she could bear it no longer and took a surprisingly calculated position to deter her assailant.
Sweeping her legs up on either side of his shoulders, and crossing her ankles just behind his head, she hoisted him a little off the ground and pinned his arms at his sides, though his hands were still freer than she would have liked. With her knees against the ground, she raised her upperbody on her hands before looking over her shoulder with a curiously admonishing smile.

She placed a finger on her lips, before taking another precursory glance around the tents. The privacy flaps of most of the tents were closed, a few lanterns burning inside to keep the bugs off depicting a number of slumbering silhouettes. With a slight adjustment of her calves, she relocated her ankles beneath Alex's arms, allowing him to hold himself up as she crawled toward her own small encampment. Her heels were parallel, but her arches were crossed for added stability. Had she intertwined her toes, Alex might look as if he were going to be cracked in half like a walnut.

Upon reaching her lean-to, she put him down on her bedding and began erecting her privacy curtains. The shabby, burlap sheets were attached to the "roof" with bits of rope, and upon being untied unfurled sloppily down until they mostly reached the ground. The fabric itself was quite porous, and was torn in many places leaving lots of gaps between it and the ground, where there weren't large gashes that parted it regardless. Still, With the fire glowing outside and the mild darkness within being broken with only a few flickering lights that saw their way through the burlap, the atmosphere became much more private...almost romantic, had Katarina any grasp at all for such pretext.

Her bed was composed of bits of rope and straw latticed across a fairly sturdy log frame that kept her off the ground, though it wasn't quite long enough for her to lay on. As she'd fussed with arranging the curtains, she was on her knees with her back to him, and a bare ankle on either side of his waist. She remained wordless, though her lips moved as if she were thinking something to herself.

 

[Carnivore]

(I'd been ignoring this thread as completed, and apparently I was wrong! As long as I'm not interrupting anything Taj and Relent are up to, Isis can still be around, and even be introduced to Erratic's character if he wants. Isis hasn't really looked at her in day 2. Erratic, I think you're doing fine, despite your confusion. If there's a snag in the timeline, Relent or I will pop in and fix it, don't worry too much about it. Just remember Relents comments as we should be golden.)

Isis continued to stare into the fire, her orange eyes matching the flame. Her eyes were half lidded, and she seemed to drift in and out of dozing an uneasy sleep. She fought it unconsciously, willing herself to stay awake even though she was little aware of anything that was going on around her. The thought occurred to her that she may have had more of that "silly fizz" than she should have. Were she more awake, her mood might indeed be a silly one. But with not much going on but the cozy warmth of the fire, she did little but battle sleep.

Isis was pulled from her reverie by the sound of Katarina's laughter. Slowly, Isis's eyes focused and she shook her head, pulling herself fully awake. Looking around, she saw the giant woman padding off to some kind of primitive tent. The shabby magician followed. Did she miss the rest of his show? Were they wandering off so as not to disturb the sleepy Eboniaan? Apparently Isis had little tolerance for alchohol. Maybe she ought to remember that. Although her thoughts were a bit fuzzy, and she wasn't sure her memory was going to keep a firm account of anything at the moment.

She appreciated the thoughtfulness they gave her, though. Even if it meant she had little to do now that she was awake. Isis turned back to the fire and stared at the embers. She noticed the bottle of "silly fizz" was still next to her. Isis contemplated to herself whether it would be wise to have anymore. Probably not, but would it be fun? That was the real question.

 

[Taj]

With the sudden movement of his would be prey, Alex found himself now the captor caught between surprisingly strong calves. His tickling had obviously gotten a reaction and at first with her reacting the way she did, we was apt to think the larger woman might cause him harm.

Although she had smiled back at him, Alex wasn't familiar with this race or what their reactions might mean. A smile could mean that she was about to squash him like a bug. However instead she had swiftly put an end to his attack as she broght her legs around his neck. In a sort of crawl, he had no choice but to be lead to what he assumed was her tent. He gulped as she pulled him inside and began arranging the tent to accomidate her guest.

He tilted his head at the shabby bedding as it didn't look very accomidating or comfortable to the giantess. He was about to comment, but he heard her whispering. Well not really a whisper, but his oversensitive, trained ears could tell from her breathing, she was muttering something to herself. She seemed oblivious to his presence as she worked the entrance curtains closed. He smiled to himself as he noticed the bare ankle and his mischief at an all time high, couldn't pass on yet another opportunity. Picking up a stray piece of straw he began to lightly scratch at the exposed skin just below the ankle bone. "Katarina," he began still tracing the straw over the skin. "I couldn't help but notice how..." he thought of the right words to use so she would understand. "how short your bed is. Surely you can't find it very comfortable." He let the straw scratch evily closer to her heel as he continued, "Being somewhat a craftsman, I could fashion a longer bed frame for you if you would like....something a little longer?"