angstfactory

[angstfactory]

@innocentcurse (elizabeth)

"Hey Liza," DJ braced a hand on the wood column she stood by, holding up a candied apple, "do you wanna share?" He bit into one side of it, licking the sugar from his lips. "It's not so bad," he smacked them, as if he was a chef that was offering his prized opinion of someone else's dish. "I was going to go on the ferris wheel," he went on, giving her a grin, "do you wanna come with?" Hopefully she said yes! He liked her, she was cool, and not just because she was super cute. Elizabeth came to the observatory a lot, and anyone that liked what he liked, was an automatic bonus.

[angstfactory]

@cardinalstart (open, ferris wheel)

'SOLO RIDER, ANYONE ELSE?'

Startled by the ride operator's sudden appeal to any other solo rider in the long line to come forth, Mateo sat forward, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Uhm, that's not necessary, really," the man stammered anxiously, as he was perfectly fine to go on the ferris wheel alone. It was safer that way. But it was too late to protest, as the cart creaked and swayed some under the weight of another who had come to join him. "Oh, okay," Mateo's voice was quieter as he made room, hands coming up to hold over the bar the operator strapped over their laps. "You won't swing the basket, will you?" he asked, eyes closing, swallowing thickly. "I don't mind heights so much, but I'm usually not in something dependent on a few nuts and bolts that is dismantled and put back together again every other week.." Why had he gotten into the death trap if so many ways it could go wrong crossed his mind? Well, because he couldn't just stay scared of everything in life. And he had assumed they would let him ride solo! That meant less weight and certainly no concern of unnecessary basket rocking... unless the wind kicked up...

[angstfactory]

@touchofmxgic (your choice!)

The main reason Neylani had come to the carnival, was simply to keep an eye on everyone else. No, she was no longer Sheriff, but old habits died hard and as the lieutenant at the fire department, she still had some sense of duty in making sure these people stayed out of harms way. With the way the small town had been feeling lately, its strange weather too... Well, the woman would feel better to know everyone was safe and sound. Now that she'd been on her feet for a few hours, she climbed onto the carousel in order to get off them for a couple of minutes. Ney didn't feel like climbing onto one of the animals, since they were more for the children to enjoy. But all the carriage benches seemed to be taken by other adults or parents. Approaching one with only a solo rider, she gestured to the space besides them. "Do you mind if I bum a ride with you? All the others are taken."

[angstfactory]

@blackcatxmagic (vale)

As the day wore on, Jesse's tension did ease up some. Only some. He hadn't quite let his guard drop, not with how strange and dangerous Cardinal Hill had felt lately. But it was hard to keep vigilant during a carnival, with families and couples running around all over the place, laughing and chatting like everything was peachy keen normal. It helped to lull Jesse into a sense of normalcy, for the moment. And, honestly? He grasped onto it with both hands, because he could use the break. That's how he wound up in one of the bumper cars, directly across from his brother Vale. "Better buckle in," he threatened the younger man, competitively, both hands on the tiny wheel as they waited for the conductor to release the wheels.

[angstfactory]

@lovesspell (your pick)

"I've always wanted to try this," Mateo stated, to nobody in-particular, though he had quietly wandered up and stood besides someone. "But.." His arms crossed over his chest, watching as someone else swung the hammer down and caused the ball to rise to an impressive height to the delight of the crowd. "There's so many eyes on you," the nerves were in his throat, "and I don't think I'd emotionally recover if I couldn't hit an appropriate height. I'd rather not find out how weak I am in front of everyone." It was said in a joking manner, though Mateo was also serious. "Did you try?"

[angstfactory]

@livrelcvande (roman)

"How red is my face?" Tripps questioned his cousin, as he pressed the ice cold cup of lemonade in against the flushed skin of his face. "I feel like I'm sweating in every crevice of my body," he shared, unnecessarily. "Why's it so fucking hot today? The weather has been acting screwed up lately," he claimed, shooting an annoyed glance towards the lack of clouds in the sky. "One second, we've got crazy storms, and the next, it's like hell on earth. Make up your mind."

[angstfactory]

@margotmccann

"Maaaaargot!" DJ beelined for the young woman the second he spotted her, pushing his way through the crowd until he caught up to her side. Did DJ have multiple different crushes? Yep, sure did. And he frequently added to the list almost on the daily. He also tried to shoot his shot any chance he got, because one day, it might actually get him somewhere. Right? "Do you wanna go on that with me?" he asked, pointing towards the Tunnel of Love ride. "I really want to but like, I don't want to look like a loser going by myself." DJ's teeth showed through his smile, trying to appear like this was an innocent request and not at all a slick attempt to make kissy faces with her.

[angstfactory]

@ritualove (your choice!)

At least there seemed to be one saving grace about this stupid carnival— churros. Tracy stood in a line that was far too long, occasionally taking a step out to check how far from the front he still was, and looking down at his watch. Annoyed by the wait. By the time he had the treat in hand, all such frustrations morphed into a childlike anticipation. "Come to papa," the churro was on its way to his mouth, when a collision from behind knocked it right out of his hand and into the dirt. "No!" A dramatic yell escaped him, both hands clutching towards the ground, mourning the loss. "What'd you do that for?!" Tracy whirled around to confront the person. "Do you have any idea how long I stood in that line? Now look at it!" He waved a hand at the disgraceful condition of what he was sure would have been the best churro of his life.

[angstfactory]

@bitethvhand (eleanor)

"You want to go ride the scrambler?" he suggested, finishing off a vanilla cone and licking the residue ice cream from his fingertips. "Or how about the," Tripps leaned forward, waggling his brows just to tease Nell, "tunnel of love?" After this, he gave the woman an obnoxious kissy face, finding her sides in an attempt to tickle her. Nell, he knew, had been having some rough weeks lately, so Tripps wanted to make sure he was having fun.

[angstfactory]

@skyskypage

"Dude," he smacked Sky lightly in the chest before pointing towards the ride that looked like a grounded flying saucer, "let's go try that." Tripps lead the way, determined to ignore how weird things were within Cardinal Hill and just focus on having some fun. He liked hanging out with Sky, too. Since the two of them discovered their shared health issues, there was something relaxing about being in the presence of someone he didn't have to hide that stuff around. Winnie came unbidden to his mind, as he did frequently lately; he'd like to confess it all to him, too, but something held him back. "I heard you get stuck to the walls and you can climb around without falling."

[angstfactory]

@practicalxmagic (cassidy)

"You expect me to hold onto that?" Lilith made a face even as she accepted the mallet without much enthusiasm, thinking of how many others must have had their grubby, dirty little hands on it thus far today. Was it sticky? She hoped she was imagining that. "So what, I just whack the thing whenever it pops up, right?" Lilith sighed, feeling like this was just a child's game, shaking her blonde hair back over her shoulders as she prepared. Child's game or not, she was woefully unprepared when the mole started popping up and down in different holes in what she'd swear was an insane pace. "What— come on— ugh—" Each word was punctuated by a forceful smack of the mallet, always coming up too slow and missing the animal's head that seemed to be laughing at her. "Damn you," she gritted her teeth, smacking the mallet with reckless abandon at any and every hole there possibly was, regardless if she saw the mole, until finally, this wild method paid off and the mole got it good once in the head. "HA!" Lilith gloated, giving a tiny dance of glee with the mallet still in hand. "That felt... actually, really good," she suddenly smirked at the man next to her, handing the mallet out. "Here, try this," she encouraged, "you look like you'd benefit too."

[angstfactory]

"Watch it," a hand came up to press past a couple stuck in liplock and blocking the way. Or, they were in Tracy's way, as the man was in no mood to veer off his own course to accommodate their public display of affection, regardless of the fact there was plenty of room to go around. "Get a room, jackass," Tracy shoved by, pretending not to hear the 'blow me, buttwad' response from the other male, who promptly returned to macking his girlfriend. Why did he come here? He should have stayed inside, nurse this headache, avoid the nauseating sight of couples and families enjoying their lives. Seeing other people so happy and gleeful always churned up that inner misery and bitterness. These two emotions almost bled out of him, in that slightly disheveled slick look, unkempt hair, even a five o'clock shadow. Tracy had paused, busy digging into his pocket for a pack of cigarettes, when Carmen suddenly appeared from thin air. He barely even glanced up. "Nah, told her to scram," he muttered, exhaling in frustration when he saw the pack was empty. Fingers curled in on it, crumpling the useless box, before finally giving his older sister a steady look. "What is this? Are you trying to bond?"

closed starter for tracy (@angstfactory) located at the cardinal carnival

Since her brother got back into town, he seemed like something was twisting at him, but in typical Contreras fashion, she didn't confront Tracy head-on. He'd been gone for a while, not that they didn't keep in contact, but not the way they should've. Carmen was distant in general, had been ever since the incident, while simultaneously loving her family more than anything. Now it left her in quite the predicament, where she wanted to be closer to him while acknowledging the space she had part in creating. While she intended to run into Leon, Carmen got there early to wander for a bit and ended up stumbling on her brother. It was unusual that he was alone, but she took the opportunity to swoop in instead. "No hot date?" An eyebrow arched before the words even left her mouth, eyes scanning the variety of game stalls that might have held his date. Tracy never had to try, or she didn't think so, and even he wasn't immune to heartache. The whole family remembered Fallon, thinking she'd be the one to tie him down, only to find out she did the very opposite, and Carmen hated her ever since. She didn't ask if they'd faced one another yet, even if the curiosity nipped at her. If he wanted to, then he would, or she hoped so. "I bet I can still kick your butt in a water gun race," the woman mused with intent on enticing him to play.

[angstfactory]

It was weird to be out there, pretending that everything was normal and sunshine. Not days ago, unwarranted dread had set in and had somehow chased in a wild, backwards storm. A certain kind of unease lingered since, or at least, Jesse felt so. Even now, he wasn't fully relaxed or focused; standing near Linden's side, the man continued to be distracted by anyone that passed them a little too closely, to assure himself they were just some rambunctious kid, or lovey couple, or beleaguered parent. Everyone seemed to have forgotten all about how strange and unsafe things were— even Linden, who was obsessed with winning some bear they wanted. Maybe they wanted to have a few normal days? He didn't know. He wanted to see Felix, or someone like Felix, to ask if there were ways of protection. The kind of protection he wasn't capable of. "I dunno, Lind, they probably grease the edges or give ya rings too small, to make it harder," Jesse's stare returned in time to catch their latest attempt bouncing off. "It's a scam." He ignored the dirty look of the game operator. It was a scam, though. There wasn't any reason why Linden couldn't be able to loop a ring around one of those bottle necks, not when they knew how to rope a horse with the best of them. "You want me to try?"

✿ Closed starter for Jesse (@angstfactory) at South Cardinal Showgrounds.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ “Jess. I’m gonna fuckin’ lose it.” ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Linden’s voice came out tight and shrill, nearly swallowed by the chaotic symphony of the carnival–squealing kids, tinny carousel music, and the occasional blast of a game buzzer. They stared, eyes twitching, at the third ring that dinged off the glass bottle before clattering uselessly to the trampled dirt below. It rolled to a stop by someone’s shoe, totally ignored. Linden didn’t even try to retrieve it. They just stood there, vibrating with the kind of suppressed rage usually reserved for too friendly guests and broken coffee pots. “That’s the third one, Jess. Why, why, do they keep doin’ this? Is this some new prank?” Covering their face with their palms, they sighed–deeply. THEY JUST WANTED A TEDDY BEAR.

[angstfactory]

"You can say I've been having a bad luck month," Lilith whined, shaking the wet from her arms in disgust. She had just bought these clothes, too. They weren't exactly her usual style, nor anything she was particularly fond of, but they were some of the least hideous ones she could find in this godforsaken town. Now, the blouse was soaked with the smell and stains of that energy drink, and her shorts hadn't faired any better. It was cold, too. The woman bat off several boxes of cereal from her lap and got back to her feet, just in time to see the spill on the ground and some of the boxes clean themselves up. She paused, not having expected any of that. "But-" So many questions popped up immediately, like who he was and where did he learn that and why was he using it so openly. The man was already rushing off, telling her to come with, and one of the grocery workers was now coming down the aisle to see what the hell just happened. "Wait!" Compelled to follow after, she pushed through the door and chased him down the street, forgetting about the mess of her clothes for now. This whole moment made her feel like she was a teenager all over again, fleeing with troublemaking friends. "Why'd you do that?" she asked, keeping up. "You can't just do that in front of anyone and the whole world to see," she continued, making to grab his arm so they could stop a moment. "It's dangerous!"

"Woah, that was kind of epic," Luis said, once the final box of cereal had fallen on top of them. It had all happened too fast for him to have an actual reaction. One second he was getting sprayed and the next she was on top of him on the floor. Not the most unusual of days but it was definitely up there. "You usually have bad luck or is it just my lucky day?" He wasn't mad, more amused as they slowly got up and he pushed some boxes off of them. "Honestly kind of good we ruined this cereal tower, these corn flakes fucking suck," he said and gave the boxes and extra punch. He looked down to assess the damage from the drink and shrugged, pulling his shirt over his head to take it off before throwing it over his shoulder like a dish towel. "We should probably bolt before someone comes over here and scolds us or something." Without thinking much about it, he used his magic to clean up the energy drink and a couple of the boxes before he slid two energy drinks into the back pockets of his shorts and started out of the store. He stopped and then turned to look at her, "You coming with?"

[angstfactory]

Someone in desperate need of a shower and clean clothes eventually wandered through the door. But this someone also looked fairly young, with a thick accent she almost had no patience to try to hear through. Or, more likely, it spawned from his clear disrespect. Fortunately, this was not Lilith's first rodeo in dealing with people like this. She could handle herself, like a chihuahua that ran off any burglar.

"Right," Lilith's nose wrinkled some, tone short yet taking on a sickly sweet condescending edge as she leaned forward with her arms on the countertop, "I'm very impressed you learned and understand the basic functions of a bell, gold star for you. Now all you have to work on is getting the grime from your ears, so you can hear it." She pressed two fingers to her temple briefly, the gesture one to indicate she couldn't believe this was her luck. "Listen, why don't you run along," her hand fell away to run her fingers through the air in a shooing motion, "and find me an adult I can speak to, okay? Perhaps your father, big brother?" Lilith dug into her purse to pull out the written information about the car she came about, sliding that onto the counter and tapping it. "Tell them I'm interested in looking at this vehicle."

”Consider yourself excused,” Dylan said with an air of insincere benevolence as he approached the desk, a streak of oil across his cheek and his hands covered in grime. “Have you never used a bell before, or are you just particularly enjoying the sound? Most people find one ring is completely adequate.” Naturally, he’d heard it going about five minutes before, but he’d half hoped whoever was ringing it might give up and go away. He was alone in the workshop today, and not particularly in the mood to engage with the general public. But alas, it seemed today’s clientele was persistent enough to stay. “I suppose you are quite blonde,” he added. “You must not have realised where the noise was coming from. Let me help,” he slowed his voice down so that every word seemed to take an age, “press …… button.” Slapping his hand down on the bell, he glanced around exaggeratedly as it rang, before pointing to it. “Bell ….. go ……. ding.”

[angstfactory]

@lovesspell (carter)

"Could I have another glass?" Neylani requested of the waitress with a sweet smile, that hid her inner annoyance. They weren't fifteen minutes into this date, and already, she regretted ever asking Carter on one. Actually, it took her less than three to know they weren't going to work out. But, seeing as how they had both already showed up, and still needed to eat dinner, she knew there wasn't any harm in seeing the fiasco through to the end.

She had been wrong. The man was insufferable.

How could someone so attractive be so... unlikable? Just the sound of his voice was starting to make her skin crawl. Ney quickly took a drink of the freshly poured second glass of wine, the sip a bit heavier than normal, as her ears recognized the man had yet to stop talking. She couldn't even say what he was on about, either. You need to get control of this. "You don't say," the woman came out with something generic, before attempting to focus their conversation. "So Carter, why would a man like you still be single?" Ney took another sip, wondering if he could answer that honestly. She could certainly give him a few reasons, if needed.

[angstfactory]

"Good, I like using it." As Winter came about, Tripps looked down at himself. "Do I?" The male usually did take time to put together a cohesive look on a daily basis -- one had to work at popularity, it didn't just fall out of trees -- but he hadn't considered if there'd been any particular intent in tonight's wardrobe. Fingers slid down the lapel of the dark blazer, the white button-down that was tucked in for once, and a pair of khakis. Even the punk cross earing had been switched out for a diamond stud instead. And maybe his hair had been combed back, too. Suddenly self-conscious of this realization that he had, indeed, dressed a little nicer than usual, Tripps cleared his throat and tried to shrug it off. "Yeah, well, thanks... I guess I didn't want to leave the house like a hobo today."

Tripps looked over Winter, admittedly dressed much simpler and definitely more casual -- how he should have dressed too, damn it! But honestly, where was the harm in that? "Nah, you look fine," he claimed, taking a step closer to give the man's t-shirt a teasing tug, as if to straighten some invisible wrinkles, "you look like you. That's the best you there is." At least Winter wasn't out there, feeling like he had to dress up to impress others, like him.

The hug caught him somewhat off-guard, though he recovered quickly, laughing. "What, you're not sick of me yet? Give it a few days, I'll work on it." There he was, being as cavalier as always; everything a joke. It was on the tip of his tongue, to crack a comment about how he was surprised Winter remembered him this time, but didn't. The other, he knew, was still quite sensitive of the matter, he wasn't ready to take on jokes like that. Tripps didn't want to see the smile fade from his eyes the way it had last time. Maybe one day they could laugh about it, but not today. "So," taking advantage of the other's closeness, he scooped Winter's face up in his hands, "are you coming or what? It's not like we're going to watch the movie anyway." There was a certain tug at the corner of his lips, before he planted a chaste kiss to Winter's, alluding to what those words could mean. Whether he was being serious or not, was unclear.

Ever since his time with Tripps the other day, Winter had been thinking about him.  It wasn’t just the sex that Winter had enjoyed - though it had been good, really, really good.  Somehow Winter knew that Tripps was very talented, that this wasn’t just a case of him not remembering what good sex was like.  That wasn’t what had Winter feeling so smiley the last few days though.  No, even more than that, Winter had liked talking with Tripps, laughing with him, both before they’d lost their clothes (or most of their clothes in Tripps’s case) and after Tripps had gotten done blowing Winter’s mind.  It had been so fun, and he’d loved feeling like a normal person, which wasn’t something Winter had realized he’d been missing, not to this extent at least.  And it seemed like Tripps had had fun too.

Even so, in the days since, Winter had been wondering when he’d see Tripps again; this didn’t feel like an if situation, felt like it was just a matter of time.  But now finally they were going to see each other again, were going to talk in person rather than on the phone.  They had made plans to go to the movies, though Winter didn’t know if this were a date or not; he found himself hoping it was.  His history with Tripps was complicated, but none of that was Tripps’s fault, and it helped that Winter didn’t really remember that time super well.  So it didn’t feel strange to him that he had developed a crush on this beam of light in human form.

He was finishing up in the background room of The Cozy Quilt when he heard someone out front, and immediately Winter smiled when he heard Tripps calling for him.  God, he was cute.  Walking out to the front, Winter smiled at the man, saying, “I still love that nickname, Tigger.”  He couldn’t decide if he liked that nickname for Tripps or not, so Winter didn’t use it often, just testing it out.  As he came around the counter, Winter took in what Tripps was wearing, and he paused.  “Wow, you look so good,” he said, mesmerized.  Did clothes fit anyone else as perfectly as they fit Tripps?  They didn’t in Winter’s case.  He looked down at his own clothes, a t-shirt and jeans, and Winter realized, “I…I forgot to break a change of clothes.”  Immediately his face burned, looking down in embarrassment.  “I’m sorry,” he told Tripps, looking up at him now and offering an uncertain smile.  For a moment, Winter hesitated, and then he stepped forward, wrapping his arms around Tripps.  “I missed you,” he told the man, hugging him close, his head resting against the other man’s chest.