White Gold [ CLOSED ]

[beaconed]

Who: Jaune Arc beaconed & Rapunzel luminarie
When: IC: 5/13
Where: Entertainment District, Temporary Traveling Circus of Tjghsldiwk
What: Jaune takes Rapunzel to her first carnival in which they become a dancing viral hit, confront their feelings and fight gigantic elephant monsters. Carnivals, man.
Rating/Warning: Gross / Stylish Violence + Blood / some groping

---

[ It's the day of the carnival! Jaune and Rapunzel both expressed interest in going together, which is a new experience for him. No, not the carnival, but a girl that he's genuinely head over heels for actually wants to do something like this with him. Him? Jaune Arc?? Mr. Socially Awkward! He wonders if it had anything to do with an old advice he had gotten, "No schemes or pick up lines, you can't get it wrong if it's the truth."

He had tossed out the old pick up lines a long time ago, but is he still not being honest? There are things he wants to tell her, not just about how he feels, but about who he is. About being a fraud back at Beacon. She deserves to know who she's putting her trust in, right? Maybe tonight is the night... or more likely, everything is going to distract them from being honest here. Seriously, he picked a carnival to do this?!?

Whatever the case, Jaune learned his lesson from the last time CERES had some kind of circus here, so he's not traveling without his weapon (and also a certain good luck charm in his wallet!}. He meets up with Rapunzel just near the entrance, but this whole place already looks impressive from the outside, even to someone like Jaune. ]

R-Rollercoasters. Great.

Comments

[beaconed]

Y-You did? Oh! I, hah, I recognized you, too. Yeah, I... you... you look really nice. Like--

N-Not that you don't normally! Haaa--!

[ NERVOUS LAUGHTER, he suddenly turns to the entrance. ] --Well, this is a great start! [ Under his breath: ] (Insult the maybe-date, Jaune, real nice, this is gonna be great...)

[corona]

[ As they pass through the gates, Rapunzel quickly finds nervousness is nothing to be worried about. She's so swept up in the display of colour and the whirling of motion, light, and noise surrounding them that she hardly has time to think before she's grabbing Jaune's hand, bouncing up and down on her toes while they walk.

She pushes up on them just enough to whisper excitedly: ] This is amazing! [ Not seeing the, uh, attendant winding rapidly through the crowd in their direction. ]

[beaconed]

[ ajdskalhgfg aaaaa

t-this is fine. ]

I told you it's pretty cool! You haven't even tried the cotton candy yet! And I know that for a fact because how can someone who's never had beans in their life have... uh, wha-- [ Between her sudden hand holding, whispering, the amazing lights around them, and some stranger pushing them both through a curtain, Jaune has already lost control of this situation. The only thing he does manage to take hold of is the hand that's in his, squeezing a little tighter just so nothing separates them until he figures out what the hell is going on. ] --h-hey!

[corona]

What-? Jaune! [ He's her first thought! It's curious, as she's rather proud of the fact that her self-preservationist instinct seems to be so damn strong. For example: her response to this is to squeeze Jaune's hand and leap to stand in front of him, holding an arm out defensively. Rather different than how she'd acted only two weeks ago. Only then does Rapunzel whip her head around, taking in what looks like... a giant closet?

Pretty clothes, though.

Oops. Is that his hand?! Shit. She drops it and moves away, flushing and furious with herself because she immediately wants to grab it again. ] D-Does this happen at every carnival?

[beaconed]

[ doo dee doo, don't look at her, just gonna investigate their surroundings, yep... ]

I... I don't think this happens at any carnival... b-but I did promise you a surprise, so... surprise? [ He's trying to be optimistic here??? ] But does it count if I'm surprised, too? Man...

[corona]

Wow. [ Already graduated to investigating the fabric yo. She steps up to the rack of white outfits. ] Are... these for us? Jaune, look, these look like real jewels...!!

[beaconed]

What, how...

[ Jaune looks around the room, at the other NPCs. ] Really? Why is nobody asking if this seems weird?! C'mon...! [ He even suspects he's in the girls change room. THIS IS SO NOT IN CONTROL. Jaune attempts leaving, but the attendant blocks him and points at the time, telling him to hurry. ]

I... I guess we're supposed to go out? [ ... ] Out there, I mean! Go out there! Hah! Haha...!! But I can't wear this stuff...

[ can he? ]

[corona]

Why not? [ Rapunzel stands back, already holding one of each of their options and popping a hip, though she's too excited to be impatient.

JAUNE CAN DO JAUNE she's gonna play dress up. ] You'd look amazing in this wine colour here.

[beaconed]

[ She thinks he would look amazing... ] Well, I-- no, h-hang on, that's for girls! What're you saying?! Oh-- oh, man, we're gonna run outta time!

Just-- [ GRABS WHATEVER TBH. Ohh, it's a yellow one! ] M-Meet you outside, okay?!

[ He's about to hide behind a changing curtain, but quickly peeks out to look at her again. ] ...and I think that one looks good on you. [ HIDES AGAIN ]

[corona]

But... [ And she's left to stand there, blinking but not entirely displeased. ] ...I'm not wearing it yet.

[ Whatever. Rapunzel shrugs and flounces off to her own changing cubicle, chatting up the NPCs casually through the curtain as she goes. Oooh cute skirt... Much soft. Nice bells and whistles too! They jingle when she walks (dem hips) - why didn't she ever think of something like this?! Genius!!

...Uh oh. ]

Uh. J-Jaune?!

[beaconed]

[ HE MEANT THE ONE THAT SHE WAS HOLDING, GEEZ. But alas, Jaune is having a little trouble with his costume, getting tangled (lol) up and falling all over the place. Not that Rapunzel can see any of it.

In fact, Rapunzel is being pushed out through the curtains, and when she's presented on stage, the jester makes the announcement: ]

The Ugliest in All of Cerealia!

[ The crowd cheers (?), but where is Jaune?? ]

1/here we go

[corona]

H- HEY!

[ Even for someone as psychotically bent on paying attention to her surroundings as Rapunzel is, there's absolutely no way to process what's happening. One minute she's struggling to pull her top down along her hair and the next she's–?!?!?! ]

[corona]

[ And just like that: she's on stage!! In... front of people.

And... oh woah not just people, but surely at least one of her canyon's worth of people. There are more faces and angles, curves, spots, fabrics, and textures than she's seen even since her arrival in the colony; she imagines it must be rare to have this many humans and... others gathered together like this in one place. It's almost suffocating. It is suffocating. Rapunzel shrinks back, stumbling over hair that was pulled out of place in the dressing process, as her heart starts to pound and her vision telescopes.

IT TOOK HER TWO AND A HALF FUCKING HOURS TO BRAID THAT YOU BASTARDS. ]

[corona]

[ ...Did... they just say ugly?

But she worked so hard on the chapstick... Is that true? Was the effort wasted after all?







Does Jaune think she's ugly? ]

done

[corona]

[ Also she's topless so that blows.

She whirls around, frantic and casting about for her friend. ]

Jaune! Where are you?!

1/2 HERE WE GO

[beaconed]

[ The laughter of the crowd intensifies the more dumbstruck Rapunzel looks after hearing her title. Really, this looks like one of their best practical jokes yet, the kind that would go viral on the internet if someone were recording it.

Which someone probably is.

But the laughter comes to a sudden stop when their view of Rapunzel is blocked by... well, this. ]

[beaconed]

[ Jaune himself looks like someone who's taking this very seriously, posing in front of the crowd, staring them down as Rapunzel is hidden behind his "wings". How dare they call her ugly??? It should be noted that it's hard to tell whether Jaune looks intimidating or if the crowd is just too shocked at his ridiculous display to make any noise.

Taking opportunity of the silence, Jaune brings his wings down and flamboyantly turns to Rapunzel. His voice is low, though, only for her to hear. ]

Hi.

...Am I late? [ He knows he is, though. ]

1/2

[corona]

[ What. What is he weari– Is that a collar?.

The noise around her dies. ]

Oh. Jaune, you look like one of the CYbuddy parrots I saw on my way here.

[corona]

I mean– [ And then she giggles, dropping her head like a puppet. She's shaking her head to control it but it's not working. Soon, full-out laughing, she's stumbling around for an entirely different reason, snickering until the crowd joins in again and the jeering takes up at full volume.

She doesn't care tho. This is suddenly great again. He's getting a shove in the chest for his trouble. ]

Yes, Gemstone Guy. You're late.

[beaconed]

Hello? I believe it's called faaashionably late? [ No, it's not, but he's happy with his little play on words. ]

I... do look pretty stupid, though... [ Ah, but he laughs as his head begins to bop to the music in the background. ] What do you think my chances are of getting a dance with the "ugliest" in all of Cerealia?

[corona]

[ She looks up at him just as her heart swells with the music, which sounds to her like the twist of screws and the uptempo clacking of nuts being shaken in a jar.

ie. it's exciting and the rhythmic percussion is fun but it's not very good music objectively speaking!! ]

You can dance?

[beaconed]

[ Yeah, would it kill this futuristic city to have some medieval music? ]

What-- why is everyone always surprised at that? Of course I can! ...Can you?

[corona]

[ Instead of answering, Rapunzel steps away from him and begins to do precisely that. Moving in no particularly rehearsed way, of course, but...

SOMEHOW SHE SEEMS TO KNOW EXACTLY HOW TO DANCE TO THIS HOW ODD. ]

[beaconed]

[ He's not sure what's happening, is this a challenge or what?? Either way he rolls with it. ]

Oh yeah?

[ Jaune stomps his feet to the beat of the drums, spreading his wings halfway through as he keeps up with Rapunzel. Most of his moves aren't unlike when JNPR danced at their ball, weird but hella cool and hard to pull off! It seems like some of the crowd is getting into it, too! This whole thing started out as pretty embarrassing, but Jaune and Rapunzel somehow managed to turn it around. If anything is going to go viral at the stage, it would probably be their sweet dance moves. Funnily enough, none of this has ANYTHING to do with belly dancing, OOPS.

When the song comes to an end, Jaune finds himself stopping right in front of Rapunzel, keeping his eyes fixed on her even as the crowd cheers. Most of the show is ready to move on, though, there are like 50 more people to be announced as the ugliest in all of Cerealia and... the attendants are yelling at the two idiots to get off the stage already. THEY'RE OVER IT, MOVE ON. ]

[corona]

[ BOO THOSE WHORES. Rapunzel couldn't care less at this point. She's a little breathless from their impromptu Moment - one of many - and now she's breathless for another reason entirely; a smile creeps onto her face along with more laughter. Her eyes hold his with vehemence. ]

I like your collar. [ Her voice softens even though the crowd is still screeching. ] You look like a parrot. [ Yup said that already.

Besides PARROTS DON'T WEAR COLLARS! ]