4th Sundrop | VIDEO [Back/forward-dated to about noon [8/16/00]]

[foundanewdream]

[Have Rapunzel seemingly in the air, grin wide on her face and ecstatic~ despite the rain. And then whatever she's on moves again and the familiar structure of the Ferris wheel appears.

And keeps moving.

She lets out a squeal of happiness.]

Guys! This is so cool! The park, it's moving again! And the food...! Oh, the food is delicious! You've got to come!

Comments

[ADVENTUUUURES!!!]

[tothelastbreath]

[NEITHER WILL ALLEN.]

[You are the most concerningly upbeat child Allen has encountered in a good while, Link.]

[He looks up from the hotdog cart he's pushing towards the gate with an automatic, slightly quizzical smile. "'Hoy"? What sort of greeting is that? It reminds Allen of sailors he's met before in dark taverns, loud, brash men who were nonetheless quite the cheerful sort until you emptied their pockets.]

Hello! [ feeling all sorts of weird for saying this, considering: ] Have you been enjoying youself?

[FOREVER *A*]

[windsport.livejournal.com]

[That's not all that surprising, though, Allen... What children have you been around?]

[Link smiles and nods at Allen! Indeed, he has been enjoying himself.

Then he tilts his head curiously at the hot dog cart. He's not sure what's in there, but it must be something good, if Allen's taking it-- at least he doesn't seem to be stealing it, since as far as Link can tell, no one is running the carnival anyway. (Because stealing is wrong, when you are anyone but Link.)]

What is that?

[tothelastbreath]

[Ones that don't carry a small amoury on their person and remain this upbeat after weeks of running around on their own. YOU TELL HIM.]

Ah, this? It's a hotdog stand.

[Never mind that Victorian boys aren't meant to know what those are, I'm pretty sure Trollshino had hotdogs in the manga somewhere. Going by those crumbs on his face, Allen has to be very sure of its contents. He lifts the cover in invitation.]

Would you like one?

[windsport.livejournal.com]

[Whatever Great Sea cuisine consists of, it probably does not include hot dogs. The name certainly doesn't sound like that of a food item, but they look edible!]

Okay!

[Don't mind Link as he picks one out for himself!

Though instead of actually eating it or anything, after a moment of consideration, he unties his bait bag, and unceremoniously shoves it on in there. Alongside his hyoi pears and fish bait.]

1/2

[tothelastbreath]

Have more if you like! It's [ probably not poisoned after all ] quite—

[tothelastbreath]

—good?

[...He's pretty sure that wasn't meant to fit. Paaaaause.]

Er, you don't have to save it for later. [ tapping the cart ] There's plenty to go around.

[windsport.livejournal.com]

[HMMM. According to the laws of hammerspace, even though the bag is really quite small and shouldn't be able to hold anymore at all, Link's fairly sure he could fit a few more of those hot dogs in there. He's got much more room in his spoils bag, if it came to it... And then there're the bottles, of course.

So he grabs two more hot dogs to store! He gives a satisfied nod to himself as he ties the bag back onto his belt.]

It might be useful.

[tothelastbreath]

[ in slightly dazed clarification: ] To eat, I meant...

[That. Settles. It. There's no way those should fit.

(Also, Allen may have had a colourful childhood himself, but he's quite certain children do not generally react like they're hoarding rations for a stakeout when offered warm food.)]

Useful for? And aren't they horribly squashed that way?

[windsport.livejournal.com]

[Cheerfully addressing the question of what they may be useful for;] I don't know yet. [Attracting wildlife, restoring health, boosting magic... WHO KNOWS WHAT WONDROUS PROPERTIES these hot dogs may hold...!

To address the second question;] No, they're fine.

1/2

[tothelastbreath]

[They're called calories, that's what these wondrous properties are called. And Link, please don't get hurt someday, try to eat a hot dog, then realise this really isn't going to plan.

Allen assumes Link is talking about the unpredictability of Libitina's shenanigans, so he responds with:]

Well, there's no sense in letting them spoil just because you don't know when you may need them. I'm sure we'll still have other sources of food after these run out.

2/2

[tothelastbreath]

[Shooting that bag a dubious, dubious look. It doesn't even have the decency to look full.]

[ sounding mildly put off by this gap in logic: ] They can't possibly fit, though.

[windsport.livejournal.com]

[You don't know that the hot dog doesn't, in fact, have magical healing properties!!!]

[Spoil? Do hot dogs do that? He's pretty sure stuff in the bag doesn't go bad, but when people tell him there's a time limit on these things, there usually is... But at Allen's skepticism, he unties the bait bag again and pulls out a nice, unsquashed hot dog.]

Yes they can. [Do you not have standard bait bags in your world or something, man?]

[tothelastbreath]

[Just don't experiment the hard way!!!]

What?

[Here's a gloved finger pointing at the hot dog in something close to personal affront. Somehow, when compared to the alienness of Karkat's Sylladex, which is unfamiliar enough to be accepted without question, it's doubly troubling to see something as mundane as a bag perform the same function. Allen leans in for a better look at the bag's contents, all politeness momentarily forgotten in the wake of getting his brains and the laws of physics broken.]

How does it work?

[windsport.livejournal.com]

[There appear to be two pears with faces carved into them, and a lot of little round bits of bait, and also hot dogs in there. In a bag (http://www.wiizelda.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/normal_bait-bag.png) that is not much bigger than a pear itself. DON'T THINK ABOUT IT TOO HARD, YOU MIGHT SPRAIN SOMETHING.

Link just shrugs and makes a noncommittal noise, like the unquestioning twelve year old he is. Like he knows! He's not even sure what Allen finds so strange about it!]

[tothelastbreath]

[This... Is a very. Festive. Sort of bag. He's fairly sure those pears are meant to be cheerful and would be cheerful except whoever carved them had done a less than stellar job, since he can't fathom why anyone would want their food to look like it's berating them in haunting silence for every bite taken.

But, he's positive none of these can be found in Nesreca, meaning Link brought them from home a month ago and they're still fresh.

Hrm. How about that.]

[ slowly tearing his eyes from those sunken, souless eyes watching his every move ] How much more do you suppose it can hold?

[windsport.livejournal.com]

[The pears may also be. Sweating. Just a little. Don't worry about those.

Link is just going to return his hot dog to the bag and return the bag to his belt, once again. Let's see, he's got two portions of all-purpose bait, two hyoi pears, and three hot dogs. He points at the stand after some thought.] One more of those.

[But then he turns slightly so he can point to the other festive bag (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6YL12zOIZIQ/TQtOyDEjQUI/AAAAAAAACGQ/seVKun_WYQc/s1600/spoilsbag.png) on his belt.] This one has more room.

[tothelastbreath]

[The odd appearance of the second bag gets nothing more than a vaguely concerned look, because the gears in Allen's head are turning now. He glances between the stand and Link, getting this narrow look about the eyes that isn't quite calculative, but definitely appraising. It's not unlike the look he used to wear when planning his Master's finances to last as long as possible (only to have them derailed at the first brothel they came across).]

And they stay fresh? [ starts pushing more hot dogs at Link without waiting for an answer ] You should take more of these, then; as many as you can carry. Go see if there's other food you like too. [ bending down to Link's eye level with a smile ] It's better than anything else we can find here.

[He's still not entirely convinced Link's been feeding himself enough.]

[windsport.livejournal.com]

[Whoa, more hot dogs! This is awesome, people generally don't just hand him a load of items for free like this. But Link understands, for he is well aware of the importance of hoarding. He unlatches his spoils bag and drops the hot dogs in there. He's not sure they really count as a 'spoil' (this bag is generally saved for things like monster's belts and shiny feathers and Chu jelly) but he can make an exception in this case.

He could also technically fit more frankfurters in the bag than exist in Nesreca.]

Okay. [He gives an earnest nod at Allen's smiling face. He'll just go ahead and store even more of these delicious sausage sandwiches, in that case.]

[tothelastbreath]

[Meanwhile, Allen's jaw is slackening in slow degrees with the addition of every new hot dog to that bag. Link wasn't kidding when he said this one holds more. Initially, he just wanted to be sure Link has enough to eat, but this is quickly turning into a potential opportunity he can't ignore.]

...I'm sorry if this sounds sudden, but— Do you need all of that room?

[windsport.livejournal.com]

[He pauses to blink at Allen.]

Yeah. [Of course he needs all this room...]

[tothelastbreath]

[A flicker of disappointment crosses his face, but is promptly shoved out of the way.]

All of it? [ continuing apologetically: ] I don't mean to be pushy, but that is a lot of room and—[ glances over his shoulder in the apartments' direction ]—I'm sure everyone would appreciate having fresh food every once in a while.

[windsport.livejournal.com]

I can share. [He doesn't need all these hot dogs himself!]

[tothelastbreath]

[ practically lighting up ] Really? That'd help a lot! We can't cross over to Credinta that often, so—[ sobering again ]—people don't always have enough to eat.

[windsport.livejournal.com]

Yeah. [Like he would let you all starve!! That would be piss-poor heroing right there.]

[tothelastbreath]

[Hear, hear.]

[ bending down to Link's eye level again, hands on his knees and a wide smile on his scarred face ] Thank you! It's very kind of you. I shouldn't be asking for another favour so soon, but could you help me move the rest of these—[ gesturing at the cart ]—in there? They'll go bad otherwise. If you could spare some space for the other food too, we won't have to worry about starving for a while.