View source for Logs:Prized Plushies at the Pier

{{Log
|chars=[[Faith]], [[Five]], [[Heloise]], [[Javi]], [[Norman]]
|gamedate=2022.10.01
|summary=You get a plushie, and you get a plushie, everyone gets a plushie!
|subtitle=God bless.
|categories=Changeling, Mortal, Vampire, Werewolf
|log=+-------------------------------+ Navy Pier +--------------------------------+

	What was once a training pier for the Navy during World War II, has become a fifty acre tourist attraction. A permanent carnival akin to Coney Island, the space is covered with carnival rides, shops, and restaurants that are there year-round. Two million people every year come to visit the attractions, exhibits, and shops of the Pier.
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 
It's late at night now. Midnight's been here and gone, though the hour of the wolf is not yet around. But while most of the attractions are shutdown for the night the Pier is open to the public all day and night. The giant ferris wheel known as the Centennial Wheel stands still, lights slowly shimmering across it in ombre bands of different shades of blue. The rest of the area is lit by golden yellow lights, with some dark places here and there. It's a little bit spooky, but also pretty in a strange post-apocalyptic sort of sense. If it wasn't for the rest of the city being so brightly lit and full of people, it would be easy to imagine this is the world after humanity.
Except of course there are still people here, too. Homeless sleep in the corners here and there, a few drunks wander through in a search for an open pub, and a few brave couples have stolen away to find a shadowy spot of their own. Heloise is over by the foot of the wheel, speaking quietly with an old man who is restringing a broken looking guitar. He looks like he could either be a hobo or in IT. The air is cool, in the 60s, and there's a steady breeze from the cold black sea.
 
--
 
It's not uncommon for Faith to come here. The Nosferatu does enjoy the carnival, or at least she gets some weird enjoyment out of watching other people enjoy the carnival. It's become something of a decent place for her to hang out, soak in the humanity and maybe even get a drink when she's hungry enough. There's something truly interesting about continuing to walk through the place when it's empty though. With her pale skin mostly hidden within her black hoody, and the ever present dark glasses even here in the dark, Faith's out for some kind of evening stroll. Hands in her pockets, gaze slightly downcast, she's not being especially stealthy at the moment, though her outfit and her natural tendency towards quiet observation make her easy to overlook. When she nears the wheel though, and hears those people talking quietly, she starts to approach.
 
--
 
Here he is, Norman Cartwright, walking around with an arm around a huge Chinese wish.com stuffed bulldog he won from one of those awful rigged carnival games. It's the one where they want you to throw a ball and hit the bottles. Sadly it doesn't matter that the bottles weigh about five pounds and are filled with lead, because Norm's insane combination of aim and overkill was the right combination to topple them. Anyway he's walking down the way hugging this deformed looking bulldog and doesn't even have a date. Coupled with the fact that he looks athletic, fit, and all around pretty hot for a guy, it gives the impression that he's looking for his missing girlfriend.

The truth is he just wanted to win.

 --
 
Five's continued exploration of the city has brought her to the pier this evening. She had seen the lights in the distance, but when you have to walk most places, you tend to arrive late. So, everything is shut off for now but at least there's still the ocean to enjoy. The mortal is dressed casually, some hoodie with the hood tugged over her head, khakis, sneakers, all muted colors and ill-fitting in the way of being too large. A familiar face catches her attention and she starts to veer toward Heloise but then what is that?? Eyes go wide when she eyes the large plush dog carried by Norman. "Where did you get that?" she calls out to him, taking a couple steps in his direction.
 
--
 
They are speaking a foreign language, Hungarian to be precise. Heloise is asking a question, and to american ears it would sound something like "Acorn, Amy ruh miss El tel, am looks cell, how-ah Ray tet tech?" The old man looks down at his guitar, and strums it experimentally. Not satisfied with the resulting sound he grunts and goes back to trying to fix the strings. He has a very, very deep voice, a true basso profundo. He should've been in the opera, or a heavy metal band. "Mooned time, Marco rabbi Anne, ah fi am volt as, ack ee el opt ah. Uh as egg yet lean, ack ee told ya, whole van." The tall woman sighs, nods, rubs her face a little. She seems a bit tired, like she's had a long day. When she looks up she espies Faith, and then she hears Five calling out to Norman and turns her attention briefly that way. Before looking back at the old man, "Whole la kick?" Quietly spoken.
 
--
 
Faith pauses some respectful distance away from Heloise, especially without being able to eavesdrop on yet another conversation -- she clearly doesn't understand! And besides, Five is calling out, which means the vampire in dark glasses is turning about to watch those two, shifting to step towards them. "Should have gone for the big stuffed shark." She decides after a moment, because she doesn't like that weird bulldog toy that Norm is carrying!
 
--
 
Norm looks kind of surprised, but then that doesn't seem like a completely unusual look on him. He kind of just stops where he stands with his arm around a big ugly plush bulldog and looks at Five. "There's a guy back that way..." He turns around completely to look in the direction of the carnival game with the bottles and balls.

The booth is manned by a sketchy looking dude who very much avoids looking in Norman's direction. He wants to forget this freak of nature came out of nowhere and nearly broke his bottles with the equivalent of a whiffle ball.

Norm waves at the dude, looking mystified as to why he's being ignored. "Hey. Hey!" No response. So he turns back around completely, almost missing Five before he finally finds her and says, "I think he don't hear so good."
 
--
 
Blink blink. "They have sharks too?" Five questions, her attention almost immediately turning toward the booth that Norman points out. The potential to get her /own/ plush toy was all the inspiration she needed. "He doesn't? Oh, well let's get closer then." That's obviously the logical solution. Looking back over toward the familiar face of Heloise, she gives the woman a friendly and inviting wave. Then the mortal is making her way over toward the booth with the shady guy. "How do you play?" she asks, glancing over her shoulder toward Norm, the obvious expert at the game.
 
--
 
The conversation with the old man continues for a while, and Heloise is writing down notes as he speaks. She sees Five's invite and waves back, but it's a little while before she can come over. The conversation with her friend with the guitar has a lot of back and forths. Finally she hands him a little box, and they part ways, he going back towards the lights of the city and she towards the booth. She has a black leather satchel with her that she slips the notebook into.
 
--
 
Javi may be one of those people who came out to get drunk -- or maybe he's already drunk! But if so, it's not enough to be stumbling around. Which is probably a good thing for him, since it's dark, and even with the street lamps casting their yellowish glow it's not difficult to imagine someone tripping and cracking their head even in the best of times, much less if they're smashed.

He's got his hands in his pockets as he walks along, his gaze sweeping the street. It's absent, until it settles on the small group gathering at the still-open knock-down-win-a-prize booth. His eyebrows raise, and he starts that way, coming to a stop to eye Norman's giant dog with a mixture of skepticism and envy. "You taking requests?" he asks, nodding toward the pins as his face pulls into a grin. He's mostly focused on the dog, though there's a friendly nod toward Five and Faith -- the later of whom has him doing a bit of a double take. "Oh. Hey."
 
--
 
"Oh sure," Faith says in her soft voice, considering Five from behind her dark glasses. "I won a big stuff shark here once. It was a while ago though ... they might not have them anymore." She does follow Five's wave back to Heloise and then over again, looking between the two thoughtfully. She looks to Norm, and then down the way at the booth where the mysterious prize was won. "I don't think he likes you," she notes softly. Hands slide into the pockets of her jeans as she just kind of lingers nearby. Javi does get a slight nod though, acknowledgement there. "Hi, Javi," she greets, all casual. "You want a weird giant dog too?"
 
--
 
The dude at the booth with the bottle throwing game would normally be shouting to attract attention and get someone to come lose their money trying to knock over some too-heavy bottles, but just now he's pretending to be on break. Norm's continued presence nearby makes him not want to attract more attention. Now Norm is bringing more people over, attracting even more attention!

For his part Norm doesn't seem interested in repeating his success. "You pay him five bucks and he gives you three balls and you throw em and..." pointing at the bottles like it's obvious what to do. It is, really. There's just a deceptive factor at play that one cannot normally see. "...peg the hell out of them bottles as hard as you can. You gotta wind up like Nolan Ryan, man. You gotta throw that ball into like...hyperspace." He looks at Javi who has suddenly appeared and asks, "What do you mean requests?" There's zero challenge to the question. He just genuinely doesn't get it.
 
--
<spend> Five spends 1 point of her Willpower pool.
+----------------------------+ Five rolls 7 Dice +-----------------------------+
  Roll: Strength +Athletics +1
  Result: Success (2) -- (3 2 7 8 7 7 9)
+-------------------------------------------------------- success (public) ----+
 
While she's listening to the others explain how to play, Five is digging through her pockets for money. She manages to pull out five dollars, mostly in change! It takes her a bit, almost like she's momentarily distracted by something. When it seems like shady booth guy is too busy for her, she just leans over and takes the balls for herself. She paid, right? Alright, she swings up and takes her throws pretty quickly. Pow, pow, pow! One after the other while the others are chatting amongst themselves. There's a miss, a hit that puts one of the pieces on edge, then a final throw that knocks just one over. "Which one do I get?" she calls out to the booth guy, who probably very reluctantly just tosses Five the smallest shark available. She seems happy about winning something though!
 
--
 
"Good job. It needs a name." This from Heloise, having wandered all the way over to be next to Five now. She considers the toy shark but does not offer any suggestions for baptism, instead turning her attention over to Faith and Norm and Javi. "Good evening." The giant bulldog seems to fascinate her somehow, a near smile lingering on her pale face. The moon is low on the horizon, a waxing crescent phase, stars gleaming through a thin layer of clouds. A few seagulls squawk sleepily from on top of a nearby closed booth.
 
--
 
"Hell yeah I want a weird giant dog," Javi confirms for Faith, and now that he's over the apparent surprise at seeing her here, the grin is back in full force. It's wide, and bright, maybe even a little too much so for the hour. Unless he //is// drunk! But he seems okay. "Who doesn't? Right?" This last is directed at Five -- surely she agrees with him, and he's happy to be proven right when she steps up to the plate. So to speak.

He's a little distracted by Norman's follow up, but after he's set back on the track, he's happy to clarify. "Winning those for people," he says. "'Cause I been playing this game for a minute and I ain't never won shit." He does get quiet when Five actually starts throwing, though, and when she manages it his grin gets, if possible, even wider. Apparently it can. "Damn," he says, "maybe I oughta be asking you." With that, he reaches into his pocket to pull out his wallet. Who's going to win him a giant dog?! Or shark. Something. However, he's not so distracted that he doesn't turn to Heloise to return the greeting. "Hey." And then: "Bruce." For a name, maybe.
 
--
+---------------------------+ Faith rolls 10 Dice +----------------------------+
  Roll: Strength +Vigor +Athletics +3 +2
  Result: Success (1) -- (3 2 4 6 3 3 1 3 10 1 2)
+-------------------------------------------------------- success (public) ----+
 
Faith wonders of Javi after a moment, "Why? Why do you want a weird giant dog?" She doesn't seem to get it! She watches Five throw, just politely quiet as the small toy is handed over. "Evening," she greets Heloise proper once the tall woman has approached, and then she shakes her head and takes Javi's money. The surly booth attendant isn't so pleased about this weird sunglasses-at-night woman stepping up; there's something just a little bit off about Faith. It might be how pale she is, or the outfit, or the fact that she forgets to do little things. Like breathe. This vampire isn't pretending to be alive right now! But still, her money (Javi's money!) is good enough.

Faith's style is all overpowered force rather than anything finesse. The first ball only manages to nudge one of the bottles around, and the second finally knocks it over. The third? Well, maybe Faith's annoyed at the third because the strength with which she throws it, along with the lack of aim causes a big loud audible *CRACK* as the ball thunks into the board behind the game. Now the attendant is even more annoyed at this weird group who are winning prizes AND damaging his game.
 
--
 
As he watches this all go down, Norm looks vaguely uncomfortable. When Faith can't even close the deal after putting all that spice on those throws, he looks at Javi for a long moment and then, not a word spoken, hands him the huge ugly bulldog.
 
--
 
"It does?" Five questions of Heloise as she states the little shark needs a name. Subconsciously, the mortal drifts over toward the Changeling, the one supernatural that isn't setting off the hairs on the back of her neck. Even if she isn't actively fearful of the vampire or werewolves, something about them naturally puts her a bit on guard. "What's a good name?" she wonders quietly as not to disturb the throwing. Even while she's talking to Heloise, she's watching Faith at the plate, eyes wide for a second at the loud crack.
 
--
 
"It it alright if you do not know the name right away. Sometimes these things take time." Heloise can't help but smile at Five and the fluffy little shark, then her head turns at the booth almost breaking. "The lady is impressive." She considers the situation, the annoyance level of the attendant, Norm handing his prize to Javi-- and slips over and up to the booth herself to try her luck. BAM! A bottle goes down, and she takes her prize of an improbable neon green turtle with a jack-o-lantern for a shell and hands it over to Norm. Pushing a lever on the side of the pumpkin to make it light up, Halloween come early.
 
--
 
"I mean, why not?" Javi gives the answer without hesitation as he hands over the money, sliding his wallet back into his pocket as he watches her take a turn. He doesn't seem particularly disturbed that she isn't actually knocking anything over -- it's not until the throw that threatens to bring down the booth that he begins to look a little worried. "Oh shit," he murmurs with a little wince, and he leans a //tiny// bit back. Just in case.

He starts to say something else, too, but then Norman is handing him the giant dog. There's a moment where he looks //very// confused -- before that confusion melts into another smile. He actually looks quite genuinely touched. "Oh man, you don't gotta do that," he says -- though notably, he doesn't refuse it, reaching to take it from him. He's not a particularly big man, so it dwarfs him in a way it did not do to Norman, but he doesn't seem to care. "Thank you. I'mma keep this forever. Fucking cute." He turns the grin on Five again, and repeats, "Bruce. Like from Finding Nemo? Or, like...Finneas." A beat. "Gill. Um...Chewie." He nods in response to Heloise, though, and adds, "But yeah. Like she said, something's gonna feel right eventually."
 
--
 
"Oh don't mention it, brother. I just wanted to win. You give Chesty a home, because every bulldog needs to be named Chesty." It's a fact of life. Norman then looks Heloise up and down when she presents him that little gift. He actually blinks, and then looks abashed as he accept it. "Thank you ma'am." he mutters quietly, almost a little shy.
 
--
 
Stepping back, Faith's head tilts slightly. For all the force she put into the throws, she doesn't seem especially bothered once the moment has passed. She missed, and she shrugs. Maybe she'd go again, but Norm's handing over the other animal. "Well, there you go." She decides after a moment, glancing around the group quietly. "It's not really that impressive," she notes to Heloise, hands back in her pockets once more as she falls quiet and just watches Heloise.
 
--
 
Five nods at the advice from Heloise, her expression softening as the Changeling then continues to show her generosity. A green-eyed gaze lingers on Heloise for a few moments before she's pulled away by Javi's suggestions. She peers down at the shark in her hands, holding it up and inspecting it closely. With a bit of a playful expression she states, "I like Chewie. Very fitting for a shark."
 
--
 
Tilting her head slightly to the side at Norm's response, Heloise smiles in response. "Generosity brings generosity." She looks between the small shark held by Five, to the giant bulldog, then back again, "Chesty and Chewie, brothers." Stepping back away from the booth, she ends up by Faith. An amused side glance to her, "I really do want to talk more with you, perhaps at the next Thing we might be at together."
 
--
 
"Chesty?" Javi looks at the dog -- as well as he can, considering it's giant and he's holding it -- before he shrugs, and says, "Right on. Gonna give you a good home." The dog, that is, not Norman. Though he is quite pleased when the man ends up with a stuffy, too; now he can enjoy his with a clear conscience. "Thanks for trying," he continues as he looks back to Faith. "Thought you were gonna bring down the booth." He definitely says it like it's a compliment.

Five's acceptance of one of his name choices has him grinning again, and he nods once. "Awesome. Hey, Chewie." His voice shifts a little lower as he brings the dog down as though it's greeting her shark when Heloise pronounces them brothers. "Nice to meet you. You're real cute, too."
 
--
 
"Oh?" Faith wonders quietly of Heloise, curiosity there in her soft voice. Mirror shades regard the taller woman, and there's a breath in, slow and deliberate. "You are welcome to discuss anything you wish with me, Miss Vércse." Now, the tone is just that little bit professional. Formal. "You might find me at Fireside Pizza now and again, or I could give you my number if you wish it."

There's a thin sort of smile from Faith to Javi as she watches him. "I don't know my own strength sometimes," she admits in that sort of way that's a total lie. She knew exactly what she was doing! But she does watch that interaction between Javi and Five further with an odd sort of curiosity.
 
--
 
Norm just kind of stands there quiet and awkward, fumbling with the little halloween turtle. He does give Faith a curious look, but says nothing to her. Or to Heloise. Or to Five. Javi seems to be the only safe one to speak to. "Every bulldog's name is Chesty." he says, as if that wasn't well understood. Gotta make sure the deformed Chinese bulldog at least has a good name.
 
--
 
The mortal does a little 'bonk' with the shark against the bulldog. "Yes, very nice. Everyone in Chicago is nice," Five states with a pleased tone, either blissfully unaware or just lucky with her encounters in the city so far. A friendly look is offered to Javi before she looks back over toward Norm with raised brows. "Is that mandatory? What if the dog was more of a... Barky?"
 
--
 
"A number would be delightful. Here is mine," and Heloise offers Faith a business card. It's old and what was on one side has been scratched out, but on the other is her name and a phone number. There was also an e-mail but that too is removed. She looks at her watch, then smiles at the rest of the group, close lipped, no baring of teeth. "I have another meeting I need to go to, but it was a pleasure to meet you all. I hope you have a good night." Hesitation, then an aside to Five, "Do you have a phone? Do you want to exchange contact information as well?"
 
--
 
"Hm, yeah." Javi's happy to play along with Faith's obvious lie. Of course, does he //know// it's a lie? Possibly not! However, he also doesn't disabuse Five of the notion that everyone in Chicago is nice, so maybe he's just feeling in the mood to play along with things tonight now that he has his weird giant dog. His eyebrows raise at Norman's assertion, and after a moment's consideration he replies, "Oh yeah? How come?" He doesn't seem skeptical, just curious, and he tilts his head toward Five at her question, too. He's clearly interested in the answer -- but again, not so distracted that he misses Heloise's goodbye. "Nice to meet you," he replies. "Have a good one."
 
--
 
That card is accepted, held between two fingers and flipped back and forth. Soon enough Faith's phone is in her hand and she's adding the number as a contact and then sending a single text message to confirm herself. It's just her name. "Do have a good evening," she offers politely for Heloise. Her shades look back to the other three, something of an amused sort of smile finding its way onto her face there, especially as she looks at Norman. She doesn't seem to have an opinion on what the names of the stuffed toys should be, but she continues to listen.
 
--
 
"Because the mascot of the Marine Corps is a bulldog and that mascot is named Chesty after Chesty Puller." Like everybody knows this! Norman just tells Javi this straight up and simple because that's what you have to do with civilians. He definitely looks the type to have been one of those all-in career military guys. He also sounds like he's from a place that thinks anyone north of Interstate 10 is a damned yankee. (That's very southern, for those who don't know.)

 --
 
"Oh... no." Five had to struggle to find a handful of dollars on her person, she's probably not the type to afford a phone. Still, she holds out a hand, still accepting of a business card if one is offered. She lets her gaze linger on the Changeling who has shown her nothing but kindness before she looks back toward Norman. The mortal raises her brow, holding the stuffed shark a little closer to her chest. "Who is Chesty Puller?" Five proves that unfortunately not EVERYONE knows who that is, probably to the great disappointment of Norman.
 
--
 
"Hmm." Heloise does take out another card for Five -- but this time she also grabs a pen and writes something additional on it. "My store is closed for restorations, but if you ring the doorbell and I am in the building I will still hear it. Feel free to stop by if you want. It is mostly exposed joints and drywall and such right now but the coffee machine still works." She hands the card over, steps over to Norman briefly just to pet the pumpkin-turtle once, and then she walks into the dark and is gone.
 
--
 
"Uh..." Javi doesn't exactly have a poker face -- and the blank look that suddenly overcomes it is pretty clearly indicative that he has zero idea who Chesty Puller is, either. He looks to Five -- does she know? Oh, nope -- then Faith, and then at Heloise's retreating form, as if one of them might clue him in. No one does. Definitely not the Changeling who's already gone. "...Prolly a Marine guy?" he guesses as he turns back to Five with a shrug. He doesn't sound //sure//, but still.
 
--
 
Does Faith know? Maybe. Maybe not. Probably not! At least, she's not volunteering anything. But unlike some, she -does- have a decent poker face. The sunglasses help a lot. Her little amused smile vanishes as her neutral expression resumes, and Heloise's business card is slipped away into her pocket, along with her phone shortly after. She just waits for whatever inevitable explanations is coming.
 
--
 
The ignorance of who Chesty Puller is just flummoxes Norm, who looks between Five and Javi and even Faith before finally saying in a deflated manner, "Forget it." Man civilians are WEIRD.

Imagine for a moment there's a little boy maybe seven years old and you're the guy who told him Santa Claus is fake. That's a first cousin to the look on Norm's face.

The emotional wreckage of what that kicks up runs a course of awful things that just set him to walking away. "I need to go pray. Y'all ain't right. God bless you all."
 
--
 
What just happened? Five knows she asks a lot of questions sometimes, but rarely does she elicit such a response! The mortal just kind of stares dumbfoundly as Norman stomps off, bright green eyes lingering on the man until he's completely out of sight. It stays there just a second more before she looks back to those still gathered. "Um." She can't think of anything to say regarding that! "Do you want one?" she wonders of Faith, nodding toward the stuffed toys still being offered at the booth.
 
--
 
Javi had been expecting a reply, but not //this// reply. His eyes widen as Norman's expression falls, brows pulling together as he looks from Five, to Faith, then back to Norman...just in time for him to offer them his thoughts and prayers and walk away. "What the fuck?" He doesn't sound //mad// -- just completely nonplussed.

He shakes his head once the man has disappeared, like he's trying to clear it, and refocuses on Five and Faith. Mostly. "Go for the octopus," he suggests, nodding to the vague facsimile of the Pacific creature sitting next to the sharks.
 
--
 
Faith watches Norman's reaction, and once again that sharp little smile of hers returns. That discomfort and displeasure he shows? Yeah, she kind of enjoys it. "I've not been right for ... a long while now," she mutters, stepping forward to look between the other two. She shifts a little on the spot. "I don't know," she notes to Javi, shrugging her shoulders. "I guess Chesty Puller is really important." She glances at Five, tilting her head slightly, and is perhaps about to say no, but then ... "Why not. Go for the octopus." She agrees.
 
--
 
Yes, Five /will/ go for the octopus! But perhaps not in the way initially expected. The shady booth man is still doing his best to ignore the weirdos that continue to linger nearby. Taking advantage of this, she waits until there's a moment where he's especially not paying attention. Even though she's short, she manages to lean up just enough to swipe the desired plush toy. It's a quick and fluid motion, unskilled but successful all the same. Hopping back down, she makes the hand off with Faith. Then with her own plush she bonks first Chesty then the newly attained octopus. "Farewell," she says simply before taking off into the night, not planning on sticking around the scene of the plushie crime.
}}