[OOC] Lost Carnival Contact

[control_freak]

✆CHANNEL FREQUENCY: 206.18999
DESCRIPTION: If Foster hasn't lost his walkie-talkie, he'll answer you! If he has........ uh. Well. It wouldn't be the first time.

✉MAIL BOX LOCATION: There's no mailbox???
DESCRIPTION: Foster never checks his mail, assumes he won't get any, and is automatically unhappy to receive any on the rare occasion such a thing might actually happen. But you're welcome to leave it on his doorstep. Maybe his roommate will get it.

Comments

October 9th; phone call

[dontpokethat]

[For the past few days, there's been basically no word from Ginko - which isn't entirely new, since he does have a bad habit of forgetting to call people sometimes, but it doesn't usually stretch on for so long.

When he does call, he sounds kind of strained and nervous, and Foster may be able to pick up on the rumble of road noise in the background.]

Hey, Foster, uh-- where are you?

[control_freak]

That depends. Where are you?

[It's played off as joking, which is mostly true. But he has been kind of... tested lately, what with the fae and the... fae. So Ginko's protracted absence isn't great for his nerves--or rather, being reminded of it isn't great for his nerves?]

[dontpokethat]

I'm in my car, I'm on the way to the Sanctuary-- I'm sorry I didn't call or anything, I... things went wrong.

[That's kind of an understatement but anyway.]

[control_freak]

[Foster laughs--it's not even humourless, but it's not lighthearted either.]

Yeah, me too--

Wait, don't go to the Sanctuary.

Pull over or something.

[Don't argue with him, just do it.]

[dontpokethat]

Why not?

[He's not pulling over, though that might not be clear over the phone.]

[control_freak]

Because.

[Foster is impatient.]

It's a--a... what's the word. An epicentre.

The mages are fucking everywhere. They're pissing themselves about something. Demons are, too.

And fae.

[It's a lot more vitriolic than usual. Two weeks ago, he couldn't have given two fucks about the fae as long as they left him alone.

But then, therein lies the problem.]

You can't be stupid enough to say you haven't noticed.

[If you were stupid, Foster would not have continued treating you like a friend.]

The Sanctuary is--is too big a place with too many different kinds of magic. If anything's gonna explode, that's gonna be it.

[dontpokethat]

'Course I've noticed. If this crap weren't going on I wouldn't need to go there to begin with.

[Under normal circumstances, Ginko might consider Foster's argument. Maybe.

...Or he might not. But in this case, he definitely won't. If anything, the danger of the Sanctuary is just a reminder of how much he needs to make sure Steven gets out of there if he hasn't already.]

Look, with any luck I'll be in and out, alright?

[control_freak]

[Foster snorts.]

Luck.

[He's a lot more ticked that Ginko isn't listening to him than he's letting on.

He still doesn't understand exactly how he even has friends, but he knows it's their perception of him as easygoing that convinces them to stick around. He's pretty sure that it's because they don't think of it as a big deal that they usually seem to go with what he wants. And maybe it's true. Because when they don't, it's fine--it's easy to let it roll off his back. He genuinely doesn't care.

But times like this, when it does matter to him because he knows he's right, and none of them listen to him?

It makes him actually angry.

Which is... difficult to suppress, and harder still to know what to do with.]

Out as a corpse, maybe.

[dontpokethat]

Foster, I'm not going to die. [There's a hint of frustration in his voice now, but not more than that.] I've just got to make sure Steven is okay, it's not a huge deal.

[control_freak]

Right.

[Ginko thinks he's frustrated...]

And last week you wanted to be as far away from fae garbage as possible.

[If it were possible to choke on the amount of scorn coming out of his mouth...]

I'm not sure if you're aware, but I've just had to go through one hostage crisis with Amsterdam and I am not nearly as excited to do it again as you probably think I am.

Whoever Steven is, you can leave him a fuckin' voicemail. Carrier pigeon. Fax. Knock yourself out, man. But pull over. Now.

[dontpokethat]

And I still do, but I've got to make sure Steven is out of the way of it all first! Besides, the fae already caught me, and then put me back. I think by this time it's safe to assume they don't want me, and I'm sick of just standing back through all this anyway!

Anyway, I don't have any way of contacting Steven long-distance. He has my number, but unless he calls me, that doesn't let me get in touch with him.

[Definitely still not pulling over.]

[control_freak]

.......

They did what.

[Foster... has a tendency to act stupid. For a lot of reasons. Sometimes he's kind of loopy because he's hopped up on pain meds, or high for the same reason. Sometimes he's just sick. But a lot of the time, he's playing it off on purpose.

The lower people's expectations are, the less trouble they give him about the things he does or doesn't do or say. And maybe that's a stupid way to live. So sue him.

But whether he's actually stupid or not, Foster is not nearly stupid enough to believe the fae would go to the trouble of capturing someone--deliberately or otherwise--and then release him again unharmed.

He has officially lost all interest in who Steven is, or why Ginko gave this man his number but didn't bother to get Steven's in return. Either Ginko is stupid--really, truly, absolutely, devastatingly, construction-material level stupid--or this phone call is just delaying the inevitable.

You can almost hear the exact moment when he disconnects from the idea of talking to Ginko like a person.]

Never mind. I'll figure it out on my own.

[He hangs up.]