Log:Tripping over Clues

Tripping over Clues
Participants Kseniya and Haruki.	18 May, 2017 Haruki and Kseniya go scavenger hunting, and literally trip over a clue. There are several false leads and one surprise find. For the Scavenger Hunt
Location
Haruki's called Kseniya up so that they can search the river. Yes, the entire west bank of the river. He's brought a backpack, he's got with him walking shoes, and there's water and food just in case this takes them a time. "I've no idea where it could be." He admits. "West Bank? River? The current is fast, but I am slow. You'll find me on the west side. What's fast? What's slow?" Kseniya trudges along. Well. Trudge is perhaps not the optimal word, there's a bounce in her step and a sparkle in her eye, but one can't easily bounce along a river bank. Bounce-trudge? Something like that. "Y'know what's slow? Lazy otters. I was -so- sure of myself. But I hunted around, and found no stuffed dinosaur. Then had to explain to Ridley that I wasn't talking about an overfed octogenarian. And that this wasn't search and destroy. Do you know Ridley? He's.. unique." She stops, bends over and pokes into a bush... she is dressed for hiking. In black, mostly, but the laces on her battered boots are bright pink. "So I went and got the cassette tape, to cheer myself up. Did you find that one?" Haruki shakes his head. "I've not met Ridley." He admits. He nods. "Yeah I went with some friends and we found the casette tape. I've no idea what to do with it once I'm done. It's such an odd thing to have to find an antique like that." He keeps walking along, his own eyes skimming the area as well, as if he hopes that somewhere a dinosaur will show up. No luck though. "Hey, want to see a thing!" He suddenly says, and before she says yes or no, he's pulling a long black length of fabric, like a scarf from one of the pockets of his backpack. "I'm needing one of these in silver. My brother doesn't like the gold one. I know you said you make costumes, can you make this though? My sewing's terrible." "Heeeer, Dino, Dino, Dinoooo!" No, that doesn't work. Kseniya keeps on walking, though. And talking. No Dino? No problem, she's clearly having a good time. And enjoying Haruki's company. "Well. I mean. Have you -seen- my van? It doesn't have a cd player, it does have a tape deck. It's old. I fixed it up, though." She turns to look, evidently wanting to see a thing, and takes the long scarf from him. "That's easy, I could almost do it in my sleep. Just plain silver? No design?" "Oh! You can have my casette then," Haruki offers. He's not handing the scarf over just yet. He flicks it in the air and suddenly what was black is now gold and he's grinning. "Magician's secret. Cost my fifty dollars. Ideally, silver polka dots? Big enough to be coins." He flicks the scarf again and it transforms into black. And then he hands it over. There's some sort of trick to the fabric. "Dino!" he calls out with a grin. Nope, still not there. Kseniya jumps back and yelps as he flicks the scarf out, then laughs in sheer delight, her eyes going all big. "Oh!" She reaches out, and takes the thing, and starts to examine it, then stops, and looks up. "...wait. Does making it mean I have to know how you did it? That's... almost sad." It doesn't stop her from looking down again. "We had a magician. Well. A few, actually, over my lifetime. People kind of came and went from the carnival a lot, outside of the main group of us. I've always loved stage magic." She gives the scarf a little flick, but aside from looking like a move from a rhythmic gymnast, like nothing much happens. Haruki smiles and nods at Kseniya. "Yeah. But then it means you can do it yourself, if you want. And it's only just the one trick. And it's not about the trick, so much as the presentation anyway." He then says. "You're holding it at the wrong spot. It's an easy enough trick to learn when you know the secret of it. Or have the instructions. But, that doesn't stop it from being anymore beautiful, or wondrous I think." She looks up again, and flashes a bright smile. "Isn't that always the case? I mean. When I go to light my batons, it doesn't actually happen by magic, I have a match palmed usually, but it -looks- like it was started by magic." Of course, if the match fails to light, well. Ahem. She could fall back on actually lighting it another way, but she doesn't comment. "But yeah. Black with silver dots, I can do." She tilts her head back, peering up into the branches of a tree. No dino. "So can I take this back with me? I'll need to copy it, basically." Haruki smiles and nods. "Of course! And I'll pay you for it." He nods again. "It makes it look best if they don't see you fumbling about with matches to light your batons! It's best if it is magic! And really, it is. The amount of skill it takes to do that. I bet there's so many gasps of wonder and awe of the sort you wouldn't get otherwise. It just adds to the performance." "I like fire," Kseniya murmurs. She looks over at Haruki and grins. "Not in the pyromania sort of way or anything, just.. it's beautiful. And it's dangerous, but that adds to the appeal. It's why fire dancing is so popular, I guess. One day, I'm going to figure out how to do it aerially, and that will be -awesome-. It's just avoiding lighting the silks on fire, or the trapeze or however I do it." She stops to put the scarf into her backpack and pulls out a map. It's a touristy kind of map. "Hmmm. So. Between us, we've checked the fast part of the river. And the place on the west side with the name of a slow animal. Oh, hey. Look. There's a mill pond, those are slow. I wonder how far away it is." "It is," Haruki agrees. "I love watching the fire dancers. It's just so incredible. Trapeze too! Although fire on the trapeze. I've seen firedancers dangling from ropes spinning with flames. I've seen magicians hanging from burning ropes too." He smiles and nods. "Okay, let's go there." Kseniya grins over at Haruki, and turns, stuffing the map away. "Yeah, I've seen someone do it, too. I mean, I could just research and find out how it's done, but.. I prefer to figure it out. So. I'll figure it out and make it mine. And it will be so, so pretty." She begins to hike along, chattering happily. "Have you ever done fire in your show? It always gets attention." She begins to approach the bridge, and is looking up at it. "Hey, do you think there is maybe a bandaid up there? It's one of the bridges, I meant to check it.." She trips over something, and goes sprawling. No amount of sheer, exquisite grace can save a person who finds a stuffed dinosaur the hard way. "Oof. Ummm. Haruki? I found it." "It will," Haruki says. "It'll be beautiful." He shakes his head. "No, no fire. Well apart from flash paper and that doesn't really count. I work with animals, and fire doesn't really mix with them. The bunnies would get scared." He doesn't even notice the dinosaur until Kseniya trips over it. It must be in a box or something to keep it dry in case of rain. He offers an arm out to stop her from falling. "Dinosaurs!" He calls out with glee. "Well done! You can pick your colour first." And then. "I think I know where that camo bandaid is." Kseniya doesn't actually hit the ground. She hits Haruki's arm. All... ninety pounds of her. She's just.. economy sized is all. She immediately drops to her knees and goes pawing through the box of stuffed toys with a sound that can only be called a squee. She comes up with a too-bright green one and waggles it. "Rawr!" Then, she makes a grabby-hand motion. "Gimme your list, I'll sign off. Oh, hey. You do? Not this bridge, obviously. So. There's a bridge further south? Hey. If we tie for first place, can I have the second place prize?" Haruki smiles. "Of course. I'm not even wanting a prize." He admits. "I'm just wanting friendship." He looks at the dinosaurs and it's a gold one he claims and then there's a swapping of lists and signing of items. "I think it's on Stag Bridge." He admits. "That'd be my guess. The only one I don't have a clue about is the Butterfly Pin one." So what you calling the Dinosaur?" He stuffs his into his backpack. Kseniya considers, holding her dinosaur up, and considering it. "I shall call him... Bert. Bert the Dinosaur." She nods, hugs it, and then tucks it rather carefully away. "I have ideas on a lot of them," she admits. "But not that one. Though maybe we should check out the mill pond anyway, maybe I had a hunch that was off, but accurate?" She doesn't sound that convinced, though. "But.. maybe the bridge first? I was just going to hit all the bridges. Though I guess it would be the most southern one." "Bert," Haruki grins. He nods. "Okay, to the mill bond then. What's nearest? Mill pond or the bridge?" He pulls out his phone to check. "The bridge, I think." Kseniya squints at her map, then turns it over. Squints again. Turns it back. "I'm not very good at maps," she admits. "I never was allowed to take point on our convoys." No wonder. "Oh. Looks like the mill pond is nearest, so let's go there." Haruki says. He laugsh as they both give different locations. "Hmm. I'm sure we can do both. Up to you! I want to see this pond." He admits. Kseniya laughs, too, and gives a sheepish grin. "See? I'm hopeless." It's a wonder she made it out of the Hedge at all, really. "I kind of do, too. And there's something to be said for checking out the maybes." She turns, shouldering her backpack. "Onwards!" Haruki has found something! Kseniya has found something! Haruki lets Kseniya drive them. "So what we looking for here?" he asks as he gets out and starts searching for... well he's not sure. "I love that we get to see so much of the city!" "Butterfly pins. You can swim here. I mean. There's lots of places you can swim, but." She hops out of the van, and also commences a search. "And that's the second best part of the hunt. The best bit being getting to know people. Well. You. I already knew Ridley." Kseniya scans about. "Have you made any other friends doing this?" "You, and Miranda," Haruki says with a smile. "I think that's it so far. But hopefully I'll make more." He looks around for likely places that a butterfly pin might be, but no such luck finding them. "There's other places too with swimming. Maybe we could try them? I think there's the park, and the frog pond too? And the swimming pools." Kseniya nods slowly. She goes so far as to climb up onto a rock and peer around, shading her eyes with one small hand, then shakes her head. "Not here." She turns back to grin brightly at Haruki, though, not even remotely upset to have found nothing, despite it being one of the things she wants just to have it. "Want to keep looking for this one? I mean. Okay, so you're sure about the bridge, but.. it's a cammo bandaid. Not very exciting. We could.. uhhh.. go to one of the parks? Parks are nice. Unless you really want the bandaid?" She almost seems to be having more fun looking than finding. Except for having wanted that dino. "The bridge is on our way," Haruki says. "Although yeah, it's a camo bandaid. Like boring. Now maybe if it was a glitter one?" he's grinning. "Some of these items are so much better than others. I don't want the bandaid. I do want to win though! And I want a proper view of the bridge as well." Kseniya links her arm through Haruki's companionably, like she were about to go skipping off down a yellow brick road. "You and I clearly have a lot in common." She might dress like a punky sort of Goth, but she doesn't quite have the personality down for it. Perhaps she isn't trying, though. "Well. We can always just keep the bandaid for.. uh. I don't know. If it's stuck to the side, we can't use it as a bandaid. Okay, back to the van." "Well we never know when we might need an emergency bandaid," Haruki grins. "I've got clumsy friends. I'd be a total magician if I can just suddenly pull it out of nowhere and be like 'aha, prepared like a boy scout!'" He's happy to do the yellow brick road walk. In fact his step lightens. "Back to the van!" Kseniya snickers, shaking her head. "I wouldn't want to use one that had spent time stuck on a bridge, but we could get some glittery ones for the same reason." She grins, heading back and clambering up into the van's driver's seat. "So. The bridge!" Haruki climbs in the other side. "To the bridge!" He says enthusiastically. "And ewww, no. No using ones stuck to the side of the bridge. But definitely glitter ones." "Isn't it lovely here," Haruki says as he steps out of the van. "So worth coming. I'd never have thought to explore here otherwise." And off they go, the van never goes very fast, but it does go smoothly. Kseniya falls silent on the drive, but it's a happy sort of silence. In time, they pull up.. off the bridge, not right on it, and Kseniya heads off on foot."So. When do I get to meet your brother?" She does stop, though, and looks around. "You know. It is, isn't it? I thought it would be more industrial." "Whenever I can persuade him," Haruki says. "He's really shy and getting him to meet new people can be tricky. He'd like you a lot though. You can share fashion tips. He's like really goth." He then spots the statue of the man, and suddenly laughs at the silly santa hat that's been put on him, despite the time of year. "I wonder who that's of." Kseniya laughs at that, and looks down at herself. "I'm like.. perky-goth. Kind of. Really, I just like the fashion style. My musical tastes are broader. They include Goth, though." She, too, stops and squints at the statue, then snickers. "Some fusty old founder or something, probably." She starts to scan the area, looking for an itty bitty bandaid. "The hat is a nice touch." "Itsuki doesn't like Rocky Horror," Haruki says as if this is the worst thing ever. "I'm not sure exactly what he does like. Sad songs probably." He smiles. "Yeah, likely some founder. I should bring him by a magic hat some day. Or a pink bunny outfit!" Camo bandaids are tiny and he's really not looking. He smiles. "I think your fashion is fun. And it's you." Kseniya keeps strolling along. She -is- looking, but not with all her scrutinizing might, clearly. The conversation is more interesting, clearly. "The good thing about growing up in a carnival is that we tend, as a group, not to really adhere to current trends, it's all very.. ah.. individualistic. So you develop personal taste kind of naturally. This is what I wound up with. Goth, with colour. Bright, bright colour. I didn't even realize it was Gothy right away. But I'm sure we'll get along, I get along with most people." Haruki smiles at Kseniya. "It's nice. I'm not sure what my style is." He admits. "My friend used to just pick out everything for me. Is that bad to admit? I do like bright colours. I'm going to get a gold suit for a performance. Or maybe a red suit with gold bits. I'm not sure." And then he spots it, stuck on a bridge, a bandaid, and then another. He runs over. "You're right! It was stuck on! I hope this is the right one. Ewww. Hope it's not been used." He pulls out a handkerchief in order to peel it off without touching it. Kseniya laughs as she watches Haruki go running off, and jogs off after him, though she does wrinkle up her itty bitty nose. "...yuck. I doubt it, but still. Yuck." She pats around, finds her own tissue, and follows his lead, shoving it less carefully into the bag. "Least favourite object." The list is produced, and her pen. "And there isn't anything wrong with someone else picking out things, if you want to make them happy." "Least favourite indeed," Haruki agrees. "So... hmm do we want to go try and find a swimming place now? At the park. Maybe get some lunch too?" Kseniya turns, leading the way back towards the van. "Tell you what. Let's go hang out at the park. Find lunch. Maybe there is a vendor there or something? And we can peek about for butterflies, but no big deal if we don't find one? After that, I'll have to scram to get in some practice." Haruki nods and agrees to that. "Okay. That's a good plan. I should get back to practicing too." Kseniya has found something! Kseniya tootles on off in the van, pulling up outside the park, and hopping out once more. "I don't really think it's here," she confides to Haruki. "But. We may as well look anyway, right? I don't mind, though. Look... it's a nice park." "I love this park," Haruki admits. "I don't think it's here either," he admits. "But any excuse to come here. And we might as well eliminate it." Kseniya stops at a food truck parked near the entrance, and procures for herself a sausage in a bun. As the ultimate 'eat while strolling' food choice. Onions and mustard are liberally added, until it won't matter if the actual sausage tastes good or not, then she starts to stroll. "I haven't been here before. But I mean, I've only been in town a few weeks. This hunt has been awesome for learning my way around. I feel like I should send Paige flowers. Though those are expensive." Haruki's a gluten free vegan. But he brought with him food, in his backpack, in a coolbag with an icepack. Admittedly salad is not the best eat while strolling food. He does have an apple though as well, and that's fine. He crunches into it. He smiles. "If you pick the flowers, I'll pay for them," he offers. "Then they can be from both of us. It's such a lovely idea and I'd have never thought of it." Kseniya looks over, and grins. "Are you sure? I mean. Sometimes, those are expensive. Still. She clearly put an awful lot of work into all this.. and, sure, it's got to be good advertising, but even so. A lot of work." She munches unapologetically, but also doesn't look with judgy eyes upon Haruki's apple, too. Then, she stops, looking at a tree, where a bag of butterfly pins are hung up. Right there. "Uhhh. Haruki?" She points. "I've got money," Haruki reassures. "My grandfather's like super-rich and he paid me to go away. I might as well use the money to make people happy, hmm. So, just pick flowers you think are nice, and I'll pay, and we can have them delivered and it'll be a surprise that'll make her day." He gazes at the bag. "Oh wow. Well spotted! If there's a red and gold one, I bags it!" he makes a run over that way, not really trying to win, just laughing. Kseniya sort of winds up fake-slow-motion running in Haruki's wake, giggling rather madly the whole while. A few people walking past give her an odd look. "I want a blue and pink one, anyway, so you're good." She lets him sort through the available ones, looking at him. "And I'm.. real sorry. About your grandfather. I don't even.. know how that would be. Not that I knew either of mine, they're back in Russia, my parents immigrated together." On seeing what Kseniya's doing, Haruki also slow-runs, laughing as he does so. "Oh. My grandfather's like a dick, but no biggy really. I've got an amazing brother, and my mother's awesome. And my grandfather's fine as long as I do exactly as he wants. People have it worse. I mean boohoo, I'm from a ridiculously rich family, that's nothing to cry over really." He picks out a blue and pink pin first, and offers it to Kseniya with a flourish and a smile. "You ever considered going to see the rest of your family?" Kseniya isn't smiling anymore. She just.. stands there for a long moment, looking at Haruki. Not like he said something wrong, though, more like he's reminded her of something rather sad. She looks down, and reaches out to take the pin from him. "Thanks." She shivers a little. "I lost mine. Don't know.. ah. Anyway. I can't afford to go to Russia, and.. don't worry about it?" Cue awkwardness. Kseniya coughs, then makes an effort to grin, and pins the thing into her black hair. "Here, give me your list. I'll sign off. Then.. I should go and get that practice in." "Oh, I'm so sorry," Haruki's expression is filled with sympathy. He takes a red and gold one for himself. "That must be so difficult." He hands his list over, and signs Kseniya's in return. Kseniya just sort of nods. It isn't like it is a thing she can really openly talk about. Generally "monsters stole most of my family and probably killed the rest, but I managed to get away' isn't something that goes over well. "S'okay, Haruki," she says, and bestows a quick hug upon him. Then, she signs his list. "Okay. Come on, I'll drop you off where you need to be." "Best thing about this treasure hunt was meeting you," Haruki says, returning the hug. "We're going to be such good friends. If you ever need anything, give me a call. Or just want to hang out." "Yup!" Arms get linked again, Kseniyha already seeming to cheer up. Not like flicking a switch, but it does happen. "Because friendship is totally the best prize." They both seem to believe that, too. And off they go.