2024-11-18 - Of Icy Imperfections and Fiends

The soft crunch of frost underfoot mingled with the faint hum of a distant generator as Avery Bell stood beneath the glow of a single floodlight in Spellbound Theme Park's outdoor workshop. The park was eerily quiet, its usual filled with laughter and music replaced by the stillness of the night. A thin layer of mist clung to the ground, curling like tendrils around the crates of ice blocks stacked nearby.

Avery, clad in a thick wool coat and fingerless gloves, was completely engrossed in her work. Before her stood a nearly six-foot-tall ice sculpture in progress— a sculpture that displayed spilling over perfectly carved fruits and vegetables. It would soon take center stage in the park's Thanksgiving display.

Her breath clouded the air as she consulted her sketchbook, flipping to a page smudged and doodles of a concept. She squinted at her eyes at the design under the lamplight, comparing the intricate curves of the pumpkin etched into the ice to the lines she'd drawn days before.

The beauty of Enzo's job is that he gets to wander the entirety of the amusement park. There were more sections that he was forced to visit than others, and he found himself more often than not in the retail sections or near the restrooms where the majority of complaints seem to stem from. When he's off the clock, sometimes he likes to take in some of his exhibits himself, especially as he's only been here a month now and there was so much to explore yet. So maybe that's what brings him to Mystic Mountain this evening.

He was still just dressed for work, so was wearing a navy blazer and pantsuit ensemble over a white buttoned down, a tie and some well-shined Oxfords. For warmth, he has a long grey pea coat.

It's the noise that catches his attention and draws him in and for a moment he simply watches from the entrance into the garden. Then when she stops to flip through her book, that's when he offers up a semblance of applaud. "It's coming along nicely." He calls out.

People never came out here at this time of day, and Avery all but jumps out of her skin at the applause that sounds even if lightly done. "What in the world..."

It was a good thing there were no power tools on at this point. Avery had only hand tools, a chisel that was not pointed at the ice and she had been leaning over her notebook before the interruption. Sliding a hand over her hair, "You scared the begeezus out of me." Admitting to Enzo at the sight of him. The afterthought comes a few seconds too late, "Thank you," Looking back at the piece she was working on, "It's not bad." not completely happy with it.

Turning her gaze back to Enzo, "Do I know you?" Clearly from the blazer, he's someone who works here.

Stepping forward now so that he can get a better look at the fine details of the glistening sculpture so far, he keeps to an erect posture with his hands locked behind his back as he simply stands there to admire the young woman's handiwork. He does offer a disarming smile when he notices that he might have just freaked Avery out a little bit. "Sorry, I uh... didn't mean to sneak up on you there." This is followed by a laugh.

Turning back to the icy work of art he asks, "Oh? What don't you like about it?"

Though when asked his name, well, in a round about way, he graces her with a charming smile, turning to her in full now, "I'm the guy who has to clean up your messes if you ever piss any of the visitors off. Which in your case, I don't see happening. Lorenzo Castillo. Public Relations. But I usually just go by Enzo. What about you, Ice Queen?"

"It's fine, I'm just not used to people lurking about here at this time of day. By this time, everyone is doing something else, and all the tourists are gone." Avery tells him honestly, that while it surprised her, she's not upset by the newcomer in the area.

And since he asked, she'll go into detail, "See how the apple isn't quite right? The apple needs more shaping. and then the carrot? It needs more detail. I took a break from it to start on the overall concept of the pumpkin, but... Yeah..." It needed more work in her opinion. Hmph!

A mixture of 'should I not like you' and interest crosses her face at the description that Enzo gives her on his person. "Ah," starting off, though being called an Ice queen earned him a smile. "Avery Bell, I'm the ice sculptor." Duh... "That's probably obvious. If there are complaints about my work, I would like to know." taking that seriously, "I want to know what people see and don't like, I can have a different vision from others and I can only grow with criticism."

Taking the chisel from her hand, she back pockets it and offers Enzo a hand to shake, if he takes her hand it will be ice cold.

Enzo glances out towards the entryway, "Not all of the tourist leave right away. Some take their sweet ass time and some just get lost." Turning back to Avery, he shrugs his broad shoulders, "It's not really my job to locate them... I don't think." He honestly has to think about that one. He might have to go over his work list again.

His interest is further piqued when she draws his attention to what she sees as unfinished pieces. Of course, he notices what she sees, the lack of details and such. Turning to look in her direction, he asks, "Do you think they would really notice?" Enzo asks this, but he knows all about perfectionists and the playful smile on his lips shows that he's just teasing.

Whatever it is that Avery thinks about him, he is sensing. Emotionally anyway. Any curiousness, distrust, confusion. He takes it all in.

He thinks about what she wonders just as he takes her hand for a shake. His is a firm shake. Or it would be, if there isn't a moment of hesitation at the sudden ice cold anyway. Still he smiles, "Well, it's nice meeting Avery. As for what you'd said. The only kind of complaints I can think of is, someone slipped on ice. You'd made something lewd or inappropriate for viewing," He gives her this teasing look here now too, "Or a part of the sculpture falls off and someone gets stabbed in the eye and we have a whole situation. But I don't see that happening."

When Elmo works the night shift, he sometimes takes a slow and meandering route through the park to get to the ferry, rather than the more direct employee tunnels. He enjoys the otherworldly feel of the place when it’s void of its usual crush of people, noise, and lights. Tonight, this walk takes him through the Mystic Mountain, a canvas backpack slung over one shoulder and a rat perched on the other.

He hears something and spots movement out of the corner of his eyes: A couple of employees setting something up for the next day. He always wondered what kind of work went into some of the things here, ice sculpture being one of them.

Curious, he starts in that direction, boots falling firmly on the walkway. He’s not the kind of person to just jump into someone else’s conversation, but he walks close enough to be noticed and peers at Avery and Enzo as he nears, wondering if he recognizes them from anywhere before.

"I would notice," Avery tells him, it didn't really matter what the tourist thought, it was all about the art of the item. There might have been a bit of an edge to her voice when she said that and she immediately, apologized, "Sorry," knowing she was a temperamental artist, "I'm really involved with my pieces and if they aren't exactly right..." hissing a breath, "I destroy them." honestly.

Noting the firm shake despite her cold hand earns a smidge of respect. Who knew this guy had it in him? With the offers of complaints Enzo gets, there is a moment where she might take it all personally. Slipping on ice? Lewd view? Stabbed in the eye... what?? ... What had she done that could have issued a visit from this man? Wracking her brain for the idea.

Thankfully Enzo eases that with his wink and her blood pressure settles down, "You can be really cruel, has anyone told you that before?"

Though Enzo has only been here for a month and change or so, he might be recognizable enough. He's one of the more mobile employees in the park, so he can be found everywhere that there's complaining tourists.

"Of course you would notice. You just pointed them out to me!" Enzo says, his words still light-hearted. Though he just blinks here. Then blinks again, before he turns to look at the sculpture. "You would destroy a sculpture that wasn't perfect? Okay..." A soft laugh escapes his lips. Nothing malicious or mean, just surprised. "I believe you."

Though he can't help but beam with pride when he's told of just how cruel he can be. "I can come up with far more things that customers complain about, I mean, I need to be prepared to answer all of this scenarios and situations right? So I just play them in my mind over and over and over and over and..." That's when he hears footfall approaching and he turns to notice Elmo heading there way. "Welcome to the Winter Wonderland!" He practically sings.

Elmo is at least familiar with one of them, recognizing Enzo by sight if not by name. It’s the way he dresses and does his hair, the way he likely takes very good care of his skin, that does it for him. And now, it’s the sing-song way he greets him.

“Um, hey. It’s wonderful alright,” he says, voice several notches quieter than Enzo’s. He leans to look past the man at Avery, giving her an upnod and another, “Hey.” The sculpture in question draws his attention, and he allows his gaze to drift across it and take it in. “That yours?”

As the question leaves his lips, he feels movement across one shoulder, the rustling of that rat that’s with him. It lifts up onto two feet and sniffs at the air, whiskers shifting about.

"That is what they pay me for," Avery tells Enzo, "To make beautiful sculptures, while some imperfections in art can be beautiful..." head wobbling from side to side, "If it too imperfect and I have to pass by it every day and see those imperfections... Thats just annoying as hell."

With the sound of another approaching, she shifts her stance to see who it is that was coming up behind Enzo, watching the person before she replies to Enzo's scenario comments, "I fully believe that what you are describing right now is exactly why I had no desire to go into any employment that required public relations or customer service." Not that she couldn't be nice to people, she was all the time, and when they asked her for help or directions she would provide them. But listening to complaints? No way.

Elmo's question had her drawing her eyes to him now that he was closer, glancing back at the piece and then back to the man again. "Is that a rat?" answering his question with one of her own when she saw the little creature move across his shoulder. "But, uh, yeah... that's mine. At least, it is for now."

"Just make more. A lot more." That's Enzo's solution to her perfection problem. "Then there's far too many of them to look at that you couldn't possibly notice the one with the imperfections in a maze of glistening ice."

His lips quirk into a grin at Avery's customer service comment, "You'd make a great front desk clerk. Don't sell yourself short. Just put on your best smile, like this." And he demonstrates and then say in the most eager and bright-eyed bushy-tailed way, "I apologize for my colleague's buffoonish clumsiness and ill manners. We'll cover your dry cleaning in full and your weekend stay here will be completely covered. Again, I humbly apologize for any and all discomfort and disruption to your vacation. Do let us know if there's anything more that we can do for you."

"Easy as pie." He says slyly, crossing his arms over his chest once the whole schtick is done."

Then she brings up the rat and his eyes lift to view it too now, before his gaze meets Enzo's. "Watch that thing. You know how squeamish some people can get." He's teasing, even though he might not sound it.

Elmo listens to the exchange between the two, stepping to one side so he can pay closer attention to the sculpture. It's interesting, at least more-so than customer service talk. He has no doubt that it's an art of its own, but it's one that he's glad others take up so he doesn't have to.

Blinking at the question, he lifts his shoulder a couple of times, jostling the rat, and says, "Yep. He's squeaky clean. And he doesn't bite." There's a chitter from the animal and he turns his head as if to listen, grinning and offering a curt nod in response.

Avery transforms her face into the perfect customer service agent with the guidance of Enzo. Straightening her back, pushing back her shoulders, and putting on her best smile she knows how. Its bright teeth with her lips spread wide enough that would appear that it was reaching her eyes. By the time Enzo stops talking she asks, "Can I stop doing this now? It really hurts my face?" Face falling back to normal, lifting her hand up to her cheeks and rubbing at them, "Damn, that hurts."

Pointing a finger at Enzo, waving it at him, "Though you make a good point," she says "Not about the front desk clerk, that'll never happen." lowering her hand and slipping it in the back pocket of her jeans, "No, about the making more sculpture thing and a maze of ice. It's something I've been thinking of pitching to my boss. Creating an ice maze with sculptures throughout it. Could be a good tourist attraction for December. We could hang likes above it and make it look cool."

The rat makes noise and Anvery shifts her attention back to the creature, proving that it was real, "Does it or you have a name?" she asks Elmo.

Enzo laughs but is impressed by Avery's hard effort. "You get used to it after a while. Not that I do PR work on the norm, but..." He shrugs, "Sometimes you just have to stand and sit there and smile, because that's what everyone expects of you." He laughs even more when she starts to rub at her cheeks, "It doesn't help that it's cold out. It's much easier, I think, and less painful in warmer weather."

Then he's praised with making a point, "I always make a good point." He's not sure which point, but she's kind enough to let him know. "Now that would be amazing. It could be a Christmas event. The Wintery Ice Maze..." He says, eyes looking up and his hand makes a gesture before them as if he can imagine the name of the Encounter, ride or whatever you call this, all in lights, "or... something far more creative and cool." His hand lowers to swing at his side for a moment before coming to a rest, his posture straightening. "I figure this place would already have a mirror maze for Halloween, so why not Christmas have it's own?"

With Avery asking the newcomer of their rat friend for an introduction, he tries to see if he remembers what the guy's name is. He's OK with names sometimes. Maybe not for the rat, but for people.

"Until we melt again," Elmo mutters, which is not at all a name the park would go for, since something like Wintery Ice Maze is much more direct. Tourists shouldn't have to interpret things, right?

When things come around to him and his name, he pokes himself in the chest with a pointer finger and says, "Elmo." Then, he lifts the same finger to indicate the rat. "That's The Freak." He starts to walk a bit closer, then circles the sculpture to get a view from another angle. "We work the arcade."

"The cold doesn't really bother me, this is barely cold anyway." Avery looks up and around into the sky and the invisible weather around them.

"See, that's why you are in customer service? Or was it personal relations?" Enzo had said one of the two and she couldn't remember, they might very well be the same thing in her mind, "Anyway, it's for people like you and the marketing team and upper management to come up with a name like "The Wintery Ice Maze... or whatever. I'm just coming up with the idea." The idea that seems to get a similar vision to what she was thinking when Enzo describes it off a simple idea she had provided. "Yeah, like that."

Elmo takes her attention when he suggests a name for the maze, her eyebrows drawing together in thought for just a moment before she starts to laugh, "That's actually a good one."

Accepting the single-word name as his own, Avery nods once, before looking to the rat when it's given a name fitting for its species. "Noted. The Arcade huh? So you're who I see for free tokens to get some gameplay in, huh?"

Enzo can't help but laugh, shaking his head, "If the cold doesn't bother you, then you've chosen the right occupation, my friend."

At the confusion between customer service and personal relations, he then quickly interjects to correct, "Public relations." Though he does look proud when the sculptor gives him praise for what she thinks he does, though when Elmo offers up his own clever little name for it, all the response that he gets from Enzo is maybe a lift of the man's brow and a very slight tightening of his jaw, perhaps.

With his attention already on the new arrival though, he mentally notes that he was wrong on his memory of what he'd thought the man's name was. Elmo, that's right. The Freak, however, is easy to remember.

"Tell me, Elmo," He says rather cordially, with a smile, "is it true that those games are rigged?"

Elmo continues his slow, scrutinizing walk around the ice sculpture, hearing words like service and relations get thrown about without paying them too much attention. Something-something about the weather.

“I like this,” he admits. “This is cool.” The flicker of a smile tugs at the edge of his mouth then, and again when Avery laughs and compliments his proposed exhibition title. The Freak’s tail flicks, and his body gives a chilled shudder.

When Enzo speaks to him, he straightens a bit and inclines his head. “In the arcade? Naw. Some of the pinball machines might be so old they have a permanent lean, but if there’s any scam it’s in the claw machines, and that’s on the manufacturer.” He shrugs and wipes his hands free of responsibility there, or tries to.

Stares at Enzo when he corrects and interjects the correction of "Public relations". Blinking at him and trying to figure out what the difference was or isn't that what she just said? It wasn't, but it sounded the same. "Right." she finally says, "Forced hurtful smiling Public Relations."

Avery takes a step or two back when Elmo starts circling her work, she's watching him for a reaction to piece, "Thanks. Its not done, but it will be soon. Then I start on my next one. I was thinking about a giant snowflake." The Freak's flick and shudder gets a look, "Is he alright? Too cold for him out here?"

Enzo just laughs lightly, "It's just a job title. No big deal." It was a big deal enough for him to correct, or maybe he's just that type of person.

He's only half-listening when Elmo actually answers the question he had asked in the first place, but he nods twice and to prove that he was listening, muses, "So stay away from the claw machine. Got it."

For now, he starts to somewhat wander around the partially-finished sculpture, when Avery brings up her next idea. "A giant snowflake would be fabulous! Intricate and complex in design and with your handiwork, I'm sure that with just the sight of it it will mesmerize all that look upon it." Though, he does spare the rat a glance when the sculptor seems worried for it. "Animals like that are used to living out in the streets and the wild in whichever climate. Far more than we are. I'm sure if it's tucked away in a pocket or something, it would warm up just fine."

Public relations sounds like a nightmare to a man who can barely crack a smile at the best of times. Watching how Enzo does so easily while praises the sculptures makes Elmo think they picked the right sort of person for the job, though. The park is massive, and it takes all types.

The Freak’s shudder doesn’t seem to concern him, and he even tsks at the critter before raising a hand for him to crawl into. “He’s just bitching,” he says, maneuvering him into a jacket pocket, where he can still poke his head and forearms out to look around.

“Snowflakes a cool idea. And hey, I’d like to see you take on the claw machine. You could win a Pokemon or a plush capybara.” He may prefer one of those over the other.

Avery seems to take the fact that the rat is fine. But, Elmo is talking to The Freak or was the rat talking to him? "So you have that little magical gift? You can understand animals?" Either that or just really gets the body language of a rat.

"I yell ya what though, I'm a sucker for those claw machines, I hardly ever win. Although that once and while where you win something? You feel like you've accomplished greatness." laughing.

Turning back to the current sculpture work, "Snowflake would be more challenging. I feel like taking on something bigger and better." The intricate work would be both of those things.

Enzo observes as Elmo has this conversation with his rat buddy, but seeing that he, himself, is still learning about the magic that practically pours out of this place, he seems interested in what the other man has to say to Avery's question regarding understanding animal's language, even if he doesn't inquire himself.

They all seem to be in agreement when it comes to Avery's next project, but when Elmo insists that someone take on the claw machine, despite already having stated that it was a scam, Enzo's brow lifts up slowly. He does look amused by Avery's devil-may-care attitude and willingness to take on the task. "Who knows, maybe the day you try your hand on these rigged" And he definitely emphasizes that word when his gaze shifts to Elmo for a brief moment before returning to Avery, "and unlucky claw machines will indeed be your lucky day. Either way, I'll cheer you on." He then adds in, "Hell, I might even see if I can tempt Lady Luck myself."

Elmo appears to take care with The Freak, despite the tone he uses to talk about ‘the bitching’. “Hm?” He lifts a brow and looks to Avery, then shakes his head to either side. “Nope, just this one. We know how each other feels, where we are, what we think. Sort of.” A crease forms across his brow since he doesn’t really know how all this magic works.

The claw machines he has more of a familiarity with, though he’ll admit their likely rigged or at least unfairly designed. “Sometimes you need to deal with shit that’s unfair. Or bigger and more challenging, I guess,” he says with a shrug. “Come down sometime. I can keep them running after the tourists go home.”

"Interesting," Avery looks between Elmo and The Freak a couple of times. She really seems to find it interesting, "I like finding out what people can do, what special 'skill' they've been given since coming to this place if they got any at all." But everyone seems to have something and it is un to figure out or find out what they have.

Snapping out of that train of thought, giving her head a shake, "I'm in for that," grinning and bobbing her head, "I love when the park is closed and you can run a muck in here or blast music and have the ice rink all to yourselves."

When Elmo explains about this thing he has with the rat, Enzo just stands there with his arms crossed now, listening with a slightly raised brow. Curious. "You have a connection. With a rat?" He was going to ask whether it started during his time at the carnival or outside of it, but he gets the feeling that he already knows the answer to that. "Why a rat though? Did you get to pick?" Look, he doesn't know.

When Avery speaks of what people can do at the park, the man in the Hospitality blazer nods slowly. "Yeah. It's..." His brows lift, and he looks up into the sky, "Pretty crazy. So no one knows where all of this is coming from? Or where in the park this uh... magic?" He sounds uncertain when he says the word, "Is the strongest?" Though now he looks over at the ice sculptor, curious at what she can do, but perhaps he'll save the question for another time.

To what Avery says again, that at least brings a smile to Enzo's lips, "I think that's the best part about working here. You get this whole place to yourself after hours. So that's pretty cool."

Elmo didn’t realize his relationship with The Freak was that interesting, which seems to be a sentiment they share since they both glance at each other simultaneously.

“Um, no. He just started hanging around the arcade one day,” Elmo explains when he looks back at the others. “I told him to shoo. Get the hell out.” He swats at the air, but is otherwise flat in tone. “But he didn’t and I admired that.”

He nods and seems to finish his story there for now, looking thoughtful for a moment. “I’ve never thought there might be a place where magic is strongest. Guess after hours might be the best time to look for something like that.”

Enzo asks the question that she might have thought about hours after they had parted ways. Avery nods her head just a smidge at the questions asked, agreeing with the questioning to go along with this interesting information. At least they both seems to find it interesting. Even if Elmo did not.

"Huh..." Avery looks towards The Freak again, "Is that how you feel about people too? That if you tell them to get lost, but they stick around, you respect them?" Asking Elmo. Realizing how that might sound she raises her hands up, "Listen I'm not a shrink or anything, I was just curious if it's merely toward animals or just any relationship you have with anything or anyone."

With the idea mentioned of a strongest 'spot' in the park, the woman draws her eyebrows together, obviously nothing that she had thought about either, much like Elmo. "Uh, is that a proven thing?" It's altogether possible that she hasn't researched it that much, "I just thought it was cool and gift given to us for whatever reason. I don't tend to look gifted things in the face ask 'why?'. I tend to take and say, "Cool! I must have done something right."

Enzo's brow remains lifted lightly, but he nods when told that the rat and Elmo just hung out. "Well then." It almost sounds as if he had better ideas of animals he'd rather have as familiars. Hell, he does state as an after thought, "It's not every day you find actual wolves and anything like that here." He knows of their exotic animal policy.

With hands in pockets still, he walks a few paces around as he listens to the others speak of this magical place and their thoughts of his question. Here is when he has to shrug, lifting his shoulders. "I don't know. It's the first thing that came to mind. I just figured, like most things, there has to be a magical... power source of some kind? A place where all of this spreaaad out froom?" It's clear that he has no idea what he's trying to ask. Though what Elmo says does grab his attention. "You're probably right. It's quiet, the tourists are either gone or back at their hotels." He then puts forth a question, "If you had to guess, anywhere in this park. Where do you think the magic actually comes from?" He then quickly states, "Don't worry about being wrong. It's not like any of us know. It's just a guess."

Elmo blinks, his eyes a flutter of lashes and grey-blue eyes, and takes a step away from Avery. “I don’t…I think he wanted to be in the arcade at first.” His head turns half an inch in The Freaks direction, and he shuts his eyes for a moment. “I don’t know if that’s how I always act, but I admire people who stand their ground.” He takes a step forward to recover his own.

Shaken as he may have seemed by the analytical question, by being prodded to examine himself, he does put a bit more of himself in this conversation. “Maybe you’ll find a wolf on Moonrise Island,” he says drily.

The question of where magic may originate from draws an easy answer from him. “The middle,” he says, shrugging and glancing between Avery and Enzo. “Assuming we’re in, like, a bubble or whatever.”

While Avery had not meant for a self-examination in her question to Elmo, it had been just a question. From his reaction, she can tell that the way it came out might have been more a loaded question than she realized. "Sorry," starting, stopping with a long pause, "I wasn't trying to weird you out. I've just noticed sometimes it's the same with people and animals. I was just curious."

So she moves on...

"Wolves?" She asks Enzo and then Elmo adds his bit about a wolf on Moonrise Island, "Are there wolves? I didn't think they allowed those kinds of animals here?"

Speculation about the magic source is ping-ponged around the three of them while she offers, "I would say Spellbound Island, it's the first one. If it is something is going to be the power source, I would have to think it would come from the first one. Why else pick that one island as the first and not one of the others?"

The slightly awkward back and forth between Elmo and Avery is taken in with some amusement by Enzo even if he doesn't pay the conversation all that much mind in truth. He also doesn't do much to interrupt, allowing it to continue on its course, at least until it wraps itself up on its own, his eyes looking between the pair now.

With this question of whether wolves are actually on Moonrise Island from Avery, well, Elmo brought it up, so he'll let Elmo be the one to field that one!

Enzo has more important, no, more curious things to ponder on. "My thoughts exactly." This mention of Spellbound Island has him considering. "The castle maybe? It doesn't hurt to check it out, I think." A look is given his watch. "But that adventure needs to be saved for another day. I could use a drink, before a shower and bed. I have an early morning."

“You’re good,” Enzo stresses, raising one hand in case any other apologies might be made. “Maybe it is the same. I, uh…never had pets.” The pause drags on a touch longer than necessary, which may add to any awkwardness. Luckily, the conversation shifts to, well, more animals.

He doesn’t have to think long about Moonrise Island. “I have no fucking idea,” is his response, and it would apply to most questions about the undeveloped land. “Never been out there, but I know there aren’t any on the other islands, so I guess if someone really wants one…” It could be a place to look.

“Yeah, I should head, too.” He turns to go, but hesitates. “If you do want to test that theory out. Well, you know where I work.” He looks to both of them when he says this, then shrugs.

Turning her head to look in the direction of where the Castle would be... over there... somewhere... Nodding her head thoughtfully, "Maybe?" When she turns back to the two men she says, "Sounds like a pretty cool exploring night. Count me in."

With a sigh she looks back at her sculpture, "And I should probably finish this and move it into the coolers before I get back home." Taking the tools out of her back pockets, tapping them on the palm of her hand. "Good to meet you both. I'll see you around."