Log:Lost Circus: TTS Fun Meet Prince of Physicality

Lost Circus - To The Stars Fun Meet Prince of Physicality

OOC Date: January 22, 2018 (Optional)
Location: The Lost Circus - Corellian District, Nar Shaddaa
Participants: Naelyn, Lorana Adella, Niko Jing, Navi Kryze, Tarion Tavers, Gand

Because of all the Thunderstorms, the Circus's giant retractable roof is closed. This means, there are quite a few people packed into the establishment. The smell of things fried, dyed, laid to the side, popped and copped and flopped and drenched in artficial and natural sweetners. There's been so much horror and loss in the galaxy lately, fliers have gone about the 'To the Stars Fun Meet' being held at the circus, a competition and social soire that will last a few days set up to raise money for those on need on Nar Shaddaa and who know where else.

That is why, Circus volunteers and employees are greeting guests with towels and warm sparkling drinks that smell like flowers, fruits, or nuts. Offering them complimentary tunics in black, grey and off white, each one ever so shimmery in the right light. Small children dressed up like little galaxies in black with silver of gold stars painted on teir tunics or cheeks run around offering people beaded garlands, obviously made by tiny hands. And space has been cleared with tents shifted to different places to allow fora 'playing field' with some type of make shift track around it to be on display, above it the large banner 'Do you have what it takes?'.

A thin man in a dull, black suit stumbles across the threshold, stooped over a bit from dodging the rain under a flimsy pice of plastic held over his head. Niko steps into the tent cautiously and runs a hand through his touseled hair, shaking droplets of water around him. As a member of the Circus hands him a towel, he nods his head in thanks, but then holding up a hand to refuse a tunic, smiling politely instead. Rubbing the towel on his head to dry his hair, he hangs it about his neck and steps deeper into the tent, marveling at the light and life of the Circus.

Coming in from the rain, having chosen the worst time to get some air, Lorana rubs her head and lekku down to get some of the rain off, before taking an offered towel and drying properly. She starts walking round, looking at what's on offer.

Navi hadn't paid the flyers all that much mind, knowing she would be working that day. But when the big day comes and the job has been taken care of, she finds herself richer by a pay voucher and on the way back from her most recent job. And notices the lights and music coming from the big top complex in spite of the nasty, nasty weather. Which is why some of the spectators may be nervously watching a fully armored Mandalorian stepping inside the tent and accepting a towel from one person and a black tunic from another, offering nods and soft words of thanks in return. Draping the tunic over one shoulder and wiping off her weapons with the towel, she steps to the side of the entrance, out of the flow of traffic, and watches the crowd milling about all the interesting attractions.

A short figure stands over to the side of the entrance of the Lost Circus. Not exactly an employee of the circus itself, Gand had taken it upon himself to show up and sort of act as a security presence given his Defiance employment status. The gand is clad in his ratty looking gray robe which clings to his armor, soaked and weighted down by the amount of rain it had absorbed on the way over. His rifle hangs from a strap over his shoulder, but by all appearances he does not have any inclination to use it as of yet. He simply stands and watches from his vantage point, enjoying all of the different sights and smells.

Tarion Tavers begins the removal process of his Bounty Hunter Armor and piece by piece the menacing body suit is removed and set aside.

Among the volunteers is a nondescript man with short, spiky brown hair, dressed in one of those complimentary tunics and looking a little peeved about it. Tarion shimmers in the right light, his tunic black as his soul, and twice as sparkly. "What is this 'it' I'm supposed to have?" he speculates to the Gand, an armful of free tunics in one hand, a skewer of fried nerf in the other. "I probably /do/ have it, but like, could it be any more vague?" Frowning, he picks a sliver of gristle from between his teeth with a fingernail. "Hopefully it doesn't involve me shaking my ass in a scanty costume again."

There's a certain androgynous feature, all in dark green and black, long dark hair tumbling down their back and the facialjewelry and cosmetics further blurring his gender...this is who makes his way into the center of the makeshift playing field. A glossy and glittery black nail idly taps against the button of a remote as he takes in all the new comers, full lips curving in a hint of a smile.

The button is pressed and a spot light falls on the field as he starts speaking, his Basic is heavily accented adding a purr to his sss and rrr sounds, voice soft and lilting. "Welcome one and all." His arms raise above his head as he strikes a pose. "If I can have your attention please." He crooks a finger in 'come hither' motion as he slowly turns in a slow and smooth circle. "I see so many little stars out there, walking around glowing brightly and just asking to be the ones we worship. Come and lets see you shine, step up to the starting line." His voice soft and hypnotic as he slowly lifts a leg, until his foot is above his head and his knee is about level with his ear, just balancing on one leg.

Niko watches the proceedings with an amused look on his face. He had not, in fact, actually gotten any flyers or what not... he had merely been wandering around the Corellian district, having decided to get off of the ship he had been traveling on to stretch his legs. As the man... woman... as the very attractive looking specimen starts to speak, Niko sidles over to where the Gand is standing guard. He looks like somebody who might know... "Hey mate, what exactly is going on here?" he asks with a congenial smile. Lorana finds a place selling some Twi'leki food, and picks up some noodles and fungus. With the announcement, she moves to watch the announcer as she slowly and carefully eats her food.

"Well. I suppose this is what all the fuss was about," Navi muses, her voice slightly tinny and hissy from her helmet's vocoder, eyes drifting to the announcer, and then the scattered children in sparkly tunics and shiny paint. Then back to the announcer as she moves up beside Lorana, offering her a nod of greeting. "He puts on a nice show, I'll give him that. And for such sweet reasons." Uh-oh... a Mandalorian said the word 'sweet'. The very galaxy may come to an end from the shock.

The Gand looks toward Tarion and what can be seen of it's expression around the breathing aparatus over its mouth looks amused. "This one hopes that is exactly what you have to do," it comments toward the human with a chuckle before turning an eye on him to examine the tunics he holds. "It would be a fitting payback for the pain in this one's ass that blaster shot was." He falls silent as the spot light powers on, glancing toward Naelyn as the dancer addresses the crowd. As the press of bodies move closer to follow Naelyn's instructions, so too does the Gand, his shuffling stride keeping him toward the back rather than rushing forward to the forming line. "Well, let's do it, I guess," Tarion replies, shrugging and ripping the rest of the meat off the skewer with his teeth. The shimmery man moves towards the announcer in the middle of the ring, still chewing, and tosses his free tunic handouts in a heap, of which he has distributed... three. "I accept your challenge, Balancing Man."

Yes...arms extending slightly and shoulders rolling, Naelyn manages to turn in a circle with that leg still up before he falls backwards into a back bend and walks his legs over his head in a walk over and lands in the splits. He winks and blows a kiss to those gathered. "Very well, this first test if you're brave enough involves your strength." There are a series of posts set up, thick enough to wrap arms around like a hug. At the top of the log is a pail of water. There's some contraption set up where weights have been added to various strings and pullies to get that bucket balanced.

"Step up to your trunk, and lets show us how big your heart is. Hug tightly and do not let go. For every minute you are able to hold on and hug, a weight will be removed making it harder and harder to keep the string taunt."

He explains as he gestures to the audience. "The person who holds on to his trunk without leting his bucket fall...wins."

Lorana offers a lek-wave to Navi. "Yeah, people need some help and positivity now," she says, a touch sadly. She looks over to Tarion when he volunteers, then quietly says to Navi, "Oh, I wonder how this is going to go?"

"Or... you know... you can just walk... OK... wow, that just happened." Niko raises an eyebrow as the Gand and the sandy-haired man ignore him and walk towards the center of the ring. Niko shrugs and makes his way over to another small cluster of people. Interesting... Mandalorian armor... Niko plucks at his own dull suit... doesn't offer much for protection. He steps behind a Twi'lek woman and the Mandalorian, watching the proceedings in the ring.

"Who can blame them? The newsfeeds just get worse and worse. I don't see myself competing in something like this, but I'm glad someone had the idea to hold it. We need more good causes," Navi observes softly, idly glancing back as Niko draws up behind herself and Lorana, and offering a less idle nod of greeting. "Good day."

As Tarion says 'lets' the Gand looks at him as if he might be crazy, for surely this gand was not intending on joining in any sort of test of strength. He sighs, shaking his head before saying to himself, "Well... it can not be out done by that one," then dusts of his hands and walks forward to where the posts are set up. He glances left to right, watching those others who have gotten into position before him, and then mimics them. He is smaller than most, so his arms are not long enough to reach fully around the object. Three fingered hands dig in for purchase as he squats his little legs and holds tight. To be fair, Tarion ignored Gand too, not just Niko, and when the test is revealed, he smirks confidently like an ass and moves ahead, taking up a post at the post and posting his feet on either side of his post. He then proceeds to hug his trunk as instructed, and has no idea what he's actually doing with the bucket, but he lifts the thing like everyone else. Something isn't quite right up there though, as his bucket has started to wobble. As people are hugging the posts, the crowd is gathering and people are placing bets on people in the name of families or organizations that are helping other people out both on the moon and in galactic disaster zones. Credits are going in buckets carried by adorable scamps. Naelyn is walking around the posts, occasionally leaning against them to look a competitor over and wink before moving on to the next.

There's a young human female who is walking on her hands and then a pink skinned male humanoid also walking on his hands and then move up to various posts to remove singular weights to increase the dificulties, making it more reliant on the competitors to keep that string tight via hugging. Nae purrs softly. "Come now my precious ones...squeeze them like you are never going to let them go...."

Niko somehow finds himself being pushed forward by the crowd until he too is standing besides the other in the center ring. He makes an embarassed grin and attempts to gracefully slip out, but is somehow positioned in front of a large trunk, pulley and counterweight contraption. Well... he got off the ship for a bit of adventure and distraction... I suppose this is as good of an activity as anything else. Discreetly eyeing the people around him, he hugs his arms around the trunk, feeling a little bit foolish, and holding on as tightly as he can, straining slightly as the bucket above quivers slightly. A nervous laugh starts to bubble up from within as he looks around at the others. "Why do I get the feeling this won't end well?"

Lorana finishes her food, putting the container to one side, before stepping forward and joining the others. She crouches, hugs the bucket and stands, hugging the heck out of that bucket!

"Good luck," Navi calls after Lorana as the Twi'lek finishes her snack and moves to take a position on one of the trunks, then grimaces behind her helmet as someone, or more likely several someones, in the crowd behind her push on her back, nearly causing her to stumble into a post; she seems to be luckier than Niko Jing, who winds up hugging one with a bucket on top. "Geez, rude much?" she growls, looking back over her shoulder at the two nearest people behind her. One of them actually shrinks away from her a little, though she is brought up short by the crowd behind her. Navi shakes her head, giving the pair a few more moments of her stare before looking back to the competition. "Some people just can't keep their hands to themselves."

Gand is struggling to keep his post aloft. The fact that his arms are shorter than most of the bigger species who are playing is definitely not helping him, but he is determined. His fingers curl inward as much as they might against the surface of the post, attempting to dig rigid fingertips into the post itself. He is grunting through his respirator from the effort, his cheek smushed up against the hard surface as he huffs and puffs. His eyes find Tarion and he watches the man, even speaking out a lame sort of attempt at friendly trash talk, "This one thinks that it can hold its up longer than you." Tarion grunts in response, focused on keeping that bucket from tipping, because somewhere along the way this became about pride, and his is incredibly inflated. "I am not about to be shown up by some stupid bug-man," the bounty hunter grates, hugging more tightly to his post. "I love you post," he whispers quietly. "We are two of one soul. We will stand forever."

Lorana's bucket wobbles, wobbles and then tips over but it is just enough to splash her as people cheer and others shower buckets with credits and applause as she is the first one out of this first test. THere are attendants that come over to her with a robe and a towel. Naelyn even approaches her with a small smile and a bow of his head. "Wonderful show darling. Come, stand with me and lets see how the others do..." He gestures towards Navi as well, to stand with him in a VIP place where there is less pushing and shoving.

Those contortionist handwalkers moves forward to NIko, Gand, and Tarion to remove more weights.

More weight is removed from Niko's bucket, and the cheers of the crowd roar endlessly in his ears. It's definitely getting much harder to hold on to the trunk, and Niko's arms wobble with the strain. As if sympathetically matching his struggle, the bucket at the top of the trunk starts to wobble precariously as well, and Niko's eyes grow wide as he looks up. As he looks over at his fellow competitors, he notices the Gand's bucket also wobbling a bit, but the sandy-haired man seems to ... wait... is he... is he slow dancing with the trunk? Niko blinks again, and shakes his head to clear the vision, causing the bucket to wobble more violently. "Oh... oh... OK... this... this is less fun now."

Lorana lets the bucket fall, and happily accepts the towl. She drys herself, then puts on the robe, walking to stand to the side with Naelyn. She does, however, pose a little for the audience.

The trash talking from the Gand has apparently earned him some bad juju from the bucket balancing gods. He is having a bit more luck holding his bucket aloft, but he can feel something going on up there as the weights get removed. His balance must be off because the top of his trunk begins to drift. "Ohh no," he comments to his trunk. "This one is trying so hard. Just stay strong.... just stay strong..." His feet walk around a little, attempting to counter the rocking bucket up at the top of his post. Tarion and the post have become a single entity over there, the man and the pole with the bucket on top merging into one as he keeps the bucket balanced with a certain determined intensity born entirely out of ego and spite. "I am not going down before some bug-eyed dude without a name."

Navi winces sympathetically, cringing a little, as Lorana's bucket tips, dumping part of its contents on her. "Oh, nice try," she says, stepping over to follow Lorana and Naelyn. Once there, she uses her own damp towel to help dry the half-drenched Twi'lek. At the sight (and sound) of Tarion and his trunk, she shakes her head. "I hope he realizes it will never love him back," she muses, chuckling.

"And now...we've come to the final challenge of strength. These stronge...male specimens are putting on quite a show for us all. Now who wants to see them get wet?" Naelyn coos softly, placing his hands on his hips as the contortionist handwalkers make their final pass...feet remove those final weights and the audience almost just goes completely quiet and watching with held breath.

Jumping order to be the first to fail, Tarion stubbornly holds tight to his post, but clearly his is heavier than everyone else's, that has to be it, because there's no way a little bug guy could actually outlast him, right? That's the story anyway. Suddenly, disaster. His grip slips, and some of the water comes down in a thin gossamer sheet, splashing his hair and providing a probably overdue shower of small proportions. "Krif," the hunter hisses, still holding the post up. "That doesn't count! I'm- I'm still in the competition!" But he was not still in the competition.

Navi shakes her helmeted head. "It totally counts," she says flatly.

Niko's attention is drawn back to the bucket, wobbling at the top of his trunk. His muscles are starting to quiver a bit with the strain, and he's not sure how much longer he can hold the trunk. A loud cheer goes through the crowd to the right of him and Niko glances over watching as the sandy haired man somehow tips his bucket over. A splash of water spills over Niko's feet. There's another loud cheer and another splash of water, but Niko just manages to hold onto his trunk. He glances up at the bucket, willing it to stay in place. And then suddenly, the loudest cheer rings out through the room as he hears his name being chanted. "Wait... did I just... I won?" Niko asks incredulously, letting go of the trunk for a second to pump his hands in the air. "I WON!" Niko shouts with glee, and then looks up at the bucket which has toppled off his trunk. "Oh krif..."

Gand is still holding tight to his post, but the moving around has only made his bucket wobble with more intensity. His fingers attempt to dig further into his post, but he just is not going to be able to make it. He knows the end is near, but he is still watching Tarion with a burning intensity as he can feel his own grip about to go. Tarion's grip gives out first and the Gand lets out a sigh of relief as his own grip is soon to follow. His post smacks into the ground and wobbles dangerously, his already dancing bucket tipping and dropping a torrent of water all over him. The Gand is still a winner in his heart, apparently as he points to Tarion and says, "This one beat you, this one beat you!"

And just like that...The Sandy Haired one's trunk has commitment issues and betrays him. The Gand wins his own victory. And Niko is left drenched but victorious!

Naelyn's applause is muted by the cheers from the crowd and they are all brought towels and robes and Niko is graced with a garland of silver colored wooden hearts. There's laughter and applause and the MC finally speaks up. "Did you think we were finished...it is now time to see, who is fleet of foot..."

Tarion, damp and fuming, is game for the next round, running his fingers through his hair and wiping something out of his eye. "Alright, round two, what's the game, Nae?" Luckily, he's not weighed down by his armor today, instead dressed in this sparkly free tunic.

"Oh, frell... there they all go!" Navi cringes again as the buckets all go over. "Splash... looks like everyone got wet that time. But that was a nice win. The kind I like to see. We need more underdogs winning these days," she observes.

Niko is now drenched, but still flying high from his unexpected victory. He does now ruefully regret not accepting a tunic earlier. He has, however, missed his opportunity to gracefully bow out. "We're doing what now?" he asks the sandy-haired, trunk afficianado. Niko shrugs out of his wet suit jacket, wringing out a sleeve.

The Gand smiles to himself as he has won his own little game. Walking over closer to Niko, the Gand reaches out and touches the man's arm before saying, "Congratulations on your victory. This one is happy that you won!"

A glance over to Navi and a small smile before he turns back to the three competitors who are left, sauntering forward and walking around Tarion slowly and offering him coy smile before moving to walk around the Gand, kneeling down to look him over and he gets a smile as well before he straightens up and walks around Niko with a soft purr and quirk of his eyebrow.

Then he's back to MC mode walking back to the center of the playing field as the next challenge is set up. There are small pools set up, empty as can be. THen on the other side there are large barrels of water with a single bucket beside each one. "Now, you fill your bucket...and you run and dump the water into the pool, then you run back to refill your bucket and then...you get the picture. First person to get their pool filled to the red line...will win this challenge. Arrre you ready?"

Still looking cocky and mustering up a swagger, the idiot in the shimmery tunic heads for the next challenge, falling into place next to one of the pools. "If anyone knows how to run in a straight line, it's me," he tells the other competitors, thumbing his chest proudly.

The Gand moves over to take up his place in the line of other competitors. As the challenge is explained, he nods his head and picks up his bucket. When the race starts, the Gand takes off at a run. His technique was not very well thought out, however, as his knees bang into his bucket with every step, sloshing water out and down his front as he goes. When he dumps his bucket, only a small amount of water is left in to fill his pool.

As the slight ringmaster...mistress? ... As the beautiful person running the event passes him, Niko can smell a faint exotic scent that tantalizes and partially raises the hairs on the back of his neck. A deep thrumming noise floats into his ears, and Niko swallows hard, eyes fixed as he walks around him. Shaking his head, he looks down at the bucket and the distance to the pool before giving the Gand and the sandy-haired man a lopsided grin. "Well, best of luck, chaps. Let's give it our best, shall we?" And the race starts. Niko grabs his bucket and he shoots forward with a burst of speed, his long legs eating up the distance to the pool.

Rosh is fairly new to the area, and looking for hot singles. Jk, he's just looking for a nice way to waste some time in the afternoon. "No yuhto, no Rosh," he remarks into a commlink with that characteristic raspy Ubese voice. He clicks the comm off and clips it on to his bandolier before reaching up to pull his hood down. His ruby visor takes in all the goings on and his helmeted head tips to the side. "Sparkly," he remarks.

Niko reaches the edge of the pool, skidding to a stop and sloshing the contents of his bucket into the empty pool before pushing off with his legs and running back to refill the bucket. He's got a grin plastered on his face as he rushes back, his wet shirt sticking to his chest. As he passes Naelyn, he gives a whoop of excitement, his eyes sparkling.

Who even knows, Tarion takes off when everyone else does and the bounty hunter runs as fast as he can down the lane towards his bucket. He might be eying up the Gand for an opportunity to take a cheap shot, but this first run is clean and he grabs onto the handle, scooping water up, and dashing back. There's no shouts of joy, he's too focused on beating the Gand.

Gand is trying hard as he scoops up another bucket of water and gets ready to run back to dump it back into the pool. He is frequently glancing over his shoulder, likely looking to see where he stands in comparison to Tarion, trying to stay ahead of the longer legged human. There is a rhythmic wheezing coming from his breathing mask.

And so they are off, running and carrying buckets and the audience is again taking bets and putting money in buckets for different charitable causes as Naelyn moves along the edges of the contest, smiling softly to himself the androgynous being flicking his wrist and then two amazingly buff looking children dart forward to pull the pools a little further away than they were to start with, furthering the distance. An excited girl brushes past Rosh and points to the contest as she tries to get a better spot to watch it.

Navi watches the contest heating up, apparently impassably. Her full helmet hides a hint of a smile as she watches the three men push themselves to fill the pools that keep getting farther away with each pass. "No, I definitely couldn't do this," she decides, with a little nod. Overhearing Rosh, she smiles wryly. "Definitely sparkly."

Tarion shouts "Your bug legs suck!" at the Gand as he rips down the field towards the barrel of water, bucket in tow, still not totally sure why the course of destiny has brought him to this moment, but not really questioning it either. The bucket plunges into the barrel, comes up dripping, and splashes all over his feet as he runs pell-mell back to the kiddie pool, where presumably he'll be rewarded with... a major award? Hard to say. "Money," he whispers hopefully to himself, dumping the mostly-empty container out.

Gand curses his short legs as he runs, knees banging into the side of his bucket with every pounding step. He has a little bit of trouble getting the bucket into the barrel of water, spilling some as he pulls the heavy container free of the tall barrel. He loses a good deal more along the way back to the pool to dump his bucket, but he doesn't seem to notice. He is too busy yelling back at Tarion, "This one cannot hear you, sir! It is too busy winning!" despite the fact that he is losing.

Kriffing hell, these guys are super competitive... but at least they seemed to be more concerned with beating each other rather than Niko. He pumps his legs harder, switching the bucket to one hand and swinging his other arm in the attempt to get a little bit more speed. The bucket sloshes dangerously at his side, and by the time he gets to the pool, it's mostly empty. "Aw hell..." mutters Niko as he pivots and sprints back to refill his bucket. "Having fun, chaps?" he calls out gaily to the other two.

"Zibuhs," Rosh says, nodding to the girl who points him toward the...thing that's happening. Rosh wanders around for a moment before he finds his a seat, taking the time to flip the tails of his coat out before sitting down. He crosses his arms over his chest and begins watching the event.

"Well well well...it looks like they are all about the legs but look after that bucket boys." Naelyn drawls softly before giggling and swaying slightly as it proceeds.

The children pull the pools a bit further and the crowd is going wild.

Navi can only stifle laughter, and fail at that because her face is behind a full helmet, out of reach. Biting her lip only helps so much. "Oh, frell... I wish I'd brought a camera droid or something. They'll never believe this back on the ships."

"Well come on then Gand!" Tarion yells back, charging back down to the barrel and shoving his bucket in. "I'm hauling so much water over here the- the desert is gonna turn into- an- something with a lot of water!" Running too fast to think of better smack talk, he chucks the precious cargo into the pool and spins to head back for another.

Perhaps Gand doesn't really understand the rules of this particular game, because as he dumps his meager amount of water into his pool, he still turns around and tears after Tarion who is in the lead. Gand has spilled more water than he has put into his pool by this point, and likely has no chance of winning, but he just cannot take it easy and instead sprints as fast as he can with his bucket, knees bang, bang, banging against the side of the metal container as he runs. He barks out a burst of laughter at Tarion's taunt, retorting with a solid, "This one is hauling so much water the fishes are going to be mad at this Gand!"

As Niko races back to the barrel, he plunges the bucket into the water, filling it up, and then hauling it back to race back to the pool, spilling the water again. Between Niko and Gand's attempt to turn the Circus floor into a slip and slide, Niko's feet can barely gain traction as he surges forward again, trying to stay upright. "Hey... Less talking... more water..." Niko manages to pant out as he almost crashes into the pool, throwing the meager remnants of his bucket's contents before groaning again and half-sliding, half slipping his way back to the barrel.

"I do not understand this contest," remarks Rosh, watching the trio run to and fro with the water. "Ei, I go get something to eat," he adds, standing up from his seat and wandering toward the door.

A glance over to Rosh, Naelyn offers a small bow to Navi before moving towards the individual...offering a hand and looking him over slowly with a small smile. "Come, I will take you to a better place to see honey...aren't you a handsome one." His voice is soft and lilting, his Basic is accented adding that purr to his rr and ss sonds.

Another look over to the contestants and he raises his voice. "We are almost there...come now, the children played this game earlier with little of no difficulty."

"Well... the objective is to carry water from the barrel to the pool and fill it to the line. Trick seems to be getting the water between them without spilling it," Navi tries to explain, but the Ubese is already moving away. Shrugging, she turns her attention back to the competition, biting her lip harder than before. "If those two survive this one, it'll be a little miracle," she murmurs, watching Niko and Gand spilling and slipping and micrometers away from sliding across the floor to boot.

Tarion is doing a great job, really great, and seems to grasp the point of the exercise a little better than the luckless idiots running along beside him. However, they've collectively slopped so much water on the ground that he faceplants into the mud, a look which is not unfamiliar for him. "You might as quit while you're ahead," he gasps, crawling the rest of the way with his bucket somehow held upright to tip it into the pool.

The Gand is running as fast as he can, which is likely the culprit responsible for his rapidly spilling water. His front is soaked through, clothes shimmering with the wetness as he runs. Most of his water is gone and as Tarion faceplants, it is an inconvenient time for Gand to attempt a new strategy. His bucket shifts out into his right hand, the side closest to the downed Tarion. As he runs past, his bouncing bucket clangs off of the back of Tarion's head, spilling the complete contents of his water on the ground right in front of him. "Look at what you did!" the Gand says in a horrified voice, turning to hustle back for more water.

"Zibuhs," Rosh says as a form of thanks as he dips his head to Naelyn. "But am hungry." With that, the Ubese walks out the door on a mission to snag a snack.

Well, the Gand and the Niko manage to stay on their feet at least, Tarions slip and fall getting a collectve 'ooo' and then a cheer as he STILL GETS WATER in his pool.

Naelyn bows to Rosh as he departs and looks back to Navi and then the game. "Now this is geting even more interesting darling...."

"Enjoy your food," Navi calls after Rosh, watching the Ubese depart. Her eyes return to the game... or maybe scuffle is the more apt term, given the turn it's taking. Wincing as the bucket clangs off of the back of Tarion's head, she shakes her head at Naelyn's comment. "Maybe a little /too/ interesting?" she suggests softly.

Things just are not improving here for Tarion, despite his early success and persistence. The ground is getting worse, turning into a soupy mess, and the bounty hunter face-plants again, nearly chipping a tooth on his bucket. Water flies everywhere.

If Gand is one thing, it is consistent. He has not yet fallen down, but he has spilled water on every trip back to the pool. As he passes by Tarion, he calls out, "You are making it too easy on this one. It is like taking candy from a muddy baby for this Gand!" Splash a few more tablespoons of water in Gand's pool.

This is going...no where quickly and Naelyn approaches the muddy mess that is the contest and he stands juuuust out of mud range with a soft tsking sound. "We now, have to determine the winner via a different method. Competitors...please stand in your pools..." There are people approaching with hoses now.

Navi is shaking her head at the unexpected turn when she suddenly pauses, her head tilted to the left, then sighs softly. "No rest for the weary," she murmurs, waving to Naelyn just before striding out of the tent and into the downpour beyond it's bright lights, warmth, and laughter. And mud. Lots and lots of mud.

"I knew this was going to get sexual," Tarion announces, pulling himself up out of the mud and flopping into his kiddie pool before he clambers upright, in a dripping, muddy, sparkly tunic. "It's always the hoses with you, Naelyn! Some kinda... hose fetish! What the krif's the matter with you people?"

The Gand is wheezing quite a lot now, his ventilator working overtime as he drops his bucket to the ground with a clang. He bends forward, placing his hands on his knees as he tries to draw in sweet ammonia to his lungs. Once he is able, he walks through the slippery mud to step over the side of his pool and into the small amount of water that managed to actually make it inside.

"I'm here!" Jehni'va is panting, her boots slipping on the wet ground, as she searches for her glittery friend. "What." She meant Naelyn, but there's Tarion getting... Glittery? "Am I too late?" She asks, giving the contestants the side-eye in confusion - she's got her hair in a single, long plait down her back and is wearing her standard jumpsuit and boots, but who knows what athletic wrappings she has underneath there. No one knows, no one wants to find out. "Do I just?" She points at the mass of slipping, sliding idiots and steps that way. "Can I just -?" Is there a partition? She steps over it. Clambors over it, probably gets hung up and falls over it. Okay guys, Jehn is in this shit now.

While Tarion and Gand had been fighting for every... last... muddy... inch... in the bucket race, Niko had taken a turn for the worse, having slid directly into one of the stanchions on his way to the pool. Dazed for a second, he shakes his head to get rid of the stars and empties what remains in his bucket into the pool. And then they're told to get in their pools. Niko wipes his hand over his eyes to get rid of the hair that has flopped down in front. He leaves a muddy streak across his forehead. "Get into what now?" Eyeing the pool suspiciously, he clambers over the side and immediately falls in, splashing mightily.

"Master Tavers my dear...water will not make you melt." Naelyn purrs softly as he gestures to the attendants. "This is a test of constitution...in 5 seconds, people will be helping to clean you up but first you must handle the shower or endurance." He gestures towards ladders that are being pushed up beside the pools and the people with the hoses are climbing up the stairs to stand over each person like a shower head, holding the hoses up and over them.

"The person who can withstand the cold water the longest...will be the Prince or Princess of Physicality. Are you ready?" Naelyn gives a little shimmy. And then like that cold water is showering down on the contestants in the kiddie pools.

In the midst of the shower, which is "Kriffing icecubes!" as Tarion protests, the bounty hunter with his muddy sparkly clothes is swarmed by a bevy of tiny brats who seem to think he's some sort of god, offering credits out to him and chanting "Mud man! Mud Man! MUD MAN" like some sort of pagan paean of adoration. The hunter squirms and when the kids circle around him, throwing gifts in the form of small idols, sometimes called 'toys', at him, it's too much to handle. "I've had enough of this shit!" he shouts, which is very family-friendly, and shoves his way out of the pool, knocking over at least one of the kiddies in the process. "Krif this competition and your princess of physicality!" He points at Gand, the princess, and storms off into the sunset.\

Possibly the Gand really enjoys cold water showers... or perhaps his exoskeleton lends him some form of endurance to the frigid temperature of the water raining down on him.... or perhaps it is the fueled fire that stokes to a blaze at the thought of beating Tarion, whatever the reason Gand is not overly effected by the cold water. As Tarion leaps out of his pool and begins cursing, the Gand only hears terms of surrender. "This one won!" he calls out, hands lifting into the air and hips pumping to whatever music might be around... there is music right? "This Gand is the champion!"

"N-n-not...s-s-s-so f-f-f-fast... muh-my f-f-fine... exo-s-s-skeletoned f-f-friend..." Niko chatters through his teeth. Gritting them as the cold water pelts down from above, he stands in the torrential downpour, he holds his arms open and lifts his face, a beatific expression on his face. Shouting out an exultation of joy, he looks over at Naelyn and winks. "I-i-iss... t-t-that all you g-g-got, Ringm-m-master?" He is decidedly turning blue.

Perhaps for the first time since joining this org, Jehni'va is the clean one. "This looks fun!" She chatters, already loping that long, gangly body towards the pools everyone is getting into. She jumps right into the show and, luckily (unluckily?), is used to cold showers. "Bantha spit!" She squeaks, but it isn't nearly as bad as that time she was trapped in the ice caves, and there are far less glowing worms coming out of that hose. "S'THA-THAT ALL?!" She demands like a badass, high on the power of that roll, her teeth chattering as she clenches all her muscles, just like you're /not/ supposed to do. Is it cheating that she entered so late? Probably. Who cares, it's Jehn - chances are, she ain't winning anyway. "Hey, b-b-buddy, you ain't won y-yet - hey didn't you get shot?" She doesn't know Niko, nor is she shivering as badly as he is, but she vaguely recognizes Gand. The Gand. That guy.

You know... the cold? The bone-chatteringly, pin-prickly, numbingly painful cold? It's not so bad now. It's... it's kind of warm now in fact. Niko's muscles stop clenching quite so hard, and the room takes on a bit of a dreamy feel. Yeah, it's not so bad at all... Maybe... maybe he can really do it. Beat the Gand and... the... other person who just jumped into the pool. Niko yawns, and the room starts to tilt a bit. "J-j-jusss...j-jus... gonnna... c-c-close m-my eyes f-f-for a b-bit..." Niko manages to mumble before his eyes roll back in his head and he passes out, lips blue.

The Gand has stopped dancing, the cold finally starting to get to him through the rigid plates of his exoskeleton. Still, he stands there beneath the gout of freezing cold water. He seems to be falling deeper into himself, perhaps doing some sort of witchcraft meditation. His hands come forward to clasp together in front of his stomach and he closes his eyes, breathing in and out as he tries to be the one to make it to the end, to get whatever wonderful prize has to be waiting.

"Should we help him?" Jehn chatters, pointing at Niko and looking back up at the ice. "I'm... I'm gonna help him." She steps out of the hose!

Medics come out to help Niko, pulling him out of the water and start to get him warm and comfortable. This is space age science tech, no hyperthermia just warm blankets. When Jehni exists her pool to help with this…

Glitterand confetti rain down on the Gand instead of ya know, cold water and there are small children coming up with garlands and someone has a...it is a tiara made out of star shaped wooden beads, like a wreathe of sorts.

The Gand looks as though he is sorry that he did not think of helping the man himself, even lifting a foot to follow Jehni'va out of the pool. But then there is glitter and confetti raining down on him. His hands go once more up into the air, then he kneels down as the children rush out at him, reaching out to shake hands and to accept the tiara upon his head. "This is the best day of this Gand's life!" he calls out emotionally.

And with that...day one of the 'To the Stars Fun Meet' competition has come to a close. Gand named Gand has been dubbed the Lost Circus Prince of Physicality of the day, and gained permission to wear the wreathe of physicality as people start making sketches to get the t-shirts right. Some people run up to all the exhausted and wet competitors for autographs and to offer warm things to drink. So many blankets and warm clean clothing have been brought forward. It has been a good day.