[log] double meetup bonanza [closed]

[mrcreamsicles]

Characters: Davesprite, Karkat, and the Cat, plus Steph and then Ecks and Castiel
Location: Building 263, then building 254.
Date: Day 246, midday then evening.
Summary: A bird, a crab, and a cat play courier to a super hero and a quilt person. Also, an angel is there.
Warnings: Discussion of/allusion to anomaly murders.

263: A small office building. It's the sort that looks like it should attach to some larger facility, but whatever it might have connected to is long gone. It's two stories: the first contains a small lobby area, a waiting room, and an area for secretaries. Going upstairs reveals a small honeycomb of eerily empty cubicles. There are desks and chairs in each one, but nothing on any desk or placed on any of the cubicle walls. There's one small one-person office in the back that's similarly empty, and two public bathrooms that work, though the water runs cold. On the wall by the desk in the one-person office, a drawing that says "I love you, Daddy!" has been adhered with cat stickers. "ALPHONSE ELRIC, DAY TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY TWO. IF YOU NEED ANY ASSISTANCE, PLEASE CALL @LELRIC." has been written on a wall.

254: This skyscraper is half-ruined: the top of it has clearly collapsed. Still, it's large enough to work as a landmark, what's left seems stable enough, and the doors still work. Going inside reveals a fairly standard-looking lobby. The marble floors were probably pretty once, but are now dusty and cracked. Any signage indicating what this building was for is long-gone, and instead graffiti speaking of the prophet and eye symbols dot the walls.

The elevator shaft and the door to the stairs both open, but there's no elevator car, so it's best to take the stairs. Most of the doors here are ruined, crushed by rubble and debris and impassable, though there wouldn't be anything of use in crushed floors anyway. The top floor, however, is intact, and stepping in reveals what was probably once a floor for offices, though now everything is empty. There is a symbol of the prophet drawn in red paint on the floor by the door, and then a line that can be followed in one of three directions. Each one leads to one of the three skybridges in this building.

Comments

[mrcreamsicles]

#263

[Arriving here, Davesprite takes off to himself to explore the building. It's not an active avoidance, but Karkat's the one who has things to give to Steph, and he's never been in here before. There's always something a little eerie about places so big and empty, but it's much more tolerable than it could be. There's no blood, no cultist graffiti, and the most interesting thing he spots as he searches through is the doodle left stuck to the wall in the office.]

Probably someone's daughter with those cat stickers. Hardworking office dude, pushing papers all day long, goes on through each day for the love of his family. Got himself all promoted up to the solo office. Is he the business owner? Or some branch out of corporate whatever? Shit, was there a sign outside? Makes you wonder what this place was for. Maybe cheese imports, for all I know. But what have all those cubicles got to do with cheese?

[He drifts back out of the office to wade through them, mumbling to himself as he goes regardless of whether anyone's there to hear him.]

Maybe they gotta sort through the kinds. Can't have the Gruyère going where somebody wants the provolone. And god for-fuckin'-bid you mix up your blue cheese with your Romano. Bet you Bill down at the corner cubicle did that. Got himself chewed out in the office. Romano, Bill, what were you thinking? You gonna grate blue cheese over your pasta? Slap a little Roquefort on your spaghetti? I'm giving you one second chance, but another slip like that and you get a pink one.

[Sooner or later he drifts on down to one of the bathrooms to restock on water from the taps, but he keeps up the monologue still. He's moved onto debating the merits of American cheese and whether it's patriotic enough for the moniker.]

[If nothing else, it provides a good distraction from the number of deaths on the obituary.]

#254

[Where Karkat giving things to Steph was the point of their previous stop, this time Davesprite comes in with the book he means to hand over already in hand.]

Yo, Ecks? We're here! Got your book right here with me. You around here too, Castiel? I want to see what an angel looks like in person.

[Not like it's going to be much different than over the network, but hey, whatever. He hasn't chatted with him in a while.]

[He's dressed as ridiculously as ever, and he waves the book over his head until addressed.]

263

[spoileralert]

[ Steph, satisfied to wait for her rendezvous and chart her course from there, has set herself up at one of the desks near the entrance. More specifically, she has laid down on top of the desk on her back, her head all the way upside down over the side and her legs propped up on the wall. ]

What, have you moved on from eggs to cheese omelettes?

[mrcreamsicles]

Oh, what? No.

[He glances up and over, offers a wave, and drifts closer in range.]

I mean omelettes kinda count anyway, right, they're eggs. People keep asking me if I want the eggs to eat and it's like nah, not really, but even if I did, what would I do with them? Nobody's got a fire around here to cook with. No stoves left. I found some kind of pot and hauled it around for a while in case I figured out how to make a fire eventually, but I never did, so I just ditched it in a cupboard somewhere. When's the last time you had a hot meal, Steph? We got the burger place down in the entrance, but I'm pretty sure that's it.

[spoileralert]

[ Steph raises a hand, but it's too much work to figure out how to choreograph a proper wave from this angle. ]

I just mean, eggs and cheese. Omelette.

[ She makes a gesture with both arms that might be perceived as a shrug. ]

Can't remember. But I've got matches and some wood, so I could probably make an omelette work.

254

[ecks]

[Today has been a boring day, and Ecks thinks that if she had known how long they would have to wait she would have liked to explore more on the other side of the sky bridge before coming back. She's looking forward to seeing Davesprite again, though.

Whether because she remembered that he is creeped out by body parts or because she simply doesn't need it right now, her new leather cloak is tucked away in one of her bags where she left it upstairs. She peeks out from the staircase door at the sound of his voice, smiling broadly (if stiffly) as she emerges and comes toward him.]

Did you read the book?

[mrcreamsicles]

Ecks! There you are.

[He flashes her a grin in greeting, and floats on over to meet her halfway. The book he lowers to hand out to her properly.]

Nah, not more than a glance at a couple pages. The main character's got a different name than you and I'm guessing the details are different? But it's still about someone like you enough that I would have felt weird prying in any deeper.

[ecks]

If it is not me it is not prying. It is not like reading the book that is really about me.

[She reaches out to take it, starting to flip it open but remembering herself and glancing around the room. It doesn't do to get absorbed in something when there might be strangers about, no matter that Davesprite is a friend and seems unworried.]

254

[godsspeed]

I am here.

[ Castiel holds up a hand in a gesture of greeting something like a very stiff wave, but doesn't turn to look at Davesprite, being too preoccupied with the series of interlocking circles and triangles that he's started drawing on one of the walls with a block of gym chalk. ]

And truly seeing an angel would likely kill you. I don't recommend it.

[mrcreamsicles]

[Davesprite looks over, taking in the drawing Castiel is doing for a moment, then finds a spot to set his things down. Nearby, for now; he can find somewhere better later. He floats over.]

Sounds hardcore. Whatcha drawing, man?

[After Ecks, the stiff manner hardly phases him.]

254

[absentconstellation]

[ The Cat had a great deal of trouble resting these days. At any given moment he is most likely running around in a circle. He has the good manners not to yowl... at least until after bedtime, when it won't interrupt any private conversations.

He sleeps in small doses at a time, curling up in the most convenient surface. This may be a lap, and he certainly didn't ask permission before climbing into it.

When he isn't running, sleeping or yowling the Cat is sniffing everything, insistently trying to catch as many scents as he possibly can. ]

254

[ecks]

[Ecks remains frozen in place for several minutes after the Cat climbs into her lap, a real animal amidst her fake ones. Red Cat hardly looks like a cat at all next to him, and she doesn't know what to do with this development.

Slowly, ever so slowly, she rests a patchwork hand on his side.]

[absentconstellation]

[ He can tell she's freaked out, so he doesn't move much at first. He does purr though, and once she risks a touch he moves to rub his head against her arm. ]

[mrcreamsicles]

[Davesprite barely got any sleep at all last night. The Cat can't really be blamed, whether or not he did try to run around the tiny enclosure of the bus stop. Not with the memories recent events have put in his mind, and the simple discomfort of trying to sleep on one of the benches.]

[But this building is a little better. It's bigger and it feels less like being near the snow, and he's worn out enough from last night's poor sleep and meeting up with people that he's managed to drift off in the space he's taken for himself down in the lobby.]

[He jolts right the fuck back awake when he hears the yowl, and through the dim spots the dark shape of the Cat rushing past. With a heavy sigh he flops back down onto his throw pillow.]

Yo, Friskies, could you not? It's the middle of the night, I only just barely got to sleep, and me and sleep don't meet often to begin with around here.

[absentconstellation]

[ He comes to a sudden stop, bounces against a wall, sprints another couple of feet and then begins cleaning himself as though nothing happened at all. ]

My apologies.

[ He's gonna start it again as soon as you look the other way tho ]

here we go for anomaly chats

[mrcreamsicles]

[It is sometime earlier in the evening when Davesprite finds himself host to a sudden lap invader. He was poking at his tablet, but not at anything too important just yet, so he sets it down at his side.]

'Sup, Fancy Feast. How's things?

[absentconstellation]

They are well enough.

[ He takes some time to settle himself, letting one front leg stretch all the way out past the edge of Davesprite's lap. ]

What are you up to this evening?

[quadrangle]

#263

[Regardless of whether or not Stephanie is currently around, Karkat is dropping his goddamn potato sack full of rations to the floor the second he's inside, somehow resisting the urge to vengefully kick it as he does. Thank god he doesn't have to keep hauling this damn thing around even if it's entirely possible he'll have to do it again in the future. He has very few delusions about how useful he's likely to be in the new area, whatever conversations he's recently had. The last few days have been an enlightening review of all the reasons why Karkat usually opts for pessimism, so why the fuck not. The chances of experiencing brutal death are probably the same in both routes anyway.]

[He drops his bowling ball bag and backpack next, immediately crouching to unzip and dig through the latter for the actual presents he'd been intending to pass along. The stuffed penguin is unfortunately buried under his hermit crab, prompting him to glance around somewhat self-consciously before extracting both and hastily stuffing the crab back in (no one must know), but the book Deep Sea Monster Lawyers Pounding My Butt at least doesn't have similar obstructions.]

Hey, Steph? Get out here already and claim your... fuck, whatever you said his name was.

["Him" being the penguin. It is a very cute penguin, but like hell is Karkat going to remember what Steph had christened it after this long.]

#254

[Unlike Stephanie, who's someone he knows and actually sort of trusts, Ecks and Castiel are unknown variables, and Karkat fucks off immediately while Davesprite takes care of business, his shoulders tense. He's sure they aren't all that bad, but he's still mostly convinced that angels are just weird feathery demons if not convenient murder targets for idiots who can't pronounce vs and ws wwithout ovverdoing it and Ecks is. He's not actually sure. He knows she doesn't like Alfie, though, and that's enough to put him on edge.]

[He's content to explore up until lockdown, which is when he finally attempts to hunt down Davesprite again and probably chew him out for whatever he can think up at the time. He's approachable through nearly all of it but only just.]

[ecks]

[This building is not a particular favorite of Ecks's, but it is an easy enough building to patrol for intruders before and after lockdown and it is a nexus point for the sky bridges by which they will travel in the morning.

She's a little uneasy about the gray boy who keeps moving around, because she left her things upstairs and because she does not know him well. When she spots him going by once again she quietly falls in step behind him -- she's a very quiet thing when she wants to be, like a cat on the hunt, though there's not much space to stay out of sight if he's paying any attention at all to his surroundings. She doesn't have any reason or intention to hurt him, but that's probably not all that clear from her utterly blank facial expression.]

[quadrangle]

[He's been dealing with enough flashes of shit out of the corner of his eye that he doesn't think too much of it at first. Clearly if there were an actual person following, they would have announced themselves before now, right? So it's just his imagination and will continue being just his imagination until further notice because holy fuck he does not need this right now.]

[Karkat clings to this delusion for as long as as he conceivably can, growing twitchier and twitcher by the second, but he's impatient at the best of times and his already fragile self control has been tested so thoroughly as to be practically nonexistent. So, really, it's not very long at all before he whirls around to snap at his shadow, his frustration over the whole situation just barely enough to overcome his surprise at the fact that he sees someone at all.]

Will you knock that off?! I am trying to search this place!

[Sort of. Sort of trying. He was mostly prowling around aimlessly but shut up, his anger is totally justified probably.]

254

[mrcreamsicles]

[Karkat storming over his way looking worked up about something isn't that unusual on the scale of things, so when Davesprite sees him coming, he holds his hand up to wave.]

'Sup?

[He's been caught in the middle of his own exploring, picking through now after his other meetups for potential items of use. He hasn't found anything he wants yet.]

[quadrangle]

[The problem with wanting to pick a fight when you don't actually know what the fuck you're picking the fight over is that, when the moment comes, you're inevitably going to stand there like some slack-jawed idiot groping for something to say for entirely too long while any credibility you may have at one point trickles away into nothing. Guess what's happening to Karkat now.]

[His mouth opens and closes a few times, then firms as he grits his teeth.]

Your sunglasses make your head look tiny and I can't stand the way you dress. You clash with everything.

[??? Sure, let's go with that.]

[spoileralert]

His name is Samson!

[ Steph rolls off of her temporary desk-bed and comes over to hug the crap out of that penguin. ]

Thanks, Karkat.

[quadrangle]

[He rolls his eye indulgently, but he's smiling as he hands the penguin over.]

You're welcome. I brought you a shitty romance novel too, if you want it. The other ones I picked up are just as bad.

[Mostly, anyway.]

254

[godsspeed]

[ Castiel may not have the same flair for appearing unexpectedly here in Norfinbury as he did on his own Earth, but what he is good at is staying very still and very quiet. As such Karkat may be surprised to come across him standing statue-like in the shadows as he examines a particularly large and complex prophet eye. ]

Hello. [ His voice is rough and terse, and he doesn't look away from the informal mural even as he speaks. ] You're Karkat, then? The boy traveling with Davesprite.

[quadrangle]

[Between Ecks, this asshole, and his MN poisoning, it's a wonder Karkat hasn't had a premature heart attack today, that's all he's fucking saying. Or, to put it another way—]

Don't. Fucking. Do that!

[Guess who'd basically just leaped out of his skin? That's right, the unlucky gray asshole right over here. He hadn't fallen over or anything equally as embarrassing as that, which is a mercy, but he's looking awfully frazzled as he glares in Castiel's direction, one hand clutched tight over his chest. The ambiance afforded by the prophet eye doesn't help, exactly, but appearing seemingly out of the shadows? Why.]