[open]

[fource]

WHO: Quatre and you!
WHERE: around the Porter cities
WHEN: all throughout April
WHAT: doggo training, researching some weird and also some very normal things, and a catchall for assorted April threads
WARNINGS/NOTES: no warnings at the moment! feel free to bring in doppelgangers if you're feeling it, particularly for the first prompt, or picking a different timeline if you don't want something set during the event. Quatre's pesky empathy permissions are over here! hit me up on plurk at spoilers if you want to come up with a particular thread, or toss in a wildcard starter and we'll roll with it!

doggos in the park:
[Quatre has never been a therapy dog trainer before, but he's not going to look a gift job in the mouth. He can be found in various parks with one dog or another. Running through basic obedience training isn't that difficult (sit, stay, stay even when Quatre's wandering away, leave it, leave it even if it's a tasty treat that Quatre left in the middle of the sidewalk) so Quatre spends an awful lot of his time playing with the dogs, even if it's tossing increasingly odd things for them to fetch. Sticks and balls are fine, but really, why don't more people toss (totally pet-safe) fruit for the dogs to catch?

Because they eat the fruit. Oh well. Dogs deserve treats too.

Anyway, therapy dogs are going to need experience cheering people up, so they might as well get some practice during training. Luckily, Quatre can cheat a little, and seek out people in the park who might not be having the best day. Follow the negative emotions, then casually throw a toy close to them, or wander a little closer with a loose leash. (He can and does also send the dog to people who are already having a great day. No discrimination.) At least he's considerate; if he picks up a surge of fear as someone gets approached by an unexpected animal, he immediately pulls the dog back with an apologetic smile.]

nerds in the library:
[Quatre's been doing a lot of reading on a variety of subjects on his days off, based on how many books he's piled up on one of the desks at the Maurtia Falls library. The topics range from cutting-edge, highly dense textbooks on space exploration and technology; stacks of newspapers and history books, particularly those with a focus on imPorts; Greek mythology; geography atlases; coffee table landscape photography books; and simple cookbooks. He's buckled in with a thermos of tea and a stack of notebooks, but he keeps getting up to grab more books from various shelves. The one thing he consistently doesn't head for is the computer terminals.

He's trying to stay out of the way and not take up too much room, but the library can get crowded, especially when the books start spilling over into other people's table space. Of course, the crowds help when he finds himself with the not-infrequent problem of staring up at a book that he wants that's just not in reach of even the most motivated undersized, 5'1 teenagers. With no stools or ladders in sight, he settles for smiling apologetically at the nearest person--] Sorry, do you have a moment? [--or, if no one presents themselves right away, cautiously stepping up onto the bottom shelf to try to tug the right book down. Hopefully he doesn't knock any other ones loose while he's at it.]

teen boys in the grocery store:
[Quatre has a grocery basket full of nothing but canned soups and sandwich fixings, because strangely growing up with a houseful of servants and an enormous amount of money means never learning how to cook properly. It also means that he hovers around the demonstration section in the back of the grocery store, watching intently like he's going to learn if he watches an employee slap some slices of cheese on some crackers. At least he's polite when he takes the sample?

He's going to give it a good try today, though. He can be found reading the recipes on the back of various pasta boxes with intense focus, comparing the listed ingredients with the adventurous new ingredients that made their way into his basket. He can totally do this. He's built weapons based on decade-old schematics left lying around on his harddrive. Quatre Raberba Winner can cook some pasta.]

Comments

HEROPA 12 TOPLEVEL

[fource]

For various roommate needs.

the cooking disaster

[fource]

[Quatre Raberba Winner cannot cook some pasta.

It's the first time he's been back to the home in Heropa in a few days; he often doesn't bother, thanks to the Porter technology and a friend's house closer to his workplace. He left it like he always does: his room neat but unrevealing aside from the closet full of professional button-downs and nice slacks, a stack of organized newspapers in the study, and a kitchen full of nonperishable, easy-to-cook meals that only involve heating it up until it's warm through. He's focused enough on his current mission to ignore any immediate signs that there are other people in the house, heading straight for the kitchen to try to change that.

Apparently even if he follows the directions on the pasta box to the letter, things can go wrong. The water overboils and hisses once it hits the gas in the stove. He can't cut things as fast as the recipe thinks he can. He needs multiple pans. It's impressive just how much noise he manages to make just by heating up some name brand sauce, tossing in a few chopped vegetables, and pouring it over some noodles boiled in water.

So of course he realizes that he's not the only one in the house anymore now, when there's a mess of ingredients spread all over the kitchen and he's debating tossing the overcooked pasta or just powering through it and hoping for better next time. At least he lifts his head up as soon as he feels someone approaching.]

Ah-- hello.

[recommendations]

H-hello...

[ Momo stands halted in the doorway to the kitchen, holding two somewhat full shopping bags. She'd known that there was another resident of number 12, but had yet to actually see someone else in the house. This isn't exactly the meeting she'd been expecting. ]

Ah... [ She finally snaps to attention, putting aside the messy and chaotic state of the kitchen, and rushing to bow slightly in greeting. ] It's nice to meet you! My name is Yaoyorozu Momo, I just arrived this week.

[fource]

[Oh no. He zeroes in on the shopping bags in her hands, then the absolute mess around him. She probably knows how to use this kitchen. He realizes as she's bowing that the stovetop is still on. He quickly reaches over to turn it off as he responds.]

Yes-- nice to meet you! I'm Quatre Raberba Winner, I've been here for about a month. I-- I can clean up after myself if you wanted to cook something. I'm sorry.

the resident female

[recommendations]

[ Momo isn't used to living in such a small space, let alone sharing it with so many other people... She does her best to keep her meager belongings contained, however the shared bathroom does become somewhat cluttered with makeup and hair products rather quickly. Momo herself can be found in her bedroom, hanging some art on the walls to make it feel more like home; in the study, filling the bookcase with encyclopedias she's recently purchased or doing homework; or in the backyard, where she's set up a training dummy and is practicing her bōjutsu. ]

[explosivo]

[ so, living in a house with bakugou. just about the worst possible scenario for anybody to ever get into with him--almost, anyway. there might just be only one scene which could be worse and it would be being roomies with him.

as it is, he is quite antisocial and therefore would rather not even interact or talk with housemates for most of the time, even deku. anyway, a few things that might happen with him around:

a) he goes to sleep stupidly early (like, 8 pm early). he wakes up and then yells while brushing his teeth, screaming things like DIE GERMS FUCKING DIE or something completely ridiculous. or maybe he'd be in the living spaces ANGRILY CLEANING because he's actually a hard-ass about cleanliness, or ANGRILY COOKING because he's a decent cook but hell if he would willingly make things for others out of the goodness of his heart... maybe he would if he's bored.

b) he tends to enter rooms by KICKING THE DOOR OPEN as obnoxiously and rudely as possible so you'd better hope you're not on the other side or the door might just slam into you with no warning and then bakugou will be there, glancing down at you boredly or worse yet, with a slightly shit-eating grin because he is just such an asshole.

c), he works in a costume store. for some... reason. how did this happen??? one day he returns with a horse mask, looking completely bewildered as he just stares at it, it might be extra stock and they were about to throw it away and one of the other employees stuck it in his bag or something. he'll probably punch him in the face later, but for now-- ]

Who actually buys things like this? [ ... he genuinely doesn't understand. WHAT IS THIS. ]

[fource]

[Quatre thought that he'd done a pretty good job of adjusting to peacetime, all things considered. Sure, there was that incident with the missiles that convinced him not to get too comfortable, but he took it for granted that most days in this world, he could expect to not end up in a battlefield.

Then he got a roommate who screams while brushing his teeth and all bets are off.

This isn't the first time he's woken up to someone screaming. It's not even the first time that he's woken up to someone screaming DIE FUCKING DIE. So when it happens again, Quatre's instantly on his feet and shouldering through the bathroom door open before even thinking about it.]

What is it? [he pants, out of breath and authoritative all at once. He's clutching his phone and a pair of brown flight goggles together in his left hand. He is expecting signs of a battlefield. He's not expecting one of the new housemates with toothpaste in his mouth.]

[explosivo]

[ yes this might be what quatre has to deal with now, he opens the door to find not some horrible battle... except for the one bakugou is battling against plaque.

anyway his new housemate is there, wearing sweats and some edgy black tank top with a skull on it, he stares at quatre, momentarily caught off guard for a second. probably seen him around but maybe just flipped him the bird and then retreated to his own room, because he's a jerk.

he narrows his eyes and then spits out a mouthful of toothpaste into the sink, grinning shittily at quatre. ]

The hell do you think you're doing, jackass? [ busting into the restroom like this. like he hadn't just been yelling profanities just now. ]

b! let's make it a disastrous first reunion pre-network thread y/n

[nextsymbol]

[YEAH SOMEBODY WAS BEHIND THAT DOOR TYVM!!!

that someone is now on the floor and will probably have a bruise on his shoulder later, smh.]

Kacchan!!

[why are you like this]

[explosivo]

[ how else is he supposed to be? nice???

for what it's worth he does actually seem surprised to find deku there, as if he'd expected deku to magically know when the hell bakugou is going to enter the room. and then he just grins shittily. ]

Oi, Deku.

What are you doing here? [ besides BEING IN THE WAY of him opening doors. god.

living together is going to be wild. ]

DOGGOS

[halloflamer]

Hey newbie, dogs aren't exactly big berry-eaters!

[Luckily, Quatre's got a great veteran trainer here to help him out! Blue had been surprised to hear that his job had picked up another imPort to fill a spot (sheesh, and here after he'd tried to get Red a job there!), but at least the kid seemed pretty nice... If a little dweeby.]

[But he's Blue's senior, both in age and experience, and Blue's not gonna let him forget it. He stoops over to pick up the pineapple that Quatre's puppy is sniffing at in confusion, wriggling it over Quatre's head.] I've tried! They're not really interested, even when it's a Pinap berry. Or maybe he just doesn't like sour fruit, ha!

Try this instead! [Blue reaches into his backpack, pulling out a cookie-like treat unlike the ones the job provided to them.] It's called a Poffin, we trainers make them for our Pokémon.

[fource]

[Quatre's not sure why his coworker is... dangling the pineapple over his head, or what a Pinap berry is, but he's willing to take his advice nonetheless.]

Ah, maybe that's it. [He smiles fondly at the puppy, because surely those dogs liked playing with that pineapple when Heero threw it. He looks up to take the weird cookie, turning it between his hands as the puppy starts sniffing up at it instead.] Thank you. Your Pokemon are the animals from your world, right?

[halloflamer]

Yeah, like Eevee here! [He gestures to the small, vulpine-like creature that's herding the puppies around when they try to wander too far off (more like bullying them at times... but he means well, right?).] Well, they're way better than animals, if I'm honest. But animals are okay too, I guess.

[He points to the Poffin that Quatre's taken. Pulled apart, it's filled with a jam-like paste, a spicy-savory smell wafting from it.] We usually make them with berries, because that's what Pokémon like. But I started to make ones for the dogs here that got spicy berries and meat, since they seem to like that way more. Usually we don't really use meat at all.

Apollo and Quatre Take Manhattan

[fource]

[Before coming to this world, Quatre hadn't spent much time in cities on Earth, and never as a tourist. He's come prepared with a single backpack with some clothes in it, a list that Duo gave him of places that he liked from the City so he could see if they exist in this universe, a random hotel room that he booked sight unseen over the phone, and a travel buddy.

New York is certainly the biggest city that he's seen, and as densely populated as the cities crammed inside the space colonies. It's exciting to see such tall buildings lying flat against the ground instead of curving up and over his head. He stops as they leave the train station to look up, smiling to himself even though he's standing right in everyone's way.]

Wow. It's bigger than I was expecting.

[lesterzeppelin]

[ Compared to the last time he was in Manhattan, Lester feels infinitely more well-equipped. He (and Will) had packed a duffel bag with clothes, toiletries, a general guidebook to this world's Manhattan, an extra portable phone charger, and the train tickets necessary to get there and back. Oh, and a basic camera, just in case his travel buddy feels like grabbing all the selfies in the world. ]

It certainly is, [ Lester teases, gently pulling him to the side so they can avoid the wrath of the disinterested commuters. He remembers them from last time - and well, he'd take a monster or ten over a commuter. Those guys in suits had places to be, and they did NOT take kindly to teenagers! ]

So, we should probably find our hotel first and settle in before we head out... [ Or at the very least, dump their luggage with the concierge (at Will's suggestion). Lester glances down at his phone, ] Where do you wanna hit first? I think we're closest to Hell's Kitchen and Times Square from here...

[fource]

[He winces once Lester tugs him out of the way, tossing a brief but sincere] I'm sorry! [at the commuters, even though they're already moving on with their lives. His experience with most men in business suits has always involved a lot of them trying to butter him up, but things are a little different when he's not here as the head of one of the biggest industrial empires in the Earth Sphere.]

I don't mind carrying my bag if you don't. [Ah, but Lester's looks a little more unwieldy-- Quatre did pack with the assumption that he'd be hauling it around all the time, because it's how he's used to traveling.] But we could drop it off and then look around. I don't think any of the places my friend told me to visit are nearby... [He'd kept it vague, 'a friend,' no mention of the City, and Duo didn't even tell him what to expect at some of these locations-- the parks are easy enough to figure out, as is "bodega with good BLTs," but some are just cross streets with no further commentary.] Times Square is supposed to have a lot to see, right?

Library

[ghoulking]

[ if there is something Kaneki loves are libraries. He adores books and reads all sort of subjects he comes across with and this time around he is learning about baseball, so he is caring several books around the library, while he tries to find a different theme to join in with the rest of the books.

He is surveying through old recipe books when he hears Quatre's request for help, turning back to look at him - he recognizes the other from the network and naturally he smiles ]

yes, of course. How can I help you?

[fource]

[Quatre smiles back, though his is more apologetic.] Well, I was looking for cookbooks, and that one seemed interesting.

[He points to the one he’s talking about. It’s on a shelf that’s definitely out of Quatre’s reach; it might just be in Kaneki’s. Based on the title, it’s a book for adult beginners.]

...Sorry. Kaneki, right? I don’t mean to ask for a favor our first time meeting in person, but I don’t think they’d appreciate it if I climbed the shelf. [He says it good-naturedly, but it’s not really a joke—he’d climb the shelf if no one else was around to see.]

[ghoulking]

[ kaneki nods when Quatre says his name ] It's quite alright, please don't worry.

[ he isn't, in fact, very tall - most men his age would be taller than him - but kaneki has little problems reaching up high. He doesn't need to jump either, and instead he decides to pull out one of his four red tentacles, which will reach for the requested book and carefully pull it out of the shelf.

The tentacle hands the book back to Quatre after ]

here we go. Learning how to cook on your own?

Nonah doggos!

[stretchy_girl]

[Gemini's sitting on a park bench in Nonah by herself, dressed in woolly hat and coat even though the weather's starting to warm. The Spring sun is warm on her cheek, life is good and she's feeling happy and relaxed, her mood further improving as she spots the dog trotting toward her.

Unfortunately dogs tend not to like her very much as a biting incident with Bodhi Rook's dog Ace had shown. Maybe it's because to dogs people should smell like people and not like organic rubber which is what riles them, knowing that she isn't what she appears to be.

But Gemini is oblivious to that line of thinking, and as a dog approaches her she smiles widely at the approaching ball of cuteness and fluff and coos.]

Hello, aren't you lovely doggie!

[fource]

[Quatre is about to pat himself on the back for successfully cheering up another person with a visit from a good pupper. He lets the leash go a little loose so the dog can wander over to her organically, except the dog stops in his tracks before he gets too close to Gemini. He sniffs the air in front of him before letting out a yip and retreating back to Quatre.]

What's wrong, George? [Someone named this dog George. Quatre assumes the dog is just being shy at an inopportune moment; well, this is probably good practice for his future life as an official therapy dog.] You can go say hello.

[He makes a few shooing motions towards Gemini. George does not seem particularly into it. After a moment, Quatre straightens up with a little frown.] Hmm. Maybe he's tired.

[stretchy_girl]

[Gemini's smile hitches at George's reaction, slowly making the change from really happy to being quite hurt.]

Hi George! It's ok, I won't hurt you. [She tells the adorable puppy, trying to encourage him forward for some snuggles, but no he's not having it apparently.]

Maybe. This happened to me recently with another dog, I don't think they like me very much. [She sounds infinitely sad about this, letting out a sigh as she looks up at Quatre.]

I guess it's just something I'll have to get used to.

DOGGOS IN DE CHIMA pre-doppelgangers if that's all right?

[dreamkid]

[ Matthew spends most of his time at the Meadows, the magical farm where he lives, often happily chasing his own dog through the fields. Today however, Max the pitbull is at home and Matthew is in the city, where a series of harmless distractions have brought him now to the park, where he sits in the grass and finishes up a burrito he bought from a food truck.

Currently distracting him are the dogs, and he watches them with great happiness. The other boy throws another piece of fruit for one of them to catch and it comes closer to Matthew than before, causing him to laugh with delight. ]

Good one! Perfect! [ he calls encouragingly, to the dog. ]

yyyy

[fource]

[The dog is a collie almost out of her puppy years, though her paws are still a little too big and she's easily distracted. She makes sure to eat the fruit first, but she hears the word 'good,' looks up in excitement, and immediately starts sniffing at Matthew's burrito.]

--Sprinkles! [Quatre calls disapprovingly; she's distracted enough by her name that he has time to jog up to prevent her from snarfing down someone's lunch. There's another dog trailing after Quatre, a spaniel who is more excited about sniffing in the dirt than any of the food around.] I'm sorry, she's still learning. That's not for you. [he says firmly, crouching down to chide the dog to her face.]

[dreamkid]

[ Matthew absolutely does not have a firm enough hand for this situation; he lifts his burrito into the air out of the puppy's reach but he can't help laughing even more at her attempts to get to it. As far as he's concerned, the apology is unnecessary; sometimes dogs just get excited! Especially baby ones, and she's still a bit of a baby.

So his first instinct isn't to say "no worries" or "I don't mind!" No, his immediate response, characterized by joyful awe: ]

Her name is Sprinkles? That's so cute.

[ He does at least try to tuck the remainder of his burrito out of sight behind him, to remove the temptation and make Quatre's job a little easier. ]