tumble outta bed and stumble to the kitchen [closed]

[h2no]

WHO: some dudes
WHERE: a puzzle room and maurtia falls
WHEN: first half of jan
WHAT: Adventures Of Pirate And Friends
WARNINGS: none anticipated!



@ m

[puzzle rooms are pretty popular. they're one of those things that aren't the first thing you think of to go to, but they're nearly always a good shout.

today, archie and m are in one. it's a western themed one-- they were provided stetsons and whiskey on entrance, though archie also brought with him two pizzas. it's a long haul one, so best to be prepared!

they only have one clue to begin with: draw at noon

archie looks up at the big pained town hall clock on the wall, currently at 11am.]

Well. That's an obvious one.

@ lucina

[so this is going pretty horribly. it's just one guy, but he's clearly managed to hone the highly enhanced reflexes his newfound powers have given him-- he's proving to be quite the opponent.

archie's trying to avoid using his pokémon... trying to learn how to function in their duties without them. it's going alright, despite the trouble they're having.

right up until lucina gets punched hard enough to send her sailing through a nearby window.]

LUCINA! [he calls out, worried and enraged and setting a world record for breaking his own standards. archie throws a pokéball towards the smug looking metahuman, releasing... wailmer. right on top of him. the big whale slams down on him and archie recalls her as he runs past, content to let him lay there in pain for a while. he's hyperfocusing on finding lucina now, kicking the broken pieces of glass off the frame of the window and throwing himself in after her.]

@ darin

[archie hasn't really reached out to darin after his little outburst. he doesn't really... want to, because of course he's happy to talk through any kind of bad feeling unless it's his own. he lets it sit, not thinking about it. honestly, he's spent a lot of time either blackout drunk or in a depression hibernation. he didn't want to stop doing his job though, not when it gets him out. he definitely knows blue would be getting on his case for being a stupid bitch and not treating himself properly, so he shows up for patrol.

he has a bit of a better attitude at the very least, genuinely looking forward to getting out and about-- he doesn't even balk when he realised who he was going with. he just waits in the helix station hallway, ready to go. as usual, mightyena is out and sitting patiently next to him, tail sweeping along the ground in a wag when it sees darin approaching. archie's busy texting someone on his comm.]

Comments

[fauxmarth]

[woof.

well, welcome back to work full and proper, huh? that's probably the first heavy hit she's taken since the incident on the moon. it definitely knocks her out for a moment -- but not terribly long. thankfully, she had sense to duck her head between her arms and took most of the impact on her back and shoulders, and Darin's armor is sturdy enough for a bit of glass and a desk or whatever it is she bonked into.

(wall. it was a wall. it's dented. it's fine.)]

Uffh...whew-! [she gets to her feet, patting shards of glass off her cloak and checking her head for blood. no? good. time to turn around and get back to--

THWACK.]

[h2no]

[THWACK HERE COMES YOUR DUNCLE!!!!!!!!!!! archie yelps when he collides with her, rolling to the side to try and minimise the damage.]

Luc-- whu! [he stumbles a little, clearly somewhat panicked and scrabbles back over to her to help her up.] Are you alright?

[fauxmarth]

[she sees stars for a moment, fingers twitching, then gradually comes back to her senses. second, second heavy hit of the year...is she going to be counting these? she can only wonder how much of a count she can keep before her brain's addled.]

Ohh, uh--Archie? [she's already set upright before she realizes it's him. from there, she swings an arm around his shoulder so he can hoist her upright, steadying on her feet.]

Yes, yes, I'm just winded. I didn't expect that speed, otherwise I'd-- [wait. her eyes sharpen.]

The outlaw. Quick--before he gets away!

[h2no]

[he pulls her up, using his healing power on her as he does so. he's not sure if she's hurt or if he's just made it infinitely worse-- but. gotta do something. he exhales a breath when she answers lucidly.]

Yes--! Yes, of course. Him. [archie hurries over to the broken window and peers out. the impression where wailmer had landed on him is still there, but...

...no criminal. shit.] Uhh...

[fauxmarth]

Alberta?

[Lucina blinks a couple times just to make sure she didn't smack her head too hard, but, nope. Archie has his sweet baby wailmer chillin' out there on the street, bubbling contentedly because she's helping.

after a beat she snaps out of it.] ...Right. I'll take to the air if you cover the ground, and--huh-? [in making to head out the window, she steps on something that crunches differently than glass that for some reason gives her pause. she lifts her foot away -- blue paper? -- and plucks it up off the ground, letting it unfurl and dangle so it'll rid itself of glass dust.

she tilts her head at it to read some of the words crammed in there between city plans that have been scratched or circled or otherwise marked as targets.]

"Destabilize downtown"..."get ferry schedule"... [?? ? ?] "Call printer for Edgarisawesomeville signage?"

[h2no]

[alberta is so happy she managed to help, even if the guy managed to wriggle out from under her. she flaps her flippers a little as lucina looks out, cooing a happy hello to her long-haired blue friend.

archie moves to the window when lucina steps back to look at the blue paper, recalling wailmer back into the ball while he watches. he's about halfway outside of it when she reads out loud.]

What is it? [...] Print-- what?

[fauxmarth]

[baffled, she turns the paper so it dangles in Archie's view. before she can open her mouth, the plaster behind her -- the wall she smacked into moments prior -- begins to creak, crack, and crumble.

with a start, she whirls back around, eyes big. once she realizes there's no real threat, she exhales, but...]

...What?

[she puts the paper down on the ground and steps over, giving the hole a wary glance before poking her head in.

is this...?]

An...armory...?

[h2no]

[he squints at it, taking it out her hand when she whips around and ascertains there's nothing there. archie's looking it over, expression just as baffled-- he abandons it to follow lucina, stopping just behind her. what on earth...]

Armoury? [archie puts a hand on some of the plaster, wrenching it free so he can get in easier. it's small but... well stocked. worryingly so.] Where's the lights--

[he fumbles around on the non-plaster wall next to where they're standing and-- ah. a switch! on it goes and... wow.]

I... don't know what to make of this.

[fauxmarth]

[before she can reply, a stranger's voice cuts in, high and shrieking:

MY SECRET LAIR!!!!!!!!


upon turning toward the sound, the fearless duo behold a suit-clad man clutching his face in horror, glasses falling off the bridge of his nose.

Lucina blinks.]

Secret...lair...?

[suddenly, the man picks up the briefcase at his feet, and from it...a grenade. he pulls the pin and tosses.]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[Darin, on the other hand, had been wanting to contact Archie ever since their dispute. Unfortunately, as good as Darin can be with his words, he just couldn't find the combination necessary to cheer Archie up. Moreso, he's felt like an absolute heel. He admitted to Archie that he was being selfish, that he was happy that Archie had come here and they had met each other.]

[He was wrong to be selfish, in the end.]

[He'd been so preoccupied at work that he didn't realize today was his scheduled patrol day until it was almost too late. After checking in at Helix, he hurries to meet his patrol partner....who just happens to be Archie. He slows to a stop when he realizes this and, kicking himself for not being better prepared, waves an awkward greeting to Archie. He does kneel to give Mightyena a proper head pet and tummy scratch though.]

...Hey. Guess we're paired up today.

[h2no]

[mightyena accepts the pats gratefully and archie glances over as darin speaks up-- he doesn't look upset or disinterested. just... how he would normally. it's probably for the best he has enough self-respect to not show up to work still drunk from the night before.]

Sure are. [he offers darin a light grin, like he's looking forward to it. which... okay, he's not dreading this, he just wants to move past it. pretend like he wasn't hurt and lashing out and repeating mistakes he never seems to be able to not make or grow beyond. it's fine!] Not to jinx it, but it's been pretty quiet the last few times I was out.

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Yeah, it'd be nice to just get this patrol over with without any problems.

[He stands up and stretches.]

Let's get a move on then.

[He really wishes he'd used a better phrase than 'get this over with.' It made him sound like he wasn't glad to see Archie in some better spirits but...to be honest, he couldn't help but wonder if Archie really remembered what he said. Maybe it wasn't a big deal to him. Either way, he slips his hands into his pockets and heads out on patrol.]

[h2no]

[the turn of phrase is different from what darin usually uses, so that's a bit of a surprise, but it doesn't hurt. archie knows that he hasn't ruined this relationship entirely, it's just a bump. he doesn't think so little of their relationship that he thinks this will never go away, even if he is trying to avoid it.]

'Least we ain't havin' to go to Jeopardy, [he comments idly as he follows. mightyena runs ahead, but eventually slows down to a trot next to archie.] That place freaks me out.

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Tell me about it. Never been a fan of spiders to begin with. On my world, some spiders get to be as big as a truck. The worst part about it is that you don't realize it because they're so small, but they make sounds. Just...awful, chittering, clacking sounds. Used to hear 'em in this one forest I had to trek through when I was on the run.

[A reflexive shudder runs down his spine.]

I'll take dysfunctional Maurtia Falls over Jeopardy any day.

[h2no]

[that makes him bark a laugh, but not cruelly.]

None of the ones back home get any bigger than you, and their pre-evoled forms could usually fit in your hand. They're alright. Galvantulas are fuckin' creepy, though. You get slapped by some electro-web from them and then you're kinda over basically anything else that could happen that week. It can only go up from there.

[it's clear how he's talking he's been in that situation a few times.]

Same. I can adapt to change, but Jeopardy was too much.

[he'll be pulling back from patrol soon, though. it's nearly the one year anniversary of... yeah. don't want to think about that.]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Electro-web? Sounds like something I'd try and develop. Maybe I'll add it to the list. I could always use a test subject.

[For the most part, things are quiet. Darin's been patrolling enough now that he doesn't mind the looks when people spot and recognize him. He even waves to a few who wave at him, offering a smile and a nod.]

Something's gonna happen there. I feel it. Call it intuition or paranoia, but I've got a feeling I'm gonna find myself there one way or another.

[h2no]

Sure, but if you want to start electrocuting me, you're gonna have to start payin' me.

[he watches them wave at darin, a little mystified, but no longer feeling the need to duck away and hide like he had a year ago. how time flies!]

Yeah, I think it's gonna be relevant for just about every imPort here. That's just how shit ends up around here.

[heliophilic]

[It's a silly thing to do, in the scheme of things, but if there's something both of them sorely need right now, it's silly. M glances around the first room before his eyes finally fall on the clock.]

Sure, but draw with what?

[The computer brain could tell him, but where would the fun in that be? He decides to do it the old fashioned way--looking.]

[h2no]

[archie grabs a slice of pizza and eats half of it in one bite. monch. he looks around.]

They didn't have pens back in cowboy times, did they? [in the wild, wild west.] Maybe there's a quill pen somewhere?

[the clock is a view from their set up-- they're in "jail". there's a few plastic bars (and tumbleweeds) around and what looks like the warden's room. the door is locked, but if m peers through the gap, he'll see there is indeed a desk in there.]

Or maybe we have to pull the wall off... [archie's already thinking sideways. bye!]

[heliophilic]

Something tells me that will get us kicked out. They tend to frown on destruction of property.

[He drops to his hands and knees to look under the cot of their jail cell, looking to see if anything had been taped under it. He finds a key, but trying it in the lock doesn't do anything.]

Of course it's not that easy.

[Pocketing the key for later (because there must be a later), he resumes looking for anything else out of the ordinary)]

[h2no]

Speed run! Get out as quickly as possible by breaking stuff!

[he laughs, peering over at the key m uncovers, then looks back.]

I've a feeling we are actually meant to dismantle that cot, though. [he puts his hands on it, shaking it slightly. it certainly sounds... frail.] Use the bars as grabbers, eh?

[heliophilic]

[M chuckles and shakes his head.]

Let's pretend we're normal for a while. It'll be a testament to our acting skills.

[He turns his attention to the cot, and runs his hands down the side of it.]

There's a small combination lock over here by the pillow. We need to figure out the combination to get the cot open.

[h2no]

Okay. Yes. Nine to five jobs and paying taxes. I'm in the zone.

[he is not in the zone.]

Really? Try the clock time. One one zero zero. Though that sounds... way too easy.

[heliophilic]

[Okay maybe not that normal.]

Gotta start somewhere.

[M tries the combination--and the cot falls off the wall. It also opens up to reveal that there's a small locked safe inside, as well as a laminated map with some strange symbols and a wanted poster for a "Hence Westle Haigwood". Where the bottom is is some sort of code.]

Easy would be the correct answer, apparently.

[h2no]

Wow. I paid sixty dollars for this.

[he takes another slice of pizza and monches on it disapprovingly.]

Maybe the obvious wasn't for the clock... [he shifts, looking over at the laminated map. he can see where they are on it-- is this some kind of prospector buried treasure thing?] ...I swear if we're gonna have to wrestle a staff member playin' pretend.

[archie shakes his head and snorts, holding his free un-pizza'd hand out for the wanted poster.]

That one has to link to the warden office.