Monthly Rogues Catchall: August Edition

[socialactivillain]

WHO: The Rogues + Others
WHERE: Heropa 20, and elsewhere
WHEN: The month of August
WHAT: Just rogues bein dudes. What's better than this?
WARNINGS: Puns.

(Open post for all roguenanigans.)

Comments

For Piper

[pyrogue]

[ Mick is trying to catch up on movies he's missed since the mid-2000s, but there's also quite a few that seem very specific to this world. He's trying one now.

"Russian to Love You" was a 2011 romantic dramedy where this handsome, rich bachelor turns out to be a Soviet spy, and had only spoken to the secretary with the spacious studio apartment in NYC in order to get closer to her boss, her charismatic but standoffish crush.

Can she convince the spy to defect with the power of love? Or will she choose her boss, who may be hiding a dangerous secret worthy of Soviet attention. Or will her sassy architect friend successfully convince her that neither one is good for her, girl.

Mick is currently watching a scene where the capable protagonist's hover car has stalled -- right outside the spy's luxurious apartment overlooking Central Park. He's very enthralled. ]

Oh hell, he's seen her.

sweet jesus

[socialactivillain]

[ Piper's been, unsurprisingly, considerably more interested in catching up on all the music he's missed since the late 90s than the film scene. But that doesn't mean Mick's movie doesn't catch his eye enough that he's stopped on his way through to the kitchen to watch a few scenes of it from the doorframe, without Mick noticing he's there. But hey, if Mick's going to have out loud commentary on the plot, Piper may as well chime in, too. ]

Why is she just sitting there? It's not like he would've known it was her car if she had just gotten out and walked away!

;D

[pyrogue]

[ So engrossed and unaware of Piper, he jumps when he speaks. He turns around a little. ]

What? Oh, I dunno, she's still trying to start it, maybe she hoped it would in time.

[ And now the spy is leaning against the frame of her car, jokingly accusing her of espionage. As she stutters a response, Mick groans and addresses the screen again. ]

No, play it cool, he doesn't know that you know.

THE HARDEST MEN IN TOWN

[socialactivillain]

[ Piper makes his way from the doorway to join Mick on the couch. May as well, at this point. ]

Oh, no, he's going to see right through this...

OTA yes even the shitheel punk next door.

[socialactivillain]

[ Following Piper and James' trip to a farm, the garage is full of rats. Enter at your own risk. ]

DID SOMEBODY SAY RATS

[princeofrats]

[ Mouse is crouched outside the garage, a couple of his regular rats perched on his bare shoulders. They look just as confused as he is. He's not 100% sure why Piper invited him over here, but what the heck, the guy only lives a few blocks away, and he'd seemed excited about something. ]

So... what's in there? Did you get a new car, or a pony?

[socialactivillain]

No. Well, yes, the Jeep is new, and the pony mostly lives in the backyard, and anyway, I think he's a miniature horse. [ He pauses for a moment, considering. ] I'm not actually all that sure what the difference is, actually.


Anyway, no, it's much more your speed than any of that.

[ He hauls the garage door open and blinking out from the relative darkness are dozens and dozens of pairs of squinty little eyes. ]

[catchacold]

[Rats.

Of course. What next? God forbid they'd get something actually useful that wouldn't just shit all over the place, like a car or a bike. But no, here they are. The rats.

Leonard has the urge to count them, but gives up on that quickly to just raise an eyebrow to the Piper.]

At least they fit the theme.

[socialactivillain]

[ Piper, for his part, just looks long-suffering. Stop judging him, everyone!! ]

Look, I know, okay. They didn't have anywhere else to go.

For Heat Wave

[airshow]

[ It's a balmy August evening, and James is wandering the house, a forlorn look in his eyes and the tip of his tongue poking out of his mouth. He seems very distressed as he calls out in search of his colleague, his whining increasing in volume as he goes. ]

Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick. MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICK. MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICK.

[pyrogue]

[ Mick was in, of all places, the ball pit. It's quiet, okay. And sometimes a man just needs a little peace from all the animals to try to read a novel.

He thinks he could just ignore him at the first "Mick", and maybe finish the paragraph at the second one, but at the third he finally relents.

He opens the door to the former study and sticks his head out. ]

What?

[airshow]

There you are!

[ James makes it to the ball pit in three... well, let's call them prances, for lack of a better word. He looks distressed. It might even be a minor emergency. ]

You can heal burns, right?

[leftarm]

[Pidge just so happens to be riding on the back of her lion(shrunk down here to be more the size of a steed than the giant pilotable mech it was originally) when she comes upon Heropa 20. While she had no intention of doing anything but pass right by, she ends up stopping when she finds herself accosted by some distressed chickens who are making a lot of noise.

Apparently they were in the front yard under supervision of their owner, but the party in question is not paying attention.]

Oh, come on! Shouldn't you be running away from this thing? Flight instinct!

[airshow]

[ James, for his part, is napping in a lawn chair wearing hideous neon shorts, a mismatched unfortunate shirt, and glittery shutter shades. He jerks awake at the commotion, but does not look up at the sound of the chickens yelling, nor at the teenager yelling, because he is a Responsible Adult™. A dramatic sigh is all they get. ]

Hey, hey, I'm beauty sleeping over here! Voluuuume.

[leftarm]

Tell that to your birds! They're the ones who won't stop clucking at me!

[She's making "shoo" hand motions at them...but to no avail.

She could probably just tell her lion to run through them but she doesn't want to be that dramatic.]

[socialactivillain]

[ Piper isn't in the front yard, nor is he particularly interested in taking responsibility for the ruckus caused by James' trio of misbehaving chickens. No, he's inside the garage, minding his own business, until about several rats come running up his side to squeak about how there's a giant metal cat in the driveway.

Naturally, he has to see this for himself. He lifts the garage door up, rats skittering in a swarm all around his feet as he peers out at Pidge and her lion where they're being swarmed by chickens. ]


...Huh. That is a giant metal cat.

[leftarm]

Yeah. That's my lion. Your birds don't seem to like it.

[She looks over at the guy talking to her, and...that is a guy surrounded by rats.]

How many animals do you guys have?

[pyrogue]

[ Mick's puppy had started barking like crazy, so Mick had looked out the window to see what's wrong and that sure is a robot lion in their yard.

He slams open the living room window and leans out, hands on the sill. ]

What d'you think you're doing?!

[leftarm]

[Ah, and of course there's More.]

Upsetting your menagerie, apparently? On accident.

For Sara

[catchacold]

[Leonard isn't sure what to expect. Sara has given little indication about when in time she's from. Mostly he's been confused by her choosing to introduce herself to the network at large from a bathtub, but at least she seems to already be at a stage where they're comfortable with each other.

Whether she knows... He can't tell. So as he waits for her, he actually feels his nerves and when he opens the door it's before she can ring, just as he hears her steps.]

Sara.

[The door leads into a hallway, Leonard lives with roommates and their various pets. However, for the moment his focus is only on Sara.]

Been a while.

[canaria]

[She was multitasking with not a single fuck to give. As one does.

But now that she's here with her one bag of stuff, before she speaks in reply to him, she places it on the ground gently and just gives him A Look.]

What, no hug after that thing you did at home? [yes, he's not a hugging type, but look if any time is an exception, now is probably a good one.]

[catchacold]

[It's Sara. She could have been in the bath, reading, talking to the network and killing three assassins without looking up and he'd not be surprised. Slightly impressed and very entertained, both default modes around Sara.

But right now, anything default is far from his mind and he doesn't know what to say, which is a rarity for him. His mind is caught on after that thing you did, because that means she's been there. Means she's probably even been further.

He's not the hugging type and much less the one to start a hug, but given she'd initiated their kiss, he supposes he can't complain. Besides, there might be part of him that even wants to. It's her. It's circumstances. If any time is an exception...]

Needy.

[It's a dry comment to cover up all the emotions his face give away to someone who knows him like she does and to at least pretend to still be cool, but then he moves forward and pulls her into a hug. Properly, both arms around her, pulling her close and turning his head so his face is hidden in her hair.

He hasn't specified who's the needy one.]

Some time after witnessing Mick fingerbanging James' mouth

[socialactivillain]

[ Piper's wandering around the house somewhat aimlessly, Francisco in tow in his little ball. He's got an unexpected day off from work, and his usual volunteer haunts are staffed up plenty today, leaving him with little to do, and he's never been all that good at downtime.

So maybe he'll spend some time with his roommates. Only Len is god-knows-where, and Mick is at work, leaving him with only the option of bothering James, for once, instead of the other way around. Naturally, he finds James in the study/ball pit, reading some classic literature about homeless rabbits, and... "smoking" a bubble pipe.

Piper knocks on the door frame to make himself known, before lifting the chinchilla ball up and taking him out to let him run around among the plastic balls, and stepping into the pit himself. ]

And here we find the Trickster in his native habitat...

[airshow]

Recumbent in all of his splendor.

[ He leans back until just the bubble pipe is sticking up above the ball swarm. ]

To what, my good man, do I owe the pleasure?

[socialactivillain]

Boredom, mostly. My only appointment for this afternoon cancelled, so I have an unexpected day off, and figured I'd see what you were up to.

[ He fishes through the ball pit until he finds one of the beanbag chairs buried in the sea of rainbow plastic, and takes a seat. Meanwhile, Francisco is frolicking, the balls shifting around him, and his tail occasionally popping up like a shark fin. ]