[ prp] Liftbros (America & Shun)

[lizbot]

Passing by the door of a storage unit America inhaled the scent of rain, and touch of chill that meant another world was just beyond. That meant magic was real and hers. It'd been much, much too long away for her and the feeling of reconnecting to it put an e Tra bounce in her step as she moved toward the little UHaul truck Uncle Sampson had driven up for her and promptly abandoned for the titty bar several streets down, god bless his heart. She was probably better off without his help in unloading, all said. But it still left her with a fair bit of maneuvering all by herself. A lot of it was sturdy old furniture Prudie had left, stuff not meant to be movie easily.

Taym was at work, which was a shame cause certainly he'd help her and maybe even do some sort of reuniony hug, wouldn't that be a treat? She considered some other names on her phone list, figuring out who was most likely to be busy right now and who might be nearby anyway. When she got to one, though, she grinned and forgot all about that previously thoughtful reasoning. He'd probably be irritated no matter what, anyway.

blade kuroda

hey theres something Big happening at the storage place on the corner of 5th and parker get here asap

Afterall, the return of America Jones was a pretty big deal, right? When he arrived, Shun would find the girl leaning against a moving truck, expressions at turns offended and incredulous as a rather fat, angry bluejay twittered at her on what was undeniably a lecture.  

[Blade Kuroda]

Shun had been out for a run when his phone went off with a text. Bringing the device out, he went ahead and listened to it. It was from America, who had been out of town for awhile now.

Apparently she was back in Ashdown, and from the sounds of it, she might have been in trouble. The fact that it was a direct text, rather than trying to contact the Police in general hinted that maybe it was magical in nature. Not wanting to waste any time, he rushed off to his bike, threw on his helmet and jacket, then hurried on to the warehouse she had named.

When he arrived, he spotted her by a moving truck without much issue.

"America. I arrived as quickly as I could. What is the issue?" he asked, looking around, alert. He didn't spot anything out of the ordinary, but maybe it was something inside one of the buildings.

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[lizbot]

Waggling a finger at the bird with a low, "We're gonna talk about this later," America straightened up to beam at the approaching Shun, arms spreading wide just in case he decided to have the good taste and appreciation to hug America Jones after being long denied her wonderful company.

"Shun! I'm back! And I need help moving some of this furniture into storage, couldn't think of a better man for the job." There's a wiggle of fingers, her own hand sign for magic stuff. "Maybe some of the hot gossip too." She had the audacity to wink at him.

blade kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

Shun just. Stared. At America. Though her arms were outstretched, he did nothing to follow up with that. He was not a hugger, and he was still a little caught up over the fact that she had urged him over for the sake of helping her move her stuff.

"Wait," he finally said after awhile, "That is it? I thought you were in trouble."

He lightly frowned, folding his arms over his chest.

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[lizbot]

She let her arms drop but not her smile, still happy to see the detective well and whole. "Just a tiny trouble, the big thing is I'm back!" Jazz hands.

"Of I was in real bad trouble I'd definitely tell you, though. And be all specific, too." She nodded at him, trying to be reassuring on this point. "s**t gets too real here to vague text, right?"

A number of small boxes already sat in the open storage unit, but there was still the heavy furniture in the back of the UHaul. Gesturing to these she finally asked, "Could you help me move these, though? I figure the two of us is as good as four people. Please?"

Mr. Bitterberry made a chiding sound.

blade kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

Shun didn't seem to be too amused with this, but she did have a bit of a point. If something was actually wrong, he'd want as many details as possible up front so he knew what he was diving into.

"Alright. I am here anyway, so I might as well assist you," he stated flatly. His attention shifted over to the blue bird that had chirped, "I see your warg is... well fed."

Rolling his shoulders, he set his helmet down onto the seat of his motorcycle, then looked between the truck and the warehouse.

"Are we moving stuff in or off the truck?"

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[lizbot]

blade kuroda

she was beaming at the man. "Aw yeah! Thanks a bunch, Shun!" The bird, on the other hand, seemed unimpressed, especially when she turned to him and said, "He says you've gotten fat. That's what you get for gorging on cherries while I'm away."

Shun was shot an indignant bird scowl and the jay was flying up, onto the building roof to oversee the laborers and no longer have to listen to such insults.

"Moving them into storage, still gotta find a place to live, to be honest. Figured I best move things up here while I was away. Commit to the whole Ashdown resident thing, you know?" She starts them out with a large wooden desk, gleaming with care despite all the many knicks and scratches over the years. As warned, it was heavy.

"Anything happen whole I was gone? I thought I'd be able to keep watch with Mr. Bitterberry still here, but the magic cut out once I was aways from town."

blade kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

Shun paid little attention to the bird once it flew on off elsewhere for the time being. He just nodded once to America, eyeing the contents within the truck.

"Let us get the big s**t out of the way first, then," he stated, making his way on up and squeezing around to get behind one of the pieces of furniture.

"A few things happened, yes. Two incidents come to mind, but one is... considerably more serious than the other. Which would you like to hear about first?" he asked.

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[lizbot]

"Little then big," she paused, lifting her side with a quiet grunt, and the focusing her will toward lifting it as well. The magic took enough of the weight to let her continue more easily, "Let's build up to it."

blade kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

"Fine," he huffed as he took hold of the piece. As with America, he added some willpower to the effort, using a bit of magic to help steady and lighten the load with his mind. Once he had a good enough hold, he nodded to the young lady and started to move to carry it down the truck ramp.

"A few of us appeared outside of the Other Ashdown theater. Not sure what brought us there exactly, but there we were. Place was run by living mannequin figures known as the Faceless. Harmless, unless harm is done to them first. Theater showed some s**t had occurred in the past; namely some of the others finding Heliodora for the first time."

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[lizbot]

"Well dang," America whistled thoughtfully as she walked backward down the ramp and into the unit. "Sounds creepy as ********, but now I kinda want to visit it."

As they set the table in, she gave Shun a satisfied look. "Y'know, if we ever wanted extra work on the side, I bet we'd be ********' awesome movers." More seriously, she added, "No one got hurt, did they?"

blade kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

"I am fine just being a detective. I rather not have to deal with people more than I already do. And some people can be... touchy about how their belongings are handled."

Shun shook his head, then went on back to the spiel with OAD.

"A few of us, including myself, ended up with minor injuries. There had been a talking chipmunk caged below the theater. Despite my warnings, others went to free it. This chipmunk is known as the Destroyer. And it is an unpleasant little s**t that will ******** you up if it had the chance. We managed to contain it again."

No one ever expects the cute critters to turn into an eldritch monstrosity... except him apparently.

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[lizbot]

It was a good thing they weren't carrying anything at that moment. America tried to just nod along solemnly but sooner her dimple began to betray her, followed by the shaking of her shoulders. Wheezing quietly, America reached out to the unit's wall for support but it wasn't enough. Soon she was crouching, shaking and crying and finally laughing uncontrollably.

She tried to repeat the words 'Destroyer' and 'chipmunk' and '******** you up' but each attempt was disrupted by a wheezing, choking fit of laughter.

blade kuroda

 

[Blade Kuroda]

Shun folded his arms, watching America as she broke down into laughter.

"You may laugh, but that creature turns into something far more monstrous than a normal chipmunk. It took several of us to restrain it. Should that beast be released, do not underestimate it," he warned, narrowing his eyes.

With a huff, he went on back into the truck.

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[lizbot]

Shun's grim warning just made it worse, and he was followed by a howl of helpless laughter. It took a few minutes for the girl to finally get ahold of herself and get back into the truck to haul the next big piece, an old china cabinet, even heavier than the desk.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, sincere despite the tear streaks and giggle fits. "I'll be careful if I see anything like that, and I'm glad you're okay."

blade kuroda