Cleaning, Always and eternally Cleaning
Liamh finds Newt in the arcade and the two have a chat
Liamh strolled through the familiar doorway of the Arcade room, whistling sort of raggedly. He was just re-learning how to make a proper whistle, since part of his face was long gone, and it wasn't going so well. Practice made perfect, though, didn't it? He glanced around. Looked like the place was deserted. Good. A chance to burn off some steam... He moved across the room, dodging the foosball table and making his way around the edge of the billiards table.
Not too far away, laying huddled up in a blue jumpered ball of frog was Newt, fast asleep beneath the rows of pinball machines. He was tucked back against the wall, not easily noticeable, which was probably why he had fallen asleep there to begin with. He would have been perfectly hidden, had he not forgotten he left the bottle of glass cleaner out in the middle of the isle, along with his dingy red rag and a roll of paper towels.
Walking over, Liamh surveyed the machines, breathing in the comforting hum and thrum, the friendly winking lights. He smiled - then paused, his attention drawn inexorably to the machine on the end that had been dark for the last few weeks. No longer. It glowed merrily with the rest, the "Back to the Future" sign lighting up a flaming trail behind an 80's airbrushed Delorean. He beamed. They'd fixed it! He shambled over and leaned his twiggy frame on it, the machine giving a nearly imperceptible mechanic groan. Maybe he'd be the first to play it. He wondered if anyone else had been down here yet to see it.
Something caught his eye in the reflection of the pinball machine's backboard. Liamh wrinkled his forehead and glanced to the side. A bucket? A bucket and rags. He turned around, glancing around. Spooky. "Hello?" he called softly. His foot turned - and caught something. Something clammy, and slightly cool in the air conditioning. Liamh yelped, jumping slightly, and bent down slowly stared wide-eyed beneath the machine. A long..... green.... foot? He boggled.
Once kicked, Newt jumped slightly with a sleepy, "KrrKIT!" before he seemed to settle back down again.
Liamh slowly crouched down in front of the machine. Okay, wait... the froggy janitor guy... What was his name? Some kind of lizard? Amphibian? No no.... It was... "Newt!" Liamh crowed, his brain grinding the information out like a raspy paper shredder. He winced slightly. Perhaps he shouldn't be so loud.... but then, that couldn't be a good place to sleep. He raised an eyebrow. Was the guy all right? Maybe he should check. "Hey... hey, are you okay?" He reached out a vine tendril-finger and prodded at the amphibious, jump suited creature before him.
At the sudden shout of his name, all Newt could imagine was a ferocious, angry white face glaring down at him with cold, enraged eyes and he made as though to straighten with a startled cry. This only resulted in the smashing of his nearly bald head against the bottom of the machine with a loud painful crack just as Liamh's arm reached out to get him. He only had time to groan for a moment, freezing with a hand over the back of his head as his eyes went wide at the peeling hairless face. "I D-D-DON'T W-WANT TO BE EATEN!" He shrieked, scrambling backward away from him under the machine frantically. Annie had been here! The wolf had been there and had ripped this man up first and now she would come back for him! he scrambled to grope about for whatever ropes might have been attached to him, but found only his ID badge and zipper.
Liamh let out a squawk and jerked his arm back, toppling over backward onto his rear. His left eye twitched and his glasses were a bit askew. "Agh! Crap!" He stared at the frog for a moment, then raised his viney hand in what he hoped was a calming gesture. Maybe. "Hey now.... take it easy..."
His back up against the wall, and one webbed hand clutching his squishy chest as though to still his heart, Newt panted in an attempt to calm himself down. Where was he? His head was hurting- he had hit it, but on what? The bottom of the... what was...? His expression slowly drooped as the details came back to him. He had woken early with the bucket out front with the fresh uniforms and other cleaning supplies left out on his doorstep. He had repeated his trick with the ropes to get it back down again, this time lowering it down over the side of the porch instead of down the stairs. Quietly, diligently, he had gone about his duties, speaking to no one and looking at no one the entire time. By the time he had reached the game room to see if anyone had noticed the machine he had fixed, the previous evening's lack of sleep and abundance of unpleasant nightmares had caught up with him. If he could have blushed still, he would have been crimson.
His eyes drooped down to his large flat feet, though, his mouth closing as he gripped his bruised side instead.
Liamh straightened his glasses reflexively and leaned his head sideways a bit. The guy was on some kind of freaky trip, perhaps.... too many fumes? He passed out under there? Somehow he doubted it, but he couldn't quite figure why anyone would be.... SLEEPING... under a pinball machine. He paused and rewound that thought in his head. Well.... perhaps that WOULD be kinda cool... he shook his head mentally. Nerd fantasies aside, the skittish fellow before him seemed to have calmed a bit. "Hey, uh, Newt, right?" Liamh offered a grin, though it came out as a sort of ghoulish grimace. A friendly one. He rolled himself to his knees awkwardly, wincing where he crushed a small sprig that had decided to sprout from his shin that morning. "You okay under there? You working? On the machines, I mean... i think it's fixed now...."
"Ah... y-yes," He murmured weakly as though only half paying attenion. He groped along the ground blindly befor flopping back down into his crouch to figure out which way to go. He tried not to look over at Liamh, not only because he still wasn't fond of the manifestation of his changes and still hadn't become used to them despite their time together on the construction site, but also because he didn't particularly wish to talk to anyone just then. "I... I sh-should... " He glanced to his forgotten rags and windex and tried to remember where he had left his cart.
Liamh scooted backward a bit. "Hit your head pretty hard there, man... " a skeptical trace filtered into his voice. "You sure you're okay?" He got up into a crouch, hanging on the end of the pinball machine. "I mean, my skull's pretty thick, but i wouldn't assume everybody else's head is full of rocks..." He held his good hand out toward Newt. At least it still had fingers, right? Despite the vegetation poking out here and there... he fought back a slight shudder. Maybe he wasn't exactly the most reassuring sight to wake up to.
"N-no... no, I'm alright..." He mumbled, carefully crawling out from under the game himself, taking a quick hop towards his forgotten things to quickly gather them up in his arms.
"Okay... if you're sure..." Liamh watched the strange fellow reaching out for his tools and supplies. He glanced back to the machines and then at Newt, jerking his thumb at the electronic altar to the 80's cult classic. "Hey, did you see they fixed that one? Lab monkeys did something right for once. We could, uh, go a few rounds if you want?" He tilted his head again. "I could use the competition."
"S-sorry I d-didn't... g-get to it sooner," He murmured dryly. The invitation seemed to slip over him like water off a duck's back. He piled everything under an arm, tucking the rag into his back pocket, hopping past him in a single, prominently arched bound.
"Hey now, that's not what i meant!" Liamh exclaimed in exasperation. "I just..... wait..." The gears popped into place. "You fixed that?" he glanced curiously at the amphibious janitor with a surprised, wondering tone in his voice. "Really? You know how to fix pinball machines?"
He landed heavily, pausing to catch his breath and wince. The guards hadn't been very lenient with their kicking, and frogs apparently weren't made very well for being kicked. He wondered if he would be better off walking, as clumsy as he was... "W-well... s-suh-sort of..." He fidgeted distractedly, "Th-there w-was j-just.... ch-chewing g-gum s-stuck in and a wuh-woo-wire that came free." He found his cart parked behind the pool table and pulled himself up to put away the windex.
"Huh. Cool. I would have had to take the whole thing apart to find that." Liamh shrugged, "Then again, i've always had the perverse desire to take apart a pinball machine, so maybe i'm just hoping." he pushed himself to his feet, brushing himself off and testing his mutant hand again. "You know. The Pandora's box of every electronics geek. After a while, they start hiding the appliances from you..." he chuckled, trailing off as he saw the frog favoring his side gingerly.
Newt fidgeted, glancing over nervously for a moment befor he seemed to come to some sort of resolution. "I d-don't... r-really know that m-much about... electronics, r-really... j-just enough to... er... f-figure things out and... er... sh-sh-shock myself g-gen-gen-generally..." He crouched back down into his safety crouch, still trying to wake himself up. He felt drained in all aspects, and hungry on top of it. And he hurt. And he was a janitor still. All of these things added up to a great amount of displeasure.
Liamh shrugged, leaning against the pinball machine. "Well, it's good enough for me. I'm kinda glad to know it WASN"T the labs fixing the machine. Test subject pride, you know?" He grinned. He had no idea of Newt's occupational distress, though if he'd given it thought he would have had to figure the frog's janitorial status connected him to the labs, a vocational umbilical of windex and WD40.
"Er... I... w-well," He was back to the same problem he had had when he had still been human. Somehow this time, though, it wasn't as easy to be proud about it. He decided to dance around it, "Th-they... h-haven't g-given me any k-keys... I h-had to... to j-jimmy it open w-with... with a b-bit of w-wire and a t-tool."
"Heh. I can see the headline now," Liamh raised both hands before him as if depicting a marquis in lights. " 'Frogman Hijacks Arcade Machine: Crime wave On the Rise'. Remind me to call you if i lock myself out of my duplex." He paused, mulling that over. "Not... that i've really been locking it for quite a while. I guess there ceased to be a point. I don't think any of the other islanders would want my crap or want to brave the mess. And the.... wild... islanders.." he chewed on that one. "That wolf girl and the tiger. I don't think they come close to the village, at least i hope not. Right?" he glanced over at Newton.
At that, Newt went very quiet, hidden down along the floor. He leaned his shoulder against his cart, gripping the carpet tightly as he concentrated on breathing in and out. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. They won't come. They wouldn't have gotten his scent, would they? They wouldn't have... no, no, they didn't come to the village. There were cameras in the village, and they'd avoid the cameras. Unfortunatly, Newt wanted to avoid the cameras as well.
Liamh shot the shrinking frog a worried look. Partially about Newton.... and partially... "Err...... right? I mean... they wouldn't... if they're all feral and whatnot - er, i guess everything's 'Feral' here, no pun - they'd stay away from people, wouldn't they? All... instincty?" He crossed his arms and sort of hunched over before catching himself. Darnit. He was shrinking up like the frogman.
"I... I... I d-don't know," He managed to croak, suddenly hopping around his cart to push it towards the door. They couldn't have smelled him there! He had to get back to his duplex. He'd leave his cart under the stairs and hope Cody didn't come across it. He didn't care, he'd get another one.
Liamh boggled. "Well, we're safe HERE, at least. I mean, they might slink around the duplexes, but i don't think they'd come into these big buildings." He had always been comforted by machines. The sound of them. The lights. The presence they seemed to have. Surely, if anything, the machines - the very *civilization* of them - would drive back the 'monsters' of the jungle, of instinct, of the outside.... "I can't imagine Jamal swinging by to rack up some foosball time, you know?" He laughed a bit nervously, fingering the pinball flipper button next to him.
"I... I d-don't...." He paused, breathing deeply as he clung to the cart, "I.. I... y-you... you th-think?" He managed, large bulbous eyes peeking up over the edge of his trashcan to blink at him in quiet terror.
Liamh reached up and scratched at his bald - if a bit leafy - head. "Oh yeah, if anything, this is the BEST place..." He let one side of his face curl up a bit into a half grin at the frogman. "And anyway, i'm totally a ninja with these pool cues," he said, gesturing at them. "If ninja you mean flailing idiot." He pushed off the pinball machine and walked over to the cart, looking over it and the odds and ends it held. "Say..... why DO you lug this stuff around? Isn't there something more interesting to do?" He scrunched up the other half of his face.
"I... ah..." In and out and just say it, "It's.. it's m-my er... j-job." He cleared his throat, giving an embarrassed ribbit before turning back to it, "And.. and I sh-should... sh-should p-probably... p-probably go.. ah..."
Liamh raised an eyebrow. Or, an eye-ridge.... thing, for lack of eyebrow hair. Perhaps, in truth, a brow was still a brow for lack of hair? He brushed the deep philosophies of facial features aside. "Your job? You have a job here? What on earth for?" That DID make sense, after all.... why would anyone spend their time cleaning if they didn't have to? "I mean, you're a test subject.... they can't possibly be paying for it or something..." he was leaning heavily on the cart, nonplussed.
He opened his mouth, ready to explain everything as though to excuse himself, but in the long run he really didn't see the point. He frowned again, "It's... ah... com-complicated." Maybe it would be alright... they had said he could make his own hours... what did that entail? If he stay and talked with the... the vine man, would he wake up on a hook being dragged through the jungle? Next time Sabin would probably roll him in some sort of wolf attracting pheromone before hand, and stuff his jumper full of catnip.
"Complicated...." Liamh leaned forward toward Newt a bit. "What's so complicated? They don't make any of the rest of us work. Hell, we're pampered, if we choose to be. Really burns my twinkies, that. We're like some kind of stupid zoo for this madman." he shook his head, mulling things over. "But you.... they've got you worse, somehow.... something worse than all this? What could they..." he was muttering mostly to himself now, trying to draw his brain around the puzzle like an amoeba feasting on.... he blinked. Whatever the hell amoebas ate.
To be continued...
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