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 Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 6:20 pm
With his time at Amityville closer to completion than beginning, Thackery had begun to consider what he might do when he had graduated. His ideas so far were 'collect keys' and 'maybe bake some things', which really wasn't the most solid of career choices.
It was an easy choice, then, to accept the temporary job offered...even if it did have something to do with one of his worst enemies.
He'd just have to suck it up this time.
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Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 6:44 pm
The baku scratched her cheek with embarrassment at Sophie's comment, giving a little shake of her head and a shrug. "I-I'm...not really, but if you do ever need a hand and think I'm okay for the job, I'm always willing to help." Being a dress model was not something that Xiu would usually find herself doing, but considering how sweet the undead ghoul was--and how eager the baku was to see her work--she definitely wouldn't have minded volunteering sometime if it meant helping her.
Her gaze flickered back to Alex as the boil answered her question, and at once, her mouth dropped open. It remained open as her friend called out to Bella, asking the witch to come over and meet his sister. Sister...
"Sister? Wha--Alex! Why didn't you introduce us sooner!" She puffed her cheeks out at him, but it was clear that she wasn't actually upset as the smile returned to her face not a few seconds later. Turning back to Sophie, she grinned brightly at the ghoul. "So you guys are siblings! Hopefully your brother has told you all that you need to know about Amity already then!"
And speaking of siblings...was that a familiar reaper she spotted in the distance? Xiu squinted at the figure scruntinizingly before her expression slowly changed into one of surprise, and then delight. "Aniki!" He was back from his trip?!
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Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 7:04 pm
Riley returned Ullers nod as he moved on into the crowd to mingle, making note to remember his offer should she ever need it. She felt the slap of stickers against her skin, and pressed her hand against her cheeks, running her fingers across the stars that now decorated her face. Mot had said this was how he usually greeted her, but still.. was she supposed to keep them on all day? Could she remove them before the trip? Would it be taboo to his culture if she took them off while he was still around?
She pulled her hands behind her back and settled for keeping them on until they bothered her.
Now that she was alone, she realized the boil who'd been staring at her earlier had moved. It didn't take long to find him again, and she wondered at his look of concentration, until it hit her. He touched her mind, fumbling with his attempts to communicate, and all she could feel was the muddled, drowning thoughts of someone who couldn't process the intricacies of mindspeak. Mort was giving her a headache. She gave her friends one last, lingering look, scratching at her cheek before moving to stand beside him. Conversing with the undead mentally was never easy.
I understand you have a question. She tasted the flavor of his words, and knew there was a question mark at the end of them - but that was all she could figure out. Could I request that you speak it to me? It's, ah, difficult to hear you.
That was an understatement.
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Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 7:16 pm
Planet Thackery was now sharing the natural satellite of the Tomoko-moon.
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Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 7:16 pm
And then there were Ren and Sparrow, whose RPer will fill this post out in a minute, but in the meantime they were just sort of standing around at the moment (but not near each other).
The part time job thing had caught Ren's interest from the first poster. He supposed he should have been doing more, doing something else - like perhaps getting ready to graduate, instead of preparing to do take on a part time job. However, the prospect of possible money (there was money involved, right; he hoped there was money involved, otherwise what was the point) was, to say the least, most definitely alluring. Ren was not a greedy person (at least he hoped not), but the money could be useful. Very, very useful. Useful enough that he would be able to use it towards something important, something for after graduation.
Something like a place for he and LW to live.
Of course, that would require actually getting to graduate in the first place, and Ren wasn't entirely certain he was prepared just quite yet, let alone move on without his ghoulfriend and little brother to move along with him. Graduating soon would mean leaving LW and Jove behind, and that was hardly an option, especially with Jove struggling to still "find himself" (whatever that meant).
So a part time job it was. Except there was one slight problem with his brilliant plan.
Ren had never held a part time job, ever.
While living at home, he'd tried to convince his parents that he could handle it, that he could make the most of the situation given to him, but Lila and Loki had been...well, Lila and Loki. The idea of their son having a job, a lowly occupation, was, in an understating sort of manner, something of a joke to them, a scandal. It was hardly something that was appropriate and proper, especially for a proud gryphon family for one such as their own.
The "punishment" for asking for the job had not been a pleasant one.
But that had been long ago, and this was not the time, nor the place, to recall such memories, Ren decided, as he absently tugged at a lock of his hair. He wished that LW or Jove were with him (or even Tybalt, though he had the feeling that the black dog was around somewhere, the buttface). Coming to these things by himself, while not ideal, had since become sort of a ritual thing for Ren, something that he would just have to learn to deal with.
Dealing was hard.
Ren bounced up and down excitedly, rocking back and forth on his heels as he waited for whatever it was that was about to go down. He supposed he should be a little less cheerful, and a little more cautious - after all, how well did school things even go most of the time (not well at all) - but this seemed normal.
Sort of.
Maybe.
Hopefully.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Sparrow, on the other hand of the spectrum, was far less angst ridden than the gryphon standing several feet away. Dressed in his usual outfit, he stood with his white-gloved hands tucked neatly behind his back, blue eyes scanning the crowd for a sign of anyone he knew.
There wasn't any; at least, not off the bat, but he knew at least not to jump to conclusions. This was a rather unusual situation altogether - one that he was most looking forward to. A part time job was something Sparrow was pleased about. He had always had a strong desire for helping out, for doing the most he could to provide for other people, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Not only that, but it should give him a slight boost in his campaign for Vice President (though really, Sparrow thought, he should not be so concerned about image. He was who he was, and that was that).
He went back to listening, but his mind went, as it usually did, to Wren. His ghoul was not here, and Sparrow couldn't exactly blame her for it (since crowds were not exactly a strong point of hers), but it did not stop him from wishing she was here.
But maybe this part time job would result in something he could bring back to her. A toy, perhaps, or some sweets, or even some money that he could use to buy something for her. Either way, Sparrow was glad that he'd found the notice.
He went back to waiting, smiling pleasantly.
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Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 7:18 pm
The idea of getting paid to do stuff seemed like kind of a plus after doing so much unpaid work around the school. Aymet was easily suckered into this. He showed up, on time, in the right place, looking slightly odd with his full body armor and bony extra appendages sticking out every which way. He was probably not dressed for success, so he had solemnly broken out the fancy magnetic tie. It was only for special occasions, but looking good for the job was probably one of those, right? It flopped forlornly down the front of his armor, a small layer of frost forming along the edges.
His blue eyes searched the crowd for familiar faces, so that he could stick close to people. He recognized a few people. Shun, with his telling eyepatch. Thackery, looking happy as ever (lucky him). And --
"Sparrow!" Aymet called, recognizing the flamboyant reaper even at a distance. They hadn't talked too much, but they'd first met off in a distant land - the horsemen islands to be precise. That was a weird time. The stuff Aymet had thought was bad news then, he probably wouldn't have blinked at. Figuratively speaking, anyway. He didn't blink at anything.
Aymet wasn't terribly sure what kind of work this was going to be, but he hoped it was cool work. Or really dark, gritty, underworld work. He'd always wanted to try his hand at a lot of odd jobs, because people told him it built character. He thought his character build for D&H was not bad, but he could always use some better character. He expected this would fit the bill, nevermind the strangely un-Halloween motifs decorating the poster.
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Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 7:29 pm
Ahh . . . Mort looked a bit chagrined as her response ran through his head, moreso when Riley joined him against the wall. It wasn't often seen as Xiu and Lizzy were particularly open and approachable, but demons were not beings he was easily comfortable with. Prior experience had lent him the ingrained and unshakable belief that there was always an ulterior motive going on when speaking with them, even if the conversation was something as simple as the weather. Dealings with his mother's boilfriend did little to assuage his wariness, and the whispers only exacerbated any form of suspicion.
But he took a calming breath through his nose and tried to fight past it because, he reminded himself, opportunities.
"Mrrr. Not great at talking when lots've people around. Had to try." He offered a weak smile that faded before it really formed, pocketed hands fidgeting around as he continued in a lower voice. "Was, ah, j-just asking if was clean've grey or uh . . . still heard whispers."
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Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 7:30 pm
Off to the side, Shun heard something about bacon, but paid it no mind. Instead, he just looked towards Lizzy as she clarified her question. "About a day or so," he replied. He really hadn't been back all that long. He didn't really take too much time to rest from the travels and he was more or less back into the swing of thing. Looking around the room some more, he noticed something a little odd. A few of them... were wearing rather hideous sweaters. ... Must be some new and strange trend. Shaking his head at that thought, he turned when he heard Xiu calling out for him. Pinpointing where she was, he brought one hand out of his pocket to lightly wave to the Baku.
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Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 7:48 pm
Riley had actually expected the question asked of her to be 'Do you remember me' or 'why aren't you dead'. Mort's question, when asked, brought her no closer to knowing whether she had ever met the boil or not. It left her mystified, but she understood why this particular query held more weight over the regular how do you dos of conversation. She would have been as blunt and direct, if she'd been in his position. Insanity prevailed over all thought.
The whispers are gone. She replied quietly, her expression lifting in a mixture of pride, and something much rarer for her - happiness. As far as I am aware, I have been rid of the Insanity since the day Red came back. She carefully investigated every feature of the boil, her eyes scouring his body. She saw nothing that made it obvious, but that only told her so much. Are you suffering from it? She itched to take a step back, to keep herself clear of him. She didn't think Insanity was contagious, but there was no real way of knowing..
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Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 8:04 pm
To be fair, the school secretary had had a lapse in judgement. Perhaps it was a lapse because he consistently forgot that no matter how many students he thought had gone through some sort of traumatic experience or another, there were almost more students willing to make up for the potential loss in numbers. A thought occurred to him. Maybe one day, he could use these unlimited numbers of students to create a small army. Yes, he could call this Arel's Army. Excellent.
Thirty minutes and an extremely, extremely crowded office later (the Shredder was very Not Happy about this arrangement and was currently gnawing on the closest student it could find's leg), the ice demon had finally emerged from his fantasies of armies taking over the land of Xmas and destroying Santa's workshop so that he wouldn't get abducted by elves (like he did every year).
As Arel opened his mouth to try and at least get some of the students' attention, there was a loud bang and then an equally loud whoosh. A gust of cold air flew into the office as the door slammed wide open, a large shadow looming in front of everyone. A large shadow that upon closer inspection was about four feet, bright, green, and covered in an assortment of candycanes and bells. The creature adjusted its belt, wiped its nose, and took out an officious looking parchment. "We are here to collect the payment, exactly twelve days of labour, as-"
-"Yes yes," the school secretary hastily rushed, attempting to nudge some of the students forward. He gave the elf an extremely forced smile. "Here they are!"
"Hrmph, well, they better be better than the last bunch." The elf gave Arel a look that very clearly said something like I'm watching you, before whistling loudly with his two fingers. "All right, new workers, this way!" He pulled out a little snowglobe, shook it a few times and wham -
- A brightly-coloured portal now replaced where the music music room opposite to the office should have been.
"All right, all lively now, one step at a time! Time is precious here and there's only weeks to go before the most important holiday of the year." The gnome jingled, as it hopped into the portal first, another light whoosh as it disappeared into the white and colour.
The first sensation the students would encounter on the other side was that of a light coldness, though not unpleasantly so. The second would be a brightness that would hurt many of their eyes, an explosion of colour literally everywhere from present boxes to candycanes to candycanes on present boxes, to gingerbread houses as far as the eye could see, all lit up with colourful blinking lights, trees covered in snow, and elves milling about, some rather aimlessly, bumping against each other back and forth.
"No stragglers! Stop gawking! This way this way!" It was kind of hard to tell the difference between their tourist guide and all the other elves other than the fact that their guide continued to shout loudly the entire way. Eventually, they seemed to take a candy-covered path (it was actually Smartie pebbles, a common Human food in a strange place north of some place called the Human World country America) away from the main gingerbread assortment, past a mint Aero chocolate fountain towards a long, winding path.
"All right!" The elf piped up again. "I am your guide, Barry. That's Barry the elf for you bubs." He continued to talk as they walked along the incline. "Now, we're heading into one of our most famous workshops, Santa's Workshop number 34. Please keep your hands and feet away from anything moving at all times, and that means other elves! Grubby hands and feet away! Human world children don't need to know about this kind of behaviour! Yes, you will be helping us make toys. Toys for little Human World girls and boys! Toys of perfect Xmas quality."
The had somehow reached the top of the cliff now, the impressive workshop house smoking a steady stream of sparkles and glitter from a few of its chimneys. Barry snapped his fingers as the double doors opened, revealing rows and rows of conveyer belts. A few elves were scrambling around, packaging toys that the conveyer belt seemed to belch out, toys of every single size and colour, toys that seemed to never end.
"That's the packaging department," Barry explained, "They get all the toys wrapped into beautiful perfect little gift boxes to send to little Human World boys and girls when it is time. Now we're going to go into the toy making department." He continued to walk, giving students little time to gawk or stare as they moved into the next room, past another set of double doors. Inside were several elves working hard assembling pieces together, from dolls with two perfect eyes and perfect arms and legs to little stuffed creatures with large plush features. "Now this is our assembly department. You will be working here to assemble and create toys. Beautiful toys! Now everyone line up, that's it, there's enough conveyer belt room for everyone, and when you see the parts churn out, you put them together. Time is money, so you better hurry it up if you want to get out of here!"
Wait, did he just say you want to get out of he-
Before anyone could ask, there was a loud slam as the doors closed behind Barry. It was just the students, some mindless, brain-dead looking elves mindlessly assembling pieces of toys, and them. It was time to start working. STEP 1: ASSEMBLING TOYS ALL RIGHT: LOOK LIVELY NOW WORKERS!There are three conveyer belts, each of them spitting out random parts! Your goal is to grab one part from each belt and assemble them together into a toy. Make as many as possible!!! gaia_crown [ PART 1: ] ASSEMBLY BELT A: - Roll a 6-sided dice. Match your dice roll to the result below. 1: You got a pink toy head!2: You got a blue toy head!3: You got a yellow toy head!4: You got a red toy head!5: You got a green toy head! 6: You got nothing sad gaia_crown [ PART 2: ] ASSEMBLY BELT B: - Roll a 6-sided dice. Match your dice roll to the result below. 1: You got a body part A!2: You got a body part B!3: You got a body part C!4: You got a body part D!5: You got a body part E! 6: You got nothing sad gaia_crown [ PART 3: ] ASSEMBLY BELT C: - Roll a 6-sided dice. Match your dice roll to the result below. 1: You got a spare part A!2: You got a spare part B!3: You got a spare part C!4: You got a spare part D!5: You got a spare part E! 6: You got nothing sad gaia_crown [ PART 4: ] COMPILING - You now have to take all THREE PARTS of your items, and combine them together! Feel free to break open an art program, and put them together however your student thinks these parts should go together. Post icly your finished result for pure beauty. - If you do not have photoshop or an art program, just link the three pieces, and icly describe how your student has put it together. - Your student can make up to three toys. After that the elves start giving you funny looks, asking you to please stop messing with their work. You got a time out. Aww.... sad
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Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 8:05 pm
There were a lot of ghouls assembled in skirts and dresses, and TG was now waltzing between their legs trying to get a good view of each and every set of legs and panties he could spot. He may or may not have had his Eyephone out to get a few snapshots.
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LOLTERNATIVE rolled 1 6-sided dice:
3
Total: 3 (1-6)
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Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 8:13 pm
Sophie laughed at the baku, particularly when she chastised Alex for not having introduced them earlier. "He's told me a few things. But I've only been here a few days so it's all still pretty new to me. I'm sure I'll get he hang of it eventually, right?"
She was about to say something else when the elf arrived and interrupted her. She blinked a few times and stared. She'd not yet seen an elf; heard stories, of course, but never seen one up close and personal. It was fascinating in a terrifying kind of way. Sophie almost didn't want to follow the elf and were it not for her need for fabric and wool she might have walked out the office and continued on her way.
But, she wanted the money and she wasn't going to let a little elf get in her way. She turned to Alex and shrugged her shoulders. "Guess we're off," and she walked into the portal. The cold on the otherside wasn't something that bothered her. Sophie preferred the cold and the snow she'd since gotten used to. It was the colours that shocked her. Every possible colour imaginable clung to everything like it had somehow rained colour the night before. They were all so fresh and.. vibrant. Sophie squinted and made a face. Colour she had no problem with. This tacky mess, however, was just horrid.
In the workshop, Sophie set herself up on a bench. As the toy pieces came out on the conveyor belt, she grabbed the first one she saw; a yellow one with a smiley face on it. Well.. It was kind of cute in a way. She could perhaps see the appeal.
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Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 8:25 pm
They were . . . gone. The same day as Red's return. The same day he had died. The same day he had probably contracted it.
Gone. He tasted the word. Gone. Stunned momentarily, Mort found his thoughts slowly picking up pace. There was no documented case of an infected denizen being cured, no precedent to compare this to. Was it simple transference since Insanity refused to be outright destroyed, taking her infection and moving it to him when his Core was exposed? Or was it just coincidence, just . . . just the turn of fate, the twist of unpredictable destiny the Haunted House pervaded as a whole? He hated these sorts of questions because of their inherent vagueness but relished the thought of pursuing the matter further.
There was hope. There was actually a chance to be rid of it. The zomboil nursed his growing sense of optimism with a delicate hand.
"Ah. Well 'grats," Mort said with a better attempt at a smile this time, which was easier with Riley looking so proud. "M'glad s-somethin' good came've that whole event. Mal m-must be happy. But, mrr . . . Yeah. I-I do."
He hunched his shoulders as if to shrug, but they remained slightly elevated afterwards, a defensive gesture. Mort didn't want that being common knowledge unless the disease progressed enough to be visible, but he didn't know how she would react to being in proximity to someone infected with the same taint she had only just been freed of. "I, uh . . . M'tryin' to see if can't find alternative to cure; c-can't sit on hands n' wait t'be consumed, right? But don't think is . . . i-is contagious at least." That was the first thing he imagined most people who weren't as aware of Insanity would be suspicious of: how easy was it to catch.
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Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 8:53 pm
Toys? They were making...toys? Certainly Tomoko should have been more suspicious about all of this whole 'Christmas' thing, but she'd never actually had a bad experience with it, to be honest. As far as she knew, this just meant more snow and more snow was good by her! Even if she mostly spent it gravitating between Jack and Thackery, all sunshine and smiles despite the increasing oddness of the scenery they were entering into...
The almost sweet confectionery nature of the world (it kind of all looked like powdered sugar to Tomoko) sort of made her stomach queasy, and Tomoko snuck her arm into the crook of Jack's anxiously as they walked, looking a little green around the gills at the thought of so much sugar going into any one system. She'd clearly not met Riley proper if such a notion bothered her.
Still, the conveyer belts didn't seem to bother Tomoko at all as she settled into a seat, eager to start working and helping and omijacktoysforlittlekidsitwaslikeadreamcometrue.
The kitsune was suddenly making a rather high-pitched gleeful noise that probably attracted curious yetis. Too bad she wasn't actually paying attention to what she was supposed to be doing yet. She was too busy being excited.
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Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 9:21 pm
Thank you. Riley's brows furrowed even as she said it, understanding that even if he meant his words, it would be with the bitterness of someone who still suffered. Her forehead smoothed when he mentioned Malodore, however. You know the plague doctor? It has been working for some time on Insanity. We had no breakthroughs as of yet, but the research is still there, waiting to be pursued. Perhaps if you spoke to it, gave it what information you hold on your experience, it could help us take one step closer to an actual cure.
Because as content as Riley was to be free of Insanity, she knew she was always walking a fine line of re-introducing it into her system. She pressed her hand against her shirt, feeling the indent of the void in her chest. I do not believe it is contagious, either. But who is to say. I sometimes worry I remain susceptible.. the wound that remains on my body, unhealed from the taint, has always worried me. Her hand pressed further, until her shirt showed the obvious outline of the hole. She chuckled weakly as she continued. Sometimes I wonder if I'm just asking for trouble.
Their quiet, hushed conversation was ruined by the sudden appearance of an elf, who ushered them all into a portal immediately. She gave one look to Uller, across the room, rolling her eyes as her voice slipped into his mind. I knew it. They're not going to let me get a jacket, after all. She had a feeling she was going to owe a lot to Uller, at this rate.
She put her hands on Mort's shoulders, and led him forward into the portal, before entering herself. Their conversation would have to wait - there was work to be done.
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