Event Log: Beetlejuice

[hadrielmods]

Who: Everyone participating in the event!
What: The event log for the Beetlejuice event!
Where: All around the city
When: August 13th-August 18th
Warnings: Scary stories to tell in the dark! Maybe a few goosebumps? Taking a walk or two down Fear Street.

When you wake up on the morning of August 13th - well, you'll notice that morning just doesn't really happen. The light that usually illuminates the cave doesn't start coming on, leaving things as dark as night. As if that's not enough, the light switches don't seem to work either. No matter how many times you flip them, the lights won't come on, although mysteriously the other appliances work as normal.

Afraid of the dark? Don't worry! You have oh-so-kindly been provided with lanterns, candles, and flashlights that sure do love to flicker just when you least want to be terrified. Hey, it's something, right?

Just as you begin to realize the artificial 'sun' isn't coming up, Fear appears to make an announcement to the network. What's not fun about scary stories when you're stuck in a dark cave surrounded by monsters? Nothing, that's what! So have fun, everyone - terrify your friends with that story about a cactus filled with spiders, try that classic scarecrow-falling-from-the-ceiling prank. It'll be a good time for everyone, especially Fear! We're sure no one will hold anything against you. On the morning of August 18th, the lights will finally come on as usual. Let's hope you don't have any nightmares!

► This log covers August 13th-August 18th.
► Feel free to make your own logs, as well
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► If you scare yourself to death, please let us know here!

Comments

[circumitus]

That they do.

"Got it. Wouldn't want to deprive you of your little friend. Charlie can keep the fish company, anyway."

How sad is it that the cactus gets a name, but the goldfish Hope had given to her a few months back still remains devoid of any sort of designation? Rey is pretty hopeless when it comes to pet care, as Nick can probably tell.

[synthedick]

Charlie would probably like that. As it is, the fish only has Nick for company most days, as he's the one who usually feeds it. In his time as Rey's roommate, he's noticed that she must have never been a pet owner in a past life; however, given he's the one at home most of the time these days, he really doesn't mind taking care of it. A fish isn't a useful pet, like a dog, but it's good for company.

"You ever gonna give that little guy a name?"

He's noticed that little detail, too.

[circumitus]

For that deplorable goldfish, Nick is probably the best damned thing that's ever happened to it since it fell into Rey's care. She understands the basics of what it needs, knows where to find it it's food in the store. But with her, she either tends to feed it too much or too little, and certainly not enough to the point where her roommate's presence could be considered a divine intervention.

She starts to head up the stairs, then stops at what she perceives to be a rather odd question.

"Why, does it need one?" Rey wonders, squinting an eye.

[synthedick]

Nick leans on his cane as he looks up the stairs to Rey, an eyebrow raised as the corner of his mouth crooks into a half-smile.

"He doesn't need one any more than you or I do. Just thought maybe he could use one."

[circumitus]

Names are a strange thing for Rey. Calling a fish something is about the equivalent of giving a pencil or a desk a name -- it just seems unnecessary.

But, she can also get Nick's point. Hell, her own name is a rather complicated subject in itself.

"Fine." She crossed her arms, shifting her weight to the side. "Got any suggestions?"

What sort of things do people call fish, anyway?

[synthedick]

Getting the feeling creativity isn't exactly Rey's strongest suit, Nick thinks a minute. To be fair, the fish doesn't particularly need a name, but he feels the little fella ought to have one. A name gives it character, marks that fish as her own, sets it apart from all the other fish out there, even if in name only.

And a name seems like an important thing to have. Calling it 'just a fish' is like saying Nick is 'just a synth,' and they both know better than that.

"Well, I named the plant after a Mister Handy I know. We can name the fish after another one, so long as you don't mind the name 'Wellingham.'"

[circumitus]

Hey, she can be plenty creative. Just not in the sense that most people tend to apply their creativity to.

It figures, however, that Nick would offer such a name. Rey suppresses a snort, though not because of the name itself.

"Wellingham sounds fine. Doubt that the fish will file any formal complaints." Better than anything she could come up with. What are people even supposed to name fish, anyway?

[synthedick]

Nick doesn't know what to name animals, either -- the only one he really associates with is a hound named Dogmeat, after all.

"Guess that settles it," he replies with a nod, letting her get to work. She'll never get that desk downstairs if he keeps barraging her with all the nuances of pet care.

He calls to her after a moment or two."You sure you can see up there with how dark it is?"

[circumitus]

Hey, at least he didn't suggest that they call the fish 'Bait'.

Rey starts to head up the stairs, only to pause briefly when Nick speaks up again. She glances down. "No worries. Lived here long enough to know my way around, and I've worked in darker conditions."

While she's never applied her training in night combat for more mundane situations like redecorating, it does make the situation easier.

There's some shuffling for a while, along with the occasional thud and pattering steps of Rey's heavy footfalls.

Eventually, she returns to the living area, carefully navigating down the stairs with Nick's desk over her head. It's almost more like she's carrying a footstool rather than a hefty piece of furniture.

[synthedick]

Though he was worried for a moment about all the thudding going on upstairs, Nick looks suitably impressed as Rey makes her way down, carrying the desk over her head as easily as one might a single chair. He sometimes forgets she's a lot stronger than she looks -- not that she doesn't look strong as it is, but given how human she appears, it sometimes slips his mind that she's got metal beneath her skin. He's still adjusting to life around other synthetics; he's still used to being the only one in town.

"Hopefully, any guests we may have over don't mind taking the upstairs."

[circumitus]

The hardest part was maneuvering such a bulky object around corners. Otherwise, Rey descends the spiraling steps with all the ease of a backhoe moving dirt.

Making her way across the room, while watching not to bump into any obstacles along the way, she casts Nick a brief glance.

"What, you've got sleepover plans you haven't told me about?" she teases.

[synthedick]

"Hey, I'm not the one with a kid following me around," he cuts back, his tone light. "All my guests are scientists, other machines, or Maketh dropping off paperwork, so unless she's real lonely, I don't think any of them will be staying over."

That does bring him around to a topic he's been meaning to bring up, though. "Speaking of 'other machines,' you met Oscar yet?"

[circumitus]

Touché, Valentine. Though, with Muscovy living close by, Rey can't imagine that he would have any need to sleep over. Not that that would stop him, now that she thinks about it.

Sigh. How do you do children?

Rey blinks when Nick changes the subject, as she heads towards the second bedroom, desk over her head presenting little trouble.

"No? Don't believe I have." Probably good to give her a heads up on these things, even if Rey has improved on the matter somewhat. She did meet EDI a few times without feeling inclined to punch a hole through her chassis.

[synthedick]

Knowing Rey has a touchy history with synths (which would be putting the fact she wanted to smash him with a shovel when they first met pretty lightly), Nick always figures it's just best to give her a heads up whenever someone new and synthetic comes into town.

"You'll know him when you see him. Kind of a nervous fella. He makes me look practically human."

[circumitus]

The fact that Nick is aware of Rey's initial inclination to slam a shovel in his face shouldn't be surprising. (Of course, it probably didn't help that Firo had to run his mouth about it. Thanks, bro.)

"Ah. So he's all right, then? No ambitious talk about a robot uprising?"

She's only mostly joking here.

[synthedick]

"Not unless he's intending on cowering through it," Nick replies. "I was lucky to get him out of the Colosseum. You'd have thought he was glued to the wall."

But they did get out, and Oscar didn't even get scuffed up for his troubles. That's a good thing, given they're already having problems finding parts for one mechanical man, let alone two.

[circumitus]

Nick's last comment gets him a narrow-eyed look. "You went to the Colosseum?"

While she can't control her roommate any more than he can tell Rey what to do, knowing that Nick has been making such trips is not a comforting thought.

Of course, it would be a different story if he wouldn't fuss over her doing what's necessary to get the parts to fix him more effectively. But she knows well how that conversation would go.

[synthedick]

Whoops. Nick's eyes dart away as he takes on the look of a kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, if that cookie jar was an arena filled with newcomers and monsters, and that kid was a synth who is starting to fall apart for all the trouble he puts himself in for others.

His mechanical fingers curl around his cane. He knows he should be more careful, knows well enough to avoid the Colosseum in his condition, but he can't help but feel like he should be doing more for people -- as much as he can for those in need. It's in his very nature. But just as he worries about Rey, she worries about him. She might not say it often, but he wouldn't be leaning onto that cane if she didn't.

"He was in trouble, Rey," he explains. "Calling out for help, and probably getting the attention of damn near everything that came through the Door with him while he was at it. You know I couldn't just leave him like that."

[circumitus]

Could anyone blame her for getting angry? For spewing heated words and lash out as she did before?

However, Rey does neither of those things. Her expression is calm at first, almost unreadable as she stares at Nick through the dimness of the room.

"I'm not going to tell you to ignore your Good Samaritan streak so long as you're careful about it. Please say you at least had a weapon on you before going in there."

Nick can usually handle himself, she knows. But, unlike her, he isn't someone who can just take on a good deal of those monsters with just his bare hands. Maybe poke someone's eyes out with his metal fingers, sure, but everything else would be tricky.

[synthedick]

Those glowing eyes of his flick back to her in the darkness. "I made it a habit to never leave home without my pistol, even back in the Commonwealth. Sometimes, the only way you can help people is to get your hands dirty."

A fact that, if his tone says anything, he's not terribly proud of. It's the unfortunate way of the world, though. It couldn't be helped there, and it can't be helped here.

"If it helps you sleep at night, I'm more careful these days than I've ever been. And when I run out of bullets, now I've got something to bludgeon the bad guys with."

[circumitus]

If Nick could hit a more relatable subject to Rey, he got it. She barks what sounds like a single, joyless laugh. "Don't I know it."

Every one of her lives had been spent doing nothing but getting her hands dirty, one way or another. Subject to a little experiment at first, before being finely tuned into an effective tool for war. Just not the one that everyone thought they were fighting all along.

"But thank you. I think that will help."

Truth be told, she doesn't know what she'd do if she lost him anytime soon. It's inevitable, she knows. No one lives forever, even for those who say they do, because all things end. This is just something she isn't ready to give up on. Not yet.

[synthedick]

Even though he knows good and well Rey hardly sleeps, Nick smiles at her appreciative words, a hint of his expression visible from the light of his eyes.

"Well, I think we've moved enough furniture for now," he says, getting away from the topic of the dangers they face daily, and of what that does to both of them. "Thanks for getting me set up down here. Should be easier on the old legs."

[circumitus]

In truth, this helps her as much as it does Nick. It'll be less work for her if Nick doesn't get himself busted up because of some stairs, and she can ease off worrying about him so much.

"Hey, no problem." She crosses her arms, glancing towards the wall before her eyes dart back to Nick's. "So, um. I might head out for a bit. See if anyone needs a light, or a security blanket, or help with their feng shui or something."

Well, she needs to be out making herself useful, one way or another.