[Open] Exposition Free Space!

[long_live_the_queen]

WHO: Lucy and you!
WHERE: Various points in Tisse, Enprise, and Birch Hills
WHEN: Ambiguously the 19th
WHAT: A regain reaction log! Visiting an arcade to forget the Retrospec experience for awhile! Dumpster diving at a woodworking shop! Bringing this weird clock home for the roommates to see...?
WARNINGS: Lucy (ie language, crankiness, contents may contain casual threats of violence, etc)


A. Tisse, Hubbub Hub Arcade

[The best way to deal with distressing daydreams was by staring at a screen for awhile. A different screen, not her possessed phone, one that usually involved cartoonish violence or pixels of some kind, and one that didn't have that stupid app demanding she play Pac Man every few minutes. That game was banned. With the erratic hours Lucy worked, the time she got off work this time was...also when everyone seemed to be out and about on lunch in Tisse. Great.

But she was too stubborn to just leave and go straight home; the teenager ducked into the nearest arcade instead. Hopefully it wouldn't be as crowded...?]



B. Enprise, outside a woodworking shop somewhere

[Now Lucy was on her way home; she had taken a different route today, passing by several unfamiliar shops. One was a newly-established carpentry business, sign new and proudly declaring itself East Enprise Woodworks.'

Lucy paid no attention to that whatsoever, staring at the dumpsters next to it with great suspicion. There was something sticking out that made the lid sit unevenly propped open; it looked like the frame of something more solid than the broken up bits of siding and old wood.

She needed it, whatever it was. What, exactly, she was going to do with it was beyond her, but—she needed it. The details could wait.

So that was why Lucy was prying a dumpster lid open and leaning halfway into it today.

How's your Tuesday going?]



C. Birch Hills Apartment (closed to roommates)

[Somehow or another, Lucy's managed to cart the thing home. The clock had a ponderous, ancient, and slightly gloomy air about it that didn't seem to fit with the rest of the apartment; stodgy, sullen oak compared with white walls and a brightly lit hallway. It took up quite a bit of space in that corner, and it was stubbornly silent, with its hands stuck at midnight exactly no matter how much she tried fiddling with it, though she also wasn't exactly a mechanic.

Lucy stood in front of it, arms crossed. It was taller than she was even with her shoulders straight for once, though that wasn't particularly hard. Someone could even hide in it, if its insides were stripped out.

Though speaking of which—]

...it's fucking broken, isn't it.

[It hadn't rung since it got home, not even by accident.]

Comments

B

[true_noir]

Find something you like?

[Chloe knew good and god-damned well not to sneak up on this girl, so she made sure to scuff her feet a little in the alley on her way closer. She leaned against the wall of the shop, looking back down the alley just in case anyone came by. Most places wouldn't hassle you for looking in their dumpsters, but most wasn't all so she figured that the girl could use a spotter.]

You know, I only very rarely see this thing you call dumpster diving, heh.

[long_live_the_queen]

No.

[Lucy glanced over enough to see who it was, then carried on her very important business of looking for whatever the thing was. It was a gesture that showed some trust (Chloe probably wasn't going to stab her and didn't need staring at 24/7) and some dismissal.]

It's not like I'm stealing food.

[There was just sawdust and wood and things in here. And this sheet of cracked drywall was in the way; Lucy started tugging on it, but it was a bit too long and her arms too short for her to pull it free completely without dropping the dumpster lid on her head.]

[true_noir]

mmm, no. I suspect you do not need anything to eat from there. That would be a bit more for a termite, no?

[She cast a glance, noticing that she was having a bit of trouble. Well, she was already an accessory to whatever was going on, so she slipped up a bit closer and reached to put one of her hands on the dumpster lid. It helped steady it and keep it out of the way so that she could reach for what she was seeking.]

Dare I ask what you're looking for, though?

[long_live_the_queen]

[Lucy snorted, shifting slightly on her feet when Chloe approached. She hesitated only a little when Chloe held the dumpster lid open, making the decision to pull the piece of drywall away and dump it gracelessly on the ground.]

...I don't know.

[With the obstruction out of the way, Lucy could go after the next thing—and the next and next, pulling bits of broken molding and wood panels away nor that she had both hands free.

Eventually, the light filtering into the alleyway glinted off of a glass surface; circular and dinner-plate sized set into something near the back. Odd. It looked like a...clock?]

[true_noir]

[She chuckled and her grip firmed up a little bit.] Ah, I see. You are looking for the little treasures that someone has cast aside, hoping to find something of interest and value, aren't you?

It is a bit like a swap meat... only the price is how much effort you are willing to put in, not an actual price, yes?

[She was trying to figure out the motives here, though she had a feeling they were pretty obvious in the end.]

B

[beastenderblood]

[Vella's Tuesday is going... fine. Not good, not bad, but fine. And fine was boring. She needed something to bring any kind of excitement, anything better than useless malaise.

Which is how she ends strolling into random alleys for something to do.

Well this is a thing.]

...Not super sure how much you can get for selling wood.

[long_live_the_queen]

[Lucy was focused enough on her task that she didn't notice someone else was also in the alleyway until Vella spoke up. She almost dropped the dumpster lid on her head, and proceeded to glare over at the other girl like everything was clearly Vella's fault.]

I didn't ask you.

[Grump, grump.]

[beastenderblood]

What can I say, I'm a natural answerer.

[She peeks over at the bin curiously. Looks like normal wood to her. Kind of a weird pick of items to rummage through, but who is she to judge.]

For serious though, you could probably find some metal bars around here that construction sites will take for a good price.

[long_live_the_queen]

[Lucy continued irritably tugging and batting away less splintery bits of frame and paneling. There was something a bit shiny at the back, reflecting like glass.]

I don't need those.

[Maybe an idea to save for later, though.]

[beastenderblood]

But you need wood.

Sorry, phrasing.

[belligerentwarrior]

[Once upon a time, Freya thought she was the weirdest one living here, Lucy's shut-in tendencies aside. Between Minako getting a dog and weapons uninvited in the mail, and Lucy... somehow dragging that huge, dreary thing from who knows where into the apartment, well... those notions were quickly gone.]

Should I even ask? [She drawled as she rounds the corner, drying her hair off with a towel.]

[long_live_the_queen]

[Lucy glanced Freya's way for a moment, her scowl remaining in place.]

Depends. Can you fix it?

[Fun fact: It smelled vaguely of sawdust and glue. Not unpleasantly so, but...it didn't exactly look new.]

[complementing]

[This time, Minako is the one getting woken up by a new addition to the apartment. She shuffles out of her room, hair rumpled from her nap and Koromaru on her heels.] Whattre we trying to-- oh. [She stares up at the clock.] Cool, but we might need t'do some feng shui for it.

[belligerentwarrior]

[Freya finishes scrubbing at her hair and flips the towel over her shoulder, directing a very unimpressed look at the clock.]

Oh, that cactus' gonna need a lot more than a little feng shui.

[long_live_the_queen]

[Said cactus immediately protests.]

I'm not moving this thing again!

[The first time was bad enough, thank you very much. But the clock was here now! That stupid itch in her mind was gone. It was fine.

The thing was still broken.]

B

[borntoolate]

Umm... do you need a hand?

[The question comes from a teen aged girl with just a hint of an amused smirk.]

[long_live_the_queen]

[The voice startled Lucy sufficiently that she dropped the dumpster lid on her head when she flinched. It made a painful-sounding bang, but she stubbornly didn't make a noise, just grit her teeth together.

She's got this, really.]

[borntoolate]

Whoa! Are you okay?

[She didn't mean for that to happen. Iris rushes over to lift the lid.]

[long_live_the_queen]

I'm fine!

[Lucy was...questionably fine. But Lucy's response was fast, so she probably didn't have a concussion.

She didn't swat the other girl away immediately, though, too busy holding her head.]

[borntoolate]

I didn't mean to scare you. My bad.

[She keeps holding the lid, waiting for Lucy to recover.]

So... what are you doing?

A

[prismaticdestruction]

[Of course it's a hangout for kids off of school and easy to lose anybody watching them. Which is where one would find Dani, enthralled with one of the newer games for a few moments, tongue out and focused.

At least until she hit a unexpected snag and dies. With a quiet, mild swear in french she pulls away for the moment- to let another person play for the moment. There is a moment that she walks away, not paying attention..at least at first. Huh..She remembered this person slightly.]

Oh..Hi again. You were the lady from before right..?

[long_live_the_queen]

[That driving game looked new, something with joysticks less so—]

Huh?

[Lucy stopped, and stared down for once. Small child...?

Oh. That small child. The one that stuck to her like velcro for a day. Her expression remained neutral, though she did stop moving.]

Shouldn't you be in school?

[lucy that is not how you say hi]

[prismaticdestruction]

[There is such a look at that because what and why.]

I'm out for the day, at least this time.

[Dani no..no cutting school for games.]

What are you doing here? Didn't think I'd ever run into you again.

[long_live_the_queen]

[Lucy hadn't exactly been a model for good attendance when she went to school either, but she'd been out of it for so long she wasn't really aware of the exact time younger students wandered out. So she just shrugged.]

I come here sometimes.

[prismaticdestruction]

Oh...Do you have a favorite game? It might be open right now?

[Because..why not try and make a friend? Although...there is a mischievous grin.]

I think it'd be fun to challenge you.