Log - OTA

[byeeeeeeeee]

Who: Hunter + Flapjack, and you
When: January
Where: All around
Summary: Flapjack wants to be creepy. (Flapjack is not creepy.)
Warnings: Blanket CW for child abuse, animal abuse/injury; talk of gun violence


[Don't look now, but there's a bird standing on your windowsill staring in - a small, scarred, bright red cardinal.

Or maybe you hear something scratching or pecking on the glass and...oh. He's supposed to fly away before he's seen. Crap. Perhaps the panicked flurry of feathers is unnerving?

Or are you being followed by a persistent chirp that is trying so very hard to be menacing?

Or maybe you are lucky enough to witness a white sheet struggling and flopping between trees before dropping to the ground. A sad little lump is trying to find its way out.

No matter what or where, Hunter is nearby - hiding just under the window, tucked up in the bushes, crouched behind a tree - ready to swoop in and grab the cardinal should anything go wrong.

He'll cradle his bird in his hands and Flapjack will chirp at him, and he'll sigh.]

I'm sorry, but you aren't very intimidating.

Comments

[byeeeeeeeee]

[Flapjack nods back. Hunter doesn't.]

You're right. It's been close to a month. I've been trying to get acquainted with this realm. Or...re-acquainted, I guess.

[friendsfordinner]

I've been here six months or so, [ Hickey shrugs. ] If you've got any questions, ask me and I'll do the best I can to answer them.

[byeeeeeeeee]

[It's still a bit jarring to hear that people have been stuck here for months. It doesn't bode well for getting home any time soon.

Regardless, he'd already been trapped in one Human Realm for several months. He could manage another. Maybe.]

Actually, can I ask you something more personal? Are you from this version of the Human Realm?

[friendsfordinner]

Sort of? But if you want to ask any questions about how some of these things work, you're better off asking someone else. I'm...what, from a hundred and fifty or so years in the past.

[ Approximately. After all, it's not like Hickey really remembers what year it was when he arrived in this world. ]

Basically I can explain food or some habits, but nothing like the television. Still don't know how that bloody thing works.

[byeeeeeeeee]

[Oooh. Hunter has no idea what things were like that far back, and in a realm he's not entirely familiar with, but he guesses it must have been less...technological?

But he did spend a long stint in the Human Realm with a handful of other teenagers. They spent probably too much time parked in front of the "television". He perks up]

Oh! The crystal rectangle? I can help with that.

[friendsfordinner]

I mean, I know how to use it, [ Hickey points out, a little defensively. ] Turn it on, use the buttons to change channels, find something to watch. I don't know how it works. How d'you get the image in the television in the first place? If you record something, it's on film, yeah?

[ So he knows how to use a television, but doesn't know the nitty gritty of how it actually works. Which for Hickey, someone who wants to know entirely how the world works, is a big annoyance. ]

[byeeeeeeeee]

Oh. That I don't know.

[He even got an explanation from Luz about the TV in her home, and he still doesn't get it. Cables and tubes and...??? He asked for the manual to learn more about it, but no one could find it.]

All I know is they aren't magic.

[friendsfordinner]

[ Hickey lets out a little 'huh' of acknowledgment before giving Hunter a little shrug. ]

That just means we're in the same boat. If I find an explanation, I'll give you a heads up about it.

[byeeeeeeeee]

[He squints and looks around. They...are not in a boat. Technically, they aren't even in the same house, as Hunter is still outside leaning over the windowsill.]

Okay! Uh, same. The library probably has information. [He's already adding it to his rotation of Things to Research.]

[friendsfordinner]

[ Hickey nods. And then, because he knows that this is a new Hunter, he points out, ]

D'you know where it is? I can show you how to get there if you want.

[byeeeeeeeee]

Oh, uh...no. I just figured, if I walk around long enough, it'll turn up.

[Flapjack chirps and hops a few times but Hunter waves him off with a stern:] We're not flying.

[Though it would make things so much easier.]

[friendsfordinner]

[ Hickey gives Hunter a look like he's a goddamn idiot. ]

Word of advice? If someone's offering to do something for you, don't be stupid enough to say no.

[byeeeeeeeee]

[He looks Highly Offended but will ignore the implication of stupidity.]

Not everyone has good intentions.

[friendsfordinner]

Precisely. But if you can get something done or something happens to benefit you, do their intentions even matter in the first place?

[byeeeeeeeee]

No...?

[Though actually yes? He's not sure. But "no" feels like the right answer here.]

[friendsfordinner]

Exactly. Their intentions don't mean shit if you can get what you want out of them.

[byeeeeeeeee]

[He gives it a little more thought, then sighs.]

Fine. Do you want to show me where the library is?

[friendsfordinner]

Happily.

[ Victory for Hickey!

A stupid victory, but victory nonetheless. ]

I need to return a book anyway. Give me five minutes and I'll meet you outside.

[byeeeeeeeee]

Alright. Five minutes.

[He nods, collects his bird, and moves around to the door to wait.]

[friendsfordinner]

[ And less than five minutes, Hickey pushes open the door, meeting Hunter outside as he gives him a little nod. ]

You've already talked to Eda, yeah? [ He starts to walk in the direction of the library, just assuming Hunter's going to follow. ] She was worried about you.

[byeeeeeeeee]

[ He jogs after Hickey until they're side-by-side.]

Yeah. We've talked.

[A light scoff, and then,] So I've heard. Wonders never cease.

[friendsfordinner]

So what, are the two of you not that close back home? [ he asks, a little frown on his face. Weird. They seemed close enough in his mind. ]

[byeeeeeeeee]

No. We were... [He makes a vague gesture with his hands. He doesn't want to say enemies.] ...on opposite sides until recently. Most of what I knew of her came from other people.

[friendsfordinner]

Huh.

[ Again: weird. ]

I wonder if it's cause the two of you are from the same world. Things are weird here, if I had that small sliver of familiarity, I don't know how I'd feel if I lost it.

[byeeeeeeeee]

Oh. Maybe...

[His steps slow some.]

I...hadn't thought of it that way.