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

[heyunderoos]

Yeah, among other things. There is almost science in everything if you know where to look. [Peter says easily enough.] Kinda like magic in a way.

You might like it-? I find it kind easy sometimes, but its worth being there to learn stuff. Along with hanging out with your friends every day.

[byeeeeeeeee]

Huh. [He hadn't thought of it that way, but he likes the idea of science being like magic, but accessible to people without magic of their own.]

I do like learning stuff. And being with my friends. If I ever get home, I think I'd like to go.

[heyunderoos]

There aren't a lot of us, but, you'd think they'd try for some kind of school here. [Peter says with a vague shrug.] I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out when you get home. Right now we're just kind of in a weird waiting period. We do stuff, then we're kinda left to our own devices.

[byeeeeeeeee]

I suck at being left to my own devices...

[Blame the years of living under a strict schedule. Even after leaving the Coven behind, he felt like he needed to be Doing Something rather than sit idle.]

But I guess that's what hobbies are for.

[heyunderoos]

A little more structure wouldn't be bad, but, its free time to figure out what we're doing here-? [Peter is used to the structure of a STEM school, patrolling after school and hanging out with his friends, so he's feeling marginally less adrift, but still adrift in his own way. He just shrugs in turn.]

Hobbies definitely do help. I've been working on a couple things to keep myself busy between stuff the ADI actually wants us to do.

[byeeeeeeeee]

That's true... [Figuring out the what and why could go a long way to figuring out how to get back to where they belong - if it's even possible.

He perks up.]

Oh? Like what?

[heyunderoos]

Sewing projects, rebuilding a gaming console for a friend, and making a computer. That kind of stuff primarily. [Peter offers back with a brief shrug. Given he lives with Hunter, he wants to avoid accidentally mentioning his web shooter or why he's been salvaging strange parts from old motherboards and tech for it.] All of those keep me distracted at least.

[byeeeeeeeee]

[He's had exposure to human games and computers, but he has no idea how they work, much less how to build one. That's impressive.

He perks up.]

Oh! I like to sew. I'm saving up for a machine.

[heyunderoos]

[A thought hits Peter pretty immediately. He can guess Hunter might not be too interested in the first option.] Okay, this probably sounds weird, but... have you ever tried dumpster diving for one? Or going to a thrift store for a sewing machine?

Depending on what model it is, I can look up the manual for it too.

[byeeeeeeeee]

I don't know what "dumpster diving" is. [Though it seems self-explanatory. Dumpsters are for garbage aaaand...He's lost on why someone would want to dive into garbage. Or why a perfectly good sewing machine would be found there.]

I've been to a thrift store, though. I don't remember seeing a sewing machine there, but I also wasn't looking for one.

[The thrift store trip had been for clothes and essentials. And Camila already had the machine in her basement. He does remember that the store sold mostly used items for a discount.]

I guess it wouldn't hurt to check.

[heyunderoos]

It's mostly a way to check to see if there is anything good in a dumpster. A lot of stores throw away stuff for really minor issues sometimes. So you can find good stuff that way. [New York boy has more experience with the idea than most people would.]

Sometimes thrift stores have sewing machines tucked in the back. They can still be kind of expensive far as I remember, but still worth looking at them.

[byeeeeeeeee]

Huh. How...wasteful. [Maybe it's because of his sheltered upbringing, but it seems unreal that usable things would be thrown away with such regularity that there is a name for the act of retrieving them.

The thrift store is, at least, familiar. And probably smells better. ]

I'll check it out. Thank you.

[heyunderoos]

A lot of stores know they can't sell anything that's not outright perfect, so, its easier to just get rid of it. [Peter opts to just skip over trying to explain capitalism, since its... a lot. He also doesn't want to bog down his roommate with that much.]

No problem, tell me if you ever want company to check it out.

[byeeeeeeeee]

That's stupid. They could just sell them for less snails.

[Hunter would actually be quite happy to learn more about this world, even the boring stuff.]

Oh. [Maybe he shouldn't be surprised when people are nice, but old habits die hard and all that.] Sure. Thanks.

[heyunderoos]

Are snails what you guys use back home-? [Peter is surprised, but more curious than anything else.] Yeah, you're right though, they should, but- its apparently easier to just throw everything away.

We're roommates, so, hanging out off campus would be fun too.

[byeeeeeeeee]

[He makes a face, but it's not worth repeating how wasteful that is.

He nods.] We don't have the paper stuff. [Why would anyone make a currency out of something so fragile? At least the coins were durable, though worth less than the paper? For some reason?]

Yeah. That...that makes sense. [It could be fun, and he's found he likes having fun.

Flapjack makes some noise. Hunter listens and nods, then looks back at Peter.]

He would also like to hang out.

[heyunderoos]

Do you mean actual snails? That's kind of what I'm picturing at least. Here its mostly paper money and coins. [His natural curiosity means he has to ask a follow up question.]

He's welcome to join too. We'd just have to make sure no one notices him if we go into a store. They don't like animals in the stores most of the time.

[byeeeeeeeee]

[He snorts at that.] No. The coins are minted with a spiral, like a snail shell. Real snails would wander off.

[And no one wants to waste time chasing down their money.]

Yeah. What's up with that? [The same thing happened in the last Human Realm he was stuck in.] He's just a palisman.

[heyunderoos]

[Peter laughs a little self consciously but doesn't apologize for the silly question.] It would suck to have to chase your money everywhere, or even get a special jug to hold all of them to buy anything.

I don't know what a palisman is to be honest. I just know most places don't allow animals or any kind of pet into stores for cleanliness issues.

[byeeeeeeeee]

[Hunter nods seriously, because Peter gets it.

He scoops up Flapjack and holds him up proudly.]

This is a palisman. Normally he'd have magic and be able to transform, but that would require feeding those things. [And 1) Hunter doesn't want him to, and 2) Flap isn't very good at it.]

[heyunderoos]

Yeah, its- definitely way better to not feed those weird entity things. Dunno what it would even do to him. [Peter agrees in turn, smiling a little at Flapjack. The red bird is really cute, and Peter is fond of him already.] Better to be safe than take that kind of risk anyway.

[byeeeeeeeee]

My thoughts exactly. [The look he gives his bird is a million shades of smug. Flapjack turns his beak up, and then flies up to sit on top of Hunter's head, where he can't see any looks.]

I guess I'd be okay if he had a little magic, for protection. But I don't know where the limit is between kinda safe and not safe at all.

[heyunderoos]

[Peter snorts a little at the reaction on Flapjack's part.]

It'd be something you'd have to really toe the line on, I'd think. [He has idly pondered about the same thing, but is too wary to commit to the idea of feeding an entity.] Even then, it'd probably be easy to like make it dangerous. I don't know enough about these things to even try.

[byeeeeeeeee]

[He nods (and Flapjack digs his little toes in to stay seated).]

There must be a better way to get magic to work here. Aren't there any...good entities?

[heyunderoos]

I feel like if there were good entities, we would have heard about them already? Or at least be more aware of them. [Peter muses as he loosely crosses his arms over his chest.] So far according to the ADI we need to not feed any of them, ever.

If weird stuff wasn't happening here a lot, I'd be wondering how much of that was a lie. I'm not used to the more supernatural stuff honestly.