bigapplesauce | HANDYSPLOSION [open to multiple]

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HANDYSPLOSION [open to multiple]

Andrew is snooping, but he's not getting very far with it. The trouble with absurdly powerful, government-sanctioned entities is that getting inside the base of such an organization tends to be a bit more complicated than showing up with a forged Health and Safety ID card. Of course, he could probably get inside very easily if he simply went up to the front doors and announced himself, but somehow he doubts he'd be likely to come back out without making a grand production of escaping, and he doesn't want to be too late coming home and make James worry.

The other trouble with Romac is that they're too smart to have anything interesting going on outside. After quite a bit of loitering -- more loitering than is probably wise -- all Andrew's seen is fairly ordinary people going in and out of the building. Disgruntled at their failure to be even the least bit interesting, Andrew finally gives up in disgust and decides to walk to the rebel base in order to say hello to a few people and use their private library.

He makes it less than halfway to the park before disaster strikes. Later, Handrew will be mortally embarrassed that the crisis didn't come about because some Romac agent spotted him and decided to make trouble, or because he had to run to intercept an alien, or even because someone got it in their head to mug him. No, this disaster occurs simply because neither Andrew nor a certain speeding taxi driver happens to be looking in the right direction at the right time. As the meta-crisis steps out into the intersection of Lexington and 59th (against right of way, if he'd bothered to notice), there's a deafening screech, an impact, and Andrew quite unexpectedly shatters.

The reflex to use his power when surprised likely saves his life. Twelve tiny Andrews are scattered across the road a moment later, all of them stunned to one degree or another. As they recover and realize what's happened -- and hear the yells of a few people who saw -- they all take the same course of action:

Run.

Unfortunately, very few of them run in the same direction. There's no plan or pattern to it, and very quickly the Andrews scatter to the four winds -- or at least to the four corners of the intersection. There are a few shouts (even New Yorkers tend to notice when someone explodes next to them) and one person even stoops and tries to grab one of the four-inch-tall Andrews, but he has quite a bit of experience in running for cover.

[OOC: Let me know where you want to encounter one or more Andrews, and I will write up an explanation of how he got there. The accident occurred at E. 59th St. and Lexington Ave. (the game map might help you here), and the Andrews have gone in every direction. Some Andrews will take advantage of the nearby subway entrances; depending where he enters he could do as he intends and go northwest, or he could get on the wrong train and go northeast, which would take him past Romac housing. Really, anything is possible -- though he's trying to get to either the Rebels or the TARDIS, he could get lost in any direction, or stay stranded near the intersection. Just write a tag indicating where your character encounters an Andrew and I'll work it out (or you can PM me or ping me on AIM if you want to hammer it out together). He'll be staying in twelfths, since merging into sixths would make him a foot and a half high, meaning he'd be still too small to get around without trouble but too big to go unnoticed. There might be multiple Andrews traveling together, so let me know if you want two of them.]

UPDATE, November 14: Nine Andrews are accounted for so far. One Andrew each currently reserved for Lucy, Spike, and Topher, meaning no more Andrews are available.

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He would get off and walk, but he's sort of worried she won't notice and she'll take off without him. Or someone will move their car, or spot the pair of them, and they'll need to bolt and he won't be on her back when it happens. Not that he'd stay on if she bolted, but he likes to think he could.

And thanks, Daine, now the entire world is vibrating. It's...oddly soothing? But not really helping him keep his grip. Andrew realizes too late he's sliding to one side, tries to shift back on top of her, and tumbles to the pavement.

"Wait!"

Of course she wouldn't go bolting off and leave him. Granted, if a fast getaway was needful, she might not give as much consideration to his comfort and/or dignity as he'd like while she got him out - but she would get him out.

She stilled as soon as she realized he was slipping, and turns her head around to look at him once he loses his grip completely. Sheltered beneath the car as she is, she doesn't have so many qualms about reshaping her mouth enough to talk.

"I'm not going anywhere without you," she says, somewhere between soothing and scolding. "Are you hurt?"

Andrew nearly lands on one foot, but stumbles and ends up on the pavement. Rolling into a position where he can get to his feet, he puts a hand on Daine's side to steady himself.

"Just my pride," he mutters, then does a double take as he realizes she oughtn't to have been able to talk just now. Right. Human mouth on a cat, not at all disconcerting.

Her cat ears certainly picked that up, and she pushes her whiskers forward, amused. Twitching her tail pensively, she ventures, "We could go a lot faster if I carried you in my mouth, you know. Like a kitten." Little as she expects him to like the idea, it's sort of growing on her: she wouldn't have to worry about him falling, fewer two-leggers would look twice at them, and they'd get to the TARDIS faster. Not as fast as flying, of course, but if he balks at the idea of her picking him up now, there's no way he'd consent to her doing it in bird shape.

"In your mouth." Andrew stares at Daine for several long moments, trying to decide if she's having a joke at his expense. Cat faces, though. Anyway, whether or not she's joking, she's just hit on the one thing that could make this whole situation even less dignified than it already is. "Like a kitten."

He rubs his eyes with the thumb and forefinger of one hand. Alright, yes, it might be more efficient -- but no, he doesn't want to be carried about in a cat's mouth. "In case you hadn't noticed, I don't have a lot of hair or extra skin for you to grab onto. Let's just stick with the way we've been doing it, yeah?"

Well, there's his jacket. And really, he's tiny enough that she could probably just fit her whole mouth around his torso. So long as she was careful about it...

But he's unsurprisingly not a fan of the idea, and she doesn't yet appreciate the extent of the jam he's in (though once they get to the TARDIS, she might have a few words to say about the importance of efficiency in these circumstances). "Just an idea," she says. At least he's acquainted with it, now, so maybe if she does have to pick him up, he won't panic. "Do you want to climb back up now, or wait until we reach the end of the cars?"

"I think I can walk that far," Andrew replies. It's not like she was moving terribly fast, and it certainly won't save time if he keeps falling off with her wriggling on her belly like that. He turns to go, giving her an expectant look.

So much the better: she can straighten up a bit. 'Slinking' is certainly faster than 'crawling' when all is said and done. She lets her mouth lapse back into cat shape and follows Andrew down the line.

When it comes time to cross the open space between one parked vehicle and the next, she makes sure she's between him and the sidewalk, as she very much doubts any drivers will be looking their way. And anyone on the opposite side of the street won't have time to look twice at them, what with the traffic and how quickly they traverse each little gap.

They reach the end of the line without incident, and she can't help being cheered by the greenery up ahead. Much better. She flattens herself against the pavement (ugh) so Andrew can climb back aboard.

This really is much better. Andrew starts jogging to be able to keep up with Daine's slinking -- really, this is preferable. He's almost unhappy when they reach the end of the line of cars and it's time to get back on.

"Sorry," he says, knowing it's got to be uncomfortable for her as he clambers up her side and gets settled. "There -- this should be the last street we have to cross. Isn't it?"

Please?

Well, not quite - but it's the last big street, at least. And it's a one-way, which makes things a bit less harrowing.

Or it should have done. In retrospect, they weren't in any real danger, but as Daine hustles past a bus, its breaks hiss. She's startled into bolting before she can remember her passenger, and when she does, it's too late - she can feel Andrew slipping off of her back.

There's a tickling sensation around her neck as Secret stirs from its hiding place. Before Andrew can slip more than an inch or so, a thin, black tentacle darts out and wraps around his wrist. A moment later, another one appears, seizing his other wrist. Realizing what the darking is doing, Daine ups the pace, dashing through the Grand Army plaza, under a carriage (with a mental apology to the horse), and over a little stone wall. Safe in the greenery of the park, she finally stops, her tail fluffed to twice its already considerable size.

"Fast," Secret says in its tiny voice. "Fun!"

Mysterious things that come from nowhere and bind his wrists don't exactly top Andrew's list of creatures he assumes to be friendly. He squawks loudly when he starts to slip, sure Daine's going to leave him there in the street to get run over...and then more loudly still when something prevents that from happening. He's torn between trying to cling on with its help and trying to struggle free, but fortunately opts for the latter when Daine picks up speed and really puts him in danger of falling.

After an unwelcome roller coaster ride (complete with surprise bondage), they finally come to a stop in the park, Andrew is surprised to find himself still on Daine's back. After a moment or two of consternated panting, he twists to look at the thing holding onto him, and tries to pull a hand free.

"What?!" he demands, his own voice climbing in pitch.

The darking releases Andrew, and Daine sits, allowing Andrew to slide off of her back. So much for keeping Secret... well, a secret. Aly won't be pleased, but then again, Daine trusts Andrew. And she's not sorry the darking kept him from being dumped in the street.

She shifts her entire head this time and gives Andrew an apologetic look. The darking curls back around her neck, though it raises a blobby head and cants it in Andrew's direction. "Sorry about that. Are you okay?"

At this point, he's going to slide off whether he wants to or not. Andrew stumbles when he hits the ground but keeps his feet this time, even managing to avoid stepping on her tail.

"I'm fine," he says distractedly, staring at the creature around Daine's neck. Was that there before? He doesn't remember that being there before. There's an awful lot of fur in that area, though -- well, there's an awful lot of fur everywhere but Daine's currently human face -- and he can't recall. "Hello?" he asks, looking at the...blob. It spoke before, after all. "What are you, then?"

"Secret," the darking says. Then, turning its head uncertainly from Andrew to Daine, it asks, "Secret helps?"

"You did wonderfully," Daine reassures the darking, who stretches to rub its head against her cheek. To Andrew, she adds, "He's called a darking. Aly brought him through the rift with her."

Andrew snorts in amusement. He gets that it's sharing its name, but it's almost comically apt. "And he's been a secret ever since," he chuckles. He's...not sure how he feels about that. Just how long has Daine been carrying around a whole person he didn't know about? Stepping closer, he reaches a hand out, not touching Secret but putting his fingers near as if to ask permission.

"I'm Andrew," he tells the darking, though he can guess that he probably already knows.

After a moment of hesitation, the darking reaches a tendril out in Andrew's direction. It feels a bit like a water balloon, being made of liquid... blood, more specifically, but Daine isn't about to share that. It's probably more than she even ought to know.

"Andrew," the darking repeats, though it's not exactly a stranger to him, as Andrew's already surmised. "Friend?" it asks hopefully, lifting its head. Daine bites back an anxious smile, hoping Andrew won't hurt the poor thing's feelings. Or start peppering it with questions. She's not sure which would be worse.

"Friend," agrees Andrew with a grin. "And thank you -- you startled me, but thank you." Look, he's even properly grateful that it stopped him from going splat on the pavement and/or under a bus. "But what is a darking? Are you native to Aly and Daine's world? Do you always go around hidden, or is that new since you came here?"

Secret hesitates again, withdrawing its little arm. "Can't say," it says before reshaping itself into a necklace, the little head vanishing.

Daine's tail twitches, and she lifts a paw. "We should probably keep moving," she says, mindful of how near they still are to the bustle of the sidewalk. She hardly dares to hope Andrew is going to just let the matter of the darking drop entirely, but maybe she can put him off until he gets distracted by something else.

"Oh, don't --" Andrew frowns at the abrupt end to the conversation, stepping closer to try to see where its head's gone. Into the rest of it, apparently, and he invades Daine's space without thinking about it to part her fur and look at the necklace-shaped darking.

Looking up, he remembers belatedly that they're still in a public place. "Probably," he agrees reluctantly. "Was it something I said?"

Excuse you, Andrew. Daine clears her throat and leans back a little, giving him a disapproving look that is only a little less impressive for being on a human face instead of a feline one. "He's called Secret for a reason," she says simply. Then, to forestall any more questions, she shapes her head back to a cat's and crouches once more.

No hard feelings from the darking, though, and a little black arm pokes up out of her fur in case Andrew wants the extra handhold.

Frooooown. "But --"

And she's gone and changed her head back. How's he supposed to get answers now? Huffing in annoyance, Andrew starts to climb, notices the handhold, and takes advantage of it. Soon enough he's perched once more atop Mount Daine.

"You remember where the TARDIS is?" he asks belatedly, experimenting with sitting upright.

Daine rises to her feet and lets out a chirp of confirmation. She knows the Ramble better than most other areas of the park. It's still a bit of a hike, of course, but now she has more cover to take advantage of... not to mention more friends about. It's no coincidence that when any two-leggers get too close to Daine and her passenger (or passengers, counting Secret), they soon find themselves distracted by the scolding of a squirrel or a sparrow darting past their heads.

Even with the help, and with Daine moving at a good little clip, it takes the better part of an hour for them to actually reach the TARDIS. By that point, Daine's tired enough to not feel like shifting her head again, so she presses a paw against the wooden door and lets out a strident meow by way of greeting.

Edited 2013-10-25 03:35 (UTC)

Andrew, meanwhile, is finally starting to think about where all the other Andrews will have got to while he's traveling to the TARDIS. Even at this size, he never expected it to take this long -- perhaps one of the others will have got there first? He doesn't see how, though.

Riding a cat for an hour is more taxing than he would have thought, too, even when he shifts position a few times to relieve the ache in his legs and back. When he sees the TARDIS up ahead he lets out a groan of relief, and only just resists the urge to slide off Daine's back when she comes to a halt. Instead he pushes himself upright again and lifts an arm to wave at the TARDIS's sensors. "It's me, Andrew! Let us in!" he calls.

The TARDIS completely disregards the approaching stray cat, being quite used to the more intrepid of the local wildlife using her as perches or sometimes a source of warmth. She wouldn't even deign the animal with attention when it meows at her, except that's when she picks up the tiny life sign that is Andrew. A very small Andrew riding a cat. She definitely wasn't expecting that.

But thankfully the Doctor is home, so she won't have to deal with this confusing turn of events herself. Quickly getting over her initial bafflement, she opens the door to bring Andrew to safety and then gives the Doctor a rather alarmed mental nudge to draw his attention away from the recalibrations he's been doing. She throws in a few rapidly blinking lights on the console for good measure, just to express how startling she finds this.

It doesn't occur to Daine that the TARDIS hasn't recognized her yet (how else could Andrew have roped a cat into acting as his personal taxi service?), so she walks right in once the door is opened, not wanting to seem as twitchy as she was the first time. Being in cat shape makes things a bit interesting, and she swivels her ears to catch little noises she hadn't heard the first time around - and resolutely tries not to get too distracted by the blinking console lights.

She heads for the chair, figuring it'll be more comfortable for both of them and get Andrew a bit closer to head height. It's no great leap for a cat, but she expects it will unseat Andrew if the darking doesn't help. Reshaping her mouth for a moment, she orders, "Hold on, both of you." Secret stirs around her neck, and Daine gives him a moment to grab onto Andrew before jumping up onto the chair.

There we are. Much better than the floor. Daine stretches along the seat, giving herself a breather and making it easier for Andrew to get down.

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