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bigapplesauce2013-10-20 11:16 pm
bluesuit_handy) wrote in bigapplesauce2013-10-20 11:16 pm
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.
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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"That's a fair bit different," he points out, amused.
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But they're getting sidetracked. "Look," she says frankly, "I can't just leave you out here. Is there anywhere I could, er, carry you?" At least she's not unfamiliar with having tiny humanoid passengers.
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He can't let her know where the TARDIS is. Or that the TARDIS exists at all, frankly. His secondary option of going to the rebel base is similarly out of the question, and while he could stand to risk himself by letting her in on the location of his home, he won't put James in that danger. Topher's never ratted on them, but him knowing is already too much. He sniffs in another deep breath, feeling suddenly very stuck indeed.
"My flat's in Chelsea," he finally says, deciding it's safe enough to let her know the neighborhood. "But I don't imagine you want to take me that far -- really, I'll be alright on my own. I've got through worse scrapes."
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Although then there's Aglet. She might be all right leaving the Beast at home, and the Beast might not mind, but the Borrower probably would. Damn. Well, she'll cross that bridge when she comes to it. Aglet ought to understand the importance of helping someone else his size, anyway.
"If it's too far for me, what's it for you?" she asks, eyebrows raised. "I don't have cab fare or anything on me, but we could swing by my flat and get some. I'd rather do that than leave you out here to be eaten by a hawk or something."
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Or he could go to her flat and get an inside look at how a ward of ROMAC lives. Of course, then she'll expect to deliver him home.
He gives her a brave smile. "Hawks? In Manhattan?"
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Okay, maybe he would, since he's so determined to be self-sufficient, but still. He ought to know by now that this universe isn't exactly set up for Borrowers or Borrower-sized people.
"And yes, hawks," she says, a wry smile tugging at her lips. "I saw one earlier." It was more to the south, but that hardly matters. It would only take a hawk a few minutes to fly the length of the park, and it would take Andrew longer than that just to make it to Fifth Avenue.
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"...Ah." Andrew can't help but look up. And here he'd nearly managed to forget for a minute or two that he's incredibly vulnerable in his current state. His gaze alights on Jennifer again, though, as his eyes light up with amusement. "His name is Aglet? Like the plastic bit on a shoelace?"
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And if she can get him to her flat, it'd be that much easier for her to get him home. "I'm sure he'd love to meet you. There's no one else here anywhere near his size."
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He laughs. "Does he have an uncle named Zipper-Pull Refrigerator? No, sorry -- sorry, rude. Sorry." He's still laughing, though.
And, well, it's either accept the offer or run away, really, and only one of those options both grants him temporary access to the ROMAC apartments and gets him down to Chelsea. "Alright," he decides when his latest fit of giggles passes.
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That sobering fact helps dismiss the urge to laugh, and she occupies herself with setting her bag on the ground. It's not much, just large enough to hold some plastic bags (to pick up the piles of ball bearings the Beast tends to leave behind) and a few sundry bits of metal she could use as distractions or rewards for good behavior. But it has an extra outer pocket with a flap over it - just the sort of thing for a Borrower to ride along in without being spotted or feeling too exposed. Whether she'll be able to persuade Aglet to actually use it remains to be seen.
"Pop yourself in there, then," she advises, unbuttoning the flap and lifting it so Andrew can climb aboard.
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Raising an eyebrow -- does Aglet ride in this pocket? -- he climbs inside, taking a tumble as he makes it over the lip of the pocket. "I love what you've done with the place!" he calls from where he lays splayed at the bottom.
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And he might do, after Andrew tells him what a fun time he had in said pocket. Jennifer grins. "Only the best for the sentient action figures I keep running across," she mutters, slowly standing up with the bag. She might as well get it settled, first, or she'll just keep sending him straight to the bottom of the pocket every time she readjusts. Once its resting against her hip, she says, "All right. How are you doing in there?"
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"What's that?" he calls, trying to stand up immediately. He's not so successful at that, though, and begins to wish he'd been more careful to land feet down. It's not an easy thing to get his weight off his back and shoulders. It becomes slightly less difficult when the bag finally stops shifting around, and he at least gets himself seated upright. He calls back, "Shaken, but not stirred!"
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"Just let me know if it gets uncomfortable," she says. There's nothing in the bag that's too sharp or pokey, but she can rearrange the contents (or just feed them to the Beast, who has sort of earned it by being so patient).
With that, she heads for Fifth Avenue, the Quarkbeast trotting by her side.
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If he'd been better at hiding, he wouldn't have met someone from Romac on friendly terms and unexpectedly gained not only knowledge of where their housing is, but access inside as well. Anyway, she can get him home. He's not thrilled about Jennifer finding out where he and James live, lest she make inquiries within Romac and find that they're not registered, but he has yet to come up with a better plan.
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...IMMEDIATELY.