bluesuit_handy: (.surprised | you have to be kidding)
bluesuit_handy ([personal profile] bluesuit_handy) wrote in [community profile] 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.
wildmage_daine: (worried)

[personal profile] wildmage_daine 2013-11-19 02:10 am (UTC)(link)
Daine arches an eyebrow at Andrew. If he can't figure out the way his own mind works, she's not sure what sort of insight she (or the cat) is supposed to provide. Before she can say as much, though, the cat paws at her hand to get her attention.

He looked to be in bad shape.

"What?" Daine says, alarmed, turning her full attention back to the cat. "Did you see what happened?"

I don't know how he was hurt, but I didn't run that far after the dog came after me. He sounds disdainful, but his tail fluffs a little at the memory. She had a boy with her. He took your little two-legger friend.
wildmage_daine: (a whale needs me)

[personal profile] wildmage_daine 2013-11-19 02:30 am (UTC)(link)
"Someone else picked one of you up," she says, still frowning down at the cat. "What did he look like?" she asks. Then, "What did the dog look like?" She's more likely to be familiar with the animal than the two-legger, and even if not, she can find a dog with far more ease.
wildmage_daine: (haaair)

[personal profile] wildmage_daine 2013-11-19 03:22 am (UTC)(link)
The cat puts his ears back at Andrew's sudden proximity and lashes his tail in irritation. Making an effort to reign in her own worry, Daine runs her hand down the cat's spine and sends him a little thread of reassurance. "It's all right," she tells the cat. "He's just worried; we both are." Giving Andrew a mildly reproachful look, she adds, "And off course the dog didn't eat you. I just said someone else picked you up, didn't I?"

Of course, she hasn't shared the fact that the other Andrew's hurt, but she's not sure if it would really help matters if she did.

"Please, what did they look like?" she prompts again, her voice low and even.

The cat stares at Andrew for a moment, then looks up at Daine. This, he says, sending her a mental image of the boy and the dog. Daine's brow furrows for a moment, and then she grins in sudden recognition.

"Oh! It's Edgar!"
wildmage_daine: (kind)

[personal profile] wildmage_daine 2013-11-19 03:58 am (UTC)(link)
"He's a friend who lives at the base. I found him when he first got here a few months ago. I'm sure he's taking good care of you." She gives Andrew's shoulder a reassuring pat with the hand that isn't already occupied with her feline informant.

"I don't think he's been here before, though... maybe I should try to go meet him." It might not be safe to assume that Edgar's Andrew has even told him to go to the TARDIS (assuming he's capable of telling Edgar anything at all; the cat really wasn't clear on how badly he was hurt).
wildmage_daine: (profile - concerned)

[personal profile] wildmage_daine 2013-11-19 04:56 am (UTC)(link)
"Well..." Daine's smile fades, and she gives Andrew an anxious sidelong glance. She really can't hide this from him, can she? "I think it might be best if we try and get him here. The cat said he wasn't in very good shape."
wildmage_daine: (concerned for others)

[personal profile] wildmage_daine 2013-11-19 05:27 am (UTC)(link)
He was under a bush when I found him, the cat explains, watching Andrew warily. I'm not sure how he got there, but he was looking ragged - and there was blood. From his head, I think.

Daine pales. Cooperative as this cat has been (for a cat), it really would have been nice to get that particular tidbit earlier. How much?

The cat considers. Quite a bit on his head. Not so much everywhere else.

She knows from experience how dramatic head wounds can look, even if they aren't that bad, but this still isn't very reassuring. Daine stands, lifting the cat up along with her. "I'm definitely going to find them," she decides.
wildmage_daine: (confident)

[personal profile] wildmage_daine 2013-11-19 01:33 pm (UTC)(link)
"Head wound," she admits as she carries the cat to the door. "But those always look scary, even when they're not so bad."

Then again, if he's taken a knock to the head - even a relatively light one that he could recover from without too much fuss - he still might be too addled right now to direct Edgar much of anywhere. And that's assuming he hasn't conked out completely.

Thank you, she tells the cat as she gently sets him down outside the TARDIS. You've been a marvelous help. The cat twines around her legs, then picks his way off through the leaves.

Turning her attention to Andrew, she gives him a sympathetic once-over. He'll look a bit weird running around the park all mid-sized with one trouser leg in tatters, but he's already insisted on coming along, and she really doesn't have any way of stopping him.

"I'm going to take dog shape," she decides. That'll make it easier to focus on the dogs in the area without also losing a grip on the shape she's in. "If anyone fusses over me running around, you can just say I've slipped my lead."
wildmage_daine: (hiding a smile)

[personal profile] wildmage_daine 2013-11-20 03:06 am (UTC)(link)
She considers protesting that there's little point in him lugging her bathrobe around - it isn't even really hers, and she's not about to do any shifting in the middle of the park - but then it occurs to her that he could use it if the cold air proved too much for his shredded trousers. At the very least, he could hold it in such a way that it would help block the wind. Or the other Andrew could be wrapped in it. Yes, better to bring it and not need it than need it and not have it.

"All right," she agrees. After a beat, she adds, "Oh, and one more thing: if I snarl at you, it doesn't mean I'm thinking of biting you. It just means I think you're being a bit of a dolt."

With that reassurance (and a brief little smile), she shuts her eyes and shifts. Wiry, grey fur ripples down her body, and a few moments later, Daine the wolfhound is awkwardly wriggling out of the still-tied robe.
Edited 2013-11-20 03:19 (UTC)
wildmage_daine: (hound happy)

[personal profile] wildmage_daine 2013-11-20 03:46 am (UTC)(link)
Maybe she should have picked a smaller dog. It belatedly occurs to her that once she gets out of this dratted robe, she and Andrew will be just about matched at the shoulder. Oh, well. She wags her tail appreciatively as he helps her with the knot, though her mind is already elsewhere. Surely Almondine is in her range...

Of course, her range isn't what it was three hours ago. But she thinks she feels a faint, familiar spark not too far off. Getting cold and wet would improve matters on Daine's end, but she's pretty sure that if she took a quick dip in the Lake just now, Andrew would think she'd taken leave of her senses.

At least she has a direction to work with. And even better: if she's not mistaken, Edgar and Almondine are on a pretty direct route from the library to the Ramble. Andrew must have been able to tell them where the TARDIS was.

Once she's free of the bathrobe, she gives Andrew a doggy grin and wags her tail harder - hopefully he'll gather that she's worked out where they are - and then purposefully heads down to the nearest pathway. She'd doubtless go faster if she was alone, but she doesn't want to tax Andrew's newly-patched leg.
wildmage_daine: (hound worry)

[personal profile] wildmage_daine 2013-11-20 04:24 am (UTC)(link)
... Define 'far.' They aren't as close as she'd like them to be, but they're at least within the boundaries of the park. She considers for a moment, then lets out a sort of two-syllable bark: they're somewhere in between.
wildmage_daine: (hound happy)

[personal profile] wildmage_daine 2013-11-20 04:28 am (UTC)(link)
So much for him taking her meaning. She considers barking three times just to flummox him, then just barks once. Better to have him pleasantly surprised because they reached Edgar sooner than expected than to have him griping because he thinks it's taking too long.
wildmage_daine: (hound calm)

[personal profile] wildmage_daine 2013-11-20 04:56 am (UTC)(link)
You'd think being friends with Daine would have already disabused him of that notion. It's not as if he understands any animals, after all.

At least she can reassure him a little. She barks once again: yes, they're on their way.