The Color of Horror || Easy Job, Right?
Nov. 4th, 2021 10:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsTopaz informs the emergency post responders what their job for the day is - salvage as much out of Avalon as possible.
The old mansion church was... a bit of a mess. Empty boxes were piled in one corner, full boxes (with a magical shield around them) in another, and several medium-sized stone statues standing guard. There was something chaotic in the air - an energy that definitely didn't belong. The feeling of Wrong intensified when Topaz shouldered her way through the door, then leaned against it to close it with a huff, arms full with one large box. Something inside it rattled dangerously.
"Right," she said, handing the box off to one of the statues that made its way over. "That one goes in the office with the rest of the questionably alive things."
She knew emptying out an entire dimensional pocket that she'd never even seen the full extent of was absolutely impossible, but there were things in there that predated the human race. She had to try.
"Oh, brilliant," she said with some relief when she saw everyone who had gathered. "Hello. Thank you all for having nothing better to do today. Like I said in the post, Avalon is falling apart thanks to that bloody book and we're just trying to save whatever we can from there. Tricky part is that all of it is magic and some of it is dangerous. So, two rules. Don't touch something without asking first, and don't listen to the voices. Any questions?"
"Did you rehearse that?" Kyle had his hair pulled back into a ponytail, gloves with the fingers ripped off on his hands, and for once, a pair of sturdy looking motorcycle boots. "But for serious, how do we know what's safe to move around?"
"If it's in a box, it's safe." Topaz scanned the group, taking note for the first time of who had come. "Amanda, Doug, Wanda, Namor, you lot are on packing duty. Unless there's a note on it that says don't touch, and don't worry, those are fairly obvious. Everyone else, boxes." One of the other statues wandered over to Topaz, poking her leg. "Right, these guys will be helping pack too. They can touch pretty much anything since..." She tapped on its head. "Rock."
"Glad I have steel toes on my Docs," Amanda remarked, looking down at the 'helpers'. "Okay, any books you can't ID right away, call for Doug or Tandy. Wanda and I will be dealing with the odds and sods, and His Royal Majesty here gets to pack or label the larger stuff we can't move. That work for everyone?"
"We encourage you to remember 'His Royal Majesty' is merely here to ascertain that nothing else from Atlantis winds up lining your pockets. I claim all rights to my people's relics." Namor paused then, floating in the dark, as he surveyed the motley crew. "In return, I will indulge you with some hard work."
"Books books books, I'm gonna pack so many books," Doug sang to himself. He'd had a very careful discussion with the nanites about overreaction to ambient magic. And he was wearing gloves, and had an epi-pen stashed for emergency. ~So basically I'm giving them exposure/desensitization therapy?~ he thought with an amused shake of his head. "And then I'm gonna have to -lift- so many books. Thank god for being back in the gym and rebuilding muscle mass."
"See I thought the best part about being back in the gym was getting to drop me on my ass when we spar," Darcy replied, giving Doug a smirk and a poke to the side. "I have bags with dividers for some of the lighter stuff, and gloves for anyone who wants them, because Avalon did not get less weird after exploding. Otherwise, I've got the last inventory and more importantly, a labeling system for what room each box ends up in so we can find it later."
"These boxes okay to move?" Matt asked interrupting as he nodded towards a set of closed boxes. For obvious reasons, he was on box-moving duty, not box packing duty. Damn no touching. "And the best part about the gym is all the various people to spar with. Keeps you on your toes with all the different styles."
Darcy bit her lip to muffle her laughter. "Once I've graduated beyond basic holds and learning to throw a punch maybe we can spar, Matt? I can step on your toes, you can listen to the thud of my ass hitting the floor."
"We can spar anytime," Matt resisted the urge to leer just a little. "You never learn if you don't' try. It'll be fun."
Wanda stood up from the crouch she was in, where she'd been carefully packing a new box full of amulets, making sure each one was wrapped in a special dampening cloth. She walked over to the boxes in question Matt was asking about. "Yes, they're good to move. Safe and all sealed up. Mostly books but one or two of them have some heavier items in them."
"Point me at anything too heavy for you, bicho," America offered. "I was built for manual labor."
“The fact that none of you have asked Kyle why he looks like a Barista right now is disappointing.” Jubilee noted as she picked up a box and glanced at Topaz. “Do we just take them and place them in the church, or you want them put somewhere further away?”
The door behind Topaz rattled slightly. She grimaced. "Put them outside the door for now. The statues can take care of getting everything where it belongs."
Kyle snorted, and shuffled over to loom over Jubilee, bend over and loosen his ponytail onto her face. "Can the statues throw Jubes into a dumpster, I heard a rumor she likes that."
"Could I get a set of gloves and a spare just in case?" Alani flashed a quick smile to Darcy before turning her attention back to Topaz. "We can stack the boxes, right? Or they'll be labeled elsewise? Insert any other hypothetical safety concern question here, I guess. I'm kinda, I don't know shit, my dear and guess I'd rather have my bases covered than not."
"Absolutely." Darcy handed the gloves over to Alani without fuss, then set everything to the side of the door so others could grab them as desired.
"Boxes have been enchanted so nothing clashes, the statues could probably throw her in the dumpster? Maybe later." Topaz shrugged, distracted.
"The statues could do what now?" Molly said, doing a double take.
The door rattled again. Topaz winced. "All right, everyone knows what they're doing? Just remember what I said - don't listen to the voices, and don't touch unless it's a box or you have permission. And one more thing." She slid what looked like a small, innocuous little plastic ball out of her pocket. "This is an emergency alarm. If I set it off, go for the door, no questions asked. It'll make a really loud, high-pitched noise that's hard to miss. Sorry to people with sensitive hearing. Let's go."
The old mansion church was... a bit of a mess. Empty boxes were piled in one corner, full boxes (with a magical shield around them) in another, and several medium-sized stone statues standing guard. There was something chaotic in the air - an energy that definitely didn't belong. The feeling of Wrong intensified when Topaz shouldered her way through the door, then leaned against it to close it with a huff, arms full with one large box. Something inside it rattled dangerously.
"Right," she said, handing the box off to one of the statues that made its way over. "That one goes in the office with the rest of the questionably alive things."
She knew emptying out an entire dimensional pocket that she'd never even seen the full extent of was absolutely impossible, but there were things in there that predated the human race. She had to try.
"Oh, brilliant," she said with some relief when she saw everyone who had gathered. "Hello. Thank you all for having nothing better to do today. Like I said in the post, Avalon is falling apart thanks to that bloody book and we're just trying to save whatever we can from there. Tricky part is that all of it is magic and some of it is dangerous. So, two rules. Don't touch something without asking first, and don't listen to the voices. Any questions?"
"Did you rehearse that?" Kyle had his hair pulled back into a ponytail, gloves with the fingers ripped off on his hands, and for once, a pair of sturdy looking motorcycle boots. "But for serious, how do we know what's safe to move around?"
"If it's in a box, it's safe." Topaz scanned the group, taking note for the first time of who had come. "Amanda, Doug, Wanda, Namor, you lot are on packing duty. Unless there's a note on it that says don't touch, and don't worry, those are fairly obvious. Everyone else, boxes." One of the other statues wandered over to Topaz, poking her leg. "Right, these guys will be helping pack too. They can touch pretty much anything since..." She tapped on its head. "Rock."
"Glad I have steel toes on my Docs," Amanda remarked, looking down at the 'helpers'. "Okay, any books you can't ID right away, call for Doug or Tandy. Wanda and I will be dealing with the odds and sods, and His Royal Majesty here gets to pack or label the larger stuff we can't move. That work for everyone?"
"We encourage you to remember 'His Royal Majesty' is merely here to ascertain that nothing else from Atlantis winds up lining your pockets. I claim all rights to my people's relics." Namor paused then, floating in the dark, as he surveyed the motley crew. "In return, I will indulge you with some hard work."
"Books books books, I'm gonna pack so many books," Doug sang to himself. He'd had a very careful discussion with the nanites about overreaction to ambient magic. And he was wearing gloves, and had an epi-pen stashed for emergency. ~So basically I'm giving them exposure/desensitization therapy?~ he thought with an amused shake of his head. "And then I'm gonna have to -lift- so many books. Thank god for being back in the gym and rebuilding muscle mass."
"See I thought the best part about being back in the gym was getting to drop me on my ass when we spar," Darcy replied, giving Doug a smirk and a poke to the side. "I have bags with dividers for some of the lighter stuff, and gloves for anyone who wants them, because Avalon did not get less weird after exploding. Otherwise, I've got the last inventory and more importantly, a labeling system for what room each box ends up in so we can find it later."
"These boxes okay to move?" Matt asked interrupting as he nodded towards a set of closed boxes. For obvious reasons, he was on box-moving duty, not box packing duty. Damn no touching. "And the best part about the gym is all the various people to spar with. Keeps you on your toes with all the different styles."
Darcy bit her lip to muffle her laughter. "Once I've graduated beyond basic holds and learning to throw a punch maybe we can spar, Matt? I can step on your toes, you can listen to the thud of my ass hitting the floor."
"We can spar anytime," Matt resisted the urge to leer just a little. "You never learn if you don't' try. It'll be fun."
Wanda stood up from the crouch she was in, where she'd been carefully packing a new box full of amulets, making sure each one was wrapped in a special dampening cloth. She walked over to the boxes in question Matt was asking about. "Yes, they're good to move. Safe and all sealed up. Mostly books but one or two of them have some heavier items in them."
"Point me at anything too heavy for you, bicho," America offered. "I was built for manual labor."
“The fact that none of you have asked Kyle why he looks like a Barista right now is disappointing.” Jubilee noted as she picked up a box and glanced at Topaz. “Do we just take them and place them in the church, or you want them put somewhere further away?”
The door behind Topaz rattled slightly. She grimaced. "Put them outside the door for now. The statues can take care of getting everything where it belongs."
Kyle snorted, and shuffled over to loom over Jubilee, bend over and loosen his ponytail onto her face. "Can the statues throw Jubes into a dumpster, I heard a rumor she likes that."
"Could I get a set of gloves and a spare just in case?" Alani flashed a quick smile to Darcy before turning her attention back to Topaz. "We can stack the boxes, right? Or they'll be labeled elsewise? Insert any other hypothetical safety concern question here, I guess. I'm kinda, I don't know shit, my dear and guess I'd rather have my bases covered than not."
"Absolutely." Darcy handed the gloves over to Alani without fuss, then set everything to the side of the door so others could grab them as desired.
"Boxes have been enchanted so nothing clashes, the statues could probably throw her in the dumpster? Maybe later." Topaz shrugged, distracted.
"The statues could do what now?" Molly said, doing a double take.
The door rattled again. Topaz winced. "All right, everyone knows what they're doing? Just remember what I said - don't listen to the voices, and don't touch unless it's a box or you have permission. And one more thing." She slid what looked like a small, innocuous little plastic ball out of her pocket. "This is an emergency alarm. If I set it off, go for the door, no questions asked. It'll make a really loud, high-pitched noise that's hard to miss. Sorry to people with sensitive hearing. Let's go."
