001

[tigerstriped]

[Locked to 435 Peepers Street]
[ Obviously this is a dream. Obviously. He can't remember a dream like this, but it's pretty damn elaborate. And bright. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. And as he looked to his left and saw the empty eyes across from him, he found himself leaning towards the latter. This solidified once she uttered the word "children."

Rose from one nightmare to find himself in another. Well then. This was a terrible hand to be dealt.

This place was like nothing he had ever seen, and all of it served to make his headache even worse. However, the detail that stuck out to Spike the most, at least to him, was the fridge. He wasn't even half-dressed, despite (and perhaps fueled by) the doll's constant chittering about him going to work. He was honestly in no hurry. So what harm could a little peek in the fridge do?

So he opens the fridge - and he just stares into it. Anyone coming through the kitchen will notice the half-dressed man standing in front of the fridge, gawking into it's confines. Hypnotized, almost.

Well, wouldn't you be surprised if there's actual meat in the fridge? Come on. ]

[Action - Throughout the Town - Early Morning]
[ His wife told him he had to go to work. He told her that he didn't have a job, not the kind she was harping about anyway. Hell, he didn't even know who she was, or the brats that were his supposed children. She wasn't having any of that though. She was smiling even more audaciously, and he assumed this was how she showed irritation. There was no winning, it seemed, so he decided to roll with the waves.

He still wasn't planning on going to work. There were plenty of reasons. Biggest one? He had no idea where he was.

So. Step one. Find what the hell this place is. Spike decides to hit the concrete. His coat is draped over his shoulder, and he's giving everything a once over. Needless to say, he does not look impressed. Rather bored, actually, like he's been kidnapped ten times over and this was nothing new.

He's trying to be inconspicuous, but he has a green jewfro and a slump as wide as a camel's back. So. ]

[Action - Grocery Store - Late afternoon]
[ Spike eventually finds himself buried deep within the confines of the Grocery Store. He's propped up against a wall, his face buried in a magazine. Occasionally his eyes will linger away from the magazine, but only for a second before diving right back in.

It doesn't look like he's here to buy anything. Actually, from the rather heavy bag at his side, it appears as if he's already checked out. Spike is not hiding this fact whatsoever. It also doesn't look like he's going to be shoplifting today either. He's got all the necessities. Nope - all he plans on doing is sitting back to read every last magazine on the shelf, no matter how bland and uninteresting the content is.

He is currently on Ladies' Home Journal. Exciting stuff. ]

Comments

around town

[reflames]

[There is a lady floating in midair. And she is looking at Spike as if he is the weird one.]

...nice hair.

[tigerstriped]

[ Spike gives the floating woman with flowing hair a glance.

Nope, nothing wrong with this picture. ]

Do I detect a hint of sarcasm?

[reflames]

Smart man. [Look okay jewfros aren't common in Gensokyo....................]

grocery store

[dreamofspice]

[There's a woman peeking around you to see what you're reading, Spike.]

Anything interesting?

[tigerstriped]

[ Spike does not look back, but he's aware that someone's hovering behind him. ]

Apparently red is a very popular color. Other than that? Not really.

[dreamofspice]

Well that's convenient. I like red.

[She steps out from behind him to look at him, smiling. She's got a bag of groceries on her arm.]

But if there isn't that much interesting about it, why are you still reading it?

GROCERY STORE

[webball]

[Enter one Peter Parker, still feeling a bit overwhelmed by the whole craziness of the hospital abductions. He's not feeling the effects of the actual procedure, but he DOES feel what he imagines a hangover might feel like. He wouldn't know: he's never gotten drunk. He's never had more than a glass of champagne, actually, at his wedding. Too dangerous for a super hero. Besides, it'd probably just be... really embarrassing. "Lightweight" might be generous -- try "molecule-weight" and maybe you'd be onto something.

Still, he wanders into the store, looking for something simple and fattening to munch on, like potato chips or popcorn. Maybe some candy bars. There's no one in the store right now but the clerk, a drone who walked past Peter and out onto the sidewalk, and some guy reading... Ladies Home Journal?

...Maybe he's a masochist. Or suicidal. ...Or gay? ...No, probably a masochist. No gay guy would spend his afternoon in a store reading THAT for fun. ...Probably.]

[tigerstriped]

[ Hey. Don't laugh. This magazine is chock full of helpful advice. Where else will he learn how to make Fricasseed Turkey, or how to dust in those hard to reach areas? That's right. In the other magazines aimed at housewives - the ones that he has, of course, read through already and left on the floor.

Spike can feel someone watching him from afar, and he tries his best to pretend otherwise. It's what he would normally do. Then again, he's pretty damned irked and that's why he gives-up the ghost and chooses to react anyway.

The clerk is minding his own business. The only other person in the store is some guy shuffling about the snack foods. Spike doesn't say anything and he stares almost dispassionately. ]

[webball]

[Er... Well! HERE is some awkward-sauce. Peter's caught staring by this blunt guy and starts a little, caught off balance. He clears his throat and gestures at the magazine pile.]

S-so! You look like you either can't find the library or you mildly hate yourself. Though, hey, both is always a possibility.

[Action - Throughout the Town - Early Morning]

[captainofthe10th]

[ Someone isn't even trying to be inconspicuous, on the other hand. A hugely armored figure in white plate, riding a motorcycle as large as a compact car and utterly festooned with weapons is just driving down the road like it ain't no thing. Too large to be human, it looks over at Spike and his slumping movement. ]

You new?

[tigerstriped]

[ Spike isn't even going to hide his expression. The bike is a nasty piece of work, probably coated from head to toe in weapons. The thought of anyone legitimately riding it is a headache, though once you consider the man riding the beast, it all makes sense.

Nice ride. Spike could build that. Probably.

He senses that this guy wasn't about to launch a full out attack. Spike doesn't let himself relax. ]

That's one way of putting it. [ Pause, searching the bike again. ] Funny, I didn't expect the welcoming committee to be armed.

[captainofthe10th]

It wouldn't be, normally. Most of the time it is just young men with handy pamphlets explaining your kidnapping, but I feel greeting people like this impresses the seriousness of the situation upon them.

So, how long have you been in Mayfield, ser....?

Action - Grocery Store - Late afternoon

[thekingofkamenriders]

[Tsukasa was also in the Grocery store, picking up some essentials too. He notices the guy reading the magazines. He gives the guy a stoic nod.]

Anything good?

[tigerstriped]

[ Spike looks over at the new guy, giving a stale glance back at the magazine in his hands. He shakes his head. ]

You're asking the wrong guy. [ He taps his cheek. ] Though they don't sell instant noodles, so there's that.

[thekingofkamenriders]

[Tsukasa indicated to the magazine.]

I was talking about the magazines. I haven't had a chance to look at them yet.

Grocery Store

[fthisgetmecigs]

[Badou is sort of chilling by the counter, grocering it up and smoking up a storm as usual. Dude, the poofy-haired guy's been there a long time...]

Oi, are ya gonna buy that? This ain't a library. [Of course this reprimand sounds more like a bored and half-assed attempt at a reprimand more than anything.]

[tigerstriped]

[ As far as he's concerned, this is his own personal library.

Spike looks back up, giving Badou an innocent look. Almost reflexively, Spike lowers the magazine and reaches into his pocket for his carton of Lucky Strike. At least they had those here. ]

You guys sell instant noodles?

[ Yes. This is much more important than his using the grocer's as a library. ]

435 peepers st.

[masonry]

[ Kid’s gotten used to the whole daily routine by now. Pretty easy stuff, if you can get past the monotony. All he had to do was get up, get ready, and wait a minute.

He stops after walking through the kitchen, backing up to do a double take. Yeah. There was definitely someone going through the fridge. And it looked like he just rolled out of bed, too. Kid gives a few side glances before settling to just staring at the guy, unsure of where to even go with this. ]

... What’re ya doing?

[tigerstriped]

There's beef in the fridge. Brisket by the looks of it.

[ There's a pause, like he's about to say something else. He doesn't, not even to answer the question, and the silence lingers in the room.

Spike had already run into the other kid, the girl. She has her mother's smile. Spike simply wrote the son up as being cut from the same cloth, and left it at that. Big surprise. ]

You're - [ Pause. ] You don't look like them.

Grocery Store

[busy_fists]

[Here comes a guy who looks to have bought entirely too many baking supplies. Bag upon bag of flour, sugar, eggs, milk, and all of that sort of thing. On his way toward the exit, he tips his hat to Spike. It's the neighborly thing to do.]

Grocery Store

[tigerstriped]

[ This guy looks like he's planning on baking a hundred cakes. It's pretty hard for Spike not to notice. Spike looks up from his magazine, and gives the friendly neighbor a nod. ]

You've got enough flour there?

[ action - grocery store ]

[outlandished]

[ 'Sup, Spike. Hope you don't mind that Ambrosia's taken an interest in you, because man, that magazine seems to be really interesting to her, too. Her arms are folded across her chest with her fully dressed in her pirate regalia. ]

Don't know 'bout ye, mate, but I don't think tha' makin' crafts is yer thing.

[ Isn't she a hoot? ]

[tigerstriped]

Really? You think?

[ It's funny. Seeing someone dressed as a pirate is nowhere near as weird as some of the crap he's seen today. So he just turns around and gives Ambrosia a searching look. ]

Somehow? I don't think it's yours either.

[ Burn. ]

Park, early morning

[aozaki]

[If he passes by John Doe Park, he might catch a strange sight.

There's a redhead woman sporting a ponytail in an orange coat leisurely seated on a bench, idly taking a smoke with her legs crossed. In the area in front of her, there's what seems to be a black cat with piercing golden eyes, but even from his distance it should be obvious that the cat doesn't look normal. The cat isn't just sitting there either, it's lazily chasing/pawing at a... Butterfly? Whatever it is, it seems like a glowing orb of red/orange with wings hovering around the cat, and it looks like it's controlled by the tip of the cigarette that the woman is holding. That's not something you see everyday, though both looked pretty relaxed and at ease.

Approach/ask/keep watching?]

[tigerstriped]

[ Well. Would you look at this.

He watches the cat curiously, though he doesn't appear to be too interested. At first he just lingers on the eyes, but soon enough he trails off. He notices the butterfly soon enough, or how it glows nearly as bright as the cat's eyes. Spike isn't sure what to make of it, and he stares for a moment before eventually looking over at the woman in the seat. He looks at her, and at the cigarette between her fingers. He makes the connection. ]]

Eventually it'll just give up trying. You know that, right?