06. return to abnormal

[sleepwalked]

[ SCENARIO A / early morning / Phone ]

Rise and shine! Ain't no rest for the wicked and all that jazz. Hellooooo?

Okay, so. Can someone please give me the deets on what happened? Besides the obvious shit. I feel like I took the wrong drink from the wrong person. Anyone else feel like they puked up their stomach and NOT because of the deep fried food?

[ Roxy groans a bit, her head hurting and her limbs still numb. What happened in that other world? All she remembers was... darkness after a while.

A moment or two passes. ]

Jake? Once-ler? Nepeta? Birdy-boy? You out there in audio-land? Please be there..

[ SCENARIO B / mid afternoon / a bus stop in town ]

[ Sitting on a bench at a bus stop that seems to always one late, a particular blond is seen smacking her gum obnoxiously. You can find Roxy Lalonde looking a bit under the weather. Perhaps its the throbbing head ache or the tingly sensation in her limbs, but she makes due. She sits with a dark black cat near her lap. Upon further inspection, said black cat has 4 eyes -- wowzers! Pester? ]

Comments

B

[quickly]

[Once again, Scout is on his daily run. Heading toward the bus stop, he sees what appears to be a semi-familiar face and he skids to a halt as soon as he's next to the bench.]

I remember you.

[Before he can say anything else, or inquire about the obvious bad mood Roxy's in, he spots the cat.

With four eyes.]

W-whoa.. WHOA.

[He takes a few steps back and nearly stumbles.]

That.. t-that cat am I seein' shit holy --

[sleepwalked]

[ Oh, it's that running kid again. ]

Likewise. Been joggin' round for the past month?

[ Glancing down at her newly acquired feline friend, she couldn't help but glance back. ]

Nope. Unless you lost your glasses recently...

[ The creature was quick to sit up, nuzzling against Roxy's limp hand. ]

Lotsa weird stuff going on lately, but this little bastard is an old friend.

[quickly]

[Ignoring all other comments, Scout continues to stare at the very strange cat as he speaks:]

Why does it have so many freakin' eyes?! That crap ain't normal ... issit an alien?

[sleepwalked]

Because it was born that way and it doesn't need no discrimination, ok!

[ Defensive cat-lover is defensive. ]

No, it's a clone. Kinda.

[quickly]

But how was it born like that?

[Scout is really confused about all of this.]

A clone of an alien, I got it. Man, I read a lotta comics, I get what's going on here.

A - Phone (-breaks hiatus for Roxy's sake-)

[est33medpouncellor]

[[Nepeta's hiatus is on autopilot mind but... whatever.]]

I'm still here!

[wait-] Are you okay? Lots of people went missing because of the carnival and it was cr33py and scary and I stayed home all day!!

[...] I got some of my old clothes back though.

fdgkdfgkj ;_; I DIDNT KNOW YOU WERE ON HIATUS!

[sleepwalked]

Oh, phew phew.

Yeah, I'm ok, I think. I don't really remember much after a while but... I seem to be in one piece.

[ A pause. ]

Did you? Shit, I get transported away and you get some clothes? I should have stayed home, ugh.

IT'S OKAY. xD I was thinking of cutting it short anyways.

[est33medpouncellor]

PHEW. That's good!

I heard the people who went to the carnival got TWO things back though, so at least there's that?

[H33h33~] It's grreat though, these are almost all of my old clothes! I don't have the purr-beast things, but I have my gr33n coat and evurrything~

[sleepwalked]

Yeah, there's a blessing in this buttfuck of carnage. Sure.

[ She tries not to sound sarcastic, but the girl just feels so drained? ]

I'm real happy for you, Nep. Things are turning out pretty swell for you, surprisingly. Something to be happy about.

phone [1/2]

[truffulacide]

phone [2/2]

[truffulacide]

[you idiot. you careless, thoughtless, great big idiot -]

So the prodigal brat finally returns. Where's the dramatic fanfare when you need it? I'd even settle for a trumpet or two.

oops my boss left time to tag

[sleepwalked]

[ Not what she expected. But, she did disobey suggestions and now she's here to regret it.

Massive headache, limb pains or not -- she scoffed a bit. ]

It's on the way. Kinda got lost in the transition back to Happyfield. Lost the trombonist -- is that even a word? -- on the way here, though. Sorz.

[ No bitterness, just defensiveness.

But she's there fiddling with her scarf -- well, Once-ler's scarf, idly. ]

[truffulacide]

Big sad. I could play you a quick ditty on the guitar, but it'd lack the oomph of a proper orchestral piece. Guilt tripping is an art.

[at least he's up front with it.]

B

[noluckduck]

[Clover is just passing by, and since she doesn't recognise Roxy, she almost walks past with only the standard greeting of "Afternoon" she reserves for people who are not obviously drones or psychopaths.

But then she notices the cat and slows down to stare it at it.] The hell?

[sleepwalked]

[ The stares kept coming, but the little cat just kept following Roxy wherever she went. In some eerie stalker kinda way. ]

What? It's a four eyed cat. Are you really that surprised in a place like this?

[noluckduck]

Well, excuse me for keepin' my goddamn mental sanity. 'Sthat kinda thing normal where you're from?

[sleepwalked]

Just saying. There's odder things out there, open your mind and heart, etc.

[ She shrugs. ]

Normal? Nah. But, common? Yeah.

A

[busy_fists]

Roxy... are you all right?

[sleepwalked]

Yeah. As alright as I can be for someone who doesn't remember the last 24 hours.

[ She stumbles over her words a bit. ]

It wasn't a dream, was it? This place -- no, that other place -- was bad. Real bad.

[busy_fists]

...What exactly happened over there?

[sleepwalked]

I don't know. I uh..

I ran. There were some weird houses. And there was some dark ... really dark things in the sky. And that's the last I remember.

B ; Action

[balzams]

Uhm... is your cat okay?

[Latvia sits down, keeping a bit of a distance between them. Cats don't like him on good days and it reminds him too much of things he saw on the other side. The crutch he had with him is balanced next to his bad leg]

How have you been? Things were a little hectic lately.

[sleepwalked]

[ It takes a minute for Roxy to push her growing bangs out of her face and glance towards the familiar face. ]

It's ok. Just a bit different.

[ The cat seemed perfectly normal otherwise that set of eyes above it's browline! Oh look, it's attempting to be friendly. ]

But are you ok?

[ A pause. ]

Could be better. Hectic is not the proper word to describe it. More like batshit insane, but I'm alive, so. Can't complain too much.

[balzams]

I'm... yeah, I'm okay I guess. I thought I wasn't but then I got some good stuff in the post so...

Mm, it was pretty scary. Did you get stuck in the other side too?

[sleepwalked]

[ She blinks a bit. Well, she doesn't push the matter. ]

Okay, long as you say so.

[ Roxy nods, running her fingers through her own strands. ]

Yeah. Not that I can remember much past the 2nd or 3rd day. It was pretty stupid after I left the carnival over there, but I'm pretty sure that was just as bad.