cancry | [Open] Dr. Medic's Sleepaway Funtimes Camp

[Open] Dr. Medic's Sleepaway Funtimes Camp

I. So girl keep telling me [network post]

[About three hours after the whole post-Esmeeting kerfuffle, every phone included in the Executor group chat suddenly blares loudly with an incoming post that appears to have every possible alert and priority notice the person writing it could find attached to it.]

ANYONE WHO ATE ANYTHING AT ESME'S HOUSE REPORT TO MEDIC IMMEDIATELY YOU ARE POISONED

[Well, you can't accuse her of burying the lede.]

i'm in my lab in invidia [The exact address and coordinates of the lab are attached along with the message, including a helpful photo of a scribbled map just in case anyone is really bad with directions.] if you ate ANY of the food esme served or if you're feeling sick, come here so i can treat you
if you find someone unconscious or unable to move on their own, BRING THEM HERE
if you don't have anyone around and think you need help getting here, reply to this message immediately

i threw up, so i tested some of the leftovers i took home
and that food is very, very poisoned
(also, if you brought leftovers home, don't eat them)

II. pick me up whenever i'm feeling down [in-person log]

[True to her word, Medic is ready and waiting in her lab the second anyone arrives.]

[The living room of the apartment she commandeered has been turned into a makeshift hospital. She's dragged cushions and mattresses in, laying them out on the floor and covering them with clean sheets and blankets to make sickbeds. Next to every bed is a glass of water and a bowl for, uh. Any stomach issues you might have to deal with.]

[Anyone healthy who walks in the door will be cheerfully pressganged into nursing duty.]

[The beds are set up facing the living room's lone TV, but well... this is Invidia. Guess who's probably on every channel.]

[You might have better luck with putting on a movie, but no one actually saw this coming, which means your available selection consists exclusively of stuff Medic brought with her from the Limbo library when she came down to Invidia. By which we mean exactly one film.]

[Whether having to see Esme's face is better or worse than watching Brutal Instinct again is a choice you're going to have to make amongst yourselves.]

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[ Aw fuck. Just his luck.

He raises his hand as well, but judging by that incredibly awkward and almost apologetic look on his face, there’s SOMETHING up.

He just hoping fangirl specter doesn’t notice that ANOTHER GOOD LOOKING DUDE just waved to “Hot Guy PI” and puts two and two together. ]

It's vitally important to me that you know that fangirl Spectre has been furiously improvising her own spy theme music under her breath the entire way here, just in case she wasn't conspicuous enough.

Once Chiron waves though, she immediately zooms back over to Beast and leans in so she can stage whisper to him again.

"Is he undercover too?"

... She says this as if Chiron is not right the fuck there.

[The plan was to perhaps get something for lunch and wait for the others to report in; he'd hopefully accomplished something on his side, if it wasn't quite the tangible result he'd wanted.]

[...But then he'd heard someone humming what sounded strangely like suspenseful theme music.]

[As it happened, all roads lead to Insomnia, so ultimately he was going to follow it whether or not he intended to. Hot Guy #3 is within range.]

No one is undercover.

[He gives her a cocked eyebrow because, yes, hello, he's here. And looks at Beast. And looks at her.

Maybe they're undercover, but even if they were, you wouldn't blow your cover by saying you're undercover. That's just undercover 101.

oh look there's phoenix]

I believe we could all use a bite at this so heavily advertised establishment, hm?

[ Oh god too late, she noticed, and oh boy Phoenix is here now too.

Beast looks... embarrassed? Which is a pretty rare sight since he usually keeps it together and isn’t easily thrown off by anything but welp. This is doing it. At least only one of them can see it, though it’s probably clear in his voice as well.

Trying to collect himself, he mouths the word “discretion” to his specter tagalong before addressing his companions. ]

Ah yes, a bite to eat would be quite nice right about now.

[ And then to the specter: ] Thank you for showing me the way, my lady.

Does Tagalong Girl look like she's ever even HEARD of the word 'discretion' before? Despite all implications to the contrary, though, she does at least take the hint and pipe down with humming her theme tune at least. So there's... something.

"No worries! I wanted to come down this way and meet Alice for myself anyway." is her chirpy response. She looks around at the Hot Dad Trio with her eyebrows a little raised. "Are you all here to meet her as well?"

She knows exactly why Beast is here, of course, but this is apparently her idea of discretion.

[Part of him wanted to ask what the hell was going on, but luckily Phoenix was fairly quick to catch up to the situation as well as he could.]

Of course. Forgive me, it seems I was running a bit late.

Quite all right, my friend. I think we all merely ended up here with the same thing in mind. Some food and good company.

...And apparently footrubs.

After you, my lady, I insist. And your gallant escort.

[ He'd give Chiron a Look for that comment but 1) his face in his palm anyway, 2) he knows he did this to himself anyway. So without another word he lowers his hand and does an "after you" motion with his arm to her. He'll follow behind. ]

So, with Tagalog Girl leading the way, the Hot Dad Trio head into the only place in Invidia more cursed than Esme's mansion - the BBQ and Foot Massage place. Of course I say "leading the way", but the instant Tagalog Girl gets more than five steps into the door, she jolts to a halt on the spot and her hair practically stands on end with shock. Her facial expression, however, isn't shock -- it's something awed and almost reverential.

Why that is becomes obvious when, spotting the new arrivals, a waitress comes hurrying over - with a long, red ponytail and a strikingly pretty face and... Okay, enough playing coy. Say hello to Alice, everyone.

"Hello! I'm so sorry, but we don't have any tables or masseuses free at the moment. Are you happy to wait?"

Edited 2020-11-09 06:42 (UTC)

[Rest assured that when the very much not one of them girl leads in, Chiron makes a small but emphatic gesture to him at Beast in the sense of 'what the fuck is this besides collateral damage'.

Which, okay, he's sure there's a story behind it.

But none of that matters in the wake of Alice.

...Did any of them think of what to say to her?]

Perfectly happy to wait, yes. We've been dying to give this place a try ever since that lovely young man in the sunglasses praised it.

[Does he want to risk sounding like a stalker serial killer/any guy that goes asking after a lady at her place of work?] I beg your pardon, but have we met? You seem terribly familiar.

[ Since he didn’t see the video himself he can’t tell it’s her right away just from appearance, but the reaction of Chiron and Alice’s fangirl is enough to tell him that they actually found her.

Speaking of, he is eyeing their tagalong carefully and even putting a hand on her shoulder, both to be reassuring in a “we found her and she’s safe, what a relief” way but also hopefully a reminder to keep it cool. ]

Of course she's not keeping it cool. Tagalong Girl is vibrating like a chihuahua on speed. She looks like she's about to clip out of the observable universe and start talking about half-a presses. She will NEVER keep it cool.

Thankfully, Alice hasn't quite caught on that there's a tiny fangirl softly losing her mind in the midst, distracted as she is by both her job and Chiron's question. She regards the three of them with a sort of light-hearted confusion, puzzled but not put off.

"I don't... think so?" she says, with a tilt of her head. "Not unless you've been here before, but I'm usually good at remembering everyone's faces."

[Just half a step behind the ongoing issue, once he caught on to Alice’s voice Phoenix lightly put a hand on Chiron’s arm to get his attention under the pretense of needing some form of guidance. Under his breath, he said:]

Not now, out in the open like this. We need to speak to her somewhere quieter, without interruption.

[Chiron keeps smiling and pats Phoenix's hand lightly.]

It's true, we haven't been here before. In any event, we're happy to wait!

[please give them time to actually formulate some kind of ACTUAL WORKABLE PLAN]

With the beaming smile of a true, dyed-in-the-wool customer service professional, Alice gestures for the four of them to sit themselves down in the little waiting area at the front of the restaurant. You'd think that would be a bit upscale for a place dedicated to feet and BBQ, but apparently Clocks' endorsement has sent them up in the world.

"Just take a seat right here then and I'll be right back as soon as a table opens up. And if there's anything you need, just give me a call!"

And with one last smile, she dashes off to attend to the rest of the customers. Looks like you've got some time to assemble a plan of action, Hot Dad Trio... and guest.

...So here's what we aren't going to do.

[THIS IS FINE.]

We aren't going to question her here. We definitely aren't going to ask her when her shift ends. And we aren't going to make her feel cornered if that all means we have to follow her somewhere less crowded once she leaves. Is all that clear?

Thank you for telling us how to talk to women; I was very sorely lacking for instruction in that scenario what with my girlfriend and some not insignificant amount of human decency and common sense both. [He's not mad, just snarky.]

That does raise the question of how we might like to get around to talking to her without seeming like the most unsavory sort...

[He trails off a bit as he...looks down at the silently vibrating fangirl. HMMM...]

[ Speaking of the fangirl, Beast doesn't have much to add to the idea pool right now so he turns to her instead. ]

How are you feeling right now, my lady? I know it's a great relief to see she's all right now, but that must have been incredibly nerve-wracking - being face to face with someone you admire so much.

Tagalong Girl looks like she's going to e x p l o d e. It takes her a moment to be able to respond at all and when she does, it's in a hoarse stage whisper.

"I think I'm gonna pass out."

... So she's probably fine.

Going fantastic.

"The best I can think of is that we wait for her to leave and try to approach her somewhere relatively safe. Where she won't feel as though three or four highly suspicious people have ill intent whether regarding our mutual friend or otherwise. Have we any other and hopefully better ideas?"

[Right, okay, so maybe 'send the tremulous not at all subtle girl to obtain information' is not a great plan. Noted.]

'Relatively safe' is still three or four strangers ganging up on her, and safe seems to be, hm, the park at best. It may be better for only one of us to approach her.

[ Hmm... think, think...

—Oh. He might actually have an idea. ]

Or maybe perhaps two.

[ Sending a trembling fangirl alone might not be a viable plan but...

He turns his head to the specter. ]

If you had someone with you and were able to get say... an autograph out of it, do you suppose you could keep yourself composed long enough to assist me once more, my lady? And not pass out?

[you know what, he's on board with this, beast can carry the braincell for a while]

For a split second, Tagalong Girl is so overcome by this idea that all she can do is furiously pump her fists. But then she seems to catch on that exploding is probably the opposite of what they need her to do right now, so instead she composes herself a bit and just nods fervently.

"Y–yes! Definitely, absolutely! I just have to pretend it's like a meet and greet and I'll be fine!"

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