InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Balls."

Max Castle ☾ Máni (manen) wrote in paxletalelogs,
@ 2011-08-05 21:06:00

Entry tags:

ereshkigal, mani

They Don't Warn You About The Monsters In The Closet
Who: Fee & Max
What: LOTTERY POST WOOO
Where: Lobby of Pax Letale
When: 10:13 PM
Warnings: TBA

Ever since the poorly planned evening where he'd been mugged, Max had made a point of memorizing all of the current bus schedules so he wasn't left high and dry again. That, and no he had no qualms about calling Lily for a ride should he need one. Thankfully this particular evening found him strolling in from class sans bruising and theft, his earbuds fastened securely in his ears that blocked out all other sound. The lobby was its general emptiness, especially this time of night where more people were safely ensconced in their apartments, generally in front of flickering screens that allowed them to shut their brains off for the evening. Max planned on soon joining them, though his brand of entertainment would involve killing as many monsters in whatever video game came to hand first. He was playing through some PC titles, but the idea of hopping online on his PS3 to play with his fellow apartment dwellers sounded promising.

Flipping his hood down, he ran a hand through the shaggy mass of curls and adjusted his glasses as he stopped near a bench to dig out his cell phone from his backpack. He'd send Fee and Sam a text to see if they were up to it - once he jumped in the elevator, he'd lose reception, and he was far too impatient to actually wait until he got to his apartment to inquiry about a game of COD or AC - typing out a quick message on the tactile keypad, he sent it off with a quick tap of the green send key. What he didn't imagine happening was hearing the ding noise of a message received, and glanced up to see Fee stepping out of the elevator. He'd not really met the young woman face to face, the bulk of their interaction having occurred over the interwebs; it wasn't so much that she was a girl who played video games as much as she was a girl, period, that made him somewhat nervous. Still, he took a deep breath and plastered a grin to his face, truly pleased to see her.

"Hey, I was just texting you to see if you were up to gaming tonight - whadda think?"

(Read comments) - (Post a new comment)

manen
2011-08-18 03:07 am UTC (link)

A cell phone - this was the second time he'd forgotten such a thing in lieu of a flashlight. Good job, bright guy, he inwardly lamented, realizing as well that there were probably apps for that, but he had little to no time to contemplate a reply before Fiona had pulled down the mess of a pile, creating a sufficient distraction to squeeze past the concierge (and for a moment, Max's mind flash on Scooby-doo, "and I would've gotten away with it too, if you weren't for you meddling kids!"). Even with the presence of the concierge, he still had to wonder at the room's being, and whether or not it was the concierge who had closed the door. It must have been, for they hadn't heard two sets of footsteps, and that was where Max's detective skills ended, sadly, despite having played many rounds of Where's Waldo and Where In The World Is Carmen San Diego as a child.

Following Fee's advice, he didn't look back, mostly because he was too caught up with his hand in hers, being dragged once more but finding his footing quickly. The car came into sight, and Max couldn't hear any footsteps behind them, but then again through his own breathing and their combined running it would be difficult to tell one sound from another. Released from her hold, Max dashed around the car, feeling like he was running a marathon though by no means was he necessarily too out of shape - his sister's cooking and an evening regimen of walking from classroom to classroom saw to that. The passenger came open easily at his pull, and then he was in the seat, door closed, still breathing a bit heavily.

"Is he following? Are we going to get in trouble? Oh wow, that was crazy!" A hand pushed at his hair, adjusting his glasses before he took in the whole of the car itself.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ladyofaralu
2011-08-20 03:04 am UTC (link)

In no time, Fee was peeling out of her spot, the lot, driving too fast and too hard, barely glancing back before they were on their way to the PCH and to Trader Joe's. Her heart was racing, even though it was just the concierge (probably), and they'd been in no real danger (probably). There was something about mischief that got her engine revved, and that had been nothing if not mischief. That they'd gotten off seemingly Scot-free just made it all the sweeter. She rolled down her window and laughed as the wind whipped at her hair, and she reached for his thigh and gave it a sharp little squeeze.

"That was awesome!" she declared, then laughed again like a delighted child. "If he was following, he missed us by a mile - I don't think he even made it to the door before we were out of the lot."

As they raced down the highway, she reached over him into the glove box, retrieving the face plate of her stereo. "I doubt we're going to get in trouble, but I wanna know what the hell all that shit was. I mean, obvs its from the apartments, and I recognized some of that stuff -- I wasn't here long when a bunch of people just seemed to kinda... disappear, I guess, but I didn't think much of it. I can hardly remember them now... which is weird. Usually I have a pretty good memory."

She hmmed, and pressed a few buttons, and LeTigre came blasting out of the speakers.

"So what do you think? Pax is kinda weird, right?" she asked as she zigged and zagged in and out of traffic.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

manen
2011-08-23 12:52 am UTC (link)

Max stayed glued to his seat, hands wrapped around the edges of the cushion as Fee drove like a madman. The slight groping did not go unnoticed, but it was quickly overridden by the sudden need to cling to his seat cushion as she veered in and out of traffic - a biker was nearly clipped, and he threw Fee a rude gesture before switching over a few lanes to avoid becoming human road kill. Pulling his eyes away from the angered motorcyclist, he realized that Fiona was talking to him.

"Uh, yeah. Just kinda, I mean, what kind of apartment building keeps a room full of old stuff like that? Shouldn't they forward it to the owners, or just toss it? There was some weird stuff in there," he answered, eyes wide and on the road in front of them, needing to yell over the music blasting from the dash. He wondered for a moment if he'd lose some fingers if he tried to turn it down - Lily was nothing like this when she drove, and his few other experiences as a passenger gave him no experience for this sort of event. At the same time, it was also quite thrilling. Though he knew that if Lily ever found out, she would be pissed.

"What do you mean, people just disappear? Literally? I mean, you'd at least see movers taking their stuff out, right?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ladyofaralu
2011-08-24 08:23 pm UTC (link)

"Yeah," she said, bopping to the music, flipping a carefree bird at someone who honked at her when she cut him off. "I mean, I don't know -- honestly, I never saw any movers, but I didn't think much of it, 'cause I figured they were just quick or something." By the time they pulled into the lot of Trader Joe's, they'd avoided at least four near-death experiences, which made Fee pretty proud, if she did think so herself. The tires nearly screeched as she swung them into a spot.

"To be honest with you, I never saw anybody leave. I just kinda... stopped seeing people around. Which, actually, I never really realized till now."

And that was strange. In general, Fee considered herself fairly observant. For her not to pick up on so many of the people leaving -- whose faces and names she couldn't for the life of her seem to remember, if she ever knew them at all -- and being replaced by new people... that was just fuckin' weird.

"Not cool," she said as much to herself as Max.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

manen
2011-08-25 06:34 am UTC (link)

"No, not really," he agreed, trying to mull over all of this new information in his brain. Just what kind of apartment building had he and his sister moved into? And, just to add a cherry on top, how weird was the timing that Dad decided to show back up? Max dispelled that particular train of thought, barring it from the tracks currently running about crazily in his mind. It was enough to worry about what had happened to the prior tenants - and though he liked Fiona and enjoyed her company, he had to wonder a bit at her inability to remember people's faces and names.

She was definitely handy in a video game, with great reaction time, and more than once he'd suspected her of just maybe using a cheat code or two. And then there was her appearance, her clothes. She didn't really seem like the kind of person who'd let details slide. Not like Max, at least, who was sloppily dressed in a shirt that was decorated with what looked like his dinner from the night before, and jeans he'd worn five days in a row. Not that anyone could tell. So what exactly was going on here?

As soon as he was certain that the car was no longer going to be in motion, Max gently pried his hands free of the seat cushion and made a slow, exacting move to release his seat belt. The bright glow of the interior of Trader Joe's beckoned, and for some reason seemed like a whole other world to itself; though perhaps he should apply that to Pax, as though he was stepping into a different dimension each time he walked into the lobby.

"Were you around for the power outage a few weeks ago? Does that kind of stuff happen often?" He switched tack, still within the topic at hand, but trying to put things together more clearly. After all, there wasn't anything to be worried about...right?

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ladyofaralu
2011-09-02 03:58 am UTC (link)

"Yeah I was," she replied, walking backward toward the entrance, pausing when they came to the end of the lines of parked cars just as an SUV passed right behind her. "And honestly, nothing as crazy as the power in the whole building, but I tell you what, I will not fuck with that elevator."

She glanced behind her. Then, seemingly satisfied by what she saw - or didn't see - she kept walking backward, grabbing a little double-decker cart from where they were stored outside. There she stood, paused outside by the potted basil and mint, looking pensive.

"And... I don't know, I've heard rumors. I've hardly ever seen anybody who works for the building besides the concierge, and I heard the last concierge just disappeared. Or something."

She furrowed her brow.

"Though I'll be damned if I can remember where I heard that."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

manen
2011-09-03 01:52 am UTC (link)

He followed Fiona into the store, walking quickly to keep up with her brisk pace. Her replies to his questions only made him more worried about the building he and his sister had moved into.

"Just disappeared? Like how the residents disappear? I mean, sometimes people just split from their jobs, it's not that unheard of," he replied. He was trying to be reasonable. Reasonable when they'd just found a huge closet of potentially stolen items from previous tenants. Yeah.

They walked further into the store, passing aisles full of various food products, but nothing seemed all that enticing. Max's idea of junk food was usually more chemically-laden and processed, from a Safeway or other run of the mill grocery outlet.

"They sure left a lot out of the brochure."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ladyofaralu
2011-09-04 01:57 am UTC (link)

Fee laughed darkly at that. "They sure as hell did, didn't they?"

As they walked past the produce, she spoke again.

"I don't know, dude - I mean, sure, he coulda just skipped out. He didn't seem like the type, but..." she shrugged, but behind that casual gesture was a sense of unease. The concierge disappearance's happened before she'd moved in, but she got the strange sense that it had been far uglier than anyone let on... or maybe anyone remembered? That thought almost made her shudder.

In the store, Fee made a beeline for the beer, picking up a sixer of IPA, then looking at Max, grabbed a sixer of lager, then started walking toward the true prize: chocolate covered peanut butter pretzels.

"You just call me if any weird shit happens, OK? I figure we should kinda look out for each other, you know? You and me and your sister and my sister. Should we talk to Sam about this?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

manen
2011-09-04 09:40 pm UTC (link)

He followed dutifully as Fiona grabbed the items she'd come to purchase. Eyes lighted briefly on the beer - he was always one for deep concentration on his video games, but since the evening was turning out to be far weirder than expected, getting drunk in order to erode some of the memories for a short period didn't seem like a bad idea. Head nodded at Fiona's assumption of the previous concierge; not like he had anything to add on that topic, seeing as he and Lily had only been living there for a short period, much shorter than Fiona and her sister. And after this night's events, he was certainly willing to believe her in the odd descriptions of people just up and disappearing.

"I think that would be a good idea," he replied, the mental image of the tough SWAT member coming up in his mind. Even if Sam wasn't a cop necessarily, he could still give them some tips or maybe point them in the right direction if things got too weird. He'd been meaning to talk to Sam himself regarding the sudden reappearance of the Castle sibling's father, but since nothing more had happened he hadn't seen a reason to bring up the subject. "You know, just say 'we found a weird room that looked like a trash heap, just thought you oughta know. Or maybe he knows something we don't? Maybe he knows the building security or something like that.

"And I agree - I mean, two, or four, heads are better than one. Teamwork, which I'm pretty sure is one of GI Joe's mottos," he added, smiling at his own joke. The aisles passed until they were in the Chip and Snack labeled vicinity, though Max had completely forgotten what they were there for.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ladyofaralu
2011-09-05 05:35 pm UTC (link)

Fee grinned at him and shook her head.

"You're a big dork, you know that?" To take the edge off the observation, she reached out and pinched his arm. "But yeah, I mean, he's lived here longer than any of us, so maybe he knows something about these people whose shit was down there, or why they left, or something. We can swing by his apartment when we get back." She paused, thinking.

"Better pick up another sixer, though."

Fiona's face lit up when she spotted her quarry, and she snatched the bag off the shelf as though it would try to escape her. Once she'd tossed it in the cart, she looked over at Max and grabbed a bag of Kettle Chips.

"I don't know what flavor you like, but I don't keep barbecue chips in my apartment. So if you don't want plain, speak now, or forever hold your piece."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

manen
2011-09-07 01:06 am UTC (link)

"Sour cream and onion?" His eyes roved over the shelves of chips and targeted a bag near the top - he pulled it down with ease, making a shot toward Fiona's cart like a basketball star going for a three pointer. The chips landed easily, and Max finished up with a roaring noise made by putting his hands over his mouth.

He grinned. "And yes, I'm a card carrying member of the Justice League fan club, so I'll take that as a compliment," he retorted back to her comment about the diagnosis of chronic dorkdom. Once it looked like their cart was full, Max took the handlebar and started to direct it toward the check out. He might have been a dork, but he was also used to being the one pushing a grocery-laden cart while shopping as his sister added various things to the load.

"I'm guessing we're good to go? Maybe you should text Sam and see if he's in," Max finished, using the opportunity of being sisterless to jump onto the back of the cart and ride it to the end of the snack aisle.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ladyofaralu
2011-09-08 03:30 am UTC (link)

Nodding her approval at the addition to the cart, she laughed at his continued dorkitude. She'd never hung out with a guy like Max before, and it was refreshing. She was used to people who spent a lot of time wanting people to think they didn't give a fuck, but at the same time, wanted people to think they were this, that, or the other. Max really -- well, it seemed like he didn't give a fuck. He was a geek, a dork, a gamer, and he didn't give a fuck who knew, and Fee was surprised how charming she found it.

With a cartful of supplies that would definitely last them at least one intense gaming session, she followed him to the nearest register. She laughed at his little ride and took out her phone, tapping out a text to Samuel, thinking to herself what a strange little crew they made.

Once the text was sent and they'd rolled the cart to the checkout, where the cheerful Trader Joe's employee was plucking each item out of the cart, scanning it, and packing it expertly into bags, Fee said,

"OK, so I texted Sam." Then, with a sly little smile, she said, "You know, you may be a dork, but it's really fucking cute."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

manen
2011-09-09 02:34 am UTC (link)

Max grinned widely, his face coloring just a little. Fiona was a girl, that much he was quite aware of; since she played a a mean game of AC:B, he was quite content to easily put her on the shelf labeled 'friends'. She certainly wasn't the kind of girl who usually paid any attention to him at all - Max had has his share of friends who were girls, whether they played games or not.

The majority of his companions were similar male, indoor-preferring gaming-aholics, potentially with bad skin complexions and addictions to Mountain Dew. With girls, Max had rarely been comfortable, but he'd been able to bypass the "omg a vagina" siren in his brain with the addendum "omg a vagina who plays games". Not that Max was in any way anti-feminist, his brain was just biologically hardwired a certain way. So when he grinned a little too widely, a little too goofily, his nose and cheeks almost lighting up like Rudolph, he found himself sliding Fiona back into the prior category.

"Yeah, well," he started, leaning against the cart, hoping to be suave but failing as the wheels moved it away, causing him to stumble. "It works well on the girls. You know, the ones lookin' for love in Alderron places." Inward, his mental image of Lily winced. Hard.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ladyofaralu
2011-09-09 06:02 pm UTC (link)

Fiona laughed full and clear at that, shaking her head. This kid was something else, and the more time she spent with him, the more she appreciated it.

"I can't with you, Max, I really can't." But really, she could. In fact, she was grinning ear to ear as she considered exactly what she could. Even so, she gave him another little pinch and winked at him as their cashier finished packing away the rest of the groceries in the perfect Trader Joe's style. Once she'd paid, she started walking toward the door, leaving him to push the cart.

"C'mon - it's already late, I wanna catch Sam before he starts fucking his girlfriend if we can." She paused. "Actually, maybe it's better if we get him after that. A cockblock is no way to start a conversation where you're gonna ask for a favor."

(Reply to this) (Parent)

(Read comments) -