Tweak

InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Why did Butter Fly Out Window?"

he's (misterenigma) wrote in rooms,
@ 2015-09-21 09:58:00

Entry tags:

!dc comics, *journal, *log, bruce wayne, death, eddie nigma, selina kyle

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[Public]
[As a result of Emily going Deathly, reality shifts for "Ed" Nashton. His hands go transparent and then the game controller that he was holding suddenly drops to the floor. If she's Death, then he's got to be dead. And if he's dead? Then he's a full on ghost. He does his best to communicate with his electronics:]

W͖͕͍̪͉̟ͅe̴̮͇̤̹̫l̞͖͙͢l̵̦̰̟͔ͅ,͕̝͜ ͇s̘h҉̠̬͉͎͉̗i͙̰̘̲̜̳t͈̼̤͔̗͟.͍͇͈

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	misterenigma 2015-09-22 04:09 am UTC (link)
	[Typing is a pain. A little green 8-bit ghost floats on the screen and then a nearby shadow forms Ed's room number. The ghost says in an adorable voice:] Can you break into my room? See if there's a body. [The ghost frowns.] (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	spacecowboys 2015-09-22 04:26 am UTC (link)
	okay, this is even weirder than normal gotham weird. sure, but you owe me. are you in the room? you, ed, not the ghost? or is that the body i'm looking for? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

misterenigma
2015-09-22 04:30 am UTC (link)

[The ghost wavers on the screen uncomfortably. Typed out slowly:] Y̮̫̠o̷̼͔ṷ̗'͉͙͙̖̤rḛ͖ ̦̱l̻̞͉͉oo̺͕̜̞͍̬k҉̙i̧̠̞̥͓̹͍̜n̵̤̖̱̻͎g͍͚͠ ͚̦̥͚f̤̟̹̘̩̻o҉̮͙̬r̦͎͞ ̛͙̲̣̝̝M͇̱̲̕Y͏̲̻̗̜̥ ͚̮̩̜̩̀ͅbo̭ḏ̛̫͓ý̦̼.̫͝ ̥͎̟͟I̞̙̫̲͕ ̡̲c̵̗̦͉a̬̬̺͍͞n̖̲͖͇͇̰͠'͖̰̹̥̹̘̥t̴̠͈͕ ̤͇̭͔̘̙̀s͉̩̟̝̪͠e͚̬͓͈e ͎͉̭̘͖̲m̡̟̝y͙̩͙̪̤̕ ̞̩͘h͎̪͎͔̜͕͡a̼̱͔̰̟̣͟n̘͍d͝s͙.͏̝̪͚̯͓̦

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	spacecowboys 2015-09-22 04:33 am UTC (link)
	[She doesn't care. She doesn't care. She doesn't care. Dammit.] i was bailing from this messed up college expearience, but i'll come by your room first. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	misterenigma 2015-09-22 04:35 am UTC (link)
	[He is trying so hard not to freak out. The ghost speaks:] Just look inside real quick! If you get spooked, run for it! (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Eddie's dorm room: Ghost!Ed & Cat

spacecowboys
2015-09-22 05:02 am UTC (link)

[She didn't care. At all. That was what Selina told herself as she made her way to the boy's floor. So, Ed was going insane. No skin off the kitty cat's back. She was just curious. That was it. Curiosity killed the cat - or, in this case, Cat. But she wasn't dying, not in this sad excuse for a school. She was done with dorm life after this. First, the cow, and then the maniacal laughter that ended with GCPD and rich girls crying all night about the dorms being cursed, and why didn't they just go home to mommy and daddy? No, dorm life? She and dorm life were done. Bones and the East End were better than this. And she barely knew Ed, but she still felt some ridiculous pull to make sure the nerd was okay.

Soft spots were dangerous, and that was a lesson she'd learned young, but she was still reluctantly tromping up the steps in black.

She didn't bother knocking once she got to Ed's door. She picked the lock, and she walked in. The place? Was completely empty, but the kitten relied on her gut for everything, and her gut said something was wrong. It was chills, hairs standing up on her arms, and the kind of feeling that said run. But she didn't run, because she wasn't quite that good at selfish, not yet, even though she liked to pretend.] Ed? [She stepped into the middle of the room.] It's Cat. [And, okay, so she was possibly standing in the middle of a room and talking to herself.]

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Re: Eddie's dorm room: Ghost!Ed & Cat

misterenigma
2015-09-22 05:22 am UTC (link)

[The dorm room was typical. Florescent light above, two beds on opposite sides of the room and a divide in personality between. One side of the room was a geek kingdom. Nerdy posters, computer stuff, action figures and robot parts. The other was unused. Like whoever was staying there didn't like being in the dorms that often. The TV was on and the screen was dark with a video game controller sitting by itself on the bed.

The door closed behind her slowly. The florescent light above pinged. The room felt dark, even though it was well lit. Ed's voice crackled from the tv. Distorted with static and glitching out:] Don't freak out. [There was still no sign of him anywhere, but that nerdy voice was unmistakable.] Wh-what do you see?

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Re: Eddie's dorm room: Ghost!Ed & Cat

spacecowboys
2015-09-22 05:35 am UTC (link)

[Right, he shared a room with Gotham's richest teen. How could she forget? But she had, at least until that moment. And maybe that curiosity of hers extended a little, long enough for her to scan the neat side of the room with mossy green eyes. She was looking for something to steal, of course. It was nothing more than that. Not even a hint of true interest.

But that feeling, pins and needles and hairs standing along the nape of her neck, and it drew her back to her reason for breaking into this sanctity of boy.

She walked toward the television, screen dark, and she didn't flinch when the door closed behind her. She wasn't scared of anything, or so she reminded herself, and she refused to look up when the light overhead pinged. It was just a light, and no big deal, and she'd almost convinced herself when the television talked to her.

And maybe she startled.] отвали, мудак, бля!

[She backed up until she was soundly on the nearly-unused side of the room, and the backs of her knees met with that neat bed. She sat, because the other option was running, and she wasn't a coward. She stared at that static-glitch crackle.] You're talking from inside the television. I can't believe I said that.

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Re: Eddie's dorm room: Ghost!Ed & Cat

misterenigma
2015-09-22 05:42 am UTC (link)

[The Russian made him laugh, a distorted, screwed up noise that he stopped the second he realized he was making it. This wasn't supposed to be how things ended. He was supposed to take over the world. He was supposed to change things. And, now? He was a glitch in electronics at best and a ghost at the worst.]

I can't believe it's fucking happening to me! [His voice pitched nerdy high and then when he sighed, it was all static. The screen turning to grey and white snow.] Sorry for cursing. [Ed always prided himself on being polite in conversation. Never crass, like his father and the mooks who used to beat him up.]

There's no body, is there? [He could feel it in his gut, you know, if he had one.]

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Re: Eddie's dorm room: Ghost!Ed & Cat

spacecowboys
2015-09-22 05:52 am UTC (link)

[That laugh? Was creepy. She just stared at the television with its distorted laugh, and it wasn't like the maniacal and dying laugh from the night before, but it was still weird, and she looked away uncomfortably. So weird, but his nerd screech made her pay attention to the snowy television screen again.] I think cursing is the least of our problems right now. Listen, I can help you steal things, break into places, break out of places, run away from pimps and hide from GCPD, but I have no idea how to get someone out of a television set.

[This was so insane. She was going to end up in Arkham. She could feel it. Dr. Arkham and his skeezy grin would be her future if she wasn't careful.]

There's no body. Wait. [She got up, checked under the beds and in the closets, and then returned to her previous seat on the unnervingly neat bed.] There's no body. What happened? Oh, god, I'm talking to a television.

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Re: Eddie's dorm room: Ghost!Ed & Cat

misterenigma
2015-09-22 06:02 am UTC (link)

I know you can't. I know that! I just needed- [Ed's frustration made the light above PINGG and one of the lamps on Bruce's desk flicker. He had his share of supernatural encounters, but he had no idea how to unghost someone. If they were dead, they were dead. And there couldn't be any kind of "reanimating" if there wasn't even a goddamned body.

Not that he wanted to reanimate himself, anyway. He knew his semi-normal mental state would be lost. Sand pouring out of a crack in the hourglass. To Ed, his intelligence was the only thing he could hold onto right now.] I-I'm going to try and materialize and I need you to not scream. I don't need people thinking I'm some kind of freak. [Right, because that was a good place to have his priorities set.

The screen flickered, snow static turning to colored bars on the screen like a broadcast was being interrupted. The room felt cold and a little wet, like she had stepped into a meat locker. The lights above were on, but none of them managed to give out any light. Darkness, except for the TV.

A ghostly hand outstretched from the screen, followed by another.] Try to grab my hand! [If she did, it was like touching energy, gentle waves of electricity that didn't hurt, it was just a little uncomfortable.]

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Re: Eddie's dorm room: Ghost!Ed & Cat

spacecowboys
2015-09-22 06:29 am UTC (link)

[She looked at the pinging light, and maybe she shouldn't aggravate the little electronic poltergeist nerd guy? But he was talking about materializing, like he could just come out of the television. And maybe that wasn't as weird as it sounded, since he'd gotten into the television somehow. She still didn't realize this might be more than the television sucking him in, because she really wasn't that creative. Oh, she was good at stealing and breaking into things, but her creativity ended there, and right now? Right now, he was just a boy in a television.]

I won't scream. I'm not scared. [She sounded offended, and maybe she was a little. After all, Gotham prepared a person for all kinds of things. Nerds in televisions? Harmless. [She didn't add that being stuck in a television sort of did make him a freak, because that wouldn't be helpful at all.

And was the room getting colder? She yanked the blanket off the neat and tidy bed, and she appropriated it over black faux leather, and maybe it felt better to be wrapped up. Not that she'd ever admit that. But, okay, it was so true, especially when the immaterial and ghostly hand reached out from the television.

She kept the blanket around her shoulders as she climbed off the bed and inched toward the snowy television with fingers outstretched. She wasn't scared, no way, not her, and this was so stupid. She wanted to close her eyes when her fingers came close to those ghastly fingertips, but she didn't. She stared as her fingers tried to grab at his fingers. And even though it felt a little like touching a battery with damp fingers, she kept trying, teeth gnashed together.]

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Re: Eddie's dorm room: Ghost!Ed & Cat

misterenigma
2015-09-22 06:40 am UTC (link)

[For maybe a second, it felt like someone actually took hold of her hands. Solid, though not warm, and then as it fizzled back into that static feel, a rush of chill pushed past her. Through the cat. The robot parts on the floor scattered with impact and the lights started to go crazy, electricity fading in and out of the room. The television howled and moaned, as if it had ripped open a tear to a land of monsters and undead.]

Turn the tv off! Kick it or something! [Ed's voice sounded distant, but not distorted. Shadows started to climb up the walls like spiders up their webs, and if she looked into the tv she could see the kind of horror that was rumored to haunt the bottom of Arkham's dungeons. A swirling, dark gateway to the underworld.]

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Re: Eddie's dorm room: Ghost!Ed & Cat

spacecowboys
2015-09-22 07:35 am UTC (link)

[She tried to grip hard, hold fast to the fingers that felt like they held onto hers. But that grip was gone quick, and she tried to chase it with fingertips that managed to grab nothing at all. Then a chill coursed through her, and she thought of the old adage, someone walking over her grave, and she spun when she felt that unearthly cold behind her. This was not cool, and robot parts scattered, and the television howled, and the kitten stared as she remembered stories about things beneath Gotham, things that weren't human. Arkham, the sewers, and she liked it much, much better when things were practical.

She was frozen, blanket clutched tight, when that distant voice told her to turn off the television. And it was a shame, because she could probably sell it, but she didn't want to get sucked in. No way, so she picked up one of the robot parts, and she threw it hard, slung it right at the center of that eerie screen with its ghastly screaming and horrible swirling maw.]

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Re: Eddie's dorm room: Ghost!Ed & Cat

misterenigma
2015-09-22 08:12 am UTC (link)

[An awful scream erupted from the swirling rabbit hole as the television shattered. The screen went blank and the shadows that had been crawling on the wall were stretched and pulled back from the hole they crawled out of. Finally, the temperature in the room started to warm, like sun on a snowy day. The lights actually worked, making the room feel like a regular dorm room.

But, what was splayed out on the floor near jumbled robot parts and broken action figures wasn't flesh and blood. Ed was fully formed, but he was translucent and sometimes parts of his body would vanish if he wasn't focusing on keeping them there. He was dead.] Thanks. That was awesome. [His voice shook, but he was appreciative of her quick thinking. Ed always liked girls who could think on their feet. Not that it mattered what kind of girls he liked, anymore.

Ed looked down at his hands, right through them, and sighed.] Muerte.

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Re: Eddie's dorm room: Ghost!Ed & Cat

spacecowboys
2015-09-22 09:27 am UTC (link)

[She almost tugged the blanket over her head when the television screamed, because televisions? Weren't supposed to scream. But she managed not to, and she managed to stand there, shoulders back and like she wasn't scared, because East End girls? They didn't scare. Right, and then the room warmed, and she couldn't hide the sigh of relief that escaped her. She tossed Mr. Moneybags' blanket back on his bed, and she was about to start bitching at Ed, because she assumed that was him on the floor, but...

He was see-through, flickering in and out, and he didn't look like anything alive.] Muerte? [No clue, and she assumed he knew he wasn't actually alive, and she was just going with this entire thing, even though it didn't make any sense to the very pragmatic, feet-on-the-ground kitten.] You have to tell your roommate about this. If there's any fix for this? It's going to cost bank.

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Re: Eddie's dorm room: Ghost!Ed & Cat

misterenigma
2015-09-22 10:49 am UTC (link)

Muerte. Emily? She- [Eddie knew this had something to do with her. A gut feeling, a stone in his stomach. And if he wanted to figure out a way to come back to life, he needed her help. Which, honestly scared the daylights out of him, because they barely knew each other. It was all tied. Tied to this "hotel" and the lives they were shadowed by.] She did this to me. A curse, I think. [Was the best way to describe it.

He smiled at her solution: money. Like that could solve something supernatural problem. A shake of his head.] I can't tell him I'm dead. He finally manages to make a friend, and he dies within a few weeks? That's going to make him even more angsty.

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Re: Eddie's dorm room: Ghost!Ed & Cat

spacecowboys
2015-09-22 11:05 am UTC (link)

The science nerd? [She frowned, because how would the science girl do this? And she didn't think he was really dead. Dead people? Stayed dead. They didn't jump into televisions, and they didn't walk around dorm rooms transparently. Dead people stayed dead, and she knew that as well as anyone in Gotham. She couldn't remember when she'd seen her first body, but it was early enough that she couldn't remember a time before, and this? This was different. Maybe Emily was to blame, though the kitten couldn't understand how.

And she believed, really believed, that money could fix everything.] He can use his dough to bring you back. [As if that made all the sense in the world, and as if she wasn't standing there and talking to a ghost. Because she wasn't. Like futures she didn't believe in, she wasn't willing to believe this was death.] Did you die? Literally die? Where's your body? Alright, something weird is going on, but this isn't death. [She motioned to him.] This? It isn't what being dead looks like, Ed.

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Re: Eddie's dorm room: Ghost!Ed & Cat

misterenigma
2015-09-22 11:30 am UTC (link)

History, actually. [Ed adjusted his ghostie glasses and for a brief moment actually looked like a normal, dorky college student instead of a spectre. He stood up, which was to say it looked like he stood up, though his body passed through anything spread across the floor and his feet floated a half inch off the ground. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.] I think her and her brother are more than human. I'm positive of it. Not that either of them will know or even want to reverse...whatever this is.

[Because Cat was right, this wasn't death. Death was when he came home and saw his dad in the armchair he never wanted to get out of, blue in the face with vomit trickling down his chin. Dead was that kid who laughed himself into oblivion on that green junk in the hallway.] I was playing video games and that kid stopped laughing... [He blinked.] And then suddenly I was transparent. So, I tried using my tablet and I couldn't get back out here.

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Re: Eddie's dorm room: Ghost!Ed & Cat

spacecowboys
2015-09-22 06:33 pm UTC (link)

[She rolled her eyes. Science, history, Selina didn't see the difference. It was all smart people stuff, and it was the kind of smarts that wouldn't do her a bit of good on Gotham's streets. Alright, sure, there was some science to picking a lock or cracking a safe, but mostly it was feeling, listening to the tumblers, and deft fingers, and a lot of luck. But, much more importantly, Ed was floating now, and Selina blamed this all on college. She wasn't made for school.] Emily and her brother aren't human? What? Are they aliens? Demons? [Okay, this was officially outside her wheelhouse.

But, all things considered, this was better than the kind of death she knew. The ugly kind, with faces frozen in anguish and blood sticky on Gotham's sidewalks, layers of it over the years and the ground would never be clean on Gotham as a result. Distracted, she caught up halfway through his explanation, and it made no sense.] You think it has something to do with the laughing dead kid? How do you even know Emily? Because that nerd girl isn't our neighborhood. [Sure, he was geek, but he was slum geek.]

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Re: Eddie's dorm room: Ghost!Ed & Cat

misterenigma
2015-09-23 06:21 am UTC (link)

Demon aliens, most likely. [Ed had no idea. Well, he knew that it had something to do with Santa Muerte, but how many times in history were bolts of lightning mistaken for gods? She could have been anything.] She doesn't really know where she came from. I suggested some middle class stuff the first time she talked and she responded with, [His best impression of a dreamy, nerdy goth girl:] "Sure, that seems right."

[He looked down, realized he was floating and then tried folding his legs Indian style in the air like some kind of Kung fu god. It worked. Awesome. He floated in the air, arms crossed over his chest thoughtfully.] I see her in the library sometimes. Then, she was talking on the journals and I started flirting with her because she's cute. [Him flirting with pretty much anyone should have came to no surprise. Ed nodded.] I know, I know. I told her she was slumming it hanging out with me.

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Re: Eddie's dorm room: Ghost!Ed & Cat

spacecowboys
2015-09-23 02:12 pm UTC (link)

Demons and aliens. [Now, the kitty cat knew about all of Gotham's weird, but she was still a feet-on-the ground kitten, and demons and aliens weren't her thing. She liked to stay over there, where the filth was completely human, and maybe that said something about her little desires in life. Not that she projected them or anything, but she liked normalcy. Normalcy, fun, expensive beds and designer clothes, and she just wanted out. A big house, life behind clean windows and enough food so her belly never grumbled, and was that too much to ask?

Apparently.

He floated, and she started going through his neat-freak rich-boy roommate's things. Oh, she expected him to stop her, but he couldn't even touch. So, you know, opportunity.] The nerd's into nerds. How sweet. Invite me to the wedding. I think nerdness outweighs zipcode.

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Re: Eddie's dorm room: Ghost!Ed & Cat

misterenigma
2015-09-25 10:27 am UTC (link)

Ah, you shouldn't- [Eddie raised a finger of protest as the cat girl went through Bruce's things, but she was right. What could he do? Nevermind that little urge in the back of his mind to let her do whatever she liked because it was amusing. The three of them. Were they always this tangled up?] There's not going- I'm a ghost. Even if she's a alien monster thing, if she sees me like this it's over. No one except maybe one of those [Said with great fear:] asexuals could be into this.

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Re: Eddie's dorm room: Ghost!Ed & Cat

spacecowboys
2015-09-25 03:46 pm UTC (link)

[The kitten paged through books, and held one up, distracted by other things in the desk's drawers.] Does this look old enough to sell? [After all, what was some old book to Bruce Wayne? Anyway, he almost owed her. Or something. But Ed was talking about aliens and monsters, and she huffed in a fashion that was very teenage girl, despite all her assurances that she wasn't that thing at all.] I have no idea what an asexual is, but if she likes you? Then it won't matter that you're floaty. Girls are stupid for boys they like. [She put the book down, and lifted another for him to inspect from his ghostly distance.] And that one loves weird things. It's like you're made for her.

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Re: Eddie's dorm room: Ghost!Ed & Cat

misterenigma
2015-09-29 05:59 am UTC (link)

You're not going to find anything valuable here. He treats this place like a prison. [Ed said and then glanced up, wondering if he felt the same way, too. Bruce's way of dealing with a stifling environment was to run. And Ed? Well, it was clearly to act out.

He smiled a little at her commentary.] I'm as weird as it gets. [He paused for a second and then:] I better go find her. And hey- you should really talk to Bruce. He's not what you think he is. [Ed didn't elaborate more and simply floated down through the floor towards Emily's room.]

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