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Post by fen on Jul 8, 2018 17:33:16 GMT -6
What was one of the oddest sights to witness on the Menaulion?
Was it the maintenance crew sleeping in the hallways during the tail-end of long shifts, makeshift pillows propped under their head by passersby?
Perhaps it was the bridge crew during their infamous board-game nights, where they managed to make enough of a ruckus that Adamaris forced them to walk back to their rooms in their PJs, to the sight of the entire crew?
No, it was Cain, sitting in the pilot lounge, head resting against his table, staring straight at-
...A woolbi?
The short fluffy munchkin sat in front of Cain, its plush exterior hiding its apt-known demonic tendencies. An old child's toy, it somehow managed to retain popularity in a post-colonial world. He never really understood why, given it was kind of ugly and its mock-AI always seemed to be better at being creepy than cute. Nevertheless, he had one. In front of him. At the table.
Try as he might, the pilot couldn't hide his disgust, yet his hands were still squeezing its plushy hide, making it give out short squeaks along with even louder, 'YOU'RE HURTING ME's.
It was a good thing he was the only one in that room, right?
....right?
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Post by Captain Ameijin! on Jul 9, 2018 18:47:44 GMT -6
Wrong.
Leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed and eyebrows cocked, Myra watched as Cain squeezed the incredibly adorable (and mildly disturbing) robotic toy. It was tempting to simply remain silent until he noticed her standing there. A pang of guilt forced her to clear her throat to announce her presence, her eyes avoiding direct contact with his.
“Wouldn’t have pinned you as the type to own a woolbi,” she remarked. It was difficult to suppress the grin that tugged at her deep crimson lips. “Not one of the new models, either. Does it mean something to you?”
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Post by fen on Jul 9, 2018 22:33:49 GMT -6
If he had been shocked by her presence, he certainly said nothing about it, instead the pilot's eyes slowly moved from the demonic cawing beast, and towards the other pilot standing in the doorway. Right on cue, he gave the plush toy a big squeeze, causing it to screech out another garbled mock obscenity.
"It means absolutely nothing to me." He stated plainly, giving it another squeeze. "But it was a gift from a colleague of mine back on the Moon, and I'm not exactly the type to throw gifts out."
Given the way he was absolutely abusing the woolbi, that seemed almost like a lie. "Though I do wish I could toss this one. I just can't." His (vague) interest now piqued, he shot back: "...Don't tell me you like them."
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Post by Captain Ameijin! on Jul 10, 2018 16:30:00 GMT -6
“Means something to you then,” she countered. Even if that something was only a muddied sense of sentimentality, or perhaps… responsibility. She decided not to pry about his colleague.
“And what if I do?”
For a moment the room was dead silent. Then she broke it with a teasing laugh. “Not like I have a collection of them in my closet or anything, though I might still have a few back at my parents’ house. Causing them nightmares no doubt. Used to enjoy pretending they were fuzzy little members of a strange, sadistic cult.”
She reached over to the woolbi to give it a squeeze. “May I?”
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Post by fen on Jul 10, 2018 18:47:17 GMT -6
There was an indescribable, almost puzzled expression to Cain as he stared at the woolbi, then at Myra, then back at the woolbi. It was as if he was attempting to solve some ancient puzzle without actually telling her, as if the prospect or result would awaken some sort of unspeakable evil. He eventually gave up, however, simply raising his hand in a solid 'no'.
"Better that you don't."
The pilot sat back in his seat, no longer squeezing the woolbi, which let it fall onto the table in disarray, its beady- almost mechanical eyes staring straight at Myra. Its toothed beak opened, and from within it spoke: 'WOW, SHE'S A LOOKER'
Cain quickly chopped at the woolbi with his hand, his stare at Myra not broken for a second as the woolbi momentarily screeched, bounced, and then fell on its side away from the two.
"...anyways, I won't question your woolbi collection if you don't mention this."
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Post by Captain Ameijin! on Jul 10, 2018 22:24:30 GMT -6
Myra moved a hand to cover her face, covering an expression that seemed halfway between amused and embarrassed. “First time I’ve been called a ‘looker’ by an animatronic toy. Sure you haven’t been practicing your ventriloquism?”
As he attempted to negotiate an agreement between the two, Myra couldn’t help but chuckle.
“I told you I don’t have a woolbi collection! But alright, alright, I won’t tell a soul.” She cocked her head to the side, quietly glancing between Cain and the toy he oh-so-readily abused. “Still don’t understand one thing, though: why did you bring it into the pilot’s lounge if you didn’t want anyone to see?”
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Post by fen on Jul 11, 2018 20:40:23 GMT -6
'BECAUSE HE WUUUUUUUBS ME VEEEWY MUCH~!'
Another quick chop and the woolbi spun on its side.
"It was broken and I was trying to figure out how to fix it, I just sort of ended up here."
'IT'S ACTUALLY BECAUSE HE HAS NO FRIENDS...'
There was a hint of truth to his words, probably, or maybe he just didn't want to admit something else. In either case, he didn't look particularly convinced about her not having a woolbi collection, and with each passing second it only continued to seem more plausible. Also, by the way he furrowed his brows, it really looked like he was trying his best to ignore the plush toy.
"I'm... So tempted to just toss this in the trash..."
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Post by Captain Ameijin! on Jul 11, 2018 21:28:41 GMT -6
“Don’t do that!”
Myra pulled her hand back towards her mouth as if to swallow back her words. She certainly wasn’t helping her own case here, and the accusatory look on his face was starting to pierce through her shell. With a stilted laugh she moved her hand to run through her own hair.
“I just mean… you said it’s a gift from an old colleague, right? No reason to throw it away just yet. Maybe we can figure out a way to fix it!”
Nice save.
“Don’t even have to let anyone know it’s yours, right? Kara will give it a look if I call in a favor,” she suggested, conveniently leaving out the fact that Kara didn’t owe her any favors. “Might even get a kick out of the challenge. Not sure how much she’d appreciate all that sass, though.”
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Post by fen on Jul 11, 2018 23:46:30 GMT -6
"...that's out of the question."
It wasn't as if he and Kara were good friends, or anything as presumptuous as that, but out of the many pilots on board, Kara was probably one of the few he wanted to keep up an air of... Professionalism? Yeah, professionalism, intact. Somehow, the idea of asking her to tweak with a woolbi of all things didn't sit quite right with him, for some clearly confusing reason.
"I'll be fine, so uh, don't worry about it, I guess? Worst happens and it ends up in a trash chute, no big deal."
'AFTER YOU, YOU ROTTEN LITTLE SNAKE...'
...Right.
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Post by Captain Ameijin! on Jul 12, 2018 13:15:07 GMT -6
“No big deal,” Myra repeated. The words almost came out… forced, but it’s not like she could blame him with how viciously the animatronic toy was behaving.
She was starting to believe that someone had pulled an elaborate prank on him. Even the most demonic malfunctions had never caused one to mock the user so relentlessly… at least, so far as she was aware. Her mind lingered on an old website she used to visit with moderately terrifying (but obviously fake) stories about this kind of thing. Possessed old toys haunted by the begrudged ghosts of old friends was practically its own sub-genre.
Maybe there was some truth to those tall tales after all…
Shooing those absolutely cursed thoughts from her mind, Myra took a cautious step backwards into the hallway. “Should go before it uh, pulls out a knife and starts threatening to chop off fingers. Good luck on the repairs, yeah?”
Or the exorcism, she thought.
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Post by fen on Jul 12, 2018 16:21:45 GMT -6
"Yeah, sure, later." Came his voice, quick to the point though not as quick as the strangle he had placed the accursed toy in, the pilot's hands firmly locking it in place as Myra left. Silently, he thanked himself for somehow maintaining his cool just long enough to not toss the toy while she was around. As tempting (and satisfying) it might be, there was no way Myra wouldn't presume the worst of him and this stupid toy.
Which was very much not the point.
'SHE SOUNDS NICE'
Cain slumped into his seat once more. The woolbi had other plans, mainly winking at the pilot until its eye seemed to give ou- no wait, it was working again.
"I hate you."
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