the reds go in with the whites right

[commentboxtroll]

Date & Time: Sometime between Caesar's vision returning and the day before Moonbasegiving.
Location: Los Angeles, the '90s
Characters: Caesar & Collette
Summary: After his vision finally returns, Caesar declares he's sick of this place and finally goes on a mission. Laundry mission. Doing a lot of laundry, in real laundry machines, and chilling in LA for a few days while at it.
Warnings: dumb teens


[ Los Angeles! Laundry! A few days off from a horrifying moon base to do burn resources on something incredibly mundane, but wow, won't it be nice to have actually clean sheets and towels (and whatever else) that weren't washed in a shower that only runs for five minutes?

Yeah. Thought so. ]

Comments

thread in which they get bored watching machines spin on and go goof off instead

[commentboxtroll]

[ As much as he appreciates sight and seeing sights and actually being on a planet instead of a moon and, you know, sunlight and-- Okay, honestly, he really is enjoying this enough that his complaints have been to a new minimum for the today!

Only the laundromat they're slowly taking over machine by machine is incredibly dull.

After the initial adventures of "How to Use a Coin Machine", the following parts involved a lot of waiting and babysitting laundry as it was cleaned. He's doing just that from a seat by the window, so at least he can bask in the sun that filters on through, but ugh.

These are taking foreveeeer. ]

the most exciting tag in the world (...not)

[crocodilesmiles]

( Caesar can bask. Collette's getting antsy and poking around, talking to the nice Hispanic woman who comes in with her young son, the college kids who drop in to do a light load of laundry, and eventually trying to fish out the roll of unopened quarters she'd been playing with that hit the counter she can't reach, rolled to the back, and fell into a crack.

She's been using a coathanger she untwisted for this purpose for about three minutes now, having so far uncovered a giant dustbunny, a scrunchie, someone's sock, an old, dirty sticky hand toy, and now, slowly pulled her way, a box.

Or something boxy she suspects might be an empty candy box, given how light it is. )

Come on, quarters, I can see you in there!

( A daring twinkle under the light when she moves her head out of the light streaming in just so from the windows shows the quarter roll's merry amusement at this predicament. Just you come and get me! )

too busy with video game shrooms to notice tags oops

[commentboxtroll]

[ It's like the differences between a dog and a cat here or something....

He goes on ignoring her efforts to retrieve the quarters for a bit longer, but eventually, the boredom of simply watching the machines wins out over him wanting to remain lazy. So! With a great sigh, he gets up and strolls over to where she is. ]

They can't hear you, you know. They're metal.

you're rolling in shrooms man idek how to help with that (stuff 'em and grill 'em)

[crocodilesmiles]

( She grins, though her attention's still focused on the task at hand, pulling the box out and hiding her nose in her shoulder as she's prompted into sneezing by the dust this releases. Lazy motes dance in the sunlight, swirling around as she shakes her head, the braid holding most her hair back shifting around on her other shoulder. )

Maybe I was just talking hoping you'd come over!

( Her eyes dart to him and her grin goes impish, leaning to the side and picking up the box. She'll be nice and toss out someone else's garbage -- but only because her hands are already gross at this point, and there are appropriately accessible and decently clean restrooms at this facility.

Hey, if she had to choose...! )

Anyway, saying nothing wouldn't make them come any closer either.

( She holds out the wire hanger as she straightens up, box in the other hand. )

You give it a try!

(om nom nom)

[commentboxtroll]

[ Braids...

On a mental tangent to himself, he notes looking into getting a haircut. His own is pulled back mostly into a ponytail now, having grown long enough for it, except for all the uneven strands that escape. Even like that, he can't escape the constant muss. ]

Too bad for you that I only came over to supervise, not actually get them.

[ Instead of taking the hanger, he gestures towards the counter. ]

Now, did you try a little to the left?

[ Assuming she keeps on badgering him, he will eventually help, but for now? He'll have his own fun. ]

and now for something completely different

[crocodilesmiles]

Only if you say please.

( She quips, lips still quirked into a grin that said she probably wasn't strictly talking about using a hanger to fish out a roll of quarters.

Then again, if it was a metaphor for anything else, it was a terrible one, so... )

Left side, right side, up side, the only thing I haven't gotten under is the downside!

( Without him taking the hanger, she rests it against the side of her chair, giving her arm a break. Glancing down at the box, she eyes the name -- and instantly has a moment of horrified amusement.

That was no candy box! That was.. )

Hey C, do you like playing with water balloons?

( An unopened box of magnum sized Trojan condoms. She determines that with a quick shake of the box, ignoring the heat creeping into her face, since the disgust pretty much fled when nothing looked, well, used. )

I mean, they're condoms, but they make hilarious water balloons!

( Assuming, like she forgets she shouldn't, that he even knows what that is -- the packaging wouldn't be much of an indicator. )

wow collette. just. /shakes head

[commentboxtroll]

Well downside is where you'll have to go if you want those coins back.

[ Whoooosh.

But oh? She's giving up? Huh, maybe he should have helped from the start, but... Ah, he sees. She's just found something else to pay attention to. The box she's fiddling with gets an idly curious look. ]

I couldn't say, as I never have. [ The rest of it doesn't ping much recognition, either. ] And those make hilarious water balloons because...?

[ You'd think a water balloon would be, well, called a water balloon. ]

she's super mature and super on track ok

[crocodilesmiles]

Mmm, I'm not so good with the hands and knees thing, I might have to pass it back on to you for the moment.

( But his absolute lack of response to the second question kind of makes her pause and consider.

And almost smack her own forehead with the heel of her palm. )

Oh, no duh! Sorry, I keep thinking you've -- but you haven't? Which I guess makes sense since you don't know they're... there. ( Whatever her thoughts, she shakes her head, holding up the box for him to see. )

Here, open it! They're for, um... you know. ( No he doesn't. That was just clarified, Collette. ) Being... For um. ( She fumbles her words. Most the slang isn't something she actually wants to say, and she's not a clinical person. What she settles on ends up coming out awkwardly, and is brushed right past as she continues on to the explanation as to why they were funny used in a completely inappropriate context. ) Making love. Anyway, they're hilarious as water balloons because they're designed to not break, I mean no duh, really, but it means you can make them bounce off people and things before they burst, and sometimes they don't break at all!

( TOTALLY EXPLAINED she tried and therefor no one can criticize her. Except for Caesar. But no one else!!! )

[commentboxtroll]

[ Well, he had been reaching to take the box, but just as her explanation reaches the "they're for this" part, wow, does he hand draw back real quick. Now he's giving it a wary look, like it could be something terrible or gross. ]

Uh, and what does unbreakable water balloons have to do with... [ Yeah. He's not saying it. ] that, exactly?

[crocodilesmiles]

Making love?

( Okay, she only manages that because him saying nothing about it at all strikes her as funny. Her tone of voice is fairly innocent, though the twitch of her lips is less so.

It's amusing, even while the heat's starting to be visible on her face. )

It doesn't bite, you know!

( She says, bringing the box back down after he doesn't take it. Where does it say what these things do? Because no way is she explaining that in a laundromat, okay, there have to be instructions or something! Collette works one nail into the packaging, opening the cardboard carefully, to prevent from tearing. Several almost foil-like edges greet her eyes, and something white, words printed on its surface.

Thank goodness for explanations on explanations! Collette pulls out the paper, which turns out to be a folded miniature booklet of instructions. She offers that to Caesar, other hand cradling the box and resting on her thigh. )

Here, read this. ( She doesn't know it contains diagrams, but then again, points for unintentional clarity. ) They're supposed to hold stuff, to prevent pregnancies and all, so they're usually really good at holding a bunch of water. Which makes them perfect for water balloons! You get a bigger splash that way!

( Plus it's kind of inherently funny, though she feels like that's self evident based on one's sense of humor. )

[commentboxtroll]

In this case, I think I actually prefer the word 'sex'.

[ Making love! It's too... too flowery! Too sappy! Too liable to be overused by poets! Which simply makes it awful.

He'll roll his eyes at how it supposedly doesn't bite, but really? Something like that, that's been abandoned behind a counter in a public space for how long? There's plenty of reasons not to want to touch it. The paper, however, he'll take, since it was inside the closed box. ]

Though since you apparently find saying it that way so embarrassing already, you might burn up saying it the other way! Let's see... [ Diagrams. It has diagrams. ] Oh.

[ Not sure if he should be further scandalized by this or laugh. ]

Well. I guess they would hold water just fine, then, though that's going to be an incredibly awkward shape for them.

[crocodilesmiles]

Says the guy who still blushes sometimes when I kiss him!

( She points out with a half laugh, pretending her attention needs to be solely focused on... uh. Counting? What' s in the box. Yeah.

Yeah, shut up, Caesar. SHE TOTALLY CAN! SHE CAN SAY IT HOWEVER SHE --

Okay, no, not really, sorry, you get to win the Latinate phrasing award of the hour. )

Not so awkward! Just, you know... longer. Than usual. That's all! More cylinders, less tear drops.

( That's the entirely correct geometry there and she'll not fight over it. )

Aren't there sinks in the bathrooms here? Hmm, but we'd need someplace above others... up high.

( STILL INTENSELY STARING INTO THIS TINY BOX yeah not looking at you again Caesar she's clearly avoiding planning here! )

[commentboxtroll]

[ Wow, don't point that out. ]

Only when you insist on it in public.

[ Which actually isn't that often at all or ever, soooo. Alright, maybe not always in public, too, but he's gotten better He folds the instructions back up and holds them out for her to take again.

They're better off left in the box. ]

There are always ways to get up onto roofs, but I wouldn't suggest using this one. We'll need a place to fall back to in case you get us in trouble.

thread where folding clothes goes terribly awry somehow

[commentboxtroll]

[ filler text until later blah blah blah ]

[crocodilesmiles]

Collette had no idea how they turned this shirt green, but she was fairly sure it hadn't been green before. Folding it as neatly as she felt like for the moment, she heaved a sigh. Folding, it turned out, got boring pretty fast. Especially since this was refolding after folding at the laundromat, since things didn't travel so well, and they were packing them back up tight for transportation back.

Setting the shirt down, she picked up something out of the smaller bag they used to cart things over, blinking at the pair of boxers she ends up unearthing with "SUPERMAN" blazoned across the crotch. Stiffling a giggle, she tried to keep her expression even and serious as she looked over Caesar's way.

"These aren't yours, are they?"

There were other things she wanted to ask about, unsure of how to broach the topic. This was simply an easier bridge to cross.

lazily lazes out lazy action

[commentboxtroll]

Oh no. You've found me out.

[ Caesar's gone from being somewhat helpful to being somewhat less helpful and then straight on to being useless and sprawled out on the bed, dozing off among the piles of folded and unfolded clothing he'd been working on.

Really, he's in no rush to get anything back to the cold, indifferent moon.

He did open an eye long enough to squint at what she meant, though. ]

You know how I love gaudy underwear with words written over lewd areas. I simply can't help myself.

[ That is to say, no, no they aren't. ]

r u a cat

[crocodilesmiles]

( She snorts, folding the boxers as she does so. )

I knew it! Though I was leaning more toward Smart Alec than Superman...

( She figures he might get the gist, if the statement might not make any direct sense. Collette sets the boxers down on the bed, shifting her attention toward him. There's a moment where she considers what she might want to say, unsure of what to say first. It's weird, knowing for the moment there isn't any impending interruption looking outside the door.

It's weird to be able to breathe for a little while. )

Hey, C? How are you? With your sight back and all?

very cat. so nap. wow.

[commentboxtroll]

Hmm?

[ The question strikes him as an odd one. He's been fine for nearly a week now, even if the recovery had been blurry at the start. It cleared up. He had no complaints. He'd been positively cheerful over it!

Which maaaay have startled some people, but, well, no matter.

Yet the answer doesn't come immediately. Caesar stops to consider it, quiet for a time, before eventually saying: ]

I'm doing much better. There's still a migraine every once in awhile, but it doesn't effect my vision too badly.

beware of doge!

[crocodilesmiles]

( The happiness had made sense. She's seen people recover from frightening things, though usually not so spontaneously. She knew it'd been dragging him down, but the full extent wasn't obvious until his relief was. It's difficult to say why that bothers her in both good and bad ways on some level.

Her hands fall down into her lap as she waits, not sure what he might (or might not) say. Having an actual response sets her stomach unwinding, tied up in knots she hadn't been aware of. )

That's good! Have you been using your spyglass?

( Her attention is that much keener, studying his profile where he lay. )

no doges allowed

[commentboxtroll]

No, not really.

[ He answers through a barely stifled yawn. He'll work his way down further into the pillow and the laundry, even if he isn't going to sleep or anything. Yet. Probably. It's only that it's been well over a month since he last felt truly comfortable!

The spyglass. Using that thing? After what happened? He would never get rid of it, obviously, but not yet. He hasn't used it since. ]

There's been no reason for it.

but doge!!!

[crocodilesmiles]

Mmm.

( She doesn't agree. To her, it sounds more like staying away from something because of suffering a potential repeat. She gets it, but she gets that it's as stupid and dangerous as ignoring the problem in the first place.

Especially with how these things get linked so tightly to them, acting even without them being conscious they're starting to use them. If anything, she knows he was there when she was frightening herself over things she didn't understand.

Though she admits hers didn't steal something away, outside of her sense of security. Though that was no laughing matter, either. )

Did you get riding right away, back when you learned? With horses, that is.

[commentboxtroll]

With horses?

[ He has to think about that for a moment, before he frowns and pushes himself up to sit (gradually, anyway), rather than remain sprawled on the bed. ]

What do horses have to do with anything?

[crocodilesmiles]

Something about having to get back up on them even when you fall off, because that's the only way you learn to control the times you fall, until you only fall because you want to.

( Bikes are a more ready metaphor in her mind, but she figures those are less familiar. With horses, they even have a literal example, given her morphs, and her tendency to tell him to get on her back and ride already.

It was expedient, and it made her necessary. She'd be lying to say she'd not enjoyed that at the time. Though none of this has to do with horses.

Just a spyglass, used as something far more than a spyglass, or far more emphasis falling on the spy, and less on the glass. )

[commentboxtroll]

Why would anyone fall on purpose?

[ That's ridiculous. It's painful and you'd probably get stomped on! That aside, he does see what she's getting at. So maybe he is avoiding using the spyglass, but can't he at least take a break from it? ]

If you're worried that I'll never use the spyglass again, you're being ridiculous. I've had it for some time. I'm not about to abandon it. [ And as a Weapon, it's definitely not going to abandon hiiiim. ] Going blind was a nightmare, but it hasn't been the worst one around.

[crocodilesmiles]

So they don't break when they do fall. I'm surprised Sango hasn't been teaching you that!

( Heck, she'd be a fly on that wall just to watch and be amused. It's nothing she'd know about in the same ways, but knowing how to fall so you don't hurt yourself is an important skill, and also technically off topic. Ish. )

I'm not worried! Nope, not at all. Though going blind is -- was -- a personal nightmare for you, so maybe I'm a little worried about that. Just a smidgen.

( She holds her fingers close together, aiming for the comical. )

Who was the one calming me down when I was freaking out over my weapon changing and me not knowing it? It was less, um, sense depriving, but it's not less scary. Whatever you were doing with Lenalee, its supposed to be the next step, and you overdid it. You've got to learn how to control it.

( Which ends up sounding a little matter of fact, and a little pleading, though it's -- less apparent in her face. Worry creases her forehead, but her lips turn up into a small smile. She does know about reluctance in working with something scary, but she doesn't see room for a break. Not with how they live... and not with how events have been happening.

What if he'd been able to see before the zombies? What would he have done then? )