[ open ] as cuddly as a cactus, as charming as an eel

[devotedtothecore]

Date & Time: December 24th (backdated), sometime in the morning onwards
Location: The Museum of Old and New Art
Characters: An assortment of current residents of the creepy castle
Summary: Ill-timed maintenance, i.e. The Unintentional Ruin Of Christmas
Warnings: None!

Though it had taken some elbow grease and a certain level of penguin bloodshed, the castle has been a veritable haven of heat and light for the last couple of weeks, what with the presence of a surprisingly robust (and reasonably intact) geothermal power generator brought online. The snowy days have passed in relative calm since, though once or twice the more attentive may have caught the odd tremor in the ground (faint, perhaps no more than the rumble of a passing vehicle or heavy machine).

And so, when the occupants of the castle wake up this morning to find their breath misting in the air of their respective rooms, they might find it perhaps mildly disconcerting.

There's a helpful message on the network, should one turn to their tablet for answers:

To the residents of the MONA and associated premises:

Due to technical issues with the geothermal system, and for the safety of all residents, it has proven necessary to put all operations on hold for the next 24-48 hours. Efforts are being made to restore them in the shortest time possible.

Space heaters and portable lights are available in the main hall.

Sincerest apologies for the inconvenience.

-Chrysos.

Comments

[devotedtothecore]

1) [ ota ]

[ The next day or so is a busy time, to say the least. He keeps his tablet on for the next several hours for any queries and indignant missives that come in; physically, however, locating Chrysos is a matter of scouring every darkened nook and cranny on the premises. (Did something just sneeze in that maintenance shaft?) ]

2) [ closed to Break ]

[ Despite the general utility of the Initiative network, he knows of at least one person that his note isn't likely to reach, and it seems unwise to leave it up to others to explain.

And so, therefore, there comes a tapping,
as of someone gently rapping, rapping at Break's chamber door.
Only this and nothing more. ]

2

[maddeninghatter]

[ The doors are fairly heavy, but Chrysos might hear a bit of, "Bother! What pea-brain is knocking at this hour?"

The speaker's voice softens, and the words become unintelligible. There's a bit of scuffling and a "shh," followed by the stumbling sounds of someone trying to get dressed in a hurry.

Finally, the door opens just a crack, to admit Xerxes Break, who slides through, and shuts the door behind him. He can't recognize the person at his door, so he'll lead off with something that resembles politeness. ]

What can I do for you~? ☆

[devotedtothecore]

[ Having a sharp pair of ears helps, and as he waits patiently and listens with folded arms Chrys wonders if maybe he should've waited for the sun to be higher in the sky before coming a-knocking here. But then again, if he'd been too late rather than too early...

(...is Break talking to that doll of his? Or just thinking aloud. Either seems likely with that eccentric, anyway.)

When the door opens at last, Chrys steps back to make way for Break's entrance to the hallway. There's the slightly squishy sound of his outdoor winterwear in movement. ]

Break. [ A sort-of "good morning". ] ...apologies for the wakening. I needed to speak with you.

[maddeninghatter]

[ Break is clad only in a dressing gown, hastily cinched shut with a sash, and half-tied. His (tiny) feet are bare, on the stone floor. His voice drops from generic politeness, or at least inoffensiveness, to sounding very much put out. ]

Couldn't it have waited? Some of us are trying to —

[ It's only at this moment that his body registers the drop in temperature, with a full-body shiver. ]

Hang on. S-something wrong with the heat?

[devotedtothecore]

[ It's a first (and a bit strange) seeing Break in only this much. He might regret his state of dress any moment now. ]

Yes. I'm afraid it's been necessary to, ah.

[ How to word this in as potentially undistressing a manner as possible. ]

Shut it down, for a little while.

[maddeninghatter]

[ Why didn't he put on his slippers, his feet are freezing. ]

Shut it down? Whatever for? Did it malfunction? Or are you doing some sort of —

[ From inside his bedroom, is a loud THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK. Break didn't hear it. Or at least he is vigorously maintaining the fiction that he didn't hear it. ]

Some sort of maintenance, hm?

[devotedtothecore]

[ ........if Break didn't hear it, Chrys decides that neither did he.

(Whatever it was that fell, presumably it hadn't shattered terribly.) ]

Adjustments. To address the problem of the faultline shifts. [ Hopefully. He's not a hundred percent certain. ] It may last a day or two.

[maddeninghatter]

[ There's that moment that seems to stretch on into infinity, when one wonders if anything else is going to go clunk.

...

...

Except he's supposed to be ignoring it. ]

F-f-faultline shifts?

[ He is sufficiently distracted that he's let his teeth start chattering. He stops at once. ]

What are those, what do you mean?

[senseandcecilbility]

[Well, if both of them had waited longer, they would not have been interrupted by the sound of a chair and something heavier falling behind the heavy door, followed by a muffled yelp of pain.]

1/2

[devotedtothecore]

[ Increasingly evident, the un-wisdom of keeping Break standing there in his sleepwear. ]

Would be better you put more layers on before further explanation.

[ Chrys stoops to the floor beside him and picks up the rather hefty space heater there in both arms. ]

Here's a portable heater as well, in case--

[devotedtothecore]

....




[ That yelp sounds familiar.

Awfully familiar.

...

Please hold, mental gears in movement. ]

1/3

[maddeninghatter]

[ His face had taken on a wide-eyed, fixed expression, but —

Ah.

Despite his heroic efforts, Break can't help finally flinching at the sound of the chair, and the whatever-it-was, and the yelp. He should really go and check on.........

Except Chrysos is standing there with a portable heater, ready to install it in his room. At this point, if left to his own devices, he might decide to put it somewhere else.

Dignity versus heat. A moral quandary, to be sure. ]

[maddeninghatter]

[ He reaches his decision quickly, and... reaches back with one hand to click open the door. ]

Why, thanks very much! You'd better come in and get it hooked up and running.

[maddeninghatter]

[ Adding also, almost as an afterthought: ]

Mind the penguin~!

[senseandcecilbility]

...

...

...

[T-timid honking?]

[devotedtothecore]

[ ...

...

......



Ahem.

Flatly: ] Would the penguin like a moment more to order itself, perhaps.

[ Less an inquiry, more a suggestion. ]

[maddeninghatter]

Haha! More like disordering itself...

[ He swings the door open. The room is still dark; the midwinter sun takes its time about crawling over the horizon in the morning, and the lights aren't on, obviously.

Out of the gloom comes a noise: ]

Wark.

[ What's making it is not entirely clear. ]

[devotedtothecore]

[ Estimated probability that the suite of Xerxes Break presently holds a second occupant: Certain.

Estimated probability of said second occupant being human: Almost certain.

Estimated probability that the suite of Xerxes Break presently holds, at the same time, a rather large and demonstrably volatile snowbird: ....

....

Well. He is carrying the heater. And surely Break wouldn't put that at too much risk.

Mindfully, with all the care of entering a minefield, Chrys steps in. ]

NOT LONG AFTER THE ABOVE EVENTS

[devotedtothecore]

[ With so much space on the inside, it's not surprising how rapidly the entire building seems to be cooling down, though it's (blessedly) yet to be as bad as the outdoors. Still, it makes for nippy air, and tingly sensations when touching metal with bare hands.

"Downstairs" is a small former office adjacent to the lobby, temporarily appropriated for Maintenance, and hence where the lone representative of that aforementioned department has his sketches and blueprints scattered over the lone desk to be pored over, with new notes scrawled here and there. Tools and spare parts (some purveyed from the locals) are haphazardly stacked in one corner, while the smallest of the heaters stands in another; there's a faint scent of machine oil throughout the room.

Though today that scent has an extra hint of penguin blood to it.

The door is closed, but not locked. ]

[maddeninghatter]

[ KNOCK KNOCK KNOCKKNOCK ]

[devotedtothecore]

[ TETCHY VOICE: ]

It's open.

[maddeninghatter]

[ Silence!!! ]

[devotedtothecore]

...

[ fine fine WALKING TO THE DOOR and pulling it open grumble grumble ]

[maddeninghatter]

[ He's not at the door. ]

Hi hiiiii~!

[ He is, in fact, sprawled across Chrysos' desk. ]

[devotedtothecore]

[ ---how did when did whirls around with a sputter ]

Break!?

[ are you messing up his papers ]