D A Y 0 8

[founds]

CHAPTER 2

NOV 7TH | 54℉☀(windy)

▸ Parka up for a cold an--*CHSKSSS--*- windy day in Blackwell folks! I sure do hope--*CHSKSSS--*-search team down at the lake won't--*CHSKSSS--*---*CHSSK--*-trouble out on the waters. Professional divers have been going in since dawn, let's give it up for the professional --*CHSKSSS--*-!!

▸ Old Lady Petunia has paid me to say DO NOT SEEK OUT THE ANGELS--*CHSKSSKK--SK--SSSH--*- In fact, there are no such thing as angels. See how easy that was? No angels, no problem.

▸ And now back to our --*CHSKSSS--*-regularly scheduled programming.

THE RISING IS NOT IN EFFECT

Comments

[espish]

Nice to meet you.

[shoves his carpet bag in the back of the van, then carefully sets the accordion files on top of it, so he can shake nicola's hand.]

A dumbwaiter? You're on a hunt for a dumbwaiter?

[eternalboy]

So that's what it's called.

[ excuse him for not knowing since he's not from the 1920s. ]

Have you seen one or not?

[ this is urgent. ]

[espish]

[kind of from the 30s]

Yeah, there's a dumbwaiter. What do you need one for?

[he found it on one of the walks around the hotel he'd made himself take after he realized he'd been standing in the middle of the room staring at the wall for fifteen minutes. incidentally it won't hold an adult's weight. He asked. It seemed like an important question but the maid had been a little alarmed.]

[eternalboy]

[ that's a good question. one they won't be asking. ]

A secret mission. MPU only.

[ nods to Nicola. ]

And the fire department.

[tralineate]

[ she shrugs with a i dunno face on because who the hell knows the actual name of those things? not the ozzy that's for sure!

and then she does a little mock salute when ben nods at her ]

Yep. Top secret.

[espish]

I guess you won't be needing my help finding it, then

[pockets his hands and raises his eyebrows. That was all of the stuff he brought here in that one bag and two folders. He's got nothing better to do now.]

[eternalboy]

[ that's it? more space for him then. ]

But it is a matter of urgency. No time to waste and such. Please show us the way.

[ using his official voice, hopefully to his new friend's amusement. ]

[tralineate]

[ his official voice is the worst. like a kid trying to be serious. which makes her laugh a little and she nods in mock-seriousness to sam ]

Yes, very urgent. Utmost importance.

[espish]

I dunno, what's in it for me? You want me in on the investigation, Vaughn, I'm in on the investigation.

[oh, he can do mock-serious. watch him. He's heading back inside even as he protests, addressin Ben and nicola over his shoulder. C'mon.]

[eternalboy]

[ no you are wrong. his official voice is very convincing. follows Sam inside. ]

Unofficially speaking you could choose the bigger bedroom.

[tralineate]

[ no it isn't. look at that baby face. she laughs at this whole dumb joke but goes along, more watching the two of them rather than contributing for now. since she's just getting to know the place and all ]

So, roomates huh? [ just that? nothing more? wink wink ]

[espish]

Accurately speaking, they looked the same size to me.

[god he hasn't even seen the place in person. what a bad idea this whole endeavor is. why. ]

Looks like it, yeah.

[like water off a duck's back]

[eternalboy]

Just doing the detective here a favor.

[ you'll thank him later. or not. ]

Where are you staying? Do they make you sleep at the fire department? Next to the pole?

[ aww yeah the pole. you gotta take him there one day. ]

[tralineate]

If I'm on the night shift, yeah. It's not next to the pole.

[ you're such a weirdo. ]

[espish]

That's funny, because the detective here phrased it like he needed a favor from me.

[his exact words were something about needing a roommate.

presses the button for the elevator.]

[eternalboy]

We're helping each other out.

[ corrects his words. happy now? ]

I wanted to be a firefighter once.

[ leans against the wall as they wait. offers information no one wanted. ]

[tralineate]

Everyone wanted to be a firefighter once.

[ she smiles and shrugs; it's true though. a lot of kids just love the whole sirens and red trucks. ]

[espish]

This was before you discovered Hammett and Chandler, I assume.

[since you said the pulps made you want to become a detective when you were a kid, and that one stuck. as much as anything seems to stick to ben.]

I wanted to be an X-Man. Or RoboCop.

[steps into the tiny elevator when it dings and holds it open for nicola and ben.]

[eternalboy]

That's a tad unrealistic.

[ smiles and raises his brows as he steps inside. and people kept laughing at him for his inspirations in life? ]

Maybe I can still become one. You could use one more, right? I mean, they had you brought over from freaking Australia.

[tralineate]

[ snorts at sam's confession and nods ] Hey, don't crush a man's dream. There's still time. [ comic books are rad and all that ]

I came over from Richmond. I've been in the USA since I was fifteen.

[espish]

Yeah, you're never to old to become a fictional character.

[for instance, he didn't start trying to become a pulp detective until he was

presses the button for ben's floor as soon as everybody's in the elevator. he found the dumbwaiter on his floor, but if there isn't a door in the same place a few floors up then what's the point of a dumbwaiter?]

They start firefighters early in Australia.

[eternalboy]

[ you're triggering me with all this aging talk. ]

They have a lot of fires.

[tralineate]

[ funny guy, this sam person. kind of. he's an awkward funny guy or something. she rolls her eyes at him shaking her head with a smile. ]

My mum had a big offer to come to work in an office in Virginia, so we moved. My siblings were just about to go to college, so it all worked out. [ and she nudges ben ] Too right! It's because of all the hot people.

[espish]

[all the friendliest people he meets in this town are from nowhere near it. you should probably leave, nicola, before you make an unwise rooming decision and get stuck here. maybe not necessarily in that order.]

I hear you've got spiders the size of house cats and snakes so poisonous they can kill you just by looking at you, too.

[awkward funny guy, that's him.

this elevator is tiny and terrifying and creaky. sam does not like this elevator.]

[eternalboy]

[ all the more reason to move out hey ]

I've heard the same thing. [ smiles at Nicola. she must be enjoying this cliche Australian things hour. ] So it must be true.

Were you ever bitten by one of those creatures?

[ exits the elevator first when there's the ding. ]