interluceo | [SEMI-CLOSED MEME] MONSTER AUS

[Taako just watches with his mouth slightly agape.]

This is the most fucking insane thing I've ever seen in my entire life.

[He's just?? Letting it happen though??? Lup is literally never going to believe him. He honestly needs to convince her to play a trick on her when he brings her though because it will not be worth it if he can't convince his dear sister he's been possessed by a ghost. And a ghost that actually exists. What the fuck.

Her question kind of brings him back in, though, and he's back to watching his hand move when it's not his hand. It feels kind of tingly? Like he's been texting too long. Are ghosts the source of carpel tunnel?]

'Ss a friend of mine from college. He works with dogs and like, makes furniture and shit, I dunno. I don't get it, but he's really good at it so I'm not gonna stop him.

Does it feel weird?

(She makes his fingers wiggle when he doesn't protest, and then she makes him flip himself off because she can. The more she gets used to it, the easier it is to bend his fingers, flex his wrist. He's just letting her do it too which is kind of wild, but she appreciates the opportunity to remember how exactly to do this.

Anyway, the phone.

Magnus Burnsides looks like a pretty nice guy. He makes furniture and works with dogs. That's pretty cool. Lucretia scrolls through his tweets for a bit, chuckling every so often, and then she gets bored of that and hits the back button.)

Are you still friends? Are you friends with everybody on this? (She's scrolling through the timeline, looking at various photos whenever they pop up. It's... like a scrapbook. It's like taking notes and scribbling in pictures to match except everybody can see it. Does that not get nerve-wracking? Eventually she finds how to get to Taako's profile, and reads through his little flavour text with interest.)

'Sizzle it up with'... are you a chef? (Wait, is he famous?? The little number atop the word 'followers' is much, much larger than Magnus' had been. Lucretia stares at it, wide-eyed.)

Kinda feels like my hand is falling asleep. You better not be stealing my muscles in there.

[He just lets that one pass though, watching her idly navigate and reacting with a little 'hey' or a laugh when she does something particularly henious. But she's still asking questions, so he guesses he's in kinda deep to not answer them by this point.]

I mean, I know 'em, or like most of 'em. Some are just people I think are funny, or celebs and stuff. You don't have to know somebody to follow their work.

[But then she gets to his profile, and he grins, because she has just enough of a knowledge now on how this platform works to be impressed. Which, frankly, perfect.]

I'm a man of many talents. Told ya, I have a paranormal show with my sis, but Sizzle was my claim to fame. People loooove that shit. Told you, I'm kinda a big deal on the internet, babe.

You'll never know.

(Like, maybe she is and maybe she isn't. She definitely isn't, but it's fun to have a one-up on him in some regard. He might know all about... phones, and life outside of this house, and tweeting- or whatever- but Lucretia knows about being a weird ghost much more than he does so... there.)

Right, right... (For a while she scrolls idly through his follower list, as if somebody might jump out at her, but nobody does. It's all the same, really. Some people have funny jokes as their display names, some people have their real names, some of them have a photo for a picture, some have art. Seems you can be as anonymous as you like, on the internet. Neat. If only she'd had something like this around when she was an author, it probably would have been really handy.)

It's Lucretia, (she says pedantically, without looking up from his phone,) not 'babe'– and you run a successful paranormal show, but I'm the first ghost you've ever met? I thought to become famous you had to be good at something.

[She has more up on him than she can imagine just by being a freaky ghost. Thankfully, Taako is the king of compartmentalization, meaning he can sit on the floor of a broken down building and let a ghost steal his hand and it's chill. Super chill.]

At least leave my bones then, jeez.

[But uhh moving on--]

And hey, I'm really good at things. See, the point here is that ghosts don't actually exist to like, almost anyone. Everybody thinks it's fake, but nobody can like, prove it. Not that I'm saying you're not real but like, wow Luce, this is a whole experience right here.

[See, not babe anymore, just. Splitting the middle.]

It's Lucretia, (Lucretia mutters again, but with less conviction this time because if he insists on calling her something other than her name she'll take 'Luce' over 'babe' every day of the week.)

And I'm pretty sure that I'm real; unless I'm the product of a mass hallucination or... something?

(She glances down at herself for a moment, then shivers, and the motion ripples right through her form. It shakes her control of Taako's wrist and she watches, slightly amused as his hand smacks dully onto the screen of his phone, then slides off it to drop by his side.)

... That was kind of cool.

[Luce is the closest she's probably getting, let's be real here. But the rest of it is more interesting than any nicknames she could pass out. Even he snickers a little as it ripples through, though that feeling does cause him to try and jerk his hand back to his chest.]

Eugh, that felt so fuckin' weird. Still have no idea how this is happening, bee-tee-dubs.

[But regardless, he'll go back to the first point.]

And look, like, you seem pretty real, but also you're the first ghost I've ever met and this is kinda my job. So the other ones are either real good at hiding orrrrr there's probably some big conspiracy? To keep like regular-ass people from finding out about it. At which point you've blown the whole cover of every ghost everywhere and I'm gonna have to go into their houses and, uh, mess stuff up until they troll my twitter feed.

Maybe other ghosts are intimidated by you, (she points out,) especially if you're loudly encroaching upon their territory and trying to find them so you can film them for a show.

(Lucretia's spit balling here: she has no idea what other ghosts think. She's never met another ghost before. She hasn't been able to leave the house, and as long as she's been in charge nobody else has had the foresight to go and die here. Perhaps she's been the only one.

Quite rude of them, actually. She's been alone for so long. For a moment she's caught up in the thought of that, wondering about her fellows, feeling unsettled by how little she knows.)

If... if you meet any that are able to roam, will you tell them to come and visit me?

[He honestly wouldn't care if other ghosts didn't like him. Plenty of other people don't like him. But apparently he's found the Cool Ghost, or at least a ghost desperate enough that she isn't complaining. Good enough for him. But she mentions the last part, and he can almost feel the sadness coming off her in waves.]

So you like... can't leave at all?

[Taako's not one to obey rules well, even if they're set by someone who can't control them. If this is gonna become Ghost Heist, well... maybe it's gonna become Ghost Heist. You don't know. He doesn't know. It's not like she's another mouth to feed.]

You couldn't be like, tied to a piece of it and then go if someone brought that?

No. I can't exist outside of the house.

(She's tried several times, but she just starts to fade away. Not in a good way, like the way she sinks into the floor and becomes part of it. She just ceases to exist, until she finds her way back to the boundaries of the house. It doesn't feel very pleasant. Lucretia shivers lightly, glancing about herself self-consciously.

At his next suggestion, her mouth opens slightly in surprise.)

I... don't know, (she says eventually, blinking.) I've never tried anything like that before. (She's never had the opportunity. She closes her eyes for a moment, taking stock of the house, filling every corner of it with her mind until she locates a bit of splintered wood, jutting off of a window frame in the bedroom upstairs. That would work.)

Come this way? (She can't touch it, but she can lead him over to it. She rises up the stairs, pausing mid-'step' and glancing down at the rotting wood before ascending to the stop.)

And be careful.

[He's excited she's even thinking about it- this is obviously new ground, but there's something in him that does really want to help her. If he was trapped here, alone, and lonely enough to talk to his dumb ass, he'd want someone to drag him out too.

She starts moving and he stands, pocketing his phone as he follows. He's not sure how he feels about getting higher up in this place, but... well, he's full in now.]

This better not be your plan to kill me. Like, I get up there and fall through the floor and die, and then you can escape and I inherit all this. Watchin' you.

[But he follows, keeping his eyes mostly on the ground so he doesn't put his foot through somewhere unstable. It's trickier than he thinks, but he stays close.]

So am I just gonna take somethin', or?

I'm not going to kill you, (she reassures, helping to point out places she can tell the wood is weaker, mapping him a safe path to the top of the stairs.)

If I wanted to trap somebody in here with me I'd at least pick somebody who shared a couple of my interests. (The splinter of house she was thinking of is in plain sight the moment they hit the doorway; she glides over to it, half out of the wall and half in, and points.)

There. Take that, and... um, I'll go in it, I guess. (Oh, the reality of this plan is hitting her now. What if it doesn't work, and she's got her hopes up for nothing? The disappointment will crush her; Taako won't stay here forever to talk, after all. She doesn't want to go back to being alone for another eighty years, or whatever.

... But what if it does work? She's staring at the little piece of wood, frowning, uncertain.)

[He has little choice but to follow her lead, this late in the game. Like, he's up a floor, he probably wouldn't die falling through the wood here but if he broke a leg and landed on his phone he'd be pretty fucked. But he's willing to go along with this, because-- well, fuck, why not? What harm do they have in trying? Taako's not a philanthropic kinda guy, but he is deeply curious and kind of excited. They're charting new ground. And ultimately, he has nothing to lose. So why not try?]

Alright, uh-- hang on.

[He walks over, still careful of the way the floor creaks beneath him, and reaches up to the doorframe. It comes off easily and he stumbles a bit with the force from his pull, like he expected it to be harder. It fits in his palm, slightly damp from years of mold and getting chewed on by god knows what, but it's there.]

So... now you do your ghost thing? Chill in there? 'Ss it gonna be cramped or does that not matter?

I don't know, I haven't inhabited something so small before.

(She's still looking at the little bit of wood; she reaches out with her subconscious to gently poke it... the ghost equivalent of dipping your toe into a pool. Hmmm.

And then she just jumps right in, disappearing from his field of view until she's fit herself into the sliver of house resting innocently on his palm. Okay, this isn't so bad. It's cramped, sure, but in a cozy way? And if this actually gets her outside then it will all be worth it. Maybe if he puts it down somewhere she can come 99% of the way back out of it and loophole the haunting laws that way, or whatever.)

Okay, (she says, and then,) can you still hear me?

(Her voice feels smaller, a bit muffled.)

[Listen, they're totally cheating the fuck out of haunting loopholes right now. Taako watches it happen, her disappearing, and doesn't remember to exhale when she speaks again. Okay, okay, this is... working? This is a real ass ghost heist. He's an actual fucking ghostbuster. What the hell.]

Alright, well, fuck. Guess we're doin' this. You sound like you're talking to me through a tin can and a string but whatever.

[Now to remember how to get down. He walks back through the path she pointed out, carefully picking his way back to the stairs and making his way back to the ground floor.]

So uh... am I just gonna walk out past the guards all casual with the money strapped to me, is that how we're doin' this? Just going for it and seeing if that's what's up?

(Oh, just a little bit huh. Lucretia is starting to feel vaguely panicked about whether this is a good idea or not. This house is the only thing she's known for all she can remember, what if... what if she just disappears forever once Taako removes her from it?)

Wait, (she says as he reaches the bottom of the stairs, a nervous little squeak of noise sounding from the piece of wood. She's not getting cold feet, she's not, she just wants a moment to kind of... center herself. She's merged with this place over the years, so she has to make sure she isn't leaving anything behind.)

Yes, that's... more or less the idea, I suppose. Can you wait a minute though?

[He stops himself a little bit short at her request, stumbling a bit as he hits the final stop and looking down at the scrap clasped in his hand. She's... kinda messed up about this, huh? Usually, his instinct would be to make a joke at this point, but he has no idea what to even make a joke about. Most of the punchlines seem to be her death, which isn't super great. So instead he just nods, leaning against the wall nearby.]

Uh, yeah, go ahead. Just let me know, I'm gonna, uh...

[He just kinda pulls out his phone, placing the wood piece in his pocket.]

Let me know if that's crowded, I guess? Fuck if I know how this works.

It's fine.

(It's comforting actually, like being... held isn't the right word, she really doesn't have any memory left of what that's like, but it feels safe inside Taako's pocket, inside the house. Maybe if he walks out like this she can pretend she's still in there and that'll keep her from falling apart. If she falls apart at all, Lucretia's aware she may be making a huge deal out of absolutely nothing.

She broods in the wood chip for a while, then decides that, uh, you miss one hundred percent of the shots you never take, or whatever. Also this is ridiculous, and she's older than she knows and how is this the scariest thing that's ever happened to her? Answer is: it isn't.)

Okay, (she says, after a beat, puffing herself up as much as she can,) I'm ready. Let's go.

[True to form, Taako spends most of her deliberation time on Twitter, scrolling through his TL idly while he actually thinks about the situation. He found a ghost. He just hit the biggest fucking jackpot of his entire life. He just proved that ghosts are REAL. Everyone would want their hands on her and his info and he could make some big bucks from this shit if he can actually get her out. This could set him and Lup up for life- that means a lot.

But... maybe he doesn't have to worry about selling her to the government or whatever right now. This situation is crazy, sure, but a crazy he can kinda shelve for the moment. Right now, he has a ghost to heist and a sister to prank. So when she speaks he tucks his phone away and heads for the exit, squeezing through the crowded and broken doorframe he used to get in.]

This better not be some spirited away shit where like a hundred years have passed out here because I tried to save you, that'll be bullshit. If so we're gonna have to invoke ghost time travel and that'll be mega your prob, sis.

(oh, how kind of him to momentarily hold off on forking her over for mad cash. lucretia will remember this)

I don't know what that means, (Lucretia says easily, clinging to the edges of the wood as best she can as he starts to maneuver his way out of the house through the way he came in. It's interesting to see how he did it. Through the broken doorframe, huh? Humans are so traditional, there are a million windows he could have clambered through ~~on her ground level~~. No no no, the house's. This isn't her any more, she's... trying something new. She's going somewhere else.)

I don't have any time travel powers, just regular, run of the mill haunting... skills. I'm just assuming all ghosts have those. You remember my lonely little rant, right? (Met no other ghosts before, yadda yadda.)

[He said he wasn't gonna do it immediately!! And also there's no way Lup will let him once she knows. Shhhhhh don't worry about it.]

Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm not saying you did it on purpose. Could be death magic, what the fuck do I know anymore, today's been a goddamn mess.

[But he makes it outside, physically a step outside of the boundary of the house, taking a moment to look and see if anyone saw him before sticking his hands in his pockets and beelining out of there as nonchalantly as he's able.]

Check it out. One whole ass outside. You did it.

(lucretia will remember this)

Death magic? (She laughs, but it sounds a little strangled,) I think– wouldn't you associate something like that with malevolent ghosts? I really don't–

(But then he steps out of the house and Lucretia's words fail her, because she feels that separation so keenly in her soul it almost... hurts. It feels like the memory of being wounded. It feels like dying, except that nothing happens to her, and she remains where she is in the wood chip, paralyzed. Dying lite.

Taako's hand joins her in his pocket. She knows he didn't put it there for reassurance, more out of habit, but it's still nice. Lucretia simmers, trying to get used to the floaty feeling of being suddenly disconnected. She realises with a jolt that she has no idea where they're going. The house has been north, south, east and west for her. She can't remember the world beyond it.)

Uh, (she says, and her voice sounds rusty, a little squeak of sound from his pocket.) Yes? I– suppose that I did. Am I still here? Can you still hear me?

[Oh, death lite is a mood.

But he keeps strolling along, meeting back onto the trail he took out here, and glancing around to make sure no one saw him.]

Huh? Lucretia? You there?

[He doesn't wait more than a few seconds before he laughs, cutting off any anxiety she's probably experiencing.]

I'm just fucking with you, I can hear you. You all good? Hang on, got an idea.

[He takes his hand off the wood piece to retrieve his headphones from his other pocket, plugging it into his phone. As he makes it back towards people, he's gonna look nuts if he's talking to himself, but if he talks into the speaker on these no one's gonna care.]

There we go. You still feel like, the regular level of dead?

(It's long enough for Lucretia's stomach to plummet, so she doesn't laugh in response to his little 'joke', she just puts her face in her hands for a moment and sighs. Hilarious, Taako.)

Yes, I'm 'all good'. (Relatively speaking. She has no idea what he's doing with his phone and headphones because that's all taking place in another pocket and she's too skittish to put a toe outside of the wood chip. Lucretia's pretty sure she could come out, like, whenever, she's just going to wait until they've stopped for a bit or something. That's all.)

Still dead, still... here, some how? Honestly, I have no idea how any of this is working, logically speaking. (Probably best not to question it.) Where exactly are we going?

[He chuckles when she responds, obviously not thrown by his own stunt. You're a gem, Taako. Truly.

That said, he appreciates her not manifesting right here, because that's more of a stunt than he can handle right now. He continues chattering as he moves.]

Sweet, ghost heist achieved. Look at that, we slapped the rules of ghost whatevers. Take that, nature.

[Right, she asked him a question.]

Oh, and we're heading back to my place. Or well, our bus. It's where Lup and I live so it's home for now. You sure you don't wanna pull somethin' on her? Because it would seriously rock and she'd loooove it, trust me.

[SEMI-CLOSED MEME] MONSTER AUS

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)