chikaidestroyer | ∞ 103: Doors to anywhere [voice/action]

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∞ 103: Doors to anywhere [voice/action]

[With the summer weather being what it is, it's been somewhat difficult to sleep at reasonable times -- even more so when you're still attempting to fix your sleeping schedule after resting from a mission. This is the only reason that Albert is preparing to take a shower at midnight, having collected his clothes for changing afterwards.

However, those plans vanish upon passing through the bathroom door as darkness immediately floods his vision. The air is thick and smells of sulfur, and the breeze tells him he's no longer safely indoors. He stumbles blindly for all of ten seconds before he stubs his foot on something and falls forward--

--right into the hot springs. With a resounding splash.

His journal luckily does not land in the water, but hits the ground in just the right way to start recording. There's coughing and several other splashes as Albert drags himself out of the water.

A few minutes more pass before the recording is stopped. It starts again several minutes later. Albert sounds hoarse, and the journal screen may be dim with firelight.]

[voice]

"The fun starts at midnight," indeed. Do be careful of the weather today, everyone; it looks like it's going to be raining.

[action]

[Once he gets his bearings and has changed out of his soaked clothes into his drier set, Albert will attempt to leave the hot springs. This unfortunately means passing through another doorway to ... somewhere. Beware the accidental intruder in the middle of the night.

In the morning, he can be found drowsily sitting on the front steps of house 42. He's not taking the chance of walking through the front door and ending up somewhere else.]

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[Caesar hears his brother's message in the morning, and though it's kind of strange, he's not too worried about him. He sounded pretty okay, voice aside, so Caesar really has no idea what his brother means about "fun"!

...at least, until he steps through his doorway in the morning and ends up somewhere that is not the hallway. It won't be until closer to the afternoon that Caesar wanders back to the house, still in his pajamas, when he notices his brother. He seems rather tired when he speaks.]

Good morning... or is it afternoon?

[Albert opens an eye at the sound of his brother's voice, frowning before blearily looking beyond Caesar to the sky above.]

It might even be evening already. The sky is a mess today.

I guess the time of day never really mattered here anyway. [He shrugs. Despite the rain, he still takes his time making his way to the house.] I think I could use a nap.

[The rain seemed to be coming up from the ground because of the experiment, so Albert was thankful it was at least coming out from underneath the porch.]

Will you risk going through the front door?

I never said that, did I? [He tilts his head. Nope, he's pretty sure he didn't!] It wouldn't be the first time I've slept outside before.

...That is true. I suppose I am the one uncomfortable with the idea, of the two of us. [Not that he couldn't sleep outside if he had need to. It just wasn't something he did as frequently as Caesar.]

I guess we should hope it's safe to try the door again before it becomes nighttime. [...] Or daytime, I suppose.

I'm not that optimistic, unfortunately. Eventually, I will have to reconsider if trying to get inside is worth the risk of being stranded in the mountains or the middle of the ocean.

I must wonder if you'll be able to handle such risky decisions all by yourself, my dear brother! But then again, I can't see you sitting out here for the rest of the week, either.

With weather like this, I can't see myself sitting out here for an entire week, either. [He's silent for a moment.] Perhaps you can use Kogoro to fetch groceries. Or attempt to, at least.

[Finally, Caesar takes a seat on the steps. His feet are close enough to the ground that they can still get wet from the upside down rain, but he doesn't seem to mind.]

What are the chances of that actually being successful?

I'm not sure. I suppose it would be a shame to lose your dog because he ends up in the ocean, though. [Especially since they had no idea if Kogoro would actually come back if he died from an experiment.]

I can't tell if you have too little or too much faith in him, Albert.

Your dog somehow learned how to dance on his back feet and carries around a pouch that you did not give to him. I would say he's fairly capable of amazing feats. [There would be a more sarcastic edge to his voice, but he's trying to stifle a yawn.]

Are you saying this because you're hungry?

[It's a genuine question, since he doesn't catch the intended sarcasm. ...and truthfully, he's a little hungry, too. He hadn't had a chance to eat breakfast or lunch yet today.]

[Albert is silent at that, as the question actually reminds him that he hasn't eaten anything since attempting to take that shower past midnight.]

Food would not be unwelcome at this point. [Can't even give a straight answer.]

Not unwelcome, but is it desired?

[There's nothing wrong with being honest, Albert! In fact, it might decide whether or not he tries to send Kogoro out now or later.]

[He sighs, as if it's really a big deal to reveal weakness to his brother at this point.]

It is desired, yes.

Then I guess we should see how Kogoro feels about that.

[He stands up as he speaks, ascending the rest of the stairs and approaching the door. Doors always seemed to lead where they were supposed to until you set foot through them, so maybe if he didn't actually walk inside...

He opens the front door and tries to look around as best as he can without actually moving through the doorway. Where the heck is that dog?]

[Albert keeps his distance, slow to stand after sitting for so long. When he sees Caesar looking around through the open door, he offers a suggestion.]

Try calling out to him?

I'm getting there. [He looks around once more before calling out:] Hey, Kogoro! Come here.

[Even from where he is, Albert can hear the jingle of Kogoro's dog tag against his collar and the scratching of his paws against the floor. He keeps silent as he watches Kogoro come closer.]

It looks like the door is back to normal for the moment. [There's a bit of relief evident in his voice.]

Are you sure it's not just normal for him?

[He crouches down and holds out a hand for Kogoro. Come here, little guy...!]

[Kogoro wags his tail, his ears perking slightly at how Caesar wants him to go outside. It was usually him who wanted to go outside and he had to drag Caesar out, wasn't it? But he trots forward anyway, intent on licking that offered hand.]

He looks like he's been waiting to be fed, too.

Then I guess this is his lucky day. [He scratches the dog behind his ears while he tries to think of how to do this... He should try to keep it simple.] Kogoro, you know where the store is. Can you go there and bring us back some food?

[...yes, that sounds incredibly weird. Should he be more specific about what to get? Hrm.]