∞ 99: Horoscopes [action]

[chikaidestroyer]

[Aquarius:
- Your next shower will be interrupted by a large mildly poisonous insect.
- Your sudden sweet tooth is probably a sign of impending doom.
- Duck!
- Learn to drive, jerk!

Albert had raised a brow when he had seen the horoscope predictions. There were, of course, mentions of the horoscopes and comments over the journals that the predictions were coming true. He's understandably somewhat wary when he takes his shower that day -- especially when the prediction comes true and he finds the hand-sized insect skittering around his feet. He jumps out of the shower.

The insect jumps out with him. And makes a beeline for the crack underneath the bathroom door.

...Wonderful.

After that experience, he finds himself heading to the plaza to visit ... the bakery. Anyone seeing him around the plaza or in the bakery will discover that he is being followed around by a male mallard duck -- everywhere. Maybe it has something to do with the prediction, or the fact that Albert seems to have taken to eating a lot of pastries. Either way, he is being followed by a duck. Everywhere.

Said mallard duck is still following him as he heads down to the battle dome -- because there is no other place that he can think of where he can cure this sudden need to learn how to drive. He may just spend the entire day there, which is entirely strange for him no matter what day it is.]

Comments

[mydearapple.livejournal.com]

Great... [He leans on the wall to take off his socks, then heads into his room. His door had been open, so it might have gone in there.]

[chikaidestroyer]

[Albert walks past Caesar, frowning and keeping his eyes on the ground as he heads towards the living room. ...There were far too many places for those insects to go.]

[mydearapple.livejournal.com]

[Hesitantly, Caesar kneels down on the floor again, this time to look underneath his bed. A part of him kind of hopes he doesn't find it here. He really doesn't want to clean up his floor once he smashes the troublesome little thing.

But hmm, it's too dark to see under here...]

[chikaidestroyer]

[Meanwhile, Albert carefully begins tipping the armchairs and the coffee table, not one want crouch and look underneath the furniture when he could avoid it. He ends up having to get down on his hands and knees to look underneath the couch, frowning at the lack of movement underneath the couch.

Those things were large; they couldn't remain hiding for long.]

[mydearapple.livejournal.com]

[He doesn't have anything he can use to see under his bed. Does he really want to try and coax it out?

...nope. He'll look somewhere else first. Like under his desk, or between his furniture. This is a better idea.]

[chikaidestroyer]

[It's as he's getting up from the couch that Albert hears an audible scraping sound from the fireplace. He slowly edges towards it, frowning as he sees one of the large insects sitting in the ashes. It's antennae twitch noticeably, like those of a huge cockroach.

...

He cautiously looks around. What could he use to grab it? Should he just kill it outright?]

[mydearapple.livejournal.com]

[Hmm. Nothing. At least, not unless it's under his bed, but he's not sure he wants to try provoking one of those things. He decides to head back out into the hallway to see what his brother is up to. He peeks around the corner leading into the living room, tilting his head at Albert.]

Did you find anything?

[chikaidestroyer]

One of them is in the fireplace. [Albert gestures to the fireplace with his chin, tensing when the insect skitters at the sudden movement. He starts forward as the insect jumps out of the fireplace and along the wall, disappearing past the room divider and into the foyer.]

...Was.

[mydearapple.livejournal.com]

[Caesar sighs in exasperation, but makes his way through the living room anyway, keeping his eyes on the floor.]

What are we supposed to kill them with?

[chikaidestroyer]

I was just wondering about that. [He frowns, glancing over towards the front door, where his shoes are.] If we wish to go with the tried, true, and crude method, we step on them.

[mydearapple.livejournal.com]

[Caesar frowns, too, pausing near the room divider. His feet are completely bare.]

If we go for our shoes, we'll end up startling it again.

[chikaidestroyer]

Herding them and cornering them in the hallway would be the best method. The hallway is sealed off, unless you decided not to seal your own room once you were finished checking it. [And now he glances over at Caesar.]

[mydearapple.livejournal.com]

Of course I remembered.

[...he says as he turns around to go back and turn his lie into the truth.]

[chikaidestroyer]

[Albert shakes his head faintly, watching Caesar for a moment before stepping towards the foyer. As he looks around the sparsely-furnished area, he sees Kogoro sitting on his little bed in the dining room, his ears perked alertly and head raised.

After acknowledging the dog, Albert opens up the foyer closet, reaching up for the flashlight on one of the higher shelves. He flicks the switch, looking around for the giant bug.]

[mydearapple.livejournal.com]

[Caesar returns to his room and does just as Albert did earlier, making sure the door was shut and retrieving a towel from the bathroom to put on the floor. If it turned out there was a bug in his room, at least it would be stuck there for now.

Once that's taken care of, he returns, heading toward the front door first so he can put on his shoes.]

[chikaidestroyer]

[While Albert was looking around the closet, Kogoro grew curious of all this extra movement and stood up, shaking himself off. He trots over to Caesar when he sees him and wags his tail, seeming to assume he's putting on his shoes to go outside.]

It's almost unfortunate the only place we can't assume the insects to be is outside.

[mydearapple.livejournal.com]

[He bends down to pat the dog on the head, but unfortunately for Kogoro, Caesar will have to join his brother in the dining room. Again, he keeps his eyes on the floor as he does so, just in case.]

We wouldn't be wasting our time with this if we could.

[chikaidestroyer]

Of course not. [He shakes his head in exasperation as Caesar states the obvious. He walks over to inspect the plants by the window, checking the leaves and tipping the pots slightly to see if something moves from behind or under them.

Kogoro tilts his head, watching the brothers look around the room. His ears are perked in such a way that is distinctly curious.]

[mydearapple.livejournal.com]

[Caesar, on the other hand, looks a little lower. He checks underneath the table, the areas around where the plants are set up, under the cabinet... He even checks Kogoro's little area in the room, despite being sure that the dog probably would have chased it away if he had seen it.]

Do you think it got as far as the kitchen?

[chikaidestroyer]

I would think Kogoro would have noticed them if they had crossed into the kitchen. [Albert turns to look thoughtfully at the dog, who still has his head craned up at them.

...Or is he really looking at them?

He follows Kogoro's gaze, stepping quickly away as one of the large insects falls from the ceiling and onto the table. He can't help but stifle a hiss of frustration as the insect skitters and twitches its antennae around.]

[mydearapple.livejournal.com]

Yeah, probably.

[He frowns a bit. Caesar's so busy looking around the floor that he doesn't see the bug fall, but he certainly hears it when it hits the table. He looks up, a bit disgusted when he sees the nasty little thing on the table. Ugh.]

So what's the plan? Are we going to chase it into the hallway?

[chikaidestroyer]

If we can, yes. I would rather it not get into the kitchen at all. [That was where they cooked and ate on a daily basis. Ugh.]

Go around the table from that side. We'll stand between it and the kitchen and try to force it back towards the foyer.

[mydearapple.livejournal.com]

With what?

[He doesn't want to get close enough to touch it with his hands, because he really doesn't want to risk getting bitten. Even so, he still rounds the table just like his brother says.]

[chikaidestroyer]

Anything. Improvise, Caesar. [Even as he starts moving, Albert bends down to grab one of Kogoro's soft toys near his dog bed. It admittedly looks a bit ridiculous, him standing with a dog toy in front of the kitchen, guarding it against a large insect.]

[mydearapple.livejournal.com]

Easier said than done.

[He's focused his attention on the bug, so he doesn't see what "improvising" means for his brother. Caesar's too close to go and reach for a dog toy himself now, so he reaches for the potted plant on the table instead. If the bug doesn't move once he's gotten a hold of it, he'll start using the plant to coax it away from the table.]