Action + Video - I'm off on this super fun adventure

[teamfun]

[ARRIVAL; Action]

[It's been something of A Day for Louis. A roller coaster of some really awesome and some really horrifically terrible shit. One minute, he was standing over that absolute jackass, Abel, and the next he's stumbling out of the first floor storage room out into the corridor with some comedic arm flailing. He catches himself, then stills, glancing around the space that is definitely not Ericson's courtyard.]

Toto, we're not in Kansas any more.

[He lets out a soft laugh that's toeing a little too close to hysterical. Carefully, he slides what looks like (and turns out IS) a chair leg with nails rammed into the top from an inside pocket of his held-together-by-love-and-duct-tape trenchcoat. For the observant, there's a blood stain on the upper arm, dry, a few weeks old, but definitely there, and definitely around a recently duct-taped hole. He raises his makeshift mace as he edges to a window, peering out at the perfect, beautiful Walker-free grounds.]

Oooookay, Lou. You're having a little bit of a psychotic breakdown. That's okay, that's fine. It's been a weird day. You knew it would have probably happened eventually. It's all good. Someone'll snap you out of this any second now.

[If you're heading towards him or passing him by, congrats, you've got his attention, he'll wave at you with his free hand.]

Hi there, mental breakdown conjuration. How's it hanging? Good? Good. I'm great. Not freaking out at all.

[LATER; Video]

[Once he's been filled in on what's actually happening (but still not utterly convinced this isn't some kind of stress-induced hallucination) Louis picks himself a room. He has his first hot shower in literal years, and even trusts the (magic????) closets to give him a new set of clothes. Aside from the trenchcoat. That remains as filthy and duct-taped as always. He's not parting with that for anything.

He sets himself up in the kitchen, where he sets up his communicator with a few false starts. It's been a long-ass time since he got to play with actual electronics. He's got a veritable feast on the table around him- ranging from god-awful junk food to fancy-ass steaks. They never truly starved in the school, but when all you have to eat for nigh on eight years are variations of rabbit, fish or berries, you can't help but indulge. He'll regret it later, when his system freaks out from suddenly having too-rich nutrients again, but that is a risk he's absolutely willing to take. He grins, giving the camera a thumbs-up. He doesn't get what's happening at all, but he can't just sit still, this...this keeps him active.]

Hey there, fellow captives-slash-mental breakdown prisoners! The name's Louis and I'm brand new to this... whatever it is. AnyHOO, seen as it sounds like I'll be here for a while, I thought I'd get to know you a little better. [He raises a dirty, dog-eared pack of playing cards t the screen.] So! If any kids wanna come to the kitchen and share in my bountiful feast and have a good old game of War, you're totally welcome to. Highest card gets to ask a question to the other person, fun, right? Or, I guess, you can be boring and do it over the video instead. What'd you say?

Comments

[teamfun]

[Clementine has really pretty eyes is the first, traitorous thought that comes leaping, unbidden, into his mind. He laughs, rubbing the back of his head with his free hand. Be cool, BE COOL. ]

Thanks for showing it me. It's nice, to have something normal. Give me a piano and I think I'm all set here.

[He'd love the centre, to be with people his own age- adults, well, they're still too much of an unknown quality to him. Can't trust them the same way you can other kids.]

[waitin]

( Clementine watches his reaction, and she is somehow incredibly endeared by his uncertainty- by the way he seems to become uncertain as soon as she makes an aggressive move of her own. toward him. She smiles and then lifts herself up and presses a kiss to his mouth.

She pulls back slow but certain too. It's because he was so open and charming to start with with her that she's able to be so open in turn. )

Speaking of that, there's another room that I want to show you.

( This place has a lot of rooms, but yes. )

[teamfun]

[For all his bluster when he first met her, dealing with real, genuine feelings is a lot harder. His front serves him well, out there, gets him through the day to day. But once that's peeled back, well- he's not half as suave as he likes to pretend he is.

Still, she kisses him and he more than happily kisses her back. It's nice, he realises, that they can have quieter moments here, together- in a way that would be much more difficult back home. The chaos here was less. Gave more them-time, something he was very much looking forward to.

When she pulls back, his face splits into a grin.]

Yeah? Is it a Disco room? Tell me it's a Disco room filled with eighties cheesy decor.

[He's joking. Mostly.]

[waitin]

( Clementine is not used to this either, but she likes that she can have an effect on him- an effect that isn't just scared or intimidated. Not that she would blame anyone for that. She tries to- to have that kind of an effect. But she likes Louis sees beyond that.

Like she sees beyond his own front.

She pulls back with a smile on her face. )

Not quite.

( She gives his hand a tug as she leads him towards the music room where there will be a piano among other instruments. Clementine thinks he might really love this room. )

[teamfun]

[He follows, his face lighting up like a kid at christmas when they enter the room. The library-come music room back home in the school, well that was sizeable, but so much had been lost, to decay, to tinder for fires- just to the world. He loved that room, in Ericsson's his sanctuary.

But this...this is something else. It's like a music room plucked out of someone's imagination- if asked what a music room should be. It's almost annoyingly perfect. Oh, but if he doesn't love it, though. ]

Holy shit! Look at this place! Look at that piano! I asked for one and wow! You delivered.

[waitin]

( Clementine studies his expression as they enter the music room. She knew he would love it, but she's still not completely prepared for how he just lights up. He really does take real, genuine joy in things. In ways she thought she couldn't- she couldn't anymore.

She laughs a little at that. )

It wasn't me.

The music room's been around for longer than I have.

[teamfun]

[This is the greatest room in the history of ALL rooms. He makes a soft 'phhst' noise, waving off her comment with his free hand.]

Nope. No. In my personal narrative, you found me the greatest music room of all time. I think I like it better.

[He walks a little further in, peering at the shelves of sheet music, endless supplies of endless songs- maybe even songs he hasn't even heard yet.]

Oooooh the gang's all here. Beethoven, Rachmaninov, Chopin, some prime Debusy. [He taps another.] Wow, hello there Alkan, you crazy bastard.

[waitin]

( Clementine ducks her head. Her face feels warm just at his thinking that's the better narrative even if it's not the true one. She won't correct him again on it- on his personal narrative. That he should like it better, want to believe in it cause- cause it involves her.

She watches as he looks at each piece of music. )

You probably haven't gotten to play a lot of these in awhile.

( She smiles. )

Have a favorite?

[teamfun]

[Any narrative which involves her is better by default, in his humble opinion.]

Yeah, a lot of the sheet music back in Ericsson's isn't in that great a shape any more.

[He squints at the collection, free finger running along the spines before finally settling on one, tapping it with a smile.]

Consolations Number 3, by Liszt. Pretty popular by...uh classical music standards, but it's a goodie.

[waitin]

You're going to love this room then.

( There really is so many sheets in front of them on the bookshelf. She smiles as she looks up at him. Something curious in her expression. He knows so much about music, and she really doesn't know anything at all, but she likes to learn because it's part of him.

She doesn't remember the last time she heard music in their world before she walked in to see him at the piano. )

You should play it for me sometime.

[teamfun]

I already do! Big love for this room.

[He's going to spend hours here, without anyone bitching at him that he should be doing something more productive. It's gonna be the best. He turns that happy smile on her.]

You bet. I'd love to. I'll show you all the best ones.

[waitin]

( Clementine smiles back at him. If she ever doesn't know where to find him, she'll have to look here first. )

Good. We'll actually have time now. That's the thing about this place: Lots of free time. ( Sometimes that's good. Sometimes it'd give her too much time to think. She wasn't ever very good with filling that time up even if she started to learn what she could do, that she could learn stuff on top of the training. )

[teamfun]

[It's been way too long since any of them could properly take a breather. Even in the relative safety of Ericsson's they still needed to get food, get water - to cook and clear out walkers. Free time was a luxury, one Louis took advantage of a little more than his group, to be sure, but a luxury all the same. ]

Wow, you mean we actually get time to ourselves where we're not fighting for survival? What's that even like?

[He phrases it like a joke but really, Clem, what's it like??]

[waitin]

( Clementine smirks in amusement at the question, shaking her head in amusement. Three years ago, she was in Wonderland experiencing it so she probably experienced having so much free time to herself way sooner than he has. )

You're about to find out.

( Her smirk widens. )

No food to hunt for. No walkers or raiders to fight. No defenses to build. Just all this time, whole days even where you don't have to do anything at all.

[teamfun]

Sounds like a dream come true.

[Like the world Before. But better- because Ericsson wouldn't be there, looming over them like the douchenozzle he was. No, this would be...something new. ]

So, what do you do, with all this free down time?

[waitin]

A lot. I like to fill up as much time as I can.

( Clementine's not one to sit still in general, and well, too much time leads to too much thinking about what she usually is too busy to consider. )

I train as much as I can. I'm an intern for the paper. I made a room with a friend called the Destruction Room. I put up a bulletin board before I left so people could get lessons in whatever they wanted. I'm getting Art and Reading lessons.

[teamfun]

[He makes a mental note of all of these- remembering them, because these are things she clearly wants to do. Things that make her happy. ]

That's a good idea. The bulletin board. Might as well share what skills we got, right?

[He could lend a hand there, at least. He offers her a smile. He's reminded once again how lucky he had it- having a base for the entirety of the mess back home. He had a whole library to indulge in, and indulge he did. Clem had no such luxuries.]

Y'know, if you ever wanna do some reading, we can totally do that.

[He winks, because if he can turn something into a charm offensive, he absolutely will. Anyone who didn't know him would probably think it was some weird teenage pseudo-innuendo. But it's not. He genuinely wants to sit in a nice chair and read with her. Good thing she does know him, really.]

[waitin]

( Clementine nods. They won't remember skills learned here when they return home, but they will at least get to have them here. They'll get to share them, enrich their lives, fill up some of that empty space because it's kind of endless.

And she's not as creative as he is in thinking up fun things to do. With what he managed in their world, she can only imagine what he'd think up here where they have nearly unlimited resources. She smiles back at him, easily charmed by him despite herself. )

Yeah, I would really like that. I'm sure you'd put your own spin on reading together. Do you do character voices?

( And like so many other things, she's sure reading books with him will be unique and fun even just listening to him talk as they take turns reading. Would be nice. ) I think the last main things to tell you is... you get to have any room you want. It'll change to look like whatever you want it to, complete with running water and a bathroom.

[teamfun]

[With near-unlimited resources and only the boundaries of his imagination, Wonderland is going to have a very interesting time with Louis around. He'll make it his sole mission to banish boredom forever. They have no idea what's gonna hit 'em.]

You better believe I do character voices. It makes it way more fun.

[Holy shit a bathroom.]

And that sounds the most magical thing ever. A genuine hot shower. What are those? Can we eat them?

[waitin]

( Clementine smiles again, ducking her head at his mention of doing character voices, making it more fun. Yeah, she's definitely inviting him over to her next reading session, because- because he's Louis and that's all-

That's all she really needs to invite him. )

I don't know if you want to eat them. Hot water doesn't taste so good.

( Though she knows what it's like to be so thirsty that even hot water was better than nothing. )

It'll feel good though. Wash the walker stench away.

[teamfun]

[He flashes what he hopes is a charming gin.]

What? You mean Eau Du Walker isn't a great scent? Wow. And here's me thinking it'd make all the ladies swoon.

[He shakes his head in faux sorrow.]

All those poor walkers, no clue how awful they smell.

[waitin]

( Clementine smirks at him, nudging him gently with her fingers in amusement. )

Swoon's not exactly the word I'd use for the scent.

Passing out from grossness. Maybe. ( Her smirk widens, eyebrows raised at him. ) But swoon?

[teamfun]

[He laughs, putting a hand to his chest, to show her just how much she has broken his poor little heart. ]

Oh, ouch, Clem. You got me right there. The pain is real.

[It is not at all.]

[waitin]

Uh huh. You look like you're really suffering.

( She smiles at him, lifting her eyebrows in response in amusement and fondness both. Clementine takes his hand again and gives it a lil yank so she can show him where the rooms are. ) Besides, I am sure you smell better than walkers do.

[teamfun]

I am. My suffering is great.

[He follows her with a wide grin, so clearly his suffering isn't that great.]

That's a real touching thing for you to say. I'm touched by your kindness.