016 - Accidental Video (Action is okay too)

[epiccombo]

[If anyone happens to be walking through the hallway on the first floor, they will see one Noah Puckerman giving a repeat performance. Awhile ago, he vented his feelings by graffiting the mansion's walls, and now he's at it again. He's so into his work that he doesn't even notice that the video feed has turned on.

Feel free to stare, laugh, get angry... Whatever you choose.]

Comments

[thestormcomes]

[Stare? Perhaps a bit more than that will do, my good man, because your use of graffiti in an attempt at self-expression is something to be frowned upon in such a well-kept hallway.

Puck may not have noticed the musketeer on his stroll down the corridor, clad in the usual black (sans the hat, of course, we're inside after all), but Athos' walk is slowed as he registers precisely what it is the young man is doing.

He therefore has just enough time to adopt a suitably unamused expression, because this sort of thing would have you arrested and taken to the Bastille in Paris.]

Surely there are better ways to pass the time than petty acts of vandalism?

[epiccombo]

[Here it comes. The lectures, the judging, and the guilt trips. Puck's heard it all before, so it mostly rolls off him. But that doesn't mean he doesn't get pissed when people try and tell him things like what Athos just said.]

Yeah, well, maybe there's not.

[Not that he expects Athos to understand... and not that he'd actually tell him what's up.]

Look, I'm not doing this for fun, okay?

[thestormcomes]

[There are no lectures, only judging. Silent. Careful. Watchful. Judging. But what do you expect from the quietest member of the three musketeers? The guilt trips Athos knows about in-depth, because he's experienced them all.

He raises a quizzical brow.]

Doing it for the good of the country, then, are you?

[epiccombo]

[That's way worse. Puck glares at Athos.]

As if. That doesn't even make sense.

[thestormcomes]

Perhaps if you would elucidate, I might know your reasoning.

[Look out, bro. You're talking to a guy wielding a sword.]

Aaah I knew I was forgetting to tag someone ;o;

[epiccombo]

Fine.

Remember those stupid twins?

;o;

[thestormcomes]

[Ah yes, the amateur fortune-tellers who implied that he not only has a son he has never met by his wife who left him for a hefty sum of money, but that he will be at odds with the boy sometime later in his life.

Those girls.]

How could I possibly forget?

[born_from_mist]

[Well that was something different on his wandering through the mansion today. Someone was using the walls to draw pictures on.

Don't mind the small mage behind you, Puck, he's just going to stare up at your work of strange art.]

... ...

[epiccombo]

[At first, Puck doesn't even notice him. He's too busy putting the finishing touches on a rather upset-looking self-portrait.

Of course, it's hard to tell what it's meant to be, since Puck isn't the best artist ever. But Puck doesn't care about that right now.]

Hey, kid with the funny hat. What do you want? You like them?

[He gestures with his free hand towards the drawings.]

[born_from_mist]

Uhm... Wh-What are they?

[He points up to one of the...drawings?]

[epiccombo]

They're drawings.

[He points to one that's supposed to resemble a girl with pink hair.]

That's Quinn. She's gone now.

[Puck's so talkative. He doesn't even know why he mentioned Quinn. Or drew her, for that matter.]

[born_from_mist]

Was M-Miss Quinn your friend?

[epiccombo]

Yeah, kinda.

It's really complicated.

[born_from_mist]

I-It is?

[itsahotone]

[Santana walks by, just like the last time Puck did this. This time, however, she doesn't need to just insult his spelling and move on. She creeps up right behind him so she can speak right next to his ear.]

Leaving love notes in Q's memory? [she says as she stares at a drawing of...a person, she assumes, with pink hair.]

[epiccombo]

No. That's stupid.

[Now he's working on a drawing of a much smaller person.]

[itsahotone]

[Santana shrugs.] I wasn't saying otherwise.

[epiccombo]

Whatever. Look, it's like the last time I did this. I'm blowing off steam.

[He takes longer with this drawing, 'cause the last time he saw the person in question, they were really tiny and he has no idea what they look like now.]

[itsahotone]

[As if she remembers that time enough past the whole 'mocking his spelling' thing.

She continues to peer over his shoulder.]

...Is that...are you drawing a baby, or is that like, a bug?

[epiccombo]

Why the hell would I draw a bug? It's supposed to be Beth.

[He stops to glare at her before going back to work.]

[itsahotone]

[Frown of confusion.]

Who?

[epiccombo]

[He just gives her a weird look. He didn't think she was that forgetful.]

Beth. My kid.

[Well, his and Quinn's, but whatever.]

[itsahotone]

[Ooooh, right. It's not like he or Quinn go around talking about ~the baby~ all the time back home. Why should Santana remember?]

Oh.

[Silence. Somehow she thinks anything she has to say about that wouldn't go over very well...]

[epiccombo]

Yeah.

I don't know how those stupid twins knew about her but they did.

[And he honestly didn't know how to react, so this was the first thing that came to his mind.]

[itsahotone]

[And now it all makes sense.]

Those little bitches talked about that whole thing?

[epiccombo]

They said I'd see her again or something, that she'd come back. I thought they meant Quinn at first, but they definitely meant Beth.

[itsahotone]

That's messed up. Everything they said was messed up.

[Not that she's volunteering what was said to her. No, instead she just moves to lean against the wall, then holds out her hand. Share the graffiti-wealth, man.]

[epiccombo]

No kidding. I totally didn't need to hear that.

[He gladly hands over a can. Good thing he brought two.]

[itsahotone]

I hope you threw something at them.

[She shakes the can, then goes and draws a little bow on the bug-Beth. Wasn't that sweet of her? Isn't that cute? Aren't you impressed with how she--

Oh. Never mind, because then she adds what looks suspiciously like a cigar in Beth's hand.]

[epiccombo]

[Surprisingly, he didn't. He was too stunned by the revelation to do much of anything. But what Santana doesn't know won't hurt her.]

Of course I did. They really got on my nerves.

[He almost smiles at Santana's addition, until he notices she's added a cigar.]

What the hell? What's with that?

[It is kind of funny, in a terrible way.]

[itsahotone]

What's with what?

[~innocence~]

[epiccombo]

That.

[He points at the cigar.]

[itsahotone]

[shrug]

Kid with your genes has to be at least kind of a badass, right?

[epiccombo]

[He gives her a 'well, duh' face.]

Babies don't smoke, so it's kind of weird.

[itsahotone]

You're drawing pictures of babies and baby mommas on the walls of our magical mansion. I think the cigar's okay.

[epiccombo]

Okay. Whatever.

[He sets the can down.]

It was either this or go all King Kong on this joint, and I don't think that would have ended well.

[itsahotone]

[This face.]

King Kong? Really?

[epiccombo]

Fine. The Hulk. Whatever.

[itsahotone]

So you're saying you would actually like, punch down the mansion or something?

[She seems pretty amused with that image.]

[epiccombo]

Like you don't? This place blows.

[itsahotone]

Please. This place couldn't handle Lima Heights.

[Tra la la, she now draws something that looks obscene.]

[epiccombo]

[That's put an idea in Puck's head.]

What if we all went self destruct on this place? It's just a building, right?

[OK, so maybe that wasn't the best choice of words, but the point is, what if they could bring the place down?]

[itsahotone]

It would probably collapse on top of us all. This place is a freakin' hellhole.

[epiccombo]

I guess. But it would be a lot better than doing nothing.

[He rolls his eyes.]