double vision (or any other twin-pun title you can think of)

[owwmyspine]

WHO: Ruka, Rua, and Captain Derpsalot
WHERE: The twins' place. Why so high up this is a lot of stairs.
WHEN: Forward-dated to 8/26 in the afternoon
WARNINGS: What
FORMAT: No

Comments

[gallitrap]

The problem with having incredibly paranoid guardians, Ruka had realized several months prior to this, was that it was incredibly difficult to offer shelter to new friends, or even invite old friends over, without going through much more effort than she was used to. She and Rua had invited over several ex-prisoners to their home in Tops without anything happening, but while this City was more dangerous, it was still very frustrating.

At the knock on the wall (several feet to the left of the main door), Ruka looked up from her cards with a little bit of surprise. She didn't think anyone was coming over...

"... Rua?" she asked after a moment, confused. "Did you invite someone over?"

[strongest_tool]

Rua blinked a couple times. Was it Metabee? Or Lyra? He suddenly half-gulped. If it was Lyra, and Ruka knew the two were training together...yeah, best to go for denial. If it was her, he could explain it away somehow.

"Ah, no, I didn't invite anybody!" He said quickly.

[owwmyspine]

From behind the wall, Jaime's voice sounded, muffled. "Uh...HELLO? Is there a doorknob--or DOOR I'm not seeing out here or something?"

[gallitrap]

Recognizing the voice with a start, Ruka leapt to her feet and hurried towards the door and pulling it open with ease. (After all, who needed locks when no one could find the knob?) Leaning out of the doorway, she smiled a little seeing who it was.

"Jaime!"

[strongest_tool]

Rua blinked. He recognized that voice....it definitely wasn't Metabee or Lyra. He racked his brain...

"....oh! It's the beetle guy!" He hurried to the door after Ruka, practically knocking her outta the way as he grinned at Jaime from behind the door. "Hiya!" He said, waving.

[owwmyspine]

Jaime did a double-take at Ruka as the not-door opened and threw on a lopsided grin; the fist that he had raised to bang on the wall again opened up to a quick wave before dropping to his side. He was about to make a light remark just as Rua popped into view.

Beetle guy?

...Well, it's better than That Blue Guy...

"Hey, guys," he said at last, scratching at the back of his neck. Man. They were practically mirrors of each other. Twins...

"Your local Blue Beetle here reporting for repair duty. Just thought I'd say hi before getting all that done. You guys doing alright?" In your magical door-less hallway that makes me look like an idiot?

List C: environmental theories.

[gallitrap]

"Mmhmm," Ruka replied, shooting a glare at Rua for nearly knocking her over in his excitement. "We're doing okay."

It wasn't completely true, of course; regardless, Ruka walked out of the apartment fully with an attempted smile. "I think I can show you where he broke it."

[strongest_tool]

When Ruka glared at him, Rua just kinda shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'whaddaya want from me'.

Regardless, he was grinning again as he followed Ruka. "Oh, you're gonna fix the elevator? Ah, I was gonna, but..." He shot a sideways glance at Ruka. "Ruka doesn't want me to."

[owwmyspine]

"So I heard." Jaime stepped back as the pair pushed out of their room, taking a minute to lean back and stare at the door. Wall. Wall-door. How does that even work?

He snapped his attention back to Rua, shrugging his shoulders and offering, "Well, look at it this way. If there's something else still really wrong with it? I'm probably less likely to get hurt."

A beat, then:

"...How do you get into your room without a doorknob."

[gallitrap]

"Right," she said after Jaime, still giving Rua a look of disapproval. "Just because you can "fix" a toaster doesn't mean you won't fall down an elevator."

Ruka led the way to the elevator in question, mulling over how to answer Jaime. She didn't really know the mechanics of magic, after all, and even though 'you can only see it if you know it's there' was mostly true, it didn't really explain the hows of it.

"Well..."

[strongest_tool]

"....our room doesn't have a doorknob?" Rua supplied ever so eloquently.

apologies for lateness you guys :(

[owwmyspine]

After a half-minute of blank staring, Jaime just shook it off. After all, in this city? There were weirder things. And talking interior decorating wasn't exactly why he was here.

"Well, anyway," he started, shaking himself out of his confused daze, "let's get you guys a working elevator, yeah? Stairs are cool and all, but by floor seven it becomes a hassle." He grinned a bit, sauntering over to the elevator doors and glancing at the button panel.

You know what you're doing better than I am...

His right forearm turned black as the Scarab armor slithered over his skin, hardening and sharpening at the fingertips. Jaime gave a light exhale, tilting his head.

"I'm not picking up any explosives or the like, so, hopefully..."

He slid a pair of fingertips underneath the metal plate, and with a vague fizz, it popped off almost faster than he could catch it.

"I'd poke around the main circuitboard," he explained sheepishly, "but that's in the basement. And I'm kinda tired, so..."

:| *hugs forever* four days is not late.

[gallitrap]

Ruka followed, watching curiously as the armor overtook his hand, and he began fiddling with the panel. It wasn't a complete shock, but it was still not something Ruka was used to seeing.

"Uh, I don't think he would have put bombs anywhere," she said softly, hoping that this wouldn't lead to eventual arguments with anyone. "He just wanted to prevent anyone from using it, since all those other elevators around the City kept breaking and... people were getting hurt."

Why that particular incident had caused Edgeworth to drastically alter their living situation, when so many other calamities had befallen the City on a much more destructive scale had only warranted firmer curfews, Ruka didn't know.

[strongest_tool]

Conversely to Ruka's reaction, Rua looked half-shocked, half-amazed as the Scarab armor appeared over Jaime's hand. He'd seen it once, but it was still a shock (yet, for him, really cool) to see it again.

"Yeeeaaah, using the stairs all the time is a really big hassle." Rua muttered. "Especially coming up. But! When I go down..." He shot back into the apartment for a second, before coming out, a skateboard under his arms.

"I just use this!" He said, grinning, and holding it out. "It's way quicker!" Where he'd gotten it? Who knew.

[owwmyspine]

"No, I get it," Jaime said, nodding to Ruka. It was always a little weird when Scarab took over his hands--watching himself do things he had no idea how to do and all. So he focused on the kids instead, smirking at Rua.

"Boarding down stairs? That sounds like a real fast way to losing some teeth without playing hockey, kid." A light laugh.

There's a ping, and the elevator doors open to...no elevator. Seconds later, the elevator itself does show up.

"One of you guys mind taking a ride down to the basement to flip a switch for me? I promise I won't turn this into the Tower of Terror or anything."

[gallitrap]

"I can go," Ruka offered, moving to step into the open and empty elevator car. After all, in the case something did happen, she was confident that her destiny as a Signer would shield her from harm. If the car were to fall, Ruka was sure that if she concentrated hard enough, she might be able to push her shield beyond the walls of the car and solidify against the inner walls of the outer elevator shaft, and thereby roll the car at a safer speed until she reached the bottom.

"It was because of me that he broke it in the first place." she said, forcing a smile.