(no subject)
Finally, at long last, after all this time, later rather than sooner, someday has come, eventually is here, the course is due, this is beyond, a while has elapsed...
AN: Thanks to Doctorlit and Outhra for beta reading this a long, long time ago. Sometime in 2013, I believe. So it would take place around then. The PPC was invented by Jay and Acacia, and is used with Permission by us.
A Very Gloomy Introduction
“Thankyouthankyouthankyou!” The girl shouted excitedly as she jumped on the spot, her arms wrapped around the stalk of the Floating Hyacinth in as close a hug as one could give a Flower.
Yes yes... you’ve already said that, Ms. Gloom… Or Agent Gloom, I should say.
“I know! I’m just so glad to be here and not... Well, I‘m glad you decided to keep me! It never hurts to thank someone again, right?”
I suppose not, but would you kindly stop hugging me? It’s most unprofessional.
Gloom unwrapped her arms from the Floating Hyacinth and stepped back, though she still looked like she wanted to latch herself to the Flower. “Right! Sorry, Sir! … Ma’am!”
Good. Now, I know you wished to be placed somewhere non-violent, but our Action Departments are in more need of personnel than the others. So, you’re to be put into Floaters.
Gloom’s smile wavered. “A-ah, but Miss... I really really don’t want to hurt people. I know Mary Sues are bad, but...”
The Floating Hyacinth sighed, or at least, Gloom felt some sort of wave pass through the room. Hard to tell with a Flower. I am quite aware of your history. Your partner should be able to handle any of the nastier aspects that you wish not to. And it is called Floaters for a reason. You are just as likely to get a Bad Slash mission as you are one with a Mary Sue.
Gloom’s face instantly brightened back up. “Okay!”
Right, I’m glad you understand. Now, here is the Response Center you’re to report to, and the name of your partner. The Floating Hyacinth reached into a drawer of her desk with a frond, and placed a piece of paper on the table in front of Gloom. As Gloom went to pick it up, her hand phased through the paper and desk.
“... Oopsie!”
Ah, yes. You’ll have to work on that, then. In the meantime, I’m sure you’ll come across your Response Center sooner or later.
“Alright, I won’t make you regret keeping me here!” Gloom followed up her declaration with another hug to the Flower, causing the Floating Hyacinth to squirm. The next moment, Gloom found herself outside of the Flower’s office, facing a closed door with her arms wrapped around nothing.
“Oh.. I didn’t know you could do that. Um, Okay then! I’ll go find it!” She waved to the closed door, and began walking down the corridor with a smile.
* * *
Carry looked again at the blank spaces where Maethorwen’s things had been for the last year and a half. “Are you sure you want this transfer?”
Maethorwen hugged him. “Yes, the Department of Out of Character Hobbits needs me. I’ll visit, and we can chat on the consoles. You could go with me.”
“I’m just not ready for a quiet Department. My blades are still thirsty.”
Nicodemus ran over from his toy area and hugged Maethorwen, too. She ruffled his hair. “Yeah, I’ll miss you too, kid. I’ll be back for our playdate, all right?”
He nodded and latched onto Carry’s hand. Maethorwen looked everything over one final time, picked up the handle of the wagon that her things were loaded into, and left.
“Are you about ready for school, Nico? Shower, books, homework, lunch?” Carry said after the door had shut.
Nico shook his head and went back to packing his bag.
“It’s Cali’s week to walk you to classes. He should be here soon.” Carry watched Nicodemus for a moment to make sure he was following through with getting ready, then went back to his work table.
* * *
“Anytime you feel alone, put on your headphones~ love, loves coming through your headphones~” Gloom sang happily to herself as she walked with a spring in her step down the corridor.
“So yeah, then I was like ‘I know this sounds crazy Legolas, but that’s Elrond in the suit and he is’-woah! Watch it!” an elf talking to a human shouted as Gloom walked right through them.
“Sorry!” she called back with a wave. So far, she could only seem to make physical contact with the floor, and her new boss. Not great, sure, but better than just falling through the floor! She’d tried to ask about it, but she’d been told to just go with the flow. It worked for her!
Turning another corner, she almost ran through another set of people walking ahead of her. The corridors weren’t so full earlier...
"So I was playing as Suicide and Kevin was playing as Luxury and I so totally kicked his butt! You should have seen it, Uncle Cadmar, I set a new high score on our console!" said a blond boy, who was walking backwards and jumping around while talking.
“Hahahaha! Good job!” ‘Uncle’ Cadmar was a girl, and upon seeing her jagged teeth when she grinned, Gloom twitched minutely. Not exactly what she remembered from ’home’, but too close...
"Yeah, then Miah and Uncle Cali made us go to bed. Bed times suck." This was a slightly smaller boy with brown hair and glasses.
A young man with extremely messy bright blue hair and mirrored sunglasses seemed to be the Uncle Cali of the group. He was grinning at the kids and holding a little blonde girl’s hand. A third very thin boy and a pre-teen girl walked just behind the adults.
“Yeah, it does. But it’s better than waking up with no energy to the Console flipping out...” Cadmar replied, giving the kid’s head a pat.
Gloom smiled at the happy-looking group, and was about to step around them when they suddenly stopped in front of a door, looking out of place with all the drawings and paper cut-outs glued to it. ‘NURSERY’ was engraved above the door. She gulped and shut her eyes as she walked past it, unknowingly walking right through the kids.
Kevin jumped, yelping with surprise. Gloom opened her eyes and found herself staring down at the barrel of the water gun.
The blue haired teen had seen her coming, so he wasn’t as surprised as the kids. He did seem surprised to see the water pistol, however. “Kyle Still Bellisario, where did you get that gun? You know you aren’t allowed to slime the teacher again!”
Cadmar scrunched her eyebrows. “Bellisario? That’s your last- Ah, I mean ah... Yeah, no guns for stuff...” She blushed a bit and looked away, hiding a laugh at the blue haired boy’s disapproving frown.
“But Miah said it was okay...” Kyle whined before handing it over.
“Sorry about that,” Gloom said, wringing her hands together. “I guess I should watch where I’m going, huh?”
Cadmar stared at Gloom, furrowing her brow after a second. Gloom squirmed under the girl’s scrutiny. “”Um... hello?”
“You alright here, Cadmar? I need to have a discussion with these two before school.”
“Oh, ah, yeah. Sorry, Cali, was zoning out for a sec. Go on ahead, I’ll wait here, kay?” Cadmar took her eyes off of a very relieved Gloom and gave Cali a grin, taking her hand out of his and giving him a salute.
Cali gave the two boys a motion to precede him in the school door, then grabbed the hand of the third boy who was standing stock still, staring at her, and followed them. Muffled words drifted out before the door closed completely, with only ‘slime’ and ‘guns’ being understandable.
“Haven’t seen you before, though I guess that doesn’t say much here. You new or... ?” Cadmar asked, leaning against the wall and giving a small smile... thankfully not showing her teeth.
“Yep! I just finished getting my assignment from the Floating Hyacinth. I... forget how long I’ve been here from my... ‘home continuum’, I think it was called?” Maybe she wasn’t so bad after all? Then again, maybe she just wants to sate her curiosity...
Cadmar nodded. “Yeah. M’from World One. Sorry about the staring, it’s just that I was trying to guess where you were from.”
“Oh. Well, it’s a pretty obscure game, so you probably don’t know it…” Gloom replied, giving the Nursery door a nervous glance.
“Hmm. Well, I may have okayed it at a party once, I think.”
Gloom shrank in on herself. “Oh.. you... you played the game, huh?”
“... Yeah. Um, sorry for bringing it up. I’d wanna forget too.... So.... you must be glad to be out and about, yeah?” Cadmar asked, trying to salvage the conversation.
Gloom smiled, and latched onto the change of topic. “Yep! It’s so great out here! The ‘going through everything’ will be a bit harder to get used to now, but it’s been perfect aside from that.”
Cadmar laughed. “Wow, you sure are a lot happier than I’d expect. Most newbies are either confused or scared. I’m Cadmar, by the way.”
“Oh, sorry! I’m Doom/Gloom! Sorry! I’m new to talking to people who don’t run away...”
“DoomslashGloom? That’s an interesting name. Kinda ironic too, since you’re all nice and peppy.”
“No no, Doom/Gloom.”
“... How do you pronounce the.. slashy thing?”
“/”
Cadmar roared with laughter. “I like you!”
Gloom tilted her head, unsure why it was so funny, but smiled politely anyway.
Cali opened the school door, stepped into the hall looking annoyed, watched the door until he was sure it was closed, then burst out laughing. “Slime guns...again. You should have seen the look on Mrs. Rice’s face.” He pulled himself together, and introduced himself. “I’m Cali, so nice to meet you.”
“Hi! I’m Doom/Gloom! Nice to meet you too!” Gloom waved to the pair, somewhat unnecessarily. “So are those all your kids? You don’t seem old enough to have all three of them... unless you’re a lot older then you look?”
Cali blushed and giggled. “The two with the water guns are my adopted kids, sort of. I wasn’t old enough to really adopt, so they’ve lived in the nursery until recently, and I’m Uncle Cali. Cadmar is uncle Cadmar because-”
“-because that’s what they call me,” Cadmar cut in, nudging Cali’s ribs with her elbow.
“Uh, the other boy is Nicodemus. Cadmar and her partners rescued him and his dad, Carry Onin a couple of years ago.”
“Oh, I see! I.. bet they’re grateful, because I know I was to the agents who found me.” Gloom said, looking confused, but not questioning the odd cut-off.
The three stood in awkward silence for a few moments until...
“Awww, look at the happy couple!” Gloom jumped a bit in fright as a door that she hadn’t seen before opened behind Cadmar and Cali. A pair of arms snaked out and wrapped around the two agents, grabbing some, ahem, inappropriate places.
“Gah, Luxury! Let goooo!” Cadmar started to wriggle out, but found it only made things worse... Her blush deepened and she hid her face in her hands.
“L-l-luxury. Didn’t we talk about personal space?” Cali stammered out.
“Why is everyone so prudish these days?” Luxury said, exiting her room. Gloom blushed a bit when she saw the blond girl was wearing a coconut bikini and some very short shorts. “Oh, hullo! I’m Luxury, and welcome to the PPC! I’m sure we’ll get along gre-aaah!” Luxury had fallen through her, hopefully only trying to give her a hug and not something akin to the overly friendliy girls greeting to the others.
“S-sorry about that.... “ Gloom half stuck her arm out, as if to offer it to help her up, before realizing how futile it was. “I’m Doom/Gloom, nice to... meet you?”
Luxury giggled and stood. “Maybe I can cheer you up, Gloomy!” she said with a very suggestive tone. Gloom blushed harder and flailed her arms a bit.
“U-um... I’m actually... doing something!”
“Aww, you sure? I’ve already fallen for you, though!” She offered a cheesy grin with the pun, and Gloom couldn’t help but giggle a bit.
“Okay, that was kind of funny... B-but I need to.... Oh no! I forgot! It’s my first day and I’ve already messed up!” Gloom grabbed her hair and began racking her brain.
“Woah woah, calm down now! If it’s your first day... you’re probably supposed to go in the door behind you!”
“W-what?” Gloom looked behind her, and sure enough there was an RC door that also wasn’t there before. “... H-how?”
“Ah, don’t you worry about that!” Luxury laid her arm around (and slightly through) Gloom’s shoulders. “It’s just how this place works! You’ll never get where you want to go, so it’s best if you just forget about it!”
“Ah, i-is that so?” Gloom looked at the door with a bit of apprehension. “Um... could you knock for me? I’d rather not just barge in...”
“Sure thing, cutey!” Luxury rapped her knuckles against the door. “Has anyone ever told you that you could give an amazing massage? You’re so icy and tingly.”
“Nopeneverbeentoldthat,” Gloom squeaked out.
The door opened and revealed a large blonde young man with shoulder length hair and a full but trimmed beard. He was wearing a long, green, belted tunic, cloth pants, and high leather boots. He was also very sweaty and carrying a smallish hammer in one hand and a spear point clamped in tongs in the other.
“Hello?”
Luxury looked at the spear tip in his hands and grinned widely. “I see yo-”
“Luxury, are you being followed by a ghost?” Carry interrupted. He not so subtly set the spear head on something out of sight of the doorway.
The female ghost looked to be about 18 years old, and was around the same height as Luxury. While it was hard to really tell what any of her colors were, given the light bluish glow she had, her hair looked like it COULD be black, and eyes that were probably... brown? Her outfit looked like a school uniform with patches for the DF slapped on the sides. She looked extremely uncomfortable with Luxury grabbing… er, going right through her.
“Yep! They said I was drop dead gorgeous, but Gloomy here took it a bit far!”
Gloom felt what could have been a swat to her butt if it didn’t go through her. Seeing Luxury’s hand through her body was little better than if it had actually connected. “N-no I didn’t!”
“Gloomy? As in Doom/Gloom? I received a message you were to be assigned as my partner, but there was no mention that you were a ghost. Come in.” He stepped back and placed the hammer on the work table. “Please, excuse me. I will clean up so we can meet more properly.” He grabbed a set of clean clothes from a wardrobe at the foot of a loft bed, and headed for the only other door in the RC.
Luxury perked up and skipped in after him. “Need some help? Cause you can carry me on in anytime!”
Gloom shuffled into the room and stood near a table with some tools on it, awkwardly looking around.
“Raincheck until after the new partner is settled?” Carry said suggestively.
Luxury winked. “Consider yourself checked!”
Gloom gaped at the two. Was... was casually hooking up after you met your partner something frequent?
Luxury caught her expression and giggled. “I guess it’s time for me to go and let you two get acquainted. Wouldn’t want Gloomy to go nuts on her first day, right?” With that said, she walked out of the RC with a sultry wave.
“Oh, uh, I guess ghosts don’t…" he waved vaguely toward the door Luxury had just left. Then looked back at Gloom, with a slightly sheepish look on his face. "I’m Carry Onin. Pleased to meet you.” He held his hand out to shake, seeming to forget that he was still sweaty and holding his clean clothes in the other hand.
Gloom shook her head and smiled. Oh well, so her partner hooked up with some really pretty blonde, and the closest she had to a friend was said blonde and some girl who had scary teeth. Still better than the alternative! “Nice to meet you too!” she chirped and stuck out her hand, which phased through his. “Oh... right....”
“That’s going to make missions interesting. Is there anything you can touch?”
“Yep! The floor and the Flowers! I don’t know why those two only so far. But I’m really glad about the floor!”
Carry stared at her for a moment, then burst out in a deep laugh. “That is a good thing, yes!” He threw an arm around her in an approximation of wrapping around her shoulders. “Come. I’ll give you the tour!” They walked about five feet forward to the console. “This is our console, where all of our missions arrive, and we can send messages to our fellow agents. This shelf to the left is where the reference materials are kept, and the one next to it is mission equipment.”
Gloom nodded attentively and looked over the shelves to try and memorize all of the things she’d need to know. Exactly half of the shelf was empty, almost as if a line had been taped down the middle. In fact, upon closer inspection, it seemed there had been tape down the middle at some point. “Very... organized!”
Carry looked at the shelf, and a combination of embarrassment and sadness crossed his face before he settled back to the general look of good humor that seemed to be his default. “My former partner and I had some period of adjusting to one another in the beginning.” He took a few steps and opened a door. “Since you are not able to touch anything the rest of this might not be too useful for you, but this is the washroom. All of the standard PPC facilities included.” He closed the door and took a few more steps into the sleeping alcove. “The loft is for you, and Nicodemus and I share the bunk bed. Under the loft is his play space, in the corner by the door is my workbench, and over there in the middle is a space for you to use.” He finished by pointing to a stretch of wall across from the bathroom that was speckled with paint.
Gloom nodded, a look of deep concentration on her face. “Okay. I think I got all that. Thanks for giving me a bed and a place for stuff! But ah... I don’t really have anything on me to use it, and I don’t sleep...” She trailed off uncertainly, then perked up again. “But that’s okay. It means more room for you, and Nico can use the top bunk, right?”
“He does not really spread much. Uh.” He looked unsure. “Do you mind kids? I have never switched partners before. He does not... You will probably not even know he’s here most of the time.”
“Well, I’m...” Gloom trailed off, looking conflicted. “I can get along with him if he is quiet and all.” She shuffled her feet awkwardly.
“Quiet? Yes he is very...quiet.” Carry looked like there was more he wanted to say, but stopped and awkwardly ran a hand through his hair.
Seeing the tension practically flooding in, Gloom cleared her throat. “So, guess that’s it for the tour. I’ll not keep you from your shower.”
“Hmm? Shower? Oh! I apologize.” He made a hasty retreat to the bathroom.
Gloom watched him retreat and shut the bathroom door. “All right. I guess I’ll just... stand out here and... do something....”
Five minutes into Carry Onin’s shower and Gloom decided that maybe, just maybe being unable to touch anything but the floor and your boss who didn’t like to be touched might not be so fun. Of course, it could always be worse, right?
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
Gloom would have jumped out of her skin if she had any. It can always be worse indeed.
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
Carry burst out of the bathroom with soap in his beard and a towel wrapped around his waist. “Why did you not turn it off?”
Gloom whapped her hand on the large red button on the Console frantically, completely unable to stop the infernal noise. “I-I-I caaaaan’t!”
“Oh. Yeah.” He slapped the button, and turned back to the bathroom. “I’ll be out in five minutes. This should be bloody well interesting...”
Gloom stared to the Console. “... You’re gonna let him finish at least, right?”
“... Right?”
*End*
AN: Thanks to Doctorlit and Outhra for beta reading this a long, long time ago. Sometime in 2013, I believe. So it would take place around then. The PPC was invented by Jay and Acacia, and is used with Permission by us.
A Very Gloomy Introduction
“Thankyouthankyouthankyou!” The girl shouted excitedly as she jumped on the spot, her arms wrapped around the stalk of the Floating Hyacinth in as close a hug as one could give a Flower.
Yes yes... you’ve already said that, Ms. Gloom… Or Agent Gloom, I should say.
“I know! I’m just so glad to be here and not... Well, I‘m glad you decided to keep me! It never hurts to thank someone again, right?”
I suppose not, but would you kindly stop hugging me? It’s most unprofessional.
Gloom unwrapped her arms from the Floating Hyacinth and stepped back, though she still looked like she wanted to latch herself to the Flower. “Right! Sorry, Sir! … Ma’am!”
Good. Now, I know you wished to be placed somewhere non-violent, but our Action Departments are in more need of personnel than the others. So, you’re to be put into Floaters.
Gloom’s smile wavered. “A-ah, but Miss... I really really don’t want to hurt people. I know Mary Sues are bad, but...”
The Floating Hyacinth sighed, or at least, Gloom felt some sort of wave pass through the room. Hard to tell with a Flower. I am quite aware of your history. Your partner should be able to handle any of the nastier aspects that you wish not to. And it is called Floaters for a reason. You are just as likely to get a Bad Slash mission as you are one with a Mary Sue.
Gloom’s face instantly brightened back up. “Okay!”
Right, I’m glad you understand. Now, here is the Response Center you’re to report to, and the name of your partner. The Floating Hyacinth reached into a drawer of her desk with a frond, and placed a piece of paper on the table in front of Gloom. As Gloom went to pick it up, her hand phased through the paper and desk.
“... Oopsie!”
Ah, yes. You’ll have to work on that, then. In the meantime, I’m sure you’ll come across your Response Center sooner or later.
“Alright, I won’t make you regret keeping me here!” Gloom followed up her declaration with another hug to the Flower, causing the Floating Hyacinth to squirm. The next moment, Gloom found herself outside of the Flower’s office, facing a closed door with her arms wrapped around nothing.
“Oh.. I didn’t know you could do that. Um, Okay then! I’ll go find it!” She waved to the closed door, and began walking down the corridor with a smile.
* * *
Carry looked again at the blank spaces where Maethorwen’s things had been for the last year and a half. “Are you sure you want this transfer?”
Maethorwen hugged him. “Yes, the Department of Out of Character Hobbits needs me. I’ll visit, and we can chat on the consoles. You could go with me.”
“I’m just not ready for a quiet Department. My blades are still thirsty.”
Nicodemus ran over from his toy area and hugged Maethorwen, too. She ruffled his hair. “Yeah, I’ll miss you too, kid. I’ll be back for our playdate, all right?”
He nodded and latched onto Carry’s hand. Maethorwen looked everything over one final time, picked up the handle of the wagon that her things were loaded into, and left.
“Are you about ready for school, Nico? Shower, books, homework, lunch?” Carry said after the door had shut.
Nico shook his head and went back to packing his bag.
“It’s Cali’s week to walk you to classes. He should be here soon.” Carry watched Nicodemus for a moment to make sure he was following through with getting ready, then went back to his work table.
* * *
“Anytime you feel alone, put on your headphones~ love, loves coming through your headphones~” Gloom sang happily to herself as she walked with a spring in her step down the corridor.
“So yeah, then I was like ‘I know this sounds crazy Legolas, but that’s Elrond in the suit and he is’-woah! Watch it!” an elf talking to a human shouted as Gloom walked right through them.
“Sorry!” she called back with a wave. So far, she could only seem to make physical contact with the floor, and her new boss. Not great, sure, but better than just falling through the floor! She’d tried to ask about it, but she’d been told to just go with the flow. It worked for her!
Turning another corner, she almost ran through another set of people walking ahead of her. The corridors weren’t so full earlier...
"So I was playing as Suicide and Kevin was playing as Luxury and I so totally kicked his butt! You should have seen it, Uncle Cadmar, I set a new high score on our console!" said a blond boy, who was walking backwards and jumping around while talking.
“Hahahaha! Good job!” ‘Uncle’ Cadmar was a girl, and upon seeing her jagged teeth when she grinned, Gloom twitched minutely. Not exactly what she remembered from ’home’, but too close...
"Yeah, then Miah and Uncle Cali made us go to bed. Bed times suck." This was a slightly smaller boy with brown hair and glasses.
A young man with extremely messy bright blue hair and mirrored sunglasses seemed to be the Uncle Cali of the group. He was grinning at the kids and holding a little blonde girl’s hand. A third very thin boy and a pre-teen girl walked just behind the adults.
“Yeah, it does. But it’s better than waking up with no energy to the Console flipping out...” Cadmar replied, giving the kid’s head a pat.
Gloom smiled at the happy-looking group, and was about to step around them when they suddenly stopped in front of a door, looking out of place with all the drawings and paper cut-outs glued to it. ‘NURSERY’ was engraved above the door. She gulped and shut her eyes as she walked past it, unknowingly walking right through the kids.
Kevin jumped, yelping with surprise. Gloom opened her eyes and found herself staring down at the barrel of the water gun.
The blue haired teen had seen her coming, so he wasn’t as surprised as the kids. He did seem surprised to see the water pistol, however. “Kyle Still Bellisario, where did you get that gun? You know you aren’t allowed to slime the teacher again!”
Cadmar scrunched her eyebrows. “Bellisario? That’s your last- Ah, I mean ah... Yeah, no guns for stuff...” She blushed a bit and looked away, hiding a laugh at the blue haired boy’s disapproving frown.
“But Miah said it was okay...” Kyle whined before handing it over.
“Sorry about that,” Gloom said, wringing her hands together. “I guess I should watch where I’m going, huh?”
Cadmar stared at Gloom, furrowing her brow after a second. Gloom squirmed under the girl’s scrutiny. “”Um... hello?”
“You alright here, Cadmar? I need to have a discussion with these two before school.”
“Oh, ah, yeah. Sorry, Cali, was zoning out for a sec. Go on ahead, I’ll wait here, kay?” Cadmar took her eyes off of a very relieved Gloom and gave Cali a grin, taking her hand out of his and giving him a salute.
Cali gave the two boys a motion to precede him in the school door, then grabbed the hand of the third boy who was standing stock still, staring at her, and followed them. Muffled words drifted out before the door closed completely, with only ‘slime’ and ‘guns’ being understandable.
“Haven’t seen you before, though I guess that doesn’t say much here. You new or... ?” Cadmar asked, leaning against the wall and giving a small smile... thankfully not showing her teeth.
“Yep! I just finished getting my assignment from the Floating Hyacinth. I... forget how long I’ve been here from my... ‘home continuum’, I think it was called?” Maybe she wasn’t so bad after all? Then again, maybe she just wants to sate her curiosity...
Cadmar nodded. “Yeah. M’from World One. Sorry about the staring, it’s just that I was trying to guess where you were from.”
“Oh. Well, it’s a pretty obscure game, so you probably don’t know it…” Gloom replied, giving the Nursery door a nervous glance.
“Hmm. Well, I may have okayed it at a party once, I think.”
Gloom shrank in on herself. “Oh.. you... you played the game, huh?”
“... Yeah. Um, sorry for bringing it up. I’d wanna forget too.... So.... you must be glad to be out and about, yeah?” Cadmar asked, trying to salvage the conversation.
Gloom smiled, and latched onto the change of topic. “Yep! It’s so great out here! The ‘going through everything’ will be a bit harder to get used to now, but it’s been perfect aside from that.”
Cadmar laughed. “Wow, you sure are a lot happier than I’d expect. Most newbies are either confused or scared. I’m Cadmar, by the way.”
“Oh, sorry! I’m Doom/Gloom! Sorry! I’m new to talking to people who don’t run away...”
“DoomslashGloom? That’s an interesting name. Kinda ironic too, since you’re all nice and peppy.”
“No no, Doom/Gloom.”
“... How do you pronounce the.. slashy thing?”
“/”
Cadmar roared with laughter. “I like you!”
Gloom tilted her head, unsure why it was so funny, but smiled politely anyway.
Cali opened the school door, stepped into the hall looking annoyed, watched the door until he was sure it was closed, then burst out laughing. “Slime guns...again. You should have seen the look on Mrs. Rice’s face.” He pulled himself together, and introduced himself. “I’m Cali, so nice to meet you.”
“Hi! I’m Doom/Gloom! Nice to meet you too!” Gloom waved to the pair, somewhat unnecessarily. “So are those all your kids? You don’t seem old enough to have all three of them... unless you’re a lot older then you look?”
Cali blushed and giggled. “The two with the water guns are my adopted kids, sort of. I wasn’t old enough to really adopt, so they’ve lived in the nursery until recently, and I’m Uncle Cali. Cadmar is uncle Cadmar because-”
“-because that’s what they call me,” Cadmar cut in, nudging Cali’s ribs with her elbow.
“Uh, the other boy is Nicodemus. Cadmar and her partners rescued him and his dad, Carry Onin a couple of years ago.”
“Oh, I see! I.. bet they’re grateful, because I know I was to the agents who found me.” Gloom said, looking confused, but not questioning the odd cut-off.
The three stood in awkward silence for a few moments until...
“Awww, look at the happy couple!” Gloom jumped a bit in fright as a door that she hadn’t seen before opened behind Cadmar and Cali. A pair of arms snaked out and wrapped around the two agents, grabbing some, ahem, inappropriate places.
“Gah, Luxury! Let goooo!” Cadmar started to wriggle out, but found it only made things worse... Her blush deepened and she hid her face in her hands.
“L-l-luxury. Didn’t we talk about personal space?” Cali stammered out.
“Why is everyone so prudish these days?” Luxury said, exiting her room. Gloom blushed a bit when she saw the blond girl was wearing a coconut bikini and some very short shorts. “Oh, hullo! I’m Luxury, and welcome to the PPC! I’m sure we’ll get along gre-aaah!” Luxury had fallen through her, hopefully only trying to give her a hug and not something akin to the overly friendliy girls greeting to the others.
“S-sorry about that.... “ Gloom half stuck her arm out, as if to offer it to help her up, before realizing how futile it was. “I’m Doom/Gloom, nice to... meet you?”
Luxury giggled and stood. “Maybe I can cheer you up, Gloomy!” she said with a very suggestive tone. Gloom blushed harder and flailed her arms a bit.
“U-um... I’m actually... doing something!”
“Aww, you sure? I’ve already fallen for you, though!” She offered a cheesy grin with the pun, and Gloom couldn’t help but giggle a bit.
“Okay, that was kind of funny... B-but I need to.... Oh no! I forgot! It’s my first day and I’ve already messed up!” Gloom grabbed her hair and began racking her brain.
“Woah woah, calm down now! If it’s your first day... you’re probably supposed to go in the door behind you!”
“W-what?” Gloom looked behind her, and sure enough there was an RC door that also wasn’t there before. “... H-how?”
“Ah, don’t you worry about that!” Luxury laid her arm around (and slightly through) Gloom’s shoulders. “It’s just how this place works! You’ll never get where you want to go, so it’s best if you just forget about it!”
“Ah, i-is that so?” Gloom looked at the door with a bit of apprehension. “Um... could you knock for me? I’d rather not just barge in...”
“Sure thing, cutey!” Luxury rapped her knuckles against the door. “Has anyone ever told you that you could give an amazing massage? You’re so icy and tingly.”
“Nopeneverbeentoldthat,” Gloom squeaked out.
The door opened and revealed a large blonde young man with shoulder length hair and a full but trimmed beard. He was wearing a long, green, belted tunic, cloth pants, and high leather boots. He was also very sweaty and carrying a smallish hammer in one hand and a spear point clamped in tongs in the other.
“Hello?”
Luxury looked at the spear tip in his hands and grinned widely. “I see yo-”
“Luxury, are you being followed by a ghost?” Carry interrupted. He not so subtly set the spear head on something out of sight of the doorway.
The female ghost looked to be about 18 years old, and was around the same height as Luxury. While it was hard to really tell what any of her colors were, given the light bluish glow she had, her hair looked like it COULD be black, and eyes that were probably... brown? Her outfit looked like a school uniform with patches for the DF slapped on the sides. She looked extremely uncomfortable with Luxury grabbing… er, going right through her.
“Yep! They said I was drop dead gorgeous, but Gloomy here took it a bit far!”
Gloom felt what could have been a swat to her butt if it didn’t go through her. Seeing Luxury’s hand through her body was little better than if it had actually connected. “N-no I didn’t!”
“Gloomy? As in Doom/Gloom? I received a message you were to be assigned as my partner, but there was no mention that you were a ghost. Come in.” He stepped back and placed the hammer on the work table. “Please, excuse me. I will clean up so we can meet more properly.” He grabbed a set of clean clothes from a wardrobe at the foot of a loft bed, and headed for the only other door in the RC.
Luxury perked up and skipped in after him. “Need some help? Cause you can carry me on in anytime!”
Gloom shuffled into the room and stood near a table with some tools on it, awkwardly looking around.
“Raincheck until after the new partner is settled?” Carry said suggestively.
Luxury winked. “Consider yourself checked!”
Gloom gaped at the two. Was... was casually hooking up after you met your partner something frequent?
Luxury caught her expression and giggled. “I guess it’s time for me to go and let you two get acquainted. Wouldn’t want Gloomy to go nuts on her first day, right?” With that said, she walked out of the RC with a sultry wave.
“Oh, uh, I guess ghosts don’t…" he waved vaguely toward the door Luxury had just left. Then looked back at Gloom, with a slightly sheepish look on his face. "I’m Carry Onin. Pleased to meet you.” He held his hand out to shake, seeming to forget that he was still sweaty and holding his clean clothes in the other hand.
Gloom shook her head and smiled. Oh well, so her partner hooked up with some really pretty blonde, and the closest she had to a friend was said blonde and some girl who had scary teeth. Still better than the alternative! “Nice to meet you too!” she chirped and stuck out her hand, which phased through his. “Oh... right....”
“That’s going to make missions interesting. Is there anything you can touch?”
“Yep! The floor and the Flowers! I don’t know why those two only so far. But I’m really glad about the floor!”
Carry stared at her for a moment, then burst out in a deep laugh. “That is a good thing, yes!” He threw an arm around her in an approximation of wrapping around her shoulders. “Come. I’ll give you the tour!” They walked about five feet forward to the console. “This is our console, where all of our missions arrive, and we can send messages to our fellow agents. This shelf to the left is where the reference materials are kept, and the one next to it is mission equipment.”
Gloom nodded attentively and looked over the shelves to try and memorize all of the things she’d need to know. Exactly half of the shelf was empty, almost as if a line had been taped down the middle. In fact, upon closer inspection, it seemed there had been tape down the middle at some point. “Very... organized!”
Carry looked at the shelf, and a combination of embarrassment and sadness crossed his face before he settled back to the general look of good humor that seemed to be his default. “My former partner and I had some period of adjusting to one another in the beginning.” He took a few steps and opened a door. “Since you are not able to touch anything the rest of this might not be too useful for you, but this is the washroom. All of the standard PPC facilities included.” He closed the door and took a few more steps into the sleeping alcove. “The loft is for you, and Nicodemus and I share the bunk bed. Under the loft is his play space, in the corner by the door is my workbench, and over there in the middle is a space for you to use.” He finished by pointing to a stretch of wall across from the bathroom that was speckled with paint.
Gloom nodded, a look of deep concentration on her face. “Okay. I think I got all that. Thanks for giving me a bed and a place for stuff! But ah... I don’t really have anything on me to use it, and I don’t sleep...” She trailed off uncertainly, then perked up again. “But that’s okay. It means more room for you, and Nico can use the top bunk, right?”
“He does not really spread much. Uh.” He looked unsure. “Do you mind kids? I have never switched partners before. He does not... You will probably not even know he’s here most of the time.”
“Well, I’m...” Gloom trailed off, looking conflicted. “I can get along with him if he is quiet and all.” She shuffled her feet awkwardly.
“Quiet? Yes he is very...quiet.” Carry looked like there was more he wanted to say, but stopped and awkwardly ran a hand through his hair.
Seeing the tension practically flooding in, Gloom cleared her throat. “So, guess that’s it for the tour. I’ll not keep you from your shower.”
“Hmm? Shower? Oh! I apologize.” He made a hasty retreat to the bathroom.
Gloom watched him retreat and shut the bathroom door. “All right. I guess I’ll just... stand out here and... do something....”
Five minutes into Carry Onin’s shower and Gloom decided that maybe, just maybe being unable to touch anything but the floor and your boss who didn’t like to be touched might not be so fun. Of course, it could always be worse, right?
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
Gloom would have jumped out of her skin if she had any. It can always be worse indeed.
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
Carry burst out of the bathroom with soap in his beard and a towel wrapped around his waist. “Why did you not turn it off?”
Gloom whapped her hand on the large red button on the Console frantically, completely unable to stop the infernal noise. “I-I-I caaaaan’t!”
“Oh. Yeah.” He slapped the button, and turned back to the bathroom. “I’ll be out in five minutes. This should be bloody well interesting...”
Gloom stared to the Console. “... You’re gonna let him finish at least, right?”
“... Right?”
*End*