Hub Gathering Post

[coffee_sir]

It had happened again. Or at least Ianto assumed as he headed toward the Hub around noon that Friday. There was a general buzz about the place, the frantic flurry of people trying to figure out just how buggered they were by the island this time. It was a nervous tension, then added upon by glee or misery as islanders decided what to do with

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[wingerguarantee]

There were two monkeys trailing him.

Jeff didn't go into the Hub meaning to have them come in with him. In fact, he expected the noisy little assholes to to be scared away by the crowd, but no, no, they were apparently intent on sticking by him. They followed him all the way to the table he sat down at, both obediently sitting down on top of it, watching him with their beady monkey eyes.

"What do you guys want?" he asked, exasperated, when glaring at them for a little while did nothing to get rid of them.

"Food!" one chirped, which, to anyone else nearby sounded like the usual noise a monkey would make. Not to Jeff, though. No, he'd been able to hear every word from their mouths since he'd come across the first one. The other echoed the same sentiment, and Jeff just snorted in derision.

"If you two think I'm feeding you because you can ask me for some, you're insane. And get off the table," he said. It was a command he expected to be completely ignored, but the two scurried down immediately. It was enough to get his attention, and he sat up a little so he could peer down. They were on the floor now instead, looking up at him.

"Food!" the other said, as insistent as the first.

"There's fruit outside, so go get food there," he argued. And before he could wonder about his sanity when he was legitimately having a fight with two animals, they were off, just like that. After a minute or two, he figured he could relax, maybe even get a drink. Around the time he returned to his table with whatever alcohol was being given out, he realized he'd been a little too hopeful.

They came back, fruit in tow. One even held up the banana he brought back, as if trying to give it to Jeff. Jeff just stared at them for a long moment before taking a swig of the drink he'd just brought back.

He was going to need it.

[shewaswarned]

Ellen's only been on the island less than a month, and as far as she's concerned, she thinks she's adjusted remarkably well, but even she couldn't have prepared herself for this, the fact that the island seems to be going completely crazy. People are shedding skin and turning pink and throwing fireballs and spontaneously regenerating, and somewhere during all the chaos she's realized that she's staying exactly the same. She still can't decide whether or not that's a relief or something of a disappointment.

She looks up from her martini just in time to catch the end snippets of a conversation, and can't resist a grin when she sees that only half of the speakers is human. Still confusing is the part where Jeff seems to be understanding whatever the monkeys are trying to communicate to him. She downs the remaining contents of her glass and slips down from her barstool, making her way over to his table.

"You brought some friends?" she asks, lips curving into a smirk.

[wingerguarantee]

He probably should've seen being spotted by someone coming. That it was someone he'd rather not look insane in front of made things considerably worse. Sitting up and ignoring the banana it was trying to give him, he cleared his throat.

"I can't get rid of them," he said, sounding frustrated. "I woke up and I could understand them and now they won't leave."

It wasn't as if Ellen could do anything. And he'd been followed by even more earlier. It was like they had some kind of network for monkeys that let them know one human could talk to them.

[shewaswarned]

"You woke up with the ability to understand monkeys?" Ellen asks, trying not to sound too incredulous. Given what she's already seen today, though, being able to talk to monkeys isn't that farfetched of a concept right about now.

Jeff doesn't seem too pleased about it, and she doesn't exactly blame him. She offers a smile of condolence as she takes a seat at his table, only after motioning for another drink for herself. "They probably appreciate the fact that someone can understand them."

[wingerguarantee]

"Yeah, they just want food. I could have figured that out without this," he said, waving off the mere idea that they might even be able to appreciate anything. And for the record, the stupid animal was still trying to give him the banana, too. He eyed it, then said, "I don't want it. Go give it to someone else."

And for the third time in a couple of minutes, the monkey did exactly what he asked it to do almost immediately, skittering the couple of inches so it was sitting at Ellen's feet instead, holding the fruit up for her to take. Jeff raised a brow, unable to ignore the pattern that was forming.

[shewaswarned]

Ellen stifles a grin as she reaches out to accept the fruit with a nod and a murmur of thanks, setting the banana down on the table in front of her and glancing over to Jeff, still visibly amused.

"Well, at least you can't say you never got one to listen to you," she replies, mock-seriously.

[cool_coolcool]

Abed was going on a trip. An adventure. An expedition.

On his back, was a camping pack, filled meticulously with all the essentials. He was outfitted for hiking, heavy boots and long sleeves and pants, and on his face was a look of serious determination. A look that wasn't entirely his own.

"I'm going across the island," he said, and while he was speaking to Jeff, he was focused on the monkeys, his head tilted curiously. "If I'm not back by tomorrow, you should probably send help."

[wingerguarantee]

Honestly, if Abed hadn't spoke, Jeff wouldn't have even noticed he or anyone else had come up to him. The monkeys were still irritating him, and he was about to attempt to tell them off (again) when he was interrupted.

It took a glance over in his direction to realize he was actually, legitimately serious.

"What? You're joking, right?" he immediately asked, forgetting all about his own problems for the moment. This one was suddenly a whole lot bigger. "Absolutely not. Have you ever even been hiking?"

[cool_coolcool]

"This isn't a time for jokes, Jeff. I can communicate with dinosaurs, and the dinosaurs are on the other side of the island, so, that's where I'm going. I can't be given a gift like this and not use it," he said, which was perfectly logical. If he'd been given the ability to talk to monkeys, as Jeff apparently had, he wouldn't have needed to go anywhere.

"I've packed all the essentials and I've plotted my course on the map. I doubt this is going to turn into a Blair Witch type of situation, but that's why I came and told you were I'm going. Just in case."