video;

[brotimaeus]

This slime is becomin' a fuckin' inconvenience.

[As if illustrating his point - by not really doing so at all - Richard flicks a shuriken over one shoulder and sends it to the other side of the room where it embeds itself into the wall, quivering. A few marks on the paint nearby might show, to the well-trained eye, that a few of the same have already been stuck there and subsequently melted down the wall the following day.

Richard doesn't look particularly impressed.]

And people are getting echoes from it, yeah? I can't be that unlucky.

[He slips a thumb and forefinger up along the bridge of his nose to pinch it, lifting his shades up slightly.]

Tony, check your goddamn pockets when you're comin' back in here, there's enough of this stuff hanging around the house already.

[A beat.]

And bring a box.

Comments

Voice

[solvethepuzzle]

It's rather intrusive, yes. And no, you are not alone in getting Echoes in its presence.

Voice

[brotimaeus]

Great, great... Funny how that's not comforting.

Same goes for you too, kid. If you're comin' here, don't bring any of that shit in with you.

Voice

[solvethepuzzle]

No, it isn't. Anything that acts as a trigger for all of us is a concern.

I'll do my best to ensure I don't have any with me. [He's not even keeping any of the slime-turned-toys in his house. Which says something given his fixation on those kinds of objects.]

Voice

[brotimaeus]

True that. Don't think anyone's gonna see it any differently.

[Then he nods, letting out a soft, huffing exhale that sounds like it's trying to be a laugh.]

Thanks, kid. Don't let me put you off.

Voice

[solvethepuzzle]

There hasn't been any such thing like that since the war, to my recollection. [It makes him worry that something new is brewing. Then again, Nathan does have a tendency to worry too much.]

I am not put off. I try to keep as much of it as I can out of my own house, as well. I've separated everything I know to have been slime.

Voice

[brotimaeus]

Yeah, that's what has me on edge.

[Normally, people wouldn't get a confession like that out of him but Nate was practically family. Richard had become more guarded in recent months, to the point where even he noticed it.]

Haven't had that kind of luxury. Didn't catch on quick enough. Now I'm just diggin' pointy shit out of it before it turns back into more pointy shit.

[Video]

[oncedevil]

[He's just gonna shoot a cocky smirk.]

Sure you don't want a bucket?

[Video]

[brotimaeus]

One of those plastic boxes with a clip-on lid. You know the ones.

[He waves one hand in something of a dismissive gesture.]

Don't make that face at me.

video

[dictator_ko]

Those slime things suck. I stomped on one and got nothing good from it. I'm not touching the stupid gross things again.

[Her cat ears flatten at the thought.]

video

[brotimaeus]

Yeah, tried that. Way too much of a stereotype to have the stuff multiply when you try to cut it in half.

[Richard rolls his eyes.]

This place is full of pointy shit and I ain't sure which of it is just gonna turn into goop in the next twelve hours.

[dictator_ko]

It multiplies?! There's already too much of the gross stuff. Pointy stuff? Like that ninja star thingy you had just now?

[brotimaeus]

Yeaaaah, don't try cuttin' it in half. You'll just end up with two of it.

[He glances back over his shoulder.]

Mm, that stuff. And swords, daggers, anythin' else you can think of.

[dictator_ko]

I've just been avoiding the stuff since I stepped on it. You can get that sort of thing? I just got a dead stuffed cute critter.

[And a horrible memory, but she's not going to mention that. She doesn't like talking about her past life memories.]

[brotimaeus]

'Parently so. Think I'd rather this over dead things, though.

[He's not so keen on his, either, spotty as they are.]

One thing I'm wonderin' about it all is what's the fuckin' point. Pun not intended.

Video

[callmeryuzaki]

Slime isn't always an inconvenience.

Video

[brotimaeus]

Yo, let's keep any weird fantasies out of this, yeah?

[Snrk.]

Specifically, this stuff, is an inconvenience. Or did you find somethin' to do with all that slime-based confectionery?

Video

[callmeryuzaki]

Slime-based confectionery? What are you talking about?

Oh, right. That thing I did, that was definitely me. Of course.

Video

[brotimaeus]

[... squint.]

You feelin' okay? You're even more spacey than usual.

Video

[callmeryuzaki]

Actually, I'm not OK. I need help. A little bit of pressing business needs some attendance. Where can I find you?

Video

[brotimaeus]

Uh.

[He glances briefly over his shoulder.]

At home. For the next few hours, anyway. You want me to come to you?

video;

[alilyinthemoonslight]

[Lily sighs and nods.] The other day we ran into an issue where that stuff had materialized on a ship in the wrong place and stranded it out in the middle of the ocean. [It might have been on the news? Lily's not sure, she's been avoiding watching it, but there's been enough buzzing on her phone that she's also been ignoring that she's probably getting requests for commentary.]

The slime itself doesn't bother me as much on its own, just... wondering what it might be from.

video;

[brotimaeus]

Well, shit.

[If it's been on the news, he hasn't seen it, but he long since fell out of the habit of watching the news. Maybe if he actually talked to more people, he might have heard, but he's not been the most social of people recently, either.

Then he pauses, frowning and giving a small nod.]

That's what's got me thinkin' too. We left all that behind.. or I thought we did.

video;

[alilyinthemoonslight]

Yeah, that's... that's the difficult thing, really.

[She was growing to like a normal life. Relatively normal, anyway.]

But we can't really let this rest, all things considered. We need to dig where we can. See if there's anyone who can look at this stuff. We're not all hiding in the shadows anymore, there has to be a way to turn that to our advantage.

video;

[brotimaeus]

You're right. If somethin' small like this is happening here I can't think it means anythin' good.

[He doesn't need to say it, does he? None of them have forgotten.]

If it's all startin' again, we're in trouble.

video;

[alilyinthemoonslight]

Still, there's enough different about it I don't know what to make of it. It's happening all over the world, and while our pulses can travel with us anywhere now...

What brings them where they are, as opposed to the things that would appear with the Guardian Animals?