[OPEN] he just couldn't stay away

[catmemes]

WHO: Kaijin (catmemes) & OPEN
WHAT: Catch-all for general catventures and TDM prompts
WHERE: All over
WHEN: August-ish
WARNINGS: will add as needed




[ Prompts below, feel free to throw me a random start or poke me through PM or talkincodes for something specific. ]

Comments

[coolerjunpei]

[As Junpei does live above the laundromat, he's out and about nearby fairly often - well, as much as "going to the corner store for more cup noodles" can be considered out and about. He knows he should probably get out more, and so he compromises with himself by telling himself he will... not stare at his shoes and scuttle back to the elevator as quickly as possible.

So, it's time to socialize. He sort of meanders in Kai's direction just to say hey, only to come up short when he gets glared at and, what? Accused of dryer crimes? Or something??]

Uh, what the hell? [that's? kind of funny? sorry, he isn't laughing, he's not-] You mean the dryers? Are you okay?

[catmemes]

Eh? [ He stares an unblinking moment longer before seeming to register Junpei, who is definitely not recommending shoving Kai into a small space.

His shoulders slump into something more relaxed, if not slightly chastened. Probably not fair to be taking out his current irritation on anyone, let alone someone who's been pretty nice to him. ]

Oh. I'm okay.

[ He still flicks a narrow-eyed look in the laundromat's direction, but that's not Junpei's fault. ]

Did you need to go in?

[coolerjunpei]

[Kai, buddy... that doesn't seem okay, but Junpei doesn't exactly know him well enough to tell for certain? He knows Kai is an Oddball, but. Hmm!]

To the laundromat? No, not really. I kind of want to keep my shirts this week.

[It's always a toss-up with these machines, and yet he does keep trying. One day they'll give up or he'll learn, whichever's first.]

Were you... Look, this feels like a weird question, but are you afraid of laundromats or something? Totally non-judgmentally.

[catmemes]

[ He does at least take a moment to consider the question. Is he afraid? Not really. The machines are loud in ways he's not fond of, but he can be fine with that. He didn't mind the place before the too-smily suggestion was made.

So it's with thorough deliberation that he finally makes his decision: ] No.

[ But he does have some understanding of Junpei by this point, as much as he understands anyone, so he offers a small shrug to go with it. ]

I'm probably the only one who can fit in the machines. But I don't want to.

[coolerjunpei]

Okay. Sure, I wouldn't want to get in there either.

[Well, not as a grown-ass adult. Maybe as a kid it seemed like a fun and cool astronaut adventure, without any understanding of how dryers or motion sickness work.

But definitely not right here and now, so!!]

Why would anyone need to go in a dryer, though...? It's a dryer. Is someone trying to find the place all the lost socks go? It's gotta be a tube somewhere... not that interesting.

[catmemes]

To figure out how the warping works.

[ Does Junpei not know about the warping? He's seemed like the kind of person who knows everything to Kai, but maybe he's not exactly the best judge. But he can't help but brighten just a little at the idea that he might be able to explain something for once. ]

Because people keep losing their clothes. [ And it's just another mystery to the city, and some people are a little too involved with wanting to investigate things. Kai is not one of them, but somehow he keeps finding himself roped into these things anyway. ]

[coolerjunpei]

Yeah, I get that... [He knows about the dryer problems; nearly lost perfectly good Vans in there way back in week one. But uh, consider--]

But why not just throw in a camera or something? They make waterproof cameras these days, you know. I've used 'em for work.

[Why climb in there actively!]

[catmemes]

[ He pauses at that, as if they idea has never occurred to him. Considering none of this particular experiment was his idea in the first place, that's probably not a surprise. ]

We could try that.

[ Honestly Kai himself isn't really bothered by most of the mysteries of the city, but it seems like a lot of other people are, so. Probably he should help? Maybe? ]

Do you want to?

[coolerjunpei]

Gotta admit, I wasn't really thinking about it.

[He thinks about it now, though, while they're standing here? Where does the mysterious W/D Wormhole go, actually? Who can say. A whole grown adult couldn't fit in there, though, so it's probably not the answer to where his missing friends are being taken.

So.]

I'll pass. Just pull it away from the wall, anyway... You know dryers have those tubes in the back?

[catmemes]

...no?

[ Kai's knowledge of dryer past the fact that they exist is pretty thin on the ground, but that can be said for a lot of things. Junpei's walked him through basic human things before, though, so Kai just looks at him expectantly. ]

Are there portals in the tubes?

[coolerjunpei]

No, I mean... In a normal dryer that's probably where the socks and stuff go.

[He's not entirely sure about this, actually!! But there are indeed Tubes.]

Do you... want to see?

[catmemes]

[ That earns a momentary narrow-eyed look, but so far Junpei hasn't seemed the type to fuck with him. Does Kai want to see how it works? Not particularly. But it's information, and any information is good.

Probably. To someone else, maybe. ]

...okay.

[ He still looks a little twitchy about it, but he sets his shoulders. He will not be defeated by a loud machine! ]

[coolerjunpei]

Okay, uh, dryer lesson time, then. C'mon.

[He'll just divert into the laundromat, he supposes? It's time to mess with dryers without breaking them, hopefully.

Or: he stands around staring at one of the dryers for a bit, before he sets about trying to pull it away from the wall. It's a lot of shifting one corner at a time, but sure enough, he gets the dryer pulled like, a foot out? Enough for the Tubes to be seen.]

There—that sucked. Hey, do you think taking this apart is a crime? I don't wanna get cuffed for education.

[catmemes]

I think as long as it still works?

[ He sounds more than a little dubious about it, but who knows how anything works around here. Case in point--there are indeed tubes in the back. Which does not at all explain how stuff has been going missing, but is kind of interesting.

He tugs his hands into his pockets, eying the whole thing before adding much less enthusiastically: ] Should we turn it on?

[ It's the noise he doesn't like, really. Among other things. But it should be fine as long as he knows it's coming, right? And they should make sure they didn't break it. ]