(no subject)

[gone_byebye]

Back home there's everyday work (if dealing with possessed cinnamon buns and haunted highway overpasses- don't ask, but you really shouldn't take the BQE across the Gowanus for a while just to be on the safe side- can ever be called everyday), and an overenthusiastic ghost, and an angry sister. This is not very appealing to Ray right now. There's also his daughter, but she's a big girl. She can take care of herself for the handful of picoseconds between Ray heading for Milliways and Ray returning, Ray figures, much as he misses her while he's here. Right now he just doesn't want to deal with everything else back home. That'll happen soon enough.

So for the moment, he's reading a copy of the New York Daily News. There's a two-page spread on the city's proposed new disaster response plan. The police and firefighters' unions' response to the suggestion that special units be set aside specifically for the 'undefined phenomena' category of disaster is absolutely fascinating.

Comments

[hearthethoughts.livejournal.com]

Matt had horrible dreams last night. There were penguins in his room plotting the overthrow of the San Diego Zoo.

Seeing Ray makes Matt wanna wave-but he's suddenly hesitant. Is the guy still giving off bad mojo? Is his nephew still throwing people around a'la Sy-

No comparison. Not by a long shot. Get that out of your head man. Seriously..

Not all people with superpowers are bad! Seriously!

Alright. Enough moral dilemma, "....Mornin' Ray?"

[gone_byebye]

Okay, point of order: at no point did the nephew throw people. It was a late-model Pontiac LeMans. The fact that it had a driver at the time was totally secondary.

That said:

Ray looks up from the paper and smiles a little. "Hi, Matt. How's it going?"

[hearthethoughts.livejournal.com]

Matt scratches the top of his head, "It's all right. How'bout you?"

[gone_byebye]

"Still no word out of my sister, but otherwise okay," Ray says. "I survived the attack of the cinnamon bun from Hell, anyway."

[hearthethoughts.livejournal.com]

Earlier today Matt introduced a man to donuts.

Cinnamon buns...

"...Did you try one of those Cinnabon Cinnamon Buns?" Matt shudders, "...Those things should be considered a lethal weapon."

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

An Atton, with a large mug of hot chocolate in one hand, rapidly melting snow in his hair, and a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, heads towards Ray. He may be trying to read Ray's newspaper over his shoulder and failing, on account of not being able to read English.

"What's that?" He nods his head at the newspaper, and a few flakes of snow come fluttering out.

[gone_byebye]

"Monkey man news delivery system," says Ray, glancing at the flake on the off chance that it's dandruff (it's not). "Pulped trees and fabric fibers, pressed flat and rolled extremely thin, and stamped on with inked raised surfaces to produce the daily news at the reasonable price of fifty cents on weekdays and a dollar on Sundays. Not that we don't have computerized news too, but this is a little more leisurely, plus I can clean up after my pets with it when I'm done."

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

"Right. Like flimsi, only not. Anything interesting?"

[gone_byebye]

"Mostly it's stuff to do with my city's government getting its act together and organizing police and emergency response to supernatural events so that they don't just have to rely on me and my colleagues," Ray says. "And a lot of other news but that's what I was reading today. That and the comics pages, since none of my sports teams are playing."

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

"Sounds like a better system than the Republic has with anything Forcy," Atton shrugs. "Even if it is late coming - Is it?"

[gone_byebye]

"We've had three years in which major, major supernatural disasters've occurred and the city hasn't had any official response beyond 'pick up the phone and get hold of the Ghostbusters', so it's a little late," Ray says. "Still, the fact that they're doing it at all's pretty impressive. Depends on how much luck they have getting the cops and the city council to accept the idea."

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

"Major in what way?" Headtilt, which inadvertantly leads to more snowflakes (though, they're more droplets of water now) tumbling out.

[blowupthefloats]

Its only his second day at Milliways, but Munch is glad his apartment door opened onto the bar all the same; after drinks both here and at Liv's 'Welcome Home' party, he needs a strong cup of coffee about now.

The title of a New York paper catches his eye. The headline about the city's disaster plan proposal really catches his interest.

Don't look now Ray, but there's an SVU detective reading over your shoulder.

[gone_byebye]

There's a sidebar on the first page of the article laying out the major 'undefined phenomena' to affect New York City in the past several years, and the city's response to each of them. The first is dated 2001 and involves Trans-Ocean Flight 66 smacking into a building after being missing in action since the 1960's; the next is in 2003, and involves the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. The most recent happened this past Halloween, when nearly nine miles' worth of the East River was sealed off from all traffic for several hours by an almost completely impenetrable energy shield. That one has a slightly longer and more detailed description, mostly having to do with the efforts of Det. John Chen from a precinct in Manhattan South and his coordination with the Ghostbusters-

Ray looks up and waves cheerfully. "Hey there."

[blowupthefloats]

"Hi," Munch returns. "When did all this happen? We never heard about any of it." He waves a hand at the sidebar. And he doesn't know any Det. John Chen, either.

[gone_byebye]

Ray glances up at the top of the paper. "This is the November 30, 2006 edition," he says. "In all likelihood it didn't happen in your version of New York City. There's more than one represented here in the Bar- you're new, aren't you?"

[blowupthefloats]

"In reverse order: yes, and there's more than one New York?" No government conspiracy Munch can think of can account for that.

[gone_byebye]

"Welcome to the Bar, then, and yeah. Yeah, there is. More than one version of Earth, strictly speaking. I have a map I've been putting together of where and when the visitors I've met are from, and there's a lot of multiple versions of familiar places. New York just leaps to mind first."

[blowupthefloats]

"Thanks. So, you're from a version of New York that has an increase in supernatural activity or something?"

For the record, Munch has never watched either of the Ghostbusters movies.

[waylostandfound.livejournal.com]

Nathan was still confused somewhat, or at least not believing where he was. He spied the newspaper. Headlines seemed off though. Maybe it was a fake version of the paper?

[gone_byebye]

Ray didn't really notice Nathan, at least not at first. It took him a moment to notice that someone was watching him.

He'd always been a little thick that way.

"Oh, hi there," he said, lowering the paper somewhat. "Didn't notice you there- did you want something?"

[waylostandfound.livejournal.com]

Nathan nodded, and gave a disarming smile. It didn't look very genuine at all. "Yeah, the way out of here. do you know who's in charge? Somebody mentioned a couple of bartenders? But I can't see how they would move a door out of the way."

[gone_byebye]

"Oh, they were probably talking about Bernard. I haven't seen him lately, but he lives on the premises. You're Bound, then? Sorry to hear that."

Ray has roughly the people-reading ability of a brick of halvah.

[waylostandfound.livejournal.com]

Nathan frowned some, "Yes, supposedly. I don't know how."

He glanced around, "This is one giant trap or prison, right?" He had enemies, it was possible. (He hasn't has his run-in with HRG and Assoc. just yet though.)

[gone_byebye]

"Not at all. It lets you out eventually. I've never actually been Bound myself, but some friends of mine have and it does let you go right back to where and when you left from. It's great for productivity."