(no subject)

[stillbecoming]

The bathrooms at Milliways are so much cleaner than the bathrooms in Buffy's dorm. That's a reason to be happy she's out of the dorm. Temporarily out.

Buffy reaches for a paper towel to dry her hands with, and blinks when the towel dispenser whirs to life and slowly expels a towel. More high-tech than the bathrooms in Buffy's dorm, too.

And then it whirs again.

And again.

"Um," says Buffy, stepping back in case her mere presence is provoking the unending ream of paper, "I'm -- I'm all set, thanks --"

Whir. Whir. Whir.




Maybe it's a demon.

[OOC: Now with your choice of the ladies' room (paper towel dispenser meltdown) or the men's room (Jamie subthread)! Two settings, no waiting! For the price of one! Available while supplies last. I'm on a horse.]

Comments

[walksthebounds]

Jamie is trying to figure out which bathroom stalls are occupied. It's tricky when all the doors are closed; you can't just go pushing random ones in and disturb whoever might be in there, and you can't really squint underneath for feet without looking a bit funny. Why can't people just leave the stall doors open?

He shifts from one foot to the other and eyes the furthest stall. There's been no noise coming from that one at least since he's come in . . . maybe he'll venture it.

[stillbecoming]

Paper towels are still pooling at Buffy's feet.

She ducks into the hallway. There's got to be something -- she can -- use...

A plunger. Plungers are for fixing bathroom emergencies! It's what they do! The fact that she has no idea how a plunger can help with a broken paper towel dispenser is only a minor setback.

She grabs the plunger, and plunges back in.



Why is Jamie always in the women's bathroom?

[walksthebounds]

. . . Jamie was NINETY-NINE PERCENT SURE that he was in the right bathroom!

He stands frozen in position, one hand on the handle of the farthest stall door, and glares at Buffy in sheer exasperation.

In the immortal words of a doomed flowerpot: oh no, not again!

[stillbecoming]

Buffy is holding the plunger over her shoulder, like she's ready to plunge it into a vampire's heart (because she kind of is). Eventually she notices this. And lowers it.

"Boy, you...really like it in here."

[walksthebounds]

"These doors," complains Jamie, "aren't well-marked at all."

Sulkily he starts to head back towards the door, making sure to give Buffy a wide berth. Now he's going to have to do the stall door thing all over again in the actual men's bathroom, apparently.

[stillbecoming]

"They have pictures and words," Buffy informs his back. "What more do you need? Glowing silhouettes in the night sky?"

Maybe he never leaves. Maybe he just camps out in the ladies' room.

Creepy.

[3nanashi]

The thing about Milliways bathrooms -- well, one thing about them -- is that their geography works much like the rest of Milliways.

Which is to say, they have more corners than they strictly ought to, and a lot of unusual lines of sight and concealment, and the dimensions of the room are not quite as fixed as one might assume.

Trowa's not intending to hide. Trowa is intending to wash his hands, like a normal and hygienic person. But if both Buffy and Jamie choose to be oblivious to the sound of water running and then water shutting off, and equally oblivious to the shape of a person at the back of the room, while they argue about basic reading comprehension -- well, that's their perogative, he supposes.

[walksthebounds]

To be fair, Trowa's haircut is not exactly gender-definitive.

Defensive: "I'll have you know, the symbols aren't the same in every world!"!

It's even true. It really is quite possible that he could have gotten mixed up. But it's just too bad that it should have happened with the same person twice!

[stillbecoming]

Well. Not exactly the same person.

Which is good. For both of them. And any and all cross-shaped necklaces in Buffy's possession.

"Hey, I'm not judging," says Buffy, judging. "It happens."

Under her breath: "Apparently, a lot."

[princeinpieces.livejournal.com]

Someone sticks their head around the door, then quietly slips into the room.

"... Hello?"

The hair is very pretty.

The lashes are very long.

The voice ... is not overwhelmingly female.

[stillbecoming]

Buffy jumps back. (The paper towel dispenser keeps whirring.)

"I didn't do it!" she says. "I mean I did it a little. I did it by accident. I --"



Okay, sometimes women have deep voices. For example: Faith. Rocking the two-packs-a-day gravel. But --

[princeinpieces.livejournal.com]

Mytho blinks.

"Didn't do what?"

Even asking a question, his voice is oddly free of discernible inflection.

[stillbecoming]

Buffy looks uncertainly from the waterfall of paper towels to the -- person of indeterminate age and gender. (Is their hair white?)

"The towelpocalypse?"

A beat. "Are...you okay?"

[princeinpieces.livejournal.com]

Mytho turns his attention dutifully to the paper, expression dimming to a soft concern.

"Yes," he says, absent.

They remind me of ... white feathers ...



Tutu.

[stillbecoming]

"Okay," says Buffy, bemused. "Um...did you...were you..."

She settles for waving an arm in the direction of the stalls. "Don't let me keep you?"

[prinz-und-rabe.livejournal.com]

Behind her, the paper towel rack flickers

[princeinpieces.livejournal.com]

Mytho frowns at it.

And slowly begins to approach, fingers tentatively outstretched as paper towels begin to pile up around his feet.

"What are you?"

[smallestopener]

Ingress is definitely in the ladies room. She's washing her hands, because while she is flouting a lot of parental-ish advice these days, washing hands is not one. That may be because Mary Poppins instilled the habit in her at an early and formative age.

"Oh, hi! Don't worry. It always does that."

[stillbecoming]

"It does?"

Maybe it's always been a demon.

Buffy turns around, and blinks in incomplete recognition. "Oh! Hi, um -- Gr -- S -- Address?"

[smallestopener]

"No," Ingress giggles. That's hilarious. "I'm Ingress. But I don't remember your name, either."

[stillbecoming]

Why did she even try?

(Simultaneously, she thinks: Well I was close.)

"Buffy," says Buffy, nudging the mass of towels gloomily with one peep toe. "Ingress, does the paper towel dispenser do anything else weird?"

[smallestopener]

"Sometimes it smells like sulfur, but that just might be the bathroom," she says, wrinkling her nose.

Entities not like them use the place, after all.

[stillbecoming]

Buffy eyes the towel dispenser with a fresh helping of misgivings.

"Only one way to find out."

That way is: she takes a step closer and leans forward to sniff it.

"...Not just the bathroom."

[smallestopener]

"I wonder why it smells like that," she says, frowning. "Towel dispensers shouldn't smell like anything, should they? Maybe it's broken."

The whirring is becoming rhythmic. Almost like the machine is... chanting.

[stillbecoming]

"I don't know," Buffy says, rapping it lightly with her knuckles, "maybe artificial florals. But definitely not sulfur."

There's a little light by the bottom of the machine, that's been glowing green to indicate its continued activity. But now, as they watch, it turns a deep and ominous red.

Error light?

Or something more sinister?