(no subject)

[deadeye_shot]

{oom: A case that hits too close to home.}

Hawkeye rarely wears makeup, but today she's donned concealer in an effort to hide the fact that the skin around her eyes is puffy and red. She enters the bar from her door wearing a form-fitting black turtleneck, a pastel blue jacket, and a long, dark blue skirt. She also has her dog, Black Hayate, a black-and-cream colored Shibu Inu pup, with her, on a leash.

She almost turns around and exits through the door in which she came. But Milliways apparently replaced her apartment for a reason, so she strides up to the bar and--after patting her puppy and telling him to stay--seats herself on a stool. "Whiskey, please," she says, in a soft voice, and Bar generously provides.

Comments

[holdingacat]

"Ooooooh, who's a good boy? Is it you? Huuuuuh?" There's a radio announcer sitting cross-legged on the floor, cooing at the puppy.

As one does.

...

You don't immediately start cooing at any new puppies in your vicinity? You monster.

[deadeye_shot]

Hawkeye smiles down at the man, even though she really doesn't feel like it, and that he's on the floor is a bit odd. "You can pet him if you like. I'm First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye. A pleasure."

[holdingacat]

Cecil offers his hands to the puppy to sniff, beaming at the the adorable little ears, the black button of a nose, the bright sparkling eyes.

"Cecil Palmer, likewise. And who's this tiny puffball of perfect adorableness?"

[deadeye_shot]

"Black Hayate," Hawkeye says, her smile turning more and more genuine. "It's okay, Hayate."

At Hawkeye's reassurance, the little puppy leaps into action, standing up and sniffing Cecil's fingers. The black-and-white dog even chances a lick, as he likes what he smells: wool sweaters and new places!

Hawkeye raises her glass to her lips, and then thinks better of it. "Did you want a drink?"

[holdingacat]

"Oh, thank you - coffee, if Bar is willing to make it properly, please." While he is glad that he doesn't have to do it himself (or make an intern do it), he is very careful to specify.

Cecil Gershwin Palmer, coffee snob.

Carefully he offers ear scritches, the fur unbearably soft under his fingers.

[deadeye_shot]

Bar provides two cups of coffee--each how Hawkeye and Cecil take theits--so Hawkeye scoops them up and stands. She debates about whether or not she should join him on the floor, and decides she's got nothing to lose. Carefully holding the cups of coffee, she seats herself on the floor cross-legged, mirroring Cecil's posture.

Hayate doesn't bark, but he leans into the scritches. If he were a cAt, he'd be purring. Hawkeye offers Cecil his cup. "So, where are you from, Mr. Palmer?"

[holdingacat]

"Oh, I am from Night Vale - a friendly desert community." Cecil's smile is fond, and full of pride, and doesn't falter as he claims his coffee cupf. "Where the sun is hot, the moon is beautiful, and lights pass mysteriously overhead while we all pretend to sleep."

[deadeye_shot]

Hawkeye blinks. The fondness is interesting, but the last bit is what really catches her ear, for obvious reasons. "Does that mean your world has discovered flight?"

[holdingacat]

"Discovered?" Cecil absent-mindedly asks, his voice slipping into the familiar cadence. "Can one discover what has always been? The birds circle overhead, and flies rise in their clouds, and always the lights, so close above the sign at Arby's. Can we say we discovered something so obviously there?"

[deadeye_shot]

"So you have no idea what these lights are? They aren't from planes or anything like that?" Hawkeye says, sipping her coffee.

[holdingacat]

"If we knew, they would not be mysterious." Cecil points out, idly ruffling the puppy's ears.

[deadeye_shot]

The puppy tries to wriggle into Cecil's lap, but stops after Hawkeye commands, "Hayate. Down." The little dog rests his chin on Cecil's knee instead, yawning.

Hawkeye nurses her coffee, trying to figure this stranger out. "You said pretend to sleep. Do you have insomnia or are you afraid?"

Possibly of the lights?

[darkeryetdarker]

Oh, Gaster remembers her. The human woman who could somewhat perceive him when he first arrived.

He should go and apologize now that he's visible, and with a means of communicating. She deserves an explanation.

Hawkeye might see a rather sheepish-looking skeletal figure, clad in black, shuffling towards her.

Smells like static.

[deadeye_shot]

Hawkeye catches the scent before she sees the movment of the skeleton, but she soon sees him. She blinks, wondering if he'll address her, since he certainly looks like he wants to.

She decides to address him first. "Hello. I'm First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye."

[darkeryetdarker]

Gaster raises a hand in a greeting, before pulling out a laptop.

[Pleased to meet you, Lieutenant. I am Dr. W.D. Gaster. We have...met before, in a sense. You were in the bar when I first arrived here. You seemed to know I was there, even if you couldn't see me. I apologize if I disturbed you in any way.]

[deadeye_shot]

"It's no trouble," Hawkeye says, intrigued by this strange person. She's never seen anyone in Milliways who wasn't human. Hayate sits up and lets his tongue loll out of his mouth.

Hawkeye's sharp-eyed gaze flicks from Gaster's face to the object in his hands. "What is it that you're holding?"

[darkeryetdarker]

Gaster continues to type.

[A laptop - a handheld computing device. It also has a word processing program, as you can see. Bar was kind enough to give it to me, as I can't speak in my current form.]

[deadeye_shot]

"A laptop," Hawkeye says, reading the unfamiliar word aloud. "Fascinating. Why can't you speak?"

[darkeryetdarker]

[My current form is made up of mostly energy. I'm only visible now due to the electromagnet in the room, which a resident was kind enough to make for me. I still can't interact with objects, apart from this laptop. When I do try to speak, it just sounds like static.]

[deadeye_shot]

Hawkeye watches the words appear on the screen, trying to figure out how the laptop works. "You weren't always this way?"

[darkeryetdarker]

Gaster shakes his head grimly. He hesitates in a few places as he types.

[No. I had an unfortunate accident. I fell into a machine I had built, and I ended up somewhere outside of space and time, able to perceive but not interact. I, effectively, no longer exist.]

[deadeye_shot]

"My condolences for your loss," Hawkeye says, because what else could that be but a loss? It's a death of sorts. "It seems you can interact here, though. Maybe you can find a way to reverse the effects."

[darkeryetdarker]

It is, considering he's mourning, in a way, the people who have forgotten him. He does miss them, very much.

[That's what I'm planning on. I've found information on a device that converts wavelengths of light into solid mass. I'm hoping to build something like that.]

[deadeye_shot]

"You'll need help from people attuned to mechanical engineering," Hawkeye says, her hair falling over her right eye as she inclines her head very slightly. "I'd offer my services, but I don't know the first thing about it."