February 3, 2023
Lock is awake and by the wall. Oleander yawns, walking in and sitting by Lock, "Mornin."
Lock smiles on seeing oleander "morning"
"How are you?" Oleander asks, holding back from trying to play with her hair.
Luna shrugs and returns to typing.
"I'm great. So how was your trip? Find any rocks?"
"Some rocks. It was alright." He shrugs. "I missed running water though," He chuckles. "Had to survive on sponge baths." They make a grossed out face, "Have you been doing anything interesting?"
"Been soundproofing my room," Lock replies.
"Why so?"
"Didn't want the screaming to alert anyone."
"...Who's screaming?"
"Me."
"I mean the rooms here are inherently sound proof. That's why I go there to scream and play loud rhythm games," Luna explains.
"Lock...are you okay?" Oleander asks.
Luna watches silently.
"I’m fine," Lock still smiles.
"Why are you screaming?" Oleander sounds concerned.
Lock shrugs, "I dunno, just happens like hiccups...that doesn’t happen to you?"
"N...no? Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Oleander asks again.
"Hmmm…" Lock thinks about it for a moment, "yup I’m fine."
"Screaming isnt normal- are there like. Therapists in your world?" Oleander asks.
"Yeah why?"
"Maybe you should talk to one. I mean you've been through a lot- screaming uncontrollably isn't really healthy," Oleander explains.
"I mean if you think I do I could go try to find something like that in Greywood today?" Lock shrugs again.
"I think that sounds like a good idea, Lock." Luna smiles.
"What's Greywood?" Oleander furrows his brow.
"The town I'm from," Lock responds.
"I see! Then yeah, I think that'd be a good idea," Oleander smiles.
Lock gets up and stretches, "Alright, I'll be back before you can say a moose on a step ladder."
"Okay!" Oleander still smiles. "Have fun!"
"Good luck out there!" Luna adds.
"Could you send me there? I'll tell you over datrrs when I'm done," Lock asks Luna.
"Of course. Have fun Lock." Luna claps her paws together. Lock disappears.
Wick - Found a therapeutic camping trip. It's the one Kaz sent me to that one time. They're holding one tonight that I can attend.
Wick - №What do you mean I have to go? How can you even afford it?...Where the hell did she get the money?...huh, well alright...I'm sure I'll find something to do there
Wick - Heading there now
Wick - №Well I better go unless you want me late, see ya
Wick - [Lock arrives at the campsite posted on the flyer and freezes in place as she sees Wes. He's sitting in an old wheelchair and idly messing around on his phone]
Wick - ...You would never guess who's here at the campsite right now
Wick - [Wes looks up from his phone and sees Lock] Oh hey! Didn't think you were attending
Wick - [Lock] Hey...I uh didn't know you were either? I thought you and your dad moved away to look for...Camy was it?
Wick - [Wes] Ok first off that thing isn't my dad, secondly my mom prefers to go by Camellia, and lastly we gave up when Willis took up drinking and we moved back
Wick - [Lock] I'm surprised Willis could even afford you to take this trip
Wick - [Wes] Usha's paying for it
Wick - [Lock] Your brother?
Wick - [Wes] Yeah, he has a cafe in town now. His girlfriend also has money but she's a bit...bizarre? Anyways I'm glad you came! I was worried I'd have no one to talk to here
Wick - [Lock] yeah...same I guess
Wick - [Eventually more people arrive. Madelyn, Franky, Usha, and Julian get out of a van and walk to the campsite. Madelyn wears her usual mask and green jacket. Franky is a short Virginia opossum with teeth sticking out of her mouth. Usha is an otter that stays close to Julian's side. Julian however is a silver fox with orange eyes that wears a blue rabbit poncho. Julian keeps a long smile and wide eyes.]
Wick - [Madelyn sees Lock and rolls her eyes. Usha waves at Lock with a friendly greeting]
Wick - [Usha] Hey, the names Usha. I don't believe we've met?
Wick - [Lock] I'm Lock
Wick - [Usha gestures at Julian as he speaks] This is my girlfriend Julian. Don't mind her, she doesn't mean anyone any harm [Julian continues to stare quietly with a wide smile]
Wick - [Franky] I see the camping supplies are missing again? [Franky glares at Madelyn]
Wick - [Madelyn looks over at Franky] Hm?...Oh I didn't have time to keep an eye on the supplies this morning
Wick - [Franky] Then what am I even giving you housing for?
Wick - [Madelyn] Heck if I know
Wick - [Franky pinches the bridge of her nose with a grumble] Deal is you get paid to do what I ask right?
Wick - [Madelyn nods]
Wick - [Franky] Ok, then why didn't you do what I asked?
Wick - [Madelyn shrugs] I didn't have time to do it
Wick - [Franky] What on Earth were you even doing?!?
Wick - [Madelyn snarls some] Waking up? You got a problem with it?
Wick - [Franky takes a deep breath before Wes chimes in] I don't get why you haven't fired her by now
Wick - [Franky] It's just a slip up
Wick - [Wes] You're her employer though. If she snarls at you, you should fire her on the spot for attitude
Wick - [Lock] Can we not talk about this right now?
Wick - [Franky] She just has anger issues [Madelyn mumbles something under her breath in annoyance]
Wick - [Wes] You knew she was a declaw from day one. Everyone knows that's a red flag for anger issues. Why did you even hire her to begin with?
Wick - [Lock raises her voice] OK GREAT WONDERFUL, TOPIC CHANGE PLEASE
Wick - [Franky] Great idea. Let's get a fire or something started. Maybe we can salvage this camping trip without any supplies.
Wick - [They gather and sit down near a firepit with sticks and smaller twigs for tinder. Franky uses a lighter to get it going as the sun disappears behind the trees.]
Wick - [Lock looks over at Wes] So how did Wes end up in a wheelchair again?
Wick - [Madelyn] He was being a little bitch so I threw him out of the window back at the cabin Franky lets me stay at
Wick - [Wes rolls his eyes] I was just trying to ask where Franky's office was so I could pay for the camping trip early
Wick - [Madelyn] Oh yeah? By coming by at midnight when it has Franky's number on the form you filled out?
Wick - [Wes] It was late, I didn't want to bother her
Wick - [Franky] Anyways we need to be talking about calming things? This is supposed to be therapeutic after all, its what you all paid good money for
Wick - [Usha] As long as I'm out of the café for the day, I'm happy
Wick - [Julian nods in agreement]
Wick - [Lock] We could tell campfire stories. I heard those are fun
Wick - [Franky] Great idea!...hmm...does anyone already have a story in mind?
Wick - [For a moment they all glance at eachother before Madelyn speaks up] I have one
Wick - [Franky nods] Alright, introduce yourself and start the story
Wick - [Madelyn] I'm Jemia or whatever. So one night there was this guy that got hired to watch an art museum at night. The front desk faced a hall. The lights were off and he could only make out the silhouettes of the marble statues that lined the hall on either side. Part way through the night he could hear a faint dripping sound that he assumed was from a leaky roof due to the rain. He dozed off sitting at the desk
Wick - [Madelyn] When he woke up the hall was lit up by the sunlight. To his horror there were no marble statues. Where each statue had stood was a small puddle of saliva and blood. He contacted his employers that day and discovered that the museum never owned any marble statues. The end
Wick - [Wes yawns] Heard that one already. It's not a true story
Wick - [Lock] I zoned out, can we restart?
Wick - [Franky] Next up
Wick - [Usha clears his throat] My name is Usha
Rajesh Morrissey. One day there was a man who gave his heart to a woman. He would do anything for her to make her happy...but to his dismay, THE GIRL TORE HIS HEART INTO SHREDS AND TRAMBLED HIS DREAMS INTO THE MUD. THERE WAS ONLY DARKNESS LEFT FOR HIM AND WITH NO WAY OUT HE WAS DRIVEN TO INSANIT-
Wick - [Lock quickly interrupts Usha] GREAT STORY MY TURN...Uhhh I'm Lock. So uh...uhm...there was this guy who knew another guy and that guy met a guy who knew the other guy. Not that guy but the guy who knew a guy. THAT guy, yeah. He told him, hey you, yeah you. You heard from that guy yet? And he was like, no I haven't. And they both realized they hadn't heard from that guy in forever and went to go check on him. No one knows were they guys went to this day
Wick - [Wes tilts his head some] I've read that one on an article of jokes to tell your friends...that's hardly a campfire story
Wick - [Franky] Campfire stories don't have to be scary
Wick - [Usha] I found it scary. Mainly the lack of information. It leaves too many factors for the imagination [Wes quietly mimics Usha to mock him as he talks]
Wick - [Franky glares at Wes] Alright, let's see how bad of a story you tell critique...
Wick - [Wes grins] Gladly! [He stands up from the wheelchair] I'm Wesley Arvid Morrissey
Wick - [Franky] Wait, how are you standing right now??? I thought you broke your leg yesterday
Wick - [Wes] Hold on, hold on, let me finish the story...as I was saying, it was a dark and stormy night when Julian Moore came back to the manor
Wick - [Usha] Wes, what are you doing?
Wick - [Wes] She was startled to see the manor up in flames. A once renounced family home full of the town's best scientists was now nothing but a smoldering pit of fire. As she ran in to save her dear boyfriend Usha from the fire...that's when she saw it.
Wick - [Wes pulls a gun out from the pocket on the back of the wheelchair. He points it at Madelyn] She saw Jemia Moore fanning the flames, adding more gasoline, to make sure none of it would survive. As a precaution, Jemia tried to kill Julian but she managed to escape with Usha in her arms. Not without injury of course. From then on Julian's face has been paralyzed into a crooked smile. Refusing or even unable to communicate in anyway knowing you would take her out
Wick - [Madelyn growls] I wasn't there
Wick - [Franky faints and falls into the grass]
Wick - [Wes] Oh yeah? Why wouldn't a Moore not be in the Moore Manor with their family?
Wick - [Madelyn] That's not my last name
Wick - [Wes]...
Wick - [Madelyn sighs and digs into her pocket. Wes lowers the gun slightly as he watches. She gets out her wallet and holds up her ID card infront of Wes. Sure enough, it said her legal name is Jemia Duel]
Wick - [Wes squints as he reads it to himself] Jemia duel?...Not Moore???...
Wick - [Madelyn puts her ID card away] Not Moore
Wick - [Usha] Where the hell did you even get a gun? [Wes turns to face Usha. Madelyn squints as she looks at the gun]
Wick - [Wes] The internet?
Wick - [Madelyn snarls as she stands up and steps towards Wes. Wes jumps slightly and points the gun back at Madelyn] STOP! SIT BACK DOWN OR I'LL SHOOT
Wick - [Madelyn walks up to him and puts a hand on the gun. Wes's face turns pale. Madelyn pulls her hand off the gun. Her hand wipes off some black ink revealing the gun to be nothing more than a bright colorful water gun. Wes cracks a nervous laugh] heheheh...well will ya look at that?
Wick - [Wes backs up some as he drops the water gun] Weird that's not a real gun huh? I'm sure we can all laugh about this over a good campfire snack-
Wick - [There is a loud snap as Madelyn backhands Wes across the face, leaving a smudge of black ink. Wes blinks and is stunned from the hit]
Wick - [The others stay quiet as Madelyn stares Wes down] You think you can just scare people like that to get what you want? Be some hero?
Wick - [Franky wakes up and groans] I hate playing dead-
Wick - [Usha helps Franky up as Madelyn continues to berate Wes] You gave everyone here a heart attack for no God damn reason when you could have just as easily done a bit of research and found out my name- hell you could have just asked?!?
Wick - [Wes puts his head down some. Franky sighs as she sees the water gun on the floor] We're meeting up tomorrow again. This was hardly worth the money you guys paid
Wick - [Usha] It's supposed to rain tomorrow and I need to work. Why don't we meet at my cafe? Foods on me
Wick - [Franky nods] That sounds like a plan...let's all meet up there in the morning
Wick - [Lock picks up the water gun and empties the water left in it onto the campfire to put it out. She drops the water gun and starts to walk back to town. Usha and Julian follow her]
Wick - [Madelyn spits on the ground near Wes as she follows the others back to town. Franky and Wes stand in the dark for a moment]
Wick - [Frank] She doesn't mean it you know...she's just...going through alot?
Wick - [Wes is alot quieter than before] Yeah
Wick - [Franky nervously rubs the side of her arm] I'm sorry
Wick - [Wes looks at Franky] For what?
Wick - [Franky] It's my fault for giving Willis that ID card. I just thought he needed to take on some responsibility. I didn't think he would start drinking cause of it
Wick - [Wes] And what does that have to do with me right now?
Wick - [Franky shrugs] I dunno, just trying to make you feel better [Franky starts to walk to town. Wes watches her leave as he wipes his face with his sleeve. He smears black ink onto his Christmas sweater and sighs]
Wick - [Wes pulls back the sleeve and wears a bracelet with a small four-leaf clover] So much for luck. [He heads back to town]
Wick - [End]
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