MOPS AGGRESSIVELY [Open]

[control_freak]

Who: Foster and you!
When: Day 151
Where: Carnival Grounds - Various
What: Psi has hits upon a clever way to get Foster's goat.
Warnings: Foster.

A. Taking Out The Trash

Anyone who generally takes notice of Foster at all will notice that the past week or so, he's been unusually... hardworking. Not with magic or other suspicious lurkings, but with cleaning. He's constantly busy--scrubbing walls, hauling garbage, mopping floors.

He's not just doing his job, he's pushing himself.

Why?

One word:

Papyrus.

Psi's solution to his disagreement with Foster was actually fairly clever: rather than confronting (or antagonising) Foster further, he'd simply assigned Foster to assist Papyrus in his janitorial tasks.

Papyrus? Thrilled.

He immediately cast himself as Foster's mentor, giving the necromancer a whirlwind tour of the job and peppering him with questions and reassurances and instructing him in the finer points of mop handling with an intensity of optimism and good faith that was honestly pretty repulsive--

Foster retained approximately none of it.

Which only seemed to motivate Papyrus to try harder, which drove Foster further into impotent fury, which inspired Papyrus to champion his achievements and potential more, which antagonised Foster even further, which...

Well. Anyway. The harder Foster works, the faster he can leave Papyrus behind, or so the logic goes. He's honestly taking his aggression out on the grime, but he's also trying--desperately--to achieve a level of performance that will shut Papyrus up.

Or at least end the ordeal faster.

...

Mind your feet.

B. Duck and Cover

Prior to the Carnival, Foster had never been gainfully employed in his entire life. This--his contract here, as part of the Carnival--is the most employed he's ever been. Despite that, he's been grudgingly cooperative with it. Until now. Obeying orders and performing thankless labour for no reward is somewhat gratifying to him, honestly. But this?

Papyrus is not just exhausting, not just grating, not just insufferable... he's relentless.

Escaping him as soon as their work is done is a challenge, because he never wants to let Foster leave.

And even once he's detached himself from the skeleton, Foster still takes pains to avoid him other times. Paranoia has a tendency to drive Foster to unnecessary extremes. Now even eating is to be done in odd corners of the carnival, lest Papyrus see him sitting in the open and sit down to enthusiastically strike up a one-sided "conversation."

A lot of his preferred retreats are kind of strange--instead of his trailer, for example, he can sometimes be found on the floor of ferris wheel carriages. Or hidden inside of the midway game stands, a trick he unwittingly shares with Papyrus' brother. Or in the barn's loft--which is cool, shaded, and hidden from view. Between the elevation, the lack of light, and the bales of straw... it's by far the best place in every way but one: getting a plate or bowl of food up a ladder is basically impossible.

Comments

[dorkypantsuit]

Psi's eyes widen before he glances away, actually a little hurt by Foster's comments. Admittedly he didn't think Foster would enjoy working with Papyrus, but he hadn't been trying to torture the human. Really he just thought that Papyrus was one of those rare people who could actually work with Foster without working themselves into some kind of rage. And it was clear to the Psionic that Foster couldn't be trusted to do any job on his own. He didn't think Foster should ever really be alone, being alone when you had thoughts like Foster's could be dangerous. The Psionic didn't have any control over what Foster did in his freetime though, only over what he did at work.

Still, he can sense Foster's suspicion and the sinking feeling that he's messed comes back once more. He should probably say something to Foster about respecting his supervisor. He knows the Ringmaster would react poorly if she saw Foster acting like this. Still, the RIngmaster isn't here, and honestly the Psionic just doesn't care. Foster could hate him as much as he wanted to. He rubs a hand across his face, as though he can wipe the exhaustion he feels whenever he thinks of Foster away while his other left hand reaches out for Ginko.

"Just forget it."

[criticallyfucked]

Ginko's presence is.... not a terribly mitigating factor to Foster. Ginko wanted to satisfy his curiosity about Foster, about their friendship back in Portland... Foster can respect that insamuch as he won't go out of his way to stop the man, but by that same token, he is the opposite of motivated to maintain any kind of pleasant front for Ginko's sake.

Which is to say, he has no intention of being nice just because Ginko is there.

"Don't worry. I probably will," he responds evenly--but he's still smiling.

[dontpokethat]

Ginko does take Psi's hand, but he doesn't move to leave. He looks between the two, frowning; he remembers what Psi had said about having trouble talking to Foster, and... well, if it weren't for their work situation, he'd be inclined to leave it at that. Let them deal with it or not, try to talk to them separately.

However, Psi is Foster's supervisor. They can't avoid each other - and that's without taking into account Ginko's personal reasons for wanting them to at least sort of get along.

"--Hang on, Psi. Foster, why are you in here right now?"

[dorkypantsuit]

He stops trying to leave, looking at Ginko and pointedly not looking at Foster. He hates the way he can smile while saying something so derisive. He hates how guilty it makes him feel.

"He can hang out in the hay if he wants to."

[criticallyfucked]

Foster, though, glances from Psi to Ginko very specifically.

It's just one look, but it's all he needs.

Being in trouble is nothing. Being in trouble is normal. Consequences don't mean anything, really--if anything, they're a welcome proof.

He turns to face them more fully, folding his furry arms over the bale. It's a simple act, but he's a lot more in his element than Psi is, and now he knows it.

He doesn't answer, just watches them with lidded eyes both bright and interested.

[dontpokethat]

"He can, but I want to know why," Ginko replies mildly. He keeps watching Foster.

See, Psi, this is what happens when you tell Ginko you're having trouble with someone. He makes weird indirect attempts to make you talk to them.

[dorkypantsuit]

Well that's fine, except what the fuck is he supposed to do now?! He glances away in order to make it less obvious he's rolling his eyes in frustration (it's still obvious to everyone) before looking to Foster again.

"Well, are you going to answer or what?"

[criticallyfucked]

Shit.

Well, since he doesn't have a choice...

Or, no. He does have a choice. But it's not much of one. Ginko is one thing--Foster has discovered he can fob the man off with just about anything he pleases, and it seems to work.

But not Psi. Psi was unable to grasp the most basic concept even when it was given to him in plain words, unable to comprehend the smallest fucking thing anyone needed to know about him, the only pathetic detail required to understand him--why he was a waste of space, a waste of life, a waste of time. He was fundamentally incapable of it.

"My job is to take out the trash... RM doesn't like garbage just lying around." He smiles, a thin and knowing one this time. "So, I've removed myself from sight. Or I was trying to. But--"

One paw waves in the air, accompanied by a scathing laugh.

"I'm just incompetent."

[dontpokethat]

Well, that is... not too surprising of an answer. Ginko sighs.

"I think she meant the inanimate garbage, Foster. Not employees."

[dorkypantsuit]

"Also, people aren't trash?!" Looking at Ginko, and then Foster, and then back again feeling kind of outraged?

[dontpokethat]

Honestly, the distress with which Ginko looks to Psi when he says that probably seems entirely disproportionate to the situation. But, uh. It's been said, no taking it back, here we fucking go.

Makes sense that this would be how these two can't get along.

[criticallyfucked]

On its own, Foster would have found Ginko's observation mildly inconvenient, but in a good-natured kind of way. With Psi, though--he has a split second of awareness of Ginko's reaction, that blatant dismay--but it is much too late to take that back.

'You're right. People aren't trash!" He agrees, looking up at Psi beneath heavy, half-mast eyelids, not lifting his head in the slightest. "But I didn't say people," he continues, a little too loudly.

"I'm not people," he says in the most 'you stupid motherfucker' tone of voice.

"I'm garbage! I'm trash! Disgusting, disposable, degraded! I'm decomposing, despicable, just dreck--detritus and disease!"

[dorkypantsuit]

He's so mad he start's sparking. It's not just Foster's words, it's his tone, his body language, his everything. Purple light snaps to life between his horns before vanishing, his eyes glowing just a bit brighter than before.

He wasn't like this in Portland. The reminder is infuriating.

"No! I won't agree with you just so you can maintain your delusion that you somehow deserve this! Bad things happen to good people. Bad things happen to good people every fucking day."

[dontpokethat]

On one hand, this is a complete disaster. On the other, at least now Ginko has a better idea of what the exact problem is between these two. It's not much of a surprise, of course, but it's good to know for sure.

Now, though, there's the matter of... stopping this. Ginko steps forward to sort of place himself between them. "--Alright, I think we've established you two don't agree on that point. But you're not getting anywhere by arguing about it."

[criticallyfucked]

'Delusion that he somehow deserves this--'

If Psi was looking to start something, he was just about to get his wish--just about to have that conflict he so desperately wanted to avoid... and yet was so easily roused to foment.

And Foster, hovering on the precipice over his passions, straddling the maddening chasm between absolute fury and absolute delight, is blocked from the escalation he desires by Ginko--who may as well have thrown his arms wide to stop him from leaping off that cliff's edge.

He shuts his mouth quickly--startlingly quickly--and eyes Ginko in complete silence; one so total that it's clear he's sending a message through the silence itself.

[dorkypantsuit]

Psi is angry too. This situation makes him angry, and he wants to release that aggression. Ginko stepping in the way startles him too, and he finds himself nearly snarling at the man for stepping in between them, but he holds back. He tells his instincts to quiet. This is Ginko, his moirail, and if he said to stop there was probably a good reason for it. Still he can't stop the anger from showing on his face, can't lessen the scowl he wears or the way his hands are clenched.

"So what?"

[dontpokethat]

Yeah, yeah, Foster, he knows you want to get into this bullshit again. But he's not dealing with that right now.

He frowns at Psi, his tail lashing. "So, there's no reason to go through it all again." Psi won't convince Foster of anything, and Foster certainly won't convince Psi. "If you two want to talk about this, you're really going to need to find a new approach."

[criticallyfucked]

It looks like Ginko is absolutely dealing with that right now.

In fact, he's dealing with that and more.

For example.

"It doesn't matter what his approach is," Foster opines, surprisingly coolly.

He and Psi seem to function in polar fashion, two planetary bodies orbiting a sphere at opposite ends. Because as Psi grows more volatile, Foster finds it easier to present a cold front. This phenomenon isn't entirely isolated to his supervisor, but it's much more noticeable... maybe because Psi is so easily roused.