[open] bro bro bro bro

[seniorvicejanitor]

Who: Rhys and you!
When: D48-D49
Where: Various Locations
What: It's time for Rhys to make himself at home (or more likely whine that he's not the boss)
Warnings: Probably low but I'll update if anything happens

[day 48 - all around the carnival grounds - what have i gotten myself into?]

Rhys doesn't regret the decision. He doesn't regret taking a deal from some shady Ringmaster (and he hates that he'd never thought of that as a nickname for himself) to escape August and Vasquez and a bunch of killer robots that would have surely ended his life.

What he does regret is leaving Vaughn behind. Fiona and Sasha less so. But, there's still a sliver of sadness that he's here and they're not. Hopefully, whenever this whole thing ends, he'll go back and they'll forgive him.

(Though he seriously doubts that. They'll either be dead or they'll kill him.)

For the first little while, he wanders. He gets his shoes dusty (a development that makes him frown) and his hair wind blown but what else is there to do but figure things out? His lodgings, a trailer in a park surrounded by similar metallic bumps, isn't luxurious but it's not a hole in the ground.

He'll take it. He'll whine about it later.

[day 49 - anywhere that needs cleaning up around the carnival - where's a loader bot when you need one?]

Rhys regrets the decision.

As soon as he reports for work and someone slaps a mop into his hand, he regrets the decision. Janitor. A janitor again. Somewhere, Vasquez is probably laughing his ass off. The only good thing, Rhys guesses, is that whoever's in charge isn't Vasquez and won't be making him run all over the place to do menial things.

He still has to clean though and the grimace on his face as he starts mopping a dirty floor is evidence of what he thinks about that. But, he tells himself it won't be for very long. He tells himself that time will pass quickly.

He tells himself that he can drown himself in his mop bucket if it gets too bad.

Mopping isn't a hard think to do but he still mops over various people's shoes instead of telling them to move and he steps all over his own freshly cleaned floors more than once.

The third time he does that, he curses loudly and then looks around, hoping no one's heard that. He hasn't memorized all the rules but he's pretty sure cursing on the job is frowned upon.

Comments

DAY 49....

[insidescoop]

Carly, is perhaps a blessing (or a multicoloured curse) for poor Rhys' work, and those reasons are...well, many in the case of the latter. Being the Wardrobe manager, it means that her tent is probably going to be some measure of 'off limits' half the day, and when it isn't it's absolutely littered with scraps of fabric and glitter, along with careful instructions of what terrible nonsense pile of 'Stuff' is Totally and Absolutely not to be touched.

But on the plus, she cannot ruin the same floors that Rhys is ruining for himself. At least not by walking on them-not when she's constantly hovering three inches off the ground (and as if she needed that extra few inches, with her legs already putting her at a good 6 foot 2-!).

...On the...Not so plus, she totally heard that curse, and has now totally met his eyes during the frantic looking around. Carly pauses, her tongue still stuck out and into her coffee mug, brown mixing oddly with the yellow appendage being used as a straw. "Euuuu.... ....H'rro?"

Look it's hard to say anything when your tongue is the straw-

Re: DAY 49....

[seniorvicejanitor]

Somewhere in his childhood, Rhys is pretty sure that one of his parents probably told him not to stare. But, that bit of parental advice has gone right out the window when he realizes that someone's heard him, someone's watching him mop, and that someone is stirring a liquid with her tongue.

"Why are you doing that?" Rhys can't stop himself from asking, a slight grimace on his face. "Don't they stock spoons around this place? Barring that, why not..."

He trails off and then makes a motion with his finger. Between the fact that she's apparently a giant and she's stirring whatever's in that mug with her tongue, Rhys is a little taken aback.

Guess it's good he has a mop since it'll be a good distraction if he has to toss it at her and run.

[fortuneglass]

"HEH?" To that, her tongue promptly retracts. Stirring? Did it look like stirring? (The answer, is yes, but she's not even realized that's what he's talking about.) "A spoon?! Why would I drink my coffee with a spoon!?" she starts, only then catching the last moments of the finger motion.

"What?" ...Oh. Stirring. Well she'll ignore that anyway, adjusting her wings. Really, if it wasn't for these bird legs, she'd probably be shorter than him.... ....Gotta love what an extended pair of feet Does. "...Well whatever. It's just easier to drink this way-like a straw, you know?" And with that....it's back in the mug. "Th'o... ...'U nu?"

That would be, 'so...you new?', probably.

[seniorvicejanitor]

"You ever tried talking without sticking your....tongue in your drink?" Rhys asks, leaning against the mop and trying not to grimace. He's absolutely judging her though he's trying not to do it outwardly since she's the size of two of him and he really doesn't want to end up being kicked in the face with those...legs.

Rhys really regrets this decision. It's made and he can't go back on it now but what in the hell was he thinking? Is being CEO that important?

(Yes.)

After some careful parsing of her words, he finally figures out what she's asked him and answers, "Yeah, I'm new. The new janitor! That's me. I don't know why I'm doing this when I could be using my skills for other things but..."

But, he was mopping.

Day 49

[prazerbutterfly]

Thankfully he heard the Foreman was a rather chill person. Even when things went sour he had learned from word of mouth that he hadn't punished any of his workers who had broken a few rules at one of the stops. It seems his own boss was more of the to the point with lessons than the Foreman.

That being said, those are some rather expensive shoes that Rhys just ran his mop over and the owner noticed almost instantly. There's no scowl, no crude remark or threat that comes from him. He picks his words, going for more veiled threats than anything else. His panther ears atop his head slide backwards, his eyes turn towards him to look him over, and his long panther tail behind him curls with a faint lash. He's not in his Victorian best today but the pants and shirt are still made of the highest material from home. Tyki practically screams money.

Still, his coffee cup hits the table with a soft clink as he sets down the notes he was reading and he leans back in that chair casually yet with an air of importance. His heel slides his chair over to face him and he grins wide. Time to mess with the fresh meat because he sure as hell hasn't seen his face before.

"Maybe you should be a little more careful. Accidents can happen easily if you mop incorrectly, kid."

Re: Day 49

[seniorvicejanitor]

Rhys looks, a bitchy retort ready to go and it's nearly out of his mouth when he reins himself in, pulls back and swallows the words down. If this were Hyperion, he wouldn't have had any qualms about saying something sharp to someone he doesn't know because most of them are either robots or nerds who work in the IT department.

This man doesn't look like either of those. That doesn't mean Rhys doesn't want to say something and the turn of his lips, the frown on his face probably reflect tha pretty clearly.

"What are you talking about? I'm doing a great job," Rhys says, gesturing to the shiny, wet floors he's left in his wake. Sure, there are some footprints and he's mopped over some shoes but that only makes them shinier, in Rhys' opinion. "It's not my fault if someone doesn't pay attention and ends up slipping. I'm not making a secret out of what I'm doing."

[prazerbutterfly]

Tyki was a conman by trade within the carnival just as much as a magician. Body language told him more than words could and already he's noticing the way his frown graces his face or that pent up need to say or do something.

"Such cheek," he replies instantly, his hands reaching down to lightly brush against his shoes. His hand presses hard and his palm smears the water in a glide as his Power to Choose activates. As if the material has separated from the water itself, it drips off his hand and his shoes are left good as new.

He rises from his chair, now prowling forward towards the other in a loose stride, "No, it wouldn't be your fault at all. Nor would it really be mine if you slipped had I gotten offended at you ruining something you couldn't even afford to replace." Tyki's very good at making murder seem like an accident, "Thankfully, I have enough patience for new pups."

[seniorvicejanitor]

Rhys' hands tighten on the handle of the mop though he doesn't know why. He's never had any sort of combat training because he hadn't thought it necessary. He pretty much thought he'd rise to the top of the Hyperion food chain and then have an army to do his bidding.

Vasquez had messed all that up and now Rhys was here, wondering if he wished hard enough, would he be able to suddenly know some sort of martial art that utilized a mop. Maybe the fact that Handsome Jack was currently residing in his head would give him an edge.

As if Jack could hear him (which he could), Rhys heard a hollow, hysterical laugh in his head. He had to resist the urge to smack his ear to get it to stop.

Rhys is pretty proud of himself for not immediately trying to retreat though especially when whoever this is seems to just...lift the water away from his shoe. He feels a mixture of fear and a sudden need to make nice with this person.

"I'm not a pup," Rhys says, trying to sound steady, tough. "And last I checked, mopping someone's shoes, which I'm not saying I did, wasn't a crime worthy of being...whatever you were just threatening to do to me. I'm pretty sure I have rights, even here! Even while I'm holding a mop."

day 48

[hurtcomfort]

It's as he wanders that Cole spots Rhys and Cole makes his way over towards the other man. Unlike some other carnival members, Cole still looks mostly human: the pink fleshy nug ears that poke through holes in his ridiculous hat are the most noticeable changes he's gained from the carnival. It's just a pity that the rest of Cole's entire being radiates 'weird hobo'. He's wearing fingerless gloves with all the fingers hacked off at different lengths, brown trousers that look like they have a week's worth of dust on them, and a shirt that he put on backwards.

And Cole is just staring at Rhys. He had been going back to his trailer, just to be there for a moment, when he spotted the new person and the new thoughts. He takes a few steps closer as he looks over Rhys, ears twitching all the while.

"You're new," he plainly states. No shit, Cole.

( ooc: please fill out Cole's permissions post b/c he's an infomodding creep & I don't want to step on any toes! c: )

Re: day 48

[seniorvicejanitor]

Rhys jumps because this guy just appeared in front of him. It's more likely that he'd walked over and Rhys just hadn't been paying attention rather than just suddenly being there. Rhys rubs at his chest, feeling his rapidly beating heart and takes a calming breath.

"Am I? Wow, I hadn't realized that," Rhys says, sarcasm heavy in his voice. He's pretty sure that there's a shine to him, some indication that he's new because this isn't the first time someone's told him that he's new. He's checked his shirt for a nametag a few times.

"Does that mean you're not new?" Rhys guesses. "Are you the welcome wagon?"

[hurtcomfort]

"Of course not," Cole responds, as if it's the most obvious thing. "I'm not a wagon."

He's the welcome Cole instead. But as he looks at Rhys, Cole's odd empathy and dumb spirit bullshit comes into play. This Rhys feels like two people? Or a person and a half. This is all a bit odd and the mechanics of artificial intelligence are lost on Mr. Fantasy Canon over here so he doesn't really know how best to ask this.

"This Lambert is like the Lambert I knew. But you're nothing like my Rhys." One of the perils of knowing people with the same name as people in canon. "There's more of you!"

[seniorvicejanitor]

"You're not a wag -- no, that was sarcasm," Rhys says, shaking his head. How did someone not understand sarcasm? Even Vaughn understood sarcasm and Vaughn was sometimes pretty damn dense. Sarcasm made the world go round, made conversations interesting.

For a second, all Rhys can do is stand there and stare. And stare some more. He repeats the words this guy's just said to him, trying to find some meaning, trying to figure out what the hell he was saying so he could respond and not sound like an idiot but he was coming up empty.

"There's more of me?" Rhys repeats, frowning. "There's just me. I'm Rhys. I'm the only Rhys everyone needs. The Rhys you knew must have been an imposter. A pretender to the throne. I'm Rhys. And -- how did you even know that?"

Day 49

[dressedtothe]

Unlike many of the other Carnival staff, 9S hasn't developed as many (or as dramatic) changes; all that's noticeaby obvious is the pair of cat ears on his head and chicken feathers weaved through his hair. At the back of his head and mostly hidden by his hair is a vicious looking cut lined with pointed teeth bisecting his head. His cat eyes are likewise hidden by the visor he wears over his eyes. Also, he's currently wearing the stupid shirt Lambert bought for him.

During performance week, there isn't too much for him to do if there's no repairs to be done. Well, that, and his repairs job is his less liked job. So when he comes across a new face cleaning, he stops and watches for a while, his robot buddy, Pod 153, hovering at his shoulder.

"Are you trying to clean?" 9S comments, cat ears twitching as he munches on popcorn. "Because it looks like you're getting the floor dirty."

Re: Day 49

[seniorvicejanitor]

The immediate criticism of his cleaning skills makes Rhys' hackles rise. No matter the fact that this person is right and that his mopping ability isn't the greatest, he's still trying and isn't that supposed to be important.

From inside of his head, unable to be heard by anyone but Rhys, Jack snickers and says, "Yeah right, kid. You want a medal for trying? Are you five? Are you a child? Gonna go cry to mommy because someone said something bad to you?"

Rhys grimaces and swats at the side of his head, trying to get Jack to shut up so he could focus on who'd just spoken. "The floor's not dirty."

It was wet. It was slippery and there were some...dirty spots but it wasn't overall dirty.

"You think you could do better?"

[dressedtothe]

What a weird reaction to his question.

"Nope." The answer comes quickly. "I leave all the cleaning to Pod 153."

He points up at the robot hovering at his shoulder with a salt covered finger. And out of habit, he attempts to discreetly scan Rhys to determine his biological composition, expecting a result of human but with changes from the fae magic.

9S himself is an android, something that isn't immediately obvious unless someone just so happened to have the ability to scan him.

"Besides, cleaning isn't my job." It looks boring, too.

[seniorvicejanitor]

"Pod -- what?" Rhys glances at the indicated robot, already feeling like he was just getting gypped left and right in this place. Either no one else was a janitor or people had their own personal cleaning robots why he was left to hold a mop and wipe up after people who tracked mud and dirt and blood and other fluids that Rhys just doesn't want to think about.

Ever. His own robotic body parts are attached to him and he can't rip his arm off and set it to clean things while he lounges around, arm less, sparks flying off the bits of wire and metal that were once keeping his arm in place. It's just not fair. How did he let himself get talked into this?

Cleaning was so boring. He wished he could do anything other than that. "What's your job then? What's your cool job?"

49

[reflash]

Yukio is taking a short break from work and training to eat... lunch? whatever he's calling this meal, the main meal of the day that he's eating in the midafternoon. He's distracted by the textbook in front of him, and not paying any attention to Rhys mopping the floor.

Until, that is, that mop meets up against the fluffy tuft of Yukio's tail. It's wet. It's cold. It's in his fluff. Yukio jumps up and spins around (as well as he can while sitting on a bench), startled and not very happy.

"What are you doing?"

Re: 49

[seniorvicejanitor]

Rhys is so bored of this already. It's just swipe and swipe and swipe and swipe, mop and mop and mop and mop and it's just turning his brain into sludge. Why couldn't they get someone else, someone less talented and less useful than him to do this? Why couldn't they make some robots do it? That always worked on Hyperion. The claptrap units loved picking up litter.

"Dancing a jig," Rhys says, barely even processing what he's done. "I'm mopping. It requires intense concentration and focus on my part. It's a very important job."

He spares a look up at the guy and shrugs. "Why, you need me to mop somewhere else? Well, make a list. I'll get to it eventually."

[reflash]

Yukio's tail curls around his legs under the hem of his shin-length uniform coat, fur bristling even as he schools his expression into politeness and gives a little, embarrassed sort of laugh. He doesn't want to fight with a stranger, and so he's just trying to diffuse the situation.

"I'm sorry, you mopped over my tail and it startled me."

Intense concentration and focus? Bullshit. The guy isn't paying any attention to anything around him.

Day 28

[whattaprick]

The woods around the Carnival usually just end up leading the people who head that way back to the entrance, but at least one of the paths Rhys takes will lead him to what's obviously an open-air obstacle course of some sort.

Currently, the only occupant is a man with golden horns and a reptilian tail, rummaging in a box of training equipment... in this case, foam jousting sticks, which he emerges with triumphantly as he straightens up with a stick in each hand. One fuzzy ear flicks at the sound of Rhys's approach, and he turns to smirk broadly at him.

"Hey, you! Know how to use one of these?" he calls out. Without waiting for a response, he's already throwing one of the sticks over to Rhys -- they're not incredibly heavy, but hopefully Rhys doesn't have any trouble holding some thirty pounds of metal and padding.

Re: Day 28

[seniorvicejanitor]

Rhys barely catches the stick. He has to take a few steps backwards to adjust for suddenly having some large object in his hands but he doesn't drop the thing and he doesn't fall over so he's going to fall that a win.

He glances down at the stick that he's currently holding and then up at the man who'd thrown it at him, brow furrowed.

"I tended to stay out of gladiatorial games where I come from," he explains, making a face. "It just seemed so bloody and painful. That was better suited to the idiots and robots. I was a better spectator. I had a great technique for clapping."

wow i meant day 48 I CAN TYPE

[whattaprick]

“That so?” Lambert asks, without apparent actual concern for Rhys’s comfort or welfare at all. “Then consider this broadening you skill set.”

That’s all the warning Rhys will get before Lambert drops into a ready pose and lashes out , aiming to land one padded end of the stick squarely on Rhys’s forehead.

Day 49 - say hello to your senior head janitor

[spaghettimonster]

Most weeks, mops don't get a lot of use. With a lot of the carnival being open paths and tents in a wooded clearing, rakes and brooms do the job. The places that really need the mopping are places like the kitchen, staff pathways through some of the rides, and the mirror maze (which is hardly where anybody wants to work).

But this isn't most weeks. The carnival and library are bleeding into each other, with trees turned to bookshelves and the paths all floored... And all those books, spawning story items like foodstuffs and nautical adventures to splash all over the floor. Mops are a hot commodity now!

So, of course, the cleaning closets are cleaned out. At least there's plenty of Wet Floor signs, and towels, and other makeshift tools to do his best with.

He's just heading to the latest reported area when he hears cursing ahead, and comes to the only reasonable conclusion: somebody has already slipped and hurt themselves.

"Attention, this room is still hazardous to standing upright!" Papyrus exclaims as he rushes in the doorway. "If you don't enjoy the thrill of slipping around, you shouldn't... be...?"

He trails off, taking in the sight of this room: an unfamiliar, seemingly fully human person, who hasn't at all fallen on the floor. One who's holding a mop, the floor wet, with footprints trailing behind him. Perhaps this is one of the book ghost guests.

"Hmm. Are you... trying to help? You don't need to, that's my job!"

Re: Day 49 - lmfao yesssssssss

[seniorvicejanitor]

The sudden voice startles Rhys so much that he stumbles, grabbing into the mop for balance before realizing that the mop's not going to do a damn thing. He reaches for the wall to balance himself, slip slides a bit before centering himself and taking a few deep breaths.

"Your job?" Rhys asks, trying to will his suddenly beating heart back to a more reasonable pace. He didn't want his freaking ticker giving out because someone had authoritatively come into the room and ordered him to stop.

"I'm more than happy to pass the baton to you, though," Rhys says, offering up the mop. "I'd love to get off my feet, rest, get some sleep. I've been working really hard today."

[spaghettimonster]

Whoops. Papyrus forgets, sometimes, that the very human folks tend to be from worlds without handsome skeletons, and that the sight of him surprises people. Or that's his assumption for why Rhys stumbles in surprise, anyway. Surely it couldn't be the sound his voice, so abrupt and loud, that did it.

"A full day of hard work... How I envy you!" Papyrus says, cheerfully not reaching for the mop. Instead, he drapes the towels over his shoulder, and sets the Wet Floor sign near a doorway.

"But... Does that mean you're working here? Newly?" He considers the wet floor around them, and finally looks at that mop. "I hope you haven't just been here, mopping in circles, cleaning up your own footprints... I could give you some tips, before you leave!"