[open] Space is Cold

[catchacold]

Who: Leonard and YOU
Where: The Citadel
When: all through the event
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Len does all right in space, mostly by doing wrong
The Story:

1. Space Bar

A bar is a bar is a bar. Leonard doesn't find anything drastically different about this place, except for the aliens and the ice seemingly not melting, which has his attention more than the actual drink. He stands a bit apart from most of what's going on, leaning against the wall by a table and watching no one in particular.

Although, if someone comes in at the right - or wrong - time, they may find him sending cold looks edging on outright glares in the direction of his partner, who's probably having a bit too good a time, at least in Leonard's opinion.

2. Space Museum

What came first, the stealing or the art appreciation? In Leonard's case - having been born into a criminal family - it was the stealing. These days, however? It's genuine appreciating for its own sake too. He looks at the building from the outside first, appreciating the architecture but, of course, also casing the joint. Force of habit or actually leading up to something, it's anyone's guess.

Later he can be found inside, both appreciating the exhibition and inspecting the alarm system and other safety measures, a connoisseur of both art and art theft. He's subtle enough about the latter, but someone in a similar business or otherwise experienced may be able to pick up on it.

Space Wild Card

[Come at me with whatever you want! Contact via PM or at reineke, in case you want to plot.

NOTE: I'll be on hiatus from the 5th to the 20th of April, so tags will be slow to non-existent during that time.]

Comments

[catchacold]

[Between being himself and thus paranoid and the fact that Frisk may be able to shadow someone perfectly well, but is certainly not trying so hard right now, of course Leonard catches up to this quickly, hiding a hint of a smile between a hand he raises for a few moments when he hears their giggle.]

Powerful piece. Drags out all that hidden emotion.

[Clearly talking to himself here.]

[determinedest]

[Clearly!

He's just...commenting on a very nice art piece. They duck out, just for a moment, and then hastily retreat in case he glances back. A little too far, it turns out; they back right into one of the displays amidst which they've been hiding, and there's the wobbling of what appears to be a rather ornate vase before it tips over, inexorably.

Don't mind the clunk of said vase landing on top of them and the subsequent quiet yelp of alarm from behind. It's probably nothing.]

[catchacold]

[Leonard spins around quickly, immediately concerned. When he spots them under the vase, his eyebrows go up and he reasons that it at least doesn't look like it would have hurt them too much.

Still, he walks over, just in case, crouching down before them.]

Didn't see you there, kid. How're you doing?

[determinedest]

[They're rubbing a fresh lump on the back of their head, but honestly? They've had worse. A sheepish half-grin, and they hasten to return the thankfully undamaged if displaced vase to its position.]

Um. Hi. Fine.

[They totally weren't tailing you just now, sir.]

It's, um...a very powerful piece. [Very powerful! It packs quite a wallop, in fact.]

[catchacold]

Oh yeah. Brings you right down to Earth, eh?

[He pulls out some gum from his pocket and offers it to them, just in case.]

So, you often go to museums or are you here to shadow a friend?

[determinedest]

[A stick of gum - regular stuff, they're pretty sure, not any kind of future gum. Do they have special space gum in the future? Either way, they accept the stick of it gratefully.]

Art is...nice. To look at. [It's entirely too defensive. They definitely just showed up here to shadow a friend.]

[catchacold]

Ain't it just?

[He's amused, standing up as he puts a piece of gum into his own mouth and starts chewing, looking around.]

Back home, I used to come to places like this a lot. Mostly for recon, to come back and rob them later. But I like it. Both the stealing and just looking.

[determinedest]

[For recon. To come back and rob them later. Is that what he's planning now...?

Not that they'd be able to stop it, if he did. It's...not exactly real anyway, is it? It'll all disappear when the event ends. Maybe it's just to relive it. The idea of it.]

What do you do with it once it's... [you know. Stolen.]

[catchacold]

Depends. Sell it, usually, at least somewhere down the line.

[He turns to look at a picture, shrugging his shoulders.] Last piece I stole, Fire and Ice? I let Mick burn that. It was a gesture.

[A gesture worth several million dollars, apparently, but that's just how him and Mick are. Always larger than life.]

[determinedest]

[Fire and Ice. Sounds like him and Mick. After all the effort to steal something, though, you just end up burning it later?]

Gesture of what?

how is this actual canon

[catchacold]

Partnership.

[It's Mick, nothing else would have made more sense.]

A sign that he's in.

that is so fucking Extra good lord

[determinedest]

How you met?

[A sign that they were together, maybe.]

I know right, all of this is absolutely true to canon

[catchacold]

Nah. We met when I was fourteen, in juvie. Prison. Some kids jumped me, one had a knife. Mick saved my life.

[And he's had his back ever since.]

We've known each other thirty years. That picture, it's... How we reconciled, I guess. We had a falling out for a while.

/sets fire to priceless artworks: Aesthetic (tm)

[determinedest]

Do you guys fight a lot?

[It's not judgmental. It's...worried, more than anything else. Is that just how it is, for Partners? Fighting all the time, unable to agree, pushing each other away just as deeply as they need each other?]

[catchacold]

Nah. Not really. I mean, we argue all the time, but that's normal. Y'know, discussing whether ninjas or pirates are better, him insisting that silent letters are sneaky, finishing off the mayonnaise...

[All very serious problems, surely.]

But this was a bigger deal. Mick... He lost control, during things. Got distracted by the flames. Got burned. I should have foreseen it, I should have planned better. He could have died.

[Yes, he's really blaming himself more than anyone here.]

I broke up our partnership for a while then. Only rekindled it when things changed up.

[determinedest]

[Only rekindled it. Maybe he meant the pun. Can't really say, and probably shouldn't. He blames himself for the past, because that's what he's good at. That's what...people like them are both good at. Isn't it?]

You couldn't have known.

Sometimes things just...happen. Don't they?

[catchacold]

[Of course he meant the pun.]

Yeah, they do. But I know Mick. That's supposed to be my part in this.

Knowing things. Anticipating.

[But of course that's a downward spiral and as much as he's tied up with his own issues, he doesn't want to make their's worse. Ideally, he'd want to help. He just doubts he can.]

Things happen. Sometimes it's no one's fault.

[determinedest]

[It's harder, when it's no one's fault. Harder for someone with a SOUL yellow-bright, who needs something or someone to take the fall, to be blamed, to be culpable. What happens when there isn't? The world keeps turning, and no one learns from it.

That's the theory, anyway.]

You can't see that far ahead. You're not an anomaly.

[You can leave the seeing things ahead of time to Frisk. That's what they're good at.]

[catchacold]

I ain't normal either, kid. [Yet he smiles a little, slight shake of his head. Of course that'd be taken more literally than intended. But he supposes that goes to show how deep his double-standard from himself runs here.]

You ever tried to do anything like this? [With a move of his hand, he indicates the museum around them.] Art.

[determinedest]

[No one around here is normal. That might just be part of the charm of Wonderland - drawing in people who fall outside the parameters of what might be considered ordinary, and dropping them all into one contained space. It's commentary that feels superfluous in its obviousness.

Instead, they glance at the various pieces on display.]

I can draw, [they venture dubiously.] But I don't think anyone would put it in a museum.

[catchacold]

Yeah? That's where you're wrong. I'm anyone.

[He also now pats himself down until he finds a receipt he's pocketed before. Crouching down he puts it on the ground, runs his hand over it a couple of times, then gets a pen out of his pocket and holds it out to Frisk.]

Come be creative. Let's see what we can do.

[This museum has a lot of stuff, he's sure they can make that work for them.]

[determinedest]

[He's anyone. He gives them a receipt and a pen and simply says that they could be creative. It prompts the furtive glance around and behind them, as though expecting someone to intervene, roughly, and inform them that this must be outside the museum's regulations.

It never comes, so they simply drop to the ground, cross-legged, smoothing out the corners of the paper with the press of edges into alignment, and start to draw.

It's not especially remarkable; they default to what they know best. It's a simple flower, sprouting from the white void of the paper with a scribbled tuft of grass spritzed out at its base.

But they seem proud of it, sitting back on their heels after something like ten minutes of hard work. Ten minutes isn't the best possible window to crank out a masterpiece, but it's all they could scrape together on short notice, they think.]

[catchacold]

[He stands less guard and more just stands there and acts as if nothing out of the ordinary is going on. They're a small kid, all in all, even anyone taking notice doesn't think much of it.

Once they appear to be done, he looks down at their work, letting out a low whistle.]

Now this? If that ain't museum worthy, I don't know what is.

[That said he holds his hand out.]

May I?

[determinedest]

[They offer it out with only a moment's hesitation. He can't be...he can't really mean it, can he? He's being nice. It's so small, and simple, and it's a quintessential child's picture, and nothing more.

But he sounds happy to say it, so they hand it to him, and smile.]

...really?

[catchacold]

Really.

[He smiles back at them and it's a genuine smile, softer than the usual smirks and the twitching of lips. He can't really help it, in face of their smile.

But there's other things to focus on. He gestures for them to walk along, hanging back just a step or two. One of the sculptures they pass by is barely recognisable as anything and it's there that Leonard sticks their wonderful picture, on the wall behind it, bypassing any security measures. Walking a few more steps he catches on to them and turns, looking back over his shoulder.]

Look, your work's in a museum.

[Not only that, but only seconds later an elderly couple stops in front of the sculpture, but ends up mostly gesturing to the picture Frisk has drawn, throwing around words like "simplicity", "duality" and other things to come across as fancy.

Leonard keeps his voice down, whispering now that they're conspiring.]

How does it feel, being an artist?