[Open] What an extraordinary child...

[doorkey]

Who: Coraline Jones & OPEN TO ANYBODY!
Where: The Grounds, Your Bedroom Door, The Halls, The Dining Room
When: Early November
Rating: PG
Summary: Being a mansion busybody, and sampling sounds for spooktunes
The Story: (But first, mood music...)

Out and About

The grounds feel extra chilly these days, air crisp with all the pleasantries of autumn, and the forest edges along with some of the garden is shedding crunchy leaves this way and that. There's a distantly smokey smell too, that's impossible to pinpoint the exact source of, but it pleases Miss Jones immensely.

She wanders the grounds with a sense of open-minded purpose, wearing a slouchy wool cap and a cozy sweater underneath her bright yellow coat. It's not quite cold enough for snazzy gloves, which is just as well- easier to carry a handheld tape recorder, pointing it at scattered leaf piles just before giving them a hearty kick with her wellington boots. Coraline walks hard along the cobblestone pathways too, trying to put a little more deliberate weight in her footsteps, occasionally bouncing from foot to foot rhythmically as if playing on invisible hopscotch boards.

She bothers the vendors for a bit, knocking on empty turtleshells and strings of pretty glass beads, bowls of jangly trickets, poking about at their wares with absolutely no real intentions of buying or bartering. Once the faceless merchants have realized this, and she's had quite enough of their cold shouldering, Coraline moves on quickly, finding a branch with some leaves still attached (not poison oak!) to run along the fences, making a glorious racket. On the review playback, it's not quite as satisfying as she'd hoped. Maybe she should have thought to arm herself with fancier microphones.

Soon she spots someone else out here, probably minding their own business, or lost in their own thoughts, and hurries over wth the branch dragging behind her on the grass.

" 'Scuse me?" The girl pipes, waving mid-approach. "Hi there, uh... Are you busy, right now? Would you mind, um... holding this up for me, for just a second?" Turning the branch around so the leafy ends are facing her sound recorder, she smiles hopefully and makes a flimsy, demonstrating gesture. "Yeah. Give it a good rustle?"


Door to Door

There's an eerie sounding disturbance in the hall, off and on during the day. Maybe you've just been too tired or preoccupied to investigate it's source. But that's okay. The sound machine's about to come to you!

(Knock-Knock-Knock.)

Yep, that's the sound of smallish knuckles on your bedroom door. Did you perhaps forget to put the No Solicitations or Please Do No Disturb sign on the door handle today? Or is a mild distraction a most welcome visitor, right now?

This one might be a little impatient, piping up before you can quite make your way to the door, or yell at the drop-in to go away

"Hello?" Sounds precociously girlish, and not with any particular panic. Like there might be a wagon of Girl Scout Cookies involved? And there's the knock again, repeating. "Is anyone home?"

No cookies in the wagon, alas, though it's rigged with some kind of dated recording equiptment, wedged in alongside a tangle of wires hauled out of her closet, along with one too many odds-and-ends noisemakers. In front of it stands Coraline Jones, a blue-haired girl in a silvery soft sweater that's a couple of sizes too big and stripey neon leggings.


Hallway Sound Effects

Sounds like someone with far too much free time on their hands has raided the music room's percussion and hand-instrument cabinets.

And it sounds like that someone has assigned you a few of them, and has been innocuously tailing you for as long as you can bear to dismiss your shuffling footsteps accompanied by the rattle of maracas, or every turn of your head punctuated by slide whistle. She follows at just enough of a distance to duck into an open doorway or lean up against the wall beside a mirror, examining a chip in her clipped painted nails.

But Coraline's harmless mischief can probably only continue on for so long, before she's called out for being a general nuisance. Or until she can get one of her victims to crack a smile.


Wish to Table

It's on the later side of suppertime, and Coraline has just managed to snag herself a seat in the dining room, staring down at her plate with the usual sigh of indecision. Pepperoni Pizza sounds like a great idea, but she's already had that three times this week, and that annoying naggy voice in her conscience that sounds like her well-meaning father is reminding her of food groups and variety.

She heaves a sigh, and quietly grumbles 'Okay, Dad' under her breath.

"Hmmm..." She strums her fingers on the fancy tablecloth and peeks up and down the long table for some inspiration. "What do I want, what do I- Oh! A...Chicken Pot Pie?" Coraline requests, remembering a microwaved one that she used to help herself to on nights when her father made stuff like Creamed Kale with Goat Cheese, or Seafood Paella. "With no mushy peas, please." She adds, before the magic can complete it's thing. "Ooh, and extra crusty crust!"

Yum. That's perfect, and perfectly sized for her appetite with room for dessert, too.

But after a second marveling sniff of the air, her face pulls a grimace of disgust. Gross. Where is that coming from?

Her attention goes scurrying a few places down in curious horror as she stabs a fork into her pot pie, steam rising from the pierced crust.

"What are you eating?!" Coraline exclaims, eyes wide with revulsion.

"That looks, um..." (Gosh, don't be completely rude, Coraline. Even if that smell is turning your stomach) "...Different?"

Comments

[doorkey]

"Yeah..." She considers, trying her best not to sound a little disheartened. Standing around just waiting for the perfect wind seemed a little boring. Surely there had to be a more practical method- when Metaton mentioned artificial wind, she perked up a bit. "Maybe I could find a big desk fan in my closet? Would that work?"

"I hope so... You don't think Napstablook would think I was stepping on their toes by making up new samples or anything?" Coraline questions worriedly, lowering her voice as she smiled to mutter a self-amused correction- "(Stepping on their sheets.)"

"I really just want to help a friend out, any way I can." The girl sounds earnest enough, and a little bit apprehensive as her voice tightens as it teeters between fierce optimism and concern. Hopefully her way of helping won't be taken as silliness. "If I can keep them excited about making new Spookwaves... um, maybe then they'll forget about... about trying to die so much?"

Whoops, that might be the edge of her voice breaking a little, as she white-knuckles the sound recorder.

" 'Cause I think they're really amazing at music, for a ghost! Or for any kind of person!"

[mettatonvevo]

He laughs. She's certainly ambitious enough to make this work. Perhaps he'll throw her a bone. He goes to say as much but his heart begins to break a little as she continues on.

"I think they will be deeply touched that you're putting this much effort and time into making something that they will like."

He tries to think of a delicate way to phrase what he wants to say next. It's hard, trying to communicate that Napstablook is ill and that there's not much any of them can do through sheer effort alone.

"Napstablook has quite a lot on their mind. They've had a lot on their mind for a very long time. So that makes things like being happy difficult sometimes. That means that there will be times where nothing you or I could do would make them happy again."

That sounds far too bleak to end on, so he continues as he puts a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"But that doesn't make what you're doing any less good or important. When things get bad for them, they need to know there are people who care about them around. It helps them get through the rough patches faster so they have a chance at being happy again."

He gives her a reassuring smile and decides to mention his suggestion for her recording.

"You know, I might be able to make some wind happen for you to record."

[doorkey]

There's a half-proud, half-hopeful smile that crawls up one side of her mouth, pleased at first, but waning worriedly as she listens to Mettaton explain a little further about his cousin.

"Oh..." It sounds like even her best efforts at 'cheering up' won't be a one-time-fix-all, or even guaranteed to make Napstablook happier. Being a ghost is probably an emotionally complicated business.

"Napstablook's been sad for a long time?" It's the first time she's really ever heard about depression as a chronic problem, and Coraline is young and compassionate- she seems a little crestfallen for their sake, upset welling up in her eyes, though she bravely blinks it away and tries to take it all in maturely. Even so, the thought of not even being able to help a gloomy friend sometimes is heartbreakingly frustrating.

"But, but the music playing at the party, and at your concert too!" She protests, wondering how and when and why these rough patches came about. "It was so... peppy!"

She places her hand over Mettaton's metal fingers on her shoulder, looking up at him concernedly.

"Are they lonely, being invisible when they aren't paying attention to not being see-through? I could try to help them meet more friends? Friends who aren't scared of ghosts? I think-" She glanced down at the recorder, lowered against her side, conidering Napstablook's bigger needs. "That might be more important than wind."

[mettatonvevo]

Mettaton laughs a little sadly at her words. "You can be the peppiest person in the world and still be sad inside. Not everyone is so honest about how they feel."

I'm certainly not, he thinks, a rare moment of true self reflection creeping in.

"They can be lonely, yes, but ultimately they just have a hard time believing that people care about them and want them around. Though they could always use more friends."

It's touching to hear Coraline speak this way about Blooky and reassuring as well. Even if she is a child and shouldn't have to bear the brunt of this sort of thing, knowing that someone else is looking out for them is nice. He gives her shoulder what he hopes is a comforting squeeze.

[doorkey]

"So..." Coraline begins slowly, her shoulders drooping, and she looks a little crestfallen as she clasps her hands together behind her back, swinging one boot in a half-hearted kick at the fallen leaves. "Napstablook thinks I'm not really being honest, about liking them?"

Her lips peel back to bare grit teeth, and she's trying valiantly not to tear up, holding back a sniffle. "Is it that hard to believe someone would want to be friends with a cool ghost that plays music?"

"What happened, that made them think that sort of thing?" She looks up searchingly at Mettaton. "Did Napstablook get teased by other monsters in school?"

[mettatonvevo]

"It's less anything on your behalf and more that they're really good at convincing themselves that everyone would be better off without them around."

His hand clenches and unclenches as he says those words, remembering the scratchy feeling of brush and branches on his body as he walked deeper and deeper into the forest. Coraline's next question brings him back before the memory threatens to overwhelm him. In fact it brings a small smile to his face. "They seem to think so, though they are obviously wrong."

He returns to looking solemn as Coraline asks why this happened. It's a... difficult question to answer.

"No, not really. It's a bit of a mix of important people in their life leaving them and being born predisposed to this sort of thing."

Important people leaving... like all of their cousins, including Mettaton. Haha. Isn't that funny? To know that you helped push them to the brink?

"Not one individual event caused this. And they're going to be dealing with it for the rest of their life. But that doesn't mean it's all bad. They'll have good days and bad days, and lately they've just been having a few bad days."

It feels like a massive understatement to say 'a few bad days'.

[doorkey]

"Well, then that's that-" Coraline straightened up decisively, as if resolved to what seemed the only logical thing left to do. "We'll just have to make sure that Napstablook's days stay as good as we can possibly get them!"

Which meant more samples for spookwaves, definitely. And more parties to put together playlists for. And never ever making them feel left behind.

Could she do that? She knew how it hurt to be ignored, after all. It was worth a try?

"And we've gotta remember to tell Napstablook every time we see them that they're amazing and it wouldn't be the same here in the mansion without them... okay? We'll make a pinkie pact on it." She extends her smallest finger solemly.

[mettatonvevo]

It's moments like these where Mettaton truly feels that all of Wonderland is lucky to have Coraline back among its ranks. Rather than lie down and die, she opts instead to push on and help. The world needs more people like Coraline, he thinks.

"That is a perfect plan."

The girl offers out her pinky and Mettaton blinks for a moment. What is she...? Then it hits him. Oh! This is a pinky promise, isn't it?? Humans are so adorable. He's never made a pinky promise before and he is a bit giddy with glee as he wraps his pinky around hers. Human customs are so interesting! And he could never experience this if he wasn't corporeal.

"A pinky promise to making Napstablook's days better!"

[doorkey]

Mettaton's finger feels a little strange, linked with hers, and Coraline realizes that they're probably made of metallic joints beneath the gloves. He might be clutching her pinkie a bit harder than necessary, too, but she chalks it up to really feeling motivated to help Napstablook, and tries not to openly wince.

"I solemnly swear that I will try my very best!" She declares, shaking on it firmly with their pinkies wrapped tight, and then she's trying to wiggle her finger out of Mettaton's grip.

"So hey, what's the spookiest sound for a robot?" Coraline asks, considering the free space left on her cassette. There's plenty of room to get really original with the samples. "The beep when you're low on batteries?"

[mettatonvevo]

This is so novel! How fun! He lingers on the pinky promise a little longer than necessary, but eventually he gets the hint and lets go. He's still lowkey admiring this entire situation, though he lets out a snort at Coraline's question.

"Rapid fire beeping, distorted cooling fans, the crunch of metal... things like that. Anything that indicates that my body isn't running well can get me to panic."

[doorkey]

"Yeah, I'll bet some of those noises would be creepy! Even for humans!"

"Um..." Coraline considers this for a moment. She doesn't want to upset Mettaton, seeing as the sound-recording's all in fun, but it would be nice to have some expertise helping her out. And Napstablook would probably enjoy making some tailored industrial spookwaves just for his robot friend, right?

"Sorry if this is sort of pushy of me... but would it scare you too much, if we made some samples like that together? Then there could be a whole new category of halloween music meant for robots!?"

[mettatonvevo]

Mettaton laughs. An entire catergory of music for robots, huh? Robot horror. Goodness.

"That wouldn't be scary at all unless you want to take a hammer to my plating to get some of those sounds. Though we shouldn't lean too heavily on it, since Napstablook has a preference for their Spookwave style."

It's the gentlest way he can think of trying to ease the potential problem of reminding Napstablook of things they'd rather forget.

[doorkey]

"Oh no, I'd never do that to you!" Coraline's eyes seem to go even rounder, and she gives a vigorous reassuing shake of her head. She'd already formulated a clever idea that didn't involve hurting anybody's inorganic body. "I figured we could use garbage bins and bang on them!"

"But you're right..." She reconsiders carefully, lookinng down at the tape recorder in her hands. "We want Napstablook's music to be able to sound just the way they like best, with a little bit of other sounds mixed in, to keep things new and interesting. Spooky-waves it is!"

She points toward the beach imperiously, like she's leading a nooble crusade, then marches forward in that direction, tape recorder at ready to capture the surf.

[mettatonvevo]

That shake of the head is actually reassuring, something Mettaton wasn't really expecting to feel. Perhaps he's been hanging around too many dangerous children lately.

She points to the beach and Mettaton snorts a bit at the unexpected pun. Ok, she got him, that was good. No one tell Sans that he enjoyed it though. Coraline begins to make her way towards it and Mettaton hesitates for a moment. He doesn't have the best opinion of that spot in Wonderland either.

But, as he looks after Coraline and how peppy and excited she is, her head bobbing up and down as she goes, he thinks, perhaps, it's about time he tries making newer, happier memories. He follows after her, smiling as he goes.