OTA and Closed

[heart_breaking]

Who: Chara and misc!
When: Any time, will probably span as far back as Feb 24th
Where: Training Simulation Room, Library, maybe Medbay, and misc
What: Chara learns things about and in the simulation room, and avoids counseling where they can.
Warnings: General dark theme warnings for Chara! Also Undertale Spoilers.


Training Simulation Room - OTA

The Simulation Room's Default Environment #4 settings reminded them of a magazine cover. Not the interesting kind, but the boring one, with green golf courses and perfect people with perfect teeth. They were in a similar green field right now. The sky was completely blue.

Chara lifted their wrist, poking experimentally. Hadn't there been a note taped to the wall somewhere talking about controlling the room from the inside? It hadn't been very clear, and Chara is distracted for several minutes.

Without much outward warning the field shifts, and suddenly green is mixed with a carpet of yellow flowers. The effect on Chara couldn't be more different: their wrist falls to their side, and they don't seem bored anymore.

It's a sight that could hold them for a long time. They'll probably still be standing that way when someone else arrives.

Library - Closed

Their eyes hurt, and every few minutes Chara catches themself staring vacantly at some shelves beyond the book's top. They're not used to this much reading, and it's taxing them like exercisng a rarely used muscle. Can they really keep this up forever? Probably not. They have't thought that far.

There's nothing long-term-thinking at all about the way they've taken to hiding in the library. Their MID weighs on their wrist like a leaden weight, and they know there's things they should be doing. Screw those things! No one's the boss of them. They turn another page very defiantly, sinking further down in their chair.

Comments

Training Simulation Room

[takeitslow]

Peter hadn't spent too much time poking around the simulation room, but he had spent the past month poking around pretty much everywhere else. Then everywhere else started to get boring and that was his sign to move on to something new. And who could have guessed his something new would come with something familiar?

He stopped just inside, watching the child rather than the chosen setting. For a moment, he though it must be Frisk enjoying the peaceful meadow and spared a smile for the sight. "Pretty cute, but I thought kids would want something a little more fantastic to play around in."

[heart_breaking]

"Do I really look like the fairy princess type to you?"

They roll their eyes while they turn, and if their words hadn't been enough to clear him of his mistake, the look of disgust will be. It's him. That guy that doesn't know when he's not wanted, and who dashes through people's daily lives with or without invitation.

"You might even know better than me." Chara touches their MID, and the flowerless default settings restore themself. "You still act like a kid, even though you're too old to be one." Chara, of course, does not include themself in that 'dumb child' category. They're very mature. This disdainful dignity of theirs right now proves it.

[takeitslow]

"Do you think only fairies like flowers? Being a little obtuse there, kiddo. Though I really hope you're implying the species and not something else. I don't want to need to have a tolerance talk with you."

He smiles in the face of Chara's antagonism. It's not like he expected anything different. At least Chara was talking with words instead of fists. It's progress.

"Some people think that 17 is still a kid, you know? Maybe I'm acting exactly my age and you're the one trying to be too old." Peter sighs when the scene switches, but tries to keep the smile on his face. He's taking Frisks advice; keep trying and hope the optimism pays off. "I've never seen any harm in having a little childish fun anyway. It's a good way to let off some steam."

[heart_breaking]

"I bet you think so."

They don't roll their eyes, but it's clear they want to. Did attacking people count as a childish pursuit? Maybe. Some of the lectures they've gotten have tried to drill into them just how immature fighting was, so maybe they really were a kid after all.

It's not a very reassuring thought, or even one they intend to dwell on.

"There's nothing wrong with flowers," they say instead. "There's just nothing else better here you can call up. I've checked." Yes, they have, every default setting that came before this one they're displaying now. The ones that came after can't be that much more exciting, right? And that 'customizated' is surely just something for weirdos that want to start from scratch. Nothing for them to use.

[takeitslow]

"Course I do."

He can deal with surly children; he's got a little sister at home that's not always happy with him or their life in general. As long as Chara's keeping to sass instead of stabbing, Peter feels like he has the situation covered. Immaturity from a child is kind of refreshing, besides.

"Yeah? Thought this place was a training room. Shouldn't it give more than just pretty fields?" He doesn't bother keeping an eye on Chara, zipping over to the note on the wall and stopping to read it. "We should definitely be able to make something more exciting."

We. Peter more or less is just inviting himself along to the kid's playtime.

[heart_breaking]

No, they don't want to spend more time with him. He's an asshole. He had fun tormenting them, and it's only a matter of time before he gets even worse and all of Chara's suspicions are confirmed. Chara keeps their distance for a few seconds of real struggle, adn when they break they only approach slowly.

"Like what?" They make sure the words have enough skepticism to peel paint. "If it's for training, then it's not supposed to be for fun."

[takeitslow]

"Lot's of things are supposed to be fun, but that doesn't mean they aren't. It's like playing with pans as a kid. It's dumb fun with something boring," he says, giving Chara a smile over his shoulder. "You just need some imagination."

He turns back to the note, looking around for controls. "So, come on. What's that imagination of your's want to see here?"

[heart_breaking]

"Everyone on this ship dead." Him included. They stop a few feet away, leaning to see past his elbow. "The ship drifting into the sun."

Do they really want him to try to build that image? Ugh, no, it'd be sickening, even if not for the same reasons as what he might think. Fortunately for them it's not the sort of thing anyone would want to build anyway. They're safe, for now. They'll be safer when they leave in a few seconds. The only reason they're staying is... It's. It's so they know what stupid, frustrating little game he thinks he'll play next. If they can avoid it, then maybe they can avoid him, too.

[takeitslow]

"Oh, wow. Therapy's still a work in progress, huh?" He laughs. He thinks the child is only messing with him, saying something shocking just to get a reaction. Peter's not going to give them that.

"You know, maybe I should pick something. Surprise you with something fun, yeah? Just stay here and I'll go out and mess with the controls. Give you something really special."

[heart_breaking]

"Special," they repeat, as though he's just tried the old 'close your eyes and hold out your hand' trick. They set their jaw and try to hold him in place with their glare alone. "I'm not that stupid. What're you planning?"

Flashes of possibilities speed through their mind. How fast could they leave the room if this joke got out of hand? What would they do if he programmed things to dump them twenty simulated feet in the air? ... Can it do that? Hopefully not. They check the distance to the door anyway.

[takeitslow]

"Something a lot nicer than you have planned," Peter responds cryptically. He gives Chara a wink and dutifully resists the urge to ruffle the kid's hair. It won't be appreciated and he'd rather not have the child try to take his arm off. He wouldn't put it past Chara to bite.

"Have a little faith, dude. I promise it will be all the fun someone your age could ever want." He makes his promise and then disappears from the room to program the outer panel. In a few seconds, the landscape changes to look like an ordinary bedroom with for more pillows than one person could ever need.

When Peter reappears, he's poking in the doorway and looks victorious. "Since you loved my pillow so much, you've got to love this."

[heart_breaking]

What's that supposed to mean? Is he going to program a room completely filled with dogs, or something? They hate dogs. They want no part in this. They--

"What."

Pillows stacked in unreasonably large piles threaten to topple at any moment. They could build a nest big enough to burrow under like a snug rodent, if they wanted. The floor is half covered, the pillows are in different sizes, different shapes, and even different colors.

"Is this some kind of joke?!" They kick a small cushion by their foot. It lands on a pile beside it with an easy 'flump'. "I literally ripped your pillow to itty bitty shreds! How could you possibly think I like them?"

[takeitslow]

Peter's grinning widely, impressed with the look of the room. If he was the type, he'd be patting himself on the back over this idea. Which is to say that he's only holding back because the kid looks like they're about to pop.

"Maybe because you looked like you were having fun ripping it apart? You smiled, dude. You can't deny it." Peter crosses his arms over his chest, leaning against the wall. "And every kid likes making pillow forts. I still like making pillow forts. And with all of this, you can make a truly epic fort. One for the record books."

[heart_breaking]

Chara gives the room a put-upon look as though it might give them support, instead of Peter. Predictably, the room says nothing, and they turn back to him. There's no way out: their immediate future is very possibly going to be assaulted by amusing passtimes and party games, all with (reluctantly) fond histories.

"... I don't want to build a fort." they whine, not meeting his gaze.

[takeitslow]

"Yes, you do. You just don't know it yet." Peter insisted, unable to keep a little chuckle out of his voice from the unexpected whining. It's exactly the kind of childish behavior he was trying to pull from Chara and even if the kid isn't rushing to play, Peter sees it as something good.

"Have you ever built one? Or done it lately? It's fun. And you can use a little fun." He walks further in, picking a throw pillow up from the floor. "I can help you get started, if you want."

[heart_breaking]

The answer is written all over their face: no, they haven't built a pillow fort in a long time. It was fun. It was something they used to do with Asriel, before--before. Can they stand revisiting those days now?

Chara turns and kicks a pillow, walking around a tower of sofa cushions. "You do what you want. I'm making a knife." And maybe just walking out instead of using it. He'll be too distracted to pay attention by then, hopefully.

[takeitslow]

"Making a knife out of pillows? Cause that sounds kind of hard." He's being purposefully dumb, sitting cross legged and starting to pile pillows together based on size. "The much easier thing would be to help me sort these out. We needs the bigger ones for the base and it would take me, like, two whole minutes to do this by myself. Don't make me waste actual minutes of my life, Chara. Have some pity on me."

[heart_breaking]

"You'll live." To their continued annoyance. "Just lift with your legs and drink lots of water'." Or... something. What does lifting like that mean, anyway? If he doesn't know that they don't know, then it doesn't matter.

They reach a beige-painted cabinet against a wall. Its contents include not a disguised panel for the room's set of available dummy-knives, but stacks upon stacks of quilts. Chara leaves it open and reaches for the drawers below it. This one has tape, and clothes pins.

The tape dispenser has a sharp edge. Chara picks it up, looking it over doubtfully.

[takeitslow]

"You know, I need to find who ever taught you sarcasm." And maybe give them a talking to. Kids are not supposed to be so jaded. Leave that for the teenage years.

He watches Chara investigate the room, smiling when he realizes all the kid has to work with is common household items. Not that he doesn't think the child couldn't try to do some damage with anything in the room, but he hopes it will work as a deterrent. "Sorry, kiddo. I don't know how they did pillow forts where you're from, but I've never seen anyone use tape."

[heart_breaking]

"It's for a knife," they tell him defensively. "And besides, you could if you tried." ... Not well at all, though, and their blush says they know it. They test the tape surreptitiously, breaking off a section the length of their thumb, but even the greatest stretch wouldn't agree with their automatic arguing, and they drop the rest back in the drawer. Maybe they can just pretend it out of existence.

"Anyway, the only alternative is clothes pins. And you'll need blankets for that." Which they happen to have in generous supply. Chara glances up, and then closes one cabinet door, then looks frustrated at themself for being so obvious.

[takeitslow]

He's not going to call the kid out on their embarrassment; he knows when to draw a line. Still, he can't help but smile at the reaction, ducking his head to hide it before the child can get upset. "I'm sure you'd figure it out."

"Well, hey. There's a great idea. We could give it a really nice roof that way." He's just going to pretend he didn't notice the blankets before, help Chara save some face. "You know a lot ore about this then I thought."

[heart_breaking]

His approach seems to be helping. Petty mistakes are let go, and their shoulders gradually ease.

"I've done this before," they inform him, frowning. "It also helps if you have--string." They glance around. There's lamps, shelves, a hanging ceiling-light--plenty of things that could be used to anchor a tent-roof, should they so choose. Which they don't...

Really...

Chara looks around, castles and forts assembling from chaotic piles in their mind's eye. They're not going to, but if they did, it wouldn't be so big of a concession, would it? Peter wouldn't have won anything, and Chara wouldn't have lost. It'd just be a detour, or something. A brief intermission for a life fixated on malice.

Yeah, right. Chara doesn't take detours. Maybe there's scissors in another drawer. They step to the side and tug the next one open; if their eyes drift back to the pillows before they can tear them away again, then it's surely to make sure Peter isn't trying anything funny.

[takeitslow]

"Have you? I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it's been a while," he says. He looks around, eyes landing on the same hanging light and nods. "We might be able to find some. Hey, if you see any in those drawers, toss it over. Saves me having to look, and since you're going through them anyway."

He shrugs, returning to sorting out the piles. He's doing it slowly, at a human speed, in the off chance Chara decides they want to help. Giving them the task of looking for string might already be pushing it, but Peter's an optimistic guy. Besides, he can see how the child keeps looking at the pillows. It's a game, he just has to have patience and let it play out.

[heart_breaking]

They make a reluctant-sounding noise and close this latest drawer, opening the next. There's not much interesting here either. This continues on for three more drawers, interspersed with pauses and quiet poking around.

The only warning is a slightly longer than normal pause, before a football-sized coil of yarn pitches across the room, landing a little wide. Chara studiously turns back and closes the drawer, reaching for the last one.

Safety scissors. Of all the implements they found, did this one really have to be the only one available? There's a pillow close by that they can try the set out on, but almost immediately they face problems. For one the scissors are resisting opening even far enough to take in the pillow's corner. For another they're not cutting well when they close.

Chara keeps trying. Who cares if they're hogging the scissors? Peter can find his own.

[takeitslow]

He's surprised that Chara actually bothered to hand it over; he'd been expecting his request to be ignored. Peter scoops up the yarn, grinning like Chara had handed over something of value. When he sits again, he's trying to break the string into sections by tugging quickly enough.

Let the kid keep the scissors, Peter's gotten what he's come for. Even if it's only enough to be civil, Chara seems to finally be warming up to him.

Peter lets Chara keep hacking at the pillowcase, finally using his speed to start building a base for the fort. He pauses near Chara, close enough to watch but still a few feet away in order to not startle the child into any more stabbing. "So why are you dissecting the pillow again?"