bakerstreet | Trapped

(This really wasn’t how Zoey planned for her latest meeting with Dawn to go. At all.)

Dawn...how did Piplup get stuck in a box? Which led to us getting stuck inside while trying to get him out?

(She could feel the Penguin Pokémon trying to save them but only ensuring the girls stay even closer.)

Sorry! I guess we should have been more careful with a panicky penguin...!

[Dawn didn’t expect Piplup’s escape attempt to knock them in in the first place.]

Yes, especially when that panicky penguin hits their trainer and their friend with a full-powered Bubblebeam to the head...!

(Zoey sighs softly and manages to look toward Dawn, her eyes showing genuine sympathy.)

It’s okay, Dawn. At least this time your hair looks fantastic!

[When Jason wakes up he does so slowly, haltingly, his awareness coming and going in waves. Instinctively, he starts taking stock of his situation even before he's fully conscious - it's pitch black, the air is stale and thin, his hood is gone and so are his guns. All pretty bad signs, not even counting the concussion he's pretty sure he has. He reaches into his jacket pocket, searching for his lighter or a glow-stick or whatever the hell he finds first, only for his elbow to collide with something soft off to his left.]

[He pauses, wondering just how bad he got hit over the head for it to take him this long to notice somebody lying next to him, before deciding the splitting headache must be from some sort of drug, not blunt force trauma. Even concussed, he shouldn't be this groggy and off his game. He must have gotten dosed with something, gassed maybe.]

[His fingers close around a glowstick, which he activates with a solid crack. It takes Jason's eyes a moment to adjust to the sudden brightness, but once they do he finds himself wishing he hadn't opened them.]

...Fuck.

[The word is quiet, said under his breath. He repeats it, this time with urgency, his voice breaking slightly in the middle.]

[He tries to sit up, but there's no room. He pushes against the ceiling, the walls, but they won't give. He looks to his left, to the person next to him, and distantly he recognizes that he's trapped in this tiny fucking box with Drake of all people. He's not sure whether to consider himself lucky or not.]

[He reaches over, not that he has to move his arm very far, and roughly shakes Tim's shoulder.]

Hey - Hey, Replacement.

R.R.

Baby bird.

Drake -Wake the hell up!

[Shut up he's not panicking you're panicking.]

[ It's hard to say if the sluggy way his brain moves comes from being drugged or just from being asleep for more than four hours. This is so going to jack up his sleep schedule. It's already fucked up his sleep. Exhibit A: he doesn't really dream, and yet, here he is, dreaming about his own name being called. Jason. He sounds panicked. As if it isn't bad enough to have stress dreams, he has to have Jason's stress dreams, too. Absolute bullshit.

[ It isn't until he tries to adjust his head and finds his neck sore--his head sore--everything's pretty sore and Jason is shaking him--it isn't until he tries to move that he realizes with a sharp breath in that he isn't in bed. Tim shoves an arm out to push Jason back-- ] Red. Stop-stop it. [ --but he doesn't go back. Tries to sit up and can't even get far enough up to bump his head. ] Christ, Red--I'm awake, I'm awake--

[Jason's not the sort of person who asks for help. Even when he was a kid living on the streets, he never asked for handouts. Being self-reliant, not needing anybody, it's sort of his whole thing. But, y'know, as much as he'd literally rather die than admit he's out of his depth, he's not willing to let his stubborn pride to take somebody else out with him. He doesn't know how long they've been trapped in this fucking box but he knows that whatever oxygen they've got left isn't gonna last long if he starts hyperventilating, so for Tim's sake he's gotta try not to completely lose his shit.]

[Unfortunately, in order to do that, he's gotta ask the little beanpole for help.]

About time, Sleeping Beauty.

[He stops shaking Tim's shoulder, but he doesn't let go of it. He's pretty sure if he doesn't keep his hand anchored to something he's gonna start beating the hell out of the ceiling even though he knows his fist isn't gonna do anything against solid metal.]

Now that you're up, why don't you call up one of your fairy godmothers to come crack this box open?

[Tim's comm has got to still be online. He's gotta have a phone or a tracker or something on him. He has to.]

Okay. [ His hand claps to Jason's wrist cursorily, just a little check-in there before he goes for his belt to--grab--to grab--

[ Tim is dead quiet as he scrapes his hand around his suit where his utility belt is supposed to be. Where he can find his phone. Anything that can call out. He comes up with nothing. Jason gets to hear him curse under his breath before Tim reaches for the waist of his pants, fishing fingers into his front pockets, dart around to get his back pockets. ] Bring your hips forward?

[Tim hesitates for a second there, when he's feeling around his belt, and Jason does not like that shit at all because it means he's not finding what he's looking for and that is not okay. That is the precise opposite of okay.]

[Then Tim goes and swears under his breath - actually swears - and he may as well have punched Jason right in the chest for how hard it knocks the air out of him. For a second he actually forgets how to fill his lungs back up again, and it's only when he feels Tim trying to rifle through his pockets that he remembers how to breathe.]

Not gonna buy me dinner first?

[It says a lot about just how Not Okay Jason is with this whole situation that he actually complies with Tim's request without being obstinate or deliberately obtuse. He just moves without even thinking about it, at least until hindsight catches up with him and he realizes there's no good reason for Tim to be checking his pockets unless there's something in them that he doesn't know about.]

Wait - did you bug me?

[Normally he'd be royally pissed off that someone tried to pull that shit on him, but this is one of the few circumstances where he's willing to overlook the egregious breach of his privacy. Of course, it also begs the question of how Tim managed to slip something into his pants without him noticing, but there are so many answers to that question that Jason's not even going to bother trying to narrow it down.]

[Instead, he's just gonna look down and try to follow Tim's hands, wanting to see just what kind of shenanigans he's about to pull.]

No, I'm checking your blindspots. Maybe they left something and you just--can't reach-- [ It's a stupid last gambit. Of course, they'd check Jason's pockets, where Tim's fingers dive and skim now. Of course, they would have frisked and unequipped anything in the back lining of his jacket, where Tim runs his palms now, leaning forward to reach up and back.

[ Of course, they checked--but it's better to make sure that they are absolutely, positively screwed here before they start freaking out. Not that they're going to freak out. They're not going to freak out. His breaths come plain measures and steady, very much not getting worked up. ] Okay. This is fine.

Who, um. Who knows you were out on a mission?

[Tim can speak for his tiny calm self, because Jason is most certainly going to freak out. He doesn't want to, but the universe has literally never given a shit about what Jason wants, ever, in his entire life - either of them.]

I'm looking at him.

[Yeah, he's not exactly in the habit of telling other people his business, and if any of the Bats are keeping tabs on him, he sure as hell doesn't know about it.]

[He reaches out to thump Tim's chest with the back of his hand, just for the physical reassurance that he's actually there, that he's not just a voice in the dark, that Jason really isn't alone this time.]

What about you, Big Guy still keeping track of his toys?

[He might actually stop talking shit about Bruce's relentless paranoia if it saves their asses right now, hand to God.]

[ Tim's hand bats Jason's down when it settles on his chest, pins his wrist to the floor of the box. Not a very soft way of assuring he's there, but there's no missing it. ] B knows I'm in the area. There's a GPS tracker in my suit, so when I don't report in after a certain amount of time, he'll know. We just have to wait. I'm not sure how long. We just have to be patient.

But if you call me his toy again? [ A thin, sharp finger jabs at Jason's chest. Definitely here. ] We'll see if knocking you out helps your patience.

( wide ota )

[can play from any age 14-20; lmk if you have a preference, otherwise i default to younger. f/f for ships and only with adult ellie.]

Ssso...

[here they are, stuck in this box that's just barely big enough for klaus to lie down with his knees bent and his feet propped up on the bottom of it. with five trapped inside with him, this is literally the only position he'll be able to manage unless—

unless five is kind enough and might possibly let him stretch his legs out into the spaces around him. for now, he's fine like this, content to be uncomfortably cramped rather than risk an elbow to the ribs or a foot in his groin. nevermind the fact they're stuck here because someone had to go and open his big mouth when he should learn things go a lot smoother whenever he does the exact opposite of that. in his defense, however, he sincerely thought the information he was giving was harmless, didn't even once consider it'd come back around to him and his little big brother in the end.]

I'm sorry for whatever that's worth? [certainly not much, but hey, at least he's trying? that has to be worth something, regardless of how insignificant it is since they're already here and all.] Can't you just, you know? [he makes a poor attempt at mimicking five's power with his hands.] Blip your way outta here?

[ this is one of the rare times he's grateful for being stuck in his prepubescent body. he's small, thin and the only reason there's any breathing room at all for the two of them. how, precisely, they've ended up in this predicament is something that five struggles to forgive no matter how worn and thready his patience is.

he hasn't forgotten having to bribe klaus with money for help before. this is an improvement, he has to remind himself. an improvement.

it's incredibly hard to see when he's in a locked box with his brother. his jaw is set hard, tense, and he leaves it that way rather than responding to the apology. unfortunately, the apology is worth something. he knows klaus didn't mean for this to happen. ]

You might not have considered this, but if I could jump, I wouldn't be here in the first place. [ they wouldn't have had to section off pieces of the box for space. they wouldn't be locked in a box to begin with. for what it's worth, five is taking as little space as he can. ]

[believe him, it's worth a lot, keeping his stupidly long limbs in mind. maybe if he weren't so... so everything, they wouldn't be in this mess and he wouldn't be wondering just how long it's going to take them to get out of the predicament.

because unfortunately, the longer they stay here, the higher his anxiety starts rising. claustrophobia, ain't that a bitch? neverminding the fact they're on borrowed time, there's an added chance he has a panic-induced heart attack before they run out of it and while he's made plenty of jokes, he'd rather not die yet. (definitely not while he's locked inside some cramped box with five either, although that at least means he isn't by himself— wait, no, that's terrible. he doesn't want five to die ever, even with him.)]

Yeah, okay, guess I deserved that one. [he rolls his eyes, glad it's too dark for five to see, adjusts his elbow ever-so-slightly to reach into his pants pocket. the metal lighter he removes gets flipped open, flicked a couple times until it finally lights and they have something to work with.]

Look at that, still works!

[It had started easily enough, with a chance for a quick buck from Sam at the Mystery Shop. All Ruggie had to do was reorganize a few old things in the closet, dust off a few of them, and he'd get some spending money for the various snacks available. There was some risk, sure, because cleaning Sam's storeroom meant coming face to face with some things of dubious legality and at least one shrunken head, but that meant no one else was stupid enough to do it. It was his exclusive part time job.]

[but, well, the thing about risk is sometimes you do get knocked and drop some ancient artifact and you've got a 60-40 chance of something terrible happening]

[like getting trapped in a box with someone who was a customer at the time]

... well, good news, since you were buyin' something he'll probably try and get us out fast.

[The space, despite being magical, seems to be just big enough to fit the two of them. Ruggie is grateful for his small frame and the fact his spine is more of a suggestion than a hard and fast rule. He's able to slouch down in a way that can't be comfortable but does give the two of them a bit more breathing room.]

If it was just me, I wouldn't put him past leaving me here a bit to teach me a lesson.

[While Ruggie had been here to make a quick buck on some dubious, possibly dangerous handiwork, Cater's morning had been... a bit more chaotic. One of the first years had broken a particular teacup out of a particular set that couldn't easily be replaced, and in some small effort to sneak out of the hard work of setting up the afternoon's tea party, Cater had oh so bravely offered to see if Sam had a replacement in his stores somewhere.

Sure, they weren't manufactured anymore, sure the dorm supposedly had all the pieces, and the first year would probably be losing his head over it, but...

Weirder things just happened to be IN STOCK NOW at any given moment.

Luckily for them, he had one! Somehow. No one ever really asks how Sam has what he does. So, it's paid for, it's sent off to the dorm on express delivery (no one ever asks how Sam can deliver things faster than running them back would get them there, but... convenience) and...

And he's in a box?]

Eh?

[...There are both better and worse people to be stuck in a box with.]

About that... Cay just finished his transaction, so...

[So he's probably going to be collateral for teaching Ruggie a lesson, if Sam could even get them out of the box before whatever shadowy 'friend' that shoved them in in the first place decided to let them out.]

[Ruggie's expression does drop when Cater mentions the deal is done,]

Payment and everything? Ah, dang it...

[That made things a lot less optimistic. Sam still took good care of his customers but if the payment was processed then there wasn't any sort of urgency to it. So long as they were out by class time the next day, they'd probably be fine.]

Ah! [his ears perk up at an idea]

What about your dorm head? He's gonna blow if you don't report in at Heartslabyul tonight, right?

[please, please, please let riddle's attitude be in his favor for once...]

Yeah...

[That... definitely made things a whole lot less optimistic. Sam took care of his customers, sure, but... technically, they weren't customers at the moment. Just a couple little imps in some trouble in the back - presumably - of his shop. And it's not like they could cause a ruckus from inside a box, so the incentive to help them was... probably pretty low, all told.

So that's a great reason to miss the tea party - Riddle might even understand... maybe...! - but also... not really the best news for their prospects of getting out any time soon.]

Yeah, yeah, he will! And it'll be off with my head... Aaah... Let me text him and see if he'll help...

[Because if he promised to come right back and finish helping with setup, then he couldn't be that mad, right?

So with a little shift, his hand goes into his pocket to retrieve his phone which... projects spooky horror-movie static on the screen instead of anything useful at all.]

Eh? Ehhhhhh? What kind of box is this?!

[Ruggie wasn't the type to rely on his phone anyways and he's not surprised they crap out when it'd actually be useful. In fact, he was hoping more... when Riddle realized someone was missing he'd come storming in with a face as red as a tomato. And, sure, that might take a few hours but... it'd happen, right?]

Considering it's something of Sam's, who knows where we are...

[In time or space... the exact kind of magic going on was way beyond his level of skill. Ruggie stares sort of over Cater's shoulder, looking at the light of the static dancing against the unidentifiable material of the box.]

Well, considering it's magic we're probably not gonna suffocate!

[focusing on the positive(?)]

[Will Riddle storm in, or will he wait in the Heartslaybul lounge with One Dramatic Reading Light On waiting for his errant dorm member to come home like a mom waiting for a teenager who snuck out?

50/50 chance on either option, terribly unreliable for a hope at rescue...]

There's gotta be some way of getting ourselves out, right?

[There had to be a reason the inter-dimensional box sucked in the two of them instead of either just Ruggie, or the two of them and also Sam, and also whoever else was in the shop at the time... right?

Well, whatever the case - calling or texting someone isn't going to happen, so the phone goes back in his pocket, and the two of them are plunged back into darkness, at least until their eyes adjust.]

Haha~ At least there's that... Hopefully we won't be here long enough to find out...

[At least the 50/50 of Riddle's tiny wrath was infinitely more likely than Leona coming. Ruggie's pretty sure Leona will only notice when he sleeps through three class periods tomorrow. Then maybe he'd worry and start looking.]

[Ruggie's eyes adjust to the darkness fairly quickly. Night vision was important, shishishi.]

Huh, well... if it's something magic there might be some sorta key word, or a counter-spell? Gimmie a sec,

[Ruggie's position was fine for just making space but not really convenient for moving his arms. He has to squirm, shift his body, and only then can he squeeze a hand between them to flick his magic pen up and out of his uniform pocket.]

Hmmmm. [... for getting his own wand out, it's not like he knew what to do. Cater was a third year, maybe he should have a better idea?]

... not a lotta room for gestures, huh. [not that any of this really needs a gesture, it was just always weird to cast without moving.]

[Counting on Riddle's Tiny Wrath(tm) was always a scary thing to do... but it was absolutely more reliable than hoping Leona would notice, unfortunately.

(And, wow, not everyone's a beastman, here...)]

Hopefully not one that has to be said from outside the box...

[Because that would just be their luck, wouldn't it?

...Though, if that was the case, then their hope was left with Sam, and since they hadn't been freed yet... well, all that really meant was that the box wasn't in the way in the shop. Unfortunately.

Anyway, as Ruggie moves to dig out his wand, it's Cater's turn to shift to smush against the wall and get as out of the way as possible. No sense in making it more difficult than it already is...]

...Not enough room for gestures...

[Look, he gets it, he uses big gestures to cast, too. It just felt... right.

And third year or no, he really hadn't studied... getting out of traps like this. Usually, it was either losing his head (inescapable...) or there was enough warning that he could just... split, and at least one double would be free. This was way too sudden!

...And he's not going to try and split now, just in case they were in the sort of pocket dimension that wouldn't let him just pop a copy outside. There was barely enough room for two, let alone three.]

Maybe we should... ask the box what it wants...?

[If it was Sam's, then... who knows if it was sentient or not...]

[If another body got added then they would have to worry about suffocating- not from lack of oxygen but from being pressed into each other's clothes.]

I mean, it's a box... we never studied "box" in animal communication...

[He uses the space Cater made for him so graciously to... spin his magic pen in his fingers. Spin, spin, spin...]

Alright, can't say I won't try: what's it gonna take, box?!

[And the spinning stops, gem pointed up at the top of the box (well, he assumes it's the top because of gravity and his own sense of direction- they could be anywhere in any position, really) and a little spark appears in the dark of the box. From that spark, the walls of the box suddenly light up with script, written in the same color as Ruggie's magic.]

Huh?!

[Ruggie just seems startled it answered, give him a moment before he actually bothers to read it...]

Trapped

Tsubomi Hanasaki | Heartcatch Pretty Cure | OTA

Ruby Rose | RWBY | OTA

"Marie" | OC | OTA

Dawn | Pokemon (anime) | OTA

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Mukmuk | OC | M/M

Ganymede | Greek mythology

Barry Allen | DCTV | OTA

Blake Belladonna|RWBY|ota

Tim Drake/Red Robin | DCnU

Re: Tim Drake/Red Robin | DCnU

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so sorry about the wait, my game got really busy this month!! feel free to ignore! OTL

No worries, it happens!

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Elias Bouchard | The Magnus Archives | ota

raven reyes | the 100

Jupiter Jones | Jupiter Ascending | ota

Michiru Kagemori | BNA: Brand New Animal | ota

Lio Fotia | Promare | m/m for shippy

nicky, the old guard.

ellie | the last of us | ota.

five | the umbrella academy.

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Cater Diamond | Twisted Wonderland

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Sun Wukong | RWBY | ota