wickedcooldog

[wickedcooldog]

@haterempiresoldier

(Previous) When Cathy asked about Larry, Norman turned on his phone to check if Larry responded. "No response," He sighed. "I'll still check to see if he at least read my mess--" Right before Norman could finish sentence, the door slid open from behind to reveal a badly shaken up Larry. Norman, taken aback by his sudden appearance, turned over to Cathy and quietly remarked: "Huh. Now would ya look at that.." Before he began walking towards him. "Hey Larry! Great timing." Norman warmly smiled as he pulled him into a big hug. Larry, however, just stood there... Not returning his partners embrace until he noticed Cathy standing right in front of him. In that moment, the reality of the situation he was now dealing with hit him like a truck and he couldn't help but burst into tears almost immediately as he clutched onto Norman without saying a single word. Norman half-expected this to happen, but since he already knew how close Larry and Freddy were, it still ultimately made his heart ache for the guy as he soaked his uniform with his tears. "Shhh..It's okay," Norman murmured. "I'm right here."

Cathy nervously smiled when she saw Larry enter. Then she awkwardly shifted at the sound of his crying. She wasn’t good at comforting.

Fortunately Norman was there for him. She gave the pair a relieved smile before rushing to her own partner, slowing herself only to avoid spilling his soup.

Meanwhile Freddy was struggling to keep his mind off of both the pain and leftover fear from the ordeal. There wasn’t a better way to pass the time than getting to know his cotmates, even if his social energy was somewhat drained. So when Cathy dashed in he was in the middle of hearing about how the girl to his left broke her leg in a “totally kickass” explosion.

“I’m back!” Cathy cheerfully said as she shimmied her way between the cots. Then she handed his soup and spoon over while asking, “Still hungry?”

“Sorry, my wife’s here.” Freddy gave his temporary neighbor an apologetic wave. “I’ll hear the rest later!”

Cathy cut in with, “I wanna hear it too!” Then she looked back at the door. “Oh yeah, Norman and Larry came too.”

When Freddy spotted them he gave them an exaggerated smile and energetic wave to show that he was okay, despite not feeling the best. “Hey guys!”

[wickedcooldog]

@haterempiresoldier

(Previous) "It was that bad, huh?" Norman said before he lowered his head and frowned. A quiet "Damn.." could be heard from him afterward as he now began to internally root for the perpetrator's eventual death even more. Though, it was probably best not to give said perpetrator anymore of his attention for the time being, and so he instead decided to shift his focus entirely onto his now hospitalized friend. "..Hey. At the very least, Larry and I will now also be there to help him get through this." "Sure, the road to recovery will be long, but maybe it won't be so bad if he has us by his side, too." Norman smiled and gave Cathy a thumbs up with one hand optimistically.

“Yeah!” Cathy returned Norman’s thumbs up. “He’ll be happy to see you!”

By now they had reached the medbay. Cathy flashed her badge at the nurse out front just long enough to be let in. “He’s with me,” she offhandedly said as she strode through and pointed her thumb at him over her shoulder.

Then she glanced back at him. “Any word from Larry?”

[wickedcooldog]

@haterempiresoldier

(Previous) "..Well, it's a good thing I'm not exactly target material either, then." He boldly stated before adding: "..To my knowledge, at least." Even if he was right, though, he still needed to make sure neither him nor Larry became future targets. And that meant trying to maintain their status as just acquaintances to Teddy for the time being if being close to him meant the likelihood that the two would be targeted would increase. It didn't matter how long it took until all remained well. Nor did it matter if it meant the two wouldn't be able to consider Teddy a proper friend. They had to make sure they weren't next on the chopping block by the hands of those piece-of-shit cultists. Before Norman could think more about what he and his partner were going to do moving forward, though, Cathy went on about wanting to murder Freddy's alleged attacker. "I would love to see that happen eventually." He smirked in support of her. "Serves them right for attacking one of my best friends.." As soon as he said that, he had finished writing his text message to Larry. He pressed the send button on his text messaging app and held onto his phone in case the already anxious janitor responded. "..Speaking of," He now turned to Cathy. "How's Freddy doing now? Is he going to be okay?"

Cathy could tell what Norman was thinking. She couldn’t blame him. Really, how many people would knowingly hang around a guy with a target on his back? She’d be tempted to do the same if her husband wasn’t linked to him by birth. And nobody would make her let go of her husband.

...Well, it was easy to think she would. Yet this whole Glornist ordeal made her realize that she cared more about her brother-in-law than she liked to admit. That and he wasn’t nearly as asocial as he seemed. It was kinda pathetic, really.

Cathy took a deep breath and mentally pushed that matter aside. She didn’t want to be mad at her friend for something he may or may not be thinking. Not that she had the energy to spare.

Besides, hearing Norman call Freddy one of her best friends warmed her heart.

“I’ll make Teddy film it. It’s the least he can do.”

Then Norman turned to Cathy and she let out a loud exhale at his question. “Probably. But he’ll be stuck there until, like, for at least a few weeks...”

[wickedcooldog]

@haterempiresoldier

(Previous) "Ugh, agreed." Norman responded afterward, sounding a bit more collected yet dejected as he was still just as confused and upset even after Cathy explained Teddy's involvement with the Glornch. "I just can't imagine what would happen if we also got ourselves tangled up in this mess." He then whipped out his phone, erased the message he was mere moments away from sending to Larry earlier, and hesitantly began typing away while trying his best to keep up with Cathy. "I seriously hope that Sam asshole gets what's coming to him eventually, though. Fuck that guy." He coldly remarked.

“Well Freddy’s already involved, like it or not,” Cathy said as she crossed her arms and rolled her eye. “Even if Teddy thought keeping everything to himself would keep him out of it.”

Then she scoffed. “I’m sure the only reason they haven’t tried to bother me is because he, like, totally hates me. Like this one time he said I’m like the sister he never had, which sounds sweet on the surface..,”

Cathy paused to look back at Norman. “...but then, get this, he said he’s glad he didn’t!” She threw her arms up in frustration. “Well he better be! If he was my brother I’d wipe that smug shit-eating grin off his face!” As she said that she punched the air for emphasis.

Her anger quickly faded into concern. “You wouldn’t know this since he got involved with them shortly after we met... but he wasn’t always timid. He was actually pretty bold... arrogant, even.”

“Anyways..,” Cathy perked up and pumped her fist while giving Norman a wicked grin. “I’m gonna be the one to kill that fucker! Why stay out of it when they already tried to kill my husband!?” Then she quickly, quietly added, “And keep beating my brother-in-law down?”

[wickedcooldog]

@haterempiresoldier

(Previous) Yet again, it didn't take long for Norman to put two and two together, after much caution and with a keen eye, to understand what Cathy meant. Teddy interacting with some members of the Glornch on Tumblr, his unexplained injuries, the aforementioned 'book club' ...It was all starting to make a lot more sense now. ...Just what in the world was Teddy doing mingling with those couple of no-good cultists, anyway? And how did it get so bad to the point where his own brother ended up getting involved?! "...Those motherfuckers..." He swore under his breath as his fists tightened. "How and when did this all transpire..?"

Cathy briefly slowed down to allow Norman to get close and spoke quietly instead of with her usual loud, energetic voice. “Teddy’s stalker— and yeah, I know but hold on a moment— stabbed Freddy in his sleep a few days ago.”

Once Norman was close to her ear she gradually increased her pace while checking to see if he was keeping up. “I guess, like, they want to kill him but they’re not allowed to because their leader wants him alive to be their tailor and make stupid pope hats and such after he burned bridges with Giuseppe?”

Cathy paused to give him a confused shrug. “But they apparently tried anyways? Like, you saw the hand marks near his neck when he had that nasty bruise, right?”

Then she crossed her arms and let out a frustrated huff. “Freddy heard them sneaking around and was planning to take care of the problem... until this Sam fucker decided to kill Freddy just to get to Teddy! He was probably a proxy or some shit too since, like, they’re identical twins?”

After she was done she put her arms down and sighed while shaking her head. “I don’t understand this bullshit... and I’m not sure I want to understand either.”

[wickedcooldog]

@haterempiresoldier

(Previous) The instant she replied, Norman's eye widened in shock. Now that he knew Cathy, Teddy and, to a lesser extent, Irene were physically unharmed, there was only one person he could think that would be in the medbay that wasn't already accounted for... He knew it was going to be bad news, but he was still left extremely dumbfounded at the realization for a moment before he began swiftly catching up to Cathy. "B..But h-how?? When?? Why???" He stammered in confusion.

Cathy gave Norman a sympathetic glance. The easiest way to explain would be to start with the why. Her brother-in-law wouldn’t be happy... But look at where dodging the topic got Freddy.

“First: You know how Teddy keeps getting injured? How much do you know about that..,” she paused to air quote, “...book club that’s been taking up all his time?”

[wickedcooldog]

@haterempiresoldier

(Previous) Norman nodded. But right as he began pulling out his phone from his pocket a second time, he fully processed what Cathy said (specifically the location she said they were heading to) and paused. "Wait. The medbay..?" He turned to Cathy with a now anxious look on his face. "You can't possibly mean--"

Cathy continued to look straight ahead instead of at Norman. “Let’s just say your guess landed too close to home.”

[wickedcooldog]

@wickedcooldog

(Previous) "I tried to yesterday," Norman quickly responded. "But you never responded." "And neither me nor Larry were particularly close with Teddy enough to have his number, either.." He also pointed out as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head.

“Yesh...” Norman’s text arrived right after he said that. Cathy averted her eye out of guilt. “Sorry... I, like... erm, powered it down because I didn’t have time to go babysit it at an outlet...”

Then she turned around to get back to walking at a brisk pace. “Tell Larry to meet us at the medbay.”

[wickedcooldog]

@haterempiresoldier

(Previous) Norman, somewhat surprised by Cathy's refusal to answer, started slowing down. ..Yeah, no, something was definitely wrong. And as much as he wanted to leave her alone, he just couldn't. After all, he spent the entire morning searching half of the ship for either her, Teddy, or Freddy. And he knew his worries wouldn't be diminished at all with a 'none of your business'. Now getting increasingly more concerned, Norman continued following Cathy, but at a much slower pace. "Did.. Did something actually happen?" He asked with a more serious tone of voice this time. A few seconds later, and after realizing she'd most likely respond with the same thing, Norman sighed and added, "I'm sorry, it's just.." "We almost immediately noticed how out of character it was for you and Freddy to suddenly dissappear like that. Larry especially was worried sick, so I spent the rest of my morning searching for you guys-" He explained as he rubbed his eye with his hand. "And, since you're one of my closest friends, I was hoping you'd at least provide me with some sort of clear answer now that you're right here.."

Cathy’s expression softened at Norman’s words. Fortunately her anger came as soon as it went (at least for petty matters.) She slowed to a stop and turned around.

She wasn’t exactly mad... But she was still a little peeved. “Why didn’t you, like, ask?” Then she remembered that she wasn’t great at checking her messages and pulled out her phone. That and Freddy had been unconscious until a few hours ago.

“I mean..,” she awkwardly rubbed her head. “...Irene knows because she texted Teddy...” And that’s why the table they usually sat at was completely empty until another group took over. But they probably saw Irene around at some point anyways.

[wickedcooldog]

@haterempiresoldier

(Previous) "I, uh.." Norman paused for a brief moment when he indeed took note of her more serious attitude this time around right as he caught up to her before continuing, ".. Haven't seen you or Freddy in a while." "Larry and I were getting seriously concerned that you guys died or something, haha." He let out an extremely forced and awkward laugh, trying to make light out of a potentially serious moment. And when he felt as if it did very little to shift the mood, Norman shook his head and moved on so he wouldn't frustrate the already uncharacteristically dejected watchdog. "..Anyways, what have you been up to? If you don't mind me asking."

“None of your business,”

Cathy curtly replied and sped up after hearing Norman’s horrible, horrible joke. Like the idea was funny or some shit.

[wickedcooldog]

@haterempiresoldier

(Previous) Norman was just a tap away from sending the message when, out of nowhere, Cathy greeted him. He immediately paused and lifted his head up to see her again after what seemed like so long. Oh, thank Grop she was just fine! Physically speaking, at least... However, he couldn't just stand there and continue on with his day just like that. He still needed to know what happened to Freddy. And now that Cathy was this close to leaving his line of sight, he knew this was his opportunity to ask her about what was going on before she potentially disappears again for Grop knows how long. And so, as quickly as Cathy entered and left the kitchen, Norman shoved his phone in his pocket and began making his way out as well, caring very little about the consequences that would await him later for skipping out on work during some of the most busiest hours of the food court. "Cathy, wait!!" He raised his voice as he rushed towards her. "I need to talk to you about something!"

When Norman got close he could tell that Cathy had lost her usual pep and seemed uncharacteristically serious. Her eye briefly widened when Norman followed her, even though they both knew that he’d have trouble making it back before his break ends. Then she sighed. She wouldn’t let anything slow her down.

Cathy maintained her pace as she briskly asked, “What is it?”

[wickedcooldog]

Cathy was pissed. Some bastard tried to kill Freddy. Her husband. If it wasn’t for his quick reflexes he wouldn’t be alive. She was far too wrapped up in her own worries, her own rage, to even consider informing his friends. He had far too many to keep track of anyways.

And she admittedly didn’t want this to turn into ship gossip. If only because it’d make her roaring path of revenge harder. Freddy could soak up attention once he was well enough to even stand a chance of defending himself.

Fortunately, Freddy understood after his brother explained. (Annoying enough, out of her earshot.) She was tired of secrets. Especially when Teddy used to be so open. Or at least, if you knew the right question to ask.

This “bookclub” business (as they euphemistically called it) had gone on long enough. Cathy wasn’t proud of how she yelled at Teddy about how it was his fault for joining a glorpdanmed cult. Yet she wasn’t exactly sorry because she wasn’t wrong.

...That lecture may have been partly fueled by how she was worried about him. After all, he was clearly being abused. Freddy had a hunch that the same asshole who tried to kill him had repeatedly tried to kill Teddy. And after all the grievous injuries he kept showing up with she believed him.

So she abandoned even the set of kitchen-duty punishments that had basically become her regular job to guard his ass whether he liked it or not. Besides, the best way to lure that fucker out was to hang around the guy they actually had a beef with.

Or at least, main beef. Her husband was an idiot for screwing around with the Glornists for awhile. Even if it was funny.

It had been a few days since Freddy was assaulted in his own home when he finally woke up. And he was hungry for lunch. So Cathy had walked down to the food court to scoop out some soup because her husband deserved better than medbay shit.

“Hi Norman,” Cathy casually said as she passed him. Once she had finished her mission she walked right back out. “Bye Norman.”

Norman was worried.

A few days had gone by, and neither him or Larry had seen Freddy. Usually, this wasn't something the two would be too worried about since, after all, they knew they weren't bound to see or talk to him every single day.

However.. these past few days were different. Not only was Freddy nowhere to be seen, but neither was Cathy or Teddy, two of the people closest to him on the ship. And it was getting increasingly hard to ignore.

To the point where Larry in particular began fearing the absolute worst..

And so, after reassuring his now panicked boyfriend the day before while still being somewhat worried himself (but still remaining hopeful regardless), Norman got up bright and early from the sleeping quarters and spent the rest of the morning thoroughly scanning through every single area in the skullship, hoping to bump into any of the three or all three at once.

However, it wouldn't be long until he had to put his search on hold because he had an upcoming shift in the food court.

As he now stood there behind the register amidst a growing sea of hungry watchdogs, with neither Freddy, his wife, and/or his brother having been spotted, Norman was beginning to feel more and more hopeless in finding any sign that they were around, even though it was, admittedly, too early to come to that conclusion.

.. But deep down, maybe something did happen after all... He didn't know what in particular, but he knew for certain it was bad if he couldn't find either of the three anywhere. Well, at least in the places he checked, anyway.

And so, once he was on his break over an hour later, Norman sighed as he leaned against the nearest wall that was out of sight of any customer behind his counter, pulled out his phone and began texting to Larry about his unsuccessful search thus far with a frown on his face.

@wickedcooldog

[wickedcooldog]

lol if it was someone would find her quick

(@haterempiresoldier ): Just coming by to check and see how things have been going. (^) It's been a while since we last talked after all lol

I'm doing, like, suuuper hot! ...Even if I'm stuck emptying the garbage again and man that stuff is totally rotten! Like, gag me with a spoon!

So how's it hanging with you?

[wickedcooldog]

Sweet! Who's rat?

(@haterempiresoldier ): Just coming by to check and see how things have been going. (^) It's been a while since we last talked after all lol

I'm doing, like, suuuper hot! ...Even if I'm stuck emptying the garbage again and man that stuff is totally rotten! Like, gag me with a spoon!

So how's it hanging with you?

[wickedcooldog]

(@haterempiresoldier ): Just coming by to check and see how things have been going. (^) It's been a while since we last talked after all lol

I'm doing, like, suuuper hot! ...Even if I'm stuck emptying the garbage again and man that stuff is totally rotten! Like, gag me with a spoon!

So how's it hanging with you?

[wickedcooldog]

Close! It's 42 Expresso shots and an energy drink. I mean, I'm totally not a cautious person but what???

Update. Hm. Not feeling much from the Commander Peepers drink so far if I am being honest. Perhaps I took too small of a sip. I think another sip is warranted. For science.

[wickedcooldog]

That was... ugh. Nevermind, we both already said what we wanna say.

I'm sooo glad to hear that we're still friends! And that the stampede didn't hurt you too bad! How's your head?

I'M TOTALLY BACK FOR REAL THIS TIME!!!!!