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Offical Woody Complaint Box
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Offical Woody Complaint Box
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Offical Woody Complaint Box
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Offical Woody Complaint Box
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sometime after 2/11
Three red. Those are obvious. The solid silver led to Kim, the only person he's truly antagonized in his time here; the faded silver, he's sure, leads right to Walter Peck. Bound together forevermore from pure vitriol. A couple gold, one leading to Ripley- he can't be surprised about that, she's the only one who knows... well, she's the only one who knows. So of course she'd earn a string. Dana, he thinks, corresponds to a faded gold string right beside Ripley's- a matching set, bound by Sigourney Weaver- an actress neither of them are. Hell, the Dana he knew didn't look that much like Sigourney Weaver, though she was cast more accurately than he was.
The blue ones are the hardest. Venkman wonders if the faded blue is meant for his father, but eventually settles on Janine, instead. His father is less family and more... annoying obligation that gets him in trouble with the law. He's more of a father to his dad than the other way around, and if he thinks about that dynamic too much, he gets depressed. ... More depressed than usual. And Janine's like a sister to him, sometimes, so it's an obvious connection to make once he realizes she's not one of the gold.
That leaves a vivid blue.
He can't understand it. He can't figure it out. How does he have someone here who's like family to him?
Venkman really fights against the urge to follow the string at first. It's easy, especially given the effects of ADAM withdrawal- he's too sickly to drag himself outside at first. But eventually, he's having a relatively good day. And the curiosity is burning inside him. And at some point, it burns too brightly to ignore.
If someone's like family, then they're not gonna care about the red strings, right? About the one brilliant, vivid one that ties him to Ray, displaying years-old secrets like they don't even matter? He tells himself that, and it's the only thing that keeps him from turning right back around and hiding away for the rest of the month.
It's not hard to find the person on the other end. The closer Venkman gets, the easier it is to feel her presence, to pinpoint where in Rapture she is. And eventually, he turns a corner and they're face-to-face.
... Probably not actually face-to-face. He'd have to be crouching pretty damn low on the ground for that.]
Oh.
[Succinct and to the point. Somehow, Venkman is both shocked and not surprised in the slightest.]
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And yet, it still bothered her. Still, at least she knew some of her strings, two of the blue ones led her right to Bo and Woody- and the one, single red string led her right to Buzz. The two she had remaining...well, that was a little trickier.
Venkman showing up answered a question she'd been mulling over to herself- she's close to plenty of people here, but if the blue meant what she assumed it did (with her links to Woody and Bo) well, that meant family. And that... well, that makes sense. ]
I was wondering if it'd be one of you two.
[See, Venkman, this is what it's like when you don't bottle your emotions up, look how chill she is. ]
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[He doesn't quite seem capable of forming full sentences yet. Give him a minute.
Venkman slowly lowers himself to the ground, sitting down cross-legged. Both because he doesn't feel right towering over her if they're about to have, like, a conversation about this- and because he really just needs to sit down. He's still sick- not as sick as some people in Rapture, not by a long shot, but it's bad enough that all the walking he just did to find Jessie has him winded. Oh, how the mighty have fallen...]
I'll be honest, I didn't expect it. But it makes sense. I think. ... Hey, if we're- family, does that mean I'm technically a cowboy now?
[Please say yes.
Jokes aside, even putting the connection into words- saying what this string means- it's hard, and Jessie can probably hear the slight hesitation in his voice before he says it.]
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Well, glad I can still surprise someone, don't get to do that too often. [Jessie is about a subtle as a lobbed house brick.] Sure, if you want. I can get you one with the official Pride Family logo on it and everything.
[She taps her belt buckle with the weird fucking cow skull on it. It's about as edgy as a fifties toy can get, honestly. ]
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Whether Venkman likes it or not, though, that puddle is getting a bit deeper. It's migrated from the sidewalk to a pothole against his will.]
Oh, sure. You don't get to surprise anyone? New people- people who've never seen a talking toy before- they show up here, what, once a month?
... I wouldn't say no.
[Finally, the idiot gets to live his childhood (and adulthood) dream of being a cowboy. Why didn't he get adopted by a ragdoll sooner?]
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Present company included.]
Oh, well folks'll always be surprised by that. Though less than you'd think!
[HE'S GONNA GET ONE, that's it.]
Well, I reckon I'd be able to do something about that.
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[Oh, God, he's gonna go crazy over this belt buckle. He may actually wear it every day. This is either the best news or the worst.
Venkman kind of falls silent for a bit, first grinning to himself, then his smile fading as he mulls over... everything. The strings. The ADAM sickness. The strings. The Titanic.
The strings.
Through the blue thread tying them together, Jessie can tell that he suddenly really, really needs to talk to someone.
He exhales sharply, struggling to beat back a wave of nerves.]
If you're- if this place has decided we're family, then that means I can- trust you. And... [He thinks back to the Titanic, to Jessie calling him to check up on him. Quizzing him about stuff back home to gauge his memory. Jessie didn't have to do that, but she did.] ... I do trust you. And I hope you know how significant that is, because I don't trust- most people. So- thank you.
[His hands come together nervously, and he subconsciously rubs at the spots where the strings connect to his fingers- his fingertips never able to make direct contact with the strings themselves. Venkman doesn't open up easily. He barely opens up at all, and the act of doing so makes him viscerally uncomfortable. The other Ghostbusters, of course, see him at his most sincere, but even they have to beat down layers and layers of facade and fronts most of the time, or learn to ignore them and figure out the heart of a problem on their own. Janine is the woman he trusts the most outside of the guys, and she barely sees him open up at all.
But Deerington is a different place. Interpersonal relationships keep people alive, and he can't just fall back on Ray. He'd have probably died on the Titanic without people like Ripley; probably lost his mind faster- and more thoroughly- without Jessie.
So here he is. Letting his guard down. Admitting that he cares about another person. Someone give him a medal. Preferably one with a cowboy theme.]
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[Which is... super fucking depressing if she thinks about it long enough. That people come from worlds strange enough that they don't even bat an eye at a sentient doll.
The sudden surge of emotion is an odd feeling. Jessie lives in a nigh-on constant state of high emotion. A sudden switch of emotion is nothing new to her- what is new it is being someone else's emotions. Oh, but if it doesn't make her heart wrench. Her smile fades, Peter can feel something dark and restless coming through the string- like a storm off on the horizon. Not there, but just waiting on the outskirts. ]
....Yeah. I can understand that. [Her fingers play with the edge of her braid.] Takes me a good long while to trust folk too. I understand, really, I do. It's... not an easy thing, huh? Letting your guard down.
[After all, when people build walls, they build them for damn good reasons. They're not made to be scaled by just anyone. ]
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No. It's not.
[He stares at his hands for a bit longer. At the red brand.
He's gonna have to say it eventually.
Technically, he doesn't have to. Venkman doesn't think she'll pry, and even if she did, he could always lie- this isn't the Titanic, where his mind was too messed up to lie properly when push came to shove. He's good at a bluff, usually, and he's especially good at this bluff- he's kept it up for years and years.
But the thing is, he wants to say it. He wants to make the conscious decision to trust someone with this. And sure, he doesn't trust this place at all, but it's not back home. He technically has the option to stop giving a shit about this altogether and just live his life for once. There's no paparazzi here, no one to scrutinize every detail of their private lives, let alone break into their homes with cameras at the ready. There's no peers he has to maintain a facade around, and he doesn't even have a job in this dimension yet- so who cares about what an employer might think? That barrier is now thinner than it's ever been- at least since he was a child on the carny, where no one cared about a damn thing that made you different so long as you could spot a mark a mile away.
And besides, she's a ragdoll. Why would she even care?
So, with another shaky exhale, Venkman steels himself to break said barrier.]
I don't know if it'll matter to you, [Said like it matters far, far too much to him,] and you might've already guessed at some of this, but I'm in love with Ray.
[... Venkman feels like there were slightly less blunt ways of phrasing that, but sure. It'll work.]
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For the most part.
She honestly isn't that surprised. She's not blind, and there have been little clues, here and there. She hadn't worked it all out- after all, she's not as terminally nosy as some of her friends, but she'd guessed enough. Still, she can tell this is a Big Deal for him, and she won't dismiss that with how much of a non-issue this is for her. She offers him a gentle smile. ]
It matters to me if it matters to you. [Which is true, if he cares, then she does- perhaps not with the same fear and worry as him, but she cares that it MAKES him feel that way.] Honestly, I was circling that, but hadn't put all the pieces together yet. Congratulations, I'm genuinely happy for you.
[Not even a hint of judgement there. She's too old and not-a-person to judge him on something like this. ]
Does Ray know, yet?
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... Thanks.
[Give him a second, he has to figure out how to make words happen again. Venkman does, after some thought, manage a nervous grin- little more than a twitch of the corners of his lips, but it's there for a moment.]
Christ, I'd really be screwed by these strings if he didn't know, wouldn't I. But no. He's... Ray can be dense, but he'd have to be real dense to have missed this.
[ray, over a decade into this relationship: wait what do you mean we're dating :0!]
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[She says that in complete sincerity. She wants him to feel safe around her, and feel his trust is not misplaced. Not ever.
She chuckles, canting her head a little.]
Yeaaaaah. He's pretty oblivious, but I'd hope he'd have noticed this. That said, you'd be surprised how oblivious people can really miss the most obvious signs.
[She speaks from HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE.]
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Believe me, I know. It took a few months of real unsubtle hints for him to figure out Egon and I were together, and a whole lot longer for him to figure out we were into him.
[. . .
Oh, he didn't- he didn't explain that part yet. Venkman's eyes go wide, and he spontaneously becomes very interested in the ground.]
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That's a thing. That. That sure is a thing. Give her a second while she processes that.]
Well. Wasn't expecting that part. [Still, she offers a reassuring smile, because, ultimately, there's more important things at play here.] So long as you're happy. That's what's important. And don't let no one tell you otherwise, and if they try, send 'em my way and I'll kick their butts.
[She's ten inches tall but she will DO IT.]
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... Winston, too. If you're wondering.
[He doesn't elaborate, but Jessie can probably put two and two together- or three and one, as the case may be.
He does, eventually, peek through his hands to look at Jessie again.]
I'll keep that in mind. Y'know, just in case I meet any assholes shorter than a ruler any time soon.
[Teasing. There's a sense of palpable relief under his words.]
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Thank for trusting me with that. I hope you get to see them again.
[She really hopes they'll all get to go home, one day. God, she is so tired. She's not designed to exist in this horrorscape, she's supposed to be played with by a kid and she wants to go back to that, thanks.
She snorts softly. ]
Hey now, I'd have a darn good go at someone bigger. You ain't seen me angry.
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[Venkman exhales hard, though it's not as shaky as earlier. He looks up from his hands and grins wryly down at Jessie.]
Well, now you know, like, a fraction of all my problems. Great therapy session. What's your going rate? Probably shoulda asked before I sat down.
[Translation: "holy shit I just dumped a lot on you, my bad, this almost never happens and I don't know how to deal with it so it's time to stop being open and go right back to the jokes".]
Yeah? I guess you could always work as a tripping hazard, send someone careening down a flight of stairs.
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[It's kind of hard to tell if she's being sarcastic or not. Got to look after the Little Husband. She doesn't seem to be all that bothered with the amount of crap dropped on her, at least. As her group's Most Emotionally Damaged Member, she's kind of used to doing the opposite. ]
That's why I got the lasso.