Trooper Station, Friday

[firstofitskind]

So when Liam spotted the brooms everywhere in the Station, his first thought was that the Troopers were in the midst of a cleaning spree. Which, hey, unexpected, but welcome.

Of course, he'd been corrected rather quickly, with the explanation that the brooms weren't for cleaning, they were there for the ~aesthetic~.

Sure, whatever, the Trooper Station was open for all your policing-related needs. Or even non-policing needs! It was open. Liam was here.

Comments

[weirderthanthou]

"So," Jesse said, "Brooms."

She hadn't had any big run-ins with them yet, or she might have noticed how her push wasn't working.

But, well, they'd talked about some kind of handbook...

"Have you seen that one before?"

[firstofitskind]

“Not the brooms themselves,” Liam admitted. “But the... little bits of thematic weirdness that change every day? That’s happened before.”

[weirderthanthou]

"Yes, but it's usually contained to December," Jesse pointed out, walking up to his desk. "Not that I think this is an emergency."

No matter what Summer thinks.

[firstofitskind]

"Usually," Liam agreed. "Though last year this happened in October as well, so perhaps the island has added another holiday to its repertoire."

[weirderthanthou]

Jesse nodded. "We should probably start writing this down," she said. She tilted her head. "Do you guys get a lot of calls and stuff when this happens? Or do people just kind of... accept it."

[firstofitskind]

"Oh, there's definitely calls," Liam said. "But it's usually the same few people." All NPC island-dwellers for some weird reason.

[weirderthanthou]

"You... would think they'd have moved by now," Jesse said slowly.

Maybe they're gluttons for punishment?

[firstofitskind]

"It would upset the bees," Liam deadpanned.

[weirderthanthou]

Long pause.

"I didn't know we had beekeepers on the island."

Jesse.

[firstofitskind]

"We have The Bee Lady," Liam said, and yes those capitals were audible. Actual name, Lorna Schtlizwhistle, but Ralph had dubbed her The Bee Lady and it had kind of just stuck. "She's very-" he paused, trying to find a diplomatic way to phrase it "-opinionated. About what sorts of things might make the bees unhappy."

Not surprisingly, most of the advent-related items were apparently deeply upsetting to bees.

[weirderthanthou]

"And she thinks law enforcement can help with that?"

Beat.

"What happens when the bees are unhappy?"

It never hurts to check.

[firstofitskind]

"I think she just likes to complain," Liam admitted.

"Apparently you can taste it in the honey," he shared. "I've never been able to confirm this since I haven't actually had any, but," he shrugged.

[weirderthanthou]

"As long as it doesn't mean we're under threat of some kind of honey apocalypse," Jesse said practically, "I guess it doesn't hurt?"

Maybe I should talk to the Bee Lady. Just in case.

[firstofitskind]

"Not really," Liam said. Although Fandom had a funny way of speaking things into existence, so maybe... "Sometimes I send Ralph or Calvin out to talk to her when they're feeling particularly restless. Gives them something to do, gives her someone's ear to bend. Win-win."

Just... be prepared for a lot of pseudoscientific rambling interspersed with plugs for her Etsy store, if you went to talk to her.

[weirderthanthou]

When you came from a world of murder fridges and clock-spitting monsters, you didn't take chances, okay?

"The station really is hopelessly overstaffed for anything but emergencies, aren't you?" she said wryly. "Did you give any thought to that handbook we talked about?"

[firstofitskind]

That's valid.

Liam nodded. "I've actually made a fair bit of progress on that," he shared.

It had given him something to focus on that wasn't anxiety-inducing the way the looming American election was (shockingly, for reasons entirely unrelated to the identity of one of the candidates in multiple versions of reality).

[weirderthanthou]

"Got any notes you can walk me through?" Jesse said, smiling.

Nerd.

[firstofitskind]

“Well,” Liam said. “The logical starting point was invasions. And given that it’s been relatively rare to have the same person or group of people attempt to attack the island more than once, detailing all of them didn’t make too much sense, because at that point we’re leaving behind ‘handbook’ and entering ‘encyclopedia’ territory.”

[weirderthanthou]

"I did see some repeat names," Jesse noted. "Like the Toymaker."

[firstofitskind]

Liam grimaced, absently rubbing at the palm of one hand with the opposite thumb.

“I was around for his most recent attempt on the island. Definitely not a good time.” Not that the invasions were ever really great but there were definitely years where the stakes seemed somewhat lower. Last summer had not been one of them.

[weirderthanthou]

Jesse watched him.

"Sorry," she said after a moment. "I didn't mean to kick up any bad memories."

[firstofitskind]

"It was- a rough summer," Liam admitted. After two years of invasions that were relatively tame compared to the world he'd come from, that one had hit hard. "Spent some time brainwashed, then nearly got executed for the crime of breaking out of the brainwashing and attempting to stop what the Toymaker was up to."

[weirderthanthou]

I wonder if Dylan feels like that.

"But you won," she said.

Quieter than she'd like, honestly.

[firstofitskind]

"Yeah," he nodded. "I mean, I didn't do much. My wife and some of the others- pulled off something of a rescue mission, while another group fixed what he'd done to the machinery under the island."

Did you know about the machinery, Jesse?

[weirderthanthou]

She did. She'd read-- a lot of paperwork.

Jesse nodded curtly. "I've seen some reports about that," she said honestly. "But it's always different hearing it from people who were there."