Zoonotic Hookworm | OpenLog001

[clussy]

Featuring: Eddie Kaspbrak + Open to anyone
What's Happening? Eddie's dancing to some sick tunes at Town Hall, fixing up some interesting light mechanics, and...handing out lemonade because how generic can we be (also giving out other food goods from the greenhouse).
When: Various days throughout March. New players may tag into this even though I'm posting it now.
Content Warnings: All the music linked is uncensored so there's some swearing/questionable content, Eddie's usual content warnings may be applicable at any time.Underage kid technically offering up booze- potential mentions of underage drinking. I will try to tag headers if particularly harsh things come up.



𝟷. 𝙴𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚎 𝙺𝚊𝚜𝚙𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚔 𝙶𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚊 𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝙸𝚍𝚎𝚊
Location: Town Hall

(Attending classes helped well enough, but Eddie still hardly knew what he was doing. He was sitting on the floor with a pile of wires in front of him, and a variety of other odds and ends. There were a couple of light bulbs sitting in front of him as well. He was fussing mostly with wires, twisting them together at the ends and looking this way and that next to a notepad he had laying open next to him. There was a bunch of notes inside it with little drawings that clearly showed the blue prints for something.

Any one of these days, someone might see Eddie getting the wires properly attached to one of the light bulbs. He has an assortment of what looks like buttons and maybe on a lucky day, one might see him pushing one of these buttons and seeing the light bulb flicker to life. Every now and then, he messes up something with the wires and gets a tiny shock. It never fails to make him jump and yelp before sticking said injured finger into his mouth with a glare sent to the wires. But it seems those incidents are few and far in between.

What on earth was this kid making anyway?)

𝟸. 𝙴𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚎 𝙺𝚊𝚜𝚙𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚔 𝙱𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚜 𝚊 𝙼𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚃𝚠𝚘
Location: Town Hall
CW: Vulgarity in linked songs though not all of them.

(Figuring out how an ipod worked with its speaker had been a bit of a trip for Eddie, but he had figured it out in the safety of his soundproof room. He had also indulged himself greatly in his soundproof room by playing his music quite loudly. Not really 'blasting' it, but it was more noise than he had heard in a long time and it felt great. Even though he didn't recognize an overwhelming majority of the music, it turned out that the future had some awesome tunes. It felt unfair to hog all this greatness to himself, so he decided to start setting up shop over at the Town Hall.

The locals might not be too fond of him doing this, but after finding one of the soundproof rooms used for classes, he left the door open and set the music up on a desk. Again, he wasn't blasting it, but for such a quiet area, anyone would be able to hear the music playing idly and when they follow it to its source?

Well, Eddie was dancing quite generously around an open space he'd cleared out in the room. There was no real rhyme or reason to his dancing. Some people might realize he's using a few moves that had cultivated during the fifties, but mostly he's just moving around to the beat, bobbing his head, and sometimes even singing along. He listens to mostly faster songs, but there are a few lulling slow songs that gets him swaying in lazy circles. It felt good to be noisy and move around, so all in all, Eddie was flushed smiles. Whenever a song is from the fifties, it's clear that Eddie knows the song much better.

Whenever someone enters though, there's quite a few different ways Eddie will react.

1. If it's another child, particularly one he recognizes, he might grin and instantly go over to grab at their hands and pull them in to dance with him- or at the very most, gesture for them to come over.

2. If it's an older teenage boy or adult man, he'll stop moving and smiling completely, looking instead a little embarrassed and quite possibly ashamed.

3. If it's an older teenage girl or woman, he'll slow down his moves entirely, looking uncertain, a bit awkward, but after a moment he'll smile shyly and gesture vaguely for them to come and join him.

Any number of popular songs from the fifties to 2017 can be heard playing from his stereo of all different genres.

Here's just a snippet of what might be heard- and certainly feel free to assume songs and put your own in for them to sing along to or have fun with:

1. Shake It Off by Taylor Swift
2. Rockin' Robin by Bobby Day
3. Don't Stop Me Now by Queen
4. Come On Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners
5. Mambo No.5 by Lou Bega
6. Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars
7. The Time Warp by The Rocky Horror Picture Show
8. Oops!... I Did It Again by Britney Spears
9. Timber by Kesha
10. So What by P!nk

+Open Arms by Journey
+Imagine by John Lennon
+Can't Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley

For House Eleven: As he is doing this often in his room, feel free to have any one of the people living in House 11 join him there.)

𝟹. 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙻𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝙶𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝙻𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚜, 𝙼𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝙻𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚍𝚎?
Location: Throughout town.
CW: Kid serving alcohol??

(You know those stereotypical stands kids set up with the painted sign of 'LEMONADE'? Yeah. Eddie's got that set up at various parts around town except there's no table. It's just a sign sitting upright and he's sitting cross legged wherever he's decided to set up. Although in some places he's found tables to use for the time being. He's get two big things of lemonade- one marked as 'soft lemonade' and the other as 'hard lemonade'. What could this possibly mean? Pretty easy. The soft is your regular old fashioned refreshing lemonade.

The hard lemonade is really fucking sour. Like this kid barely used any sugar sour and it has a kick to it. Is this lemonade spiked?

It might be.

Either way, Eddie's going around serving up some fresh lemonade. On top of that, he has small crates with fruits and the like that he seems willing to part with for some traded goods- as there's a little sign in front of them saying 'TRADE 4 THINGS'. What things? Ask him, obviously. Really, Eddie's not a big stickler, and half of his food stuff will probably just be given away for the hell of it, but he might as well try and get things while he's at it.

If he's serving his lemonade and selling his things anywhere soundproof, he's absolutely got his stereo set up and playing music very softly. Just for a change of pace. If he's around workers, such as people laying out sand or other physical tasks, he very well might come up to your character if they look like they're working particularly hard and offer a cup of the (soft, non-alcoholic) lemonade. You're welcome, buddy.)

𝟺. 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜
(Eddie goes all over town all the time for various things or just to explore. Feel free to ask about setting up a scene or just start up something on your own! He works at the Greenhouse and lives in House 11 so those are both options as well for interactions. Please feel free to ask me questions.)

Comments

2!!!

[justbeingknife]

[ Majima was starved for music, to be quite honest with you, so hearing even the faintest hint of a beat was enough to get him curious. And for someone from the 80s, getting hit by the retro feel of Uptown Funk was like a drink of water in the desert.

Combine that with the fact that it was Eddie in the room dancing, and -- wait, what? Eddie?

Majima raised his hand in greeting as he entered the room, obviously in a good mood. Hey dude. ]

[clussy]

(Eddie's got no idea what he's doing, but he's tapping shamelessly around. He's listened to the ipod endlessly since getting it (and he was still thrilled by how long it lasted! And without batteries!) and had already found a handful of favorite new songs. Uptown Funk was easy to dance to. It just had one of those fun beats and good lyrics that made him move from side to side, swinging his hands around. He had a better rhythm than a lot of kids, not looking quite as goofy as one might expect.

He twirls around and that's when he notices Majima entering the room. He stumbles to a stop. He catches his breath, and for a second, feelings his face flush hot at having been caught dancing (even if he had been doing it loudly).

But...

This was Majima, and after a moment, Eddie smiles a little uncertainly.)

Hi. (His voice comes out and he realizes it's the first time that they have ever technically spoken to each other. He instinctively covers his mouth, as if it would compress the small voice back inside of him, but well. He had spoken as loudly as the music was playing and neither of them were dead. So he smiles a bit wider and says a bit louder:)

Hi! Have you heard this- this kind of music before? (He talks faster than he texts and signs, and his voice is all too fitting for how small the rest of him is. He hops on his feet over towards Majima, feeling pretty good himself.)

[justbeingknife]

Not exactly, but it's got a beat like some of the stuff I've heard before.

[ Majima was a tenor with a surprising range to his voice, with dramatic rises and falls in pitch that came across even to non-Japanese speakers. ]

I'd ask ya where the hell you managed to dig up some tunes, but I'm just happy to have any at all. Mind if I join in?

[ What like he was going to dance ABSOLUTELY ]

2~

[gimmesometassel]

[What was that sound? Archaic Fantasy Desert Kingdoms have nothing that even remotely sounds like Britney Spears or Queen or anything like that. Carpet is curious enough (and anxious enough, because even if they're in Town Hall, this is worryingly loud) to go investigate immediately. Nothing seems to be happening, though, nobody is being mauled, there's no blood anywhere.....

There's just a kid, doing a strange, foreign dance in the middle of a cleared room and singing quietly to himself. It seems safe enough, for now.....

So Carpet sneakily glides into the room to fall into step behind Eddie, mimicking his movements and staying just behind him and out of sight; his antics would probably be ridiculously obvious to anyone else looking into the room. How long can he keep this up, huh?]

[clussy]

(There is no consistency to how Eddie is dancing. It's all over the place and reckless and open. It's the fun kind of dancing that would send the Stepford housewives of the fifties rolling over in their graves.

Eddie was somewhat oblivious dancing around in the room, but considering his life as of late, he had grown far more anxious. He has that bit of sixth sense awareness going on that he's suddenly not alone, and he whirls around to look over at the door. But nothing is there.

He frowns deeply, feeling his stomach prickle with a bit of dread.)

....Hello?

[gimmesometassel]

[There's nobody in the doorway. There's no voice answering his uncertain call.

And when Eddie turns back around to face the rest room again, there's nobody in there, either--just a lovely rug on the floor that may or may not have been there before. If his eyes are keen, he might even spot a device sitting on the floor in the shadow of some of the furniture he'd cleared away to open a space.]

2

[list_maker]

[Arya hears the sounds when she enters the town hall. It's hard not too. When everything has been quiet for so long even a little bit of sound resonates. She follows the noise. Because that's what it sounds like to her, she doesn't recognize it as music. But Taylor Swift pop beats don't exactly have a musical parallel in Westeros.

So when she steps in the door way, staring at Eddie, seeing him gesticulating around, she doesn't really know what to think. Perhaps she's interrupting something? Maybe she should just leave...?

He does seem to be enjoying himself, at least.]

[clussy]

(The tragedy of it all, honestly. Taylor Swift would probably have a lot to sing about in Westeros. Eddie's bouncing from foot to foot, singing along partially to the song. He'd listened to it a handful of times before- enough to know a good chunk of the song, but still faltered every now and then. He hardly seemed to care though- as he was much more focused on the whole dancing part.

His hands are shaking themselves out, and so are his hips a little, when he twirls about and - - !

Eddie winds up stumbling backwards, though thankfully catches himself just fine on the edge of a desk. He covers his chest briefly, his heart fluttering madly with the surprise of Arya's presence. Probably should have been paying more attention, you goon, he chides himself before offering a small, hesitant smile.)

Hi. Sorry. I was just-. Erm. Dancing. I didn't disturb you or anything did I? (It's...odd to speak out loud after being quiet for so long. But it's also freeing as hell.)

[list_maker]

[Arya is also very quiet footed and has a way of sneaking up on people, even when they are not distracted by other apparently enjoyable things. She waits for him to collect himself, simply watching him with a critical and almost non-expressive eye. When he smiles, she gives a small one in return but there's a stiffness to it. But it's hard to be easygoing for the young Stark.] You didn't disturb me.

That was dancing...? [She answers back, her accent sounding similar to posh English. Her mother had forced her to speak like a so called 'lady' and Sansa too. To speak 'properly' and more dignified than the accent of the North, the accent of her father.] I thought you might be sick. [There's a more of a genuine smile then.]

1

[beyourzoomer]

[She finds Eddie at Town Hall, working on some kind of project. She doesn't want to interrupt so for awhile she just hangs back, watching him curiously. She wonders if he's working on some project for Tony's class, like Majima. After a few minutes, though, she moves closer, sitting down beside him and cocking an eyebrow.

At least they can actually talk here.]

What are you doing?

[clussy]

(Eddie looks up quickly at the sound of her voice, and upon seeing Max, he automatically grins. He's sitting up straight, cracking his neck. It felt good to loosen up a bit after being hunched over for so long.)

I'm making a sort of doorbell system? It's creepy thinking about people walking in and out as they please so I thought maybe...

(He pushes a button and shows Max how the one light bulb lit up.)

This way I was thinking if everyone had a lightbulb in their room and maybe in the kitchen area...If someone rang the doorbell, instead of sound, it'd be light.

[beyourzoomer]

[She grins back just as quickly at him, glancing from him down to his project.]

Holy shit. That's a great idea.

[And he's already got it working. She tucks some hair behind her ear, studying the device he's rigged up. She thinks actually making it work at the house may be a bit more complicated, just because of how much wire it'll take to rig it up everywhere. Still. It's a genius idea.]

2

[bloodyrose]

[ Zero has been spending a decent enough time around Town Hall, in part because he's being diligent about attending the language studies (something which he's been very quick to learn), but also in teaching a few things of his own. Maybe at some point along the line he'll be able to help others practice their sign language.

For now, he's just on his way out when he hears the music. His knee-jerk reaction to it is to feel alarmed, despite the building they're in. Or maybe the fact that he has a heightened sense of hearing is a part of why it sounds louder than it probably is. He easily picks up on Eddie's presence, so maybe that's a part of why he'll make his way to the room in question.

—And it's a cute sight, really. So even though the boy looks embarrassed, or that he's done something wrong, Zero has a bit of an amused smile upon his face and gestures to Eddie that he's perfectly fine, and to go on. ]

[clussy]

(Eddie himself had been rather diligent about learning sign language as well. Especially since he wasn't overly fond of relying solely on texting. He felt a lot got lost in translation, but that could just be the fifties soul in him talking.

He had a lot less reservations about the music. Being a kid meant that it was sometimes easier to forget to be afraid and cautious. He was tired of being scared all the time in this place and he wanted to just....Let loose for once.

Everyone had to do that every now and then, right?

Eddie's arms are behind his back as he stares panting quietly at Zero. At least it's a familiar face and not a stranger looking in at him. He gives a very tiny smile even as the man gestures, but Eddie doesn't start dancing right away again.)

Do you um- Do you have dancing and stuff back where you're from?

[bloodyrose]

[That has to be the most odd question he's ever been asked. But he gets it, at least when thinking about how many kinds of worlds must be represented here.]

I do. Although I'm not really a dancer, personally. Just a little bit when I was a kid, although nothing all that upbeat like you're doing.

2 obvs

[deadboywalking]

[Now that Will knows Eddie is a bringer of music, he's making even more of an effort to seek him out. The technology escapes him, but he knows that somehow?? Music???

It's the fact that it's Journey this time that has Will scurrying along the Town Hall's town halls and practically flinging the door open, looking triumphant and delighted. It's dancing time, Eds!]

were there other choices,,,,

[clussy]

(The moment he sees Will? All Hell breaks loose. Maybe it's because Will and him had connected in all these pivotal, personal ways since they've arrived, but Eddie feels oddly shameless around Will. So he gives an excited:)

Will! (And yes, he realizes that this is the first time that they're gonna be able to hear each other's voices. He all bout bounces over to Will, grabbing both of his hands at once and dragging him into the room, pulling him around in a wide spin before letting go and spinning around on his own.)

Do you - know this stuff? (He certainly didn't but it was good.)

truuuuue

[deadboywalking]

[Will laughs aloud before he can stop himself, stumbling over his own feet and almost careening into Eddie, grabbing onto him with both arms and squeezing with careless, thoughtless glee. But then he remembers himself, letting go and stumbling back, face red.]

U-Uh, yeah. Yeah, it's Journey. They're awesome. This isn't even their best stuff.

1

[gaits]

[ it's been some time since david last spoke to eddie and while it wasn't exactly a bad time, david can't help but feel like he scared him somehow to make him run off like that. he hasn't approached eddie since, but seeing him in the town hall makes him pause and after a moment's debate, he decides to go for it.

he doesn't manage to catch eddie when he shocks his finger, but david has a good idea what he's doing when he lowers himself into a crouch in front of him. he always has a kinder smile for the kids here, but this particular one is tinged with something nostalgic. he remembers doing this himself in school, as well as years later, after discovering leo had the same interest in learning how things worked. ]

Need a hand?

[clussy]

(The encounter with David was arguably one of the strangest encounters with an adult he's ever had in his entire life. It wasn't...completely bad, and maybe that was the strange part. It had been a while since he had properly interacted with David though, and so truthfully, he doesn't anticipate seeing him here. Which was maybe a little silly considering how public Town Hall was.

His hands freeze over his little project when the man initially squats down, and at first Eddie doesn't think it's anyone he knows. His entire body goes rigid, but then David speaks the same moment Eddie looks up, and his shoulders relax and a small breath escapes him. Maybe not fully trusted, but he knows enough by now to know that David is at least safe.

The question gives him pause. Men mostly offered to teach him how to fight or do other things like that, and his dad hadn't lived long enough to teach him anything like this. That box racing car had sat lonely in his garage all summer long. Eddie chews at the inside of his cheek, and after a moment, gives a small nod.)

I think I do. (He'd normally be too embarrassed to ask for help, maybe, but this was a useful thing for everyone who lived in his house and that made him care a lot less about anything like pride.) I'm trying to make a doorbell system but with light bulbs. Does that make sense?

[gaits]

Yep. That's a smart idea.

[ and he means it, his smile turning into something a little more encouraging. he lowers himself the rest of the way to the ground, barely manages to stifle a groan when his knees pop a little (he feels like he aged ten years since he arrived) and looks at what eddie has in front of him. ]

Mind if I take a look at that?

[ the notepad, he means. he could figure it out just by looking at what eddie's got so far, but he's curious and part of him wonders if eddie came up with this by himself. ]

For Bill; CW contains head and light eye trauma.

[clussy]

(Eddie's morning routine was pretty simple. Wake up. Brush his teeth. Take a bath. Get dressed for the day. He was still half asleep while brushing his teeth so he didn't notice the red balloon idly floating just over the bathtub. Which meant he didn't notice the paper boat hanging from the silver string of the balloon either. He was rinsing his mouth out and rubbing an eye when he finally began to wake up a little more. After spitting out the water, he turned promptly around to head straight for the tub. That is of course when everything went to hell.

It wasn't one of those moments where he felt so scared his first instinct to screech.

No.

This was the kind of fear that washed over his entire body and left him numb from head to toe. It was the kind of fear that lulled him under the porch of the Neibolt house; the kind of fear that rested itself over his shoulders, pinning him in place like a predator aiming to break the neck. This fear left Eddie's mind a wall of white noise where nothing but panic and hysteria were left. There was a distinct screeching somewhere inside of him, but he couldn't begin to tell if it was his own scream, his mother's, or Georgie's scream- the scream no one had ever heard, but that Eddie knew without a doubt was the last sound he made. The boat bobbed up and down, like it was mocking Eddie's slack jaw stance.

Eddie did not scream, though his mouth was stretched impossibly wide as if to scream, but noise would never be able to express the feeling that expanded inside of his chest. A rapid hopelessness, and just like that, his entire system shut down. The world began to crawl with black dots until they took over his vision and all was lost. His body pivoted backwards onto his heels, and then he fell.

His head clipped the corner of the bathroom counter and snapped his head crudely to the side. He hit the floor with a bounce and his head instantly rolled. A sizable cut had split open the skin at his temple just beside his eye and started to pool out onto the tile- though the wound wasn't nearly bad enough to puddle, but no doubt rise concern. That eye just next to the temple went through a hemorrhage the moment of impact, blood vessels breaking apart all throughout the whites of his eyes until nothing was left but blood. Already the paper thin skin just under his eye was starting to bruise, the only outward evidence of the trauma done to the eye until he opened his eyes back up. But that wouldn't be for some time. Passing out had been one thing, but clipping his head had knocked him out cold.

And the balloon continued to float, not moving forward or back, just an aimless arrow, waiting to be found.)

10th

[waystation]

<sub>[It all starts with catching Eddie listening to Britney Spears.

Well, that's not quite right. It all really starts with ipods, and paper boat, and Eddie walking in one day with bloody red instead of white for an eye that looks more Halloween prosthetic than real. He'd fallen and hurt himself, scared by an unwelcome "gift" in their space. Since then, Jake has made a point to stay close. It doesn't seem fair; Jake's more angry than scared of his clown and whoever's breaking into their house to leave things, but he's not the one finding them.

If the boys are right and that clown is here doing these things, he's an asshole too scared to fight a real opponent.

A domino effect of a Britney Spears track and afternoons spent with Eddie leads to educating him on other 90s pop titans--Backstreet Boys, Justin Beiber, One Direction, some old Shania Twain his mom had loved to listen to. Not all to Jake's tastes, but it's funny watching Eddie try to imitate moves from the Everybody video.

Jake probably shouldn't have laughed. If he hadn't, maybe he wouldn't be now sitting on Eddie's carpet with his back against the bed, a cup of "lemonade" in his hand and his eyes watering from an unexpected massacre of his taste buds. So this is what the flavor of betrayal is like...]</sub>

You said this was lemonade, Eddie! It's... it's-- _{[Please hold for a pucker-faced grimace, toes curling against the floor.]} not.

cw; underage children getting/being drunk this entire thread

[clussy]

(The companionship was, unsurprisingly, much needed.

Eddie's mood since getting hurt, finding the balloon, and everything else had run thin. He was brittle on a regular basis, but now he was outright straddling a fine line of having a plain old fashioned mental break down between being paranoid and upset. Jake neutralized that by being around so often. It made it impossible for Eddie to really get lost in his head where thoughts got dark and invasive.

He'd been insecure about the eye too at first for dumb, vain reasons on top of feeling like an idiot for getting hurt from passing out. Jake had erased all that. Laughing with Eddie, touching his hair and making funny comments that pushed at Eddie until he was giggling into his hands and forgetting why he had been nervous at all to begin with.

There's this funny thing about future music and Eddie. It made him go electric the same way as when Jake first showed him emojis. The future was this massive world that might as well be some fantasy realm holed up in his wall. It was amazing to him- everything was so amazing!

And Jake knew better than the other kids here about all this neat stuff. Eddie had distinct tastes though, and he learned rather quickly what he did or didn't like.

Laughing could inspire some awful feelings in Eddie. A life of vicious bullying and insecurities did that to a boy. But he'd come a long way very quickly with Jake, and he knew that Jake wasn't ever laughing at him to be cruel. It was the kind of laughing that made Eddie blush and give him a shove. Shut up, Jake! But there was this mirth in his eyes, even the bloodied blacked out one.

Eddie was laying on his belly in front of Jake, his chin in his palm, as he watched Jake take a sip of Eddie's special lemonade. At once Eddie was shrieking with laughing, rolling himself over onto his back as the laughter shook violently through him. It had been a long time since something made him laugh so hard. It made the right side of his head ache, but God was it worth it!)

Your face! (That grimace! Eddie rolled himself back over and scooted himself up onto his knees.) It's half lemonade.

(He scooted closer to Jake.) That's why you gotta drink it in one big swallow, Jake.

proofreading me is already drunk, i added in 90s when i didn't use 90s artists, eyyy

[waystation]

<sub>[Eddie's peal of laughter, made without fear of what monster ears might be listening, is almost startling, one of the loudest sounds he's heard in a while that wasn't immediately mitigated afterward with a guilty look, as is the general norm among the locals.

Eyes streaming, trying not to choke out his own helpless laugh and just plain choke along with it, he reaches out to put a hand over Eddie's mouth.]</sub>

Shhh! Shhh.

_{[It burns all the way down into his stomach; whether that's the booze he can clearly taste or the stinging tartness of the lemon juice, he can't tell. He loses the war against the urge to cough, muffling it and an indignant sound into the bend of his elbow once he's used his sleeve to wipe his eyes.]}

It's all bitter! _{[But Eddie's mirth still drags a laugh out of him. Pretty sure you're what parents call a bad influence, bucko.]} Where'd you even get the booze? I can taste it. Haven't you had enough after drinking that red stuff?