The Warehouse: All day Saturday

[badassprodigy]

Barry had considered going home for the holidays but in the end decided to stick around in Fandom. All the weird holiday stuff going had no scientific reasoning and it was bugging the shit of him.

"Pillows just don't turn into fucking cotton candy!"

Scientific research on Fandom Advent was driving him bat shit.

[Open for SP!]

Comments

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal, having finished all the Christmas shopping he could do in stores (even stores that shipped via Portalocity), was working on those things he couldn't.

Which had brought him here. He was slightly skeptical, but optimistic and curious.

He was also polite, so after failing to find a doorbell he could recognize as such, he knocked.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Door's open!" Barry shouted from his workspace. "Come on in Dr. Lecter. Sorry I didn't call you back the other day. This weird holiday stuff is driving me nuts."

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal came in cautiously, watching his step. "I had heard you might be busy. And I'm familiar with the mindset of very focused people," he added wryly. "You did get my message, though."

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, who's the mutual friend you were talking about?" Barry asked. "I mean electronics are easy but if you want something tailored it might take a day or so."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Jonothon Starsmore," Hannibal answered. "I'm attempting to convince him of the value of twenty-first century technology."

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Starsmore? Barry said raising an eyebrow. "Didn't really think he'd be a Luddite."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Not a Luddite precisely." Hannibal came closer, running a curious eye (but no hands) over Barry's research. "He has no problems in using technology. He's simply very bad at adopting new things. I asked why he didn't use a tablet for e-mail, calendar, and books, and he gave me a list of reasons that I took as a challenge."

He shrugged. "I was going to check some of the worlds further into the future, but I've no idea how user-friendly their technologies might be. So, when I remembered you had made his phone, I thought perhaps you could help."

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

Barry pursed his lips in thought. "Sounds like an interesting challenge. Probably what needs to happen is to give it a way to hook him in. He's pretty into music, right? I might be able to set it up to work with his instruments and such. Think that might work?"

[sharp_as_knives]

"It certainly couldn't hurt," Hannibal agreed. "Although the thing he's likely missing most is a power source and amplifier for his guitar."

How multi did you want to make this tool, Barry?

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"I think I can make it work more like a portable mixing board or studio," Barry said drumming his fingers on the table. "Is there anything else you'd like it to do? Anything specific?"

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal spread his hands. "If you could use whatever method the phones here have that allows them to communicate across worlds? It would be good if he could access the internet, purchase books and music, and text from Glacia. Radio would be even better, if he could get music from anywhere he likes."

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"I can probably make that happen," Barry said thinking it through. "I think the island already has a connection established so it shouldn't be too much trouble. When do you want it by?"

[sharp_as_knives]

"I was originally hoping to give it to him as a Christmas gift, though I realize that doesn't leave much time. If it's too much to ask, then whenever you finish it, I'm sure I can find a reason to gift it to him."

Was it too much to ask, Barry? How good were you?

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

Barry thought about it for a moment and nodded. "I can have it for you by Tuesday. Only thing is I don't gift wrap. That okay?"

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal chuckled. "Perfectly." He could wrap it himself. Probably in plaid.

"What would you like in return?"

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

Barry gave Lecter a little shrug. "I do t feel right charging you anything. The tech I design for the music interface I can patent. Plus it's for Starsmore and since it's a gift I wouldn't feel right charging you what I've given to others for free."

[sharp_as_knives]

"That would make it more of a present from you than from me," Hannibal pointed out. "For a return favor, then?" he suggested. "A cooking lesson at a later date, or a specially cooked meal. For you alone, or for you and another, if you like."

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Sounds like a deal," Barry said with a nod. "I'll drop it off at your house on Tuesday."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Thank you; I look forward to seeing what you can do." Hannibal nodded. "Should you have any questions, I am listed in the school directory."

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"Please, please tell me I'm not the only one who's been followed around today by very tiny, very helpful people?"

Elsa was looking maybe just a touch chagrined as she peered in through the doorway of the warehouse.

"They tell me they're elves, but..." She looked a little dubious. Elves in Norse mythos were very different from the ones that were wandering around the island. And the tiny Christmas elf thing was, if it was a holiday tradition in Elsa's time at all, an exceptionally new one. "They're not like any elf I've read about."

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"No one has been pestering me," Barry said turning around to look at Elsa. "Maybe because I'd just tell them to fuck off."

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

Elsa couldn't help but smile a little at that.

"They keep insisting that they're here to fix things," she explained, making her way across the room and looking around at... whatever it was he was up to, in here. "But I haven't broken anything, so they've been out of luck around me. It's probably for the best that they've been leaving you alone. I can't imagine their 'helping' would be very good for your..."

...

"Your research?"

No, really. She had no idea what was going on here, but it was probably the most festive science ever.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," Barry said with a sigh. "Whatever this island is doing it's completely fucked up and I can't figure out how this shit is happening. Makes no fucking sense."

Someone might be a bit testy from wearing a Santa hat yesterday.

It was scratchy.

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

It had been a bit scratchy, hadn't it? Elsa wasn't too upset about it, but it had been impossible to do anything with her hair the entire day. She was happy enough to be without it.

"You're still trying to get the things the island does to make sense?" Her smile now was just plainly amused as she stepped behind Barry and reached her hands up to rub at his shoulders. "Have you ever had much luck with that? Because if you can explain to me how I managed to make a stick point directly to a strong source of evil the other week, I might even be more impressed than usual."

But if this was going to turn into another 'gremlin vaccine' thing, she might contemplate thumping him a good one, instead.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Nothing on this island ever makes sense," Barry sighed as he closed eyes and tilted his head back as Elsa began to run his shoulders. "I'm not sure why I fucking bother. Other than not knowing why still bugs the shit out of me every other day."

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

Elsa smiled a little more, and then got up on her tiptoes to drop a quick kiss on Barry's forehead, since he was leaning his head back and all.

"You've got a natural drive to understand things, to make sense of them," she pointed out. "I could pick up some books on the basics of magic from work, if you'd like. And I'm sure there are people who would understand it to explain it far better than I ever could. Mr. Constantine, perhaps?"

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

Oh, Elsa. If you knew anything about Timothy Hunter, you'd know that talking with Mr. Constantine would just be a bad idea.

Barry cracked a grin at the kiss, though he kept his eyes closed. "I've already taken a look at some of the non-dangerous books at the library. Some seem to be dressed up chemistry or physics. Others just seem fucking wrong. I don't know. After the whole gremlin vaccine shit that went down I'm leary about going to fucking deep into it."

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"Which is why I suggested talking to somebody who understands it, instead of dabbling in it without really knowing what it's all about," Elsa replied, her tone prim, even while she wore a serene smile. "Because if we have to go through a repeat of the gremlin vaccine, Barry Ween, I'm going to freeze your socks to the ceiling with you in them and leave you there until the side effects wear off."

Lovingly!

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

Geez. You sneeze Gummi bears one time...

"Yeah, I'm not going through that shit again," Barry said opening his eyes to look up at Elsa. "So we'll just keep the sock freezing thing off the table at the moment. At some point I'm just going to say fuck it with all this holiday shit and get back to real science."

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you'll be doing that on the twenty-sixth of December?"

Once all of the Advent stuff came to an end? Perhaps?

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"If that's when this stuff is supposed to end, I guess so," Barry shrugged. "I'm interested to see how this ends. Are you sticking around here for the holiday?"

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"I... probably will be," Elsa agreed, sobering a little. "I ought to go home, I know that, but the holiday is... it's not a great time. And I don't know if I can handle Anna on my own, right now."

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

Barry winced a little in sympathy. "Well... I know you too are just starting to connect again. Maybe you should bring a guest from here to help as a buffer. I'm sure there's a couple of us who don't have holiday celebrations at home this time of year."

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"It isn't just the holiday," Elsa replied, biting her lip. "Our parents..."

She shook her head. It had been nearly a year, now. She'd been terrible about dealing with it when their ship had been lost in the storm at sea, she wasn't entirely certain she'd be any better about it now.

"All the more reason for me to try, I know. But it's not an easy prospect, really."

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

Barry grimaced a little at that. "Would it help if I came?" Barry asked hesitantly. "I'm not trying to pressure you or anything but if you're going to be facing this at home I can bail on my plans. Or I'm at least a phone call away."

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"I don't feel pressured at all," she replied, chewing her lip and smiling a little bit. "If you have plans, though... I wouldn't want you to feel obligated to... bail... on them. Not for my sake. It is Christmas."

She was trying very hard to not scream too plainly, 'Please come with me, please don't leave me?' Barry had to want to come. And if his parents or Jeremy or somebody had claimed him first...

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"I'll come," he said without a trace of hesitation. "I've got an old Ronotic version of me at home that will fool my parents as long as it doesn't eat fruitcake. And Jeremy and I can catch up later. I'll just be a third wheel with him and Roxie anyway. Only thing I ask is that I be referred to as Prince Barry of The Kingdom of Homecoming. My official title."

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"It's a deal," Elsa decreed. "Henceforth, whenever you set foot in the kingdom of Arendelle, you shall be known as Prince Barry, of Homecoming."

And then, she couldn't help but laugh.

"Kai and Gerda are going to have no idea what to make of you."

It would be kind of glorious.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Oh they're going to love me," Barry said with a smirk. "Especially once I get them a Roomba. I haven't gotten anything for your sister though. Maybe I'll get her a pair of moose slippers too."

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"They are ridiculously comfortable," Elsa announced. "And more Anna's style than my own, I think. She'd probably love them."

Of course, they were something given to her by another human being. That was amazing to Anna, wasn't it?

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"You can admit that the moose slippers are awesome," Barry teased. "And if Anna got the same pair as you she'd go apeshit for them"

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"She'd definitely be excited," Elsa replied, because, no, there was no way she was going to say 'apeshit,' Barry. "Well then, Prince Barry, I think that means you're practically obligated to get Anna a pair of moose slippers for Christmas. As an offering of peace between our respective kingdoms."

She smiled a little more.

"And... when would be good for us to go? I would like to take tomorrow, at least, to make certain Kai and Gerda have time to prepare for myself and a guest, but perhaps we could leave on Monday evening or so..."

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"I have a thing to make for Dr. Lecter," Barry replied. "I can probably get it done before then. Monday evening sounds great."

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"If you need more time, just let me know," Elsa replied. "Anna won't be expecting me, so she won't be disappointed if we arrive on Tuesday instead. How does that sound?"

She was really just offering to make this easy for him, and not at all procrastinating so she didn't have to spend as much time in Arendelle! Honest!

...

But really, she wasn't going to let herself put this trip off, now.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Elsa. Barry wasn't buying into your leave a little later ploy.

"No, Monday is good," Barry replied with a grin. "Don't worry about me. It's not like anything else is going on around here."

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"You make it very difficult for a lady to panic and change her mind, did you know that?"

Elsa didn't seem terribly upset, and it was a fairly light accusation, considering. It was probably a good sign, actually. After all, she was smiling again.

"Fine, then. I'll arrange for a portal to arrive on Monday evening, and then... I guess you get to see Arendelle. Some of Arendelle. The castle."

Not much of Arendelle at all.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"What no tours of the countryside?" Barry joked. "Look at me. Most of my free time I spend in a warehouse. The castle will be fine. It'll be interesting to see where you live."