The Worst Kind of Surprise Party

[all_too_familiar]

There is a man. He's meditating, and floating several inches off of the ground. This is fairly normal for him - at least he's not floating various furniture this time. Just himself. He doesn't feel like exerting himself any further. It's been a long day.

He realizes it's going to be a lot longer when he's no longer in his room.

"I hate surprises," he sighs, and he opens his eyes to look at his new surroundings. He's still floating, and surprisingly calm.

Comments

[unmarred]

Mark opens the door.

"Good morning."

[all_too_familiar]

"Good morning! I had breakfast, it occurred to me that you also might need some."

[unmarred]

"I seem to be all right for now."

[all_too_familiar]

"All right. Let me know if that changes."

Revan seems much more chipper today.

"I think I'm going to loot the place," he says brightly.

[unmarred]

"Sounds like fun."

[all_too_familiar]

"Oh, loads! Want to help?"

[unmarred]

"Naturally."

[all_too_familiar]

Revan grins. And then it's time to loot the place.

He is systematic and thorough and obviously takes a certain joy in it.

[unmarred]

Mark is on hand to consult about the nature and likely usefulness of various objects! He's not an expert in the early twenty-first century, but he's a lot closer to one than Revan.

[all_too_familiar]

How useful! Revan is bright enough to identify money on his own, and can figure out most of the obvious stuff without help, but he does need some things explained. Mark is so useful!

They find:

About a hundred and thirty dollars in cash

Several sets of clothes, some of which are even worthy of being worn

A wrist watch

Three cases of tik-tacs

Four cell phones, and only one charger

A stash of porn that Revan finds 'disappointingly boring' ("You'd think murder cultists would at least have interesting fetishes!")

Nail polish (in colors purple, red, and black)

One small case of tissues

A jewelry box filled with shitty knockoff jewelry

A 'Nintendo 3DS' with a pokemon game that is mid-Elite Four fight

A metric shitton of pretty hair clips

One diary, nearly empty except for the promise that the owner will write in it more

A deck of playing cards

A tiny first aid kit mostly filled with stuff to patch up bites, but also some band-aids

Six stuffed cats

Lots and lots of ominous candles

A lighter and a set of matches

Two rolls of duct tape

A truly astounding collection of sex toys (Revan doesn't joke about this one, tempting as it is; the former owner was the vampire. He raises an eyebrow, closes the box, and puts it back in the closet without another word.)

A set of coupons for 'All you can eat!' at a local diner

A night light

"You know," observes Revan when they have finished looting the place, "I don't know if I'm disappointed in them or if I just find it all hilarious."

[unmarred]

"Eh. I'm charmed by the cats. They're so fluffy," says Mark.

[all_too_familiar]

"Pity my hair's not longer, or I might indulge in the hair clips."

[unmarred]

Mark giggles. "Some of them are quite nice."

[all_too_familiar]

"And there are so many options available!"

[unmarred]

"Anyway. Time to find out if I explode in sunlight?"

[all_too_familiar]

Revan makes a face.

"Mm. Yeah, if you're up for it. And we should figure it out as safely as possible - maybe try reflections of sunlight or something before moving on to the real thing. No one had a hand mirror, but I could break one of the ones in the bathrooms and use that."

[unmarred]

Mark shrugs. "All right."

[all_too_familiar]

They go and commit some property damage, and then they have some broken mirror shards that can be used to reflect sunlight. Also a blanket, stripped from one of the beds, to combat sunlight if it looks like it'll cause Mark to explode.

And then they go to see if Mark will react in any particular way to reflected sunlight.

[unmarred]

Indirect sunlight seems to be fine - he can stand in the same room as a window - but apparently the mirror reflects it well enough for his skin to catch fire.

He giggles and smothers the flames with his other hand. "Ow. Well, that was educational."

[all_too_familiar]

"Yeah," agreed Revan, raising his eyebrows. "Well. Not the end of the world, but shit. I was hoping we were just being paranoid and cautious instead of completely on the right track."

[unmarred]

"This is going to make travel inconvenient."

[all_too_familiar]

"A bit. I mean, I bet there's clothes that could help. But probably best not to chance it. I'm happy to play fetch for things you can't get during the day."

[unmarred]

"Thanks."

[all_too_familiar]

"Yep! What are poor fellow victims of a murder cult brought together by circumstance and ominous candles for?"

[unmarred]

Mark giggles.