Realistic or Modern Furry Fuzzballs Funtime Arcade (and pizzeria)

[Hawke.]

(Here it is Sleipnir come get your juice)

The place smelled like feet and pizza, that was the first and most overwhelming thing Warren noticed upon walking into the somewhat run down pizzeria. He wasn’t sure what he’d gotten himself into here, he was overstimulated immediately upon entering the damn place.
There was an arcade with games that must have been as old as him all going off at once, the lights just low enough to hide all of the suspicious staining on the carpet, a play place that squeaked threateningly as kids climbed through the plastic tunnels, screaming as if someone was stabbing them to death.
after standing there a moment, dazed, Warren figured he ought to probably find his party, Savannah had invited him personally to her birthday party, though maybe Dominic and Wes had suggested it to her, maybe it was a ploy to get him out of the house.
The tiles of the eating area were sticky, a mix of soda and god-knows-what coating the floor thickly and pulling at the bottom of his shoes as he made his way to the table, where he sat his gift next to the others, eyeing the greasy, thin pizzas that had been brought out.
right in front of the table was a stage, animatronic animals stood stiffly holding their instruments, their fur was dingy and gross, falling off in places from years of wear and tear. He assumed the one standing front and center was Fuzzy Fuzzball, a yellow, vaguely bear or maybe rodent shaped animatronic holding a microphone. He was accompanied on stage by his bandmates; a white chicken, Chico according to its “hi my name is:” sticker, a brown dog so cleverly named Doggy, and a blindingly pink rabbit named BunBun.
Their aesthetics were incredibly incoherent, but already there were kids gathering at the edge of the stage waiting for the show to start and the animatronics to suddenly come alive.
Warren spotted his friends then, sliding over to where they were standing. “Front row seats and everything, you really didn’t spare any expense, huh?” He hoped the pain in his grin wasn’t too apparent.

 

[Sleipnir]

It appeared that whatever Wesley or Dominic's ploy was -- assuming, anyway, there was one -- Savannah herself had been more than eager to be involved, based on the way her eyes widened and she started bouncing on her toes when she saw Warren wander -- stumble? -- through the building. She pulled on Wesley's shirt and, almost the instant she did, he stopped what he was doing to look down to her. Whatever she was saying to him was drowned out by the noise and music in the building, but Wes looked up and glanced around til he found his friend's tall, lanky shape in the chaos. He threw him a smile before turning and getting Dominic's attention, saying something to him briefly before giving him a quick kiss and heading over to meet Warren.
To him, that alone felt like a big enough step. But he had other things to deal with. He scoffed when Warren commented on the expenses, making a face and looking back at him. Maybe he hadn't hidden his pain quite well enough. Maybe-- and it was just as likely-- Wes just shared in it. After all, it wasn't like he was immune to the sticky floor trying to stop him from leaving, or the sharp, glowing-white sound of plastic creaking, or the neon array of lights and sound they were being assaulted by at any given time. He raised his eyebrows with a half-smile of his own and glanced back up at the animatronics on the stage. "...Someone did," he replied, perhaps a little condescendingly -- but Savannah wasn't there to hear him disparage her choice of venue. "Believe me. Dom and I both tried to talk her out of it. The girl gets what she wants, though. Somehow she finds it very easy to push us around..."
He turned and looked over at the animatronics as they began their performance with a squint. Sure seemed to him like they should've been a little more well-maintained than this. Wasn't like keeping the felt in good shape was that hard. He didn't comment on it, though. He just glanced back at Warren with a slightly conspiratorial look. "But you must sympathize with being a push-over for a girl, right--?" He just couldn't help it. He couldn't help it any more than he could help tossing his head ever so slightly in Morgan's direction, where she was doing a much better job at pretending to enjoy the performance, dancing and smiling with Savannah. But then, the noise wasn't nearly as bad for her.

 

[Hawke.]

It was nice to see Wesley and Dominic together, and the way Savannah bounced on her toes when she saw him reminded him why he’d come to this place, how could he have said no?
And seeing his friends happy and functional together was nice too.
He scoffed, glancing over at Morgan, “I’m not a push over for her, we just hunt ghosts together— least I’m pretty sure she has better taste in dinner shows. I’m sure the pizza’s wonderful, really.”
The animatronics certainly weren’t in good shape, but he found his eyes straying to Morgan, anyway when the show began.
as they started to move and sing a couple of the kids screamed, running back to their parents. And Warren couldn’t blame them, their movements were jerky, the way they twisted and strummed or tapped their instruments felt disjointed. Warren could’ve sworn he smelled something absolutely rank, yet familiar, burning from the stage.
“Sure is a fun time alright…”
He thought about grabbing a fire extinguisher for a moment before suddenly the animatronics powered down mid-song, limbs falling limp or freezing in place with clattering sounds. An employee stepped out, probably no more than fifteen, apologizing profusely as the curtains drew closed behind them.
“We’ll have them back in a minute they uh— they’re just taking a break!” She tried her best, though disgruntled parents and children were already yelling. “But— oh look! It’s Fuzzy— Uh- Furry fuzzball coming to say hello!”

It was almost comical seeing the other employee struggling through the door in the big mascot suit, all wrinkled and just as musty as the animatronics, but it served as a good enough distraction for the kids and parents.

 

[Sleipnir]

Wes have Warren a slightly amused, and very much unconvinced laugh when he insisted they only hunted ghosts together— he knew well enough there was far more to that story than that.

But then, Wesley Moss had himself in a unique position to understand the two of them and he knew it. He certainly knew Morgan's side of things better than he should have, and though they didn't talk about it, he remembered how Warren had behaved during the cabin haunting, when he went out to the Dixie to help him and Morgan out with it. But now wasn't the time-- not at Savvy's birthday party when he was with his boyfriend, and all that was behind them. His attention was drawn away from that when the animatronics froze. He could see from where he was standing just how disappointed Savannah looked, and already, Morgan had dropped down to her knee with her and a couple other children to talk to them. He couldn't hear her words, but he knew her Ranger Voice when he heard it. All it took was a quick glance up with just the right look to ask for help. Came with the territory when he knew her so damn well. She glanced over at Warren, too, and for the first time noticed him -- and oh, he knew that look, too. She used to get that look when he walked into the visitor center. He sighed and gave her a sympathetic smile and a nod before turning to Warren. "I'd better rescue Morgan from Savvy," he told him. He headed that way and turned to throw a look over his shoulder with a grin. "You should say hi to Fuzzy."

He switched off with her, and just as quick, Morgan slipped away. She threw another look at Warren, smoothed out the skirt on her dark green dress, pulled her hair over one shoulder, and wandered over to him with her hands in her pockets. She spent a good long moment watching the children run over to greet 'Fuzzy.' Then she just cocked her head with a chuckle. "You know, our Smoky Bear costume was way better cared for than that," she told him, looking over. "Serious business in the Forest Service. Good to see you here, though. I didn't really expect to." She tossed another look around the room with a squint. "...I'm... not sure how to feel about any of it."

 

[Hawke.]

Warren was by no means proud of the way he’d acted before about Wes and Morgan, but now he was pretty certain he didn’t have a chance. He’d squandered that.
She was beautiful though, even if it was just a kids party she made him feel underdress in his jeans and fitted dark blue button-down. Any man or woman would be lucky to have her. “Well, maybe they should stop hiring so many fifteen year olds and hire more forestry techs, huh?” He watched as the kids gathered around the worker who was almost certainly nearly blind in his suit.

“it’s… certainly got it’s quirks, but I couldn’t let Savvy down, this place must be pretty old, they certainly don’t seem to have realized new musics come out…. Shit, I was in college when this came out I think.” He mused, then the smell hit him again, he wrinkled his nose at it and looked back at the stage again. “…You smell that?”
It had been a while but that smell stuck with you, you never forgot it. “Maybe it’s my mind playing tricks on me… but… no, yeah, probably just hallucinating. This place reeks.”
He was sure he’d smelled crime scenes less offensive. He was almost positive.

 

[Sleipnir]

Morgan chuckled at his comment. More forestry techs. Yeah, as if any of them would take a job here over the winter. She didn't even really notice when Warren's face contorted and he turned to look back at the stage. Her eyes had drifted back to his neck and shoulders, and the way his shirt fit around his chest and waist -- not subtle, no. But he clearly didn't notice, based on the way he asked about the smell. Morgan's eyes jumped back up to his and she frowned, then glanced away, taking a few slow, deliberate breaths. It was faint, almost covered by the scent of pizza, but it put her in the mind of a bighorn sheep or a deer stashed in a tree somewhere off the West Rim Trail.

Not that it had happened before. But she was pretty sure no one had gotten through the Telephone Loop and back down to the Grotto faster.

Part of her would have agreed. If she agreed, maybe whatever it was they were noticing simply... wouldn't be a problem. Because what else could happen with Warren Mills and Morgan McCoy at a birthday party? Not ruining it somehow with weird shit? But she knew better. She wasn't about to let him believe he was having a flair-up when he wasn't. So she sighed and kept her eyes on the wall behind him. "...Maybe it's the dead rats?" she guessed hopefully. "I mean... Yeah, I... smell that."

 

[Hawke.]

To Warren, it conjured memories of standing in the Cuyahoga River, the smell of rot that no amount of water could possibly wash away.
That smell mingling with wet earth in the middle of a forest somewhere, pitch dark and raining.
somehow it felt even more disgusting here, though. “…Maybe, but I’m not sure.” He heaved a deep, exhausted sigh. “Let’s not ruin this, though. We can wait til the parties over at the very least. Let them have their cake and get clear of this place.” Savannah didn’t deserve that, it was already disappointing enough that the robot band couldn’t play for her. “Wes should expect this by now, weird shit follows us around no matter what the circumstances.”

He leaned over to look at the pizzas, they smelled off and looked unappetizing at best. “Not that hungry, honestly-“ his attention was caught then by the teenager who had made the announcement scurrying off somewhere towards the back, a security office it looked like. He furrowed his brow.
“That doesn’t look suspicious at all, though.”
he knew he probably should have just called the cops, but what would they do, realistically? He needed more evidence than the place smells bad and the old ass animatronics don’t work. And that fifteen year old is acting weird.
He looked back to Morgan, not so subtly admiring her a moment, even in the low light she just had to go and be unbearably attractive. If that was the word he wanted to assign to how he felt about her “…Wanna take a walk around?…”

 

[Sleipnir]

Even as he gazed back at her, Morgan just looked right back, and either didn’t register or didn’t feel inclined to acknowledge how he admired her. She hesitated a few long moments, then looked back to where the kid had hurried off.

“…Yeah, Wes should know better by now,” she mumbled. It brought back memories of him, wide-eyed and in uniform, huddled in the uniform cache and demanding an explanation for the ghost that had walked right through him. It brought back how cold her fingers were and the way the hall light had flickered when they were alone in the bedroom of an old cabin. It brought back the exhausted look on his face when she was hunting the ghost of Blake Hendricks in the campground.

…Blake Hendricks.

Sometimes she could swear she could feel her hands against the cold, wet sandstone. She had a panic attack the first time she went into a slot canyon after she’d turned around and cast her light up into a driftwood snag… Warren had been there. Warren knew. And she went back there— she didn’t mean to do it. She didn’t mean to be standing there in the bottom of a pitch-black hole, shivering, with a radio on her hip in a dead silent prison. The air smelled cold damp and earthy. There was something so much sharper tinging it.

She drew a sharp, shuddering breath and squeezed her eyes shut. She knew this smell, she knew she did. She grabbed Warren’s sleeve. It was second nature by then, she supposed, and she didn’t question it now. She just let out a sigh and turned to look up at him again. “…Yeah. Yeah, we should… we could. But we’re not starting shit til after Sav opens gifts and eats some cake,” she insisted firmly, trying to shake off her bad feelings. “Gotta promise me that. And hold me to it, too.”

 

[Hawke.]

She surprised him a bit, grabbing him so suddenly like that, but he didn’t try to pull away or tell her to stop, he might have even liked it if she didn’t.
she only did that if she was scared though, all those times she’d grabbed ahold of him in the dark were still very fresh in his mind, and he wished she would cling to him for more than just comfort, but now wasn’t the time for that.
“We owe it to her to wait, I don’t want her caught up in this. Last thing we need is another haunted child.” He said, gingerly he took her hand, guiding her away from the dining area and over to the arcade, they had mini golf, old school arcade games. It was busy with little kids darting all around them, yanking on the joysticks of games they didn’t have money for as if they were playing it.
Something about that place made him tense, as if he was being watched.

As the night progressed and cake was eaten, the crowd slowly began to disperse. Already Warren was exhausted, his head hurt thanks to the pulsing dance music that was turned up to an absurd volume.
Wes hadn’t asked him to, but he couldn’t help but keep a closer eye on Savvy, making sure she didn’t mysteriously go missing.
He couldn’t help but worry and he was sure Wes and Dom were bound to catch on soon if they hadn’t already. At least Wesley.
He stuck close to Morgan too, both to keep tabs and to make sure she hadn’t seen anything else of note. He hadn’t really anticipated having a case but when there was one somewhere like this, where so many people could get hurt?
He needed to get a good look at those animatronic critters. Which, he realized, had never gotten up and running again. Instead the underpaid actor had nearly suffered a heat injury for the multitudes of little kids, though he seemed to take some joy in scaring them shitless.

 

[Sleipnir]

She did her best to shake the feeling off, and when Warren took her hand, Morgan didn’t stop him. She just squeezed his back, trying to ground herself. But he didn’t ask questions, and she was thankful for that.

She was no better: Sure, she tried to be social, and she played with the kids and laughed and talked, and of course she spent time with Dominic and Wesley, but she was a little distracted the whole time. Something about how cold she was when she got too close to the mini golf. Something about a back light flickering. She didn’t mention it, of course. But she did regroup with Warren at the end of it, once things were settling down and Savannah seemed tired. She fell in beside him and glanced over at him. “So… what’s the plan from here, boss?” She asked, voice low. “You weren’t exactly hired to investigate a potential situation here.”

 

[Hawke.]

It seemed the more they paid attention to it the worse it got, the chill in the air near the mini golf, the feeling of being watched from the unlit corners of the building. He’d done his best to put on a face, eating and avoiding talking to anyone other than the people he knew as usual. That was unlikely to change about him, even if they got him out of the house more and had him medicated semi- regularly. He’d never been much for parties, especially parties where the far more sociable and rowdy Drunk Warren wasn’t able to be present. He had a feeling he and Morgan at least would be more than deserving of a margarita or two after this, though.

She was right, he hadn’t exactly been hired to investigate this situation, but he didn’t doubt that the employees knew there was one.
“…Well… we’ve gotta get permission to stay late first, I guess. I don’t have any equipment with me though…”
The few employees he saw looked exhausted, they clearly just wanted to clear tables and leave. Maybe one of them would be willing to help, he doubted that there’d be a manager around that late in a place like this. There’d no doubt be some sort of security though.
“Think Wes needs to know about this?” He asked, searching for their friend, he figured they’d be leaving soon with how tired Savannah seemed. “Or maybe we should spare his blood pressure.”

 

[Sleipnir]

Morgan huffed and looked over at him, arms crossed when he asked about Wesley. “Let’s put it this way,” she suggested. “If I was no longer your problem, but I was about to do something kind of stupid and dangerous, and you knew you couldn’t stop me nor want any part of ghost hunting, would you wanna know what I was up to?” Seemed a simple way to put it as far as she was concerned. Hard no for her.

She turned to watch the closing building again. Wesley was near the doors, thanking a few of their last guests with Dominic, who had Savannah in his arms already. She could tell from where she was he was relieved to be done. High schoolers and a few adults were cleaning the tables. Her dark green eyes shifted to the back rooms with a squint. “We don’t have any equipment,” she agreed. “And I’m not exactly dressed for ghost hunting.” She raised an eyebrow and looked over at Warren with a mischievous grin for a few seconds. “We could come back tomorrow and just… walk into the back like we own the place and find a place to hide. Wait for the building to close.”

 

[Hawke.]

“…That’s a good way to put it, no, definitely not.” Not that he could imagine her not being his problem, or not being concerned for her safety.

Her next suggestion caught him a little off guard though and he needed a moment to pause and really think about it. “Or we could talk to security and not commit a crime, I mean, they’ve almost certainly noticed. If we did then *surely* they aren’t completely blind.” He checked his phone, they wouldn’t be able to drive all the way back to headquarters. “We can always come back tomorrow if nobody’s there, but the security office is just over there.” He tipped his head towards the door he’d watched the worker go into just a little earlier. “If we can get the keys we can go back and get our stuff, come back and set up. I’d like to get a look at those animatronics regardless.”
He didn’t wait too long for Morgan before he started to kind of wander in the direction of the door, now totally invested in this case that he hadn’t asked for.

He knocked on the door a few times and after several long moments someone called from inside, telling them to come in.
The security guard couldn’t have been more than twenty, and was sat at his desk with his laptop, probably doing homework. Maybe reading fan fiction.
“Can I help you?…”
Warren reached for his wallet. Pulling out a business card and handing it to the kid. “Warren Mills, I’m a paranormal investigator. This is Morgan McCoy, my… partner.” He glanced over his shoulder at Morgan. “We noticed there was something kind of strange going on, thought we’d come in and ask about it.”
“There’s always weird shit going on, that’s why I stay in here with the doors locked and all the lights on. Can’t scare me if I’m listening to lo-fi. I don’t get paid enough to deal with it.”
“Well, we do, and since people are using this building somewhat regularly it’s… a bit concerning.”
“So…. What are you asking?….”

 

[Sleipnir]

Morgan just gave Warren an innocent smile when he suggested not committing a crime and shook her head with a shrug. It was worth a shot at least, right? She didn’t argue, though, and just followed when Warren went straight over to the security office.

Naturally, the guy at the desk was also pretty young. Seemed to Morgan like they weren’t really in the business of hiring people who were really adults— but then, who could be surprised, when they didn’t want to pay them? And listening to him, the kid’s thought process was valid. As far as she was concerned, it was for the best that he stayed locked in here and didn’t get involved. But her thoughts drifted all the same— so many ghosts cut breakers all the time. Why not here, unless they had backup generators? Maybe that was it.

She looked back over at him when he and Warren finished talking and lifted her head. “We’re asking for after-hours access,” she replied. Her tone was firm enough and confident enough that it didn’t really sound much like she was asking. But it almost came naturally at that point. “If something’s going on here, we can figure it out and make it stop. We actually have a pretty good track record.”

 

[Hawke.]

It would take a lot more to convince Warren to commit a crime. Probably not much more, but it would be very out of character and only one person held that kind of power over him. Unfortunately she knew it too.

“I mean…. I’m just… I’m not really a manager or anything. All I do is sit back here and look up at the cameras sometimes. I’m just here to make sure nobody steals the shitty animatronics. Not sure why anyone would.”
Warren glanced over at Morgan, sincerely he hoped they wouldn’t have to come back and hide. “Well, you’ll still be here right? And I mean, I’m not gonna be stealing any animatronics. Don’t know about my partner here though.”
The kid didn’t seem to find Warren all that funny, not that he needed to. But Warren was trying to come off as non-threatening.
“I couldn’t care less if you did, if I’m being honest. I’d still have to ask my manager if it’s alright, but he’s not gonna be back til tomorrow, maybe anyway.”

It seemed fair enough to Warren, they were a little underprepared and in Morgan’s case, overdressed to stay the night hunting a ghost. “That’ll give us some time to get our supplies then. And some rest, you’ve got our card so… just have him give us a call. Or we’ll come in tomorrow. That sound alright to you, Morgan?” Warren asked, looking down at her.

 

[Sleipnir]

Morgan leaned back on one hip toward Warren, cocking her head and listening the two talk. When he glanced down at her— when it sounded like they might have to break in after all, she shot him another wicked grin. All the same, though, it ended up sounding like Warren’s way would be the way to go. She wasn’t surprised — he was stubborn like that, after all. She couldn’t complain. It was probably better that way, all things considered.

At the joke about stealing the animatronics, she raised her eyebrows with a more amused grin and shrugged like maybe that was still up in the air. All the same, the kid didn’t seem to like their little joke. Unfortunate. Morgan thought the two of them were funny.

So she nodded along and looked back up at him again when Warren turned to her one more time. “Sounds good,” she replied. “Tomorrow’s my Friday anyway. We can ready up before we come out and I don’t have to worry about work in the morning after that.”