Condor and Justin attempt to sneak Cosmic Bob into Sanctuary

Characters in this scene: Condor, Justin, Jack, Lady Lim

Location: Sanctuary

The sky is growing light in anticipation of dawn, and the elevator doors labeled "NYC" ding open to reveal Octane and Inkstainer, unkempt and bone-weary. Scrapes and scratches cover their bodies; their clothes are torn and stained and even singed in places. They look at each other, too exhausted for words, and attempt to be as stealthy as they can as they use a small wheeled platform to roll a battered pinball machine into the lobby.

Condor leans against the side of the machine and closes their eyes for a long second before opening them again and whispering to Justin: "Shit, where did we actually decide to put this? Did we even talk about that?"

Justin blinks for a moment before realizing that Condor is addressing him. "We could... uh... put it in one of our rooms for now? Where does nobody go except for one of us? ... The gym?"

"Hmmmmmm. Um. Gym's closer, but I have this mental image of Zachary coming down to exercise and being like 'sweet, new pinball machine,' and, uh. Yeah. Rooms it is. Hope nobody's in the lobby, I do *not* have the brainpower to answer questions right now." They pause to yawn. "We can bring it down and set it up after we get some rest."

They begin to slowly roll the pinball machine from the city-elevators to the room-elevators.

He winces at that mental image and nods, conserving energy for pushing the machine (and not pushing it into a wall by mistake) by saying nothing. But he does match Condor's yawn.

The wheels on the little cart are a little louder than he would like as they and the machine pass by Raina's garden, and he glances over, relieved to not see the Alabaster watching them.

The two stop and hold down the pinball machine as it shakes for a few seconds, lights briefly flickering. They wait for a bit, making sure it's settled down before moving on. Condor is walking with a slight limp. Justin is doing most of the pushing.

Jack sees them walking the pinball machine through the lobby. He quirks an eyebrow before going back to his notebook paying them no further mind.

Condor sees Jack and freezes, but by the time their mind has processed the danger, Jack has already looked away. They look at Justin nervously.

Jack sees that the pinball machine's backglass proclaims the game to be "JUNKYARD"

A closer inspection might reveal that the side of the machine, which previously read "CRAZY BOB'S COSMIC SALVAGE", has been rearranged to now simply say "COSMIC BOB."

Justin glances at Jack, briefly alarmed, before shrugging. He whispers to Condor, "I'm staff. You're helping me. Act normal." Then he continues pushing the machine in the direction of the room elevators, thankful that Jack had no questions for them.

Condor and Justin almost make it entirely the way to the elevators when they hear a voice. How did she get behind them? Did they fail to see her?

"And just where are you going with this...Contraband?" Lady questioned, offering a certain definition for the pinball machine. Her voice was piercing, but surprisingly gentle - and unsurprisingly, she still looked weary even as she smiled at the two of them.

Condor jumps, with more energy than they thought themself capable of, and whirls around to face Lady.

"Ah, um, it's- ha, I..." they fish desperately for words, "it's... a gift? For, uh, Sanctuary."

"Not that- I mean, we were going to... ugh, okay, I guess we should have told you sooner. You remember, uh, Crazy Bob?"

Lady nods in confirmation at Condor, while also taking a glance at Justin, to see what the young Warden had to say for himself as well.

She fought hard but suppressed her smile masterfully. It wouldn't do to not given them this challenge in front of them. This opportunity to look just a little ridiculous.

Jack looked over at the rather animated group.

Justin speaks up, with a yawn first - "Hi Christine, so... Condor and I are working on a project for Sanctuary and," he looks down at the pinball machine and rubs his eyes, "Bob here is a big part of it. We just picked him up." He says this as if they'd just picked him up from the train station, Justin's destroyed clothes and hair that might have literal motor oil in it a mere coincidence.

Condor jumps in. "I know when earlier I asked you I could you repay, um, repay you, I mean - you said that I should pay it forward instead... and this is a little... both. I guess." They wince and shift their weight to their other leg. "Like... it's a gift for you, but really for... uh, everyone, kind of, in Sanctuary, um, who might be interested. Which, I think, um, is at least several people. Probably."

Lady lost her composure, she began to laugh and laugh and laugh.

"I am so proud of you both. Sanctuary welcomes this great gift you are offering - if I remember correctly from your tales, this is a great offering indeed. You did not have to hide this and you certainly should not put this in your rooms."

Lady clapped and the halls of the first floor of Sanctuary rang with the sound of a single, clear bell.

"There is now a basement below us now, I would be proud to help you both install 'Cosmic Bob' in a location below the gym, where I believe many young Practitioners and Others will benefit from what he's become."

Condor laughs weakly along with Lady, a laugh with more exhausted relief than mirth. "Ha- haha, ahaha, okay, yeah, should have known better, ha... thank you, Lady, I hope he's not too much trouble. If you're helping, haha, I would be down..." (a long yawn) "....to do that now, conditional on, uh. Some strong coffee."

Justin smiles as the Lady laughs, but he looks a little disappointed. He shoots a glance at Condor, then back at the Lady. "...Two coffees."

Jack flinched at the bell. He wasn't close enough to hear the conversation clearly but there was a bunch of unsettling laughter.

Tiyo appears quickly - as if the Lady had already summoned him and knew what they might request - by Condor, their favorite coffee on a platter, with a plate of peanut butter cookies. They motion for the Shaman and Warden to put the Pinball Machine down temporarily.

They then offer Justin the same treats.

Lady calls out to the lobby, "Can we get some help carrying this pinball machine downstairs?"

Several of the other guests from the lobby who were previously watching, walk toward the little group and take the burden off of Justin and Condor's hands.

A little boy took up a spot by the corner - an older adult taking most of the weight from that same spot. Still, he offered what he could - just a little bit of stability.

Tiyo directed the small crowd towards the elevator and Lady was left behind with Condor and Justin.

"I am so proud of you both."

As is often the case when Sanctuary offers Condor sustenance tailored to their desires, the coffee is near-objectively mediocre. And yet Condor drinks the overbrewed bitter black liquid like it's ambrosia. It's probably due to the Alabaster and not the coffee, but their wounds suddenly don't bother them as much. "Haha..." their laughter trails off. "Thank you, Lady. I know people have wanted a place to spar for a while, and this seemed like the obvious solution."

Justin does not want to let Bob go, but he gives up and lets the machine be taken away. He slumps into a chair, takes the coffee and enjoys a sip that is aborted halfway through. "Condor... don't give it away so early," he says with a sigh.

Condor's hands fly to their mouth. "Ah! Sorry. You can be the one to make the official announcement, once it's set up, if you want."

"I can um, start writing down some instructions, I guess."

Jack had gotten up to help but was to slow in putting his things away. The pinball machine was already being moved. Also why downstairs? Was there going to be an arcade? He thought to himself.

"No, Sanctuary is no longer just mine but yours and Justin's as well. Please, let me know how you'd like to-" Lady chose her words carefully, "-play this, the announcement, the rules, how the room is run: everything. Take the lead and I will simply do my best to support you both to the best of my ability."