tushanshu_logs

Entry tags:

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Characters: Bart Allen and anyone
Date: 10/23-10-27
Location: ME-3A (or wherever you'd like!)
Situation: Bart has used the power of stubbornness to come up with a possible solution to The Hot Dog Problem Part 1: How to make the casing. Also, in a world without a costume shop, zombie makeup: what do?
Warnings/Rating: None so far!

[It's a nice day in the Metal Sector. The weather is beautiful, and the air is so crisp that, when the wind hits just right, it feels like apple cider tastes. Everyone's outside, enjoying autumn.

Almost everyone, that is. Bart Allen has been holed up indoors for most of his free time this week. He's got a lot of stuff to do right now. For one thing, he's trying to isolate cellulose from plant materials in an effort to make viscose, which he's read can be used to make artificial casings for sausages and franks. The cellulose is mundane, but the chemicals used in the process are caustic. Some are even explosive. The real problem is that he doesn't have all the necessary chemicals and equipment, so he's trying to make do.

Those who drop by ME-3A while he's working on it might be treated to, uh, interesting smells and bangs. Several pots have already been sacrificed.

But he's not only playing mad scientist as the days to Halloween tick down. Bart's also working on makeshift costume makeup - namely, to get himself looking as close to a zombie without resorting to actual blood. Clark told him that Invincible's partial to them and practically dared him to try and scare the guy. Challenge accepted. He's agreeable to help with the getup, and he's looking for unsuspecting people to try it out on.]

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[So Bart's at work in the kitchen. Only, chemical reactions take so long sometimes, especially when you have to boil things down. Sometimes, his mind wanders.

That can lead to how, sometimes, he wanders. Particularly over to the refrigerator (yes, he's playing chemist in the kitchen) to have a snack or three. On one such occasion, he's distracted for just a hair too long. The smell of smoke hits him the same time as the sound of the explosion. He's back at the stove, turning off the now open flame, but the beaker that he was using (what do you mean the flame is too big for a beaker?) is nowhere to be seen.

There's a crash of glass behind him, and Bart whirls to see the missing beaker working its way through the window. Oops.

He's outside in no time, grabbing shards of glass out of the air and neatly stacking them on the window ledge. That taken care of, he's about to grab the glass when he remembers it's hotter than hell. Bart runs back in and out, this time with a pot holder, and he juuuust manages to catch the darn thing before it crashes to the ground.

With a final ping of protest, the beaker fractures in half, the ungripped half dangling from the spring green, sticky, and surprisingly elastic contents.]

Ooookaaay.

[Well. This was unexpected.]

Edited 2013-10-24 00:35 (UTC)

[Smile, Bart, you're on candid camera. By which we mean you've gotten a skeptical audience of one who's seen the entirety of the chemical mishap post-explosion.

He'd been in the neighborhood, planning on stopping by Bart's place actually, when he'd heard the explosion. It hadn't taken long to locate the source of the sound, but what he hadn't expected was that the explosion would have come from Bart's place or that he would've found the kid standing outside with a potholder and sticky green something hanging from a beaker.

It's not entirely accurate to say Barry's amused. He's also disappointed - he's not sure what Bart was doing but it shouldn't have resulted in minor explosions - as well concerned - the teen doesn't look hurt but you never know - but there's still something oddly entertaining about all of this. It doesn't show though, a frown winning out on his face.]

What happened here? I heard the explosion. Are you okay?

[Tentatively he reaches out to touch the stuff, before rethinking his decision and pulling back. He probably shouldn't touch it until he figures out what it is.]

[Bart blinks a few times, first at Barry and then at the beaker in his hand. What did happen? He's got absolutely no idea. He was trying to isolate chemicals, but... apparently that didn't go as planned.

Maybe the stuff he'd added to break the molecules apart had actually combined with them to form this mess? Seemed likely, but Bart didn't know how to explain it.]

Uhhh. I think science happened?

[There's a hopeful, sheepish smile. He's got this covered, Barry. Honest. Nobody got hurt.]

Yeah, I'm fine. I think if I wasn't there'd be a lot more ow going on right now. [He's not surprised that Barry's turned up - if Bart had heard a nearby explosion, he'd go running for it as well. Only in costume. Which is why Bart's suddenly side-eying his grandfather, who is currently not the Flash.] What're you doing here?

[Please don't have Bart-screw-up radar like Max did.]

[Nah, Barry's got a few more years to go before he develops Bart-screw-up radar, luckily. But in the meantime, color him not impressed.]

You think science happened.

[Well. That's technically a lie. Barry's impressed by the fact that the kid's still in one piece and he's also impressed by whatever green goop is hanging from the shattered corpse of the beaker. Likely there's a story there, one he'll want to hear later.

But right now it's his turn to offer a sheepish smile.]

I was in the neighborhood. Thought I'd...drop by for a visit. [Y'know, like real family members do?] See how you were doing, and all that.

[Replace Bart with an attractive female in her early-thirties and this could be the beginning of a really cheesy rom-com with a 25% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. As it is, Barry's genuinely trying to make an effort, even if he is falling on his figurative face for the most part.]

What were you trying to make though?

Science totally happened. Isn't it rule number one of science that you learn more from failure than success? I just learned to take out all the windows before I try this again.

[He laughs at this, despite the fact that he's now out the cost of a window and may have tripped their security system. He's almost poking at the goop now, but, given some of the things that went into it, Bart wouldn't dare touch it. Well. Maybe on a dare. With his little finger. He doesn't need that one anyway.]

I'm doing great. Great for being on a turtle with Dumbass wandering around somewhere. Do you think he's floating around body-less like Voldemort? Or is this more of a Sauron thing? A Randall Flagg thing?

[He shrugs, as if to say it doesn't matter, we'll get him.]

I was trying for viscose - you know, cellulose xanthate. So me and Dick could make hot dogs. But I'm not even sure the plants here have cellulose.

[Bart has been hard at work in front of whatever mirror's handy. He doesn't just want to slap on some ketchup and call himself a zombie. There's more to it than that. Dust and rubble has been worked into his hair. He took some dirt and dampened it slightly, using it to get whatever skin was visible good and grubby. Flour on top of that to make his normally pale skin even more white.

He tore up a rather worn t-shirt for this, and, yes, food has been used. Red fruits and vegetables do make wonderful dyes to let clothes look good and bloody. Fake wounds were trickier, but Bart thinks the gash he put on his cheek and the one on his stomach, just visible through a hole, look rather well. He thought about putting defensive wounds on his hands, but they might wear off with all the touching and moving that hands do. He's looking back and forth between his forearms and the mirror, trying to decide if this is enough or if he should do another on an arm. He could use fish guts or something, but they're so tiny. Maybe he could fillet one badly and glue it skin side down to his arm, so it looked like the flesh had been gnawed.

Bart considers this for some time, standing rather still.]

[Tim isn't thinking of Halloween, zombies, fish guts, or entrails right now. He's actually thinking of food. He'd picked up some groceries on the way back, and he's thinking more about putting them away and dinner than he is about much else at the moment.

Of course, that's until he sees Bart. Standing stock still. Deathly pale, covered in gore, and looking like... well. A zombie. Bart may not have been around for the zombies at home and here on the turtle, but Tim sure was, and those aren't the kinds of memories that just go away.

He drops the groceries and takes a step back, going a little pale himself.]

...Bart?

[Please let this not be what it looks like.]

[Bart glances over at the entrance, but the flicker of his eyes is too quick to be seen and too quick to notice that Tim's losing his grip on the bag. He goes back to looking in the mirror, poking at the fake blood on his face.]

Hey, Tim.

[He sounds distracted, because he is. Maybe he should have used animal blood? Bart holds his arms loosely in front of himself and gives an experimental groan.]

Braaaaaaaaaaaaainnnsssssss.

[Hm. It's not quite there yet.]

What do you think about -

[As he's talking, Bart's turning to Tim, and it doesn't take long at all to realize that there's something weird about the bag of groceries on the floor and the look on Tim's face.]

What's wrong?

[Tim blinks rapidly, trying to clear the thought and image of Bart as a zombie from his mind. He's responding normally, which means he's not actually some kind off zombie, and Bart is just test-driving a Halloween costume, and he's seriously over-reacting.

He shakes his head, bending to pick up the grocery bags.]

Nothing. You surprised me.

[Bart laughs at this, shaking his head.]

I vanish all the time, I reappear behind you and start talking without warning, this house has more sonic booms than a Air Force base, and... standing still is what gets you? Man. That's gonna be so hard to duplicate. What do you think of the make-up, by the way? It's for that guy who was wishing for horror movies.

[He shakes his head a little, giving Bart a wry smile.]

Well, it's not like you do it that often. And the make-up is... excellent. Very realistic.

[ Raven's making her usual run for supplies for the Brazen Turtle which includes a couple stops in the Metal Sector. But walking past this complex has her wrinkling her nose against the smell; it reeks like one of Starfire's cooking experiments gone wrong. The fact that there's a whistish haze leaking from a nearby window isn't adding to her confidence--

--but her attention to it does allow her to see the scorched pot falling from the window before it lands on her head. ]

Hey!

[This is happening with way too much frequency, and, given the window's already broken state, Bart didn't have the sound of glass breaking to alert him to where the pot was headed this time.

He's a few seconds too late to catch it, but, luckily, it misses Raven.]

Woah. Sorry about that, Raven. They get away from me sometimes.

[It's all the pot's fault, clearly.]

This is something that's become regular enough for you to use "sometimes"?

[ She'd have been far more irked if it'd actually struck her but it hadn't so she's more curious than anything. ]

It's still smoking, by the way.

It's only the third one.

[Bart carefully scoops up the pot with the potholders that he's remembered to bring with him.]

C'mon in. It stops smoking once I run it under some cold water. Steams a bit, but, hey, the window's open now.

[Actually, the window's broken now, but it lets the hot air escape just as well.]

And. As a warning. If it turns out this stuff's volatile when it comes into contact with water, I'll grab you and get you clear.

I hope you have a good supply of them.

[ But she trails after him anyway, now curious as to what project he was working on that might have such explosive results. ]

What exactly are you trying to do?

Nooooot exactly. If I lose any more, I'm gonna have to try and get them clean and banged back into shape before dinner. Tim'll want them replaced.

[Bart drops the pot into the sink full of water, where it thunks against its misshapen comrades (and lets off a sort of lavender steam. Hm.)]

Dick was talking about trying to make hot dogs. I was trying to figure out how to make the casings for them. Actually. I'm not that far yet. I'm trying to figure out how to isolate the chemicals I need to do that. How good's your chemistry?

All this for... hot dogs.

[ There's a small tonnage of skepticism packed into the short statement, something Raven excels at. Surely not something Bart would be unfamiliar with, if he knew any version of her. ]

I get wanting comfort food but isn't this a little... extreme?

Yeah all this for hot dogs.

[And he's completely unphased by your skepticism, Raven. He knows he'll get it right eventually.]

And. No? Call it a hobby. It's not like there's any video games on the shell. What else am I supposed to do?

[ That's a dangerous kind of optimism right there, Bart. And still it's kind of... impressive. So she'll lessen that deadeye she's been giving you. ]

You just need sturdier windows, clearly.

[It's the best kind of optimism. Sometimes, relentless belief in the impossible gives it that final push into the realm of possibility.]

Corning made a really tough glass that can take a beating. It's an alkali-aluminosilicate. I've read about it, but it's still new. The specifics are a total industry secret. Something ion exchanges and molten alkaline salts. Molten doesn't sound kitchen-friendly. I think I should stick to one set of chemicals at a time. I could probably get someone to help though - maybe Tony or my grandfather. Are you any good at materials engineering?

[ Raven listens to him patter on, interested but definitely not of the same mindset. She wouldn't mind learning but it's a hefty jump in skill level to what she possesses. ]

Not... in the way you're thinking, no.

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[Open]

Barry

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Tim

Bart

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I know you're on hiatus, I just want this out of my inbox.

No worries!

hotdoggity

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