Ratty’s Day Out - 2012

Rember: ratty sad

• .

  • Morning ratty

• The possum jumped as she was interrupted on her walk through the common area

• Fern and Steph tinkering away with something running out of angel

• In the makerspace they had built

  • Morning fern

• Turns

• Shes still awake

  • Morning angel

• Beat

  • What are you-

  • Good morning ratty.

• Steph

  • Good morning stephanie.

  • What’re you two up to?

  • We’re-

• Steph interrupts again

  • We’re working on a way to offload some of Angel’s internal processes onto more current hardware, just in case anything ever happens

  • Good morning Ratty

• Angel turns now

  • My wrist is broken.

• She holds up her arm

• Hand flopped over

  • Yeah

  • The part we keep printing is too fragile to hold for any longer than a couple days unfortunately

  • Can I take a look at it?

  • Sure

• Ratty comes over

• Kneels on the pile of pillows and blankets fern had collected for angel

  • Have you guys been up all night?

  • What time is it?

• Ratty checks her watch

  • 9:13 in the morning.

  • Yeah

  • No, it’s friday. We’ve been up for-

• Steph stops

• Doesn't finish that sentence

• Ratty opens the hatch

• Sure enough, sees two halves of a tiny piece of blue plastic.

  • It’s just stupidly small

• Almost the same shape and size as…

• Ratty unpinned one of the safety pins from her jacket

  • Can I get a pair of pliers over here?

  • Sure

• Fern tossed them

• Missing by several feet

• Okay…

• Ratty picks them up

• Snaps the plastic off of the metal 

  • Turn your hand over

• Shakes the plastic out

  • Are we still on for this weekend?

  • Hold on, steph.

• Takes her safety pin in the pliers and weaves it through the mechanics

• Pinning it closed

  • Try that.

• Angel

• Lifts her hand

• Swivels her wrist

• It works!

• Ratty sits back, a little proud

  • There ya go bud.

  • Thank you, ratty

• Freezes her for a second

• She doesn't feel like its worth a thank you

• But

  • Yeah,

  • No worries.

• Gets up

• Ruffles angel’s synthetic hair

• She seems not to notice.

  • So, are we still on for… the… thing… this weekend

  • Oh, yeah no I’m gonna have to cancel.

  • What, why?

  • Cus, Steph, I have a disease in my brain that makes me feel bad all the time.

  • Touching people I don’t like especially makes my brain feel bad, okay?

  • Can I not just say no?

• Beat

  • I’m-

  • Are you two fucking?

• Fern

• Ratty had forgotten they were there

• Beat

• That’s really funny to her actually

• Puts her in as good a mood as she can be

• Must show on her face

• Grinch-ish smile

  • Oh my god!!!

  • Shut up.

  • Don’t-

  • I gotta go to work!

  • Does Sett know?

  • Of course they know! It was their idea.

  • Really?

  • Gotta goooooooooo.

• Drops a black briefcase on the bar

• Fishing in her pocket for the key to her handcuff

  • Ratty!

• Startled again

  • Hey Mr. Liu.

  • Look at you!

  • This is why I love you.

• Click click

• Curious as to what she had been carrying this whole time

• Leaned over the counter

  • My god.

  • I could cry.

• Reached for it then thought better

• Took some gloves out from under the bar

• Lifts an ornately casted gold watch from the surrounding black velvet

• Turned it in the light

• Its porcelain face painted with the portrait of a woman

  • Beautiful

  • Don’t you think?

• It was an ostentatious display of wealth.

• Having it hand delivered from one side of the city to the other was also an ostentatious display of wealth, but one ratty profited off of.

  • Not something I would wear.

• She burrowed her fist deeper into her jacket pocket, hiding the rubber-banded digital watch in her pocket.

• Mr. Liu noticed, then laughed.

  • Only woman I know who could get on the bus with a beautiful piece like this and get back off.

  • Do you have any idea the trouble I went through to get it out of the hands of those-

• He cut himself off

• Ratty had had no trouble getting on or off the bus.

• Those people, whoever they were, were evidently too good for anything but shiny black SUV’s

  • In any case...

• Opens cash register

• Takes out a bill.

  • Reappropriation.

• There was at least that to be proud of.

  • And a tip.

• Ratty starred as he held out a hundred dollar bill.

• Beat

  • You want more?

• He laughed

  • No, I- you already paid.

  • Don’t worry about it

• Two, and then three hundred

• Ratty took it, graciously.

  • Thank you.

  • No problem.

• She turned to leave

  • Actually… I was hoping you would do me a quick favour on your way home.

• 
  

  • Not for me, some mom from up north called, said her son's been arrested

• Beat

• stares

  • He's in holding, its on your way.

• Beat

  • Yeah alright.

• Sidled up to the desk

  • Hi, I’d like to report a crime.

• Desk clerk looks her up and down, then shrugs

• Puts paper on the desk

  • Fill these out.

  • I actually-

• Raised her hands, pretending to shake violently

  • I can’t write on my own. I was hoping to speak to-

• Desk sergeant stood up abruptly

  • One moment

  • Sergeant Yorkshire could you take this man’s statement?

• Looked her up and down

  • Come with me.

• Lead her through the glass double doors into the back of the building

• Waits to hear them close behind her

  • Actually, I really have to pee, could I-

  • Yeah, it’s back the way we came, just go around that corner.

• He pointed.

• She walked.

• What was today

• Checked watch

• Wednesday, June 13, 2012

• Chose the women’s restroom.

• Shut her eyes with her back against the door

• Took a deep breath

• And - as she always did when time needed to slow to a crawl - pictured a dial in her head, clicking down to zero.

• Held her breath

• Stepped out of the washroom

• Across the hall

• Up the stairwell

• Jumped off of a hand rail and yanked it out of its mounting

• Let go of her breath

• Let go of time

• Pressed against the wall and waited

• Big think here

• Stepped forward as the security camera operator entered the stairwell

• Grabbed his tie and pulled him in one swift motion to the stairs

• And tossed

• He had tripped, would likely be what he remembered.

• If, he hadn’t been stripped of his uniform

• Ratty took it, held her breath again, and went to the back of the station.

• The lock on the holding cell was controlled from within the security office. Guard number 2 had already gone to investigate why his buddy hadn’t come back yet.

• And he had left the door open, the fucking idiot

• Ratty bent under the desk and unplugged the system’s main power, and let go of her breath, this time taking a few moments to fill her lungs.

• The rabbit stared as soon as she shot up from under the desk.

  • Yo! I didn’t know they hired magicians here.

  • How’d you do that?

• Ratty smiled

• Clicked open the door to his cell

  • Oh you’re here to bust me out!

  • Hell yeah!

  • Prison break.

  • Gotta love it.

• Speaks frantically

• Leg jittering

  • What’d you do?

  • Oh shit, you’re an undercover…

  • Very sneaky. I like that.

  • You guys are smart. I gotta hand that to you.

  • Do I look like a cop?

• Eyes traced the spikes on the shoulders of her jacket

  • Is that a wig?

  • Do you want to pull on it?

• Beat

• Stands up

• Gives her hair a gentle tug

  • Go on, little harder.

• Another tug

  • Okay

  • Well

  • I still didn’t do anything.

  • Some cop was talking shit and I talked shit back.

  • Then he started talking about my family.

  • Talking shit about my mom, and she’s a good person, too.

  • I really like her. She’s a lesbian, I got two moms actually but one of them is my step mom. Her name is Eleanor.

• Eleanor?

  • Anyway so I get mad and I shove the guy. I don’t think that should be a crime, do you?

  • Whats your name?

  • Casey Rabbit.

  • Did you tell them that?

  • No, do I look stupid?

• Beat

  • Is it like, a requirement that all rabbit families have the word rabbit in their name.

  • What’s your name?

  • Ratty.

  • Is it a requirement-

  • I'm not a rat.

• Hands Casey the police uniform

  • Put this on and walk me out of the building.

• Casey gets her as far as the hall before

  • Wait

  • Stop

• Takes a lighter out of her pocket and kneels next to a waste paper basket.

• Sets it on fire, picks it up, and places it next to the security camera server

• Finally, takes a pill bottle out of her jacket

• Pockets the joint inside

• And then dumps out all of the leftover ash

  • What was that

• Ratty stands up

  • Desk protects the fire from the sprinklers

  • Fire’s going to burn the tape of us getting out.

  • Fire alarm is going to help us do it.

  • And the insurance company is going to want to know where the fire started, and when they find the ash-

• Tapped her joint

  • That will explain why officer one took off all his clothes and fell down the stairs.

  • Very dangerous drug

• Casey, excited by this

  • That’s some fucking sherlock holmes shit.

  • God, I hope not.

  • We should team up,

  • You and me,

  • Ratty and Casey

  • Quiet down,

• And it really is that simple.

• Ratty whispered directions in the rabbit’s ear

• Came to a stop just outside the lobby

• Waited for just a beat

• And then…

• Sprinklers

• Alarms

• An automated vox shouting “FIRE”

• walked them the rest of the way out the building

• The rabbit silently freaking out the entire time

  • HOW DID YOU-

  • Keep it down.

  • Keep walking.

• Beat

• Ratty watching behind them in the reflections of car windows

  • Your stepmom's name is emily?

  • Yeah.

  • What’s her maiden name?

  • What’s it to you?

  • I also happen to know a rabbit named Eleanor.

  • Who said she was a rabbit?

  • I-

• Beat

• No one said that

• Oops

  • Nah I’m fuckin’ around.

  • It’s Sloth-Bunny.

• Beat

  • Sloth-Bunny, sr.?

  • Yeah, how’d you know.

  • No shit...

• Gets home

• Tosses jacket over the loveseat

  • Ratty?

• Sett asks

  • Hey

• Tired suddenly

• As though the guard she had let down walking through the door had once again been raised

• Comes out, wrapped in a sheet, rubbing sleep out of their eyes

  • How was your day?

  • It was fine.

• She hated saying it like that.

• It was largely uneventful, save for the rabbit’s phone number sitting in her contact list.

• But ‘it was fine’ would invariably be read as tense

• And she was trying so hard to act like everything was normal

• Trying - in some way - to protect sett from herself.

  • Are you okay?

  • Yeah,

  • I’m just

  • Still thinking about the other day

  • I’m sorry, I didn’t-

  • It’s not that, I promise it’s not your fault.

• Stepped forward

• Swallowed bile

• Took Sett’s hands in her own.

  • Apparently your secret thing with Steph is out

• They smiled

  • Cannot imagine how embarrassed that whiny little nerd must be

  • Am I embarrassing?

  • Well, you have a type

• Sett stared up into Ratty’s eyes, chewing a mischievous grin

  • Oh yeah?

  • Whiny little nerds, right?

  • Am I whiny?

• Deep breath

• Long sigh

• Fell into sett

  • I love you so much

  • I love you too

  • Do you want to stay in tonight?

  • Yes, please.

• Ratty decides

• Acting normal is

• What she should be doing

• Ratty waited

• Tapping her toe

• At emily’s door

• Stared down at her phone, most recently sent messages

  • ✉️ 6:09pm: New Message - RV🐀: “Hey I’m at your door, can I come in?”

• She had sent something similar a few times in the past

• El was usually sleeping,

• Which was fine.

• She just usually forgot what she wanted to say by the time she woke up.

• In a random chain of events

• The music through the door had reminded her of emily

• Eleanor had reminded her of emily’s brother

• Eleanor’s brother reminded her that she had to tell emily about her brother

• And the fact that she had found her mother’s contact information.

  • ✉️ 6:10pm: New Message - Eleanor SB Jr. 🐇: “Be my guest.”

• She was getting up from her couch as ratty came in

• Still in a pair of bright red y-front underwear

  • Oh I didn’t-

  • I’m so sorry I haven’t-

  • It’s chill!

• Ratty turned politely to the opposite wall of her entryway

• Sett had installed black pedestal in her foyer

• Quietly thrumming

• Somewhere a few inches from the top slot, some arcane mechanics tugged on the thread that kept the mask bound to her, and tied on just enough slack for her to wander around the building without too much trouble.

  • This is cool,

• Ratty said, still not looking.

• Put her hand down on the smooth black surface

• It vibrated in time with emily’s music

  • Oh that’s so cool.

  • It’s like a subwoofer…

  • What?

• And the word ‘what’ seemed to vibrate off of it’s surface

  • A subwoofer for-

• Ratty turned,

• forgetting

• Eleanor was slightly less naked

• Oversized black hoodie

  • Sorry!

• Turned back

  • It’s fine

  • This is as dressed as I was getting

  • What are you talking about?

• Eleanor approached, standing a few inches taller than ratty in her bare feet

  • Are you sure- I can-

  • I don’t like, remember how to flirt.

  • Oh...

  • Oh!

• Ratty looked up at emily

• Down at her underwear

• Silent moment of, okay! Yeah! :3

• Back at the pedestal

  • It’s like a subwoofer for your brain

  • Every time you talk,

  • Here

• Ratty took Eleanor’s hand and set it down on the smooth black surface

• Immediately it was apparent:

• When she focused on trying to breathe, the thrum mimicked what would have been her in-and-out. When she focused on her music, the bass abided by the tempo. 

  • “Cute undies.” 

• Ratty distracted emily from the fascination for just a second

  • “Too hot for pants.” 

Eleanor shrugged. Ratty blinked, leaning to look behind Eleanor’s back and counting at least six space heaters, all plugged into the same less-than-solid power strip. That - in conjunction with the obelisk, made her just about opaque.

“Yeah.” She nodded. “It would be.” Eleanor turned to follow her line of sight, then blushed.

“Sorry- I- they make me feel real.” She turned away abruptly, the red still visible on the tips of her ears. “It’s good for the plants, too- I’m sorry This isn’t anything, right?” She threw herself down on the couch, kicking the record player on her floor and burying her face in her elbow. The tonearm picked itself up and set itself down in its cradle.

“What’s isn’t anything?” Ratty sat down on the arm of the couch, intentionally positioning herself so that her and Eleanor’s fur was touching. Eleanor - evidently - had no idea about her soft spot for massive dorks. Eleanor groaned quietly into the muffling fabric of her sweater in false confidence that it would completely silence her.

“Was that Gangsta’s Paradise before?” Ratty - sensing a plea for mercy - changed the subject.

“Yeah, I’m, uh, working on a song.” Still muffled.

“Like a toastmaster thing?”

“Kinda.” She uncovered her mouth. “Can you put something on?

“Do you have anything in mind?”

“You pick something.” With that, Eleanor turned over and buried her face in the pull-out mattress, somehow less muffled by that than her arm. Ratty knelt next to the coffee table, sweeping aside a pile of cassettes half way through their reels and pulling one of the plastic-smelling cases towards her. 

She tapped along the tops of tapes until she found what must have been the only piece of punk-rock in Eleanor’s collection: an almost untouched pirate tape of These Monsters Are Real. She rolled back on her haunches and shut her eyes as the song picked up, her fangs poking through as a gentle smile touched her lips.

God that was cute. Eleanor hoped silently that she couldn’t be seen staring. “You like this?” She asked.

“Love it.” Ratty muttered, flicking her hands in time with the beat. “Do you always have to be playing something?”

“Is it annoying?” Eleanor asked, suddenly feeling a little tight in her chest.

“Not at all, I’m just…” Ratty met Eleanor’s poorly hidden gaze. “...curious about you.” She said, a subtle wink in her voice. One of the fortunate things about being a ghost was that a certain level of blush plateau above what could be seen in her translucent form. What it could not hide was the goofy, scrunched up smirk Sloth-Bunny was now all too conscious of pulling.

“You a fag or something?” Eleanor teased, trying to recover.

“Hard not to be." Ratty doubled down, throwing up a quick hand-horns as though to accent her sharp edge. Eleanor froze, trying and failing to come up with a comeback for long enough to phase slightly through her mattress.

She settled on a shaky: "Shut up, oh my god. Why are you here?" With a sarcastic lilt in the ‘here’.

"Oh right, sorry. I found your family."

"What?" The rabbit's blood ran cold. She stopped herself just short of checking her wrists to see if blue was running through her veins. She sat in stunned silence as Ratty popped up onto her feet, not noticing the rabbit’s struggle to scrape up any scrap memories that didn’t consist of smug shit-shooting with her Uncle A.

“I uh, broke your step-brother out of prison.” Ratty said this as if it was the simplest possible thing. “Angel is gonna come up and portal us over, and I am going to leave so you can put pants on, I guess.”

“Well, wait. Hold on.” Eleanor grabbed the possum’s wrist, shooting a spike of ice up into her chest. “We should dri- Are you okay?” Ratty had flinched hard enough to have to stabilize herself on the opposite wall. She stood shaking, glaring down at Eleanor’s hand.

“Yeah, sorry, just don’t-” She started, her heart still racing as she tried her best to get back to normal. Eleanor pulled back, debating re-changing the subject and scrambling for an excuse. “You said Angel’s thing has been, like, messing up or something, right?” Eleanor forced a grin, struggling to hold down a rising bile. Something clicked in Ratty’s mind as a silent ‘oh’ crossed her lips.

“It is within driving distance.” She said, nodding slowly, choosing to focus on Eleanor’s anxiety over her own.

“Yeah, see, cool.”

“And we could get the big van out of storage.”

“See, absolutely, big van road trip.”

“Alright, cool.” Ratty clapped, not sure how to leave. “Big van road trip.”