Chapter 7: See if I Care

Half of the house has breakfast/dinner together. Nobody has the same sleeping pattern in this residence. 

"You know, you could totally look cute if you just smiled or something," Tammi helpfully informs Tina. 

"Gee I didn't know you were a scientist too. Or is there another reason you're putting me under a microscope?" Tina replies acidly. 

"I'm just trying to be helpful-," Tammi begins to protest. 

"I don't know if you think we're all here as some kind of social experiment for you, but please spare me from your whining. Thanks," Tina says flatly, avoiding eye contact. Tammi just gets on her nerves. 

Tammi gapes, stutters noises of outrage, but today opts for a dramatic stomping away rather than a screaming match. 

Lincoln sighs with relief, "Thanks-," 

"No need for that. I want everyone to leave me alone, that includes you. Your shirts are loud and obnoxious, looking at them gives me a headache." 

Lincoln glowers at Tina, but says nothing as he washes his dishes and leaves. 

"And do you have anything to say, seizure-face?" 

Guy says nothing and continues to leaf through his book. 

Tina moves her lips into something close to a smile, "Thank the maker." 

Jinenji, on the other hand, has lots to say. 

"Sure, fine, take away my humanity! Then give it back and lock me up! SEE IF I CARE!" 

It shocks even Tammi into silence, seeing the normally quiet and reserved Jinenji explode this way. She wisely scurries away, leaving Jinenji with his bitter memories. 

After getting properly dressed, Tammi bumps into Ti. 

"Hey! I was just looking for someone to talk to to. I read a funny joke online,-" 

"I'm sure it's hilarious, but I have something more important to do right now. Maybe later?" Tammi interrupts. 

Ti blinks, slightly dejected. "Yeah, sure. Maybe later..." 

"Oh great, Smurfette's here," Tina grumbles. 

In a great display of maturity, Tina makes loud retching sounds as soon as Tammi enters the room. 

"I'm sorry, it's just the clash between your hair and your outfit. You know you'd be sooo cute if you had a sense of aesthetics!" Tina laughs mockingly. 

Dove clears the kitchen, not wanting to watch whatever confrontation follows. 

The amount of yelling, screaming, and tension in the house drives Ti outside. She flinches as cold, wet rain drops hit her skin. She hates going outdoors with all of its unpredictable inconveniences, but there's nowhere else to go without running into someone who's angry inside. 

Being in a trash can is kind of like being inside, right? 

...Okay, no it's not. But it was worth a try. 

Then the creepy ice cream truck arrives, ready to sit outside for hours. When Guy comes home from work, he can make out Ti sprinting for the front door. 

"Why does he keep coming back!?" she shrieks, "We never buy ice cream!" 

Guy shudders and runs after her. Whatever that truck is up to, it can't be any good. 

Unfortunately he runs into what Ti was originally running from. 

"Hi Jinenji-," Guy greets feebly. 

"So you're not such a goody two shoes after all," she hisses at Jinenji, "I heard you this morning in the living room. You're not human, are you? You some kind of freak?" 

Jinenji closes his eyes, willing Tammi and her words to go away. 

"Hey, don't ignore me! You fucking freak," Tammi jabs him in the chest, her face hovering mere centimeters from his. 

"A freak is something outside of nature, yes? Vampires are perfectly normal in our society." 

"You don't look like a vampire to me," Tammi scoffs. 

"And you don't look like someone who would revel in other's misery, but appearances can be misleading. So who's the freak here?" 

Jinenji pushes past her and goes to his room before she can reply. 

"Moonlight Falls weirdo," Tammi declares to the kitchen. When everyone mutely stares at her, she bustles out of the room. 

The next morning, five of the eight tenants sleepily stroll into the kitchen. 

"I'm surprised you're showing your face in here after that sick burn Jinenji gave you yesterday," Lincoln remarks dryly. 

"Whatever. I decided to deal with it constructively, by writing about it." 

"What, in a diary or something?" Lincoln asks. 

Tammi rolls her eyes, "In a blog, duh. You think I would leave such a long period of my life undocumented? If something happens to me in here, my followers will notice," she smiles smugly. 

"Ha, I bet they'd thank us if something happened to you in here," Tina scoffs. 

"Heeeeeey, Tammi, want to work out together? I can't do any pull ups to save my life and I feel like you'd know what to do!" Ti swoops in before Tammi can start a screaming match. 

"That was a nice save," Lincoln chuckles. Guy just smiles. 

Maybe they all can find a way to get along, after all?

Chapter 6 Never Stays Clean

Dove finds Lincoln glaring angrily out of the window one morning. 

"What's up?" she asks hesitantly. 

"It's that mailman. I swear he's mocking us." 

"HEY! MISTER! THIS IS PRIVATE PROPERTY!" 

The mailman scurries away. Dove sighs. 

She wanders around the house, finding her way to the living room. Ti is playing a soft melody on the piano. 

"Do, rae, mi, fa, so, la, ti, daaaa~" Ti sings off-key, hitting keys almost in tune. 

Dove gets lost in the melody. 

If only everyday could be so pleasant. 

But eventually Dove has to tear herself away. The bathtub is broken- again- and Guy's too busy working to fix it. Dove mops at the perpetually growing puddle. 

"What's taking so long?" Gregory complains behind her. 

"Well, I can't actually fix the leak-," Dove begins to explain, but Tina angrily cuts her off. 

"Maybe it would go faster if you'd put on that stupid mechanic suit you normally wear and pick up a tool box for once in your life!" she fumes at him. 

Gregory taps his foot impatiently. 

"Well...carry on," he says lightly, supervising Dove's progress. 

Tina groans in frustration. 

By the time Guy does get home, he's far too tired to fix the tub. Work is exhausting; even with his partner helping him in the lab, there are always so many things to remember. He's just glad he hasn't caused some kind of chemical explosion. 

Everyone in the house stinks now. Ti turns to the piano for distraction and Lincoln listens quietly, lost in his own thoughts. 

"You know how music can get a girl's heart, or something like that?" Lincoln suddenly breaks the silence. 

Ti nods absently, too focused on her made up song and its discordant notes to actually hear what he's saying. 

"I didn't bother with that. I just....talked to her, I guess? Maybe if I could play an instrument, she'd have stuck around." 

"You think too much," Ti replies breezily, "There isn't any magical formula. Sometimes the world just happens." 

Lincoln wonders if she's quoting a song, but sighs. "Yeah. I guess life's just messed up sometimes." 

Guy wakes up suddenly in the middle of the night and gives up his bed to a grouchy Tina. Tammi then shrieks at him to fix the bath, which he does. Finally, he sleepily makes his way to the kitchen and feeds himself. 

"Thanks for fixing the shower, that was nice of you," Ti says with a kind smile. 

"Aww, look at that Guy, Ti like-likes you!" Gregory laughs. 

Ti doesn't reply to Gregory and keeps staring at her plate, "It's important to remember to thank people. That's what they always told me." 

"Who's they?" 

Ti looks at Guy with a thin smile, "I can't remember." 

"Well, wasn't that vague and a little pointless? Eh, whatever. I'm off to tinker with the science machine! Anyone want to join me?" 

Guy shakes his head and Lincoln just rolls his eyes. Jinenji looks up with a soft smile, "Maybe tomorrow, Greg." 

Gregory shrugs and then strides to the machine. There are important discoveries to be made! 

Guy goes to use the restroom, only to find that the toilet is clogged. 

"Yeah, your shower repair didn't last too long either. What kind of engineer are you?" Tammi huffs. 

"I'm a scientist," Guy mumbles in reply, "Different from an engineer." 

Tammi hmmphs unhappily, "Well whatever they pay you to do, it's obviously too much if you can't keep our plumbing running! Just look at this place- even the sink's broken in here! Can't you do something about it?" 

Guy looks at the toilet, the shower, the sink, and then back at Tammi and shrugs. 

"I'll try my best." 

"What if that's not enough? Did you try your best earlier, too?" Tammi sneers. 

But Guy's already ignoring her and searching for the plunger. The one thing he knows how to fix is machines. 

It takes him most of the night (and several soaked outfits) but by the time Tina is awake and hissing for the bathroom, all that's left to fix is the sink. 

Guy quickly finishes off his repairs and leaves the bathroom to Tina. 

And then it's off to work again. 

Life passes normally in the house. 

Chores are done sporadically. 

Bills are left for Guy to pay. 

The residents sleep wearing whatever, wherever and whenever they can. 

The bathroom never stays clean. 

And arguments are constantly brewing. 

"I'm done putting up with your crazy moodswings!" Dove explodes, having a mood swing herself, "Would it kill you to be nice for like two minutes!?" 

"So, uh, Moonlight Falls has an excellent symphony-," Jinenji desperately ignores the fight next to him. 

"Mood swings? I have no idea what you're talking about," Tammi says indignantly. 

She then proceeds to slap Dove right across the face. 

"How dare you even suggest that!" 

Dove barely flinches. 

"Fine, whatever," she says gruffly. 

As she's turning around to leave, Tammi puts a hand on Dove's shoulder and whirls her around. 

"DON'T YOU DARE WALK AWAY FROM ME!" 

The sound of ensuing slap almost echoes in the now silent room. 

"Byyyyyee!" Dove waves sarcastically. 

"That's right, get out of here! See if I care!" Tammi calls out mockingly. 

Dove spares Tammi a single angry glance before storming out of the room. 

Guy looks at his plants sadly. 

Why can't everyone just get along? 

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AN: Funny outtake 

hehehehe.

In other news, I realized I left this challenge on a very long hiatus. I haven't opened it up again yet, but there are lots of pictures to go through. I forgot how chaotic this save was!