Celestia's Finest: Side-Bets

[Miltonian]

"Remember," Red Tape had said, "I don't know if anything is actually wrong. He could have a perfectly good explanation for this. I just want to make sure everything is alright."

Those words echo inside Harrier Squad's heads as they move through the East Canterlot military base, which mostly serves as secure housing for career soldiers. It has a garrison and serves as a small airfield, of course, but the large number of homes makes it more akin to a military suburb than anything.

Wildcat, as befits his new rank, has an isolated bungalow a little ways off from the rest. It's very nondescript. Plain, white siding, mowed lawn with no flowerbeds or other plants to break it up, and an air-car parked out front. Wildcat clearly doesn't spend much time making his house a home.

[D.KnightSpider]

"Functional." Longshot says upon surveying the Commander's dwelling. "If not visually appealing. It works for me in that regard."

Another moment passes. Longshot adjusts his backpack of tools brought 'just in case'. When the weight fails to lay him flat on his back, he relaxes and begains approaching the front door.

"Let's hope the Commander just had a bad case of the 24 hour flu." He quips.

[Elbeyon]

"Traditional." The place was looked after it would seem. "The architecture is classic. I always had a thing for real windows." The Commander's windows are probably real? Love's place doesn't have windows. It has video walls designed to work as windows for extra security.

Love glances at Longshot and gives him a small smile. She tried to park as close as possible so they wouldn't have to walk very far.

"His car is still here." The details are cataloged. Love walks with Longshot. The Commander's neighbors get visual searched to see if any might be home.

She chuckles at the quip and jokes back, "Who doesn't enjoy a twenty-four hour house bug from time to time?" The Commander didn't seem the sort, and that's what had her worried.

[Miltonian]

The door is there, a simple doorbell by its side. As they approach...nothing happens. No movement within, no sign of life, not even a light on inside.

The doorbell is waiting.

[D.KnightSpider]

"Most ponies are adverse to sickness bugs for some reason. Maybe that's why the windows are always closed."

Longshot gets the distinct feeling that the forces of the universe want him to push the shiny button. So he makes a perception check before pushing the doorbell button.

Spoiler: Are You A Doorbell?

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Perception
(3d6)[1][1][2](4) VS 16 (+3 Hyper Spectral)

[Miltonian]

The doorbell is indeed a doorbell, not a cowbell or any other sort of bell, like some would have you believe.

[Elbeyon]

Love smirks. "The Commander wouldn't want anyone to catch him playing video games on his sick day." She nods at the house. "I don't see any video games being played." If he is sick, he could be in bed sleeping. Love stands with Longshot.

[D.KnightSpider]

"Somehow, I can't envision Wildcat playing video games."

Longshot presses the doorbell again.

[Miltonian]

And once again, there is no answer. The only echo is the sound of silence.

[Elbeyon]

"That's definitely not what I would do on my sick day." Love has never taken a sick day. Too many doctor notes required.

She puts her hoofs up to her mouth. "Wildcat! Your favorite ponies are here!"

No response on the second bell? Love looks sideways at Longshot. She steps off the porch and starts looking through windows.

[D.KnightSpider]

Hmm...

"I'll check the car." Longshot says once Love begins checking the windows.

He drifts back to examine said air cat.

[Elbeyon]

She might be laying on the sarcasm a little heavy today.

Love half-looks back towards Longshot. "Good idea."

Don't shoot Commander! Love isn't some peeping jay.

[Miltonian]

The windows are, unfortunately, all covered with curtains. However, Love's new tech allows her to see right through it and out the other side. Commander Wildcat sits in his living room, surrounded by empty bottles, staring at a blank screen.

As for the car, it's fine. About half a tank remaining, but in perfect, operating condition.

[Elbeyon]

Love shouts loud enough she thinks Wildcat can hear her, "Commander Wildcat! Could you answer the door?"

She whips around to face Longshot, "Wildcat is sitting there staring at a blank screen. He's not moving." There is notable worry on her face. Why isn't the Commander opening the door?

[D.KnightSpider]

Longshot frowns. No matter how one chose to interpret these events, the resulting conclusion was decidedly of the 'not good' variety.

"That's... not good. I'd say we should find a way in there."

He flies back to the door and checks to see if it's locked or unlocked.

[Miltonian]

The front door is locked. However, in response to Love's louder cries, she sees the Commander move. His shoulders slump and he seems to let out a very long sigh. With agonizing slowness, he pushes himself to his hooves and begins staggering for the door.

A few moments later, he speaks from the other side, "Who is it?"

[D.KnightSpider]

"Longshot Scope and Partial Charge." He calls back to their Commander. "Red Tape asked us to check in with you."

The debate over how formal to be was very short lived out of necessity. Maybe some informality would be of help in the situation.

[Elbeyon]

Love looks back to Longshot and nods about finding a way inside.

At the movement, Love turns to Longshot again. She at normal volume, "He's coming to the door! Slowly."

She watches him as he gets closer on the door with a nervous face. If he looks like he'll reach the door safely, she backtracks and steps to the door and stands there with Longshot.

[Miltonian]

Wildcat slumps against the other side of the door. "Hello, Lts," he says dourly, "Well everything is fine. I am enjoying my day off, thank you very much. If there's a problem, I trust it can wait until tomorrow."

[D.KnightSpider]

Longshot nods to Live, indicating that she should answer. This is going to be more within her ballpark than his.

[Elbeyon]

Love nods back to Longshot and swallows. This would be what she calls a sticky situation.

Love stokes some positivity! She says, "Hey, Wildcat." Her language flips back to not using his rank. "Good, your day is about to get even better. I brought some Bub's hayburgers!" Love grabs the bag from her side and raises it towards the door. "Let's eat together."

[Miltonian]

Wildcat pauses for a moment. He chuckles hollowly. "Well, how could I say no to that?" he says humorlessly, "Might as well let you in." The deadbolts slides back and he opens the door. A day's worth of scruff adorns his chin and his eyes have bags under them. He looks at them blearily. "So it's just you too, eh?"

He holds the door open, inviting them into the dark house.

[D.KnightSpider]

"Just us." Longshot replies. "Were you expecting otherwise?"

He tries to be glib as he slips through the doorway, even though he's fishing for information.

Love's going to have to play good cop.

[Elbeyon]

One of the best things after a long night. Free food hoof delivered.

"The flavor was already headed through the door. Might as well enjoy it." Love smiles. It smells good.

Wildcat's scrub isn't going to pause this train. The caboose enters the house at safe entry speed.

Love carries the takeout bag in a hoof as she walks. The bag is big. Large enough for two stallions. Too small for three stallions so Love has another bag on her person for that third stallion. "I love Bub's. They know how to cook a burger. Dripping with flavor. Fries are large and seasoned right. I like the regular fries myself. They have sweet potato waffle fries, but the flavor is too dense for my style. Doesn't pair as well with the hayburger. Plenty of ice cream flavors on the menu if that's a pony's thing."

[Miltonian]

"No comment," Wildcat says in a wry attempt at humor.

"Yeah..." he agrees about Love's assessment of Bub's, "They do good work. Make good food." He shuffles towards the table, which only has the recommended four chairs around it. The interior of the house is not very messy. There's too little in it to make much of a mess, even if it was all thrown about. At the moment, aside from the bottles stacked around the armchair in the living room, everything is neat and orderly.

"If you want soda, tough. I have water," Wildcat says.

[D.KnightSpider]

Longshot could appreciate the simplicity of the house, although he'd freely admit that such appreciation wasn't the intended effect. It looked like their Commander didn't have much by way of a personal life.

"Were Brazen with us, I'd say suspicions would be well-founded. But since he's not, eh." Longshot shrugs. "And water's fine by me. I had to give up empty calories a long while ago."

He drifts toward the kitchen and takes a look around the place. Surely there had to be some form of conversation topic lurking about the room. Hm.

[Elbeyon]

He keeps a clean place. She can appreciate that. A little decoration never hurt no pony though. Was there something on the TV?

Love follows Wildcat to the table. She puts the bag down and reaches inside to remove foam polystyrene clam containers.

She chuckles. "We got you a 'Big Ugly'." A one pound burger. Lightly seared bread. Quality burger. Half melted cheese on top. Off to the side, ready to be assembled, is lettuce, tomato, pickle, and another seared bun. Bub's burgers only get so thick and so the burger/bun have grown outward to a comically large. The thing is the size of a pony's head. Love puts down another flip open container with his basket of fries.

"I'll take water." Love isn't big on soda.

"I went with the 'Not so Ugly."" Half Pound. Love unpacks the first bag and starts working on the second one. Her burger container is notable smaller so there is no confusing the two. If Longshot isn't going to be eating, Love is going to be eating that third burger herself. A 'Mini Bub'? Maybe, he has something else?

[Miltonian]

The fridge has a water dispenser built into the door of the freezer, as per normal. The cabinets have a few glasses, but not enough for a large company. Wildcat doesn't host parties very often. However, there is a stack of papers on the table, including a pamphlet with a saucy batpony mare on the front and number underneath.

The television is turned to a classic, war movie. Wildcat sits at the table and accepts his burger. He begins chewing it, making a grunt of approval first and foremost.

[D.KnightSpider]

Longshot takes the third burger off of Love's hooves. He's been practicing how to peck at food so as to be polite.

He glances at the TV screen. "Well, that looks familiar... Although I can't quite place the name. Which one is that?"

Spoiler: Roll to Recognize

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IQ
(3d6)[5][2][4](11) VS 12

[Elbeyon]

Love looks for one of the glasses and grabs one. "Wildcat, you want water? Ice? Longshot. Ice or no Ice?" Love puts a hefty amount of ice in her cup and fills up. She serves everyone else at the table what drink they request.

Love glances over the room as she moves on the look out for any thing that could be trouble.