BACKLOT

[Quingee]

[googlefont="Comfortaa"] BACKLOT

[googlefont="Tajawal"]The backlots are all the fenced-in areas behind the building; there’s dumpsters, lots of storage areas, some buildings you look like you might be able to get into, and a handful of Gru that are being subjected to grunt work. While they aren’t particularly happy, they might be willing to talk to you; you technically shouldn’t be here, but they don’t seem to care one way or another.

If you don’t have a concert ticket, you might be able to procure one here.

[googlefont="Tajawal"]EXTERIOR
(click map for full size)

STORAGE CRATES: There are two sets of them, each currently being inventoried by identical Gru wearing hard hats carrying clipboards; they have four wings that buzz quickly, like bees, but they only seem to propel them a little above the ground. The crates themselves are all marked, but you can’t read the language. Some are larger than others.

DUMPSTERS: Four enormous dumpsters sit on either side of a smaller corner of the Backlot; a very small, puff-like Gru is stuck to the side of one, very gradually making its way up to the top of it. The dumpsters themselves reek, but the tops are all open and are full of various… trash(?)

FENCE GATE: Two burly-looking Gru are guarding it from the outside, but the gate itself doesn’t appear to be locked.

TRAILER 1: One of three unmarked trailers in the backlot. It’s not guarded.

TRAILER 2: Another unmarked trailer. It’s guarded by a Gru that resembles a living bowl of noodles than anything else, but they’re wearing an orange vest. They must be safety-related.

TRAILER 3: A separate unmarked trailer in the backlot. It’s not guarded.

? ? ?: A strange unmarked building, contained by a second fence. There’s a block-shaped Gru guarding it who looks like they’re made of stone. You can’t even find a mouth or eyes on them; … are they even a Gru? Either way, whatever it is is wearing a hard hat, too.

[googlefont="Comfortaa"] INVESTIGATION START !

[krispini]

What a fucking shit show.

    [ TO: florence, amelia, lilith ]
        
        dude. am i seriously supposed to just talk to them?? that seems, like, not the right thing to do in an investigation like this.


    [ TO: florence, amelia, lilith ]

        they're gonna fuckin spit goo on me again

This Yrk concert was a total joke. Yes, Viv had a ticket, and yes, she could, potentially, attend said concert for leisure, but would she really want to?

Vivian stood wearily outside the chain link fence that surrounded the eye-blindingly glassy concert venue's backlot, collaborating with the rest of the Object Cru to investigate. Of course, she was not donning her uniform or astronaut helmet, and neither were Florence and Amelia, each located backstage and in the front end, respectively- these were not direct Object Cru activities, but rather, investigations to supplement those.

The more dramatic interventions could come later.

But for now, she pocketed her phone with a grimace and rubbed her temples, irritated. Viv peeked through the gaps in the chain link, pointedly avoided the two burly Gru guarding the fence's gate, and easily jumped over the metal fence, landing right next to the dumpsters, farthest from the gate. Her powers were good for some things.

None of the workers seemed to take notice. Thank fuckin' god. Vivian shook her hair back into place, rustled from that brief rush of wind, and began to walk out of the area... only to notice a tiny, fluffy thing stuck to the side of one of the dumpsters. She stared at it incredulously. It was slowly moving its way up the metal dumpster. Was that a sentient creature?? It was... really cute. Viv continued to silently stare at it for another solid minute before finally speaking up, hoping the ball of fluff was a gru and not just a wayward cotton ball.

"Yo. What's up."

[ Quingee ] [ TEXTS ONLY: cosmicguts , daekfire , Cheri ]

[Pai]

krispini
The fuzzy little Gru was making its way up the side of the dumpster, seemingly as fast as they were able; it was comparably sluglike in nature, but thick, puffy fur in pink and yellow covered its entire body, with two antennae sticking up--the only real indication that it might've been a life form at all. Did they even have eyes?

They flinched suddenly upon being hailed, where the antennae spun around vigorously, trying to find the source, before their directions oriented themselves upon the human standing by the dumpster.

"Shh!" their voice was so high, it almost sounded like radio noise. "I'm on a very important mission! I need one of those tickets!"

The antennae looked around again.

"I can't get caught! I'm not supposed to be assigned to this area!"

[krispini]

Vivian felt a pang of... something for this tiny puffball. Pity? Endearment? Incredulity? How long had they been trying to get up the side of the dumpster?

She crossed her arms, squinted at the Gru's grating, high-pitched voice, but, after letting out a sigh, began to scale the side of the dumpster.

"You really want to get into the concert that much?" Viv grunted, climbing the side at a much faster rate than the slug-like Gru and sitting down on the dumpster's closed top, wrinkling her nose at the smell. Ugh. Wasn't even open and it already smelled horrible. Damn those guys for giving her this area.

"No one's gonna fuckin' notice you. Chill out." The guards would probably notice her, first. "Anyways." Vivian looked down at the puffy slug with a critical glare. "Why do you need a ticket so badly?"

[ Quingee ]

[mazu]

The agreed to meet up the next day prior to a discussion about the concert and after the vet checkup with both his dogs, and dropping Luna with Stella (because she wanted to play with him), Will picked Phil up from his place and immediately drove towards County Road 4, the place they were headed to. Goldie was pacing in the backseat, while the Shepherd, Ducan sat there quietly while facing the side window. Will and Phil shared small conversations during the trip, and talked about various things.

--

Pulling a stop at the parking lot, they both got out of the car. He wore a jacket over his white dress shirt, and handed a leash to Phil so he could help put it on one of the dogs as he handled one on its own. "As much as I'm not fond of snooping around, it seems like a good place to start." he smiles faintly at Phil as he patted Goldie's head.

juhai

[juhai]

Phil gently reminded himself that if he ever was holding a leash in the near future, it would be Ducan's as him and Will drove to the Gru concert venue. He didn't want to be here but Will asked him kindly and he wasn't able to say no to the kind police officer, so here he was. 'What a pain in the ass.' he thought to himself as they reached the place.

As both men hopped out of the car, Phil managed to get Ducan's leash, bless the heavens he thought, as he patted the good boy's head. "Yeah, seems like there's a lot of Gru here." He yawned and blinked tiredly at the gates, there were two burly looking Gru on each side of it and he wondered if they were able to get in at all.

"I don't suppose you'd want us to trespass so...no jumping over the fence..." He side eyed the cop beside him before walking up to the Gru's at the gate. "Flash your badge or something, maybe they'd let us in." He whispered at Will as he leans to the side.

mazu

[mazu]

He chuckles slightly as they walked towards the area, the Grus working didn't seem to mind them all that much to say anything about them walking around. The two dogs followed obediently with the leash, as per trained before, although Goldie looks up to Will from time to time with a slight whine, she was never that sure around Grus while Ducan just remained stoic while walking with Phil.

Leaning down slightly towards the side Phil was at, he listened to what he whispered before glancing around,and nodding to his suggestion. "Well..." before he turned towards the two-burly Grus guarding the door.

Pulling out his badge, he smiled at the two. "Police." before sliding it back into his inner pockets once the two had seen it. "How are things around here? Seems busy, with what you all have been planning around here for the show."

[ juhai Quingee ]

[juhai]

As much as Phil wanted to wait until the Grus opened the gates for them, Phil noticed that it weren't at all locked(?!) so while Will was busy with the two guards, the younger man slowly inches his way inside the premises with Ducan, who thankfully was well behaved next to him.

He looks back at Will and gives him a nod from the other side. Ducan was quick to sniff around and before he could wait for Will to finish completely, the curious dog had already made his way to the storage crates near the gates, pulling Phil along.

There were two winged Grus and Phil decides to let them be BUT Ducan seems to think otherwise as he begins sniffing one of them and the crates they were working on.

"Sorry..." he mumbled.

[mazu Quingee]

[yume]

By all means, Violet had her share of curiosity for what the aliens intended to bring to the county, however she was no radical conspiracy nut, so this by far would be the furthest she’s gone to act on it.

News of the concert hadn’t gone unnoticed (if it were even possible not to, given the near-aggressive advertising campaign), and she knew that this event would be an chance to maybe-illegally dig around for dirt. It wasn’t as if she particularly distrusted the Gru themselves, it was only that the amount of information they had seemed to outweigh what the citizens were being told, and for a nosy person such as herself, being kept in the dark on any matter was out of the question.

And so there she was, hovering around the tree-lined outskirts of the concert venue with a pair of binoculars in hand. Without a ticket to get in through the front entrance, a mission impossible styled break-in would have to suffice. It was when she was looking for a vent to crawl into that she spotted the fenced perimeter behind the main building.

From there the plan formed into the following: 1) jump the fence. 2) find an entrance into the main building or hide-out until the coast is clear (she brought snacks just in case). 3) ?? 4) profit.

Simple enough! Getting a hold on the fence, she clambered her way over with the grace of someone who has never taken a gymnastics class in their life. “Alley oop-!” After a fair bit of power difficulties and noise, she was on the other side, superhero landing and all! Crouching near a set of storage crates, she surveyed the nearby trailers and guard noodles, feeling the rush of minor law-breaking.

[ Quingee ]

[Pai]

krispini
"Yes!" they shrieked at her in a hushed whisper. "I have to get in! Have you never heard a Njoyiyrkë concert? I'd give my frontal lobe to be there! Even if post-48 isn't their best era, you bet your endoskeleton I wouldn't miss it for the cosmos! You humans are so ungrateful!"

They seemed frustrated as she climbed up so easily onto the dumpster, but continued in their trek anyway.


mazu juhai
Staring down at the two men and the dogs, the two burly, gelatinous Gru seemed to be sizing them up, before stealing glances toward each other.

"Police?" one of them chuckled, seeming to be entertained by the idea.

The other continued. "Things are all perfectly good and well, officer. Anything we can help you with? Wanna show your badge to the others, too?"

They clearly weren't taking Will seriously, but it also seemed to be making their day; they appeared to be in good spirits by the idea. Plus, the men had dogs.

"... And can we pet your friendly earth companions?"

They liked dogs.


yume
Violet would be crouched behind some particularly large crates; the label on them read:

A Gru in a hard hat was hovering by one of them, jotting notes absently on their clipboard. "Huh? Fragile? the what's even in here?" Leaning over the crates to try and crane and see, their head stretched around before retracting, arms instead extending with the intention of lifting some of the crates to peer beneath them, or to open them up and get a glance at their contents.

[krispini]

Vivian's knee-jerk reaction was to give the fluffy Gru her own unused ticket without thinking, but half-way to pulling said ticket out of her pocket, she paused. Hmm... maybe she could get something out of this alien.

"Tell you what. I can do you a favor and help you find a ticket, since you want one so much. I do have much more capable appendages." She wiggled her fingers for emphasis. Her cellphone buzzed with incoming texts, but she ignored it.

"But I mean, I don't wanna poke around in the garbage for nothing. You should tell me more about... Njoyiyrkë and their history and eras and everything about them. I'm new to the fandom, just heard the music, got interested," Vivian said, feigning casualness, Yrk's name coming stilted off her tongue. 

[ Quingee ]

[Hour]

To: Friendzone Group Chat

Raul
Just tell me how things go when you see anything interesting. Maybe we can learn more about this suddenly built place like you guys wanted. Also, I'm going to look for Hide. He didn't appear for the meeting.

As expected, he found himself walking into the parking lot. Why, you ask? Well, one of his cru members did a no show at the expected place to meet up and at least have a discussion about what they were going to do. He knew they didn't have to stick around each other for the whole thing, but he at least wanted to know they'd be okay. They're still his cru members, and he actually would care if anything happened to them.

Today, the lucky cru member that had his attention was... Hideyoshi, Hideyoshi, Hideyoshi. Not that he's seen him, but knowing that guy, he wouldn't stick around back at the front or on stage. That was too simple. He assumed Hide was more spontaneous than what he appeared to be, so he was taking a walk to the back- maybe where the more interesting stuff would be, like where they keep the equipment that can't fit into the backstage right away- and lo and behold, he was right.

A chainlink fence in the way, he'd curiously peek in, but it seems there's a policeman in the way talking to the gru upfront. He sighed, not seeing a sign of Hide yet. He might come though, so he crossed his arms nearby, waiting for him to appear.

[ redrobyns ]

[Pai]

krispini
"You'd do that? A smelly human? Really?" the Gru sounded personally touched, even despite their choice of words. "Well, start looking around, then! I've been told all the ones that didn't sell are just back here; I'm not going to let that go to waste! After all, I don't have 6mil-g..."

They sighed. "Well, before anything, it's nyo-yih-yurk-uhhr; are you sure you've even heard of them? I know you earth humans prefer to shorten their name, but, really, at least try before calling yourself a fan? You have to hear their work from the first few eras, it's not their best but it's the best starting point, so you can truly appreciate how they evolve by around #20; that was when they were truly radiant."

They sighed adoringly.

[yume]

Unfortunately for the progress of the stealth mission, the arrival of the Gru left her no place to go, already pressed into the corner. Lamenting having cool magnet powers instead of invisibility, she waited for the Gru to do its job and move along.

When the worker instead speculated about the contents of the crates, she was given an idea of what the otherworldly squiggles printed on the labels meant. How peculiar! She too wondered what would be inside. Clearly it was for the concert, maybe it was some alien technology to make it extra exciting - or it could be decorations, perhaps? Either way, the fact that the Gru was puzzled about what it could be meant that it was unexpected, which intrigued her.

Before her train of thought could move on towards how endearing it was to watch something non-human do mundane tasks, she had to remind herself that getting caught now would probably throw a wrench in the whole operation. As much as she bubbled with inquisitiveness and temptation to join the Gru in prying the crates open, she had to bottle up those instincts and wait.

In the meanwhile she settled with pulling out her phone, silently tapping in the keycode and opening the messaging app. For someone in her position she had disproportionately little worries, though finding some repose from her favourite librarian would undoubtedly ease some of the smaller what-ifs in her head.

[ TO: valter 📚 ]
Mr Valter! Hypothetically speaking, trespassing on private property can be pardoned if it’s for honorable reasons, right??

She paused, glancing up with a furrowed brow before adding in:

[ TO: valter 📚 ]
Even if it’s a big deal to certain species and it may be a formidable offence to disrupt their festivities?? (hypothetically)

[Quingee - text mentions Yukari ]

[Pai]

yume
"Hey, wait a sec..."

The Gru seemed ultimately to notice her; though pressed into a corner, she was not out of reach of their extendable eyes. They didn't appear to look at her with any malcontent, however, taking a last glance back at the crate in their arms, before glancing back at her.

"Are you some'a this cargo? Are you the fragile goods?" a pause. "I don't think we ordered a human. Did we? Do I have the wrong list?" They shook their head. "You evolved enough to vocalize? Who're you? Did we order you?"