(no subject)

[goodnight_nightvale]

There is a man in Milliways. He is neither tall nor short, nor fat or thin. He is wearing a tie. He is having a drink at the bar.



He is new.

He has always been there.

Cecil, welcome... to Milliways.

Comments

[hail_the_username]

There are three pairs of eyes, black and gleaming as drops of oil, watching Cecil intently from some distance overhead.



They're not very large eyes.

[goodnight_nightvale]

Without looking up or to the right or to the left, Cecil orders some bread and cheese, which he breaks into paw-sized crumbs.

He leaves them at a distance from himself, so that should *cough* someone *cough* want to snatch them, they can do so without fear.

[hail_the_username]

There's a pause.

And then there's a rope ladder, barely an inch wide and several yards long, slowly being lowered toward the bartop.

[goodnight_nightvale]

Cecil drinks, not glancing towards the rope ladder.

(It is city-council-approved bourbon, containing no wheat or wheat by-products.)

[hail_the_username]

One hopes the bread contains wheat by-products, at least.

One mouse reaches the bottom of the rope ladder, seizes a hunk of cheese, and passes it back to another mouse just above its head.

... there are a lot more than three of them now.

[katyafeline]

Katya is short, thin, and definitely not new. She's also sitting on the bar, cross-legged, her silver bangles jingling as she pours herself vodka and downs it systematically.

[goodnight_nightvale]

"Mondays, huh?" says Cecil.

[katyafeline]

"There have been better days, da." Katya agrees, wryly.

[goodnight_nightvale]

Cecil lights up a little, and says in passable Russian, "Oh, you're Russian? How lovely! I speak a little!"

[katyafeline]

That earns a slightly bemused grin in return - not too many Americans choose Russian as a second language unless they are born to it.

"Not bad, not bad - you have a teacher?"

[mogget_cat]

There is a cat, or something shaped like a cat, but (alas) it is not levitating.

It is leaning against Cecil's ankle and purring.

[goodnight_nightvale]

Cecil is not a cat person--unless it's in a video.

He looks down at the cat and twitches his foot.

[mogget_cat]

The cat may sit on the aforementioned foot, looking intently up at Cecil.

[goodnight_nightvale]

"What do you want?" says Cecil.

[mogget_cat]

"Food would be appreciated," replies the cat, equably. "Or, if not food, then scritches would do."

[damncompass]

There is another man getting a drink at the bar as well. He has a pile of papers around him, and is muttering to himself every so often.

He has unfortunate, terrible, bedhead.

[goodnight_nightvale]

Alas, his hair is no match for Carlos's, the Beautiful and Perfect.

Cecil drinks and watches him mutter.

[damncompass]

Joshua's hair is no match for anything, alas. It's one of the great wonders of the world why it never behaves.

Eventually, after going through a couple files, he notices the other man. "Er, sorry. I needed out of my lab, but I also needed to keep up with some shit."

[goodnight_nightvale]

Cecil makes an encompassing gesture.

"I do not make the rules."

[damncompass]

Joshua regards him for a moment. "Didn't think you looked like the Landlord." He's smiling, though, so it's very much a tease. "I'm Joshua."

[cook_the_rude]

Another man approaches the bar, in a suit and tie, sleek and calm.

He orders a glass of very specific wine, then politely says to Cecil, "Good evening."

[goodnight_nightvale]

"Good evening," replies Cecil with a polite nod.

[cook_the_rude]

"How is your drink?" the man asks, as a glass of red wine appears.

It doesn't look any different from any other glass of red wine, but the man treats it with what seems great appreciation, swirling it in the glass, inhaling the scent, sipping a tiny bit, and then closing his eyes, briefly, in apparently supreme pleasure.

[goodnight_nightvale]

"It tastes like vanilla and reminds me of autumn," replies Cecil. "How is yours?"

[cook_the_rude]

"Is it supposed to do that?" the man enquires. "Mine is an excellent Châteauneuf-du-Pape, full of soul and herbal scents."