milliways_bar | (no subject)

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[Pre-Entrance]

The front door to the bar opened and a young girl fell through. Her clothes are all black, or look like they used to be black. Now they are caked with mud, making them look a brown, dark grey color. She blinks as she enters, the sudden light making her eyes hurt. Where was she? She hadn't stumbled onto a Pretty party had she? She must have, there were too many people otherwise. She automatically hid her face, and turned around to leave the way she came. The door was gone. She looked for an exit, adrenaline running through her system, making her hyped up. She couldn't be caught. She promised Peris.

Wait.

Something in the room made her double take. This didn't look like any room she'd ever seen before. And the people.. Her eyes widened. There wasn't a Pretty among them. And some..most..of these people were..well. They were OLD. At least thirty. She'd never seen a face age naturally past the age sixteen. How.. Where where the Pretties? What was a bunch of Uglies..OLD Uglies, doing in New Pretty Town? Everyone knew Uglies weren't allowed there..and everyone had the operation. What was going on here? What sort of place was this? Where was the door? Where were the Pretties?

What's going on?

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Mallory looks up from her book when the place where the door is supposed to be spits forth someone from The Outside. Seeing that that person looks like they've been in an ordeal, she she sets down her book, and walks over to the bewildered looking newcomer.

"Hey, are you all right?"

Tally's eyes WIDEN and she takes a few steps back. Someone was talking to her. They knew! She had to get out of here.. What if they didn't let her have the operation? She had to have the operation. She promised!

"okay, not all right."

Mallory holds out an arm to steady the girl, but doesn't touch her as she steps backward.

"Are you hurt? Do you need a doctor, or something?"

Her eyes flicker to her outstretched hand, then back up to her face. She was obviously older than sixteen. Perhaps not much older..but older. Tally's eyes saw the tiny scars on the other girl's arms, hands, and even a few on her face. A lopsided face. An Ugly face. But they were in New Pretty Town! What was an Ugly doing in New Pretty Town?

After a moment she blinked. A doctor? She wasn't sixteen yet. Why would someone be asking about the operation? Someone who hadn't even had it herself?
"You're..you're not going to tattle?" She looked up a bit more, letting her Ugly face be seen in the light. Maybe she hadn't noticed. How could she not notice? She had crossed the river! She had set off an alarm! She'd never even HEARD anyone doing anything that bad!

Tattle? That was a word she hadn't heard since she was five.

"Nope."

After all, she didn't even know what the girl had done..."I've been covered in mud plenty of times. It's no big deal."

She looked down at her clothes, then up at the other girl. She's really too shocked at this whole situation to try and understand what's happened.

"I..

But.." She looks over the girl's shoulder, trying to avoid looking into her eyes.

"Is that WOOD?" Her eyes widen again.

"Um..." Mallory turns around to look around the bar. "Maybe. I don't know everyone here, and Wood is a pretty common name."

No one cuts down trees. That's like Pre-Rusty. Everything is synthetic, made for easy recycling. And wood.. She's never seen anyone use wood like that.

"What IS this place?" She looks around and cringes. Everything's so.. there isn't even a word for it. "Where are the Pretties?"

"It's okay...you're at Milliways. It's a bar that just happens to be at the end of the universe."

She pauses for a moment to see if that actually registers. This girl looks pretty freaked out.

"Everyone here is from somewhere else. What is as Pretty?"

And Tally thought she couldn't get more freaked out. Silly her!

"The end.." She is still for a moment - too still and her eyes seem to gloss over.

"I hit my head. I hit my head when I jumped. The jacket malfunctioned.." She seems to be talking to herself now.

"You hit your head? Why didn't you say so?"

Mallory's tone is both worry and exasperation. A head injury would explain her odd behavior.

"You should sit down. Do you need an ice pack? You could have a concussion or something. I can take you to the infirmary, if you want."

But why would she imagine a place with all Uglies? How would her brain come up with these images? Why was this person acting so odd? Like a Rusty.
A Rusty? No. She couldn't have gone back in time. That's impossible. She'd just been thinking about those days in class where the teachers tell the lillies stories to scare them. After all, half the things they said were stupid. No one would act the way they talked about.

What was the other girl talking about? What's an ice pack? Or a concussion? Or an.. "Inferm..?" Her eyes were blank. Why not indulge in her delusions? If they were nice enough to talk to her, she should talk to them. They'll go away soon anyway.

Mallory studies the girl's eyes, but doesn't find them unfocused.

"Where the doctors work? They could check you over, see if hitting your head did any damage. where did you hit it? Is it bleeding, or anything?"

Clark has been frowning at the door - or lack thereof in his case - for a good part of the evening. People come, people go, as usual, but this girl doesn't look or sound like she's all right. Her heart is racing.

He approaches her carefully, trying not to startle her more than she already is. "Are you okay? Do you need any help?"

Her eyes, already wider than they should be, widened more. Who were these people? Why wasn't she being taken back to Uglyville by now? WHERE WERE THE PRETTIES?

"I..

I, uh."

She's in too much shock to form any coherent sentences.

That's not a good sign. Clark frowns, his brow creasing with worry.

"Maybe you should sit down," he suggests, nodding to the closest table. "I can get you a glass of water?"

"Sit?" She glances at the table he nodded at, her face showing her confusion. She then looks up at his face - not a Pretty face. Lopsided, uneven wrinkles. What was going on here?

"Yeah, you know, in a chair?" Clark offers a small smile. "You seem a little lost. Do you know where you are?"

"That's..that's wood." She stares at the chairs. Everyone uses synthetic materials to make everything.

He glances over as well. "Yeah, I guess they are. That a problem?"

"It's..just a bit Rusty."

Everyone knew better than to waste wood now. They were taught in school to respect nature, partly by the horror stories about what happened in the Rusty days. People were CRAZY then.

"It doesn't rust, actually," he says, giving her an odd look, but hey. At least she's talking more. "Is this your first time here?"

((OOC: I hate to do this so early in a thread, but I'm really not feeling well. Would you mind slowtime?))

"First time..?" Her eyes show more confusion.

"In this place. Milliways," he explains slowly. "Have you been here before?"

She's never heard of Milliways. Maybe it's a part of New Pretty Town that she doesn't know about?

"I'm not..you don't.. Why aren't you Pretty?"