milliways_bar | (no subject)

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In light of the latest wave of new arrivals (Random has spotted the pattern, have you?) the King of Amber is out on a couch, doing his paperwork and whistling, ready to give directions or explanations, or just generally be normal at anyone who comes by looking new.

He has a lot of fun playing the comforting, friendly type.

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"I wish I knew. I don't feel dead, but they say people don't."

She shrugs, and squirms a bit in her shoes. "Cheap is good. Cheap is about all I can afford."

"And there are funds if cheap is just a little too much, some days, for people who can't get out of here. You don't need to worry. Just, ask the bar for a room key."

"There are rooms here? Well, there'd have to be, if people can't leave. Can't have them sleeping in the hallways or under tables..."

It's better than a lot of the places she has stayed, in her life.

"A lot of people are stuck here?"

"Oh yeah. Well, on and off. A lot of people are just bound until they have enough friends that they'll want to come back."

That's how he's found it's worked.

"Random of Amber, by the way."

"Hedwig, of... nowhere in particular. It's nice to meet you."

She glances back to where the door had been, before looking to him again.

"Do they choose to come here?"

"Some people do, some people don't. It's really not a bad place to be, when it comes down to it. I've lived here before, and been visiting on and off for nearly three years."

"Three years," she says, impressed. "What do you do here for all that time? It's been years since I've stayed in one place for that long, I can't even imagine."

"Well, in between the drinks and mayhem, I'm technically ruling Amber. So kingship has kept me busy, the past few months, and before that I was a new father, and there's nothing like toddlers to keep you busy, and before that I was just in a huge lot of trouble, all the time."

"Those would all keep you very busy, yes."

A pause.

"You're really a king?"

"Mmhmm."

He nods, and there is something regal about him. It's just hard to see unless he lets you.

"I never thought of kings as... hanging out in bars. Except Elvis, but that's different, and even then, that was only in the movies."

"Well, I hung out in bars before I became king, and now just haven't really broken the habit."

At least he is not a lumberjack wearing women's clothing?

"That's good," she says, nodding. "Stay in touch with the people, let the people stay in touch with you."

Much of her band's fanbase can be summed up as 'lumberjack in women's clothing,' in one way or another.

And he has occasionally worn women's clothing (don't ask) but he's far too small to ever be called a lumberjack.

"Exactly. And I've family that stops through here, so. Not to mention my wife visits."

She has been wondering, and he seems like a good person to ask.

"How does it work, for most people? Are there... permanent doors that they come through? Do people from the same world come in that way?"

"Well, it depends on the person. A lot of people are bound- they can't go home or see the door. Then, there are those that have a doorway that they can concentrate on and have open to Milliways. Still others find themselves randomly abducted at odd moments, stepping through any threshhold."

"Can you bring people through, if you want to? Say... if you're running away from the police or something, and you go through the door, will the police come through it too?"

Not that she has that problem.

"I've never tried, I couldn't tell you."

He shrugs.

"Everything's on a person by person basis."

"Is anything... concrete for everyone?"

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