(no subject)

[til_it_aint]

[oom: Ben Hawkins has a bad night. Dialogue and imagery from Carnivale season 1 episode 2 "After The Ball Is Over".]
[ooc: this is a reboot. Ben has no knowledge of previously being in M'ways]

Many doors open at Milliways, and this one isn't any different. It's old, maybe, all wind-scoured wood and peeling paint, and maybe it's a door that hasn't opened here before, ever, but it's still just a door.

The boy who steps through it, though, well, he weren't expecting a bar. He's tallish and dirty, smells like maybe he ain't had a bath in a little too long. He's wearing a pair of overalls with the bib hanging down, a stained white cotton shirt and a loose brown cotton jacket over it. He's dusty, smears of brown marking the side of his face and there's a red mark on his jaw that'll turn to purple bruising soon enough.

He ain't worried 'bout how he looks, though, he's more worried 'bout the fact that there's a bar where Ruthie's trailer was supposed to be. So he stumbles back, for a moment, says "Ruthie?" like he's hopin' maybe he's supposed to be here. But she don't answer and then when he turns around to leave he gets another shock because the door, well - the door ain't there no more.

And doors ain't supposed to just disappear but this one did and now Ben Hawkins is hopin', prayin' that maybe this is a dream but somehow he don't think it is.

Maybe someone ought to help set him straight.

[ooc: love y'all but I gotta to for a few hours! slowtimes are love, will pick up around 7:00PMish PST. feel free to tag in my absence!]

Comments

[wheatencrown]

Demeter hasn't been in the Bar for a while but she sees that look of confusion and comes over to him with a kind look,

"Oh child, what happened to you? You need to put something on your face and get some food into you."

She has a simple black shawl wrapped around her and sounds as if she's from somewhere maybe in Europe and under her long dress, she's not wearing any shoes and dirt clings to her.

[til_it_aint]

Could be maybe Ben's had enough of older women in black shawls and that's why he backs away, could be maybe it's just everything gettin' too overwhelming. Either way he takes a step back (his back should be against a door now but it ain't 'cause the goddamn door ain't there the way it should be) and holds his hands out, defensive.

"Lady," he says, and maybe his voice shakes a bit but he ain't gonna admit it, "Where the hell am I?"

[wheatencrown]

"Milliways and I mean you no harm."

She extends her hands out to him, they're calloused and hold dirt in the cracks and crevices,

"I'm Demeter."

[til_it_aint]

He don't take them. It's not the dirt, neither, he's used to the dirt. It's the part where she's a strange woman and he's in a strange place and he don't like to be touched at the best of times.

"Milliways?" He can't say as he's heard the name before but lookin' around the place he ain't exactly surprised. It don't look entirely like the kind of place you'd hear of, even ignorin' the fact that it showed up in Ruthie's trailer.

He doesn't give a name, just tucks his hands deep in his pockets and says "It always been here?"

[wheatencrown]

"Yes and no, its on the borders of various times and worlds. Its meant to be a safe place for anyone and does its best to be."

When he doesn't move towards her, she smiles and tucks her hands into her shawl,

"Tell me what I can explain and I will."

[til_it_aint]

"Jeepers," he mutters under his breath, stares around wide-eyed 'cause all the people in here - well they don't exactly look like the kind of people he's used to and given that he's livin' in a carnie show that's really sayin' something.

Finally he looks back at the women - Demeter? Funny sort of name, sounds like she belongs in a show herself - and shrugs a little, still hiding his hands in his pockets.

"How'd I get here? And how do I leave?"

[wheatencrown]

"You came through a door. Tell me, is it still there?"

Some might agree with him about that since the gods have never been that good at fading into the crowd.

[til_it_aint]

He looks behind him like maybe it'll have reappeared but it hasn't, 'course it hasn't.

"No," he says, flat and resigned and it's been a hell of a few days, maybe. He's gettin' tired. "And I wasn't tryin' to get into a bar."

[wheatencrown]

"I know but it will come back. There are rooms upstairs if you want to rest and figure things out. You can get food here and just take your time. Time stops in on the other side of the door so no one will be looking for you and worrying."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Sir?" says the girl- nineteen, tops, although her hair's a steel shade of grey that might make her look a little bit older. "Are you all right? You look lost."

[til_it_aint]

So they're close to the same age, maybe and Ben has to say it's the first time he been called 'sir'. Not that it really matters now 'cause what does matter is that there's a bar where there ain't supposed to be one and vanishing doors and he don't know as much as some, maybe, but he knows that this ain't supposed to happen.

So in the end he drops his gaze a bit, still breathing hard and says "This place-" but he's not sure exactly what else to say.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"It's very strange, I know," Ellen says sympathetically. "It's like something out of a comic book. I know I wasn't expecting it at all the first time I found it. It's okay, though. It's pretty safe here."

[til_it_aint]

See that's all well and good and pretty comforting, right, 'cept it don't explain what the place is and how he got here or why he can't leave.

"Look, lady," he says, after a few seconds where he tries to find some reason that ain't dreaming for what's going on, "I don't know - what's goin' on or where th'hell this place is but I don't think I'm s'posed to be here."

It's a long speech, for him.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Maybe," Ellen admits. "Maybe not. I don't know. This place is called Milliways, and it kind of tends to open its door for people whether they're looking for it or not. Which is how you ended up here. Don't worry, when you go back it'll be just like you never left."

[til_it_aint]

"I can't go back," he says, frustration bleeding through his voice and fuck this really ain't a good time.

"Goddamn door disappeared."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Oh," says Ellen. "Well, then, the door will appear again when it's time for you to go back. I've seen it happen to plenty of people, and it always comes back. And then, like I said, it's just like they never left."

[til_it_aint]

"...great," he says finally. Sits in a booth, wincing at the pull of muscle over bruised ribs. He don't mean it, not really.

"So I'm stuck." And ain't that just a fine thing?

[hadyougoing]

Ava has more or less recovered from her culinary misadventure, and is chillaxing on a comfy couch with a pumpkin latte and some take-home work from the office. (She has taken it home to see whether Milliways magic automatically translates ancient demonic languages; it doesn't, but her magical artifact does the job nicely.)

She looks up, pushing her silvery headband back, and regards Ben curiously.

Check out Mister Dust Bowl.

"... Hey, hold on!" she calls, holding up a finger for just-a-second as she dashes for the Bar.

[til_it_aint]

Ben's settling a little, maybe, not that he really knows what the hell this place is yet but it's got a name and trapped or not it seems like it ain't going to be a danger. Sure, he wants to go home but in the meantime he's tired and he's hurtin and it turns out the coffee from the damn magical (magical?) bar tastes pretty fine compared to the shit comes out of the cook tent.

But it's still confusing, damn strange and when some girl he ain't never seen afore in his life calls out to him he puts down his mug and stares openly.

[hadyougoing]

He's got a mug so presumably he figured out the Bar, but he also looks confused, and anyway since when has logic stopped Ava? She thrusts a piece of paper in front of him.

WELCOME TO MILLIWAYS!!!

It's the bar at the end of the universe!

(Yes, the bar. Yes, at the end of the universe. That's the end. Space and time. Before you decide not to believe me, look out that window over there with the explosions.)

Did you do it?

Yeah?

Okay!

Now check the door! Is it locked? Is it gone?

If so, you're stuck here! (If not, skip next section and go on to next page.)

Stuck = "Bound" = you can't leave, but time probably stops outside

Most people who are Bound get un-stuck in a few hours/days/weeks, whatever. In the meantime, first drink's free!


The second page reads:

The Rules!!!

Milliways has three!

1. NO NUDITY/SEX (DOWNSTAIRS)
2. NO VIOLENCE
3. NO GRUDGES (LIKE ANGEL VS. DEMON, GODZILLA VS. TOKYO)

If you're Bound (see last page) get a room key from the bar! It's magic. (JUST GO WITH IT.) Also we have rats! They serve food. Everyone speaks English.

Including the magic bar.

"You're new, right?" Ava says cheerfully. She eyes his mug again sheepishly. "Some of this is probably redundant. But you know, we get so many people just wandering in here you'd think somebody could at least put up a sign. Right?"

If he's not new, she figures he can at least marvel at her excellent handwriting.

[til_it_aint]

The piece of paper gets two raised eyebrows and Ben pushes his mug aside to stare at it. Could be he takes a long time readin' it, too, he ain't dumb but maybe schoolin' wasn't so high up on his momma's list of priorities and his readin' ain't that great.

After a few minutes he raises his head, looks over at the window and - oh shit, shit, that's - gotta be a trick right, some kind of trick but it sucks at his mind and he looks away quickly 'cause - well fuck, that's somethin'. The section on being stuck gets a wry twist of his mouth.

When he's finally done reading he puts it down, digs in his pocket and comes up with a crumpled packet of smokes he bummed off Stumpy for helping to set up the cootch tent. He's got his lighter, too, and after a moment he's taking a long drag and starin' at Ava like he's not exactly sure what to make of her.

Finally he nods, and pushes the paper back in her direction.

"Yeah. New." He exhales smoke and holds out a hand, dirty with chipped nails and oil stains. "Ben Hawkins."

[hadyougoing]

Ava's not afraid to get her hands dirty (with other people's blood), so she shakes cheerfully.

"Hi Ben!" she says. "I'm Ava Wilson."

She takes a sip of her latte. Mmmmm.

"It's kind of a freakshow around here," she adds apologetically. "You get used to it."

[til_it_aint]

"Yeah," he says, and offers her something like a crooked grin. "Noticed that. You been here long?"

In the couple of hours he's been here he's already decided it's more of a freakshow then Carnivale and that, that right there is saying somethin'.

[hadyougoing]

She smiles back.

"I've been here ... ummm. Wow. Over a year?" She laughs, self-deprecating. "I feel old."

[til_it_aint]

"Don't look old," he says, surprisingly candid, and drains the last of the coffee. He's gonna have to get money somehow but he'll worry about that later, or talk with a bartender 'bout running a tab 'cause if he's gonna be stuck here for a while he's gonna need to eat.

In the meantime, though, he can wait. And maybe he's not good at small talk so he just sits, smokes, watches her.