First EP.

[mightbeawizard]

Between texting her sister - Where is my old prom dress? I need it for my stupid job - and balancing her third coffee in the other hand, April is not giving very much attention to where she's going.

The parking lot of Pawnee City Hall seems a lot more crowded than normal, though - so she looks up.

She has about thirty seconds before throwing her coffee at a waitrat.

Comments

[no_mere_marble]

The young man in a short Greek chiton slouching by he fireplace stares as the girl throws her hot drink at the rat.

This is a harbour tavern -- she should expect rats! Especially as she must belong here, or she wouldn't be here.

[mightbeawizard]

The rat doesn't approve of being drenched, of course, but he doesn't complain to April beyond shaking the droplets off his fur and going on his way.

(Once April finds out what tabs are, she'll see a ten-dollar surcharge for ruffling a rat.)

When she notices the weirdo looking at her: "Can I help you with something?"

[no_mere_marble]

"No," Antinoos says. "If you're going to throw a drink at every rat you see around here, we'd all drown, though. And it gets expensive. This is a port. You expect rats here!"

Perhaps she's some posh runaway, to object to rats?

[mightbeawizard]

"The closest thing Pawnee has to a port is the bus terminal."

The airport doesn't even count, to April.

"I'd be more used to racoons."

[no_mere_marble]

"Pawnee?" Antinoos says, confused.

Bus terminal? What?

"Is that what you call this place of Alexandria?"

[mightbeawizard]

"Are you high?" Asked quite calmly and fairly without judgement. "If this is anything like the Bulge, there's got to be something floating in the air that would make people say stupid things like that."

[no_mere_marble]

"I'm not on any drug!" Antinoos says. "But I'm not from here, so I have no idea what you're talking about. I understand your words, but your jargon makes no sense at all to me. For Zeus' sake, this is a harbour tavern in Alexandria, you ought to know how not to confuse the living daylights out of random passing strangers!"

[mightbeawizard]

Zeus?

Seemingly unruffled, "It's not my job to make sure you understand me."

Well it's not!

But finally, April asks, "What's the name of this...tavern."

[no_mere_marble]

"What is your job, then?" Antinoos asks.

Serve drinks, hopefully, rather than throwing them at any passing rat.

"And I've no idea what this tavern is called. It was just hot, and I came in."

[mightbeawizard]

"Last I checked, my job is to confuse strangers," April smirks. She's not telling him anything personal - Pawnee's not a big enough town that she's never seen someone in his age group before, if he were from around here.

[no_mere_marble]

"It's not," Antinoos says. "If it was, you wouldn't tell them. You'd just confuse them so your cronies can rob them or do whatever they'd do. If you had any, which you probably don't, because if you had, you'd tell me something else."

Perfectly logical, isn't it?

[mightbeawizard]

What.

"I wouldn't rob you.




"You don't even have pants on."

[no_mere_marble]

Antinoos rolls his eyes. "Only barbarians wear trousers!" he says. "Mind you, some carry that style off quite nicely, but that doesn't mean I'd imitate them. Especially not in Alexandria. I hear that in Germania or Britannia, even our legionaries wear trousers as it's very cold and wet there and they'd" -- well, better be polite, in case she really is some runaway young noblewoman -- "get cold in nasty ways."

[aleister_author]

Tyler raises his own cup in minor salute.

He's been up at odd hours and is fairly sure there's a horror novel or two somewhere in the infomercials selling sets of knives. (Humans are made of meat after all and those knives cut so well in the demos.)

[mightbeawizard]

People don't usually try to talk to April unless they want something.

But she's off work now, and April doesn't see Leslie around, so -- what the hell?

"I don't want any."

[aleister_author]

"Good thing I'm not selling anything."

People spent years not wanting to talk to Tyler. He blames digging up things that got hidden and putting them up in print. No they mostly ignore him because he's just human.

[mightbeawizard]

"I'm pretty sure there's some law or something about soliciting impressionable girls on government property," April offers in an unwaveringly low tone.





"I'll make an exception if you've got a car."

[aleister_author]

"Kid, I don't know where you think you are, but it ain't here."

[mightbeawizard]

"Obviously. And I'm not a kid."

[aleister_author]

"Riight."

Yes you are. He has one, he knows what kids look like. He is hip to your jive lingo and styles.

"Well, out of curiosity, where did you expect to be?"

[mightbeawizard]

"Parking lot. Trying to leave work."

Finally, curiosity is killing her enough to actually bother asking: "Weren't you."

[aleister_author]

"I haven't had to leave work from a parking lot for years."

"Haven't had to leave work actually. Perils of working from home and all that."

[mightbeawizard]

"Ah, a hoarder. There's an app for that."

[aleister_author]

App what?

"It's pronounced author, thanks."

[mightbeawizard]

"Self-help books?"

Keep working on it, slugger.