milliways_bar | (no subject)

(no subject)

There was a Woobie inna bar, relaxing on a stool with a bottle of beer. He was once again wearing a blue t-shirt, proclaiming in white letters across the front:

My name is Andrew.
I am not a turtle.

Ahhh, it was almost like old times. Being a friendly sort, he wouldn't mind company in the least, and is especially fond of meeting new people.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"You got it," Andrew smiled, glad she didn't seem to be unnerved by it. Then again, she had just told him that her squirrel used to be an acorn shell, so maybe that sort of thing was old hat where she came from. Speaking of...

"So, where are you from, Amy?"

"Well," she says, "right now I live in Amber. In the palace. I'm the fourteenth assistant kitchen maid." She has decided, for the moment, not to go into the rest of it.

"And what do I have?" she asks. He hasn't given her anything, and aside from Simon Perryvall, she isn't carrying anything. Three identical people one of whom used to be an amphibian she has no problem with. The phrase "you got it" is something else entirely.

"Huh?" Andrew wondered if it was some sort of game. "I don't know, what do you have? You have a squirrel."

Does he get a cookie if he guesses right?

"Yes, I know I have a squirrel," she says. patiently. "Is that what you meant I had? You said I had something. Or that I got it or something." She sounds very confused.

Andrew blinked back at her a long moment until the lightbulb clicked on. "Oh! Ohhhh, no. 'You got it' is a figure of speech. Like, you got the idea right, about me and the turtle guy." He smiled. "That make sense?"

"Oh!" she says, and, feeling silly, colors just slightly. "Yes, I understand now." Though it's probably just as well that he didn't mention lightbulbs.

"Where are you from?" she asks.

"New Jersey. That's on Earth." Having never heard of Amber, Andrew assumed it wasn't on Earth. "Are you Bound?"

It's probably not on Andrew's Earth, but Amber is on some version of Earth. In some version of Europe.

The Ordinary Princess is confused again. "Bound to what?"

"Bound to the bar. Can you get back home? Bound is what they call it."

"Oh. Yes, I can get back to Amber. And that's a very good thing, as the fourth assistant senior cook would be very annoyed if I couldn't, and he's rather grumpy at the best of times. Are there people here who can't leave? Can you?"

"I can, now. Didn't used to be able to. Well, actually, that's not true. I could leave, but I couldn't get back to my home. There are all kinds of people here who can't leave. Most people are just Bound for a little while, though. Well, unless they're dead."

The Ordinary Princess is not ready to think about meeting dead people, and she's on duty at half past five tomorrow morning. "Oh, my," she says, simply, and then yawns. "I think I had better go home, but it's been lovely meeting you, and thank you for explaining things!" She curtsies surprisingly gracefully for a kitchen maid.

"Anytime," Andrew smiled. "Nice to meet you, too. And Simon."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only