Re: Petty Squabble [ROUND 1] [Fort Ayers, New Atlantis]
04-13-2011, 02:39 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Een.
Nancy was dreaming. That was the only possible explanation for the events unfolding before her eyes. She wasn’t actually in this odd drawing room, surrounded by strangers of the strangest variety. She was still seated stiffly in the back of the cab on the way home from work and had dozed off. Yes, that was it. Any moment the car would jerk to a stop and, eyes fluttering open, she would return to the waking world and go on with her life.
But then… why did this feel so real? Besides the fact that she couldn’t move so much as her pinky, the scenario was eerily genuine. Nancy daydreamed enough to know when she was having one, and this seemed far too tangible to be something her subconscious conjured up. The soft hissing of the fire, the way its light played off the faces of the people seated near to her, the voice of the bizarre green-clad magician… they all spoke to Nancy’s senses on a level that overwhelmingly suggested this was reality. This notion was even more unsettling than the contents of the dream itself.
She tried her best to listen to the Charlatan’s words, but her thoughts were getting in the way. They leapt all over one another, piling up and scurrying around inside of her head until she was too full of ideas to keep the little rascals in order. The price of an overactive imagination, she supposed, but even Nancy’s inventive nature was no match for what was going on here. Game show? Demon hunter? Space probe? The words were spoken in a manner that suggested Nancy should be familiar with them, but their meanings were lost on her. And how did the Charlatan know she wanted to be a detective? How did he know that she was just too nervous to try? Nancy blushed as the man announced what she felt was a terribly personal detail about her life to those assembled in the room. She instinctively tried to turn to see if anyone noticed the faint reddening of her face and was reminded once again that she was paralyzed.
The inherent concreteness of the situation coupled with the incredibly fantastical nature of the things going on around her was enough to make Nancy dizzy. As the Charlatan went on with the introductions and eventually announced that they had only been brought together to murder one another, Nancy hardly even heard or paid attention to her apparent competition. The flood of new sights and information was hitting her like a high tide and she could not help but be swept up in it.
It was only when the scenery changed that she was jarred out of her stupor. While the room earlier had at least been something Nancy could find familiar in some way, this was completely different. She eyes darted around in an attempt to look at everyone and everything all at once. Okay, missy, relax. You don’t know where you are or what’s going on, so just focus on something else. Pay attention to the man in green instead or something, she thought, trying to calm down. True to her thoughts, Nancy shifted her focus to the Charlatan, who was rattling off information once more.
“This entire continent was raised from the seabed with geological manipulation technology-” Annnd Nancy’s mind was wandering again. How did this fella except anyone to pay attention to him while he was yammering on like that? Like she even knew what mythological stipulation anthology meant or… whatever that thing was he just said. While the Charlatan rambled, Nancy examined her new surroundings again. She was definitely nowhere near the city, or even any rural area she’d seen before. Was this what Arizona looked like or something? Nancy firmly believed the deserts of Arizona were where boring people went to die, but she was also pretty sure they had giant cacti there, and while she didn’t know what a cactus looked like, she also didn’t see anything besides rocks, so there probably weren’t any here.
Before she had a chance to get comfortable she found herself flung involuntarily to a new location once again. Oh geez! What was she even doing here? She was pretty sure that fella in the green coat had more or less explained it, but she hadn’t been listening. Well wasn’t that just the cat’s pajamas. She supposed she’d just have to figure it out on her own. From the looks of things, it seemed like Nancy had landed in the middle of a warzone. Even the scatterbrained secretary knew this wasn’t a safe place to be. She was hardly dressed for the occasion, too, still outfitted in her work clothes and a smart pair of heels. She was fairly certain her shoes wouldn’t last long on this terrain, but who knew? She might have some luck with them. Nancy found that, no matter what she did, she had some luck with just about everything. This fact gave her some comfort over her current position.
First thing’s first, she needed to find a place to hide. To a lady who lived her life doing the most boring things possible at all times, this was the obvious initial step to getting out of the current predicament. It probably wouldn’t be all that hard. Afterall, Nancy was the luckiest girl in the world, getting to a hiding place without anything bad happening should be easy as pie! Bolstered by this thought, Nancy turned around to start her search, and found that directly behind her was a soldier with a large rifle held expertly in his hands. Oh. Well that didn’t seem very lucky at all, actually. If Nancy had to list some people that appeared to be upstanding, gentlemanly, cordial, chivalrous individuals… this man would be continents away from making the roster. She had never seen someone look so wickedly pleased at the plight of another human being.
“Oh gosh. I-I don’t suppose you’d, erm, just let me go would you?” Nancy asked the solder in the most charming voice she could muster.
The man sneered, leveling his rifle at her. “Bingo. How’d ya know?”
Nancy smiled weakly up at him as panic began to rise in her chest, “L-Lucky guess?”
Nancy was dreaming. That was the only possible explanation for the events unfolding before her eyes. She wasn’t actually in this odd drawing room, surrounded by strangers of the strangest variety. She was still seated stiffly in the back of the cab on the way home from work and had dozed off. Yes, that was it. Any moment the car would jerk to a stop and, eyes fluttering open, she would return to the waking world and go on with her life.
But then… why did this feel so real? Besides the fact that she couldn’t move so much as her pinky, the scenario was eerily genuine. Nancy daydreamed enough to know when she was having one, and this seemed far too tangible to be something her subconscious conjured up. The soft hissing of the fire, the way its light played off the faces of the people seated near to her, the voice of the bizarre green-clad magician… they all spoke to Nancy’s senses on a level that overwhelmingly suggested this was reality. This notion was even more unsettling than the contents of the dream itself.
She tried her best to listen to the Charlatan’s words, but her thoughts were getting in the way. They leapt all over one another, piling up and scurrying around inside of her head until she was too full of ideas to keep the little rascals in order. The price of an overactive imagination, she supposed, but even Nancy’s inventive nature was no match for what was going on here. Game show? Demon hunter? Space probe? The words were spoken in a manner that suggested Nancy should be familiar with them, but their meanings were lost on her. And how did the Charlatan know she wanted to be a detective? How did he know that she was just too nervous to try? Nancy blushed as the man announced what she felt was a terribly personal detail about her life to those assembled in the room. She instinctively tried to turn to see if anyone noticed the faint reddening of her face and was reminded once again that she was paralyzed.
The inherent concreteness of the situation coupled with the incredibly fantastical nature of the things going on around her was enough to make Nancy dizzy. As the Charlatan went on with the introductions and eventually announced that they had only been brought together to murder one another, Nancy hardly even heard or paid attention to her apparent competition. The flood of new sights and information was hitting her like a high tide and she could not help but be swept up in it.
It was only when the scenery changed that she was jarred out of her stupor. While the room earlier had at least been something Nancy could find familiar in some way, this was completely different. She eyes darted around in an attempt to look at everyone and everything all at once. Okay, missy, relax. You don’t know where you are or what’s going on, so just focus on something else. Pay attention to the man in green instead or something, she thought, trying to calm down. True to her thoughts, Nancy shifted her focus to the Charlatan, who was rattling off information once more.
“This entire continent was raised from the seabed with geological manipulation technology-” Annnd Nancy’s mind was wandering again. How did this fella except anyone to pay attention to him while he was yammering on like that? Like she even knew what mythological stipulation anthology meant or… whatever that thing was he just said. While the Charlatan rambled, Nancy examined her new surroundings again. She was definitely nowhere near the city, or even any rural area she’d seen before. Was this what Arizona looked like or something? Nancy firmly believed the deserts of Arizona were where boring people went to die, but she was also pretty sure they had giant cacti there, and while she didn’t know what a cactus looked like, she also didn’t see anything besides rocks, so there probably weren’t any here.
Before she had a chance to get comfortable she found herself flung involuntarily to a new location once again. Oh geez! What was she even doing here? She was pretty sure that fella in the green coat had more or less explained it, but she hadn’t been listening. Well wasn’t that just the cat’s pajamas. She supposed she’d just have to figure it out on her own. From the looks of things, it seemed like Nancy had landed in the middle of a warzone. Even the scatterbrained secretary knew this wasn’t a safe place to be. She was hardly dressed for the occasion, too, still outfitted in her work clothes and a smart pair of heels. She was fairly certain her shoes wouldn’t last long on this terrain, but who knew? She might have some luck with them. Nancy found that, no matter what she did, she had some luck with just about everything. This fact gave her some comfort over her current position.
First thing’s first, she needed to find a place to hide. To a lady who lived her life doing the most boring things possible at all times, this was the obvious initial step to getting out of the current predicament. It probably wouldn’t be all that hard. Afterall, Nancy was the luckiest girl in the world, getting to a hiding place without anything bad happening should be easy as pie! Bolstered by this thought, Nancy turned around to start her search, and found that directly behind her was a soldier with a large rifle held expertly in his hands. Oh. Well that didn’t seem very lucky at all, actually. If Nancy had to list some people that appeared to be upstanding, gentlemanly, cordial, chivalrous individuals… this man would be continents away from making the roster. She had never seen someone look so wickedly pleased at the plight of another human being.
“Oh gosh. I-I don’t suppose you’d, erm, just let me go would you?” Nancy asked the solder in the most charming voice she could muster.
The man sneered, leveling his rifle at her. “Bingo. How’d ya know?”
Nancy smiled weakly up at him as panic began to rise in her chest, “L-Lucky guess?”