paradisa | Journal the Fifth

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lemony snicket

Journal the Fifth

[plenty of people have cake for breakfast. it is a sensible, adult decision made in all sorts of societies. ... never mind that those societies generally involve archaic royalty that made poor decisions about how to treat their subjects and act in the name of the greater good: they had CAKE for breakfast and that is the important part.

besides, as long as you have tea with it, just about anything can be breakfast. and that sad little face seemed so fitting, after everything he'd seen recently: all those people losing friends and loved ones ... he couldn't possibly partake of the chocolates, because really, they just reminded him of Beatrice, and even looking at them made him - well. look quite a bit like the cake. so, now that he's had his breakfast, he'll be attempting to go about his day as usual.]

It seems I'm not the only one who received complimentary confits, this morning. I haven't the appetite for the chocolates, but I can tell you from personal experience that the cake was quite pleasant. Now, if you don't mind, I am going for a long, soul-searching, sorrow-filled walk: alone, as I am destined to be for the rest of my horrible days.

[wait. that didn't come out quite right.]

Er.

[he opens the front door of the lobby, journal still in hand, and --]

Quack.

Excuse me.

[and with that, he'll attempt to circumvent the duck standing in the doorway and begin his walk. ... it follows. and while you are totally free to run into him, either here or elsewhere on the grounds, the longer he's out, the more ducks he'll have attracted. ... hoooooboy.]

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[Cake is totally a legitimate breakfast food! Although DeMarco didn't have his with any tea.]

[He passes Lemony on his way back from the shelter, carrying about three cat crates and a bag of supplies, tucked under arms and clasped in hands, but he stops a moment to marvel at Lemony's duck-train.]

Trying to get all your ducks in a row?

Yes, I suppose so. [he tilts his head at the cat crates] I see you've recently located a pet supply store. Did you happen to see if they sold anything fit for waterfowl? I'm not keen on simply feeding them bread constantly. They'll become ... rotund.

Quack.

[one of the ducks is attempting to eat your shoelace, DeMarco. sorry about that]

Yeah, they had pretty much ... everything ..... [He lifts his offending foot and looks at the shoelace assaulter. He's balance is pretty good considering what he's carrying.] I don't think they should be eating shoelaces, either.

... Likely not, no. [he frowns] Kellogg, please leave his shoes alone. Just because you cannot wear them yourself, it is no excuse to vent your envy.

You can't make him little ducky shoes? [Prompting DeMarco to wonder if he could get shoes for any of his cats.]

[if he should make it to the lobby in his travels Lemony will come across a sizeable pile of stuffed animals.

Wat do?]

[he'll think not too much of it, but one of the ducks, which looks a bit more rumpled than the others, will waddle up and start picking at a bear near the bottom of the pile.]

... Leave that alone, it isn't yours.

Quack.

[If Lemony looks close enough he may see one face in the middle of the pile that does not look to be part of any stuffed creature.

That face smiles, showing off four very sharp teeth.]

Dramalard. [Or, rather, "Why hello, Mr. Duck. Where did you come from?"]

Sunny! [his eyes widen and he moves forward to both remove the duck and attempt to extricate one of his wards from the pile of animals]

How on Earth did you get in there?

[Hi, Lemony, 'sup? She smiles and holds up her arms and allows him to remove her from the pile.]

Gateau. [which means, "I ate a very sad looking cake. Afterwords I wanted to collect animals. Do you think they're connected?"]

You received a cake, as well? Curiouser and curiouser. [he does, indeed, pick her up and put her up on his shoulders so she can look around]

I ate mine, but as you can see, I am steadily collecting a different sort of animal. Considerably less stuffed.

[the rest of the ducks start milling around his feet and quacking - mostly because they all want to say hi to Sunny but she is ALL THE WAY UP THERE]

[She giggles as Lemony hoists her onto his shoulders. Oh yay a free ride! She's certainly not going to argue with that.

She smiles down at the ducks]

Jahannah? [Or rather "Where do you think they came from?"]

Well, there is a duck pond outside, so they seem to have left its creature comforts for my company, but beyond that, and in terms of where they may have migrated here from? I cannot say. Perhaps somewhere out beyond the Dead Zone.

Anmihall? [which roughly translates to "From beyond the dead Zone? But what's out there?"]

I admit, I do not know the entire terrain, I have only seen maps and been to one place - it's where I was when you arrived, in fact. A place called Lastlook, at the far end of a river.

[Oooo maps! Maps generally weren't her thing but that doesn't make them any less interesting]

rephargotrac? [or rather "Do you still have the maps? I would very much like to see them."]

They are too large for me to carry in my briefcase, but I could show them to you in the library, one of these days. It was several days' journey out to Lastlook, many miles... we went so far out that the climate even changed from winter to spring.

Akaprelian? [which roughly means "The weather changed? I didn't think that was possible."]

It did, yes, and quite suddenly, too - as though the sun were simply a very large desk lamp pointed at one area of the map.

[What a very strange thing to compare it to. You're a strange guy, Lemony. She likes it.]

Chaud? ["Was it very warm?"]

[of course you do, you're a true volunteer, Sunny, and we're all strange here]

Not quite as warm as summers at Briny Beach - more comparable to spring. But it was still quite a change from the snow, and a welcome one, at that. By the time we reached the river, it was even warm enough to swim. I found myself wishing I'd packed lighter clothing.

[She pauses]

Sol [Which obviously means "I miss the sun. How much longer do you think the winter is going to last?"]

Hopefully not too long past the solstice itself, which falls sometime in March, traditionally. Being that this is my first winter in Paradisa, I cannot be overly certain.

[She thinks for a moment. There are a lot of things that make her wonder, here. Of course it's a magic castle so that's to be expected.]

Terwesos. [Or, rather, "I hope winter doesn't last for a very long time."]

You just wake up that cheerful, huh? [he teases out of love, Lemony]

On my better days. On the worse, I wake weeping.

[mournful quacks of agreement from the ducks]

C'mon, man, at least do better than ducks. We've got enough at the pond as it is.

I believe those are the ones who've been following me...

They just decided to follow you? What'd you do, put an entire loaf of bread in your pocket?

[Sherlock is outside, bingo, smoking a cigarette. His gazes does that sweeping evaluation it does sometimes, hopping first from the duck to Lemony.

Oh, this could be interesting.

dryly:]

Building an entourage?

[OH it is his friend Sherlock Holmes. surely he might understand the plight of being alone - but NO, he cannot trouble him with his depressing rambles ... he sighs]

A miniscule comfort in my loneliness, yes ...

[the duck waddles up to Sherlock and quacks, hopefully. you have edible things somewhere in your pockets, do you not, man of science?

there's another duck heading their way from the general direction of the pond, too]

[Sherlock stares down at it.]

Outstanding.

[Not really the best response to a declaration of loneliness, but he's not exactly an example of an A+ friend. He reaches into his pocket with his free hand, pulls out a plastic baggie of what look to be crisp chocolate flakes, and scatters some of them for the duck.

What? He's bored.]

Mind if I join you?

I suppose you could. Though that may not be the best food for ducks - is that chocolate?

[Kellogg dun care, food is food and he is a magical castle duck. he's just gonna gobble it up]

Hm? Oh, just an experiment of mine. Flavoring's purely artificial, hardly any calories. [He takes a drag on his cigarette and swings the bag in Lemony's direction.] Would you like a taste?

[ She's just watching this with amusement. ]

They're to keep you company.

[he sighs with no small amount of melodrama. no, really, the cake has only made it worse] I suppose someone must.

Oh, is that self-pity I hear? How common.

[Chell's seen his journal post, and because she's trying to talk with more people lately, she writes back.]

Hmm. The cake was wonderful. Since I am also destined to be alone for all my sorrowful days, do you suppose cruel, cruel fate would allow me to accompany you on your soul-searching walk?

[And with that, there'll be a girl in a long-sleeved black sweatshirt and equally black jeans with broken hearts embroidered on the knees shuffling into the lobby with eyes on her journal.]

Well, the point of going on soul-seaching walks is generally solitude, but I suppose ... it couldn't hurt much more than it already does.

[he looks up at her as she shuffles over, and the duck waddles up to her, too, quacking. maybe it sounds like a greeting, but really, he just wants you to feed him]

"Thank you."
[She says softly.

And then she notices the duck. Well, being who she is, she has bread crumbs in her pocket for just such an occasion. Digging around, she comes up with a small handful and crouches down to offer them to the duck.]

"Hello little wanderer in this sea of desolation."

[OOC: I'll have you know I'm having so much trouble keeping a straight face right now!]

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Journal the Fifth

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why are you so adorable Chell

I could ask the same of you! :D that duck!