(no subject)

[deterrence]

[passersby on the fifth floor may notice Shizuru standing outside a room that is, according to the nameplate at 524, very obviously not her own. She's been here for some time now, it would seem, not knowing that the room's owner hardly comes by.

After the fruitless wait has gone on for quite enough, she fetches a chair from her room, and settles down to pen a filtered message...]

[Prince Charming]

Hello. This is your next-door neighbour.

I apologize for the suddenness of this, [a momentary pause. Okay, she's going to delay the bad news] but I would like to meet at your nearest convenience.

Comments

Action

[soccerwhisperer]

[This one was wandering]

Shizuru?

awyeah

[deterrence]

Good afternoon. Looking for somebody?

[soccerwhisperer]

I'm just wandering! What are you doing?

[deterrence]

[an ominous-sounding thump sounds from behind Charming's door before she replies, expression unchanged, like that is to be expected]

Waiting for my neighbour to come back.

[soccerwhisperer]

Wh--What was your neighbor keeping?!

[deterrence]

Oh, don't worry about that sound. I doubt anything's broken. [...too badly, anyway]

[soccerwhisperer]

What if the door breaks!?

[deterrence]

It won't. I'll make sure of that.

[soccerwhisperer]

Do you have powers?

[deterrence]

[ye...s]

I just know what is inside. Shouldn't be much of an issue.

[soccerwhisperer]

Oh... Well I still want to help you anyway! Just to make it easier.

[deterrence]

There really isn't much to help with. [but telling him to leave would be rude] Would you like a chair? We can wait together.

[she's banking on him getting bored with that soon enough]

[soccerwhisperer]

Okay! Where do I--[wait for it]

[deterrence]

[headtilt!]

What is it?

[soccerwhisperer]

Where do I get a chair...

[deterrence]

My room, of course. [a chuckle] Call me if my neighbour is here while I'm gone?

[soccerwhisperer]

Will do! [look, he even does a mini salute]

[deterrence]

[he'll get a quick wave before she pops back into her own room, and retrieves a folded-up chair for him]

Here you go. There's not much I own that could pass the time, I'm afraid.

[soccerwhisperer]

It's okay, we can talk or just hang out.

[deterrence]

[just how bored is he, she wonders inwardly with a nod of acknowledgment]

I don't remember seeing you lately. What have you been up to?

[soccerwhisperer]

I've been doing training to raise my stamina. What about you?

[deterrence]

This and that, mostly reading. I thought the library might have something on what they encountered on the expedition, but if there is, I haven't found it.

[soccerwhisperer]

They wouldn't have expeditions if you could find that stuff in the library.

[deterrence]

Seeing something for yourself is quite different from a mere description, though.

[soccerwhisperer]

Ye-Yeah, but... They go out to find the truth, right?

[deterrence]

[well. That is one way to put it]

Would explain why we still continue having expeditions, even if there aren't as many explanations as they do findings.

[soccerwhisperer]

It's still something!

[deterrence]

Of course. As it stands, much of this world remains unknown to us. Making exploration plans would be easier when you have some idea what to expect.

[...says the one who hasn't gone on a group expedition in all her time here. Anyway! They can go off and be pioneers, she has her own stuff to deal with here]

[soccerwhisperer]

Some people seemed to know. I saw them packing boats last time, and someone said they got to a canal!

[deterrence]

I think there was quite some preparation behind this expedition. They made use of what was discovered about the terrain previously, too.

[soccerwhisperer]

How did they find out before they left?

[deterrence]

I remember seeing some mention of expecting water... [trailing off briefly to page through her journal. About a month's worth of entries goes by until she finds what she was looking for, extending Raine's entry for him to see] This, for instance.

[soccerwhisperer]

Ooh, they found a painting of it...!

[deterrence]

The Insolitus seems to have its own share of mysteries hidden within. [...] That's the whole point to a maze, I suppose.

[soccerwhisperer]

Hope we don't find a minotaur down there!

[deterrence]

The smell would probably carry before it'd be seen. [because cow er, bull]

Have you gone inside there before?

[soccerwhisperer]

Smell? [city boy has never seen a real cow bull man]

Once, but I lost a soccer ball there.

[deterrence]

[she has! ...in zoos, surely that counts for something] Of an animal.

Maybe it'd show up again, or be found by somebody making their way through.

[soccerwhisperer]

Oh, like wet dog.

You think so?

[deterrence]

Will you recognize the ball if you see it again?

[soccerwhisperer]

Probably not. I didn't put a special marking on it.

[deterrence]

[will curb the urge to ask "why were you playing with it in the Insolitus anyway"]

Ah. That's a shame.

[soccerwhisperer]

There's always more. Maybe that's where the castle gets them in the first place.

This person; /finally tags into this derppppp

[willalwaysfindyou]

Oh! You mean my room.

[He pauses. That deserves some explanation.]

I've been living with my wife, so I don't even know the number. I... suppose I had better move back in now. Could you tell me the number?

Prince Charming; np, take your time \o

[deterrence]

[yeah, it does explain a lot]

It's 524. I don't wish to be a bother, your wife takes precedence. This doesn't need immediate attention.

This person

[willalwaysfindyou]

Oh no, I... my wife is gone. It's no bother, I'll be there in a few minutes.

[And, true to his word, he shows up a few minutes later. He holds out his hand.]

Hello. I'm Charming, or James, if you prefer.

[deterrence]

[stands to greet him properly, shaking his hand]

Shizuru; a pleasure. Sorry to hear about your wife, though. [especially because it'd make what is to come even more awkward]

[willalwaysfindyou]

Thank you.

You wanted to speak with me?

[deterrence]

Yes. I thought it would be rude to not do this in person.

[she gestures behind herself] May I ask you to open the door?