[09/28 03:21pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty appears with Skidge in tow. He lets go of her and stretches his fingers, claws glinting. “Now. We agree that that was Zolotisty's shack, yes? What do you know about Zolotisty.”
[09/28 03:23pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge frowns. “Welllllllllll he used to be Nice and then one day he was Not Nice Anymore and yanked me around and uncrumpled my collar.” She carefully crumples it again.
[09/28 03:26pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty growls lowly. “I'm not trifling, Skidge. This is important.”
[09/28 03:26pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge decides abruptly to stop teasing Zolotisty and straightens up. “But that's not what you're asking, of course. You're asking about the Other Zolotisty.”
[09/28 03:27pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty loses the threat in his posture immediately. So there is another. …unless she's being doofy, which is a distinct possibility.
[09/28 03:28pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge beams. “Important's as good a time as any to be trifling. But I know, tricksy Gentleman. You mean the coughygirl who disappears every time you come around.”
[09/28 03:29pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty stares. His expression moves quickly from one of Substantiated Revelation to that of Dismay. .. Coughy? Girl?
[09/28 03:30pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge produces an anachronometer from a pocket. “She gave me this right before she vanished. Helpful present, but you can get a feel for her. You can do that, right?”
[09/28 03:32pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty gingerly takes the anachronometer between two claws. “..did she.” He sounds faint. “..i. mn. Yes. Of course.”
[09/28 03:33pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge rolls her eyes. Hedgehogs save her from the closemindedness of tricksy Gentlemans. “You're telling me you had no idea that there was another Zolotisty?”
[09/28 03:35pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty GLARES, temper flaring. “Of course I had an idea! Would I have asked you about it if I didn't have the idea!” A relatively new idea, to be sure, but..
[09/28 03:36pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge suddenly snorts. “You mean to tell me nobody TOLD you there was another Zolotisty?” She almost bursts out into giggles. Almost. The effort of suppression is difficult, but done out of courtesy.
[09/28 03:36pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty just didn't anticipate the other one being a) female and b) equipped with an immune system shoddy enough to earn a generalized character descriptor like COUGHY, of all things.
[09/28 03:38pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty eyes Skidge. He growls (quite a menacing breed of sound) and slaps the anachronometer back into her hand. (The arrow twitches a few notches up. Perhaps this was the wrong time to provoke him?)
[09/28 03:38pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty hackles. “I do mean to tell you no one TOLD me.”
[09/28 03:39pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge adds, sobering a bit, “I don't know her very well, actually. You were the Zolotisty I befriended.” Yes, she knows words like befriended. Wonders will never cease. “I didn't think about it.”
[09/28 03:40pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge silently points down the street, where another of her Shadows is skulking about pretending to be Batman. “This sort of thing is NORMAL for me. I thought one or both of you was a Shadow!”
[09/28 03:42pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge adds, “And don't even. Get me started. On that OTHER ONE. Who knows you. Can you please explain THAT?”
[09/28 03:42pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty moodily taps his cane. “Of course I'm not a Shadow, when was the last time you saw me nattering on about the Children of Chaos and Earth, or whatever auspices they are now.”
[09/28 03:43pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge pockets the anachronometer in an uncharacteristically huffy way. BatSkidge attempts to grapple onto a roof, misses, falls, and vanishes before hitting the ground.
[09/28 03:45pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge snorts, still out of sorts. “Oh, don't worry, you natter on plenty.”
[09/28 03:46pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty relaxes a little, though it's quite clear he's only doing it for the sake of propriety. “Sarah, you mean? We attended finishing school together. She, ah, internalized the lessons. Uniquely.”
[09/28 03:48pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge snarls, looking rather like the subject in question. “She cleaned. My house. She gave the kangaroo a bath. She yelled at the WATCHER for NOT HAVING LIFEBOATS ON THE FAILBOAT.”
[09/28 03:52pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty doesn't look impressed until The Watcher is mentioned, whereupon he resumes an intense look of Fury. “She yelled, did she? I'll have a conversation with her about that.”
[09/28 03:55pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge mutters. “She says she was polite. She says she actually quite likes the Watcher. I was still called to go and get her! SHE WASHED MY KANGAROO!”
[09/28 04:00pm] <IBHML> Lieutenant Badass Sicpuess snaps in, observing. It is a bit difficult to have to follow the orders of a swarm of Fish, but refusal usually end in headaches.
[09/28 04:05pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty inhales. “Right, yes. Right. She washed your kangaroo, tragic. Very tragic. You have my deepest and MOST inestimable sympathies.” He glances around. “We could find her, you know.”
[09/28 04:07pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge gives him a look verging on pity. She snaps her fingers, and her fish voids through. She expands the void and gestures at it. “Like I wouldn't have thought of that. Really.”
[09/28 04:08pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge pokes her head through the void. Improbable Central.. in Snickerer's Shack. Lovely.
[09/28 04:10pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty flashes her a dry look. “..There are easier ways, but if you insist.” He sniffs the void absently. It has a distinct air of wildcards. “If I may,” and with that, he steps through.

[09/28 04:15pm] <QQQ> The Pedant Skidge walks in briskly, and looks around. She takes in the different colored walls, and snorts at the dancing stick figure.
[09/28 04:16pm] <QQQ> The Pedant Skidge stands in the middle of the room, tapping her foot irritably. The disorganization is rampant, even going so far as to infect past conversations!
[09/28 04:17pm] <QQQ> The Pedant Skidge tugs on the edges of unfinished conversations, attempting to straighten them, before thinking about what she's doing and pausing in a moment of self-realization. She must be going mad.
[09/28 04:19pm] <QQQ> The Pedant Skidge twitches around the room, attempting to put it to her own particular version of obsessive order. The colors in the wall flee before her rampage; the stick figure hides behind some plaster.
[09/28 04:24pm] <QQQ> The Pedant Skidge starts, then rolls her eyes as a void pops into existence and Skidge pops in, still arguing obscure points regarding disappearance vs void efficiencies.
[09/28 04:27pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty steps into the Deck, glancing briefly around the room. Ah - his table is still here. He'd wondered where that got off to. Good to know.
[09/28 04:29pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty turns to stare at the Pedant. His voice is icy. “I'm told you had words with Her. Lifeboats or not..” He shakes his head ominously.
[09/28 04:30pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge adds, “..and you can sightsee with a void, which is really just an added.. where are you?” She turns around and notes that Zolotisty didn't actually take her void, but regroups.
[09/28 04:31pm] <QQQ> The Pedant Skidge sniffs in the midst of dusting a corner. “The captain of a vessel is Responsible for the Upkeep of Safety Standards in accordance with the…” and she lists a long, boring list of rules.
[09/28 04:34pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty gestures sharply. The duster vanishes, reappearing in his hand. “Now you see it, now you don't,” he says dryly, twisting his wrist. It becomes a wooden nickel, which he spins.
[09/28 04:35pm] <QQQ> The Pedant Skidge snorts, and gestures. The corner cleans itself. “Think you're the only one who learns tricks, do you?”
[09/28 04:35pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty scowls. “She can govern her ship however She damn well pleases. I don't have the right to impinge upon that, and neither do you.”
[09/28 04:36pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge burst out laughing. “That's the first time I've ever liked you, but how come you've started to talk like me?”
[09/28 04:37pm] <QQQ> The Pedant Skidge stands up in a Very Bad Temper. “I don't know what you're talking about, and you!” She turns on Zolotisty. “If you don't like what I do while I'm here, feel FREE to send me BACK!”
[09/28 04:38pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty flips the coin. It swaps back to a duster, which he waggles. “Mh, look what you've gone and done now. She likes you.” Wonders never ceased to amaze. He pauses. “Send you BACK?”
[09/28 04:39pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty tickles Skidge's nose with the duster. “My dear, I certainly didn't bring you here. How do you expect me to send you back if I'm not responsible for you?”
[09/28 04:45pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty draws back a bit as she snorts, seizing the duster and flapping it out briskly to remove crinkles, rumples and the like.
[09/28 04:46pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty twitches his tail in faint amusement, observing.
[09/29 10:49pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge rounds on Zolotisty again. Icily, she says, “Really. Then who, pray tell, IS responsible for this?”
[09/29 10:51pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty pauses. For a moment, it seems the Unthinkable is about to happen Zolotisty, without a snappy response? Surely not. He inhales sharply, confidently. “The Network.” Clearly.
[09/29 10:54pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge snorts from her newfound position on a beanbag chair on the floor. “How d'ya figure?” Skidge frowns; she Does Not Approve of things spontaneously appearing.
[09/29 10:59pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge brightens, trying to ignore her counterpart, who is attempting to uncrumple the beanbag chair. “Hey, hey, hey, what does she mean, back? Back where? And how come you're Here instead of There?”
[09/29 11:00pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty gesticulates. “They're responsible for this place's realization of Her as an indentured servant.” He hackles grumpily. “So clearly, if they're capable of meddling with Her..”
[09/29 11:02pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge stares at him, somewhat incredulously. “So they must therefore be responsible for everything? QUIT THAT!” The last exclamation is aimed at her counterpart, who is attempting to dust her head.
[09/29 11:03pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty peers at Skidge. “I believe she was referring to our home. Well. I'm being imprecise not OUR home, we're not..” He waves his hand. “Cohabitating. We share a common point of origin.”
[09/29 11:05pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty nods slowly, in the same way he would if someone observed 'my GOODNESS, you're wearing a top hat!' “Yes, that's the correct inference. From my discussions with the machina in the wilds, anyway.”
[09/29 11:05pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge looks relieved. “I should hope NOT. Just because we're different doesn't mean she's.. insane enough to.. I mean, you two.. ..and she's me, right? And.. um.” She subsides under twin glares.
[09/29 11:06pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty is being generous when he calls them 'discussions.' The Drive is not much of a conversationalist.
[09/29 11:08pm] <QQQ> The Pedant Skidge looks awkward, then something Zolotisty's said sinks in. “If this…Network, you say? If they can send me here, that means they can send me back?”
[09/29 11:09pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty removes his hat and draws up a chair, still icy with the insinuation he and the Pedant might be involved. Tshah! The nerve of it, especially with his vow to Her Majesty, the Queen. “Well.”
[09/29 11:11pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty rests his cane across his lap. “I'd imagine so. Unfortunately, I haven't yet been able to discern a pattern in these.. comings and goings.”
[09/29 11:12pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge drifts off into a realm of horrifying conceptual possibility. “Well, I suppose you have some things in common….be one hell of a clean house, that's for sure…the fights would be funny…“
[09/29 11:12pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty is ignoring the confrontation with Gryph and Snickerer's summons because it's convenient. Besides! These two don't need to know about the anomalies.
[09/29 11:14pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge ponders for a few more moments, then suddenly straightens. “Waitasecond! If you're here, does that mean OUR Zolotisty is THERE?” She shudders. “Is everyone….like you two?”
[09/29 11:14pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty turns his very best Withering Stare on Skidge. He lets her drift for a moment before leaning to delicately pluck her Consciousness back into the present. “Stop that. It's untoward.”
[09/29 11:18pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge frowns up at him. “It's unsomething, that's for sure.” The Pedant, for her part, is far too busy being Properly Horrified to have any sort of commentary at all, aside from the sputtering.
[09/29 11:18pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty blanches. “I should hope not.” Imagine someone with postnasal drip sullying his good reputation! He glances at Skidge. “You were there when I was gone did you notice another?”
[09/29 11:26pm] <QQQ> The Pedant Skidge pulls herself together, and sniffs. But not in a postnasal kind of way, of course. “I wasn't paying attention. I didn't even notice you were gone.” She is Obviously Telling The Truth.
[09/30 06:02pm] The Network says, “Why would you assume that she's My creature? Or even truly under my control? The Watcher does as she pleases. I merely try to sell what she produces. It isn't always easy…“
[09/30 06:08pm] <QQQ> The Pedant Skidge looks up, confused, somewhat alarmed, and more than a fair bit outraged. Rain of fish is one thing. Matchmakingattempting doppelgangers is another. But disembodied voices are Right Out.
[09/30 06:13pm] The Network pauses for a brief rewind, and says: “We send no one here. How they get here is as much of a mystery to us as it is to you. all we see are the signed releases.”
[09/30 06:14pm] The Network says: “If you want all of this to stop, at least from our perspective, then you need to stop being entertaining to watch. it's really as simple as that.”
[09/30 06:17pm] The Network says,”If you weren't such great TV, people wouldn't watch, we couldn't sell ad time, and we'd leave. Whether or not that would stop The Watcher… that's a different question.”
[09/30 06:17pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge looks up from where she's drawn a stick Coliseum into existence, filled it with stick Christians and sicced her Fish onto them. “Who's entertaining? I'm not entertaining.”
[09/30 06:22pm] <QQQ> The Pedant Skidge puts two and two together, and rounds on Zolotisty yet one more time. “There, you see?” She gesticulates wildly in an attempt to encompass the whole of the Network. “They didn't do it.”
[09/30 06:24pm] The Network says, “Blood and pain have always been fascinating things to watch. From a safe distance, of course. that's the marvelous thing about TV. Now 'up close and personal' is a safe distance. For some.”
[09/30 06:27pm] <QQQ> The Pedant Skidge whirls. “Signed release, is it? Is that what you said? Well!” She jabs about, convinced she's about to make a Very Good Point. “You got no such thing from ME!”
[09/30 06:28pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge waves up at her. “Hey, I'm willing to bet our handwriting miiiiiight be just a tad bit similar, don't you think? Maybe? Just like our names?” Skidge deflates.
[09/30 06:30pm] The Network flips through a largeish file and produces a copy of Skidge's signed release. “All nice and legal. Our lawyers assure us.”
[09/30 06:32pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge cheerfully glares up at the Network, partially because it's expected of her and partially because she's the only one who can pull off that particular facial expression. “Toldja.”
[09/30 06:36pm] The Network says,”is there anything else you require of us? we have meetings to attend, standards and practices to uphold, that sort of thing.”
[09/30 06:55pm] The Network leaves. Probably…
[09/30 07:03pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty makes a soft grinding noise, not unlike the a computer about to overheat (or in that very vein, the Drive the first time he exposed it to Tchaikovsky).
[09/30 07:05pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty took his masters in Prevarication, with a minor in Thematic Tropes. That a disembodied and apparently omniscient voice would join a conversation in such close narrative proximity to a reference..
[09/30 07:07pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty isn't sure whether to deal with the problem of being proven Incorrect in public or whether to violently pursue a hive mind that can produce legal documents out of thin air.
[09/30 07:07pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge looks at him expectantly. Actually, they both do, The Pedant for an explanation and Skidge for an explosion. Which they hope to extricate. Exactly.
[09/30 07:08pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty can grudgingly respect an enemy with that kind of power. He inhales through his teeth and decides, for the preservation of his own dignity, that it didn't happen.
[09/30 07:09pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge and the The Pedant look at each other and decide, for the preservation of mutual amusement, that it did.
[09/30 07:11pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty mentally files the whole affair under 'NONCANON' in his mind, verymuch like the afterparty after Her coronation, the first seven years of his life, and his one-time defeat by the Dragon.
[09/30 07:12pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty exhales in a rush. He smiles brightly maybe TOO brightly and snatches a cup of tea out of Elsewhere. Tea can fix it. Tea fixes everything. “Right. Where were we?”
[09/30 07:12pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge look at each other again. There appears to be a bit of.. Hedgehogs, is that almost respect? in each other's eyes. Apparently there is at least one thing they agree on.. tormenting Zolotisty.
[09/30 07:13pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge looks at Zolotisty and beams. “Oh, you were going on about how you were absolutely conVINCED that The Network was responsible for.. you know..”
[09/30 07:14pm] <QQQ> The Pedant Skidge finishes the sentence. “This situAtion, shall we say. The Network, was it, Skidge?” “Oh, yes, definitely the Network, said Zolotisty.” “DID he.” “I'm pretty sure he did, Skidge.”
[09/30 07:16pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty flicks his ears in ill-temper as he jams his imaginary fingers in an imaginary filing cabinet. “Was I. Hmh. Curious. Tell me, since you both seem so confident about this, what IS responsible then.”
[09/30 07:17pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge and the Pedant chorus, “Which is really STRANGE, because..”
[09/30 07:18pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty glares.
[09/30 07:19pm] <QQQ> The Pedant Skidge is enjoying herself for the first time since coming here. “Oh, you. Definitely you. Somehow.” Skidge doesn't look quite as sure as all that; she pops open a void and gazes at it.
[09/30 07:20pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge grabs herself and yanks her over, crumpling her collar and causing squawks. “Lookit, me. Lookit this thing right here.”
[09/30 07:21pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge yanks Zolotisty over, too. “Do you know what this thing right here does? Can it, you know.. CAN it?”
[09/30 07:22pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty sips his tea. A hairline fracture creeps from the base of the handle along the side of the cup. “I beg to differ, m'moiselle, I am not a WHAT, but a WHO.” He peers at the void. Hnh.
[09/30 07:25pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge points at the void. “It escaped a bit back, says Fish, and it was going to everywheres it wasn't supposed to, and mayyyyybe…” She looks at the Pedant. Who is scrubbing it.
[09/30 07:27pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty eyes Skidge sidelong. “Has it gone places it shouldn't've, I suppose you mean. Yes. I think that's entirely possible, but this.. thing is quite distinctive. I would've recognized it.”
[10/01 08:21pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge glances at him. “Oh, you. I wasn't talking about you. I was talking about.. HEY HEY HEY GET BACK.” She yanks the Pedant back from the edge; she'd been going in.
[10/01 08:23pm] <QQQ> The Pedant Skidge glares at Skidge. “It is an absolute mess in there. What did you do? I just cleaned it the last time I was through, and you've already gone and made a mess of it.”
[10/01 08:27pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge claps her hands together and makes a TaDa! gesture. “Well, there's that mystery solved, courtesy of.. this.. IDIOT!”
[10/01 08:31pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty manages an improbable glance that is both smug and mildly reproving. “She's no more an idiot than you are,” he says, patting the Pedant on the shoulder before retreating to his seat. Mn, tea.
[10/01 08:32pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge cuts off her doppelganger before she can let out an outraged noise. “Did it ever OCCUR to you that MAYBE going into a PINK FLOATING VOID FLOATING IN THE MIDDLE OF YOUR PLANE OF EXISTENCE -“
[10/01 08:35pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge continues her rant, “MAYBE wasn't really all that GOOD an IDEA??!!!” She is about to continue, but is interrupted by Skidge. An argument commences. You don't need to know details.
[10/01 08:38pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty sips his tea placidly in the background. Markedly calmer, he doesn't pay attention to the squabbling not the explosion of clinging soot, not the outraged bucket of soap and water, none of it.
[10/01 08:39pm] <QQQ> The Pedant Skidge finishes with a, “Well then YOU CAN PUT ME BACK!” “Oh, trust me sweetheart, I WOULD IF I COULD!” “FINE!” “FINE!” Twin humphs. Twin flounces.
[10/01 08:41pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty inspects his cup and makes a small noise of dismay. Turning it over, he shakes it persistently. Nothing falls out. Turning it again, he sips again at a suddenly refilled cup. “Is that it, then?”
[10/01 08:43pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge turns around from her corner, all smiles and bounces again. “Yep, just about. Can you get her back home, by the way?”
[10/01 08:44pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge adds, not really an afterthought, “And how DID you get here?”
[10/01 08:46pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty opens his mouth to quibble over the fact that he DIDN'T bring her here when Skidge asks him how HE got here. There's a clack reminiscent of a sprung trap as he snaps his mouth shut.
[10/01 08:48pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty makes that same 'does not compute' grinding noise in the root of his throat. “I ” he manages. “I'm not.. wholly..” He winces. This seems to be physically paining him.
[10/01 08:49pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty looks Distraught. The hairline fractures in his tea cup suddenly grow, and the cup shatters. He flattens his ears in defeat. “I don't know how I got here.”
[10/01 08:49pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge leans forward, and in a display of her usual amount of class and subtlety says, “You don't know?”
[10/01 08:51pm] <QQQ> The Pedant Skidge humphs from her corner. It doesn't sound like a suppressed laugh At All. “That must bother you immensely.” She waves her hand. The cup repairs itself.
[10/01 08:57pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty doesn't say anything. It's not that he's HERE that bothers him it's that he was just forced to admit that he doesn't know something. Definitively.
[10/01 09:01pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty fidgets uncomfortably. His moment of vulnerability lasts approximately four seconds, three point three picoseconds, and then he recovers himself, drawing himself up. “I could get her home, yes.”
[10/01 09:02pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty is probably lying. He has an IDEA of how you might get move someone like that, and he's explored it a little.. but nothing concrete. Nothing usefully substantive.
[10/01 09:04pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty refills his tea cup, again. “But that's assuming I feel like putting her back.” He is now Covering His Ass. “Maybe I don't, hnh?”
[10/03 11:14pm] <QQQ> The Pedant Skidge turns around and Glares at him.”You don't *know*. Otherwise you would.” She snorts. “'Maybe I don't feel like it,' indeed.” She mutters in a way that is Not At All Polite.
[10/03 11:18pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge leans back in her beanbag with the air of a spectator at a tennis game. She cracks her neck in anticipation of getting to swivel it back and forth very swiftly in the next few minutes.
[10/03 11:19pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty scowls and jabs the air with a claw. “See that attitude? Precisely why I don't feel like it. Hnh.”
[10/03 11:20pm] <QQQ> The Pedant Skidge leans forward, politely predatory. “Do you know, when you're partaking overgenerously in your tendency to overstate truths, you end most of your sentences with “hnh”?”
[10/03 11:25pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty hackles and sets aside his tea cup. “M'moiselle, you do nothing to further your case with me. You suggest it's my fault for bringing you here.”
[10/03 11:26pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty glares. “Were that the case that I had willingly selected YOU of all people to transport to this Island, you suppose that I have any sort of vested or even trousered interest in you.”
[10/03 11:27pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty stands up. “Beyond that suggestion, you say 'put me back', then scoff when I indicate my ability to do so. You don't endear your situation to me, and quite frankly..”
[10/03 11:28pm] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty dons his hat. “I'm happy to let you find your own way home.”
[10/03 11:37pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge giggles and murmurs, “Heehee, trousered interest..” The Pedant whirls on her and she shrugs. “I got nothing. Void went to the everywhere that was the worst and did what it did.”
[10/03 11:40pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge muses, “Makes sense that it would seek out a Skidge, because that happens every time, but I have no idea why it went to…” She wavers her hands back and forth, indicating the other two.
[10/03 11:41pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge finally shrugs. “I'd have to know which worst everywhere it IS to make it go there.” Noting the blank looks, she adds, “It's a matter of perspective. Never mind. Go back to huffin 'n puffin.”
[10/03 11:44pm] <QQQ> The Pedant Skidge is for once at a loss. She had been honestly hoping that if she was irritating enough, Zolotisty would send her home just to get rid of her. She searches for an angle, then decides on one.
[10/03 11:46pm] <QQQ> The Pedant Skidge turns back to Zolotisty and says, “I never would have thought that the Great Zolotisty, Magician of the Realm, would be cowardly and.. and WEAK enough to back down from a challenge.”
[10/03 11:47pm] <QQQ> Skirling Skidge is torn between being wildly impressed by the color pronunciations and the impulse to Oh Snap! She settles on just holding up a placard that says 8 on it. She docked points for the stutter.
[10/04 12:09am] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty stiffens, icy. “M'moiselle, I no more recognize your allegations to be a CHALLENGE than I do the divine authority of any of the religious zealots on this Island. No offense to Messire Liar.”
[10/04 12:10am] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty says, “Cowardice has not a thing to do with the present situation.”
[10/04 12:12am] <QQQ> The Pedant Skidge nods sagely. “Of course, what was I thinking. It's not cowardice, it's incompetence. Silly of me to have forgotten. It's probably for the best, you'd have probably lost me somewhere anyway.”
[10/04 12:17am] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty bares his fangs. In a rush, he is mere centimeters from the Pedant's face. “Incompetence? By Her name, woman, I'll show you incompetence. Hell if I don't leave you Elsewhere!”
[10/04 12:25am] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty steps back, snatching his violin from nothing. With a sharp gesture, his cane shifts into a bow. He plays several chords that shouldn't be possible to layer. There is a nasty yank.
[10/04 12:28am] <SPOON> The Gentleman Zolotisty harshly and hastily vanishes away, along with Skidge. There is a slight settling in their wake. And then silence.