[Open] If you are the dealer

[oneagainstall]

Who: Gren and you
Where: The entrance hall, then ALL the bars
When: 13th March
Rating: PG13/R for threats of violence and swearing. So much swearing.
Summary: A one armed monster dressed as a human walks into a magical mansion. Hijinks ensue. (Will match format)
The Story:

[The Entrance Hall]

[Gren has had a shitty-ass week. What with one of his friends being murdered, getting shot in the face and having his arm ripped off again- it's not been a super fun happy time for him. Sure, his injuries have mostly healed (well, except for the arm, but there's nothing that's getting done about that) but he's still pretty goddamn tired. The absolute last thing he needed was to find himself in a strange building.

Briefly, he thought it might be some hidden annex of the Woodlands- maybe he zoned out and took a wrong turn or something. That place was a fucking labyrinth at the best of times. But no...no there were too many mundies around. Something was desperately wrong here, and he was in no mood to deal with this bullshit. He stands there, for a moment, staring around him with his (seemingly) one functioning eye, before snarling and turning, grabbing whichever poor soul happens to be within arm's reach- gripping them tightly by their shoulder and hoisting them nearer.]

Just what in the fuck is goin' on here?

[All the bars]

[Gren eventually realises there's bars in this fucking hellhole and he heads straight for them. For the rest of the night, he moves through them, trying them out for size. To be the perfect watering hole for him, they need to be the perfect balance of quiet and dive. Somewhere most other people would take one look at and move on as quickly as possible. He doubts he'll get exactly that, but then there is only one Trip Trap. He'll just have to live with what he can get.

He can be found at various points at the night, sitting on a bar stool, whiskey nearby- staring at the pamphlet explaining where he is, finding it more and more insane the more he re-reads it. Wonderland is gone. It got swept up in the Adversary's takeover just like the rest of the Homelands did. Hell, he knows for a fact the fucking Tweedles aren't little girls- not unless they're wearing glamours. He wouldn't put that past those sick fucks, honestly.

He tends to not engage in conversation, certainly not when he's settling down for a long night of drinking. But he's in a place that's not what everyone thinks it is, and it's getting under his skin. So, he'll turn to whoever has come close enough to his chosen corner, tapping the pamphlet with his index finger.]

So. Are we supposed to just buy this fuckin' Wonderland spiel or what? I'm not the only one that sees it's bullshit, right?

Comments

[jivitadana]

[Not that Minato wanted to rain on his parade or anything. He could understand why he would want to leave.]

I know. But how do you propose to leave? Some people have been here for years and haven't found a way yet to do that.

[oneagainstall]

[Gren's never one for sound logic. He punches and yells his way through all barriers and he sees no reason to stop now. ]

Find whoever's running this shit show and break their fucking necks= that'd be a good start. Jesus, there's got to be a gateway or some shit, right? If there's a way in there's a way out. It ain't fuckin' rocket science.

[jivitadana]

I think there's a theory that it's this world that's pulling us in, not necessarily the people who are already here.

[Fortunately or unfortunately not. Fighting a world was much more difficult than fighting someone running it.]

[oneagainstall]

Great. Then we find whatever's powering the world, and we shut it the fuck down.

[Because that won't have detrimental effects at all, obviously. ]

[jivitadana]

You'll go back home to the exact moment you left and not even remember being here.

[That was probably not all that comforting.]

What if some people want to stay?

[oneagainstall]

Then they got to get their fuckin' heads tested. Who'd want to stay in a fuckin' magical prison? I mean, Jesus, how fuckin' desperate do they have to be to do that?

[Probably as desperate as the Fables were, fleeing to New York, but that's besides the point. ]

[jivitadana]

It depends. Home might've been worse. Or they could've died at home?

[Something like that. Minato knew people wanted to leave. But it took all kinds and there had to be some people who wanted to stay.]

[oneagainstall]

Worse that fake Wonderland? I find that really fuckin' hard to believe. And if they're dead, is this place really better than whatever waits on the other side? This is like the shittiest limbo ever.

[jivitadana]

You're not them. But you'll still judge?

[Just wondering. It's an honest question.]

[oneagainstall]

Damn fuckin' right I judge them. It's thinking like that which makes everyone who wants out of here to look like shitheels. What if escaping is all or nothing? Do we just go 'oh no, we'd best stick around for the people who are fuckin' dead back home'?

[jivitadana]

It's not all or nothing. People have left and have never come back.

[That was the pattern so far, at least.]

I'd want people who want to leave to get to leave. Anyone who wants to stay can stay.

[oneagainstall]

Yeah, but not by choice, right? We don't get that sort of fuckin' control.

[He gives a rough shrug of his shoulders. ]

Sure, in a perfect world.

[jivitadana]

Since we're here, we can hope it can be as perfect as possible.

[That's all they could really do in a place where they had no control. They could go with the flow but find ways to circumvent that control somehow.]

I'm Minato. Can I ask what your name is?

[oneagainstall]

You can't get perfect when you don't got any say, bub. Don't work that way.

[He takes a moment to consider if he wants to tell his Minato guy to just got fuck himself, but eventual decides not to. ]

Gren.

[jivitadana]

It's nice to meet you. I can try to answer any other questions you might have about Wonderland, if you have any.

[Wonderland didn't go over so well with some people, and Minato knew that too. They had a right to be unhappy since it really wasn't fair to the people who wanted to stay home.]

[oneagainstall]

Wait...seriously?

[On the nice to meet him part. No one thinks it's nice to meet Gren. NO ONE. ]

...There a place to drink around here?

[jivitadana]

[Minato nodded to both questions, actually. He didn't see any problem or didn't think it wasn't nice.]

There's bars on the fourth and fifth floors, and I think a club on the sixth floor. You could get alcohol from the closets, but I probably wouldn't.

[Not because the people running the bars don't get alcohol from magic closets, but the closets didn't always give people what they wanted on the first try.]

[oneagainstall]

Fourth and fifth, right. Thanks.

[He'll avoid the club, that sounds like too much noise for his liking. He squints, canting his head.]

Why? What's wrong with the closets? Other than the fuckin' magical part, I mean.

[jivitadana]

Sometimes the closets misinterpret people's requests and people end up with stuff they don't want. Like a live bear.

[That wasn't him, but he hoped he didn't have to say it wasn't him.]

[oneagainstall]

Well, shit, what kind of fucked up wish does someone gotta make to end up with a bear?

[MOST wishes, if he has to be honest, magic is complicated and fucked up. ]

[jivitadana]

I know.

[Minato didn't understand it himself either. And that person didn't even take care of the problem on their own. Someone else had to deal with it. So yes, trouble with the closets.]

Whenever you're not up for something alcoholic, you can stop by the Diner on the eighth floor. A friend of mine runs it and I help.

[oneagainstall]

I'm always up for something alcoholic, Kiddo.

[Always, but he does need to eat too. ]

...What'd you want in return?

[jivitadana]

[Then alcohol it was. Minato would just have to learn how to mix drinks. Actually, that might not be a bad skill to learn in a place like this. He smiled a little.]

If you mean at the Diner, then comments on the food. If in general, then I think I'm good.

[He was happy enough to help out whenever he could. He supposed that was his own reward.]

[oneagainstall]

[At least Gren was always easy with his booze. Quite frankly, he'd drink paint thinner if it was on offer. ]

Wait, shit, what? So like...you don't want no money or nothing?

[Sure, he had a perpetual open bar tab with Holly, but that was different. That was Holly. The charity of complete strangers is lost on him. ]

[jivitadana]

[Minato shook his head. No money necessary, not even for paint thinner.]

We're okay. Just come on over whenever you like. We take requests, too.

[Just to put that out there!]