entrancelogs | [OPEN, DINER CATCH-ALL] war, children, it's just a shot away

Who: EVERYONE (Yes, even Mirrors.)
Where: Eighth Floor Diner
When: 12/18
Rating: PG to PG-13
Summary: With the help of a Japanese schoolgirl, one man overcomes his neurosis and invites literally everyone to the diner.
The Story:

[Ned wasn't optimistic at the beginning - matter of fact, Ned never starts out thinking optimistically about anything, simply as a force of habit. Healthy paranoia, often misconstrued as abject pessimism, is what weighs heavily on the Pie Maker on a daily basis.

Adding actual monsters - ones different from him, who are much larger and fictional and hungry - to the mix only serves to amplify his anxiety.

It comes as something of a relief when Tohru recommends barricading the windows and stockpiling supplies, blankets, an assortment of foodstuffs and some First Aid, all of which are suggestions Ned undertakes with enthusiasm and the assistance of his diner-mates.

Now, with all the tables upturned strategically and the blinds drawn, he's almost elated they had the foresight to work things out early as a new transmission hits the public sphere.

He sends out another message almost immediately, this one Mansion-wide.]

IF ANYONE NEEDS A SAFE PLACE AND YOU CAN'T MAKE IT TO THE CLINIC OR LIBRARY

COME TO THE DINER ON THE EIGHTH FLOOR

WE HAVE FOOD* AND SHELTER IN THE EVENT OF CATASTROPHE

*But please be patient with that, there's only a couple of us working the kitchen.

[The Pie Maker, who loathes close proximity and sometimes gets claustrophobic, almost regrets hitting SEND.

Almost.]

NOTE: This is OPEN MINGLE CATCH-ALL, anyone and everyone can meet up with their friends/family/associates in the diner if they need a safe place to stay and don't want to leap willy-nilly after Her Highness into the Rabbit Hole ~~it's ironic because the diner is called The Rabbit Hole~~.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[As it is, Bela can't tell if he was lying or not so she carries on.]

It is quite the opposite with myself. The world I'm from is chock full of both the paranormal and supernatural. Angels included.

[Listing every single creature that existed in her world would take a while so Bela refrains for the time being.]

Sometimes, I wonder what it would be like to come from a world without monsters. [Pause.] Still awful probably.

So...I should make your teacup half-empty, instead of half-full?

[The Pie Maker hazards a half-smile, pouring hot water into the pot to let the leaves steep. Trying on jokes isn't new for him, but it's almost reassuring to hear that almost everyone else's worlds are just as screwed up as his own.

Even if he isn't about to share that information with a pretty stranger.]

...I'm Ned, by the way.

[The joke manages to get a small laugh out of Bela and a shake of her head. She did appreciate the attempt at humour from him for what it was. If tea and light jokes can help her feel better, then Bela wanted more of them.]

Well, it is lovely to meet you, Ned. I'm Bela.

[She holds out her hand to him for a proper shake.]

Uh.

[For a moment too long, Ned stares at her hand.

Frequently he finds himself meeting new people who wish to extend a friendly greeting in the form of a shake, but having the ability to touch dead things and bring them back to life makes one reserved about contact.

Luckily for Ned, he's already occupied by the hot kettle. He clears his throat, ducking his head with a shy smile and returning the pot to the stove before offering her the cup of tea.]

Likewise.

[When he doesn't take her hand to shake it, Bela withdraws it and lets her hand fall down by her side, smiling politely. Maybe he wasn't one for shaking hands or possibly a germaphobe. In either case, Bela just lets it slide and takes no offense.

Her mood is considerably lighter when the tea is placed in front of her, looking just right.]

Thank you, Ned. This looks splendid.

[Aware that many people find his reticence off-putting, Ned is happy that Bela chose not to point out his disinterest in contact and instead accepts the tea with a pleasant smile.

It's the little things, really.

He moves to steep some for himself, because Earl Grey wouldn't go amiss.]

It's nothing. Been here long?

In Wonderland? Almost eighteen months now- I did go back home for a month though so maybe I can discount that.

[Bela picks up her cup and takes a small sip from her tea, finding it to her liking.]

Tastes just right. [She smiles again.] How long have you been here for?

Wow.

[He whistles, impressed and horrified - he's met people who have been trapped in Wonderland for longer and idly wonders if he'll ever be like them. Trapped and complacent.

Hell, who says he isn't trapped and complacent now?]

Uh, not that long- about seven months, I think?

[Seven months, two days, eleven hours, and twenty-three minutes, to be exact. But who's counting?]

I know.

[Bela doesn't really need to say much more, already accepting the fact that she was going to be here for a long, long time. At least she was alive in Wonderland.]

Seven months is still a considerable amount of time, Ned. A lot can happen in a week here, let alone seven months.

[She sips from her tea again.]

Do you have anyone else from home here?

[The cheerful reminder that anything can go wrong at any second is shunted to the wayside when she gently inquires as to the status of his home-bound social life. The Pie Maker is a fragile creature who forms small, close-knit groups of people and bonds with them like hydrogen and oxygen creating H2O.]

Um. No. I don't.

[Ned, who reads like a textbook of exaggerated and obvious expressions, realizes that his face has fallen beneath the earth's crust and occupies himself spooning sugar into his tea.]

It's just me.

[Perhaps she shouldn't have asked him the question in the first place, but Bela was curious. It wouldn't be the first time she posed it to people here and probably not the last either.]

Oh. Sorry about that.

[Bela winces in sympathy.]

I'm sure you've gotten to know people here though. Made friends, yeah?

[Other people are better than Ned at making friends. Other people don't suffer from crippling self-loathing in the wee hours of the morning, other people don't find themselves consumed with anxiety every time an outstretched hand is offered for a 'friendly' shake, other people don't consider each and every stranger and potential liability.]

Sort of, [he admits weakly, setting his teaspoon aside.] ...I mean, I have- I have friends. Some. I never had very many back home, so it's not much different.

I don't have any real friends back home either. Entirely my fault of course, I preferred it to be that way. [She takes a sip from her tea, sighing afterwards.] But things changed when I came here.

[Her reasons for not making friends back home were probably different from Ned's and Bela wasn't going to go into them if she didn't have to.]

A while after I arrived I found that the people in this place weren't so bad.

[Ned prefers fewer friends as well, but that's mostly because he can't trust enough people to keep his secret. Some folk just have naturally big mouths, you understand.]

I'm...kind of...less optimistic by nature,

[he admits, which is a breakthrough on confessing that he has an Actual Problem™.]

[She would understand, given the secrets that she had about herself. The kind that Bela wouldn't disclose so easily.]

Yeah? [ It's more of a statement rather than a question. ]

I suppose this place can bring that out in a person. [ Bela finishes her tea, placing it down on the counter. ] Do you think there's any way to change that?

Probably not, it's...less of a conscious decision than I'd like, but, um, thanks.

[There is a long, awkward pause that the Pie Maker wishes he could fill with conversation that isn't stilted or dismal, for her sake. She seems nice; more's the pity.]

...I have to go check on a pie.

Yeah, of course. Go do what you need to do, Ned. Thank you for the good pie and the conversation; I hope we can do it again sometime.

[ She understood that he wanted to drop it and was courteous enough to allow him without commenting on the pause. An acquired skill from being here for so long.]

[OPEN, DINER CATCH-ALL] war, children, it's just a shot away

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