Suddenly, This Guy

[ahelpingpaw]

Hello?

[It's a little clumsy, but a message comes through the mirror. Looking at it, though, will only show blue. It's fur, no doubt, and it's of a cyan color. Knowing the sort of people in this camp, though, such a trait probably is unfamiliar]

...is this even working?

[The mirror spins in the air. This is definitely some corner of the market, there are stalls, until the view once again only has blue fur]

I can't even tell! I have never talked through a mirror, or...even seen a floating one? If I didn't know better I'd think I have gone crazy, hyahaha...ha...alright, I'm not ruling that one out.

[Filbo doesn't even have any idea what he's talking to, or to who. All he knows was that he was brought here by mysterious forces he doesn't understand, felt like coming over here, got lost along the way, wandered into the market, got to the farthest point the magic bond allowed without triggering it, found the Heartstone, wandered deeper into the market, and as usual, there was a lot of misfortune.

All he knows is that this mirror is supposed to help somehow by getting you in contact with other people. He doesn't even have the slightest idea he's the only one of his species around here.]

So, uh, a couple notes? It's not easy being out here! There are these little creatures? With horns and stuff? They, they bite. Just saying, they bite. Pretty sharp teeth. [His tone pretty much proves he learned that the hard way] And second, I think I got lost. I have been going in circles, and all I have found to eat are socks. I mean, I guess if I get desperate there's that? But I'd really rather not to eat random socks I found, so...

[The mirror spins again. He must be trying to reach for it but it's just out of reach]

...could I have a little help? Please? I'm somewhere near all those cats. I guess I'll get wherever I'm supposed to go once I rest a little, but it'd be great to see someone before I go anywhere. Sorry about this, I'm such a mess.

[The mirror stays on even though Filbo requests for help. He just doesn't want to shut the mirror down in case there turns out to be some catch to using these and he had only one use a day or something, so he just leaves it on, giving opportunity for conversation.

'sup?]

Comments

[hellbentley]

[Crowley squints.]

Wha -

[It can't be...can it? Then again this place has the Easter fucking Bunny.]

Are you -

Are you a Muppet?

[ahelpingpaw]

[The mirror spins again until it finally is floating some decent distance from him, aiming to his head and speaks more. Ah. His mouth moves like a muppet's. Up down up down up down. How does he articulate words despite doing just that, who knows, but it's happening]

What? No, no!

[Filbo looks like he walked out of a kid's educational show, that's for certain]

I'm a grumpus! [And that species name doesn't help, hah] You know, just an average one, nothing to write home about?

[Still completely unaware he's the only one like him around here, so he's talking like everyone else obviously knows what's a grumpus]

[hellbentley]

[A long pause at "grumpus."]

I repeat: are you sure you're not a Muppet?

[rambles_on]

[This is the thing that makes Dean come out of his self-imposed time out, because Dean has had it.]

You know, I get it. I get the bloodsuckers, and the shifters, and the aliens, and the literal demon. I do! I don't like it, but I get it.

But this? This Teddy Ruxpin-looking motherfucker is too far. No! I will entertain all the fairies and unicorns you like, but not this.

I can take David Bowie's bulge, or Caitlin Clarke in drag, but not this Care Bears reject. That's where I draw the line.

[This, as they say, the straw that broke the camel's back.]

[hellbentley]

...I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm with you.

[The talk of actual faeries, the magic well, the teen who says he's something out of a comic book, the anime cat child, and Easter Bunny had already started to lose him a bit.]

Do we have to worry that a flock of feral Big Birds are going to run at us from the woods and try to kick us to death next?

[ahelpingpaw]

The only ones about to try to attack anyone to death are the...I dunno what to even call them. They look a lot like you two. What are you, anyway?

[...yeah, he's pretty sure Crowley and Dean are just these bigger versions of the gnomes. Surely the same species!]

By the way, please don't bite me. I wouldn't be a good meal.

[okayimin]

If you two are so free to be making this kind of fuss, I have a thing or two that needs doing.

[ahelpingpaw]

[That...was a lot of words. A lot, from which, of course, he doesn't understand the references, hah. Still, bloodsuckers, shifters, aliens, and a literal demon around here, apparently. Ah.

...

...that's...not great, thought Filbo. Okay there's reason to be freaking out what did he get brought into and how can he get out of here right away please.

Still, despite internally freaking out, he laughs a bit nervously and asks:]

H-Hey, are you okay? Did I reach out at a bad time?

[okayimin]

[ Listen, this is weird, the surface is weird, she's pretty sure this is actually all a dream, but more pressingly: ]

Don't eat the socks!

[ She's saving those! ]

[ahelpingpaw]

[Oh, another one of these people. Huh. There sure are a lot of them around here, maybe...this place is full of them]

Right! Right...

[Hm, now that he thinks about it...the only living people he has seen or heard about are these ones. This is a market, he recognizes food stalls and kitchen objects around here. The signs are more proof this is all food.

Therefooooore...deductive reasoning means the only living people here eat socks. Well, more power to them, eating socks sounds like a bad time but what does he know. Better be courteous!]

No worries, I won't eat them! I guess...I'll give them to you once I see you. You guys will want provisions. These are all yours!

[okayimin]

[ Listen, she's got some sympathy. Surfacers are fucking weird and when she first got to the surface, she wouldn't have put it past them to eat socks. This is a Fair Assumption. ]

I'm not eating them. I'm tryin' to gather 'em all up. We don't know how long we're gonna be here or when the weather's gonna turn and no one ever thinks to have extra socks till they need 'em.

[wisdomreceiver]

[Cue obligatory mumbling of 'What the hell?']

Creatures with horns? What are you talking about?

[ahelpingpaw]

You know, red caps over the horns? Little fast creatures? Sharp teeth and without any respect for other people's property?

[After a moment he adds:]

They look like...like you, but smaller. And with far more hair on their faces.

[Filbo still doesn't rule out these people he has been talking with through the mirror and the ones who attacked him -- the gnomes -- are the same species]

[wisdomreceiver]

[????]

I've never seen anything like that. Not here nor at home.

[myagents]

[What the...?

Normally this would stimulate Price's curiosity, but the situation has been dire enough to eliminate all interest. Despite how surprisingly civilized this...Creature relatively is, witnessing it fills him with such dread that he emits a loud sigh.]

Please refrain from eating socks.

[ahelpingpaw]

I-I won't! I got the memo!

[Truthfully, Filbo is surprised too about how...courteous and civil everyone else has been. Nobody has been berating him for being lost or for being bitten by anything or for anything like that. That he's near a group of sentient people, even if they're absolutely like nothing he has ever seen before, is such a relief]

It's rough out here, isn't it? I sure hope things will never get so bad we'll have to resort to such a thing, haha...

[Well, Filbo would have resorted to that before sundown, really, but he's an outlier and shouldn't be taken into account]

[myagents]

I agree.

[It's safer to agree, after all.]

As far as I know, neither of us has encountered such creatures while exploring this world. Could you describe the area in which you found them? It could be beneficial to know so that we can plan ahead in case they turn out to be...Persistent in their hostility.

[He has so much more patience than what they give him credit for, he swears.]

[bringinghopewithme]

[other people seem to be reaching out to this person pretty well, and not being able to identify his species is not much of a hangup for Bunny at this point.]

What do you normally eat? Besides socks?

[ahelpingpaw]

Ahaha, oh, the--the socks were...a desperate move, really...

[Filbo mumbles that last part. Truthfully, if at any point someone went and offered him a platter of socks as a meal, he wouldn't have the heart to say no. He'd absolutely hate it, but he'd eat it anyway]

Anyway, I'm fine eating anything! As long as it doesn't kill me. I mean, who can afford to be picky when you're out here and so far away from home? You just eat what you can get your paws on.

[Yeah, omnivore right here. Any normal food works, normally]

[bringinghopewithme]

I got a wide dietary range to forage for here mate, specificity does you more good than harm. Best to tell me if anything's poisonous or has no nutritional value for you up front since I'm gathering about everything that grows that someone could eat.

If you need meat I'm no help to you, but I can point you at the right people.

[ferengineer]

If you see anything else of use besides the socks on your way here, could you bring it with you? Bring the socks too, obviously.

I'm Nog, by the way. I'm sort of unofficially acting as quartermaster until someone tells me to stop.

[ahelpingpaw]

Quarterm--oh, I see! That's a lot of responsibility!

[Must be really skillful to have the central role in a team like that! Not anybody can be a quartermaster!

Yeah, Filbo's mixing up 'quartermaster' and 'quarterback'. He had never heard of that particular role before, hah]

Sure! What happened over here, anyway? I mean, everything is abandoned, but to have left so much useful stuff behind something big and sudden must have happened.

[ferengineer]

At this point it mostly just consists of me keeping track of what little gear and food we have, so not really.

You might have seen the stone figures around. We're fairly certain that they're not statues, but actually the petrified bodies of the people who lived here. They're too heavily detailed to be anything else.

[the_hit_list]

[ Okay. That’s new.

Friendly new. Friendly new is acceptable. ]

You aren’t still getting bitten, right?

[ahelpingpaw]

Am not! It probably is matter of time before I wander into the wrong place and they resume their attacks, though!

[He chuckles at that, a bit self-deprecating, but it sounds a liiiiittle bit pained. Seriously, those teeth the gnomes have are pretty sharp]

I guess anything that lives around here needs to have sharp teeth. You know, for the rocks and...tearing socks apart, I suppose. I must be the softest thing they had to chew on in ages!

[Still, it seems that despite the attacks and the rough couple hours in this world, Filbo is trying to keep his spirits up by joking a bit and generally staying upbeat]