Invasion of the Anzens

[tailsofwoe]

Who: Some Anzens & you
When: July 29
Where: Dorms
What: just friendly people being good neighbors
Warnings: N/A

[ Knock knock, open up, there is some number of Anzens at your door.

A pretty lady in sky blue smiles and waves. ]

Good evening. Hopefully this isn't a bad time? Enough time has passed that we figured it was a good idea to check in and make proper introductions.

You'll have to forgive the lack of housewarming gift. We're a bit shorthanded at the moment, which I'm sure you can relate to.

[ From behind her peers a perfectly average guy with tousled hair dressed in sky blue slacks. He gives a friendly wave! ]

We did think about it, though.

[ GIVE BROWNIE POINTS ]

Comments

[ratiocinations]

[Oh. Hm. Not nearly as exciting. But fine.]

Is that so? Well, that’s hardly as useful.

[But he flashes a grin all the same — he’ll not turn them away, because he just happens to be in a decent mood.]

But come in, come in. I might not make for much of a host, but I can at least be welcoming.

[Steps back, lets the Anzens in. The first thing they will notice: it smells like tobacco smoke in here, sorry.]

1/2

[ordimame]

[he steps into Kin'un, and-- SHARP INHALE]

[ordimame]

[. . . slow exhale, fingers twitching]

Haha. . . you don't have to actually host us. We won't overstay our welcome, I promise.

[ratiocinations]

[Aha, the look of someone quite familiar—and yet so departed—from that scent.]

Still saving that cigarette for a rainy day, Mr Puck? Between Ms. Fairplay and me, you might find Kin'un to be slightly torturous if that's the case, I'm sorry to say.

[ordimame]

[it's not good for him, Holmes!!!]

I'm not about to waste limited resources. I'll manage.

[a wave of his hand]

How has your class-- Kin'un-- been holding up?

[ratiocinations]

[A lot of things aren't good for you, sir!! And yet-]

As well as can be. Most of our young ones are actually rather resilient when it comes to these particularly jarring circumstances, I've come to realize. Perhaps it has something to do with them all hailing from worlds that sound far more fantastical than mine.

[ordimame]

[AND YET. . .]

. . . I'm starting to think that those of us who come from completely ordinary places are in the minority.

[said with a lilt of humor, but also. a tiny flicker of stress]

[ratiocinations]

[Hmph!] Indeed. Notable in its own right, but...

[He lets that thought trail off for now. Waggles his hand at the sofa in the little common area.]

Sit, sit. We haven't coffee, but would you like some tea? It's quite terrible.

[ordimame]

[taking a seat on the edge of a cushion]

Thank you, but I'm fine. If it's as terrible as the coffee, then I'll save my tongue the trouble.

[ratiocinations]

Oh, it's horrid. But old habits die hard.

[Smoking. An Englishman's daily quantities of tea. Some habits cannot be quelled even when the quality is questionable.

He sits at the opposite end of the sofa, all long limbs as he reclines.]

The ones we can still cling to, anyway.

[ordimame]

[one's morning caffeine. . . even Puck can't just quit coffee wholesale. not even shitty instant coffee]

Small comforts in a place that is largely foreign, huh. . .? It. . . helps.

[ratiocinations]

Yes. Someone like yourself, who travels frequently, would understand the comfort of the familiar amid the foreign. It's not been that long, and already I find it strange to not hear horses clopping down the street every morning.

[ordimame]

[haha. . . yeah. just because he travels. . .]

[. . .]

[thank goodness he finds something more interesting to focus on instead]

Horses. . . the kind that pull carriages?

[ratiocinations]

Oftentimes, yes. They are particularly loud, resonating amid the confines of a city street. However, with years' worth of familiarity, there is a certain comforting tempo to them now.

[ordimame]

[. . . interesting. so different "worlds" also includes "different time periods," maybe. . .?]

Has anyone told you about automobiles yet?

[ratiocinations]

[He chuckles in that hmhmhM! way of his, already partly anticipating this. He's had this conversation a few times before.]

Oh, yes, we do have those, but they are rare. The last one I saw was... oh, a while ago. Ridden in by a very rich and very American man.

[Humphs! one more time, then continues.]

No doubt you're wondering what year I'm from.

[ordimame]

[well. . .]

It's like you read my mind. Are you gonna offer up that information?

[ratiocinations]

[Indeed he will!]

We have just crossed into the new century. The 1900s are freshly upon us.

1/2

[ordimame]

[. . . . . . holy shit]

[ordimame]

. . . we're in the 2020's back where I'm from.

[year 202X, idk which one]

[ratiocinations]

[it's okay I also do not know an exact year for holmes]

Mm, yes. One of my English classmates is from around your era, give or take — imagine my surprise when I found that she was more than a hundred years ahead of me, however! [Pah.] And yet I've found that is still not the farthest ahead others are, at least in terms of time's flow.

[ordimame]

[HIGH FIVES]

Wait-- seriously?

[anyone beyond the early 2020's is ahead of even him in terms of time's flow]

Then who's the furthest along? By, uh. . . your calculations?

[ratiocinations]

Oh, they are not by my calculations, but via his assessment. That fellow... that was keen on showing very strange, very dramatic "movies" to us all.

[SecUnit.]

Maybe centuries, or even a millennium, ahead. That was the estimate.

[Very sci-fi!]

1/2

[ordimame]

[CENTURIES, EVEN A MILLENNIUM. . . . . . . ]

[ordimame]

[perfectly calmly]

Every day I think I've reached the limit of how many time my worldview can be completely upended.

And every day I'm proven wrong.