who: helena and others! what: variety catchall for the month. when: end of july/ all of august. where: across the boat. warnings: likely discussions of death.
He's hanging up posters for the show when he sees the rabbit. Though it doesn't have antennae, its milky eyes are very reminiscent of the rabbits of the Constant. The little creature almost looks like one of his old show rabbits from long, long ago, and for a moment he feels an urge to scoop the little dear up and cradle it. It's probably not a tame rabbit, though, and he vaguely recalls being warned that all animals created by the Captain turn violent sooner or later.
But there are other uses for a rabbit.
He creeps up on it, pulling his magic hat out of his inventory. Then, with one fluid motion, he brings it down on the poor creature, plunging it into a chilly interstitial place of shadows.
Now he just needs to find three more, and he'll be able to build a Prestihatitator in the library, to accompany Wilson's Alchemy Engine. He just needs to make sure he keeps the little bunny fed in the meantime.
Sometimes, you are simply enjoying the sensation of napping as a bunny, letting the sun warm your fur and bring some tranquility back to your life, and then when you hear something, you're much too sundazed to fully be awake and running away. And then someone dumps you into a place that is cold and unfamiliar, and all at once she's dropping the transformation to figure out what just happened.
Don't panic. Don't panic. Panic just a little, but she has her cane, as always. Which means she can find her way in this space - darkness is no obstacle. All she needs to do is find the way out.
It's a strange place, full of echoes and whispers, and it smells faintly of smoke. In one direction, there's a softness like artificial fur, and in another direction, she can feel sanded boards and silk curtains.
The softness is what she heads towards, choosing at random, though her path is slower as she tries to listen to the whispers, make sense of what they're saying. Onwards, because what else is there to do? She can't stay here. She can't just sit down in a strange cold place, trapped - this can't be the Nothing.
(Her hand not holding her cane goes in her pocket, clutching onto the drone in there when her fingertips touch it. She is not lost. She is not lost. She can be found. She will be, if she can't get out - someone will know where to look.)
The whispers are too far away to hear clearly, muffled through the veil of worlds and speaking in a strange tongue on top of that. As she moves through the sea of synthetic fluff, the world grows warmer and more real, until at last she reaches a space that should, in theory, be too small for her human form to pass through, but just large enough for a rabbit.
Feeling it out, she can quickly leap to the obvious solution, twisting the pin that lets her transform again. She'll be none too slow about it, practically scampering through the space so that she can leave. At least if she goes out, she's moving, working to free herself.
Oh. Back on the ship. She turns back to herself, sitting up and then getting up, regaining her bearings.
(Meanwhile, the signal has stabilized. Cabin 117.)
She won't be so quick to leave, though, feeling as though being scooped up and teleported gives her the right to poke around the room a little. Whether she can hear or scent anything out of the ordinary, she'll linger over it.
The sound she will undoubtedly hear first is a big heavy piece of machinery (no, not OSHA Violations Erin, complete with real lifting action! this time) heading down the hall to WTF about the drone’s motions. Look, if one of your eyes suddenly started teleporting without warning, you’d have a whole reaction, too!
There's a distinct smell of smoke and mirrors clinging to this bed, a hint of illusory cologne, and the sensation of being watched by unseen eyes. Further poking around reveals traces of some sort of blobby substance, not quite liquid and not quite air.
The sound of the machinery is more distant with the door shut, but she accepts it in due course. And the blobby feeling is getting poked, several times - if it was going to kill her, it would have already, so the odd feeling is worthy of investigation. This is not someone she knows, she thinks, or she would have found more clues. But given that after a few seconds the ship does not start sinking, it's safe.
The blobs definitely bring about an odd feeling, sort of the icy churning you feel in the pit of your stomach when you jolt awake from a nightmare. It doesn't hurt, but it's strange and not altogether pleasant.
There's a much softer sound out in the hall, footsteps belonging to someone with worn shoes and a long stride.
Eugh. Not fun. Given all that, there's little reason to stay here and keep prying, so she'll make her way to the door. One way or another, she'll find out whose cabin this is, and who she needs to give a stern talking to over how one treats fellow passengers.
The footsteps approaching - they might know who lives here. Or, if she's lucky, this is that person, come to witness what occurred. And she hasn't forgotten the other footsteps - did the drone send some sort of signal?
The door opens, and a very peeved Helena, with a short rabbit fur cape, comes out.
"Excuse me, miss, might I ask what you were doing in my cabin?" The voice is steeped in a Transatlantic accent, with a hint of something more English underneath. It's deep, somehow reminiscent of a low-tuned harmonium. Whoever this gentleman is, he smells of cigar smoke and glamour.
Her voice is quiet, but no less direct, her vowels the slightly drawn form of the American South, and her shoulders set to draw her up to her full five foot height. She's annoyed, and it shows - it radiates off her words.
"Someone on board saw fit to throw me into an unknown space, and when I exited, I was in your cabin. Do you know who would be in the habit of attaching their strange realms to your living space?"
Someone had tapped into the space between his tools? He should have known the Sundries-given gifts wouldn't be straightforward.
"I'm not sure who else could have access to the shadow space. There are only three entry points that I know of, and I keep one of them on my person at all times. The second is the one you emerged from, and the third is a large trunk backstage in the theatre. Unless someone's hauling around my magician's box and shoved you into it, I'm not sure how that could have happened."
He's not connecting the dots. Why would he? This woman isn't a rabbit!
No, she's not a rabbit. But her hair is a passingly familiar color, and her blind eyes retain the same clouding, and Helena's beginning to connect some dots.
"Is it possible you put anything in any of the entry points today, that could have allowed something to mix and mingle there? I was asleep when it happened."
Of course she's a shapeshifter. Apparently you can't take two steps without tripping over a shapeshifter around here.
"You have my sincerest apologies, miss. I mistook you for a wild animal, and an associate of mine and I have had need of a rabbit for some while now. There was no intention of kidnapping behind this." He can't say "I had no intention of kidnapping" because he has, in fact, had intentions of kidnapping previously in his lifetime. Several times, in fact.
"Good, because if you had meant to kidnap her, we would have a problem now. I mean, depending on her wishes, we might still have a problem."
Hi, Max, there's someone solidly 6'3" and built like a military propaganda poster behind you, arms crossed over its chest, a distinct glower on its face.
"I'm fine, Security. A little disoriented, but nothing worse."
Instantly, some of the irritation in her is smoothed out, calmed down in a very familiar presence that is both someone she's always happy to see but that also would have her back if she wanted to see what would happen if the man went inside his own hat. She's still not happy it happened, but she can guess what occurred - the signal must have gone strange.
Turning back to Maxwell, her voice isn't quite so chilly anymore.
"What do you and your associate need with a rabbit in the first place?"
He's trying his best to not let the panic in his mind show on his face. He's embarrassed, he's intimidated, he feels like a fool.
"I'm not sure if you've noticed the new apparatus in the library?" he begins, as calmly as he can manage. "It's an Alchemy Engine, for research, and it allows one to create tools and resources, given the presence of the right ingredients. However, it cannot process magical materials. A Prestihatitator, on the other hand, permits the creation of magical objects and devices. However, in order to create a Prestihatitator, one must first fill the hat that will be its center focus with a few rabbits. Not to worry about their safety; they always seem to show up later."
Security's voice rumbles. It is the blunt instrument so Helena can be delicate. That's how they've worked together for a long time (nevermind that its first conversation with Helena was around poetry).
"There are no free rabbits to be found on this ship. Any animal on this ship beside Ody is a passenger. Taking passengers to create magical materials and devices is kidnapping, and this is the one warning you get about that fact."
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(august.) Summertime's last hurrah
But there are other uses for a rabbit.
He creeps up on it, pulling his magic hat out of his inventory. Then, with one fluid motion, he brings it down on the poor creature, plunging it into a chilly interstitial place of shadows.
Now he just needs to find three more, and he'll be able to build a Prestihatitator in the library, to accompany Wilson's Alchemy Engine. He just needs to make sure he keeps the little bunny fed in the meantime.
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Don't panic. Don't panic. Panic just a little, but she has her cane, as always. Which means she can find her way in this space - darkness is no obstacle. All she needs to do is find the way out.
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(Her hand not holding her cane goes in her pocket, clutching onto the drone in there when her fingertips touch it. She is not lost. She is not lost. She can be found. She will be, if she can't get out - someone will know where to look.)
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(Meanwhile, the signal has stabilized. Cabin 117.)
She won't be so quick to leave, though, feeling as though being scooped up and teleported gives her the right to poke around the room a little. Whether she can hear or scent anything out of the ordinary, she'll linger over it.
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Relatively.
Anyway, her location is still stable.
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There's a much softer sound out in the hall, footsteps belonging to someone with worn shoes and a long stride.
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The footsteps approaching - they might know who lives here. Or, if she's lucky, this is that person, come to witness what occurred. And she hasn't forgotten the other footsteps - did the drone send some sort of signal?
The door opens, and a very peeved Helena, with a short rabbit fur cape, comes out.
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"Excuse me, miss, might I ask what you were doing in my cabin?" The voice is steeped in a Transatlantic accent, with a hint of something more English underneath. It's deep, somehow reminiscent of a low-tuned harmonium. Whoever this gentleman is, he smells of cigar smoke and glamour.
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Her voice is quiet, but no less direct, her vowels the slightly drawn form of the American South, and her shoulders set to draw her up to her full five foot height. She's annoyed, and it shows - it radiates off her words.
"Someone on board saw fit to throw me into an unknown space, and when I exited, I was in your cabin. Do you know who would be in the habit of attaching their strange realms to your living space?"
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"I'm not sure who else could have access to the shadow space. There are only three entry points that I know of, and I keep one of them on my person at all times. The second is the one you emerged from, and the third is a large trunk backstage in the theatre. Unless someone's hauling around my magician's box and shoved you into it, I'm not sure how that could have happened."
He's not connecting the dots. Why would he? This woman isn't a rabbit!
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No, she's not a rabbit. But her hair is a passingly familiar color, and her blind eyes retain the same clouding, and Helena's beginning to connect some dots.
"Is it possible you put anything in any of the entry points today, that could have allowed something to mix and mingle there? I was asleep when it happened."
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Wait.
Wait.
"How did you manage to exit the access point in my cabin? That container's opening is only but so many inches wide."
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Like a chill breeze cutting through an autumn day, so her words have weight on them - every piece falling into place.
"Please tell me, do you make a habit of attempting to abduct strangers? Particularly when they are unable to defend themselves?"
His question can be answered in a moment - right now, she needs answers.
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Of course she's a shapeshifter. Apparently you can't take two steps without tripping over a shapeshifter around here.
"You have my sincerest apologies, miss. I mistook you for a wild animal, and an associate of mine and I have had need of a rabbit for some while now. There was no intention of kidnapping behind this." He can't say "I had no intention of kidnapping" because he has, in fact, had intentions of kidnapping previously in his lifetime. Several times, in fact.
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Hi, Max, there's someone solidly 6'3" and built like a military propaganda poster behind you, arms crossed over its chest, a distinct glower on its face.
"Helena, are you okay?"
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Instantly, some of the irritation in her is smoothed out, calmed down in a very familiar presence that is both someone she's always happy to see but that also would have her back if she wanted to see what would happen if the man went inside his own hat. She's still not happy it happened, but she can guess what occurred - the signal must have gone strange.
Turning back to Maxwell, her voice isn't quite so chilly anymore.
"What do you and your associate need with a rabbit in the first place?"
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"I'm not sure if you've noticed the new apparatus in the library?" he begins, as calmly as he can manage. "It's an Alchemy Engine, for research, and it allows one to create tools and resources, given the presence of the right ingredients. However, it cannot process magical materials. A Prestihatitator, on the other hand, permits the creation of magical objects and devices. However, in order to create a Prestihatitator, one must first fill the hat that will be its center focus with a few rabbits. Not to worry about their safety; they always seem to show up later."
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"There are no free rabbits to be found on this ship. Any animal on this ship beside Ody is a passenger. Taking passengers to create magical materials and devices is kidnapping, and this is the one warning you get about that fact."
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Wrap!