A Bizarre New World, Chapter One: Cat’s In The Cradle

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Sandra was sitting next to a penguin.

"I need the strongest drink you have and quick," she said to one of the staff.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Vivian stared at the penguin, a picked clean rib dangling from the corner of her mouth like the cigarettes she usually kept there for safe keeping. "Tekeli-li?"

[grampagen]

"I have." Came a quiet response, immediately overshadowed by a sound one might have compared to the Yucatan Impact as a plate landed on the table next to Suzie with a kitchen sink style pile of at least a quarter of the available food at the table. Taking a seat, Lucy adjusted her plate a little before giving Suzie a curious glance.

"Sorry, was a little behind...it is a big house." Lucy didn't elaborate, but she seemed to have dirt marks on her clothes that suggested she had been crawling in a rather tight position.

As if completely out of nowhere, the sudden clamour from Lucy's slammer plate caught Suzie entirely off guard.

"Jesus~!" She started, wincing in shock, curling her dark nails over the salad fork in her hand as she stiffened.

A few deep breaths and a slug of coffee managed to stow her fear for a moment, as she looked over to the little soldier, eyes widened to the whites.

"...you like you've been busy," she managed, "I'd though we'd lost you on the way in, where've you been?"

Folding a few leaves of crisp, bitter endive on the tines of her utensil, she eyed the room before leaning in a bit.

"...what do you think? It's safe here, isn't it?"

[grampagen]

Drinks were provided by the staff upon request, who otherwise stood against the wall, almost as if they were merely another part of the decor. The only other interaction they would have with the staff was the distribution of name tags, which would identify the newcomers (although technically they were already in the room, so oldcomers?) by name-basis at the very least.

Among the "new" faces were:
Huey Lewis: A military man judging by the fatigues he wore; humorously, thanks to his uniform he was now wearing his name in two places.
Sunny Bono: A young woman with a dark complexion, who seemed more wary about her surroundings than her food
King Diamond: Despite his name, he seemed relatively normal with his light blue polo shirt. Unlike his neighbor, Sunny, he seemed pretty relaxed all things considered.
Lars Ulrich: An older man, who seemed content to stare at the ceiling, possibly nursing a hangover.
Shizuka Joestar: Seems strange to see someone with the actual Joestar surname, despite all of them being supposedly related. Even stranger was that her name tag was really the only thing they would remember, her features drawing a complete blank.

And lastly,

One would have found it impossible to not have seen the emperor penguin seated at the table gulping down fish from a bucket, but it appeared to have been exactly that case. Further examination would find a similar, albeit smaller name tag on the animal, which simply read, "Amon", making the name a popular one.

It was difficult to really put a name to the feeling in the air of this dinner, excited, awkward, both? Either way, having traveled quite a ways to get here, it seemed like the best course of the action was to make merry for the time being.

A nice fellow drift by every so often, each time with a warmup of fresh cuppa; Each time she'd said "thank you," he'd never uttered, so much as nodded and went on and over. Shrugging, she folded a piece of flatbred and dragged it through the kashke bademjan. As she tucked in a bite - astoundingly, it was still warm, and it brought to mind Hironobu-san's habit of checking that watch over and over - the server came by with... a nametag.

...right, well, I suppose it only makes sense, Suzie thought to herself. She wrote deftly with a practiced hand:



Fixing it on her jacket, she smoothed it over twice, then peered around, past her siblings and over to the gaggle of new guests. Having just made the acquaintance of strangers this morning, another group seemed to place a bit of tension into the air.

She took in another nibble. "It's as good as my mum's," she thought aloud.

...scratch that. The quality of Persian food this far out in the American heartland, the recipe was uncannily similar.

Her eyebrow quirked as she rolled the roasted eggplant over her palate.

Skins on...fenugreek..

She was breaking the golden saffron rice upon her plate as she peered around the room...

...and seemed to find Sunny Bono doing much the same, examining the surroundings. Her chewing ceased immediately, and awkwardly she raised the piece of lavash she held in her direction, feeling a cringe beginning to crawl up her spine.

[Tami]

Drinks were provided by the staff upon request, who otherwise stood against the wall, almost as if they were merely another part of the decor. The only other interaction they would have with the staff was the distribution of name tags, which would identify the newcomers (although technically they were already in the room, so oldcomers?) by name-basis at the very least.

Among the "new" faces were:
Huey Lewis: A military man judging by the fatigues he wore; humorously, thanks to his uniform he was now wearing his name in two places.
Sunny Bono: A young woman with a dark complexion, who seemed more wary about her surroundings than her food
King Diamond: Despite his name, he seemed relatively normal with his light blue polo shirt. Unlike his neighbor, Sunny, he seemed pretty relaxed all things considered.
Lars Ulrich: An older man, who seemed content to stare at the ceiling, possibly nursing a hangover.
Shizuka Joestar: Seems strange to see someone with the actual Joestar surname, despite all of them being supposedly related. Even stranger was that her name tag was really the only thing they would remember, her features drawing a complete blank.

And lastly,

One would have found it impossible to not have seen the emperor penguin seated at the table gulping down fish from a bucket, but it appeared to have been exactly that case. Further examination would find a similar, albeit smaller name tag on the animal, which simply read, "Amon", making the name a popular one.

It was difficult to really put a name to the feeling in the air of this dinner, excited, awkward, both? Either way, having traveled quite a ways to get here, it seemed like the best course of the action was to make merry for the time being.

When she first saw the penguin, Jinny had assumed he was someone's pet or perhaps a Stand or something. Not knowing for certain who or what he was, she chose to play it cool and respectful, avoiding staring at him and instead look casually around at all those seated. Once the name tags came out, it became clear that the others were similarly invited, guests, including Amon.

She had ready provided a greeting and introduced herself, so she waited at first to see if anyone else chose to respond in kind. There was a definite air of awkward silence among this group, and it wasn't easy to think of an appropriate conversation starter.

After several minutes of eating, and thought, she finally looked over at the others and said, "I assume that you are also here for the reading of Johannes' will?" Not knowing which one, if any, might respond.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

"Come on you all have to try a holubtsi, they're delicious. Wait is that a freaking Penguin? It is a freaking Penguin what the hell!" Boris said.

[The Dog]

Drinks were provided by the staff upon request, who otherwise stood against the wall, almost as if they were merely another part of the decor. The only other interaction they would have with the staff was the distribution of name tags, which would identify the newcomers (although technically they were already in the room, so oldcomers?) by name-basis at the very least.

Among the "new" faces were:
Huey Lewis: A military man judging by the fatigues he wore; humorously, thanks to his uniform he was now wearing his name in two places.
Sunny Bono: A young woman with a dark complexion, who seemed more wary about her surroundings than her food
King Diamond: Despite his name, he seemed relatively normal with his light blue polo shirt. Unlike his neighbor, Sunny, he seemed pretty relaxed all things considered.
Lars Ulrich: An older man, who seemed content to stare at the ceiling, possibly nursing a hangover.
Shizuka Joestar: Seems strange to see someone with the actual Joestar surname, despite all of them being supposedly related. Even stranger was that her name tag was really the only thing they would remember, her features drawing a complete blank.

And lastly,

One would have found it impossible to not have seen the emperor penguin seated at the table gulping down fish from a bucket, but it appeared to have been exactly that case. Further examination would find a similar, albeit smaller name tag on the animal, which simply read, "Amon", making the name a popular one.

It was difficult to really put a name to the feeling in the air of this dinner, excited, awkward, both? Either way, having traveled quite a ways to get here, it seemed like the best course of the action was to make merry for the time being.

Jamie stared at the penguin. And stared at the penguin. And stared at the penguin.

Finally, she asked, almost in a daze, "Di-did Mr. Joestar somehow have sex with a penguin?"

[Tami]

"Come on you all have to try a holubtsi, they're delicious. Wait is that a freaking Penguin? It is a freaking Penguin what the hell!" Boris said.

Her head turns suddenly to Boris, and while it may not be her place to say it, Jinny does so anyway, in a voice as even and calm as possible, "Boris, please don't be so rude."

[Tami]

Jamie stared at the penguin. And stared at the penguin. And stared at the penguin.

Finally, she asked, almost in a daze, "Di-did Mr. Joestar somehow have sex with a penguin?"

Her eyes go wide, a faint blush is followed by a one-handed facepalm, "Jamie...." torn between cringing embarrassment and the desire to laugh at the absurdism, she couldn't finish her words. Instead, she stared down at her plate and continued eating.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

Her head turns suddenly to Boris, and while it may not be her place to say it, Jinny does so anyway, in a voice as even and calm as possible, "Boris, please don't be so rude."

"Ah, sorry, I'm just shocked by the penguin. So would you like to try a holubtsi? Holubtsi is delicious," Boris said.

" Perhaps you want to try a holodets?" Boris said. Boris uses his fork to take a small piece of his holodets." Holodets may look weird, but it actually tastes great," Boris said.

Boris chews on the piece of holodets and swallows it.

[Tami]

"Ah, sorry, I'm just shocked by the penguin. So would you like to try a holubtsi? Holubtsi is delicious," Boris said.

" Perhaps you want to try a holodets?" Boris said. Boris uses his fork to take a small piece of his holodets." Holodets may look weird, but it actually tastes great," Boris said.

Boris chews on the piece of holodets and swallows it.

Looking over to him, "I'm fine with the food that I have. Thank you anyway."

[MrSandman]

As if completely out of nowhere, the sudden clamour from Lucy's slammer plate caught Suzie entirely off guard.

"Jesus~!" She started, wincing in shock, curling her dark nails over the salad fork in her hand as she stiffened.

A few deep breaths and a slug of coffee managed to stow her fear for a moment, as she looked over to the little soldier, eyes widened to the whites.

"...you like you've been busy," she managed, "I'd though we'd lost you on the way in, where've you been?"

Folding a few leaves of crisp, bitter endive on the tines of her utensil, she eyed the room before leaning in a bit.

"...what do you think? It's safe here, isn't it?"

"..." Lucy glanced at Suzie out of the corner of her eye. "...safety isn't a place...its a set of mind. If anyone tells you a place is safe they're either too naive to make that claim or too busy balancing the knife behind their back. Be observant, be wary...that is safe."

The soldier picked a grape off her plate and popped it in her mouth...

And for a moment took on the expression of a little girl who hadn't had anything sweet in ages.

"...I....did a parameter sweep in any event. Security is fairly tight. The ventilation system needs better locks, and pest control....." Lucy stabbed her knife through a cooked crab on her plate with a look of indignation.

"Come on you all have to try a holubtsi, they're delicious. Wait is that a freaking Penguin? It is a freaking Penguin what the hell!" Boris said.

"Yes, that is a penguin...." Lucy remarked without so much as breaking her monotone. "...are you yelling because you've never seen a penguin before? I thought they would be very popular where you live in the north pole." Lucy poked a fork full of food into her mouth to punctuate her statement.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

"..." Lucy glanced at Suzie out of the corner of her eye. "...safety isn't a place...its a set of mind. If anyone tells you a place is safe they're either too naive to make that claim or too busy balancing the knife behind their back. Be observant, be wary...that is safe."

The soldier picked a grape off her plate and popped it in her mouth...

And for a moment took on the expression of a little girl who hadn't had anything sweet in ages.

"...I....did a parameter sweep in any event. Security is fairly tight. The ventilation system needs better locks, and pest control....." Lucy stabbed her knife through a cooked crab on her plate with a look of indignation.




"Yes, that is a penguin...." Lucy remarked without so much as breaking her monotone. "...are you yelling because you've never seen a penguin before? I thought they would be very popular where you live in the north pole." Lucy poked a fork full of food into her mouth to punctuate her statement.

" Yeah I never seen a Penguin personally before, There's no penguins in Ukraine, it's not that far north. Ukraine's national bird is the Stork. My hometown Zaporizhzhia is in Zaporizhzhia Oblast which is in southern Ukraine. There's a lot of ducks, geese, swans, woodpeckers, pigeons, owls , chickens, pelicans and flamingos in my home town Zaporizhzhia, but no penguins, Boris said.

[The Dog]

Her eyes go wide, a faint blush is followed by a one-handed facepalm, "Jamie...." torn between cringing embarrassment and the desire to laugh at the absurdism, she couldn't finish her words. Instead, she stared down at her plate and continued eating.

Jamie blinked, knocked out of her stupor at the sound of her name, a blush growing over her face as she asked "Did I just say that out loud?"

[grampagen]

"..." Lucy glanced at Suzie out of the corner of her eye. "...safety isn't a place...its a set of mind. If anyone tells you a place is safe they're either too naive to make that claim or too busy balancing the knife behind their back. Be observant, be wary...that is safe."

The soldier picked a grape off her plate and popped it in her mouth...

And for a moment took on the expression of a little girl who hadn't had anything sweet in ages.

"...I....did a parameter sweep in any event. Security is fairly tight. The ventilation system needs better locks, and pest control....." Lucy stabbed her knife through a cooked crab on her plate with a look of indignation.

"Well, it seems we can agree that the food seems to go down well, yeah?" Suzie plucked a spoonful of gelatinized fish broth, flecked off the bone from the chilled, round slice of eel.

"Ventilation system...?" She peered overhead for just a moment, looking for a recirculation vent, then at the dust on Lucy's person. "...thoroughly swept, and not too soon."

The fish fell apart with the slightest touch, and the jellied eel melted to a grassy, parsley liquor in her mouth.

"There's a room in the library that's...also locked?" she offered. "Not with a key, like, but by rather unconventional means. There's something they're keeping guarded until tomorrow's reading."

The question of security remained paramount, even as a small bit of glee seemed to escape her half-sister's normally reserved expression.

"...oh, did you fill out your nametag?"