sad Cam in Milliways, with company
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A sewage pipe burst in Sahan Imsel's apartment during the storm. His bedroom is fine, but the kitchen and dining room are a total loss unless he wants to spend more than the furniture's worth on cleaning it. He sends the landlord a succession of angry emails and then heads down to the property manager's office to complain in person, and eventually they get a cleanup crew to dispose of everything and reimburse him for the furniture and put in a work order for the sewage pipe. He has to stay at home until the reds show up, and they don't even have the decency to be on time. He paces. 

 

He opens the closet door and blinks. 

This is not his closet.

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Nope. Bar with an alien in it. Alien is reading and doesn't notice him right away.

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He blinks a couple more times. He checks the time. They should have been here half an hour ago. He drags a shipping box over to serve as a doorstop and he walks into the bar with an alien in it, looking around.

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Alien turns his head when the box is dragged. "...hi."

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" - hi. Uh. I come in peace? Why do you speak my language. That door used to lead to my closet." He has short green hair and is wearing sweatpants and holding a tablet. The shipping box says 'students get free overnight delivery'.

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"Oh, it's a magic door, that wasn't me. The language is also not me and is magic."

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"My society hasn't discovered anything that is usefully called magic. I guess except this." He looks dubiously back at the door.

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"This is new to me too. I got here the same way you did, magic door."

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He checks his doorstop and ventures farther in. 

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It is a bar.

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"The bar is a magical person, communicates by napkin."

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"...hello," he says to the bar. "Nice to meet you - or do I need to write on a napkin -"

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I can hear you, I simply cannot speak. Welcome to Milliways. First drink is free.

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"I shouldn't, I'm waiting on a plumber - I suppose magic bars and aliens should really supersede that - yes, all right. Thank you."

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She produces a beverage. It is purple and frothy.

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He sits down and drinks it. "Do you mind if I take pictures."

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Not at all.

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His frothy purple thing is delicious. He takes pictures. He gets a text notification from the plumber saying they arrived. He debates it and then decides there shouldn't be reds anywhere near magic aliens and ignores the text.

 


"- so," he says conversationally after a little while. "Does your civilization by any chance have faster-than-light travel."

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"Uh, why?"

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"We need more space, and we've got arcologies on the moons and everything and could settle someplace if we could only get there, but no one even knows if it's possible."

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"It is."

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"Awesome. Do you personally happen to know how - or know where we can get papers or blueprints or something -"

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"I don't understand it all myself but I could get you those."

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"If you want something in exchange I'm sure they'll pay whatever."

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"I think the thing I am looking for probably requires magic. I can just give you stuff, it's fine."

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" - well, we're not going to turn you down." He gets a second notification from the red. He writes back.

You were late, I left. Be on time.

"What's the thing you're looking for?"

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