WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

[deadgirlslikeme]

A door opens, and suddenly the sound of a baby wailing echoes across the nearby chunk of the Nexus. A bleary-eyed Victor Van Dort steps through, bouncing said wailing baby in his arms. "It's okay, it's okay. . .look, we're -- um." He blinks a few times as he registers where he is. "This isn't. . .oh, dear, how did I manage to choose the wrong door?" He goes to step back through --

Then stops, shakes his head, and proceeds to the nearest safe-looking bit of furniture, still cradling his son. "No. Perhaps someone can help here. At least, Alice and the others will get some decent sleep for a change. . ." He looks up, an exhausted man at the end of his rope. "Is there anyone around who's had at least one child and might know why they sometimes just start crying in the middle of the night and won't stop no matter what you do?"

Comments

[lastest_ringbearer]

Long yearses in the dark.

Hobbitses . . . we was once hobbitses. Our kind don't want much, folk say. I don't think they're right. I want a nice chair and fishes three times a day! Ones I don't have to catch! Very nice wish. *Smeagol has no idea that this is even less than what Samwise wanted, and Samwise was the least tempted of anyone. From opposite ends, the two foes came to the same scarcity.*

[deadgirlslikeme]

[Victor shivers at the mention of how much time Smeagol spent in the darkness -- hello, personal hell, how are you?] I'm sorry again. Truly.

[The mention of Smeagol's wish, however, gets a smile] It is very nice. Just enough to want, I think.

[Alice nods] Not unreasonable at all. . .you know, there should be chairs at the mall. And fish in the food court.

[lastest_ringbearer]

What more is there to want? *An utterly genuine query. If he had the ring, a chair and had free fish, he would be close to the limit of his imagination. Smeagol-Gollum, as he exists in this moment, knows only a hardscrabble existence that has reduced the greatest dream to a nice chair and a fish.

*This probably explains why his expression is switching between ecstasy and deep suspicion semi-randomly as he tries to figure out what they want from him. Even nice people have had short tempers and made him do painful things before, the only difference was that they encouraged him and kept the pain to a minimum when they didn't have to. The Nexus is throwing him for more of a loop here than the space between worlds thing ever did.*

[deadgirlslikeme]

[Victor, rolling his eyes] Well, if you're Nell Van Dort, various expensive knick-knacks on every bloody surface so people can see, oh, we're so rich we can spend a small fortune on fragile figurines and plates no one uses.

[Alice pats his back] Yes -- a lot of people just aren't satisfied with a warm place to sit and guaranteed meals, unfortunately.

[she notes Smeagol's changing expressions with a small nod] Not used to people being nice, hmm?

[lastest_ringbearer]

Barely used to people at all. And nice? Nice is not dragging Smeagol around by the neck. Much.

[save_us_alice]

[Alice frowns sympathetically] Sort of like how nice, for me, was "doesn't try to jab drills through my skull" or "only ties me to the bed some of the time" for a while.

[Victor takes a steadying breath -- hearing about her time at Rutledge always makes him angry that anyone could do such things to a little girl, much less the girl who grew up into his wife] We intend to show you a better version of "nice." No dragging about included.

[lastest_ringbearer]

Good. Nasty ropeses burned our skin, they did. Nice lady knows all about that, by the sound of things.

[save_us_alice]

[Alice makes a face, nodding] More or less. . .Rutledge was not a kind place for a child. The things they did to people in there. . .

[Victor puts a comforting arm around her] You're both well out of the worst now.

[lastest_ringbearer]

Children should be sssafe. *He sounds a bit uncertain, though, since he can barely remember what children are.*

[save_us_alice]

[Alice nods] They should. But life doesn't work like that sometimes. Many times. As I'm sure you know. One little thing goes wrong, and suddenly. . . [she sighs, leaning up against Victor]

[lastest_ringbearer]

Sssuddenly everything is lossst.

[save_us_alice]

[Alice] Exactly. [she looks up at Victor with a smile] But, sometimes, you're also lucky enough to find something new. Something worth going on for.

[Victor nods, smiling back before giving her a quick kiss] There's always something to hope for.

[lastest_ringbearer]

We hope there is something to hope for, at leassst.

[save_us_alice]

[Victor, encouragingly] That's the spirit.

[Alice, looking around their location] And you know ice cream exists now. That definitely puts you ahead.

[lastest_ringbearer]

It does, it does!

[save_us_alice]

[Victor and Alice both chuckle, Victor nodding] I know I felt better about a lot of the things that happened to me when I was first introduced to it.

[Alice] Same here. [tilting her head at Smeagol] So, do you want to have a look at the mall? See about chairs?

[lastest_ringbearer]

That would be rather . . . nice. *Still a new concept, it seems.*

[deadgirlslikeme]

[Victor and Alice are only too happy to introduce him to it] All right then. Should be out this way, right Alice? [points left]

[Alice] Well, that's the way I've always walked. . . [cue her leading the way to the mall]

[lastest_ringbearer]

*He is more than happy to follow.*

[deadgirlslikeme]

[The mall looms up before them before long -- it's a large building, with multiple levels for the discerning consumer. Alice lets everyone into the main entrance, revealing a pretty typical -- if big -- mall layout inside: a big rectangular loop lined with storefronts of all kinds]

[Victor, staring up at the high ceiling] I swear this place seems bigger on the inside than it does outside.

[lastest_ringbearer]

*Smeagol has never seen such a large building in his life, save Barad-dûr. Arda isn't usually the kind of place for them.* Big . . .

[deadgirlslikeme]

[Victor nods] It is. I mean, there's a lot in it, for a lot of different kinds of people.

[Alice, going to consult a mall map] Indeed. What we're looking for is some sort of furniture store. . .

[lastest_ringbearer]

One market trying to be His tower. Not tall, but wide enough.

[deadgirlslikeme]

[Victor blinks] Pretty sure that wasn't the mall's intention. . .

[Alice, trying not to smile] This institution doesn't want dominion over the whole world -- just our wallets. [she taps on the map] All right, so we have Multiversal Mundanities here -- I think it's a department store. Start there?

[Victor shrugs] I'm fine with that.

[lastest_ringbearer]

A what? *This should be confusing.*