Nightshift 39: Main Hallway, 1-Center

[fourtharcana]

[from here]

He paused at hearing a noise in the hallway. Akihiko whipped his head around, searching for the source. "You're paranoid," he told himself quietly, when he didn't see it.

He shrugged again, noting the Sun Room door was partially open. He pushed the door open and stepped inside.

[to here]

Comments

[maskedsunflower]

[from here]It wasn't a surprise to him that he was the first person to have arrived, at least for the purposes of the "Pig Mask Club." His highness wasn't known for his speed in travel, at least not on foot, and the area was dangerous. If it took long enough, he might have to wander back to see if the king had been waylaid, but it was more likely that Porky would find his own way here at his own pace. The Commander wasn't impatient. He did wonder if Willy Wonka would bother showing up as promised, but at least had the chocolate he'd taken from the 'free samples' to offer to Master Porky as an example of his work

[chocomancer]

[from here]

Given all the people that had come through to the Cafeteria last night, it was surprising to see so few people in front of the Sun Room the very next night. No sign of Honey either, although it seemed at least Porky's loyal follower had managed to get here before him. Tipping an imaginary hat to the boy, he approached and said, "Good evening! It's a pleasure to see you again, my boy! Delighted! Er..." he added, glancing around him and eventually pointing at the tall Chinese man who also seemed to be waiting, "is that Porky, or is he yet to arrive?"

[maskedsunflower]

The Commander glanced over at the other man standing in the hallway, then looked away again dismissively. "Hello." He was being sociable, after all. "No, that is not the king. Porky is my king, and the king of the world, but this may not be true for your world." Junior had pointed that fact out, even if it hadn't been obvious based on the way others treated Porky's words on the bulletin board. They didn't know who he was. It was good that his one successful effort at recruiting had shown up, at least, and telling him a little more about Porky seemed to be reasonable. In fact, Porky had encouraged it a little.

[piggy_king]

[from here. Sorry to butt in!]

Yes! Porky could see the Commander now! Oh, finally Porky would have some competent help!

"Oh, Commander~~~!" Porky said in a singsong voice, "Your king has arrived! Aren't you glad to see me? Oh, of course you are! Not nearly as glad as I am to see you, though! Anyway, this guy here is Diego," Porky said as he turned around and pointed at Diego, "He's my roommate, and a little unaccustomed to being a human. He was an animal before he came here. Isn't that just fascinating? It may be interesting, but it also means he's a little clumsy, so I suppose most of the fighting will be done by you. If we do any fighting, that is

[oober_tracker]

Diego arrived shortly after Porky Minch did, right hand still against the wall for balance and the hammer still hanging limply from his left. He studied the two humans already standing there, eyes narrowed in slight suspicion, while Porky Minch went through a very animated speech Diego didn't hear half of.

So that was the Commander. He didn't look anything like Diego had expected him to, what with everything Porky Minch said about him. He looked young, and much more like the humans Diego was used to than anything else he'd encountered. That dredged up the vague sense of familiarity he'd been looking for, but it didn't make anything else any less strange.

[chocomancer]

"Ah, I see," Wonka said, hiding his growing confusion (and curiosity) at the Commander's odd speech patterns - whether he was not used to conversation, or whomever was controlling him was doing a bad job of it, neither one would be proper to mention. "Well, given how different some of our homelands are here, I could understand a difference like that

[maskedsunflower]

The Commander stood at attention as Porky arrived, in contrast to the friendly and cheerful greeting the king had offered him. But when Porky spoke, first in general and then quietly to the Commander's ear, he nodded in acknowledgment, then turned to Diego

[piggy_king]

"Oh, Commander!" Porky squealed as he ripped the chocolate out of the Commander's hands, "You shouldn't have! You're so thoughtful

[oober_tracker]

...Chocolate? What was that?

Something that you could eat, apparently. Diego watched the small brown piece of food change hands, and then get shoved between Porky Minch's teeth. A corner of his mouth turned up in disgust as he watched the food slowly get eaten. He wasn't too sure about the eating habits of humans, but he knew they didn't eat the kind of food Sid ate. Watching a human eat something that wasn't meat was like watching a mammoth and a sloth try to raise a human baby. Without the entertainment aspect.

There was very little else of the conversation Diego understood, so he simply kept quiet and watched.

[chocomancer]

So the Commander has been saving the chocolate for Porky! In retrospect, it made sense, given how un-childlike the boy tended to act... but he still hadn't expected him to save none for himself. Wonka wasn't about to comment on it, though - even ignoring the fact that the Commander probably wasn't any more human than Porky's silent roommate, it wasn't as though everyone cared for chocolate. On the other hand, Porky's appetite seemed to be enough for both of them - it reminded him of a somewhat younger fellow he'd met with a similar passion - and this conclusion only gained ground in Wonka's mind when the king revealed that he'd been the one to offer the First Aid kits over the board. By the time Porky had pulled out the goods, the wheels in Wonka's head had already begun to turn, and it took him a second or so to snap out of his faraway look and respond to the man's question

[piggy_king]

"My, my!" Porky said cheerfully, "What a bargain! And here I was ready to give you all three! I suppose I'll take you up on that offer. The one about the information, I mean

[maskedsunflower]

[Order change? ^^;]

The Commander had nothing to say about the King's descriptions of Nowhere Islands or of his own creation. It was certainly true that they didn't have to fight often, but that was easily credited to the fact that almost nothing on the islands was able to fight, aside from themselves and the chimeras. The idea of being killed by a large lizard seemed strange, since no species of lizard, even a chimera, could defeat him now. But that was all unimportant to him, aside from listening to be sure their stories agreed if he was asked and King Porky expected him to repeat the same story about his creation.

Instead, he waited silently off to the side, only glancing at Diego again. The trade was successful, which was good, since it was what the King wanted. His own offering of chocolate being a waste or surplus was also not a problem, considering King Porky's diet. The Commander's posture was a sort of calm parade rest, waiting for some order or sign to act.

[oober_tracker]

Diego tried to imagine a place where someone like Porky Minch was the king, with enough power to bring people back to life. It didn't work. He suspected Porky Minch was lying, or at least exaggerating some parts of the story. He wouldn't put it past humans to do that all the time in a future where they could talk.

In some ways, the human reminded him more and more of Sid with each passing moment. In other ways... he was more like those clowny birds that thought three watermelons would keep them alive for billions of years.

Not that Sid was any less like that sometimes.

Diego was beginning to wonder why he'd ever agreed to come along. If all they were going to do was stand there and discuss strange food and 'nowhere' islands, he'd probably leave pretty soon. Find where that fresh air smell had come from and see where it led.

[chocomancer]

Regardless of all the mysteries surrounding Porky and his deputy, Wonka immediately recognized Porky's explanation - it was exactly the kind of bragging that President Gillygrass had kept slipping into during dinner. The pandering to what one thought another person's opinions to be, the use of "I" when one really meant "someone who works for me"... in general, the king seemed to be a strange cross between the President and Augustus Gloop. No, that was all right. He could work with that.

"Oh, it's no trouble, really," Wonka replied, when Porky had finally finished talking. "This batch isn't nearly up to my usual snuff, and one First Aid kit is enough for my purposes for the moment. As it is, I'm glad we could do business, and look forward to doing so again. I'd hate to be holding you up, though, so unless there was anythng else...?"

[piggy_king]

"Nope! I don't think we're doing anything else here," Porky responded cheerily, putting the chocolate in his pillowcase, "I believe right now we're headed to either the kitchen or the lab. Have to be prepared if we run into a monster, don't you know! I have a feeling that a knife or a frying pan would work wonders on some of the beasts here!"

Gohohoho! The night was already off to a great start! Not only had Porky managed to coerce some extra help from Diego, and not only had Porky found the Commander, but Porky also got a waffle made entirely out of chocolate! Sweet, sweet, delicious chocolate...

"Anyway, we really must be going," Porky said after he had wiped a bit of drool from his face, "It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Wonka, and I hope that we'll be able to continue trading! So, Commander and Diego, are you two ready?"

[maskedsunflower]

It didn't seem as though the man would be joining the "club" anyway, but King Porky was pleased with the outcome, so an alliance was enough. Approaching the man at lunch had been good. Since the rest of his efforts hadn't been successful, the Commander decided to try to restrict himself to people who seemed to be inviting conversation already, like Willy Wonka. Diego's status was still unclear, but if the King wanted him to come along, then obviously he had to come along.

"I do not have any weaponry apart from my abilities and the flashlight." He wasn't complaining, or suggesting the King had forgotten about that, but he had asked if the Commander was ready, and the Commander couldn't lie about how ready he really was. "I can proceed but cannot fight with my usual strength."