Not an average day in the City.

[sarah_branigan]

It's morning in the City. Newspapers and milk have already been delivered; most people are getting ready for work or starting their days in their own way

Comments

[sthenyaer]

Mel is kind of in a constant state of fidget, right now. She's wearing a dress. Melinda also looks like she's about to hide behind Sarah. But Sarah said John wouldn't be mad at her, but she still feels that it's somehow her fault.

[dr_schreber]

Schreber is up and dressed and has had a lot of tea. He comes out of the kitchen and immediately goes over to hug them both. He has talked to John on the phone but it doesn't seem serious enough to make him come over.

[sarah_branigan]

Sarah wraps an arm around Daniel and rests her head against his, briefly. She looks a little guilty herself -- she had really hoped this was fixable. "So... we figured out how I ended up with Mel's powers. We were in a magic shop yesterday that had two dolls. One was dressed in velvet, the other in a peasant dress." Just like the one Mel has on. "We picked them both up and..." she sighs. She'll let Mel finish the story.

[sthenyaer]

"... Sarah had the sorceress doll. I had the peasant one. I had a dream this morning that we were the dolls, and that someone swapped our dresses, swapped our roles. When I woke up, I couldn't do anything, and Sarah could." Wow, her feet seem to be really interesting.

[dr_schreber]

Schreber is just going to keep hugging them both. "Don't look so guilty, you couldn't have known what... would happen. Come into the kitchen? Thorn and I can on...ly drink so much tea." He's looking more relieved then he was when Sarah first woke him up with this. "We'll find a way to fix it. Even if it didn't happen in... the Nexus, there still might be a fix there."

[sarah_branigan]

Sarah will dutifully follow Daniel into the kitchen. "I hope so, because the shop is gone. It's a... what did you call it, Mel? A vanishing shop." At least there weren't any more incidents between her leaving and returning. Although there's a whole lot of stuff in their house that could be changed with just a little thought...

[sthenyaer]

"Yeah. There's a lot of them - or maybe just a few that have made themselves infamous." she sighs. "I just - want this fixed. I want to feel - normal, I guess, again." Okay, enough of the emo for at least a couple of minutes.

"What kind of tea did you make?"

[dr_schreber]

"You might ask around in the world it was in. If there's... others, maybe someone there knows how to undo it?" He goes into the kitchen and fills two more cups he had ready. His pinpoint and Byte are on the kitchen table. "It's a mint blend we got for Christmas..."

[janitor_thorn]

Thorn is seated at the table already with a cup of his own, keeping Dr. Schreber company. He is poor at conversation, but it was clear the other man was worried, despite his reassurances. "Um. 'Lo." He gives Melinda a polite nod, and looks Sarah over with a hint of concern.

[sarah_branigan]

"It's worth a try... we didn't stay for very long, once we saw the shop was gone."

Oh... it's Thorn. Sarah winces and puts a hand to her head. The constant background humming ramps up unexpectedly, stuffing her head. "Hi, Thorn. Did Daniel tell you what was going on?"

If Thorn can sense supernatural abilities in others, Sarah reeks of it.

[sthenyaer]

Mel, on the other hand? Normal human. Thorn might remember Mel reeking of magic, the same kind Sarah smells of now...

"hi," Mel says, awkwardly and shyly.

[dr_schreber]

"As long as you can get back to that world. I... could come with you if you want. But if this happens regular...ly there, there must be somebody who knows how to deal with it." Schreber brings them both their tea. There's four chairs to the kitchen table so that works. "I explained as much as I knew. John said he was checking the machines, just... in case."

[janitor_thorn]

Thorn nods in response to Sarah, but his gaze shifts back and forth between the girls, quite aware of the switch in a way Schreber's explanation could not bring home. Should Sarah be able to fine-tune her senses, Thorn is a magical black hole, the native energies warping in the air to avoid him, where they pass through and sometimes collect in ordinary people. He is quite adept at sensing the power of others, but having none of his own, he is powerless to hide his own magical eccentricity. Even the doctor and Melinda, by comparison, would show up as posessed of some small degree of ambient energy, however useless to them it may be.

[sarah_branigan]

Sarah's sense of magical energy is not nearly so refined as to sense Thorn's 'aura', for lack of a better term. Right now, he's simply adding to the humming in her head. If she doesn't figure out how to get used to the ever-present humming, she's going to get one heck of a headache.

"I'll be okay," she says, noting belatedly Thorn's look of concern. "It's just... a lot to take in, all at once." She takes her cup of tea and breathes in its aroma. The mint is nice, but right now she'd love to have something stronger...

She takes a sip and chokes in surprise at the intense flavor of alcohol.

[sthenyaer]

"Maybe. Vanishing Shops don't generally stick to one world, though... they bounce around. Now that the Strangers are gone, one could pop up here, for all I know." When Mel sees Thorn glancing between Sarah and herself, she bites her lip and looks at her feet. She follows them into the kitchen, sitting down awkwardly. Idly, she touches the table, feeling it like... well, a human would. It makes her feel blind and deaf.

When Sarah chokes, Melinda looks over at her, startled. "What happened?"

[dr_schreber]

That makes him worry a little but surely John would notice that kind of outside influence? "If they hop worlds, someone in the Nexus must know about them... Are you okay?" He looks worried at Sarah and puts a hand on her shoulder and- why does that tea smell more like alcohol then mint?