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ms_weatherwax February 18 2008, 22:15:27 UTC
It just so happens that there is a perfectly serviceable broom resting against a little cottage in New Orleans Square...

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rani_ushas February 18 2008, 22:24:56 UTC
A push-broom would have been preferable, but this rustic-looking thing would certainly do in a pinch. The Rani considered it.

Of course, just grabbing it and running with it was something that one of Those Two would have done, and the Rani didn't operate like that. Well, not usually. She reached out to pick it up and give it a closer look. If it suited, she'd knock and inform the owner that she was borrowing it.

Asking, of course, didn't factor into the matter at all.

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ms_weatherwax February 18 2008, 22:30:48 UTC
It's quite a nice broom, actually. Good weight distribution. Nice, clean bristles. Rather like it's never been used at all, really.

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rani_ushas February 18 2008, 22:32:17 UTC
-well, this should serve the purpose-

She delivered a brisk, peremptory rap on the door.

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ms_weatherwax February 18 2008, 22:35:48 UTC
That was the sort of knock that had to be answered, Granny knew. She didn't open the door but she did say, "what?"

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rani_ushas February 18 2008, 22:37:40 UTC
"I'm borrowing this broom."

Most people would have added "I'll have it back tomorrow", or "if you don't mind", or even "please". But as far as the Rani was concerned, she'd gone several extra parsecs by even announcing her attention in the first place. She turned on her heel to go.

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ms_weatherwax February 18 2008, 22:39:13 UTC
Well, that got the door open. Granny stood in the doorway and fixed the back of the Rani's head with a Stare.

"No you ain't."

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rani_ushas February 18 2008, 22:41:13 UTC
The Rani rolled her eyes. "Really." She turned and met the old woman's Stare with one of her own.

What was that old saying about immovable objects and unstoppable forces?

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ms_weatherwax February 18 2008, 22:48:41 UTC
"Really," she repeated. "It's customary among civilized people to ask before you borrow things." Granny paused. "Besides, that ain't for cleaning."

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rani_ushas February 18 2008, 22:50:50 UTC
The comment about asking didn't merit so much as an eyeroll, but the other-"Is it for some primitive religious ritual?" Because that was really the most obvious explanation.

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ms_weatherwax February 18 2008, 22:57:52 UTC
That did merit an eyeroll. "It's for flyin'."

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rani_ushas February 18 2008, 23:05:14 UTC
The Rani felt a prickle of worry. She'd read about something like this, back in her Xenobiology and Xenoculture days...

No, better to keep that knowledge in check for now, save it until it was really necessary. In the meantime, she shot Granny a sceptical look and went on to make something of a show of inspecting the broom, ruffling the straws, and tapping on the handle, as if trying to discover some secret mechanism by which it would fly.

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ms_weatherwax February 18 2008, 23:08:01 UTC
"You got to give it a runnin' start. Shake it up some." It was a flaw in the design, somewhere. It was also the reason Granny never used the broom for cleaning. She had tried it once and the bloody thing came to life in her hands and dumped her into the Lancre River.

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rani_ushas February 18 2008, 23:10:58 UTC
The Rani gave her a searching look.

"You do not appear to be the sort who engages in practical jokes. You do not appear to be mad, although appearances can be deceiving." -just ask You Know Who- "What is it, then? An anti-gravity field? Nanotechnology?"

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ms_weatherwax February 18 2008, 23:13:20 UTC
Granny had never heard of any of those words. "It's magic."

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rani_ushas February 18 2008, 23:20:13 UTC
Magic.

Right. She was a Carrionite, or one of those damned fictional characters that Those Two had mentioned, or quite possibly from some other parallel universe altogether where there was such a thing as "magic", or something like it. None of these possibilities were very pleasant, although at least (1) and (3) were something she could get her brain around.

Scowling, she thrust the broom back at Granny. "Show me, then." As irritating as the whole scenario was, the Rani was enough of a scientist to actually want to see this thing in action. If it really worked and the female wasn't some complete crackpot after all.

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