So, a polar bear in black metal armor walks into a Bar...

[panser_bjorn]

(OOM: Of how Iorek Byrnison took a wrong turn to the End of the Universe. Warning: Very mild spoilers for Northern Lights. No, really, I kept the post small so the spoilers are minimal. )

He just stepped through what looked like a stone arch, half of it natural and the other half made from carefully-hewn masonry. For a moment a corridor of the same

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[panser_bjorn]

The expression, or lack of it, doesn't change. His posture is relaxed, and even though a polar bear standing on his hind legs should be a very big warning sign, there is no hint of threat from him at the moment.

"I am new to this place, yes." His gaze follows Muldoon's gesture, taking the sight in. A human drinking-place. Unpleasant memories stir, and his muzzle wrinkles some, not to the point of baring teeth, but in mild disgust. "But I have been to others like it before." The tone of his voice, though, remains unchanged, neutral.

"Thank you. It is." A matter-of-factly acknowledgment, no more and no less. The armor is made of closely-fitting and interlocking plates of a black metal, pitted and crude-looking, but still masterfully fitted to the wearer's body. It covers all of the bear except for the belly and the lower jaw, which is left free, probably for the purpose of biting someone's head off.

He turns his head back to Muldoon and tilts it slightly, watching the man.

"But this is not a normal drinking-place, is it? Doors don't usually appear and disappear into those." No, not your average bear, that's quite clear.

[ltmuldoon]

"...No." Matt says, "...This is-This is going to sound fucking nuts but-"
But you're talking to a talking bear.

"...This place's the bar at the end of the Universe. Refuge for the damned and pristine and-fuck. It's a bar where people from a bunch of different places hang out. S'magic, which alot of worlds don't truck with so be a little wary."

He rubs the back of his neck, "...Most people'll point you out the window-" He points to the observation window "But I say, look outback. I was in the middle of a fucking airport and outside there's trees and grass and shit. Crazy."

[panser_bjorn]

Trees. Grass. That sounds so much better than this place. Than any human place, in fact. Later he will start to worry about his people and the lack of a way back to them, but for now, he's still coming to grips with what has happened to think of what -will- happen.

"I think I would... Like to go out back. Sounds more like a place I would enjoy than this." He doesn't invite Muldoon to join him outside, because human common manners aren't something he's very acquainted with, but he looks at the man questioningly. Then he remembers.

"I am Iorek Byrnison, by the way. Thank you for your concern."

[ltmuldoon]

"Lieutenant Muldoon, US Army." Muldoon can work with that, "I hear you about that though. People-I'm coming to realize I don't do well around crowds of people either."

They smell but Muldoon's not going to go into that.

"...First drink's on the house-there're rules too but they're pretty standard. You say you've been to places like this before?"

[panser_bjorn]

"Ah, a soldier." He seems satisfied with that. He knows soldiers. He -is- one, kind of. "Though I don't know of that army, but you said people from many places meet here."

"Yes, I have been to places like this. Drinking-places. Taverns, alehouses. And if there is water outside, I will rather drink from it." The Bar and the drinks behind her get a mildly displeased look. The spirits in those bottles made a fool of him once. Not again.

[ltmuldoon]

"Bad form to get drunk in a-"

He stops short when the bear doesn't recognize US Army, "...You're from a world without the United States of America? Damn. And here I thought we were a usual constant of assholery."

He grins, "...There's a lake out back. But be careful man, it's got a squid in it."

[panser_bjorn]

"I have a friend who is an American. An Aëronaut called Lee Scoresby. But I hadn't heard that name for the country before."

The bear gazes at Muldoon with the same neutral look and tone in his voice "Only one squid? That's barely a meal." And of course, if it's a -giant- squid, it's full of ammonia and thus not edible either. But neither will prevent him from drinking. And maybe a swim. "Could you lead me to the door that leads to this lake?"

[ltmuldoon]

"S'right this way." Muldoon nods, "...Just goes to show you. Aeronaut sounds like a Ruskie astronaut, but that's even before my time, old as my guys'd make me."

The door to the bar's a quick walk forward. By the time they get outside Muldoon's arms are spread wide and he's grinning like an idiot, "...Damn I needed this."

[panser_bjorn]

He turns his head to one side, then the other, sniffing the air. Then he pulls back and up, standing on his hind legs to get a good look around before dropping back to all fours.

"Yes, it feels so much better..." A hint of satisfaction in his deep rumbling voice, but not much else. "In my own time and place, an Aëronaut is a man who helms a flying vehicle." He knows enough Russian to know that 'Russkye' is the way the Russians refer to themselves. "Whether a Russian or not."

He starts to walk towards the lake's shore at a calm pace, waiting for Muldoon to follow.

[ltmuldoon]

Muldoon follows, "..See we'd call those guys pilots. Or seat jockeys if I was bein'...well..comraderie-like. Everybody's got their own nickname for each part of the armed forces."

He nods, satisfied with this explanation, "Guess you guys don't have the same kinda political system we do. Where're you from?"

[panser_bjorn]

"Svalbard." He looks at Muldoon, then back to the water. This place is warmer than his home, but unlike regular polar bears, the Panserbjorne can take warmer weather than that of their arctic home. "It's a group of islands, in the North."

[ltmuldoon]

"...North. Artic North?" Hey, different worlds, could be different norths, "...My kid-my son-loved that stuff. He'd have gone nuts to know that somewhere polarbears could talk. Can the penguins talk too?"

[panser_bjorn]

"Arctic? I don't know. In my world" A wonderful thing, the mind. How quickly it can come to terms with the fact that it's in another world. "it's just called The North"

Though, since he -does- look like a polar bear, doesn't he? So it's quite an easy guess that it must be quite the cold kind of North, right? The mention of penguins draws a blank gaze from Iorek. Maybe it's the name of the cliff-ghasts in Muldoon's world?

[ltmuldoon]

"Flightless birds I suppose." Muldoon shakes his head, "...Somethin' you gotta watch out for. No matter how often you end up here man, or how many times you go over it in your head? There's way too many worlds, the only common thing being the kinds of people in them."

"see, where I'm from? There are polar bears but they don't talk, flightless birds called penguins, and..." He waves a hand, "...Fuck-Um-I don't know any other animals. In any case, the idea that an animal can talk? Is several different kind of fucking bugnuts to me. It's great, and really cool, but all the same..."

Uncomfortable with his response, Muldoon switches gears, "...I used to live up-north. Not as far as polar bears of course, but in Alaska, that region. S'state in the US in my world."

[panser_bjorn]

"We don't have flightless birds in the North, where I come from. But maybe that's yet another difference between our worlds." He shrugs, or rather makes the best approximation a polar bear can to that very human gesture.

"Ah, Alaska. All but opposite from Kamchatka, isn't it? Seems like our worlds have some big points in common." Soldiers, and places. Those are two major points. Not like he expects there to be any world without soldiers. It... Wouldn't really make sense, would it?

[ltmuldoon]

Muldoon's expression goes blank, "....If that's a place I haven't heard of it."

That's the mun's fault, not his, "...But I haven't been home in a long time and most've my family's out in california."

He laughs, '"Lots of the worlds do have stuff in common, but don't be surprised if you find gods or goddesses here. I've met at least two-It's kinda weird y'know?"