(Untitled)

[pitythetrumper]

Why was he helping his hated enemy, a Russian, and the man who had stolen the only woman he'd ever loved? It was a good question and he didn't have a good answer. Not really. Except that something had changed after he'd talked to Florence for that last time. He'd just thought if he could be different, if he could change and change because

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[hismajestysbox]

I was looking for something to do again, something I apparently did often these days, when I came across the man sitting by himself, looking more than a little lost. Not that he was showing it, but after a time on the island - and in the Compound, no less - I was getting rather used to it. A newcomer. I was always glad to say hello.

I dropped into a chair and gave him one of my best grins, which are good, in case anyone might have forgotten. My smiles are always very, very good.

[pitythetrumper]

Freddie flipped the newspapers when the man sat down near him. No one needed to see the headlines that called him the 'Shame of chess' in half a dozen different languages. At least he'd found them after Sergievsky had left the room. That was further humiliation that he didn't need.

He flashed the man a grin of his own and held out his hand. "Freddie Trumper."

Clearly it was time to start a reputation on this island.

[hismajestysbox]

"Lucifer Box," I said, and I grinned back. I liked that smile, I had to admit. It had an edge of Cheshire in it, clearly a man that was used to being noticed. I was quite fond of those - as long as they didn't get more notice than me, of course. "It's a pleasure to meet you. New here?"

[pitythetrumper]

After he'd ran into Sergievsky, he'd gone for a walk to cool off and it was nice to be back without the Russian and with, instead, a very handsome man who was, regrettably, probably not flirting with him. After all, he could only be so lucky once today, right?

"Do I have a sign announcing that?"

[hismajestysbox]

"The look on your face, my dear, is enough to give you away," I said, laughing a little, but making it clear that I was laughing with and not laughing at. I will not be thought of as cruel - at least, not until I really am cruel. It does so ruin the effect when people know it's coming. I prefer to by my ever charming self on a first meeting. "How long have you been here?"

[pitythetrumper]

"About two hours." Freddie shrugged a little. "Two hours and I already have a place to stay, although I keep wondering if this is just me going crazy or not." He didn't think he was the type to go crazy, although if he was, he definitely would have included the Russian to make him that much more crazy.

[hismajestysbox]

I laughed a little more, because that was really the reaction most people had when they turned up on the island. After all, no one ever thinks they're going to blink and find themselves suddenly surrounded by a beach and palm trees. "Ah, well, that is a common sentiment," I settled for. "I think all of us wonder that. I have been here a while already and I'm not convinced that I am not completely insane."

[pitythetrumper]

"Well, no. The madmen are rarely aware that they're insane. But two people experiencing the same hallucination probably aren't witnessing any at all, so I'll take your word that neither of us are crazy." Freddie's lips twitched. "For now." He preferred not to think that he was insane. Things would be much easier if he wasn't insane.

[hismajestysbox]

I chuckled, because clearly, I supposed we could all be imagining this, and none of the other people on this island even existed except in some figment of my imagination. Of course, all things considered, that was unlikely to be the case. "So, where do you come from?"

[pitythetrumper]

"Most recently? Bangkok, but not I'm really from any one place in particular." He hadn't been from one place in a very long time and even then he'd wished that he hadn't been from there.

[hismajestysbox]

"Ah, I see," I said, head tilting to the side. I frowned a little at the name though - I didn't recognise it, and it was rare that I didn't recognise something. "Bangkok?"

[pitythetrumper]

"Thailand." Freddie frowned a little. "You've never heard of Bangkok?"

[hismajestysbox]

I had not. I was loathed to admit it but, as I was finding out more and more, the world had changed considerably since the great times that I had come from. Not all for the better, of course. "I have not," I said. "That is not part of His Majesty's vast empire, is it? Otherwise I am certain I would know of it."

[pitythetrumper]

"England? You don't know anything outside of England." Freddie found that a little hard to believe. After all, didn't most schools have some sort of geography class?

[hismajestysbox]

I was offended, and I didn't hesitate to show that on my face. Really, what ignoramous didn't know His Majesty's Empire. "No," I said slowly. "Not England. His Majesty the King's Great Empire."

[pitythetrumper]

"There are lots of empires and lots of majesties. If you want me to know which one, you're going to have to tell me which country you're talking about." Clearly he was one of the types who thought that everyone should know his country.