001: Now Sing the Wee [Holo]

[riddler_gump]

The question isn't whether or not fairies sleep - they do, just not as frequently, nor as predictably as mortals. The question that ought to be asked, is whether or not faeries dreamLong, pale eyelashes fluttering slightly, the clement chirping of birds still soothing his ears, the small, child-like creature stirs in his slumber. Ears twitching and

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[ visual ]

[freezecharm]

Another one's been taken by these aliens against his or her will. By now, Piper knows the signs very well. She reaches for her tablet, intent on helping as much as she can.

"Uh, hi," she says softly, giving the--

--wait.

Huh. This one certainly looks different.

"I--I mean... calm down. My name is Piper and um... are you okay?" It's probably a stupid question, but still it needs to be asked.

[ visual ]

[riddler_gump]

Gump blinks, forehead crinkling in residual distress turning swiftly into intrigue.

"Piper, are you? You be like no piper I have ever known, pied or not, to ask me of my wellbeing. What is this place?"

As for stupid questions, some are more tedious than others.

[ visual ]

[freezecharm]

Pied Piper, huh? Well, someone's bound to bring that up.

"It's my name," she replies, with some sort of weary resignation. "Piper Halliwell. And you're in Taxon. You're not hurt, are you?"

[ visual ]

[riddler_gump]

"I am Gump. Honeythorn is the name, and I am as well as I can be, though ended I am not."

He peers closer, resisting the urge to poke and prod the box. His ears twitch in some manner of emotional display. "Taxon... I have never heard of this place. Am I a prisoner?"

[a_pretty_fire]

There were no goblins in the city, but Gump was being watched.

Drusilla was trapped in a cage of her own at the moment - an unjust punishment for a crime she hadn't really committed - and, consequently, had to find amusement in the strangest of places. A new arrival was always interesting. The plea - the icy inflections of fear and the sort caress of anger - was a sweeter icing than she'd expected.

"Do you like violets?"

[riddler_gump]

This box with people inside doesn't at all serve to calm Gump down, and neither does the smile on the woman's face. It belongs to a predator, with sharp teeth and keen eyes.

"Violets are fickle and sweet," he says, on his guard. "Deceiving in name and lacking in fragrance, some of them, twice-blooming others, and tokens or bargains of and for a love that lasts forever. If there is such a thing, when love lives and breathes in the hearts of men."

[a_pretty_fire]

In her own way, Drusilla tested each any every new arrival. She wanted to know their strengths and their weaknesses and whether or not they were worth playing with.

If that answer was anything to go by, he would definitely be worthwhile. Her smile widened.

"They don't grow here. Nothing real does."

[riddler_gump]

Sharp and deadly, that's what her words are, for inside Gump, something fragile splinters and cracks at the mere thought of nothing growing. How can there be such a place? There cannot be such a place.

"Nothing?" He spits, suddenly livid, shoulders hunching up and back. "You lie!"

[voice]

[mancalledspade]

[With a sigh, Spade flips on his tablet.]

You okay, kid? Because if you ain't actually bleeding, I don't see that shouting helps anyone.

[Hangover? No, surely not.]

[voice]

[riddler_gump]

[No, not bleeding. Sparkling, but that's neither here nor there unless you meet Gump in person, in which case it's very, very much in your face.]

Shouting? Shouting is reduced to splitting words like hairs when all you have is your opinion and I have mine: I am not shouting, I'm voicing my concerns loudly. Have I lost that right as well, I wonder.

[In other news, voices appearing out of nowhere (out of his newfound box of wonders) is really more disconcerting than he'd like to admit.]

[voice]

[mancalledspade]

Oh hell, I ain't a philosopher. But your loudly voiced concerns are being broadcast to everyone else being held captive, kid, and I doubt they're gonna just up and let you go because of the volume of your request.

[voice]

[riddler_gump]

[Gump frowns. It's a very audible frown, truth be told.] There are others?

...and, broad-cast? That is unlike any word I have ever made up. What does it mean?