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Another day, another mysterious bar appearing out of nowhere. Leo is acquainted with Milliways and its lurking habits. He doesn't even bother calling Zanna; it'd take her too long to come over, and they get doors fairly regularly, so he just goes in and gets some absinthe with crushed cochineal. (Demonic tastes make for very odd mixed drinks.)
liakoura
And here is a human teenager in fancy otherworldly clothes and Leo's face. Who said he could have that face? Leo was never consulted on this.
"What the."
"What the."
Leo double-takes briefly at the face.
"Is the doppelgangerness intentional, or are you just stunningly attractive on your own terms?"
"Is the doppelgangerness intentional, or are you just stunningly attractive on your own terms?"
liakoura
"...Thank you? I just look like this? Why do you look like me?"
"No idea! But I've seen stranger. Welcome to Milliways, bizarre alternate universe twin. Is your name also Leo? Because that could get confusing."
liakoura
"Aleko. Can we not do the thing where we conflate 'twin' with 'similar', I have an actual twin."
"Huh. How's that work out for you?"
liakoura
"Pretty good. What is this place? It's in her library, I wanna show it to her."
"This place is called Milliways, as I mentioned. It inserts itself into doors as it pleases. You're not likely to be able to show it to her unless she's within shouting distance; if you go through the door it vanishes. You can get a drink, though, the bar does good drinks. First one's free."
liakoura
"...She is in her library. The door I was trying to go through... leads to her library. This sounds like a problem for showing it to her in person." Aleko goes up to the bar. "What kinda drinks?"
Absolutely anything.
"That... is very freeing and does not really inspire me to be able to decide on a thing. Didn't walk in here with a craving."
Absolutely anything.
"That... is very freeing and does not really inspire me to be able to decide on a thing. Didn't walk in here with a craving."
"I doubt you'd like my usual order, but I suppose you could try just absinthe without the beetles if there's any lingering suspicion of us being the same person. Or you could call me crazy and just get some fruit juice or something."
liakoura
"...I know what beetles are and it makes me suspect that whatever absinthe is I'm not going to like that either," says Aleko. "Juice, sure, I'll take, uh... this is weird ordering without a person here."
I am a person.
"...Sorry, uh, you know what I mean. D'you know that kind of fruit punch they give out in the Plaza of Women in early Quinnasweela? It's sorta dark orange?"
I can't guarantee I'll pick the exact recipe you have in mind, but something like this? And a glass appears.
"That looks right." Aleko sips it. "Oh, nice."
I am a person.
"...Sorry, uh, you know what I mean. D'you know that kind of fruit punch they give out in the Plaza of Women in early Quinnasweela? It's sorta dark orange?"
I can't guarantee I'll pick the exact recipe you have in mind, but something like this? And a glass appears.
"That looks right." Aleko sips it. "Oh, nice."
"Don't be rude to Bar, she's perfectly much a person," chides Leo. "Drink looks nice, if you can tolerate citrus."
"No, when I say 'tolerate' I mean 'not die if you consume'. Demonic allergies are nasty. Not terribly fond of cilantro either, though."
"I am not what you'd call a pedigree human. Mom's Ataman, they're these shadowy shapeshifting demon things that catch fire when exposed to fruit. That gives me a taste for beetles, a bit of shadow-magic, and a very severe allergy to citric acid. Oh, and my blood's darker than it should be."
liakoura
"...Catch fire when exposed to fruit? That sounds like a trait that somebody made up flipping to random pages in different books. And doesn't tell me what a demon is."
"Hey, don't insult my heritage. It's a perfectly legitimate reason to catch fire, fruit's a symbol of the harvest and we're creatures of decay. Demons are... sentient things, usually somewhat human-shaped, that are not human. Usually from another world. Often eat people, though not in our species' case."
liakoura
"Super reassured on the not eating people thing, I had been so worried before."
"Well, if I left out the last bit you'd have an incomplete explanation. I can just see you trying to make nice with a Kinderstod and getting your eyes bitten out. Though you probably won't meet one, given you're from another world."
liakoura
"Okay, note to self, don't enter any more weirdly-behaving doors without Kiri along."
"Oh, they wouldn't do it in here. Milliways is neutral territory. Very, very neutral. You start anything here, Security comes along, and Security will be prepared."
liakoura
"So I'm not going to have this problem. Which is good. I like my eyes."
"You're not. It's just an entertaining thought." He sips at his horrible licorice beetle drink.
liakoura
"...Why is contemplating my eyes being bitten out entertaining?"