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This was a bad idea this was a bad idea this was a bad idea.
Holly runs as fast as she can but the demon's faster. She has no idea where Lightning's gotten to; maybe he found a tree to climb. She on the other hand has been diverted into a treeless hill and she's careening down a slope, trying very hard not to trip.
And the demon's gaining on her.
She's never seen anything like it and neither has Crystal; maybe Book knows what it is but Book's asleep. It's mostly mouth - it looks like a cross between a floorlength mirror of a mouth and a snake to propel the mouth along.
And Holly's not fast enough.
The mouth catches her.
But it doesn't hurt.
Where are we?
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inourhead
characterquarry
"I know a very nice bakery on seventh street. On the other hand the cafeteria in this building is pretty good too, and it's closer. Holly, Crystal, what do you think?"
characterquarry
"Cafeteria it is."
They follow crowds of suited office workers heading in the same direction. "This paper is money, by the way. I'm not sure if you use paper money in your world." She names the denominations.
The cafeteria itself is a large open space taking up most of the basement. It's very crowded, this being lunch hours. There might be as many as a thousand people here.
Past the check-in area, there are tall piles of plates and cups, and lines of counters serving all sorts of things. "The way it works is you pay to get in and then can eat as much as you like. You're not supposed to bring any food with you when you leave, though."
She pays in and hands them the remainder of their food budget. "You can't eat here for every meal on that budget, but just once is fine."
They follow crowds of suited office workers heading in the same direction. "This paper is money, by the way. I'm not sure if you use paper money in your world." She names the denominations.
The cafeteria itself is a large open space taking up most of the basement. It's very crowded, this being lunch hours. There might be as many as a thousand people here.
Past the check-in area, there are tall piles of plates and cups, and lines of counters serving all sorts of things. "The way it works is you pay to get in and then can eat as much as you like. You're not supposed to bring any food with you when you leave, though."
She pays in and hands them the remainder of their food budget. "You can't eat here for every meal on that budget, but just once is fine."
inourhead
"We have paper money," confirms Crystal. She and Lightning pocket their allotments. They figure out how they are meant to conduct themselves and get hefty servings of protein-heavy food insofar as they can recognize what's on offer. And then they eat like they've been choking down unvarying blandness for a week. "What do people on our budget normally eat?"
characterquarry
Erin gets average-sized portions, leaning towards liquidy things like soup.
"You can get bread, fruit, vegetables, some spices, medium amounts of meat and cheese. It's not a tiny budget, it just won't sustain restaurants and cafeterias for every meal."
"You can get bread, fruit, vegetables, some spices, medium amounts of meat and cheese. It's not a tiny budget, it just won't sustain restaurants and cafeterias for every meal."
inourhead
"...We don't know how to cook," says Crystal. "If you mean we'd have to cook."
"I know a little," Lightning says. "I can teach you a couple things before I go home. I guess if everyone has to have a place to sleep you might as well all have kitchens too?"
"I know a little," Lightning says. "I can teach you a couple things before I go home. I guess if everyone has to have a place to sleep you might as well all have kitchens too?"
characterquarry
"Yeah, everyone has kitchens. There's pre-packaged food, too, it's just not as nice as cooked things. I suspect packaged things are still better than troported things, given how you've been describing them, though."
inourhead
"Troported things are... are edible, and at first they're not that bad, and Holly's really good at it," says Crystal. "But they get very, very samey."
characterquarry
"You could probably get enough money to eat whatever you want by troporting things. Like gold."
characterquarry
"Troporting is unheard-of, here. If you're the only person who can do a thing, that thing becomes valuable. Econ 101."
inourhead
"Book probably knows something about economics but we don't. Can't people just wish for gold, if they want it so much?"
characterquarry
"Yes, but you only get so many wishes, remember? So it's still rare-ish."
inourhead
"I guess," says Crystal. "Holly wishes there was a way to go back and forth without spending wishes."
characterquarry
"Maybe a Gift will do that. Gifts are good at permanent versions of one-time Favors. They seem to fail less often if you explicitly wish for your new ability to have a recharge time. I've heard of someone who used a Gift to gain the ability to teleport anywhere in the world once every 54 hours. Teleporting between worlds burned two Favors, so I think it might just work out as 'has an extra long recharge time' and fit into the Gift."
inourhead
"That would work. We could see Lightning and Book and our other family and still be ridiculously rich here off swapping materials. With an apartment and everything."
characterquarry
"I don't know about ridiculously rich. Once people realize troportation is a thing, more people will wish for it. Though most of them probably won't stay very good at it."
Erin's done eating. She won't mind if the others go back for seconds or thirds, though.
Erin's done eating. She won't mind if the others go back for seconds or thirds, though.
inourhead
"But Holly is good at it, and could make a living at it even at home, so," says Crystal.
characterquarry
"True enough. Let me know when you're ready to leave?" She pulls out a book.
characterquarry
The residency office turns out to have their apartment keys ready, as promised. After visiting a pet shop and acquiring a cage of mice, Erin guides everyone onto another bus. Where they get off is... Not run-down, exactly, but definitely less fancy than downtown.
"Here we are. Your keys open the gate, and then they have your apartment's number printed on them. You're qualified for three months of welfare until you need to re-apply or find another apartment, by the way. Unless you still need me to translate some things, for food shopping or something, I think I'll go back to the temple. I've written out a map back to the temple if you want to talk to me again."
"Here we are. Your keys open the gate, and then they have your apartment's number printed on them. You're qualified for three months of welfare until you need to re-apply or find another apartment, by the way. Unless you still need me to translate some things, for food shopping or something, I think I'll go back to the temple. I've written out a map back to the temple if you want to talk to me again."
inourhead
"Um, okay," says Lightning uncertainly.
"We'll show Book where it is when he wakes up," says Crystal. "It would be nice if you could write out a phrasebook for us."
"We'll show Book where it is when he wakes up," says Crystal. "It would be nice if you could write out a phrasebook for us."
characterquarry
"Oh, of course. I'll put down a couple hundred common things, if there's any phrase in particular you want just say it."
She pulls a little notebook and a pen from a pocket on her jacket and starts writing.
She pulls a little notebook and a pen from a pocket on her jacket and starts writing.
characterquarry
"I'm just glad that there's a way for you to get back. Wishes are convenient."
Writing, writing, writing.
"Okay, that should get you through a day or two. Here's the welfare paperwork, by the way, and I've included instructions on how to get next week's food allowance at the office. You'll have to pay to use the buses, though. I hope everything works out for you!"
Writing, writing, writing.
"Okay, that should get you through a day or two. Here's the welfare paperwork, by the way, and I've included instructions on how to get next week's food allowance at the office. You'll have to pay to use the buses, though. I hope everything works out for you!"