Conversation Space II.

[powersthatbe]

As Thorne shared with the network, Travelers who vanish find themselves alone in a small room. But it doesn’t look quite as described last time. Paper lanterns hang in the corners, and a lemniscate of live, spicily scented blue roses traces a figure eight on the floor. A little marble plinth sits beside the looping roses, with a champagne flute balanced on it, pink, fizzy liquid quietly effervescing within. In place of the throne that was there before, each half of the loop holds a brown leather sphere - a yoga meditation-ball chair. They’re a little tricky to balance on.


The walls, floors, and ceiling are tiled, a prismatic fade from one color to another, each tile unique, just slightly different in hue than those around it, each colored line giving a sense that it belongs to a bigger pattern, but never revealing enough to allow anyone certainty about what that pattern might be. It is only a glimpse of a larger world… in this small, quiet space.

Comments

[whydoyoushine]

Zed catches the disco ball and bursts out laughing at the jersey. "So that's who you are--gotta say, you got good taste."

Otherwise Chariot wouldn't have Zed, so yes, Chariot has excellent taste.

[swinglow]

"Impeccable," the horseperson agrees.

[whydoyoushine]

"So what do you want with all this, anyway?" Zed lazily indicates the room for emphasis. "You just doing it to do it?"

[swinglow]

"Easier to converse one-on-one in small contained spaces," Chariot explains.

[whydoyoushine]

"So what do you want to converse one-on-one about?" Come on, they're getting at something here, maybe...

[swinglow]

"Phase three," Chariot says. "Will you act on my behalf?"

[whydoyoushine]

"I dunno," Zed says thoughtfully--though he's still smirking--"if I get to keep on going like this, then maybe."

[swinglow]

"You may if I win," Chariot says. "If I do not..."

It shrugs.

[whydoyoushine]

Going home holds no real allure for Zed, and he doesn't much care for having to stop Travelling. "Alright. I'm in."

[swinglow]

"Good," the Chariot says. It's made another bouncy disco ball and is dribbling it in place.

[whydoyoushine]

Zed's dribbling his own now as well. "So, what? We shoot some hoops now?"

[swinglow]

A basketball hoop appears on the wall. "Let us play HORSE," Chariot declares.

[whydoyoushine]

"Can't say I've played that before, but alright." Zed gestures at the hoop. "You go first." It's less a gesture of respect and more a gesture of his not having much idea as to how this is played.

[swinglow]

"Make trick shots," the Chariot explains. "Other attempts replication. Failure means taking letters. First H, then O, R, S, E."

[whydoyoushine]

"Ohhh, trick shots. Well, in that case..." There's a pulse of darkness, and Zed sends the ball flying at the basket. It goes in.

Chariot never said anything about powers, after all.

[swinglow]

Zed will now get the experience of seeing a bipedal metal horseperson make noise not unlike laughter.

[whydoyoushine]

Zed laughs as well. "Well? Come on, let's see what you've got!"

[swinglow]

"H," the Chariot declares. Then, "My turn."

At which point it turns away from the hoop, only to swiftly run in the opposite direction, then running up the wall, then running across the ceiling, only to come down the other side above the hoop, where upon it sets its other hand on the other side of the hoop and proceeds to pass the disco ball between hands seven times before letting it drop down.

It saunters the rest of the way down the wall.

[whydoyoushine]

Oh, he's good. That's fine, Zed likes a challenge from time to time...even if he doesn't like being shown up when messing around with powers like that. "Alright, let's see..."

He kept those darkness powers from Newport, the ones with the finer control...so while he'll stroll over there to make his shot from a distance, he'll also whip up a little something out of solid darkness. A disco ball cannon. This is totally a legit thing to bring to a friendly basketball game, right?

There's a small explosion as Zed fires the ball, and...

...okay, so that might have been more worth it if he'd made the shot.

[swinglow]

Cairbre laughs.

[whydoyoushine]

"Well," Zed says, sulking a bit, "it was worth a try."

[swinglow]

"Was a good try?" Cairbre offers.

[whydoyoushine]

"Not for basketball." There's a slow grin. "But for blowing stuff up in the future, sure."

[swinglow]

Cairbre chuckles. It sounds like a motor revving. "Useful!"

[whydoyoushine]

"Yeah," Zed muses, "I didn't know I could make a firing cannon."