tarot cards may show the way

[faciliheir]

Who: Freddie, her anxiety, and YOU
What: runaway corpse bride
Where: outside vista way/joffrey's
When: night/day after election

A. Vista Way

[it’s late at night-- or early in the morning, depending on how you see it. the window to the apartment Freddie shares with Ariel and Basil opens, and… a rope made from bedsheets is tossed from the window, and a figure starts to descend.

it’s been quite a while since she’s done this, which is why she underestimates the amount of length needed to safely reach the ground, and how to position it properly so her weight doesn’t snap the rope. which it does, while she is still quite a ways away from the ground, which she hits with an undignified thump.

at least it wasn’t too high of a fall, so all Freddie has is a bruised hip and a bruised dignity.]

B. Joffrey's Coffee Shop

[Freddie is sitting at a table in the coffee shop, sitting crossed legged on a chair as she shuffles the deck of cards she’s holding. a small purple gem sits on the other end of the table, and an iced latte with a visible layer of sugar on the bottom sits at her side. slowly and with great purpose, she places three cards in front of her.

ace of swords, reversed. four of pentacles, upright. two of swords.

she grimaces and shuffles again, placing another three cards.

nine of swords. the world, reversed. two of swords.

shuffling, harder. three more cards.

temperance, reversed. the hanged man. two of swords.

she makes a loud, frustrated noise and grabs the two of swords, violently tearing it up into a pile of confetti. struggling to control herself, she shuffles the deck again and again before taking another card…

two of swords.

she throws the entire deck in front of her and puts her head into her hands. She glares… at the gem.] I don’t need this right now! [she wanted answers. but she doesn’t like what she’s been given.]

Comments

a

[itsthecount]

[Huh, look at who it is. Count Olaf, MIA since the election was announced, is casually walking by. What a coincidence. He raises his unibrow at her.]

You didn't break anything, did you?

A

[standingonmyneck]

[Daria hadn't slept too well either. Anxiety dreams kind of did that. Maybe she had a nightmare about Mayor Plankton actually turning this place into a dictatorship and taking any person who liked to read and putting them on the guillotine. With Count Olaf laughing over it.

Yes. Very horrible dreams.

Bad enough dreams that she went right out from getting a glass of water to making some cocoa. Cocoa with her thoughts. Because screw it. With whatever money she scrounged up, she got herself some pretty okay-ish hot cocoa. Just need to boil some water and-

Plunk.

A fall from outside got her to jump.

Her room was on the ground floor, and could see that it was the girl who was at Ariel's meatball party; and whom she met on the first day. Probably...not a threat.

She poked her head out of her now opened window, straggly hair and in her sleep clothes.]

Do I need to call a medic?

B

[whatarenext]

[So Mike just arrived and learned that everyone is trapped in Disneyland that's now ruled by a guy named Sheldon. As far as Mike knows, pretty much no different than being born and trapped in Wisconsin, so why make a fuss about it now?

Mike is the last person to be anywhere near a coffee shop, but by some serendipity, he's there. He would walk right past it and return to his aimless bumbling when he spots the girl doing cards. With no reason and no prompting, Mike takes a seat nearby.]

Ohhhh a poker game! Deal me in!

Now, I don't have any money so...can my shoes count as chips?

B

[kindaruledatit]

[After a day like yesterday, Wendy may have wanted to sleep in for a while, but what better way to protest then to get coffee and try to figure out how you're going to help your friend get over this?

She was just making her way out as she spotted Freddie, currently in the grips of her own crisis, it seemed.]

So, is this whole election business messing you up too?

[Sips her coffee. She's going to need a minute to fully wake up.]

B

[not_over_yet]

[ Basil awakens at an odd hour (as happens now and then--dreaming has its drawbacks) and rather than immediately trying to go back to sleep, he gets up to clear his head first. Just a bit of a stroll around their apartment and why is that window open. Why is there a bed-sheet rope going out it.

He's more exasperated than anything else--they have a perfectly functional door, do either of the girls really think that he of all people would set a curfew, nevermind try to enforce one--and then he sees that bed-sheet rope hadn't er. worked too well, apparently...

...Mmmmaybe he'll just. do a quick check-in. Make sure no one's trying to walk around on a broken foot or anything.

Fortunately there aren't a whole lot of places open at this hour. Joffrey's is his first stop, as it's the easiest to look through. Joffrey's is also his last stop because apparently the girls felt the need to be sneaky about late-night coffee. To be honest he'd more expected them to be getting up to something at the Adventurer's Club. But no--it's clandestine coffee. One coffee. Did only one of them--Ariel's not even here, is she.

Something's wrong. Freddie's trying to deal with it by herself--without a great deal of success, judging from her mood. He doesn't know how serious this problem is, but... he read her journal in the manor. Freddie's hit do-or-die mode once before without him noticing. Things got desperate, went bad, and she had to deal with all of it alone. He's not about to just. leave her on her own like that again. Maybe he can't help, he has no idea, but at minimum he intends to stick with her through whatever's gone wrong this time. ]

...Most decks stick to one of each card.

[ Mouse clambering up onto the tabletop. Sup. ]

[faciliheir]

[maybe if she pretends to be dead he'll go away.

no he'll probably just try to loot her corpse. shit.]

Doing just fine, Jerry. No need to worry.

[faciliheir]

[man she used to be a lot better at sneaking out without anyone noticing. but that was probably just because dad never cared where she was to begin with. whoops.

this girl, she's friends with Ariel, right? so she should definitely make sure she doesn't know where she's going. that'd definitely put a hamper on the whole "running away" thing.]

Nope! Just fine! Just... going for a walk! [VISIBLY WINCES mostly bc that didn't sound real even to her but also slightly bc ow her fucking hip.]

[faciliheir]

[oh, good. a moron. those are great for distracting yourself from feelings of impending doom.]

These aren't exactly the kinda cards you play poker with. [pauses] And your shoes aren't my size. Pass.

[itsthecount]

Who is this..."Jerry" you speak of?

[faciliheir]

I don't know. I mean, I've lived under worse. At least here, there seem to be people who actually want to prevent a dictatorship.

[she idly spins a card between her fingers.]

How's Belle taking it? [tries to sound casual. fails.]

[faciliheir]

Yep. Just my luck, huh?

[she's. not really looking at him. her hands slip down to rest beneath her chin, looking at but not really seeing the cards in front of her.]

Did I worry you? [she says, not really apologizing for it if she did.] How'd you even find me? [she says, because she thinks she's being super sneaky right now]

[faciliheir]

... Seriously? I can almost respect your craft, but what kinda chump doesn't even sign their work?

[itsthecount]

I have absolutely no connection to the equally handsome and talented Jerry Mander in any way, shape, or form.

[...]

Now, then. You’re positive you didn’t break your ribs.

[whatarenext]

[If you need an idiot to revel in impending doom, Mike's...a guy.]

Oh right. [Part of his enthusiasm has already drained.] I forget I'm in anime nerd town. Is this one of those anime nerd card games? With the eye-searing monsters? And the names that would be better off as a wikipedia title?

[faciliheir]

Nope, still very much intact. Sorry to, I don't know, foil your scheme to open a human barbecue joint? Whatever you've got going on now.

[faciliheir]

[the fuck is an anime]

It's. Tarot. Y'know, fortune telling. You know that much, right?

[whatarenext]

Ohhhh! [His interest is piqued again.]

I know fortune telling! Last time I had my fortune cards read, it literally said "you're gonna fucking die you pathetic wastoid".

[itsthecount]

No. I just enjoy the cracking sound. It’s quite soothing.

Whatever I’ve got going on n- I’ll tell you what I have going on now, it’s misery. Misery and woe and self-pity.

[faciliheir]

Ditto. [just. jams her straw down into the sugar layer and drinks a mouthful of sugar.] Don't even know why I'm doing it. It's never gonna be good.

[faciliheir]

For yourself or others.

[whatarenext]

Gotta do something around here. Like drink yourself till your liver explodes.

Unless there's wi fi. Is there wi fi?

[itsthecount]

Myself! I currently possess the sort of misery that cannot be solved by drowning oneself in grain alcohol and wine with heavily indulgent names. For you see, I’m in what one might call a “funk” - here meaning depressive state, and not the sort of mood James Brown’s music inflicts on others.

The long and short of it is that I’m going to go throw tomatoes at City Hall.

[faciliheir]

... I don't know. Never thought to ask. [she's not even super used to TV reception yet] Rod's such an old fogie, though. He probably didn't even think to add Internet when he created this world.

[faciliheir]

[long pause]

Can I come with?

[whatarenext]

You mean that creaky guy with the weird Pleasantville look? [Oh no...He doesn't want to have to romance Tobey McGuire.]

If there's no wi fi...then that means...how else can I deliver my fresh hot takes to the world where my friends and family have no choice but to interact with them?!

God...why have you forsaken me?

[Yelling.]