For One Night Only

[Vega]

18th Cylus, 717

Sitting on the porch swing, Vega felt the suns of Saun on her face and the breeze from the rocking movement. It was a large bench and she had her legs pulled up, just enjoying the cool and very comfortable feeling. That might have to do, of course, with the fact that in the waking world she was sleeping, for the first time in a long time, in a warm and comfortable bed. Lowering her head though, she looked down at the notebook in her hand.

"So, what we have is this." The words swirled on the paper, but she knew what they said. "Senge Dulon, master of the house, was found dead in the library. That was three breaks ago." The library, judging by where she pointed, was in the large and sprawling old house behind her. It was probably worth to note at this point that Vega was wearing a red guard uniform and looked at Arlo, who she was sitting next to, with a frown. "That hat isn't regulation you know. This is important, the Captain will have your hide. Anyhow" Back to the notebook.

"He appears to have been frozen to death, which is odd because it's the middle of Saun." In a few trials, she'd share that story which was tickling the edge of her consciousness at this moment, but right now, she didn't. "And we think that because he's a bloody big block of ice that won't melt. We can see through the ice." Which in fairness, wasn't as unusual as the ice being there in the first place. "And he looks like he's surprised."

In the guard and oh-so-serious as she was at the moment, that caused a wide grin on her face. "Fair enough, I'd say. Bound to be a bit of a shock. But he's literally got his cup half way to his mouth and so it seems like whatever froze him did so quickly." She snapped the book shut and then spoke some words which, surely, must have been all the proof anyone would ever need that Vega was dreaming.

"You're the boss, Boss." She didn't even seem to be joking. "We've got the servants down in the servants quarters, the ladies of the house in the parlour. Our chilly and frozen friend is in the library. Where would you like us to start the investigation?" No, she was completely serious. In this particular dream, it seemed, he was in charge.

And surely, he had to know how long that would last.....?

[Arlo Creede]

At first Arlo took it for his own dream, and not hers. After all she'd called him boss, and she'd have said, only in his dreams. But being a dreamwalker himself and capable of lucid dreaming, it didn't take long to realize that no, it was her's.

He was already wearing a red guard's uniform, courtesy Vega's dreaming imagination. But since he clearly outranked her, Arlo believed that his own should come with gold trim at the shoulders, the collar and cuffs, and there ought to be a wall of medals and the like pinned to his chest. And so there was. "I'll outrank him in a dozen or so trials," he quipped. The captain, that was. "And this hat will come standard with the uniform."

There were times that Vega's dreams didn't surprise him, and other times that they did. This was one of those and he wondered what might have brought it on. "So," he said as he whipped a notebook into being and began to jot down a few notes. "It was Senge Dulon, in the library, with a block of ice. Not exactly the weather for that, is it?" Arlo said. "And I'm not surprised really." That the man seemed to have been caught by surprise at his last breath, that was.

"I wonder if it was some sort of magic," he added, using the heels of his boots against the porch boards to push the swing back and forth. "To have frozen somebody so sudden like that. Is there an Immortal of ice?" So, what next? "Well the way I see it is the ladies in the parlor would be willing to talk plenty...As lady's tend to do," Arlo pointed out dryly. "But it might be as much gossip as anything useful and we'd need to sort it out for ourselves."

"Now everybody knows that it's the servants who are most likely to know what's what in the household, but are the least likely to speak of it to others. You know, discretion, faithfulness and the like." He frowned, tapped his quill on his chin a few times and then shrugged. "You're a woman. I say we start with the women. They're more likely to talk if they know anything, and as a woman yourself you can sort of what's true and what's gossip."

[Vega]

When he said that he'd outrank the Captain in a few dozen trials, Vega looked up and grinned. "Careful, there, he'll hear you. You know what he's like. And ew, I hope not. I don't suit hats, never have. You have to have a particular kind of head, I think." She considered it carefully and spoke the very words he'd spoken to her the first time they'd met. "Not too round, not too squat or too tall. I don't have that kind of head."

An Immortal of Ice, though? Vega thought about and frowned. "I think that one's dead, you know." She let out a laugh and gestured back into the house. "Maybe that's him. Sorry, boss. It's a good job my father's the Captain, isn't it?" Her amusement was genuine as she brought herself back to the job at hand. It could be magic, yes, that made sense.

But then, he spouted the biggest load of drivel that she had ever heard and ended it with worse. "So hang on. You're like, this legendary investigator and your solution is, I'm a woman so we'll start with the women?" She shook her head, incredulity etched on her face. "It's a good job that I know you're not just a total idiot, you know. But if they fawn over you I'm going to hurl and leave. Ok?"

Back to the house which, it appeared, was the same house as the Dawn Ball had occurred. Vega might well have only been to one large house in her lifetime, or this was the stereotypical one. She strode, much as she'd been striding the first time he'd seen her, purposefully and with determination. There were four women in here, one older woman who was sitting and being fanned, sipping something which looked like tea but smelled like brandy and three younger women. Each of them turned and started chattering at the pair of them. "Immortals, you're like chipmunks. Shurrup." Arlo might notice the familiar figure of Jeannie as the matriarch.

"Oh, it was awful!" one of them said, the older of the three young women. She spoke to them both and seemed to be answering questions before they were asked. "It was a man, an older man, quite portly. He had grey hair, white in places, and he was wearing one of those suits, you know, the ones that older men wear when they're out hunting." Vega scrabbled to make notes, but the woman was talking far too quickly.

"He had a monocle, too, you know, those single eye-piece things. Big moustache, curly ends. He came in, pointed at Father and then there was.... well, he said he was U'frek, that's what he said." Vega lifted her head and then the young woman turned back around to tend to what was, obviously now, her mother.

Looking down at her notes which, in that moment made perfect sense, Vega frowned slightly. "I.. that doesn't sound like U'frek to me. I mean, he's not portly. Doesn't wear a monocle, I don't think. " Her frown deepened and she looked at Arlo as though she really didn't want to say the next thing, which she didn't.

"Hey, boss?" Vega leant in a whispered to him. "Is is just me, or does that description sound like the Captain?"

[Arlo Creede]

"Oh, I don't know," Arlo had considered while still using his boot heels to push the swing gently back and forth. "Not all hats are created equal, or are suitable for the same type of heads. You might try one of those knitted things, with the flaps that look like elephant ears."

So, in this one of Vega's dreams, the Captain was her father. Captain of the guard, that was. Never mind, for his part in it, Arlo maintained that he'd overthrow him given the time and the inclination. Still, he maintained she was being shortsighted and he told her so. "A good investigator uses all the tools at his disposal. In this case, one of them is you." If she'd been fully awake she'd have cuffed him about the ears for that one. But meanwhile, he was thoroughly enjoying himself.

Ah, and there was Jeannie, the young dreamwalker noted when Vega's imagination took them into the parlor. Figured. They needed a talker. And none better at talking than Jeannie. His expression the very picture of serious study, Arlo jotted down his notes in his book as the women chattered away. "U'frek? Are you sure?" he asked. The description didn't sound much like that particular Immortal and Vega ought to know. It was her dream after all, and an Immortal that she seemed fond enough of.

Her imagination took another surprising twist though and Arlo frowned, tapping a feathered quill against his chin. "The captain? Well...sure. And he's your father right?" He'd resigned himself by now to being carried along on her shifting whims, but he was curious to discover where it was going. "Maybe we ought speak to the servants now, and compare notes again?" he suggested.

[Vega]

"Oh, Immortals, I beg you no." Was her response on the prospect of a knitted hat. She'd hate herself for it in the morning, but right now, it was honest. Whilst she might regret those words in the morning, the resounding punch he got in the arm she most certainly would not regret at his next words. "You just called me a tool. Carry on, sunshine and I'll take my rank insubordination and shove it where the sun don't shine. Cheek of it." Apparently, she was still herself, very much so.

But, in the parlour and she was quite sure that no, that did not sound like a description of U'frek, no matter what he'd said as he froze the master of the house. The woman was insistent, though, that was who he'd said he was. Vega was adamant. "Everyone knows U'frek is.. well, he's not like that, I'm sure. I think maybe he wears a scarf on his head and has an eyepatch?" She frowned as though slightly confused as to why she thought that, but she shook her head and ignored it.

When he questioned her about the Captain, though, Vega rolled her eyes. "Have you been losing sleep or something? You're normally quick. My father is the Captain. That guy, looks like the Captain. Oh." Frowning, she realised that they were the same word and she wondered how to deal with it. With a smile, she handed him the notebook and then signed to him, whilst she spoke. "My father is the Captain," she said, whilst signing the word 'ship', "and that guy sounds like the Captain," and she signed the word 'military'.

"My father eats bugs, I think. That's another difference too, but that's a Sev'ryn thing. So, the servants? Alright." It was strange, in a way, but when they got down there the same scene played, almost exactly, with a very similar description. Just, the people were servants wearing very stereotypical servants clothing and funny little white frilly no-use-to-anyone hats.

"You know, Arlo, it does sound like our Captain. I mean. Maybe he's got a brother? Or something."

Like a storybook monster approaching, the carriage which drove towards them as they were suddenly outside was dark and had black ominous clouds over it. Vega turned to look and frowned. The carriage was made from a strange black wood which was so dark that light seemed to be sucked into it, out of the area around. The dark clouds above it were releasing lightening and there were black birds circling around it, cawing ominously. "Does that carriage look a bit dodgy to you?" As it got closer, though, Vega's expression cleared. "It's Captain Mustard!"

And indeed, the man who alighted did look an awful lot like the description. Vega frowned and looked at Arlo before asking a question for which she would hate herself in the morning, also. "What shall we do, Boss?"

[Arlo Creede]

She was as scrappy and cantankerous in her sleeping dreams as she was when awake. No faded flower, that was for sure. Arlo didn't mind though. Her dreams would have been dull and colorless, was it any different.

"Why an eye patch?" he asked when Vega mentioned U'frek, and he intended to make a note of it in his book. And maybe his other one, when he awoke. "Has he had an eye put out?" Didn't matter he guessed. She was right that even had the look been right, this sort of thing didn't seem like the Immortal's sort of thing.

Arlo grinned however when she tried to clarify the distinction between captain and...captain, but using sign. It was the equivalent he guessed of visiting a place where you didn't speak the language, but nonsensically believed you'd be understood better by adopting the foreigner's accent instead, and speaking very, very slowly. "Gotcha," he teased her and grinned.

But never mind, it was on to speaking with the servants and the scenes she'd imagined, shifted once again. They weren't much help though, or at least she didn't imagine them to be. The way Arlo figured it, this might just be her subconscious mind's way, if an unconventional one, of trying to resolve something she'd been unable to up to now. If it was, then "Jesine, if it pleases, help her sort it out," he prayed silently. "This one's for you." Or at least his part in it, that was.

So there came the shadowy, menacing looking carriage and it contained the captain in question. Captain Mustard, as it happened. So what did they do? "Well I think we've solved it don't you?" he whispered back. "It was Captain Mustard, in the library, with a..." Arlo grinned, and he just couldn't help himself. "You got an ice pick?"

After they arrested the dastardly Captain, they just might discover that the poor fellow in the library wasn't dead at all. Only frozen, suspended there, waiting to be cracked out of his icy prison. And the only way to find out of course, was with an ice pick, he suggested.

[Vega]

Why an eye patch? Honestly Vega wasn't entirely sure. She couldn't remember, after all, his romanticised description of pirates from a few trials ago but it was there from whence it came. "No, I think U'frek's got both his eyes, Arlo. I don't really know why, to be honest." It was, she decided a conundrum. Much like his constant teasing of her and her constant desire to thump him. Rather than push her luck with her commanding officer, she allowed herself a simple, "You're horrible, you know that?"

He was absolutely right on the recurring scene being important and something she was considering subconsciously, but she did not know it so Vega just seemed rather bored by the repetition. It was only when they were watching the carriage that Arlo said they'd solved it and Vega looked at him in surprise. "Well, if we have, it's you that's made sense of it. Again." With a smile, she bumped against him. "I mean, who else would have riddled it all out? I'm impressed and a what now?"

He wanted an ice pick? Vega held up her hand and gave him the one that she had been carrying all along, suddenly, even as they arrested the Captain who was shouting something about how he would have managed to pull it off and calling the two of them pesky kids or some such. She mostly ignored it, just standing and watching, arms folded. The scene quickly changed as the dark carriage sped away now being driven by someone who looked suspiciously like the Biqaj who had cooked their food, albeit badly and they were sitting, drinking tea with the man of the house, his grateful wife and daughters. Apparently, the ice pick had worked judging by the chunks of ice still scattered around the room, determinedly not melting despite the roaring fire.

"And the good news, of course, is that now, you get to be Captain, too. Congratulations, Boss."

As Vega almost literally tumbled out of her dream, leaving it as quickly as it faded, she turned over in the warm bed. And in the morning, as she remembered it, she let out a low groan of despair. He was never letting go of that one, she knew and she was, in turn, never going to live it down.

[Instinct]

That was fun, enjoy the rewards.

Comment

Nice thread! Made me laugh more than once, fair play. I'm sorry that there's not much knowledge, you two already know loads about each other... Like holy crap loads. Anyway, thanks for the pleasant read it was a pleasure to review! if there's any specific knowledges you want that I've missed, don't hesitate to PM me. :)

Vega

Story: 5/5
Collaboration: 5/5
Structure: 5/5

Knowledge:
Arlo: The boss
Arlo: Suggested an elephant hat
Arlo: Gets to be captain now
Arlo: Called you a tool in your dream


Loot: None
Injuries: None
Fame: None
Devotion: None
Magic: None

Comment: Another vega thread! Hooray :D Again, you didn't disappoint with the story or the writing, very good on both ends! I look forward to reviewing more of your stuff, keep it up!

Arlo

Story: 5/5
Collaboration: 5/5
Structure: 5/5

Knowledge:
Vega: Dreamed you were her boss
Vega: Might look better in a knitted elephant hat
Vega: Dreamed that her father was the villain

Loot: None
Injuries: None
Fame: Nope
Devotion:

• Jesine Total: +10
  • Dream +3
  • Dream with others +5
  • Humour another's imaginative Ideas +2

Magic: Nope

Comment:
I don't know how, but Arlo got funnier since the last thread of his i reviewed. Good on you! The elephant hat was priceless, good luck when you wake up though. :o Enjoy the rewards!