Town Hall, Tuesday

[nomeatvirgin.livejournal.com]

"Sir?"

Ron's assistant stood at the door, a stack of papers in hand. She looked faintly exasperated, but resigned. This was a piece of theater they had gone through several times already, and she was sick of it. She wouldn't play ball this time.

"I've got the radio transcriptions for the last week," she said, "And I will not be giving them to you."

"Okay," Ron said.

"They will be on my desk," she continued.

"Fine," Ron replied.

"If you need them."

"I won't."

She turned around, papers in hand, and left. Better to keep them on her desk than deal with the Mayor shredding them and/or attempting to throw all the office computers in the dumpster again.

[[ open ]]

Comments

[chief-cheerio.livejournal.com]

Quinn Fabray was confused. One second, she'd been going through a standard early-morning cheer team drill, yelling at the girls who were already slacking during mile three of a five-mile run through the preserve. Then she'd suddenly felt dizzy -- and when she looked up, the cheerleaders were gone, with not even a scrunchy left behind.

Still disoriented, she backtracked into town and gratefully headed straight for Town Hall. The Lannisters had ways of knowing things, and would be able to tell her if she should be alarmed or angry.

But the man inside the office wasn't any more familiar than the people she'd passed on the streets had been. And he didn't look much like the type the Lannisters hired.

"Hi," she said hesitantly. "Are you the new IT guy or something?"

[nomeatvirgin.livejournal.com]

"Who," Ron said, lingering briefly on the word as if it was a pointed inquiry to the world at large, "...let you in here?"

He was sure he'd told his assistant to make sure nobody ever got here.

(He was ignoring the fact that she didn't seem interested in obeying his wishes at this point.)

[chief-cheerio.livejournal.com]

Quinn had walked straight past the assistant with barely a glance. She didn't pay much attention to that type of person, anyhow. They tended to whine.

"I work here," she answered. "You?"

[nomeatvirgin.livejournal.com]

"I work here," Ron answered immediately.

[chief-cheerio.livejournal.com]

Quinn's eyebrow went up. "Uh-huh. And who hired you?"

He so didn't fit the Lannister image.

[nomeatvirgin.livejournal.com]

"A strange tall man wearing a metal prosthetic gave me a stack of papers in the woods and declared me the mayor of this island," Ron said. "I argued that this was an undemocratic move, but he had already left. Since then, I try to ensure that my office does as little as possible."

[chief-cheerio.livejournal.com]

"Okay, that was a traitor with a sick sense of humor," Quinn decided, after a moment of trying to make it make sense. "Prince Joffrey is in charge here" -- nominally -- "and I'm not sure he knows what democracy is. Fandom doesn't even have a mayor."

[nomeatvirgin.livejournal.com]

"Ma'am, this is America," Ron said, sitting forward. "Not England or France or any of those other terrible countries that lick the heels of the monarchy."

[chief-cheerio.livejournal.com]

"You sound like my dad," Quinn noted. (Not a compliment.) "Underwood wants the Lannisters to rule the island. And what he wants...."

She trailed off there, realizing she was edging up to criticism. "Of course, it's all for the good of the island. Much less messy than the old way."

[nomeatvirgin.livejournal.com]

"I have no idea who any of those people are, nor do I care to," Ron said firmly, his mustache bristling. "This is Fandom Island, Maryland, USA. I am its mayor. We have no need for kings or princes. We believe in freedom, capitalism, and the American Way. Do you have any other questions?"

She was either a monarchist or a communist. A commu-monarchist?

[chief-cheerio.livejournal.com]

That was a very expressive mustache. Quinn took a moment to admire it.

"Just one," she said. "Are you out of your freaking mind? Do you want to end up in jail for sedition?'Cause I bet the troopers are headed over here right now. There are video feeds everywhere."

[nomeatvirgin.livejournal.com]

"Miss, I have to ask," Ron said, shifting in his seat, "What on God's green Earth are you talking about?"

[chief-cheerio.livejournal.com]

"The government." Quinn looked deeply confused. And then a few little things around the office started to click in a dim, almost forgotten corner of her brain. The required portrait of Underwood was nowhere to be seen, there were no stacks of educational pamphlets for the students, and the technology all looked weirdly old-fashioned.

"Wait, what year is this?" she asked, aware it might sound completely insane.

[nomeatvirgin.livejournal.com]

Even Ron wasn't oblivious enough to this island to parse that as in any way weird.

... In fact, certain circumstances had made that a not entirely strange question back in Pawnee, either. "It is 2014," he said.

[chief-cheerio.livejournal.com]

"2014," Quinn repeated slowly. She was an odd mix of elated and completely off-balance. 2014 was about what it should be for her; that was amazing.

"It was 2050 when I woke up this morning."

[nomeatvirgin.livejournal.com]

Ron sat back, looking alarmed. "I knew it," he said. "I knew the communists were planning an overthrow of the government."

He got up. "I have to get my rifle."

[chief-cheerio.livejournal.com]

"President Underwood's not a communist," Quinn said, eying him anxiously. "Besides, he doesn't need to be overthrown if it's 2014. I don't think he's doing anything yet." It was possible he hadn't even been born yet; the Underwood family kept their private lives very, very private.

Something horrifying occurred to her. "Wait, is this some kind of loyalty test? Because I've more than proven myself, sir."

[nomeatvirgin.livejournal.com]

"I don't have time for your questions," Ron informed her as he dashed for the door. "The communists are coming and I'm unarmed--"

Stupid laws.

[chief-cheerio.livejournal.com]

"If you get hauled away, it's not my fault," Quinn called after him, and then went to bother the assistant. She might be less likely to go chasing after imaginary communists.

[nomeatvirgin.livejournal.com]

"I've never seen him run that fast," Ron's assistant observed idly.

Okay, maybe she enjoyed that. A little.

[chief-cheerio.livejournal.com]

"Now you know he's motivated by communists," Quinn said, watching Ron go. "Level with me. The 2014 stuff's for real?"

[nomeatvirgin.livejournal.com]

"Yep," she drawled. "And I've never heard of-- any of the people you mentioned. Sorry. Must be the island."

Wasn't it always?

[chief-cheerio.livejournal.com]

"It's always the island," Quinn drawled. "Nice to meet you. Good luck with your boss."