The Perk, Saturday morning

[betterthanaplan]

"Right," Duke said, staring at the rat nibbling on a slice of coffee cake across the table from him. "So. You're a rat."

"Clearly," said the rat.

"Named 'Fallacy'."

The rat nodded.

"And you're a demon."

"Daemon."

"Did Lucifer send you?"

The rat facepalmed. Duke didn't know they could do that.

[open!]

Comments

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie had slept in fairly late for her, given that she'd been blowing up gremlins in another dimension late into the evening and all. And, really, that was fine, because when she woke up it was to find a big, cuddly dog at the foot of her bed.

Big, cuddly, talking dog.

This was a hell of a first week, honestly.

"So, wait, do you like all the same things as me?" she was asking Joan as they entered and Annie went over to order a latte.

"I like most of the same things," Joan corrected. "Don't get me coffee. I'm still a dog." She glanced over at the guy at the table with the rat, and added a, "Hey."

It was unclear whether the dog was addressing the man or the rat, but Annie also looked over and added a little wave to the guy, just to be...less weird? (Would anything make this less weird? She probably should just go with it, like Rey had said.)

[betterthanaplan]

Fallacy nodded to Joan. "'Sup?"

Duke looked from the woman to the dog and back. "Welcome to Fandom."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Thanks, it's weird as hell here," Annie said conversationally.

"You're just not used to it," Joan assured her, rolling her eyes at Fallacy, like, can you believe what I have to deal with, here?

Annie had not known dogs could roll their eyes.

[firstofitskind]

"Morning, Annie," Liam greeted, holding up his cup of tea in greeting. With the arm that had an alien scorpion-thing curled around it, yes.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Good morning," Annie said, her eyes widening slightly at his arm.

And while Annie was totally polite enough to try to figure out a nice way to ask about the scorpion, Joan had more pressing concerns. "Is that thing eating you?" she checked.

[hatesparadise]

"So, looks like this place was quick to make things weird," Danny said with a nod as Jo twined around his ankles before taking notice of the dog to go investigate.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I didn't even get a whole week," Annie complained. "Heck of a learning curve you guys have around here."

Joan abandoned her puppuccino in light of there being a new, interesting cat to pay attention to. "What's up?" she greeted Jo.

[thatwaslucky]

"And sometimes things like this happen," Rey greeted her, little mouse friend hopping off her shoulder and onto her arm that was holding her coffee.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I'm just going with it," Annie told her, and gave a little wave to the mouse. "Taking your advice. This is Joan."

"Hi!" Joan looked up from her puppuccino, her snout still covered in whipped cream. (Joan clearly could not care less.)

[dauntlessdragoon]

At this rate, there would be enough rats in this place to make a health inspector sweat, as one large one entered, clearly still in the middle of a discussion with the smaller one in her paw.

"--saying is that it just seems a little...on the nose," Freya was saying, "that's all."

"But what else would I be except a rat, dear?" Frigga countered patiently. "You're not a rat, anyway, you're a Burmecian."

"But a Burmecian is a type of rat!" Freya sighed. "It's a classification. A Cleryan is a rat just the same, for example."

"Well, yes," Frigga continued, "but my point stands. What else would I be?"

"A dragon!" Freya would have thrown up her paws if they wasn't holding a small white rat. "I am a Dragon Knight! You should be a dragon!"

"Ah," Frigga's whiskers twitches, "but a Dragon Knight is a Burcemcian, first and foremost, and as you said, a Burmecian is a..."

"Rat," Freya joined in in the last word, then sighed, shaking her head. "Well, I suppose..."

Was it really any wonder she was feeling she needed this coffee that morning? And something sweet for Frigga to nibble on as well.

[betterthanaplan]

"Wait." Duke frowned, looking from Freya to Fallacy and back. "Is that fact that you're a rat supposed to say something about me?"

"Rats are extremely intelligent and friendly, but have terrible reputations," Fallacy said patiently.

Duke rubbed his hand down his face. "Right. I guess I can't argue with that."

[dauntlessdragoon]

And Freya caught that with a little startled lift of her face, then a quick look down at the rat in her paw, who then sighed and shook her head.

"It's not multiversinal, dear," Frigga assured her. "Your reputuation is immaculate, don't get your tail in a knot."

But as Freya considered the man there with his rat, her head tilted thoughtfully and she looked back at Frigga.

"You could have been a human, too, I suppose."

The rat visibily shuddered. "Now you're just being absurd, Freya."

And though Freya's pride wouldn't allow her to completely disagree with that notion, her politeness required her to at least wince a little apologetically for that, as she ventured to Duke, "So you've got an unexpected friend as well?"

[firstofitskind]

Liam... did not have a new animal companion walking beside him.

He did, however, have a kind of alien, scorpion-looking sort of creature curled around his right forearm.

"You too, huh?" he said with a nod to Duke. And the rat.

[betterthanaplan]

Duke stared, even as Fallacy dashed across the table and up his arm to huddle on his shoulder.

"Dude! What the hell is that thing?!"

[firstofitskind]

"You'd think he'd never seen a skrill before," Kestrel murmured.

Which was honestly the weirdest part of this whole thing, because skrill communication typically consisted of telepathic images. Or bursts of light. Not plain English.

"He hasn't," Liam reminded her. "Remember; different realities. Most of them didn't even know about life on other planets before they came here."

"This is Kestrel," Liam said, holding up his arm. "Apparently. She's a skrill."

[hatesparadise]

"...I really should have spiked this coffee," Danny said slowly.

Jo rolled her eyes and blinked up at Liam politely. "Good morning."

[thatwaslucky]

"New friend?" Rey asked, happening by with an adorable tiny alien-looking desert mouse on her shoulder.

[betterthanaplan]

"Seems to be the theme today," Duke said. "Nice . . . mouse thing."

Fallacy looked up, tore a chunk off her coffee cake, and held it out. "Want some breakfast?"

[firstofitskind]

"As far as strange things to wake up to, this one wasn't so bad," Liam admitted.

"... Thank you?" Kestrel said, from where she was curled around Liam's arm.

[hatesparadise]

Danny and his... cat person thing. She trotted along with him like this was all perfectly normal.

"There's not enough coffee to get through the day," he grumbled.

[betterthanaplan]

"A cat," Duke said, watching Danny and his new friend come in. "Yep, that tracks."

"The rat's natural enemy," Fallacy observed.

"I was thinking more that he's impeccably groomed and kind of insane."

[thatwaslucky]

Rey had an adorable new mouse bestie that had just slightly ended up in her hair, so she had to check, "Is your cat okay around smaller animals?"

[doesntstophurting]

An unhappy-looking Frenchman entered the coffee shop, doing his best to ignore the skunk that seemed intent on following him everywhere today.

"//Would you slow down?//" Heloise complained. "//My legs are short!//"

"Did anyone misplace a talking skunk?" he asked the room at large.

"I told you," Heloise said. "I'm yours!"

"Anyone at all?" He got the joke. He just didn't think that it was funny unlike his player.

[betterthanaplan]

"//Just give in, man,//" Duke said in French. "//Relax and go with the flow.//"

"Oh, Fallacy said with a little ratty smirk. "Is that what you did?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Does it make it better if I say she's adorable?" Annie offered, smiling a little at the new guy.

Joan, meanwhile, took her nose out of her cup of whipped cream to address Heloise. "She took awhile to come around, too," she said, rolling her eyes towards Annie. (And really, Annie was still treating Joan enough like a pet that she clearly still didn't really get it, but Joan wasn't going to get all bent out of shape about correcting her when there was whipped cream to eat.)