Second Floor Common Room [Tuesday afternoon]

[rings-of-grace.livejournal.com]

It had been several weeks, now, since Po had arrived in this strange land, and he felt fairly educated about his new surroundings. The indoor lights and running water had fascinated him, certainly, as had these mysteries called "electronics," but he felt confident that now, at least, he understood these things in theory, if not wholly in practice.

Today, though, he was left with questions as he stared in confusion at the television. He had been told these devices were for entertainment, and thus he'd happily watched as people behind blue boxes bearing their scrawled names had answered questions about this world, moments earlier. But for the last twenty minutes, an older man had appeared and attempted to convince him that comfortable sleep was nigh unto impossible.

Po frowned as he watched, unsure what this strange man's purpose was. He made sleep seem as though it were a mission that could never be achieved without this pillow -- surely the same audience that so enjoyed the questions before wouldn't fall for this spiel? It seemed like misplaced advertising.

And, also, a really stupid pitch for a fairly useless-sounding product, but Po supposed that was neither here nor there.

[this post brought to you by the endless My Pillow infomercial that has been airing on every TV I've happened to see this week. Open!]

Comments

[justbeingbay]

Bay watched for a moment from the doorway. Playing with power tools really worked up a girl's appetite; after shop, she was both hungry and a little bored, and the common room seemed like the easiest place to solve both problems.

"God, I hate how stupid the people on things always are," she said, by way of greeting as she went toward the fridge. "The pancake maker one is even worse."

[rings-of-grace.livejournal.com]

"Pancake maker?" Po asked, glancing over at her with a small smile. "There are more like this? I can't imagine what their purpose is -- surely no one is so dim as to have this much trouble with such basic tasks."

[justbeingbay]

"Like, it's a little batter pitcher and a skillet with indents?" Bay volunteered, glancing over to him with her own little smile. "And if you don't have it you're doomed to a life of inadequate pancakes. Scary part is, somebody somewhere has to be dumb enough to buy all this stuff."

[rings-of-grace.livejournal.com]

"I'll readily confess I've never had to make a pancake," Po admitted, "but...it seems that the people who have cooked for me have never had need of this device. My world is a bit different from this one, and we survive without most of your modern conveniences, but while I can see the benefit of electrical lighting I simply don't see why I should invest in that pillow over my feather one."

[justbeingbay]

"My dad can make pancakes, and he is not the cook in my family," Bay said. "And nobody really needs this stuff. It's mostly so cheap it'll fall apart right away anyhow."

She went into the fridge for a moment, emerged with bread, lunch meat and mustard. "I cannot imagine life without electricity. Are you adjusting okay? And do you want a sandwich?"

[pursuedthestars]

Jim ambled into the common room with no real purpose in mind. It was something to do and sometimes people tended to be around which meant he didn't have to be alone.

And lo and behold, there was someone in the common room and he was watching something about...pillows.

"Huh," Jim said after staring for a little longer than needed at the television. "This seems really stupid."

Stating the obvious there, Jim.

[rings-of-grace.livejournal.com]

"Doesn't it though?" Po asked, fascinated the way one might be with a particularly gruesome car accident. "Is this common for this world? Do people require assistance in finding a pillow this badly?"

[rings-of-grace.livejournal.com]

"I'd love a sandwich, if you're making one for yourself anyway," Po said, a bit surprised (and pleased.) "As far as adjustment goes -- every time I think I've figured this world out, something like this absurd pillow thing rears its stupid head, and I'm baffled all over again." He cocked his head at her, and added, "You're from a world similar to this one, I take it?"

Or at least, she seemed much more at ease with the kitchen than he was. Po would never admit that he was still a little afraid of all the different appliances.

[pursuedthestars]

"Your guess is as good as mine, man," Jim admitted. "I'm getting the feeling it is, though. I'm not exactly from this time. Where I'm from, people are a little too busy to wax poetic about a freaking pillow."

It was a pillow!

[justbeingbay]

Bay had a brother who was always hungry; the offer to make a second sandwich was just about automatic.

She nodded as she spread mustard on bread. "Yeah. Kansas City. It's like here except without any of the magic stuff." That seemed worth clarifying. "What's yours like?"

[justbeingbay]

"This is what I said," Bay agreed from her post at the counter. "I think infomercial people may be a different, dumber breed from the rest of us."

[pursuedthestars]

"Infomercial?" They weren't really prevalent in his time but he thought he got the gist of what they were. "It's just...it's a pillow! Do people really need a sales pitch this long? Are some people really that hard up to spend money?"

[rings-of-grace.livejournal.com]

"Nothing like here," Po said with a small smile. "Though from what I've gathered it's like how your world was perhaps a thousand years ago, as far as technology is concerned. We do have magic, though, a form of it -- we don't think of it that way, exactly, but I imagine people from here would."

[rings-of-grace.livejournal.com]

"Same," Po agreed. "As far as I can tell, pillows are a sack with some feathers in it, and you rest your head upon it. Not that I've often been involved in the construction of pillows, but surely it needn't be this complicated?"

[justbeingbay]

"Don't ask me, I don't make them," Bay joked with a shrug. "But seriously, there are way better ways to spend $29.95. Like ... buying a better pillow not from TV."

[pursuedthestars]

"You know that and I know that but people are still gonna buy this," Jim said, shaking his head. "And then they'll go to sleep at night and realize...they just bought a really expensive pillow that feels just like they're other pillow."

[pursuedthestars]

"Yeah, you would think so, wouldn't you?" Jim said, chuckling. "But, if this thing got on TV, then someone somewhere must have shown interest and that is just so sad."

[rings-of-grace.livejournal.com]

"Moreover, they've wasted minutes -- possibly hours, depending on how long this gentleman insists on talking -- on hearing about this same pillow," Po marveled. "Do people of this world really not have better uses for their time?"

[justbeingbay]

About all Bay knew about the world a thousand years before was that it was after pyramids and before the renaissance, and there were probably Vikings and plagues. Still, she got the idea that the guy was from very far away.

"There's more than one way to think about it?" she checked. "You have to walk me through this. Three weeks ago, the only magic I knew about outside movies was bunny-out-of-a-hat stuff."

[rings-of-grace.livejournal.com]

"We have something called Graces," he explained. "A person may be especially gifted in one particular area, if they're Graced -- they can sense or cause weather patterns, or be a above-human archer, or something as mundane as the very best singer you've ever heard if they're Graced with music." He shrugged, and added, "I was told that some people call them 'powers,' and that might be a more familiar term. But other than us lucky few marked with Grace, my world is fairly free of magic. What I wouldn't give for a touch more, actually. Some of the things I've seen here would be incredibly useful."

[justbeingbay]

"And also somebody had to invent it," Bay pointed out. "Probably to solve an actual problem they had. Which is just as sad. Maybe sadder, I'm not sure."

[justbeingbay]

"I haven't seen anything useful yet," Bay said, with a trace of skepticism. "Other than the pet dinosaur, and that's probably more cool than useful most of the time. But -- so you have some special genius ability? That is also very cool."

[pursuedthestars]

"People waste a lot of time doing absolutely nothing of value," Jim said. "Me included but even I know better than to ramble on about a pillow."

He snickered and shook his head. "Guessing this means you're not gonna spring for this pillow, huh?"

[rings-of-grace.livejournal.com]

"My school-assigned sibling can stretch himself," Po admitted, "which sounds remarkably handy. And yes, the...dinosaur." Still a strange word to him. "She seems like she'd be more use to me than a horse, if she were trained well."

He shrugged, and added, "And yes, I'm Graced. I'm a hand-fighter, and undefeated thus far in my own kingdom." He cocked a grin at her. "If you should ever need a champion to fight for you, my lady, I'd be a good one to choose."

[pursuedthestars]

"If they'd kept their invention to themselves, I wouldn't have had another thought about it but going out and selling it?"

It was stupid but hey, Jim couldn't really fault someone for trying to make money. And the inventor was going to make money because people bought stupid things.

"It makes me think I could go out and buy a broom and say it was a magical broom where you'd never have to sweep again. And I'd get rich. I'm pretty convincing."