001 - In which Howl is Pulled from Elsewhere

[likepaleglass]

[A man’s voice, louder than it should be.]

Sophie! SOPHIE.

[A man flickers into view on camera. He’s decidedly handsome, well-groomed and dressed, a blue jewel hanging from one ear. One might almost be able to smell a whiff of hyacinth perfume. For a moment he turns the NV over and around in his hands until the viewer just gets a jumble of him – flashes of hair and hands and eyes that are strangely pale, green, reflective like glass. Finally the window comes to rest on him again, and he is glaring.]

Never hire a cleaning lady. If they come nosing their way into your life, boot them out the door, as you value your sanity.

[Hard to say if he knows he’s talking to you. In all honesty, it probably doesn’t matter. He pushes the hair back from his face, handsomely perturbed.]

All right, since there seems to be no immediate way back: I’ll need the nearest junkyard. Preferably magical. Non-magical will do in a pinch, though I’ll have to recreate my notes.

Also: A book of poetry. Promptly.

Comments

[video]

[likepaleglass]

Magic always creates junk.

[And if it doesn't exist in Siren's Port, it likely will by the time Howl is through.]

Someone must be hiding one somewhere.

[A flick of sleeve, and he produces a grayish bit of paper.] I'm in need of the second half of a poem.

[video]

[faustianism]

Magic is... one of many forms of abilities, here, from what I understand. But to have a junkyard... you may have a better deal from a pawnshop.

Ah, I see. A specific poem, do you know the author?

[video]

[likepaleglass]

[A lean smile. Howl is familiar with this game, though it doesn't mean he's against playing.] And you know of just such a pawnshop?

[A pause, glass-marble eyes flicking briefly over Gold before his tongue clicks softly, and he recites,]

Go and catch a falling star,
Get with child a mandrake root,
Tell me where all past years are,
Or who cleft the Devil's foot;
Teach me to hear mermaids singing,
Or to keep off envy's stinging,
And find
What wind
Serves to advance an honest mind.

By whom is anyone's guess. English poets -- so many sound alike.

[video]

[faustianism]

Of course. I happen to own it.

[He recognizes it just from the first line, and he smiles.]

Yes, John Donne has never been one of the great English poets of the time, but they do stay in your memory for a long while.

[video]

[likepaleglass]

Of course. And what do you sell?

[A brief flicker of something in Howl's face, but what exactly may be hard to identify.]

You know the second half?

[video]

[faustianism]

A little bit of everything. Whatever people decide they don't want anymore, or can't have anymore. From the mundane to the magical.

[He notices it, though, and will have to wonder about it later.]

Not off hand, but I know where it's placed in the book.