maskormenace | 12. A Rolling Stone Gathers No Mozz [Video]

[Tina's happily humming to herself as she turns the feed on. A notebook is lying on Maurtia Falls #003's kitchen table, and she zooms in on several labeled drawings of burgers as she slowly flips through the pages:]

Magnus Burnsides - mango salsa with "sideburns" of hot peppers
Wizard Of Mozz - Italian sausage patty, topped with pizza sauce and mozzarella
Merle Highchurch - Pan fried, topped with a few different kinds of greens
Detective Angus - made of Angus beef with a mystery cheese inside
Max - a long bun with two mini patties and fried pickle wheels, to look like a skateboard
Sharpedo - sharp cheddar cheese with "fins" made of nacho cheese Doritos
Pikachu - put pepperoni slices for cheeks, olives for eyes, and mustard for the face on the patty
Exeggutor - honey and egg bun with two fried eggs

[Tina then shuts the notebook and turns the camera on herself, looking quite proud.]

This has been my latest project- coming up with burgers themed after imPorts I know. I want to sell them, maybe at swear-ins, or something like that.

If you could make your own burger, what would you put on it?

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[He takes a long moment to look over the list, are these really the names of people that have arrived here?]

[With a tentative glance up from the list he honestly ponders her question. It's so far removed from the literal horror he lives in every day that it's actually really hard to answer. But, he wants to. Being alone in a room a lot really gets to you, it makes you hunch over your phone in the dark, staring at post after post until a simple and inviting one about burgers takes your interest.]

[His glasses gleam as he adjusts them, his hand moving to set a curled finger against his chin.]

It seems like... from this list, you could put anything on a burger. [Why is it so intimidating?]

Mmhmm. They're more flexible than you might think. My dad came up with a different special every day for his restaurant, so he had to get creative.

Your dad- back where you came from, right? If you sell them you'll need to find help, if he's not here with you.

Uh-huh.

Oh, but my mom's here, so I'm good. I've set up a stand at the swear-ins before.

I don't really know how the 'swear-ins' work... or what the point of them are.

I'm happy your mom is here with you. I don't think many here can say the same.

They're basically a big party every month. New imPorts- that's people from other worlds, like you can I- can choose to register with the government or not. There's almost always food and fun stuff to do, too. It's a nice way to meet people.

I'm really lucky she is. I was here for about 6 or 7 months before she got here, but it's been great having her around ever since.

So they want us to register with them after enslaving us. A kind gesture.

[He replies darkly but then snaps out of it, lifting his chin.]

You've been here for over 6 months?

You don't have to... they DO leave the option open.

[She nods.]

Over a year, in fact.

[Right... far be it from him to take away her positive attitude. People with higher hopes tended to put him at ease, so he said nothing to that and movie on, tilting the screen away slightly so all she'd see is dark room.]

People can be here this long then.

Did you die prior to coming here?

Yeah. I know some people who have been here even longer...

[She shakes her head.]

No. Mom's alive and well back home, too.

Edited 2018-06-11 00:11 (UTC)

I guess that's reassuring, even if I had been ready to die.

[He says this with a small sigh, going gravely silent, perhaps even awkwardly so.]

Oh! [Tina's eyes widen and... that's definitely an awkward silence, yup.] Uh, well, at least you're alive here...?

[Yep, he's the king of those, but he seems to be perfectly fine with it, so- if it's awkward, it's not on his end at all. Just, you know, on everyone elses.]

Am I? It's hard to tell. Someone said we can't die here though, so maybe we already are dead.

I've [A small pause- she doesn't want to talk publicly about Archie's death, not when it's still a sore spot for him.] heard about people dying and coming back to life. I don't know how true that is, though.

They don't really die then though, right? If they come back.

...Do they come back the same?

As far as I know, yes, they do. No injuries or anything like that.

Is that just something... people get used to here then?

[The way he asks this has a certain tone to it. It doesn't sound at all like someone who is shocked or curious or holding some sort of disbelief. He asks it like it's more some statement, some situation he has already had to deal with before and is resolving himself to again.]

Yeah. ... you get used to a lot of weird things here. I come from a world where nobody had superpowers or anything, so this world is strange to me in some ways.

[He paused for a moment, silent, contemplative. It was nice to hear she was from somewhere more... normal? She looked like it too. Her presence eased him further, eased him more than a lot of people he's met already.]

Getting used to them is something I'm used to, it's just difficult to keep up. It almost seems easier to just avoid other imPorts.

I mostly keep to my group. It IS hard to keep up with everyone, but staying isolated... I couldn't do that. I'm too used to being around my family all the time.

Yeah.

I was too. [A long. Awkward pause again before-]

It gets really lonely here. [And just... difficult? The higher tech, the idea of other universes, worlds, aliens and super powers? It all just... stacks up on you, and all with being alone in a whole new place.

Well, he was never one who was easy to make friends, and that only persists here.]

... yeah. It can. I'm not from a world where we had superpowers or demigods or... anything supernatural. I lived a pretty simple life- worked in my dad's restaurant, hung out with my siblings. I never thought too much about people having it different.

12. A Rolling Stone Gathers No Mozz [Video]

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