|
Post by Malcolm on Feb 17, 2022 14:54:55 GMT -6
Sometimes Malcolm didn’t really understand the people putting up these requests on the quest board. Of course, there was a difference between finding the request itself ridiculous, which happened on a regular basis with these things, and not understanding why it was there at all. He experienced the former on a regular basis. A lot of the jobs on here struck him as pretty stupid, to put it bluntly -- or, at other times, he wondered how these people had even ended up in the situations they were in to begin with. But occasionally there were requests that seemed as though they shouldn’t be jobs at all. “Come see a play,” he muttered, reading the request twice over to make sure that he had it correct. The first time he saw it, he thought he was maybe imagining things. Who would pay good money to have someone come watch their play? 1
|
|
|
Post by Malcolm on Feb 17, 2022 14:55:07 GMT -6
Was it really so bad that they had to resort to paying to find people to fill the seats? He wasn’t a great connoisseur of the theatrical arts, as his personal tastes ran more towards fine objets d’art, but as a model of business for a troupe, it seemed like it ought to be the opposite. Normally people paid to see the play, not the other way around.
Still, as far as requests went, it was far and away the easiest of the options that he saw that day. And even if it was bad, as long as they didn’t come to any physical harm, Malcolm reasoned that this was enough compensation to stand being bored for an hour. Or maybe being affronted for an hour; it was really hard to say how bad this thing was going to be, if he went in with the premise that he was the one being paid to see it.
2
|
|
|
Post by Malcolm on Feb 17, 2022 14:56:20 GMT -6
More importantly, it meant that he would be seated and still for the whole duration of the experience, which meant it would be easier to bring Fretful along.
The little fish that had hatched out of the egg that Malcolm had received had earned herself such a name because of her disposition. Malcolm hadn’t thought it possible for a fish to have a disposition, but he supposed in this case things were a little different. On the basis of their purported intelligence, and because she had been growing increasingly restless and even a little self destructive, he had gotten her one of those telepathic ribbons that were all the rage. And he had immediately regretted it, as a litany of concerns flooded into his mind, all radiating from the charcoal-colored fish in the tank.
The fish stared up at him with doleful eyes now, from her place in her tank.
3
|
|
|
Post by Malcolm on Feb 17, 2022 14:56:42 GMT -6
It wasn’t really big enough for her to swim around comfortably anymore, but she could move around a bit, and she had made her preferences clear. It was better to be out with Malcolm, so long as they were together, if the alternative was to be left behind in her tank at home. He had reasoned with her that there was no practical way for him to wheel around a bigger tank -- which was, as far as it went, the truth -- and so she had not complained about the size of this one. Much.
But then, it wasn’t as if he was giving her as much opportunity as he could. Unless it was necessary, or she seemed particularly distressed, Malcolm preferred not to wear his half of the ribbon. Fretful’s thoughts did justice to her name and then some, and there was only so much that Malcolm could take of that in a day.
4
|
|
|
Post by Malcolm on Feb 17, 2022 14:56:54 GMT -6
So he had to be judicious about the kind of mental strain he was under. Just what sort of powers was this creature supposed to have? He certainly hoped these efforts bore fruit soon.
For the moment, however, he had the job to take on. For the sake of explaining what was about to happen to Fretful, he donned the ribbon. “Well, my dear,” he said to the fish, “it looks as though we’ll be seeing a play.”
{A play,} Fretful repeated. Her whiskers twitched. {What is that? Will we be playing?}
“No, not as such,” Malcolm said. “It’s a… performance, done by other people. All we have to do is watch. You’ll enjoy it, I think. It must be more diverting than being cooped up at home in your tank.” In truth he didn’t think he could handle life as a fish. It did seem a terribly boring way to live one’s life.
5
|
|
|
Post by Malcolm on Feb 17, 2022 14:57:07 GMT -6
Fretful seemed to think on the matter for a moment, then said, {But what if it’s bad?}
“Well then, we will have seen a bad play. There are worse things in life. And given that you haven’t seen a play at all, it will probably be interesting even if it isn’t good,” Malcolm said.
{... But what if it’s terrible?} Fretful said. {So terrible that it gives us nightmares. Creeping terrible very bad dreams. What if it’s a trap? What if they know things--}
“Fret,” said Malcolm, a slight edge to his tone now, a warning. She subsided, though her whiskers still twitched and waved, and her fins fanned the water as much as they could in her limited space. “We’re going. Now, don’t think any more nonsense, and we can see what exactly we’re in for once we get there.” With that, he removed the ribbon.
6
|
|
|
Post by Malcolm on Feb 17, 2022 14:57:52 GMT -6
She had stopped momentarily, but he had discovered from their first few days with the ribbon that nothing ever seemed to stop her for long, much less permanently. He wasn’t sure if it was some sort of defect, or if this had something to do with her nature, but he wasn’t about to subject himself to the pointless exercise of trying to allay all her concerns if it was a futile task anyway. If he thought his efforts would bear fruit, perhaps he would try harder, but there was almost nothing he hated more than throwing himself at a thankless task.
With that settled, they went to the address specified in the posting… Though upon arrival, he discovered that it was a tent set up in the park, rather than an actual theater building. It was a large tent, of course -- the type used by circuses and the like -- but even so.
7
|
|
|
Post by Malcolm on Feb 17, 2022 14:58:10 GMT -6
He could almost feel Fretful thinking. ‘You see? Something has gone wrong.’ He resented the notion even as the thought occurred to him, and reminded himself that he had already expected this to be a farce. The fact that it was taking place in a location he thought of as being passe wouldn’t really make a difference. At least the tent looked to be in relatively good repair, and he supposed it would have been worse to go to a show in a decrepit little underground theater instead. He knew well the kinds of seedy, cheap places that existed in a city, and this had at least the benefit of more space, more open air.
He presented the posting to the people at the door, who waved him in with rather more enthusiasm than he would have preferred. They didn’t even bat an eye at the fact that his plus one was in a fish tank.
8
|
|
|
Post by Malcolm on Feb 17, 2022 14:58:27 GMT -6
The fact that people had creatures accompanying them never raised any eyebrows, he understood that much, but he had thought it would be stranger to have chosen such an inconvenient companion. But perhaps these Tat-lung were well known and well understood here, and there were in fact many more poor idiots facing the same plight he was.
It was a little harder to find a seat, but he eventually settled them in the front, at the end of an aisle, where the tank parked beside his seat might cause the least inconvenience. It wasn’t that Malcolm was particularly averse to inconveniencing others, but in this case he didn’t want to cause a commotion. He could see that the crowd, or the darkness, or something else he hadn’t considered, were already agitating his charge, and if someone stopped to do more than make polite small talk with Malcolm, she was probably going to start fussing in earnest again.
9
|
|
|
Post by Malcolm on Feb 17, 2022 15:00:37 GMT -6
Fortunately, nothing of the sort happened, and eventually, when the tent had filled mostly up, someone appeared on stage. “Ladies, gentlemen, and those of us who know better,” said a slender youth with horns that parted his hair at the brow. He winked at the crowd, and the line drew a chuckle from a few members of the audience. “Thank you for taking the time today to come attend our humble production! Now, just a few rules of courtesy to go over before we begin..." He began rattling off a spiel about how they should stay in their seats, and no matter how rowdy things became, to please refrain from throwing things at the actors. With that kind of caveat, Malcolm couldn't imagine that they were going to see a show of real quality here... But this only confirmed what he had expected all along.
Well, there were worse jobs than wasting an afternoon watching bad actors, he thought.
10
|
|
|
Post by NPC on Feb 23, 2022 21:31:45 GMT -6
Congratulations, you have successfully completed the quest! Your QP will be added to the bank and your prize will be sent out shortly.
|
|