A Whole New World [Active]

[gimmesometassel.livejournal.com]

Characters: Vincent and Magic Carpet
Content: So, an ex-Turk and a rug walk into a bar domed city....
Location: Joutenheim Gate
Time: Er, afternoonish?
Warnings: If you don't like charades or mimes as a matter of principle, then you probably don't want to read Carpet.

It wasn’t hot here.

 

It wasn’t crowded, dirty or loud.

 

And there was no Aladdin here. No Jasmine either. Abu was back at the palace, but Aladdin and Jasmine had both been sitting atop him, watching the stars and moving together for a kiss he was both glad and embarrassed to watch, for all its passion. It wasn’t something he was meant to see, he knew—not that he could help seeing, and it wasn’t like he had anything to do but watch—but it was wonderful to see them finally happy. They knew who they were and what they were doing, they trusted each other, and most important of all, they were finally allowed to be together now that they wanted to.

 

But none of that mattered right now, because they weren’t here. Carpet was hovering high, high in the air, staring down at a dome the likes of which he’d never seen, and a very long line of people waiting to enter into an impressively gaudy gate. All he could see beyond those were dense forest, and quite far away, a shoreline. This wasn’t Agrabah….. He wasn’t sure what this place was, actually. He was used to the unexpected—how could he not be, when Genie was his closest friend?—but there was no explanation for this. Genie wasn’t around to magic him here, Jasmine and Aladdin were not sorcerers, and Jafar was gone…. It made no sense at all.

 

He glided down in ever-tightening spirals like a fallen leaf, hiding behind a tree trunk once he reached the level people could see him at. Carpet watched for a few minutes before sneaking into the line, pressing himself flat against the ground at the end. It was soon evident that the disguise wouldn’t work, though; carpets didn’t move on their own, and he had to keep moving with the line as more people joined behind him. So, a trifle nervously, the rug glided after the person just ahead of him, pausing at a booth they all seemed to stop at. “Name?”

 

If he could have, Carpet would have blinked in confusion. He had never been given a name before, and even if he had, how could he tell it? Scratching his top edge with a tassel as though thinking, he soon gestured animatedly for the clipboard and pen, scribbling “Rugman” before handing it back. It was the only thing he was called that wasn’t generic, really, so it would just have to do.

 

“Welcome to Paixao; you can enter the city now.” The man handed him something shiny and strange, a folded piece of paper of some sort? The other thing he was given was some sort of treasure obviously, a golden rectangle with beautiful, elaborate patterns engraved into it. Carpet waved in thanks with his free tassel, the other curled around these new gifts as he walked into the city proper. Probably best to stay on terra firma for now, until he’d looked at these things…..

Comments

[no-experiment.livejournal.com]

Visions of the past came into focus, as they usually did. Sometimes these trips down memory lane were Vincent’s own doing. Sometimes they weren’t. This time he was certain it wasn’t because he wanted to.

One of the worst memories to ever pick came up. It was when he had stupidly confronted Hojo. He had wanted the scientist to stop the experiments. Wasn’t it obvious that Lucrecia was suffering? She was so unwell. But all Vincent’s protests got him was a bullet in the vitals. The searing pain of it was still fresh. It was like he was truly reliving the scene. He could even hear Hojo muttering above him.

Eventually even that passed away. When Vincent opened his eyes, it wasn’t to a continuation of the memory. He was outdoors. He wasn’t a Turk. He wore his own familiar clothing. He pulled himself painlessly to his feet, looking around. The only muttering he heard was the quiet chatter of a few people waiting in a line. The line led to an elaborate gate. Two giants were paused mid-battle over it. The gate opened into a large domed structure, the interior of which was impossible to see from his angle.

It was all too clear that Vincent wasn’t anywhere in his world. He had traveled it pretty thoroughly, and never had he seen domes like these. They were massive and dominating. They would have stood out on the landscape and begged exploration. Well. Standing there would earn him no answers. If they were anywhere, they were inside that structure. Maybe this was only a hallucination and he would wake up back in familiar territory. Whenever he used Chaos to excess, it always had strange effects. He would see these through, however long they lasted.

The modestly-dressed blonds in line gave him a wide berth as he joined them. He was used to this and avoided eye contact with them, folding his arms over his chest. This drew attention to his gauntlet, and as soon as possible, there was no one else in line. That suited him too. The general public typically had weak stomachs for the non-ordinary.

There was a blond fellow at a booth, and he beckoned Vincent closer. Vincent’s appearance didn’t phase him much, as the man smiled and asked for his name.

“Valentine,” Vincent replied calmly. He’d been asked for his name numerous times prior and had no qualms giving it now.

“All right, sir.” The man at the booth slid two objects across the counter towards him. One was a pamphlet. The other was a small metal device. “Take these tools with the city’s compliments. Welcome to Paixao!”

Vincent took the objects with no fuss and tucked them away, striding through the gate. With every step he was more and more certain that he wasn’t in Gaia anymore. This thought didn’t hit home with enough force until he saw it, it being… No. This was dream territory now. Maybe he was drugged too.

But right there, a few good feet in front of him, was some kind of walking carpet. He had never seen its like before and couldn’t help but stare curiously. He had seen all sorts of things, from monsters to giant mecha to super-powered warriors, but never before had he seen a moving, living carpet. He didn’t know what to make of it. Not at all. So he decided to leave well enough alone and started to walk around the thing.

[gimmesometassel.livejournal.com]

It didn't take Carpet long to realize that he was being watched; seeing and hearing from his entire body made him a little hard to sneak up on. The magical entity seemed to shrink into himself under Vincent's gaze, tassel's twisting together around his journal and pamphlet. Even without a face, posture alone could easily convey his nervousness. That man, with the black and red clothing, and the capes, and the long black hair.... The first glance reminded him unsettlingly of Jafar, and he didn't like that, not at all....

But.... no. No, he didn't look entirely like Jafar, not by a long shot.... not as sinister as Jafar, maybe, but definitely more intimidating. But he couldn't feel pain, and unless this human just compulsively attacked people, he didn't think he had a reason to worry. Besides, there was the whole problem of communication; none of the blonde and blue-eyed people--a combination he had never seen before, and was rather baffled by--seemed to understand anything but the most obvious gestures. While they felt safe enough to move freely about with, communication was limited largely to waving in greeting and pointing at things. Did that mean all people with those strange hair and eye colors were just stupid?

This man's features were a little more like the sort he recognized though, even if he was much too pale. So maybe.... Gathering himself up, Carpet reached up to snag one of the buckles on Vincent's sleeve with a tassel, tugging shyly; that tassel was next used for a sweeping gesture to encompass the city at large, and the carpet shrugged as well as he could, pointing at Vincent hopefully. Maybe he knew where they were, what this place was?

[no-experiment.livejournal.com]

Vincent stopped when the carpet caught his sleeve. He looked down at it, narrowing his eyes. It was embroidered like nothing he’d ever seen. It was a carpet, still, and it shouldn’t have been sentient. It shouldn’t have been able to gesture like it did. But it was. Was he supposed to talk back to it? Hell, he didn’t even know where to look on the carpet. It didn’t have a face or eyes for him to look at. It didn’t even have hands, yet it was holding onto him just as normally as anything.

So the carpet was gesturing. This was like charades, then. Vincent watched. First it indicated the city, and then, for lack of a better word, it shrugged like it had shoulders. So this thing didn’t know where it was, either. And then it pointed at him. It was asking if he knew what this place was.

Usually Vincent didn’t collaborate with monsters, but this one seemed harmless so far. It certainly wasn’t hostile. He didn’t think bullets would stop the thing anyway. What with no brain, it probably couldn’t feel a thing. It was surprising that it was showing as much emotion as it did.

Getting back to reality, Vincent shook his head no. ’I can’t believe I’m doing this,’ he thought grimly. “This place?” he confirmed. “No. All I have to go on is its name. Paixao. I’ve never been here before… and apparently you haven’t, either.” Any more would be useless chatter. He was already forming theories about the place, but he wasn’t going to share them with a carpet. A carpet. Talking to himself, and to visions of the past, was bad enough. Talking to once-inanimate objects was worse.

“I’m going further in,” Vincent said as he pushed the carpet’s tassel off of his sleeve. “Standing here is doing nothing for either of us.” He walked onwards then, rubbing his forehead with one hand. He’d snapped, hadn’t he? He finally stopped dreaming about Lucrecia and started on strange cities and walking rugs. That probably didn’t bode well for the state of his subconscious.

[gimmesometassel.livejournal.com]

Uh-oh. Narrowed eyes were bad, right? It was a little alien, interpreting facial expressions when he had none to reciprocate with. At least he had practice, though? Genie had a face. So did Aladdin and Jasmine, and even Abu. He was the only one left out, and he HAD spent a long while with noone to practice with..... At least this person was watching him though, and even better, seemed to understand what he was getting at. Best of all, he was even responding!

The top end of Carpet bobbed energetically in confirmation at Vincent's question, only to droop in disappointment--that much was unmistakable, considering how the rug nearly bent double to express it--upon realizing that Vincent didn't know anymore than he did. Going further in definitely did sound like a good idea, though, even if he was being obviously brushed off. The pale man was right though, standing around wasn't doing anything. Only looking around and talking to people would. Talking.... to people. Well, he had his work cut out for him.... Who would listen--er, watch--anyway? Vincent had been the only one who was willing to, so far.

It was worrisome just when he'd find another person who would--if, indeed, anyone else would at all. In that frame of mind, Carpet decided to follow him. Being answered and blown off was better than being totally ignored, right? It was in that frame of mind that Carpet rose off the ground and headed after Vincent, remaining a respectful distance behind him--until it started snowing.

The bewildered rug looked up at the thick curtain of snowflakes descending, and shook off the heap starting to accumulate on his back so he could keep from being soaked. A stray gust sent a good-sized clump of snow into him at good speed though, and Carpet lurched forward before he could steady himself, smacking flat against Vincent's back. He really wasn't used to this sort of weather....

[no-experiment.livejournal.com]

There was a steep drop in temperature from the gate area, Vincent noted as he continued onward. It also started snowing. Indoors. If his circumstances had been any different, he would have stopped and looked up, trying to figure out just how that was possible. But he’d been transported to a strange city with no explanation and just had a one-sided chat with a walking, gesturing carpet. He could take a little unexplained weather phenomenon at this point.

There was already a pretty good amount of snow accumulated on the ground. The streets and sidewalks were still pretty clear, so Vincent kept to them. The snow obscured some of the architecture of the area, but what was visible only confirmed what Vincent already knew: he was a long, long way from lands familiar.

Suddenly Vincent stumbled forward with a surprised grunt. Something had struck him from behind and it had caught him off guard! Usually he was more aware of his surroundings, but thinking too much had distracted him. He caught his balance again and looked over his shoulder. There was nothing behind him. But there was an odd pressure against his back that he couldn’t explain. Vincent reached back with both hands, trying to figure out what it was. It was interesting to do with gloved hands, and a gauntlet on top of that, but there was enough texture for him to make an assumption.

That living carpet was pressed against his back.

Vincent made an annoyed sound as he slipped his fingers between his back and the carpet, trying to pry it off. The carpet was damp, as cold water was already seeping through his gloves. That was irritating of itself.

“Get off me,” Vincent ordered coldly. That carpet had either been scared by something or it was really needy. Of course it couldn’t tell him which one it was, or even what it wanted.

[gimmesometassel.livejournal.com]

Carpet would have apologized, if it was at all possible. Instead, he could only manage a frustrated flutter of his tassels as he peeled himself off of Vincent, once again flipping to get the snow off. He looked up at Vincent, drooping a little at the icy tone of Vincent's command. Looked like he wasn't wanted around at all, was he? Well, he could take a hint. He knew when he wasn't needed. No sense in staying out here any longer than he had to be and turning into a Carpetsicle. He'd had that experience not much more than a day ago, thanks, and he hadn't liked it at all.

But still..... It had been really cold. And Aladdin and Abu would have frozen to death if he wasn't there to help them..... And besides that, it would have taken them a long time to travel across the entire world to get back to Agrabah! Vincent may not have wanted Carpet on him, but he could at least offer his help and see if Vincent would rather be on top of him. Who wouldn't want a ride, in this weather?

Carpet glanced to make sure he was within Vincent's line of sight still before wrapping his tassels around himself and shaking in an exaggerated shiver, before pointing at Vincent questioningly, then at himself; following this, he extended what had to be a his classic invitation to ride--namely, forming a few steps with himself, so Vincent could easily step up onto him, if he so pleased. After all, cold as it was out here, flying was a lot faster than walking....

[gimmesometassel.livejournal.com]

Needless to say, his invitation had not been welcome after all. Oh, well.... He'd tried at least, hadn't he? He'd done his best to be a good rug and help when he should, but it looked like he wasn't needed after all. Hopefully that man wouldn't freeze to death out here! At least he could always shake himself off and ignore the cold and snow, unlike normal people.

He'd just have to go find someone else to tell him where he was, then! And hopefully they knew where Aladdin was, too! Waving one tassel in farewell, Carpet took off through the air and gained altitude, soaring much too fast for any snow to stay on him, if it ever managed to land at all.