|
|
|
"Mm, nothing like a hot chocolate for a chilly day like this."
Stan cheerfully twittered as he took dainty sips of Uri's flatmate's prized hot chocolate powder. Harrods was pushing their new Christmas range of hot beverages, with exotic combinations like Chilli Cinnamon and Malt Spice. Stan obviously seemed to like Ginger Nutmeg, a flavour Uri regarded with much distaste.
They had returned to the flat, a rather small 3 bedroom apartment that had probably seen better times. The location itself was not too bad - the area was quiet, a feature that Uri appreciated as the buzz of the city threatened to drown her in it's thoughts at times. Stan had made himself right at home - despite Uri's attempts to stop him, he had already begun to scavenge the kitchen cabinets and was already happily nibbling on snacks he had pinched. Kevin and Garfield would have to settle for a half eaten bag of tortilla chips when they return.
"The toilet is past the kitchen, just don't use the Axe body wash. Not that Garfield would mind but I think it smells absolutely vile. You're already well acquainted with the kitchen, and my room is this one over here," she gestured to the door marked with a hanging "The only Drama I need is in a Script" plaque on the door. "You're going to have to sleep on the couch."
"The couch? What luxury! It's been a while since I've slept in anything resembling a bed." Stan plopped himself, mug in hand on the couch and sank in.
"Really? What have you been sleeping on all this time then?" Uri remarked.
Stan smirked. "Ah, finally curious? Well, I'll get on to that bit in a second. There's something you should know about me first. You see, I'm a Jumper."
"A what?" Uri wondered for a second if he was referring to his choice of fashion but it still made no sense.
"A Jumper! A being with the ability to traverse through different dimensions and worlds, and who stands- uh, sits, before you now." He smirked wider, and raised his palms up and out expectantly.
Uri was not one bit amused. Dimensions? Worlds? Travel the what? She pondered that perhaps he really was crazy, and that would explain his lack of sense of personal belonging and penniless state.
"You don't seem very impressed."
"Impressed?!" She blurted out. "You expect me to believe that sort of magicky bollocks?"
"But it's true! Look-" He stuck his hand out and Uri watched in amazement and horror as it disappeared from the tips of the fingers to his wrist in what looked like a small fold in the air.
"Your hand-"
"-Is still there! I simply reached into another world. You could say, I've pushed apart the fabric of this current dimension we're in, and have placed my hand in the layer that lies beneath." He retracted his hand and turned to Uri once more.
"So you see, I'm a Jumper." He proudly repeated.
"So you are." breathed Uri, finally convinced. "So is that how you fell? You stepped into this dimension but the portal was high up in the sky?"
Stan wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Portal? Such an undignified term. It likens what I create to a swirling pool of blue and orange goo. I prefer to call it a gate. And yes, unfortunately. Whilst I can somewhat control which dimension I'd like to step into, I have less control over where the gate chooses to manifest. As you can see however, I'm rather sturdy - we jumpers generally are a lot more tenacious than the average man."
"So there are more of you?"
"Mm, I like to think so. In my whole life, I've only ever met one Jumper myself. He was my guardian. Perhaps we are so busy fleeting from one world to the next, we never get to stay in one long enough to meet another."
Uri contemplated this for a while.
"Isn't that, well, a little lonely?"
A look of contemplation entered Stan's face, and he raised a hand to his chin.
"Mmm... I never really thought about that before. It's usually been the case that I mix around with the inhabitants for a bit, so perhaps not?"
"Don't you have, like, friends whom you travel back to worlds to see?"
"Nope not really. I don't really bother anyway- I'm always looking forward to the next adventure, so there is little time for backtracking!" He puffed his chest out proudly.
"So you don't have any family either?"
"Nope. It was simply my guardian for as long as I can remember."
"So where's this guardian now?"
"Well..." Stan's expression noticeably grew sullen. "I don't know. One morning I woke up, and he was no longer next to me. He didn't even leave a note."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear tha-"
"Ha! If he could see me now, I'm probably a better jumper than he ever was!" Stan slapped his knees, startling Uri.
"Well now! Enough of me for now. What is your world like? Are there any quests to do? Monsters to kill, empires to save, monarchies to overthrow?"
Uri snorted. "You've come centuries late for that sort of thing. We've a different sort of challenge in this world now."
"Well then, so what is my task?"
"Your task?"
"Why yes! Each time I travel to a new dimension, the adventure starts with the person I choose. And in this world Uri, I choose you." (Uri shuddered at the probably unintentional reference.)
"So... By that you mean I'm the one who sort of, well, makes the adventure for you?"
Stan nodded enthusiastically. His undyingly cheerful demeaner was starting to get on her nerves a little. God, when did I become such a drag? She had enough on her hands with all the mess going on in her life, and now she had to babysit this alien who obviously had a warped sense of roleplay. What adventure could she offer him anyway? Uri pondered hard. Unless... He didn't say what sort of adventure it needed to be, right?
"Right. I've your first task then, freeloader."
"Grea- ah, but my name is Stan," Uri ignored him.
"You have to make a new friend. That of course, isn't me." She grinned slyly.
Stan's face fell. "What? But how absolutely mundane!"
"Oh you think it's too easy?"
"Ah- yes!"
"Great! This should take you no time then. I'll give you your next task after." Uri winked. "Also, by friend I don't mean just acquaintances. It's gotta be a pal who actually asks you to hang out or something, without my help. And you have to do it from scratch. No cheating by passing off my friends as yours."
Stan grumbled. This was going to be a boring world.
 Leviathan D Constance · Mon Feb 26, 2018 @ 10:48pm · 1 Comments |
|
|
|
|
|
