Expertly twirling a straw between her fingers over the remnants of a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, her mind was a collection of random thoughts playing kaleidoscope with her conscience. Queen Ursula The Incorruptible was immersed in memories of the trail that led her to this site, excerpts of the daily meetings with vassals pledging fealty to her crown, the useless underlings wasting her time with inanities,... It was not like she was particularly looking forward to meeting Kang, but at least it would put a temporary halt on this incessant train of thought. The creak of the hinges betrayed his arrival. The train gently switched tracks.
"I'm sorry, I'm late," he said, "I had to fight of this demonic horde on the way to the city center. It's always the same
"Don't worry," she said, "take your time to settle down. I was a bit early so my nerves are already at ease," she said, pointing at her empty drink.
"Oh I see... Shall I order two more?"
"Sure, go ahead,' she nodded. "So, Kang... Tell me, do you feel up for a regular conversation?"
"Totally. I've had it with the macho crap my fellow warlords have been giving me lately. One more story about glorious vanquish and I swear, I'll bust in a couple of heads. Sorry, I'm drifting off. Do go ahead and dazzle me with regularity."
He steadied himself on the stool, adjusting the weaponry on his belt for his comfort, while Ursula arranged her fresh drink so it is within reach at all times.
"Ok, here goes. Earlier today I went to the chemist. You know, to buy some curative beads. I took a large box of them, because that way I will have enough for two months. I know they're not cheap, but if I buy one box at a time, well, they're even more expensive. I could explain to you the benefits of bulk buying, but I'll save that for another time. Also, I'm not really fond of shopping, and especially not of going to a chemist for just one box of beads. It makes me feel guilty, you know, like a bad customer."
"You feel like you are... taking up too much of their time in relation to the item you're buying?" Kang interrupts hesitantly.
"Exactly," she states. "It makes me want to buy stuff I don't actually need just to sooth my conscience. Making it an even more expensive enterprise than buying just the one big box."
"But the thing is," she said, pausing to take a sip,"the woman behind the counter made a mistake, and had to point it out to her, full knowing that she would be totally embarrassed."
"She billed the beads twice, Kang," she almost whispered. "I had to tell her about it. They were expensive as it is, and I bought some quality hand lotion as well."
"How did she take it?" Kang asked.
"Well, she freaked out a little. Which made me quite uneasy as well. The whole scene was way to nervy for what it was. The fact that there was also a dog added to the situation. It was tied to a table and but the table couldn't hold it. It"
"A dog...", Kang said pensively. "what is a dog doing in a chemist's!?"
"I don't know," she uttered, "it was just there."
"Yeah...Not that I doubt your sincerity, Ursula, but it almost feels like you added the dog to spice it up. There's no need for that in the context of this conversation."
"I'm telling you, Kang, there was a dog in there. It tore at its leash the entire time, making the table slide across the floor. Don't steer away from the essence of this story, which is clearly my predicament with the chemist lady. The only thing you can accuse the animal of is providing a slightly irregular background to an otherwise perfectly normal story."
"I see," he said, "but I'm afraid that the dog just came in and ran off with the ordinary nature of your tale, and turned it into something farcical. You're not to blame for it, of course; it just happened that way."
"Anyway," she said, getting somewhat agitated, and therefore leaving a long pause to cool the mood,"the lady apologized profusely and changed the bill. There, you have it. Little or no plot, nobody got hurt, period, end of story. Just make abstraction of the dog situation. How did you like it?"
He took a moment to gather his thoughts, then turned again and gazed straight into her beautiful singular eye, and said "At first I was a little thrown off by our little friend entering the scene. But in hindsight, its presence provided the necessary contrast to fully develop the regularity of your story. Without it, certain elements of the story-line could have become too big for what they were supposed be. It's like... a bowl of plain rice next to a hot spicy dish. I deeply appreciate it. Thank you so much, Ursula."
She smiled approvingly, and outside the wind had swept away a patch of clouds, briefly revealing the twin moons who shone their light in perfect unison over the bar.
He steadied himself on the stool, adjusting the weaponry on his belt for his comfort, while Ursula arranged her fresh drink so it is within reach at all times.
"Ok, here goes. Earlier today I went to the chemist. You know, to buy some curative beads. I took a large box of them, because that way I will have enough for two months. I know they're not cheap, but if I buy one box at a time, well, they're even more expensive. I could explain to you the benefits of bulk buying, but I'll save that for another time. Also, I'm not really fond of shopping, and especially not of going to a chemist for just one box of beads. It makes me feel guilty, you know, like a bad customer."
"You feel like you are... taking up too much of their time in relation to the item you're buying?" Kang interrupts hesitantly.
"Exactly," she states. "It makes me want to buy stuff I don't actually need just to sooth my conscience. Making it an even more expensive enterprise than buying just the one big box."
"But the thing is," she said, pausing to take a sip,"the woman behind the counter made a mistake, and had to point it out to her, full knowing that she would be totally embarrassed."
"She billed the beads twice, Kang," she almost whispered. "I had to tell her about it. They were expensive as it is, and I bought some quality hand lotion as well."
"How did she take it?" Kang asked.
"Well, she freaked out a little. Which made me quite uneasy as well. The whole scene was way to nervy for what it was. The fact that there was also a dog added to the situation. It was tied to a table and but the table couldn't hold it. It"
"A dog...", Kang said pensively. "what is a dog doing in a chemist's!?"
"I don't know," she uttered, "it was just there."
"Yeah...Not that I doubt your sincerity, Ursula, but it almost feels like you added the dog to spice it up. There's no need for that in the context of this conversation."
"I'm telling you, Kang, there was a dog in there. It tore at its leash the entire time, making the table slide across the floor. Don't steer away from the essence of this story, which is clearly my predicament with the chemist lady. The only thing you can accuse the animal of is providing a slightly irregular background to an otherwise perfectly normal story."
"I see," he said, "but I'm afraid that the dog just came in and ran off with the ordinary nature of your tale, and turned it into something farcical. You're not to blame for it, of course; it just happened that way."
"Anyway," she said, getting somewhat agitated, and therefore leaving a long pause to cool the mood,"the lady apologized profusely and changed the bill. There, you have it. Little or no plot, nobody got hurt, period, end of story. Just make abstraction of the dog situation. How did you like it?"
He took a moment to gather his thoughts, then turned again and gazed straight into her beautiful singular eye, and said "At first I was a little thrown off by our little friend entering the scene. But in hindsight, its presence provided the necessary contrast to fully develop the regularity of your story. Without it, certain elements of the story-line could have become too big for what they were supposed be. It's like... a bowl of plain rice next to a hot spicy dish. I deeply appreciate it. Thank you so much, Ursula."
She smiled approvingly, and outside the wind had swept away a patch of clouds, briefly revealing the twin moons who shone their light in perfect unison over the bar.
