Who: Rhysand and Raelle What: The go to the Muppet portal When: April 21 Where: the portal entrance Rating: low
The portal seemed harmless. Raelle didn’t know too much about the Muppets, but from what she did know, it wasn’t exactly a dangerous place. Was it weird and zany? Yes, but she was pretty sure there was never huge mass destruction or serial killers. She had suggested to Rhysand they go and check it out - it could be fun, right? Plus she heard through the grapevine that you could go to some of the major cities in the world and that was very appealing to her. Like a free, mini vacation.
“Okay, before we step into the portal, we should figure out where we want to go.” They were in the ‘hub’ and so hadn’t really gone into the portal yet. “Maybe somewhere the Transportation Agency doesn’t go.”
Rhysand blinked. Multiple times. The Muppets didn’t exist in his world. At all. And the Half-Illyrian High Lord looked around in confusion. He loved spending time with Raelle and thought of her as a good friend. This just felt completely different.
“How about you pick, because I’m not familiar with any of these places. I do agree somewhere that isn’t part of the Transportation Services.” Which reminded him he should see about taking Madison on a trip. Although, given he still didn’t know the human realm here very well, the options overwhelmed Rhys.
“How about Hollywood?” She looked at the options. California reminded her of Tally and while she knew Tally wasn’t going to be in the portal, it still felt like it’d be nice to see. “We could always do, like, a set tour or something.” Raelle hadn’t actually ever been to Hollywood so she had no idea what it was like or if it was interesting apart from the fact famous people acted there. She paused. “Actually, let’s do San Francisco. It’s supposed to be nicer and there’s a lot more to see.” She was pretty sure. “Plus the weather should be nicer than here.”
Once they settled on it, they stepped forward and were brought to a street where a trolley went by. Raelle looked at her hand… and it was felt. She looked up and looked over at Rhysand. She thought she was ‘wide-eye’ but in fact her eyes didn’t have the ability to widen or even blink. “What do I look like?” She looked like herself in Muppet form. Like she was a guest star on Sesame Street.
Rhysand followed his friend. “I’ve heard of San Francisco. Is that the place with the bridge and the jail on a rock?” Rhys randomly found himself reading facts about the country in which he found himself. He thought the idea of San Francisco appealed to him more than a star tour.
“Okay, the streets are much more steep than I imagined.” He looked at his friend. “Well, you’re pink, definitely made of felt, no longer look remotely human, and your hair is blonde and short, but a bit longer than usual.”
“How about me?”
“It is. Both famous places we can check out if you want. There’s also supposed to be this science museum that after a certain time is only open to adults. Apparently it’s fun?” She offered him a shrug because she had no idea if a Fae would have any interest in science stuff.
It was weird because she didn’t feel much different. She had to wonder if this is how Muppets felt or if it was some sort of dissociative thing like when you lost a limb, but could still feel it itch.
“You… well, you look Fae, that’s for sure.” Less ridiculously attractive, but maybe he was attractive by Muppet standards “Still have your wings, but lots of hair and kind of wild. Like… - Well, like one of the Muppets.” Sine Rhysand didn’t quite know the Muppets, it wasn’t like her making a reference was going to be helpful.
On the spur of a thought, Raelle reached out and hit Rhysand in the arm. “Sorry…” She couldn’t help but laugh at herself before added, “Did that hurt?”
“Sure! I mean, I’m not sure when else I’ll get to discover these parts of the human realm.” Rhysand desired to know more about this version of the human world. He stopped. “A science museum open to only adults after a certain point in time? I’d very much like this experience as well.” While science didn’t particularly work the same in the land of Faerie as it did for humans, he wanted to learn as much as possible.
He’d actually read up on some of the Muppets before he met up with Raelle. “So…not Kermit? Are my ears pointed?” Now Rhys wanted to know more.
Rhysand looked at Raelle and blinked. “No. It didn’t really feel like anything.”
“Definitely not Kermit. Which isn’t a bad thing. I never thought he was one of the interesting ones.” She liked Miss Piggy more. “I was always a fan of the Muppets from Dr. Teeth an the Electric Mayhem… which maybe they’ll have a gig somewhere we can go to.” They had to do that, right?
“You do have pointed ears. They’re cool.”
When it seemed like it didn’t hurt Rhysand, she was intrigued. “Huh. So I guess we could get into big fights or fall from a high distance and not have to worry about it.” Which was a strange concept, but not an entirely bad one.
“I'm always up for listening to some live music.” Muppet live music? Rhysand didn’t know if he’d enjoy it, but he’d certainly go check it out with Raelle. They’d slowly become better friends and Rhys enjoyed time spent with her. “I don’t know enough about Kermit to form an opinion.”
He nodded and grinned. “I’d hate to lose my Fae features in a portal.” At least this one seemed innocent enough. “I guess it will be hilarious if we do end up in a fight,” Rhysand commented with a grin.
“Really?” She asked in regards to the whole Fae thing. She wondered if she’d feel the same way, but it wasn’t like you had any overt markings as a witch unless you counted the small birthmark. It wasn’t exactly something that would show up on a Muppet.
Raelle picked a direction and started to head that way. “I guess it’d be weird if I suddenly turned into a guy.” Which wasn’t the exact same as being Fae, but it was the closest she could get. “...or I guess if I was suddenly into duds.”
Rhys shrugged, not quite sure how to explain his feelings. “It’s who I am. I suppose for a day it would be okay. But, I like who I am.” He knew some prejudice being only half-Illyrian, but most knew better than to badmouth their High Lord. Of course, that didn’t mean he remained ignorant of the shit said as he tried to make life better for the females in the Night Court, especially as they wanted to train. “Not everyone back home gets to keep their appendages intact, so I don’t take them for granted.”
“What are duds?” Rhys pictured Milk Duds, but didn’t think that’s what Raelle meant. Sometimes the High Lord didn’t quite catch slang or colloquialisms.
“Dudes. Sorry…. I guess talking with a foam mouth is harder than I thought… though I guess if I wasn’t into dudes, they’d be duds for me. As in, like bombs that don’t work? I think that’s where that comes from. Something that doesn’t do the thing they’re supposed to do.” Raelle had never thought about the origin of a lot of colloquial terms before.
“And… also now I’m wondering -” She paused to looked down, but only found herself with very thin and weird legs. Okay… “Well, I guess we don’t have hands up inside of us, so that’s good.”
“Oh.” Dudes made so much more sense to the High Lord than duds. Speaking with these mouths proved more difficult than expected. He smiled and chuckled, as well as he could. “Makes sense. I think.” They didn’t exactly have bombs back in Prythian.
Rhys’s face looked mildly disgusted at the idea of anyone’s hands inside them. “Oh, Mother Above, that sounds terrible. I’m glad that isn’t happening.” He looked at his friend. “Shall we go on our adventure, then?”
Raelle turned and smiled at him. It felt like a long time since she’d been on an adventure that wasn’t actually dangerous. She could do without mechanical bugs trying to kill her and the girl she liked, but this kind of adventure that would probably be wacky? She was there for it.
“Only if we promise to lean into all the weird stuff.” Because she felt like that would make for the most fun and some of the best stories.
“Agreed.” Rhysand grinned ready for whatever happened.