[[ milliways ]]

[almosthonorable]

[ two weeks prior, or, once upon a time in El Paso ]

Ben's coated in sweat and grime from a fourteen-hour day when he walks into the bar.

Just across the threshold, he pauses.

This is ...

Well.

It's certainly more surreal than usual.

Stepping over and around debris — and taking care to avoid knocking into see-through patrons — Ben picks his way across the bar proper. Amid the general mayhem, a tinny, crackling song plays from what has to be a phonograph, maybe hidden somewhere in the rafters.

"Now that is unsettlin'," Ben mutters to himself.

As if on an eerie-ass cue, the floor tilts beneath his boots.

He grunts, and catches his balance with the help of a nearby stool. Righting himself, he notices the glowing red gem hovering over the counter.

"All right, you've got me," he says to Bar. "Color me curious."

A moment later, his battered brown hat is gone, and he's sporting a rough-hewed pair of decidedly feline ears.

He holds back a sigh.

"That is what killed the cat, as the sayin' goes."

Comments

[lasthalfmile]

Dan had awoke earlier that week from one of his many month-long naps to find the downstairs area in a complete state of chaos.

Between the evacuation notice from Sallie and Mike to the red sky and bitter cold out back, the cracks in the bar ceiling, window, and floors, and the fact that weird magic is sprouting everywhere - Dan had considered packing up Bogart and heading for woods on his horse, in hopes of finding his way someplace that would be safer than this.

He's studying the crystal over the bar when he hears a familiar gravel-strewn voice over his shoulder; he turns in time to see the paper ears appear on Ben's head.

"Now if that ain't downright fancy, I don't know what is."

All of a sudden, Dan finds himself sporting a fine hat.