#starring: blueheartedmayor

[stageplayhero]

@blueheartedmayor cued:

(n.imona prompts)

“ No matter what we do, we can't change the way people see us. ” (Damien, blueheartedmayor, for the disguised Mayor)

Oh, that’s not true. There’s a great deal we can do to change the way people see us. Just look at me!

Mark closes the book he was reading, sending a sympathetic look in the real mayor’s direction. With nowhere else to go, he’s been spending a lot of time in Damien’s office — but it does leave him on edge, and leave him wondering whether those words have hidden meaning.

“Are the journalists running another smear campaign?” He sighs, and folds his hands. “No, we can’t. All we can do is push forward in being true to ourselves, and hope that the right people recognize that.”

[stageplayhero]

Continued from here | @blueheartedmayor

The way the other him insists this 'Mark' might have an involvement in this was doing nothing to change the Mayor's mind and bring a sudden sense of revelation. The Pied Piper could have caused this strange coincidence for all Damien cared. All he wanted to do was figure out why someone thought this practical joke needed to go on as long as it had.

And then the reaction the other him had to the date was so out of left field that Damien found that there was a bigger mystery on his hands. It did explain why the other suit looked nice, but didn't fully match the current fashion trend. He had assumed it was a mockery of Damien's own preferences, but if it was genuinely an article from a 'vintage' era...

"I assure you, the year is correct. Here." Handing over his phone would have been an unneeded culture shock. Fortunately, there was a small desk calendar that could be lifted and offered instead. It fit in the palm of Mark's hand, with a landscape painting on the top half, and the date written out in full on the bottom. While Mark examined that, Damien leaned forward in his chair, resting his left elbow on the sturdy desk and his chin on the hand.

"So you mean to tell me that you were going into your office, something happened, and now you're here? Something isn't adding up here..." Damien was musing out loud, though his next statement returned his attention to the stranger. "Are you implying that, somehow, there's a Mayor that goes by the name of 'Damien' a hundred years ago?" It would truly be impossible if they were the same person - Damien was a rather common name, at least. "I suppose I should remove the logical solution: would walking back out of the office return you to wherever you ought to be?"

Mark isn't panicking. He is definitely not. Well, maybe only a little. And the calendar Damien hands him makes it difficult to deny that the year has changed, for him. Mark accepts it carefully, as if it might blow up in his face, and squints at the date for longer than should have been needed.

"That's… concerning." It's terrifying. Everything he knows is gone, left in the past. He sets the calendar on the desk, and returns his attention to Damien. "I agree. None of this is adding up."

Yes. There was another you a hundred years ago. I don't know how you could possibly exist.

"I am. I'd like to say it's a coincidence, but it's strange that I would end up in your office, specifically." He rubs his eyes. "I'm not entirely convinced that this isn't a dream, anymore."

Walking back out of the office? "I don't know. It's worth a try, though." He stands, and makes his way to the door. It's obviously not his door, and the building beyond is not his City Hall, even when he crosses the threshold. A turn off his head, and - yes, there's the other Damien, still sitting at his desk. Mark quickly steps back into the office and away from the newer environment. Who is doing this? Dark? The Entity? Why would anyone-

"The logical solution doesn't seem to work." He places his hands on the back of the opposite chair to steady himself, but can't sit down, nervous energy spiking. "And I'm assuming if you had the technology to time travel in the future, you would have told me by now." Tapping a finger against the chair, he forces the next words out. "My sister was familiar with the arcane arts. It may seem a ridiculous suggestion that this is the result of magic, but I don't know what else to think."

[stageplayhero]

Continued from here | @blueheartedmayor

Oh... This had certainly lost any sort of humour long ago. As the stranger took in his surroundings, Damien leaned back in his seat with folded arms and a bemused expression. The Mayor’s office had been a target of a fair few pranks over the years, but nothing like this had been attempted before. Needless to say, Damien was not a fan of this.

(He didn’t even play the part right.)

“Right. You don’t mean to ‘intrude’. Yet here you are, dressed as me, acting as me, claiming you are supposed to be me. Alright, ‘Damien’, what brings you all the way here today?  What were you intending to do today? Partake in a photo shoot, mayhaps?” He didn’t need some group of opposition to spark back up the rumours that Damien didn’t do anything as Mayor while ignoring the hours spent trying to run the city as best as he could.

It really isn't difficult to appear confused. Mark is confused. "A what? No. I was intending to look over some new sewer system plans." A photo shoot sounds much more pleasant. And less tedious. "I know what this must seem like, but I'm not lying. This isn't a prank."

His identity may be fake, but there's no intended scheme in his presence, this time. There must be a way to get back, to get out of wherever he's been dropped.

But if Damien exists here, does that mean-? "You don't know a Mark, do you?" He can't keep the trepidation out of his voice. Damien hasn't recognized him as anyone else, though, so it should be fine. He shakes his head with a sigh. "Never mind. You don't have to believe me, but I would appreciate if you told me where I am."

The room is scrutinized again. "And... what year it is?"

[stageplayhero]

By all means, it's rather peculiar. "Damien" might have stepped into the Mayor's office in City Hall, but he would be rather perplexed to discover that not only was it not his office, but there is another Damien sitting behind the ornate desk. The sitting Damien's expression dropped as he tried to wrap his head around this bizarre situation. "If this is some sort of practical joke, it isn't very funny." (blueheartedmayor. Have a Mayor!)

@blueheartedmayor

-

Mark would have to agree. This isn't very funny at all.

To say he must have taken a wrong turn somewhere would be an understatement. He could have handled the complete change of environment, maybe, but the fact that Damien is sitting across from him has him halted in the middle of the room.

That shouldn't be possible. "I was about to say the same thing." He looks over his shoulder, as if his own City Hall would still be there, and then back to Damien with his eyebrows furrowed. "I swear I was about to step into my office."

This office is strange, and has certain objects Mark has never seen before in his life, and its Damien is also very much alive. He might as well make introductions before either of them get too weirded out.

The only problem is that fooling Damien at being Damien was never on his list of things to do when he took over the role.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude. I'm not even sure what's going on. My name is Damien. I have a suspicion yours might be too?"