we haven't had that spirit here since 1969; open to all

[i_jones]

Welcome, welcome. Not through that door. I mean, you can try it, but all doors lead to breakfast. Even that one underneath the console. You thought you were being clever. Maybe once you've behaved yourself and the TARDIS judges you to be worthy, you can explore a little more. For now, breakfast. For one night only, the TARDIS has become - or rather, has been inhabited by - King Ianto's Coffee Stop. Would you like to join the club? He has pamphlets. And buttons! But more importantly, he has breakfast. Lots of breakfast. The countertops of the cozy diner are lined with plates of breakfast foods galore - bacon, eggs, sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes, black pudding, cockles, laverbread... and okay, there are American staples too. There's your pancakes and your french toast and hash browns and cupcakes or whatever strange sweet things Americans eat for breakfast. Oh, and tea. Lots of tea. And if you ask very nicely, King Ianto himself might brew up some of his very own coffee. It's so good, it has a cult following.*

The walls are decorated with a strange collection of primarily alien souvenirs. There's one whole section of postcards from other planets and galaxies. GREETINGS FROM MARS! says one particularly upbeat postcard, featuring swathes of blue sand and a setting blue sun. Many others are unreadable. There are flags, leis of unfamiliar flora, letters of commendation (right next to WANTED signs), photographs both old and new of various people and various Doctors posing next to various monuments and landmarks, and strangely enough, what looks to be a stolen sign commemorating Ianto's death, from the management of Mermaid Quay. Have a look around! You never know what you might find. Probably none of it is dangerous. The food definitely isn't.

Oh and also the ceiling is space and outside the windows is space and spaaaaaace.**

*((Ianto has an undiscovered power: his coffee improves you. Your health, your powers (temporarily), your mood, whatever needs fixing. Please drink responsibly.))

**not actually space

Comments

[singthesong]

The Balladeer, meanwhile, has had precisely no one to raise him to bring snacks, and so does indeed show up like a snackless leech. If they wanted more food, they'd have asked, right?

He does have a guitar, though, because he headed straight into the Ramble from his usual busking routine. This isn't quite the area he recalls the TARDIS being in when last he saw it, but that was a little while ago; they probably move it around every so often. The bold blue is easy to find against the trees, at least, and when he spots it he doesn't hesitate to stride up and knock on the door.

The songs it sings aren't quite audible out here. No wonder it took him longer than he'd thought to track it down.

[i_jones]

The lack of snacks can be forgiven this time, because the Balladeer is bringing his fine self, and that's plenty. Ianto has come forewarned this time (and has suggested that maybe the Doctor could answer the door for once, or on second thought the TARDIS could answer herself, or maybe they could just leave the door open?) and is there to answer the door about as soon as the Balladeer knocks. His eyebrows raise and he wrestles to make his smile polite and not too enthusiastic. "Hi. Hello. The Balladeer, yeah?" He pulls open both doors and steps back, nodding the Balladeer inside. He can't help but note the guitar. "On the run from the police? Finally nabbed you for busking without a license?"

[singthesong]

The Balladeer chuckles, stepping in and letting the music wash over him. It's encompassing, but not unpleasant.

"No, no! I've still got a license ROMAC gave me." Is that still valid? He considers the question, then shrugs and adds, "And I'm good at avoiding cops. I just didn't want to walk all the way home to drop it off." Is that fine? Is it weird to bring an instrument to a party?

Well, too late, he's here now. He turns from looking up at the strange arching architecture of the TARDIS to smile back at Ianto. "How've you been, Ianto? I haven't seen you since before all that mess." You know, with the factions collapsing and the Rift throwing a huge tantrum all over Manhattan. That was fun!

i am the worst at tagging????

[i_jones]

It's not weird. It's the opposite of weird. Ianto can bring his guitar and they can hang out and do guitar things, like bros who bring guitars to parties. Who needs breakfast? Guitars. Ianto catches himself admiring the Balladeer admiring the TARDIS and tries to spin it as some kind of... casual stare when the Balladeer turns to him. "Better, much better," he reassures, because he was a bit of a Debbie Downer there for a while. Canes, emotions, memories?? Who needs those. "What, erm... what mess?" he asks, scanning backwards through his mind. Does he mean the cane? No, of course he didn't know the Balladeer before he had a cane.

[singthesong]

Luckily for Ianto, the Balladeer is utterly oblivious. "You know, with the Rift and ROMAC and all that?" he asks, gesturing vaguely. Well, maybe he doesn't; you could be sheltered from a lot of things, living in here. It's pretty convenient!

"ROMAC fell apart, after someone broke in and released all their prisoners." He doesn't know who did it, obviously, why would he know something like that? "And then the Rift pitched a fit - I don't honestly know how they managed to keep it all secret before, but that cat's out of the bag now." That all sounds a little much, but he delivers the news casually, as if it were a minor inconvenience. It was inevitable, wasn't it? Things that big can't stay hidden forever, no matter how big the lies are spun.