"Please tell me this is some sort of a joke! This is the tackiest looking display I've ever seen!" Lorelei sighed at her boss's outburst, following him around the large room silently as he terrorized the workers that were set with the task of assembling their newest feature on the history of Westeros. She tried her best to apologize silently to each of her coworkers as the pair passed by all the while trying to herd her boss towards his office in hopes he'd storm off to solitude. But Dr. Stroup was all waving arms, wild hair and wide eyes as he made his rounds, pointing out all of the things that he found wrong. "What do I even pay any of you for? I should just be doing this myself!" she watched in horror as he climbed up a small, shaky step ladder after someone, grabbing the man's ankle to try and pull him down so he could secure a house banner himself.
"Dr. Stroup, it's still not finished," she assured, rushing over to the museum's curator, fully prepared to catch him if he fell. "We still have until this weekend! I'm sure that everything will come together perfectly by then. We have a great staff, they've never let us down before." she tried to argue, her hands outstretched to make the catch if needed.
He scoffed loudly, throwing the banner down. "Hardly! Be careful with that! It's centuries old!" he screamed across the room at two men who were carrying a large crossbow to where it would be displayed. "Honestly, it's about time I retire," he went on, still perched precariously on his step ladder. "This place will be the end of me. Why I let you talk me into this exhibit I'll never know." he threw his arms in the air, the movement making him momentarily lose his balance. Lorelei felt like she might actually have a panic attack if he didn't come back down soon.
"Because, sir, people will love this display. You were even excited yourself to see these artifacts when they arrived, remember?" he was silent, which she knew was because she was right. "Please just get down from there. We need you alive for the opening. Alive and in one piece." she begged. Lorelei sighed loudly in relief as Dr. Stroup reluctantly stepped down, fixing his suit before glowering at the workers who rushed around him.
Lorelei had become his assistant four years ago in what had started in an internship. While she would've preferred a higher position than just being an assistant, she hoped working so closely with the curator might one day work to her advantage once he retired. However the demanding the work might be. And sometimes it could be extremely demanding. Dr. Stroup was a tall, slender man with white blonde hair that stuck out every which way. He wore a tiny pair of red spectacles and often showed up to work in a silk robe, no matter how much Lorelei begged him not to. Pairing that with an extremely short attention span and thin patience with an overly keen eye for detail, it was a combination that made her feel like she was going to rip her hair out on a regular basis.
"I promise, I'll make sure everything is perfect. Why don't you go out for lunch? I'm sure by the time you get back I'll have everything under control." she gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile.
Dr. Stroup was silent for a few passing moments before sighing loudly and a tad dramatically. "Well, alright...I trust you. Don't be afraid to bring your fist down if these...hooligans aren't doing what you ask," he jabbed a finger towards some of the workers. "I expect this to be handled with the same attention to detail that I execute, Lorelei." he looked at her over the tops of his glasses, eyebrows raised. She wasn't entirely sure what 'bringing her fist down' would mean, but she was at the point that she would agree to almost anything her boss asked of her if it meant getting rid of him for at least an hour.
She nodded, smiling. "Of course. Nothing will go wrong."
Lorelei was muttering under her breath as she traveled the empty halls from her office towards the entrance of the museum. She was balancing stacks of paperwork that Dr. Stroup was supposed to have finished hours ago, but had instead laid on her desk for her to finish while he was out for the lunch she'd suggested...a long, long lunch. The museum had closed about two hours ago, and she was sure she was probably the only soul left in the building aside from Henry, the night guard. He was a nice enough man, but in his mid fifties he didn't exactly make Lorelei feel content with her being under his sole protection. And with the new display, it made her even more nervous to think he was the one there that would be protecting it.
Heading down a small flight of stairs, Lorelei rounded the corner, taking a shortcut through a curtained off area and found herself back in the museum's newest display; A Look Into the History of Westeros. They had only just finished putting the collection together a few hours prior to closing, just in time for it's big opening this coming weekend. There was some relief in the fact that she'd managed to finish before Dr. Stroup could come back and tear more of the display down, but not much. She couldn't quite place her finger on it, but there was a voice in the back of her mind telling her that something wasn't right.
It had already been a major feat getting all the artifacts for the museum in itself. There'd been a huge bidding war between a few other museums; a few in England and one in France, even a tacky tourist trap in Florida had shown an interest in the artifacts. But in the end Lorelei had convinced Dr. Stroup that their museum needed the display and that was that. The curator could never allow anyone else to have what he wanted.
She looked over to the center of the room, catching a glimpse of what was left of the Iron Throne, the seat where countless amount of kings, good and bad, had once sat. Even broken, it was still easy to imagine just how impressive it must have looked all those years ago in it's home of King's Landing.
Surrounding the throne were banners from the many different houses of the time; Lannister, Baratheon, Stark and Targaryen being the main focal points of the display. A gate from the Castle Black sat behind the throne, it's size greatly towering over the Iron Throne. She had been told it hadn't looked like much when it was found. The museum's restoration team had done what they could to repair it, but one of them had informed her that it was almost like it had been crushed at some point.
Weapons, jewels and other artifacts that had been found in a dig only a few months ago sat in glass cases around the room and decorated the walls, even some labeled with whom they'd belonged to. What was maybe her favorite part of the display hung up above her; a life sized replica of a dragon's skeleton. Even though it wasn't real (no one could determine whether or not dragon's truly had existed back then or if the Targaryen's were all just mad) but the sheer size of the creature had left her in awe of it.
Lorelei finally willed herself to exit the display and entered the main lobby, smiling politely at at Henry. "Finally heading out for the night?" he asked, setting his newspaper down on his desk.
"Yep, I'll just have to finish all this up at home before I end up falling asleep at my desk," she said with a small laugh before coming to a halt. "Dammit...I forgot one of the folders in Dr. Stroup's office," she huffed, setting the stack of files along with her bag down onto Henry's desk. "I'll be right back." she called over her shoulder, rushing back towards her office as fast as her heels would allow her.
She'd made it about half of the way through the Westeros display when the dizziness hit her. Afraid she might pass out, she leaned against a display case, eyes blinking furiously while she tried to make sense of what was happening. The room around her began to become hot, sweat quickly covering her forehead. 'What in the hell could this be?' she wondered. Was exhaustion setting in? Sure, she worked hard, but was it really enough to make her become ill?
After a few moments she realized it was much more than her being tired. The room was hazy around her. Lorelei wasn't able to decide if it was just her eyes playing a trick on her, or everything around her really was becoming a blur. And before she could even begin to comprehend what brought on this change, a bright light surrounded her and disappeared almost as quickly as it had come. The room returned to normal, the entire event so quick Lorelei was almost unsure whether she'd imagined it or not.
"Maybe I should call in sick tomorrow." she mumbled, shaking her head and slowly regaining her footing. She'd only taken a few steps before she saw something move out of the corner of her eye. And this something had definitely not been there the first time she'd come through the room.
A man sat in the Iron Throne, looking just as confused as Lorelei felt. Lorelei was frozen in shock as she looked up at him, her jaw dropping as she was at a loss for words. How could he have possibly gotten inside? Surely Henry wasn't that incompetent at his job.
The first thing she noticed about him was his cape. It was only fall in New York, and while the air did have a bit of a bite to it she didn't exactly see many people walking around in fur lined capes...or rather wearing much of anything the man was wearing. She could almost mistake him for a part of the display she came to realize, and quickly wondered if he was some sort of extremely overzealous history buff. Just what she needed.
She shook the thoughts from her head, stepping forward and trying to look as intimidating as a woman could look to a man with a sword strapped to him. A sword. Who carried swords? "How in the hell did you get in here?" she asked, immediately growing more irritated when he didn't respond. "Look, I really don't want to have to call security…" she began again. The man looked over at her, but only for a moment before looking back at the things surrounding him. He looked down at his seat, jumping up from it as though it had burned him.
"Seven hells!" he exclaimed, turning his back to Lorelei and ignoring her altogether. He reached forward and slowly touched the broken throne, his eyes wide. "...Where am I?" Lorelei wasn't sure if he were asking her or himself, but that didn't really matter to her. She crossed her arms tightly over her chest, her foot tapping impatiently.
"You're in the Museum of Natural History. New York. Now, how did you get in here?" she demanded.
He turned to her, really seeing at her for the first time. He looked her up and down slowly, as if he were studying her. Suddenly he stood up straight before bowing before her. Was this guy serious? "My apologies miss...I'm actually not entirely sure how I got here," he began, finally answering her question. "One minute I was speaking to the Red Woman and now…" he turned away from her once again, looking around him. His eyes landed on the gate behind the throne, taking a step back in shock. "That gate...what's happened to Castle Black?" he asked again to no one in particular.
Lorelei frowned, moving closer to him. Even though she was sure he was out of his mind, she had to admit he was handsome. Scars included. She could tell that even with the distance between them that he was much taller than she was. And he had this broody, mysterious look about her that had her intrigued. 'Maggy was right,' she thought. 'I really do need to date more.'
Next she noticed that he was covered in snow. A lot of snow. If she hadn't known better, she would've guessed that he had just walked through a blizzard to get there. "Look...I don't have time for this. I don't even care how you got in here, or why you're wearing that outfi-" he turned and looked at her again what an amused look.
"My outfit? Pardon me miss, but I don't think I've ever seen a lady dressed like that." he nodded to her dress.
Lorelei frowned, looking down at her outfit. "Excuse me?" she was a few seconds from smacking this guy back to whatever planet he came from.
The man shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat. "I meant no offense, I'm sorry...my name is Jon. Jon Snow, Lord Commander of the Night's Watch." there he went bowing again. Was this guy serious? Lord Commander of the Night's Watch? He was a nut alright. But she decided maybe it would be better if she played along. She'd try anything to get him out of her museum, and this seemed easier than trying to pull out a few moves she'd learned at a handful of tai-bo classes
"Uh, Lorelei...of the Upper East Side...is this some sort of joke? Am I on one of those hidden camera shows?" Jon's eyebrows furrowed.
"I'm not sure what you mean...you said we're in New York?" she nodded. "Whereabouts is that from the Wall?" boy was he committed. Even his accent didn't falter. 'It is a pretty nice accent…' she thought briefly before mentally smacking herself back to reality.
"The Wall?...As in Westeros?" she laughed, shaking her head. "Nowhere close. Not even the same continent." the sheer look of surprise on Jon's face made Lorelei briefly feel like maybe this wasn't a joke after all. "Er...this Red Woman you mentioned? What about her exactly?" she asked, trying her very best to stay calm. It had to be a joke. It just had to. She wasn't really sure she could mentally handle anything past that.
"Melisandre," he corrected. "Most call her the Red Woman. She came to Castle Black along with Stannis Baratheon. The last I remember, she told me a group of Wildlings were at the gate, she'd said they wanted a truce between the Wildlings and the Night's Watch. We both headed down to the gate to meet them, she had insisted on going...but before I could open it she said I would understand all in due time why she was doing this. I didn't get a chance to ask what she was talking about, next thing I knew I was here…" Lorelei could feel her stomach drop with each word that left Jon's lips. Stannis Baratheon? This was almost too insane to be true. 'Please, please let this be a dream,' she thought. 'I fell asleep at my desk, that's all.'
Jon clenched his hand into a fist and brought it down onto the throne, his jaw clenching. "I need to get home. Now." He whipped around, taking off almost too fast for Lorelei to follow after. Boy, this guy was a bit dramatic wasn't he?
"Oooh no you don't!" she said, grabbing him by the arm. Jon glared down at her, but stopped. "Look, I don't want to upset you, but I don't think running out into the streets of Manhattan is gonna help." she sighed. This was it. She was officially going insane. It would only be a matter of time before she joined Dr. Stroup in screaming at employees.
"Okay, this is so beyond my better judgement but...let's just say that for whatever reason I believe you...well, I think I do. We can go to my place and sort all of this out, okay?" Jon didn't seem all too pleased with this idea, but he wasn't shoving her aside and storming off, which she took as a good sign. "It's not too far from here, ten minute walk tops." she assured him. Her hand slid from his arm down to his wrist, pulling him along behind him. She decided whatever paperwork she had to finish could definitely wait until tomorrow. 'It's because he's cute.' a small voice in her mind said. 'We've been single for so long that we're willing to bring this nutjob home just because he's got those puppy dog eyes and a fancy accent.'
She'd slap that voice if she could.
They only made it a few steps when Jon stopped, Lorelei huffing loudly. "What is it now? If we don't leave now Henry will come looking for us and I don't know how I'd even begin to explain this to him." but Jon was once again too busy looking around him to listen to her.
"...You haven't seen a wolf around here have you?" he asked.