"Technicolor Wishes & Hi-Def Dreams"

10. Talkers

She hadn't believed it'd be possible, that they would actually refuse to go through the motions of this jump and that they would get to jump again without doing anything. But then they did. When she opened her eyes, she didn't want to move. She didn't want to look and find out who she was this time.

She could hear laughter, somewhere.

It sounded odd, detached, like it wasn't actually in the room. She only barely turned her head, and then she stopped. There was a television screen hanging from the wall, and on the screen there was Puck. He looked like a deer caught in headlights, searching for words. He also looked like he had no idea where he was or what he was supposed to do. To her it looked like… Oh, it was one of those late night talk shows, but which one?

Once she had established this much, her fears over what she'd find had faded. She still had to figure out her place in all of this though…

It was only now that she realized she'd been sitting on a chair, facing a mirror. She stood, taking a look around at the room she was in. The place was small but the instant impression she got was that comfort was the intent. And then she understood: she was a guest.

Instincts told her to just open the door and look outside; there was bound to be a sign to tell her who she was supposed to be.

She'd barely stepped out of the room though that a woman was coming to lead her down the hall, and she never saw the name posted there. Everything happened so fast, before she knew it she was stepping out on to the stage and the audience was applauding. Puck must have figured out whatever he had to say… which didn't help her in this case, seeing as she hadn't heard a thing. They had no time to stop or talk, not about what they were supposed to do in this scenario, or the fact that they'd been able to skip the previous show they'd been thrown into.

The sound of the applause had forced her to remember where she was, so she acted as best she could for the situation, still having no idea who she was supposed to be. She just smiled, moving toward Puck. He took her hand, kissed her on both cheeks and led her to take a seat. At this point she was too confused to even take cues from surroundings, and he was being no help either.

This was going to be the worst interview in the history of interviews… Maybe they were being penalized for having bailed out on the Jersey Shore… There was a sentence she never imagined herself thinking.

Whatever must have been going through Puck's mind at the moment, she had no idea, but he looked like he was regaining control of the situation. After having initially been so shocked and confused on that television screen, he was looking at her with a sort of ease. She doubted anyone but her could see the uncertainty underneath, letting her know he was making it up as he went along as much as she did. With that in mind, she knew she had to participate as much as he did. She had no idea who she was supposed to be, so she had to aim for modesty and a smile.

"Welcome," Puck told her, and she turned the smile to him.

"Thank you, thanks for having me," she bowed her head, resettling in the chair.

"Earlier, after you arrived, you came and you introduced yourself," he started, and she had to lock her face cautiously, unsure where he was going with this. Clearly there had been no earlier for them, not in this capacity.

"I did."

"And we got talking, you told me about an incident this morning with a neighbor?" She sat up, just barely. What neighbor? "The boy found a bird?" Luke…

"Yes, he did, the poor thing had a broken wing," she was back on track now. "He wanted to make him a cast, but we ended up driving to a clinic."

"Good that he had you there then," Puck nodded, and she knew as well as he did that the story wouldn't carry them through the time of the interview, not that it should. They had to find something else to talk about, which would have gone so much better if she actually knew who she was. He didn't seem to realize she had no idea, and she couldn't think of any way to telegraph that to him, not with a studio audience and cameras all aimed on them. He had to get her talking, he was the host… "Were you rescuing birds at his age?" he tried, and she had to let him lead her a little further.

"I did, once, I think," she took the volley and returned it to him.

"What about in school, any activities, sports, or…"

"I was in, uh… Glee Club," she tilted her head and he sat up.

"Really." If they couldn't talk about Glee Club for a few minutes, then what good were they? She had no idea if this person she was supposed to be had any sort of musical background, although it was a safe bet to think they might have. Whatever came of this, it wouldn't be too damning for any of them.

So they had talked about Glee Club, and she had pulled and rearranged an anecdote or two, changing names faster than he could keep up with, but then he wasn't supposed to know about these things yet, so it all worked out. Before they knew it, they were getting the cue to go to commercial. When they got the signal, they both let out a breath, looking to each other. Before either of them could say anything, a man had come up to them.

"Is everything alright here, you've completely deviated from topic and…"

They were hearing the high-pitched sound in their heads: they were jumping.

"And apparently that worked just fine," Puck told him before the world faded away. They would have to sort themselves out in the next one, if they actually managed to share a word in private this time.

TO BE CONTINUED (NEXT TUESDAY)