Day 23: The Purple Suitcase

Puppet / Contortion

KNOCK!
KNOCK!
KNOCK!

"Hold on a moment..."
She opened the door to a crack, just enough to peek at who had arrived.
A group of women stood outside. Some of them dressed in pragmatic attire, while others draped themselves in ornate gowns. They were accompanied by a team of armed men in decorated livery of grey and gold, the colours of Luckarette's military.

“Lorette Ipsum?” Asked one of the women, adorned in a low-cut wine red dress.
The woman on the other side of the door nodded frantically, “That’s me, all right.”
She gestured towards the group, “Your escort awaits.”
“...Just a moment.” Lorette shut the door, then fell back onto the inn’s bed, slumped next to the suitcases wherein she all her worldly possessions were stored.
“Goodness… Goodness me…” She winced in her bed, “They’re here... They’re really actually here!”
“Yeah?” The monster on her hand uttered, scratching the top of his pumpkin head, “They’re supposed to be here, darlin’. Didn’t you listen? That prince guy said they'd be around to pick you up. It’d be strange if they didn’t show up.”

“You don’t understaaaaaand!” She shrieked as she clasped her hand over her face, kicking wildly with her legs “It wasn’t a dream, Nikpmup! We’re really going to take our performance to the Royal Court! Hundreds are gonna see our little show!”
“All right?” The pumpkin puppet cocked his head, “And? Sweetie, it’s not like you’ve never performed in front of hundreds before.”
“But these are nobles!” Lorette whined, “Royalty! They’re gonna expect the best of the best! And if I don’t deliver, they’re gonna tear me to shreds! I’m gonna end up as the laughing stock of the entire kingdom!”
“Well, ya should’ve thought of that before giving such a stellar performance to begin with, right darlin’?”

Lorette groaned, shifting herself face first into her pillow.
“Hey hey, now isn’t the time to mope about. “ Nikpmup nudged at the very shoulder of his arm, “Listen, darlin’. Here’s a little secret about aristocracy. Nothin' but a bunch of pompous deadbeats, the lot of them. They all got nothin’ better to do than showin' off whatever latest hot commodity they’ve stumbled across. In this case, your puppet show. It's their way of sayin' 'look what a big cheese I am!' Now, their fellow posh schmucks? They will wanna prove he ain’t the big cheese the show made 'em out to be. Does that mean your crowd is gonna try and tear your performance limb from limb? Sure! But it ain’t personal. It’s just their job to be tightly strung butt-holes who act like they’ve never had an orgasm in their lives. Deep inside, they’re just as human as the trailer trash you normally act before. They’re there to laugh, and cry, and to once again feel that childlike wonder. You hear?”
Lorette nodded, far more calm.
“Now, go get ‘em!” He pointed at the door.
Lorette opened it back up for the group.

“Sorry about that.” Lorette said with a giggle.
“Not at all.” The lady in red said with a curtsy, “Now, how about we take your luggage, and get ourselves going?”
“Oh, but of course.” Lorette said as she stepped out of their way, “Please, come on in.”
“¡Mi casa es su casa!” Nikpmup gestured inside with an overly gallant gesture.

The women in servant clothing picked up a suitcase each from the bed, until one of them tried her hand at the purple bag. It just wouldn’t budge. No matter how much she exerted herself.
She giggled awkwardly, “Ugh… Sorry. This is heavier than it looks.”

“Oh, no no. I get it!” Nikpmup cried, “You’d almost think it was filled with a sea-monster which could drag ships to the bottom of the briney blue! Who just happened to have one hella flexible body that could contort to fit inside a suitcase!”
“Yeah, I know…” The maidservant laughed, grunting in her efforts to so much as budge the case.
“Shut up…” Lorette hissed into her hand, and the puppet on it.
“What? Just sayin’.”
Lorette hid him behind her back and chuckled, “Uh, don’t listen to him, please.”

As it turned out, it was her who they did not listen to. So preoccupied were they with getting her luggage loaded into the wagon.
“Outta my way!” The broad frame of a rough and tough guard shoved the maid servant away, his arms as thick as Lorette’s waist. “Lemme show ya how it’s done!”
He chuckled, then grabbed the handle. After many grunt-filled seconds of tugging, he used his second hand too, and barely managed to pull it half an inch over the floor.
His face turned as purple as the bag, scarcely able to breath.

“Sir, do you need help?” One of the maid servants asked.
“Uhh… Huff… Nah… Ugh… Ngghhh… This is… light as a… Hffffn… feather for… Me… nggghh…”

With one step at a time, the guard made his way out of the room. Down the stairs, only just about keeping himself from toppling over, and out to the street. There, the stagecoach awaited. Once he dragged himself and the suitcase before it, he drew strength from deep within his core. With one final resolute stonk, he heaved the bag up and away.
That did it.

The suitcase fitted into the case with the rest of the luggage.
The weight made the lower half of the stagecoach sink by a noticeable amount. Even before the rest of the passengers went inside.
With knees wobbling the guard fanned himself with his feathered hat, wheezing with each breath.
“What did you carry with you, woman?”
Lorette smirked, “Oh, but sir… You know better than to ask a woman about her personal belongings."

She stepped inside the carriage, followed in short order by the guardsman, whereupon they raced off towards the docks where the ferry to Marguave awaited.
Though the morning had been sunny, the journey across the sea quickly turned out pouring. None of the staff seemed much concerned the ship would topple over. Mostly bothered to work when they turn drenched the moment they step outside.

Lorette walked through the hull between the cabins, a plate of food in her free hand. It contained on it pickled shrimp, a biscuit and onions in brine.

“Can ya believe that guy?” Nikpmup spat, “Asking about what’s in yer bag, cause of his own wimpy lil arms. Pah! I could lift that bag with my pinky finger!”
“You mean my pinky finger?” Lorette corrected him.
“Your pinky finger? YOUR pinky finger? Ya do realize yer pinky finger’s practically my D?”
“Ehrr…”
“So of course that’d work! It'd work just fantastic!”

Lorette ignored him, and entered her cabin. Nikpmup locked the door behind themselves, as Lorette headed towards the suitcase. She bent down, reaching towards it. That’s when her puppet leapt in the way.
“Hold yer horses there, missy!”
Her eyes shifted around the room. She found nothing of alarm in her cabin. Just a porthole and a hammock in sight.
“What is it, Nikpmup?”
“Does my hair look all right?” He ran his hand through his very hairless pumpkin scalp.
“Oh, so you care about your looks now?” Lorette frowned, “Where was that when we were performing the day before?”
“That’s hardly the same thing! We’re in finer company now, and we’ve gotta show her at our absolutely best conduct.”

Lorette smirked, “Oh, I get it. Does someone have a lil crush on Baguetta?”
“Whaaaaa? Come on! Ya know me better than that! It’s not how I roll! I fly solo, baby! Just wanted our guest to feel welcome. Is that a crime?”
“I’m sure she’ll feel welcome if you’ll just be yourself.” Lorette assured him, “As long as we don’t delay her liberation.”
“Then what’re we waitin' for?”

Nikpmup rolled the digits on the front of the suitcase, until they read 5912. Lorette unclasped the briefcase, and out burst a huge squid woman. The tentacles she had where her legs should be slithered across the deck, into every crevice of the cabin. Her voluptuous build was out of this world. The curves on those hips put the hooks and twists of her own tentacles to shame.
That was Baguetta the Kraken.
And she could not have waited another second to get out of that space.

“Ah… Finally.” She rolled her shoulders, rubbing the back of her neck. She looked around at the tiny cabin that really was only slightly less cramped than the suitcase, …“We’re still on the way there, aren’t we?”
Lorette nodded apologetically, “Yeah… Sorry about that. But look, I’ve brought…”
The puppet snatched the plate off her hand, lunging forward to offer it to the squid girl.

“I’ve brought some food for ya!” I pushed it into her hands, “Hope ya like seafood! Bet it’s just food for you, but hey! A day in a bag is gonna make any food taste special! Bon apetit!”
She smiled down at the puppet, and giggled, “Why, aren’t you as sweet as…”
Looking down, she scanned through the assortment for something appropriate.

“...As sweet as something that’s far away from here.”
Using her tentacles, she scooped the food up into piles. Then she filled her suckers with sauce, and wrapped the solid foodstuff with the tips of her tentacles to shove them into her mouth. She even sucked the tip of her tentacle suggestively. An act which made Nikpmup weak at the knees. In a manner of speaking.
During her meal, Lorette discussed her act with Baguetta and went over some ideas she had about changes in the script.

By the time she had finished her plate, Loretta noticed the rain had cleared, and they were approaching shore.
“Looks like we’re about to dock.” Loretta stated.
“Oh… I see. So I need to go back in there?” Baguetta asked, her voice heavy with ****.
Loretta nodded, “I’m afraid so. It’s the way things are when traversing Order lands.”
Baguetta sighed, shaking her head, “I… probably could’ve swam to Margauave. Then met up with you there, instead of, getting stuffed in the suitcase all the way from your inn.”
“Yeah… That’s possible. If you could get past the Luckaretean Navy. Best not to take any chances. Sorry I’m making you go through all this.”

Baguetta shook her head, “This is nothing! If I get to act together with you, and before royalty and everything… Then I’ll gladly go through any kind of trial.”
With that, she picked up her suitcase, twisting her own tentacles around her body.

“You know, I bet it gets lonely in there. How about I keep you company inside there?”
“Really?” Baguetta asked.
“...He’s just being polite.” Lorette butted in, “I need him up here to talk all the talk and be the face of this operation.”
“You know, I didn’t ask to have a face carved into my pumpkin.” He grumbled quietly.
“Aww, it’s still sweet of you to offer.”
The kraken wrapped herself so snugly in her tentacles that her core contorted into a pillar, one that she was able to manipulate with her tentacles. Like that, she pulled herself into the suitcase, warping herself into any fold she could find until she was nothing but a bulbous heap inside the bag. That’s when Lorette shut it down, and clasped it locked once again.

As they got ever closer to shore, Lorette left her cabin to look for a strong shiphand to help her ot with her luggage.