Multiple Settings I Hate Waiting in Another World!

[Coryen2]

Randal stared down at his phone, the battery nearly dead. He had known today was going to be tedious, but he had no idea just how bad it could be. The seat was uncomfortable, the air conditioner barely brought the room below 80 degrees, and the smell of unwashed bodies clung in the air like a brand new scented candle. Worse, today was supposed to be his day of hanging out with his friends. They were all getting ready to watch the new superhero film and then go make fun of it at their favorite Chinese buffet. But no. He just had to go and put off updating his driver's license and then get pulled over for speeding. $600 for a ticket and because it had lapsed over a year ago, he now had to retake the entire test.

Bzzzt! Bzzzt! And that would be Todd asking when he would be there...

Recipient

them

hows teh DMV?

me

Shoot me now.

them

LOL

them

how much longer?

them

we r gonna go wout u

me

It shouldn't be too much longer.

me

K. You might as well just go. I can't believe it has been 2 hours.

them

Nah. were hitn the next showing

them

Sarah forgor

me

Lol. But no, really. 3 and a half hours is messed up!

them

Frfr

them

Hey. Were heading out get here!

With a sigh, Randal typed in, "Sorry. Looks like I'm not gonna make it."

"Now serving 298"

Pulling out his ticket to remind himself of his number for the umpteenth time and seeing a sad 387, he went to hit send just as his battery jumped from five percent to zero. For a moment, Randal felt the urge to throw his phone across the room and walk out of this hell named the Department of Motor Vehicles. But the moment passed. Then, just as he was settling in to be bored to death...Bzzzt!Bzzzt!

Confused, he stared down at his dead phone.

[Text: Tired of Waiting? Yes, No]
​

The screen hovered in the air like one of the many anime shows he watched. Given the choice, how could he say no?

[Text: Yes]​

 

[Nellancholy]

Mina Yohansen-Liao sighed and squinted over the rows and rows of human beings, the fluorescent light of the office building even worse for her poor, tired eyes than the sunlight on the way here was. When was the last time she had been outside her apartment building? Probably a month, thereabouts. She was subsisting just fine off the convenience store and vending machines in the lobby, as well as food deliveries paid for by the proceeds of her investments into volatile stocks and meme coins that she assisted in pumping before the inevitable rugpull. Hell, she wouldn't be out here at all, if not for the fact that...she had passed away.

Mina glanced down at the half-open clear file in her lap, on which sat a photocopy of the driver's license of Lydia Yohansen-Liao. Her mother. The unassuming sheet of paper was accompanied by Mina's own license, two years past due for renewal, as well as the pink slip of a sedan that would have been state of the art a decade and a half-ago, but was now as worn out and faded as Lydia was when she passed, and just about as resilient.

They had not met or spoken in years, and of what little material possessions Lydia had...she could leave her daughter only this.

She wasn't sure how to feel about that. She wasn't sure how to feel about anything that didn't concern her own indulgent life.

Maybe this was all she could do to process it.

She'd tied up her mop of hair into a bun, pulled on a tank top and sweatpants, and taken a bus here. Despite the air conditioning, she couldn't change the fact that she'd gotten rather sweaty just by traveling here.

She sighed, pulling out her phone and scrolling over to the Horse Girls! app. At least Potooooooo would never let her down.

Just as she was about to open it, however, a notification popped out.

Tired of Waiting?

Yes / No

Wait, where did this notification come from? She remembered the QR code she scanned at the entrance to get her turn number.

Was there a way to skip the wait? Why wasn't she told sooner? Either way, she pressed on the Yes.

 

[Gaius Danius Griinia]

Will sat in the crowded DMV while scrolling his through his Winstagram timeline for funny memes or comics. As for WHY Will was huddled in a corner at the DMV when he didn't even own a car. Mrs Peterson from next door needed to get her license renewed and Will had tagged along with her since Mr Peterson had helped Will move a shelf into his new place the previous day. Living alone as a freelance writer gave Will a lot of time to kill so doing something like this to help out the Petersons wasn't totally objectionable. Will could call himself a writer all he wanted but he really just wrote light novels on the internet. Lock half the chapters behind a reasonable paywall and people are willing to fork over their hard earned cash just to see what was next in the story. Mrs Peterson seemed to be having a long conversation with the lady behind the counter. He didn't envy her as the older woman tended to speak at length about the things she cared about, which was pretty admirable considering a lot of people were becoming cynical doomers according to the wojak meme he had just scrolled past.



Ah, this was either an incredibly detailed hallucination due to boredom or he was being invited to another world by some kind of god or something. His familiarity with the fantasy genre clued him in on how to proceed with this. Mrs Peterson walked on over to Will, passing right through the weird holographic notification like it wasn't even there. "Hey Will, turns out that husband of mine didn't renew HIS license either. He's getting a ride here with our son. So you don't have to worry about me. Are you okay to walk home or would you like a ride?" asked Mrs Peterson, jingling her keys with a smile on her face. Will was very pleased by this turn of events. He was hesitating to select YES on account of his promise to help Mrs Peterson. Now that it seemed like she'd be okay with Mr Peterson arriving shortly. It was no doubt okay for him to get yeeted to another world. His only hope was that he wasn't squished by a giant or something the moment he arrived. "No thanks Mrs Peterson, I've actually gotta go to a writers retreat. I wanted to make sure you were okay before I had to leave this afternoon. I'm sure they won't mind if I'm a little early" said Will, lying his ass off to spare Mrs Peterson any guilt once he inevitably disappeared due to the obvious magic prompt. Leaving her with a wave and hiding in another corner, Will immediately made the correct choice.

 

[Idea]

• Coded
• Phone Version

• From the moment she took her seat, Kona instantly missed the soft, comfy folding of a cushion and the way a mattress held her weight. She quickly found herself leaning from side to side, shifting her body while it protested against the rough, cold metal bars against her back or the seat just malformed and bumpy enough to never quite be comfortable and just slightly below an acceptable size for her to fit in. That typical dry, minimalistic flair of a waiting room didn't help either, with so little left to distract her from the discomfort. At least the little kids had some toys for them to play with, even if they were old and dropped off in a corner.
  
  Most people around were glued to their phones, some to some other device. By the balcony there was a lady happily... well, "happily" chatting the receptionist's ear off. A little boy was distracted by his own legs bouncing up and down while his mother watched him like a hawk with a set of files in her talons, but also a gentle gaze and smile. A strong stench permeated the room, though it was quite unlike the heavy mix of cheap perfumes that Kona's older sister spread when she "forgot" to shower for a few days.
  
  For a shameless second, Kona thought about heading over to miss Mina. She was one of the people glued to their devices, but normally Kona wouldn't have hesitated to walk over for a chat. Her neighbor couldn't that much less bored in this situation than Kona herself. But she hadn't heard about her for over a month, maybe even two. She knew why, that kind of rumor spreads like wildfire. Still, Kona hadn't the faintest idea what it was like. It was scary just to think about going through such a situation. She couldn't bring herself to raise her gaze towards the woman, lest their gazes meet and a battle for the fate of the mood begin.
  
  Her throat and chest felt a little tighter, and it felt a little harder to breathe. Kona cast her gaze down and again and quickly reached into her bag, opening the bare minimum of the zip needed to do so. Her hand scrambled amidst the layer of open wrappers and occasionally bumped into the hard cover of a textbook. She searched a little harder, hearing the clacking sounds of pen and pencil that that dropped to the bottom of the bag and hit the hard seat of that chair. Nothing. There was nothing left. Her stomach growled a bit as if complaining that she got so worked up but gave it no tribute in the end.
  
  She closed her bag and opened her wallet. Her eyes were moving slowly back and forth between the vending machine and the lonely change within. She wondered how she would be able to afford to replace her tools at this rate. And if she didn't study harder she was going to have her allowance reduced again for sure. Maybe saying yes to Devan's request was a bad idea after all. Just because she got a little praise... But then, that look in his eyes... Aaaah, she hated thinking this hard. She hated exam season for putting her in a situation like this. She hated this DMV for boring her so much she just ended up thinking about all this serious stuff without meaning to.
  
  Why couldn't all this be over? Why couldn't she just get there, do whatever she needed to do, then go home and sprawl on her comfy, relaxing bed like a deflated starfish?
  
  Maybe out of some foolish morbid curiosity, she took a look at the ticket that was also inside her wallet. 417. Had they even reached 300 yet? In first place, how did these number work? Surely there couldn't be that many people here, in this r-
  
  Her thought were interrupted by a sudden noise. Just a couple seat over, the little boy that she saw earlier was kneeling on the ground bawling his eyes out. His mother was on top of him with a distressed look on her face, but from what she was saying it didn't appear as though she knew why the kid was crying either. Kona stood up and crouched near the child.
  
  "Hey, what's wrong?" She asked in the softest voice she could muster. Honestly she wasn't totally sure how to deal with children. The closest thing to them she had regular contact with was her older sister. The kid didn't give her a response, instead just persisted in his crying. A short memory of one of Kona's sketches flashed in her mind. Not entirely sure what she was doing, she grabbed the sides of her hair into pigtails. "Hey look uh... pigtails!"
  
  She wiggled the hair a little with a nervous smile. The toddler looked up, seeming more confused than anything. With an involuntary chuckle, Kona wiggled the "pigtails" again, and the little boy started giggling. Kona wasn't sure what was so amusing about this, but it seemed to be cheering him up, so she kept at it for a little while longer. Maybe boys just really liked pigtails?
  
  The boy's mother eventually managed to join in on it, though with her longer hair it seemed more like twintails than pigtails. Kona wasn't about to point that little bit out though. She was thanked before she could leave, and it seemed there wasn't anything wrong with the boy at least. The bad air and the wait were just getting to him like it would get to a lot of people here no doubt. Finally, after an eternity of waiting, the next number was announced... 298. Only 298. It was a good thing Kona was no longer doing the pigtails or might have ripped her hair out. It felt like she was stuck in purgatory, but then, when she took her seat, perhaps it was confirmed that she was.
  
  
  

  

  
  
  Something... weird was floating in front of her vision. It was like an augmented reality thing. But she didn't have any device like that... and this room didn't even have a TV let alone whatever technology was needed to project holograms. Plus nobody else was seeing it.... Something about this situation reminded her of one of those things Devan asked her to use for reference.
  
  "It couldn't be." Something that silly couldn't be happening. But well, if this thing was for giving feedback, then she would give them a piece of her mind, even if it was just the equivalent to a thumbs down on social media. She pressed the button.
  
  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  Artist Credit: ねく | neku on Pixiv​
• Artist Credit: ねく | neku on Pixiv

  
  From the moment she took her seat, Kona instantly missed the soft, comfy folding of a cushion and the way a mattress held her weight. She quickly found herself leaning from side to side, shifting her body while it protested against the rough, cold metal bars against her back or the seat just malformed and bumpy enough to never quite be comfortable and just slightly below an acceptable size for her to fit in. That typical dry, minimalistic flair of a waiting room didn't help either, with so little left to distract her from the discomfort. At least the little kids had some toys for them to play with, even if they were old and dropped off in a corner.
  
  Most people around were glued to their phones, some to some other device. By the balcony there was a lady happily... well, "happily" chatting the receptionist's ear off. A little boy was distracted by his own legs bouncing up and down while his mother watched him like a hawk with a set of files in her talons, but also a gentle gaze and smile. A strong stench permeated the room, though it was quite unlike the heavy mix of cheap perfumes that Kona's older sister spread when she "forgot" to shower for a few days.
  
  For a shameless second, Kona thought about heading over to miss Mina. She was one of the people glued to their devices, but normally Kona wouldn't have hesitated to walk over for a chat. Her neighbor couldn't that much less bored in this situation than Kona herself. But she hadn't heard about her for over a month, maybe even two. She knew why, that kind of rumor spreads like wildfire. Still, Kona hadn't the faintest idea what it was like. It was scary just to think about going through such a situation. She couldn't bring herself to raise her gaze towards the woman, lest their gazes meet and a battle for the fate of the mood begin.
  
  Her throat and chest felt a little tighter, and it felt a little harder to breathe. Kona cast her gaze down and again and quickly reached into her bag, opening the bare minimum of the zip needed to do so. Her hand scrambled amidst the layer of open wrappers and occasionally bumped into the hard cover of a textbook. She searched a little harder, hearing the clacking sounds of pen and pencil that that dropped to the bottom of the bag and hit the hard seat of that chair. Nothing. There was nothing left. Her stomach growled a bit as if complaining that she got so worked up but gave it no tribute in the end.
  
  She closed her bag and opened her wallet. Her eyes were moving slowly back and forth between the vending machine and the lonely change within. She wondered how she would be able to afford to replace her tools at this rate. And if she didn't study harder she was going to have her allowance reduced again for sure. Maybe saying yes to Devan's request was a bad idea after all. Just because she got a little praise... But then, that look in his eyes... Aaaah, she hated thinking this hard. She hated exam season for putting her in a situation like this. She hated this DMV for boring her so much she just ended up thinking about all this serious stuff without meaning to.
  
  Why couldn't all this be over? Why couldn't she just get there, do whatever she needed to do, then go home and sprawl on her comfy, relaxing bed like a deflated starfish?
  
  Maybe out of some foolish morbid curiosity, she took a look at the ticket that was also inside her wallet. 417. Had they even reached 300 yet? In first place, how did these number work? Surely there couldn't be that many people here, in this r-
  
  Her thought were interrupted by a sudden noise. Just a couple seat over, the little boy that she saw earlier was kneeling on the ground bawling his eyes out. His mother was on top of him with a distressed look on her face, but from what she was saying it didn't appear as though she knew why the kid was crying either. Kona stood up and crouched near the child.
  
  "Hey, what's wrong?" She asked in the softest voice she could muster. Honestly she wasn't totally sure how to deal with children. The closest thing to them she had regular contact with was her older sister. The kid didn't give her a response, instead just persisted in his crying. A short memory of one of Kona's sketches flashed in her mind. Not entirely sure what she was doing, she grabbed the sides of her hair into pigtails. "Hey look uh... pigtails!"
  
  She wiggled the hair a little with a nervous smile. The toddler looked up, seeming more confused than anything. With an involuntary chuckle, Kona wiggled the "pigtails" again, and the little boy started giggling. Kona wasn't sure what was so amusing about this, but it seemed to be cheering him up, so she kept at it for a little while longer. Maybe boys just really liked pigtails?
  
  The boy's mother eventually managed to join in on it, though with her longer hair it seemed more like twintails than pigtails. Kona wasn't about to point that little bit out though. She was thanked before she could leave, and it seemed there wasn't anything wrong with the boy at least. The bad air and the wait were just getting to him like it would get to a lot of people here no doubt. Finally, after an eternity of waiting, the next number was announced... 298. Only 298. It was a good thing Kona was no longer doing the pigtails or might have ripped her hair out. It felt like she was stuck in purgatory, but then, when she took her seat, perhaps it was confirmed that she was.
  
  
  

  

  
  
  Something... weird was floating in front of her vision. It was like an augmented reality thing. But she didn't have any device like that... and this room didn't even have a TV let alone whatever technology was needed to project holograms. Plus nobody else was seeing it.... Something about this situation reminded her of one of those things Devan asked her to use for reference.
  
  "It couldn't be." Something that silly couldn't be happening. But well, if this thing was for giving feedback, then she would give them a piece of her mind, even if it was just the equivalent to a thumbs down on social media. She pressed the button.
  
  
  

  

Interactions: N/A
Mentions: Mia ( Nellancholy ) ; Mrs Peterson ( Gaius Danius Griinia )
May Also Want to Read: N/A

 

[Shoya]

Sora sat in one of the crooked chairs, watching videos of top 10 best cars of all time. He makes a mental note of the names, sighing as he looks around the crowded room.

Seriously, how do they expect anyone to buy a car in a place like this?

Sora already knew the truth to his question. He was here because nobody of his family could know. Coming from a wealthy famiy, he was given many privileges a boy still in school wouldn't normally get, such as a car. Only problem was, that he might have crashed his. The accident itself wasn't even the issue, it was how the accident happened.

"Street racing? Are you stupid? You're the heir to blah blah blah"

He couldn't remember much after that. As punishment, he wasn't given another car. Fortunately for him, he was in the perfect place.

Yes, sitting in this crowded room of commoners will be worth it when I leave here with the best car.

He grins to himself in his delusion.

"Excuse me mister, I couldn't help but notice you never got a number, if you'd like assistance, I'd be more than glad to help you."

He turns to see a lady, probably about the age of his mother, smiling at him. She has her arm extended in the direction of a machine against a wall. The machine itself has a line of people in front of it. Sora was shocked, but embarassed by the lady.

"No need, I'll get it myself"

He gets in the line, slowly, and I mean very slowly, making his way to the front. There, he pressed the buttons and answered all the questions about him with ease. When asking for the purpose of his visit, he was surprised there was no "buy car" option, but wrote it under the "other" option. The machine spits out a slip of paper with a number on it.

I see...

His mind immediately thinks of the auctions he used to accompany his father to. Could it be, that to buy a car, it's auction only? Excellent, this will make it easier to see which cars are highly desired! He was confident he could outbid anyone on this side of town, even without the full backing of his family name.

"Now that you have a number, feel free to take a seat and wait until your number is called." the lady says, seeing that he now had his number.

"Sure, do you know when the auctions start? I don't want to wait much longer"

"Auctions?" the lady gives him a puzzled look

....................

Were the numbers not for the car auction? What's going on?

"It's just your number so they can call you up to the desk, that's all." she says, giving him an awkward grin. She too was seemingly confused by his question.

Sora takes a sigh deep enough to challenge a black hole.

I guess I should sit down then...

"Thank you very much miss." he says, giving her a brief bow before walking back to the seat he was at, only to find it taken by someone else.

Before he could even think of something to say, a panel appeared before him.

​

Tired of wai-

He didn't even finish reading it before immediately pressing the yes button

​

 

[strawberryspiral]

It’s been exactly seven days since Gabriel last sat in this seat. Half expecting to be pushed out the door the moment he walked into the fluorescently lit building. He stares down at cheap tile, legs bouncing with unspent energy and looming anxiety. How many times would he have to take his driver’s test before finally passing? Would this be the last? He sure hoped so, last time had been a total fluke he’d have passed if not for Alex.

His boneheaded best friend of ten years had told him it was acceptable to drive ten over or under the speed limit, not expecting Gabreil to actually believe him. He’d never forgive him, the driving instructor had treated him like a total idiot. The elderly balding old man had practically had a stroke with a foaming mouth and cherry red face. Apparently, driving ten over in a school zone during noon was a finable offense, he almost didn’t believe the old man. It was during school after all, almost noon! Any kids roaming around outside of school during that time were probably skipping anyways, Gabriel knows because he’d done the same himself. When he’d tried to tell the instructor- Jerry just as much, the wrinkled man looked like he wanted to strangle him.

Gosh, Gabriel hopes he doesn’t get Jerry again, the guy kept giving him weird looks because of the cherry vanilla smell in his car. Not his fault- Alex really liked his inhalable chapstick scents. Have you ever tried to pry a vape away from the lips of an neurotic college student? Nearly impossible, asking for death really. There’s a waft of sweat and mildew, like someone’s been bathing with their dogs under the high noon sun. Gabriel is lucky enough to have a little tube of roll on lavender essential oil in his pocket. Lathering the scent on to his inner wrists, neck, and just under his nose to cover the offensive stench. He’d seen some stuff on mental health forums about lavender supposedly calming the brain or some shit, and he was too desperate to turn his nose at the advice.

Gabriel couldn’t complain about his best friend's constant vaping- at least Alex had a license, the guy could merge into traffic successfully without having panic attacks. He’s not so lucky, for some reason everytime he gets behind the wheel his hands get all clammy. Then the car starts to get claustrophobic, warm, and it’s so bright- the light of the sun makes him so damn dizzy.
If he could, Gabriel would walk the world with saturation on half power and contrast as low as possible.

Seeing in shades of gray didn’t seem so bad when bright lights and colors give you migraines that make you see lines and stars. But according to Dr. Jeffy the new medication should hopefully take that nasty anxious migraine away. Hopefully, he’s right, Gabriel’s sick of walking everywhere. There’s way too many dark alleys and rabid raccoons in his neighborhood, he doesn’t feel very safe coming home from work at night. Has to play the most generic pop music to take his mind off the potential of becoming a true crime statistic or heavy metal to hype himself up just in case someone does try him.

The plastic chair he sits in is just as uncomfortable as he remembered, and the tiny ticket with a number feels like a load of lead in his pocket. “Now serving 299!” A voice rises above the sound of fax machines, copiers, and the soft buzz of bright white overhead lights.

Gabriel has to squint as he watches one of the people sitting a few rows ahead of him rise out of their seat with a folder in hand. He resituates himself in his chair, head lolling back against the seat as he considers selling his soul to make the next couple of hours speed by faster. Eyes slowly blinking shut as he pulls the hood of his school spirit jacket over shut lids with a heaving breath. Just as he begins to drift off, mind wandering into a fantastical world so opposite of this one he has no room to be bored- his phone buzzes.

A hand goes to grab the ancient off brand blackberry he’s been using in his newly deceased cellphone’s stead. As soon as he unlocks it a blinking message comes to life across the screen, some sort of update from the DMV about his place in line probably…

Thumb hovers over both options for the briefest moment before he shrugs, selecting the most obvious answer. Who in their right mind wants to wait for anything? Gabriel wants to get this test drive over as soon as possible. So, he taps the little box, once, twice, and even a third time.