Extraordinarily Pleased

A Change of Plans

"I do believe that's my name you just read out." The man's lips curved into the slightest grin as he took a step towards the trio, slow but not hesitant, out from the corridor beside the front doors. He may have been their parents' age, or he may have been closer to their grandmother's - they weren't the best at estimating how old humans were. His gray hair was thinning, combed back neatly, and came down just below his ears. Half-frame spectacles sat low on his nose. His understated charcoal colored tunic and pants were pressed and well fitted. He was probably around Uncle Artie's height, as the top of his head met Felicia's eyeline.

"Oh! Uh... right. Heh." Farkle picked the polished plaque back up and fumbled to wipe his fingerprints off with his shirt tail, only to leave more on it as he put it back on the desk, askant from its original position.

"I'm sorry, Doctor– have we met before?" Fergus asked with a smile, hoping he wouldn't offend the apparent gatekeeper of their goal, if they had indeed at some point met. They very well may have met him at some point - they'd met so many random people of various locations and celebrity statuses over the years, and had been educated and briefed on even more.

"Oh no," Dr. Sternbluff replied, sounding a bit sheepish himself as he made his way around the front desk to take a seat, "Perhaps my greeting began a bit too familiar, for which I apologize." He took his spectacles off and wiped them with a handkerchief from the breast pocket of his brown corduroy jacket. "But I do, of course, know who you three are, and who your parents are." He examined his spotless glasses, then replaced them at the end of his nose.

"Oh! Well, we're kinda used to that," Felicia replied in a friendly tone. She quickly caught how Sternbluff may interpret what she said, to which she added, "I mean– not that we assume everyone knows who we are, but– uh, I mean– it's fine." She exhaled in spite of herself, with a small self-aware grin.

Sternbluff lifted a gentle hand, accepting Felicia's gesture with a smile. "This facility doesn't get all that many visitors, much less ones with such a personal connection to our town's history, so please excuse me." His fingers found a book in a small shelf on his desk, and he opened it to its bookmarked page. "I would consider it a privilege to guide you three through our exhibit. Did you have tickets?"

The three's eyes collectively widened, and their ears receded as they recalled their snafu at the front gate.

"Well, uh, we did pay for them–" Fergus offered quickly, ready to rattle off their entire alibi, "but the guy at the–"

"Ah. Say no more," Sternbluff sighed, understanding in his tone as he wet his quill in its ink pot, and quickly checked three boxes on the page. "Lyle has a weak constitution. I would have waived them had you not, but I do appreciate it." He turned the open book toward the ogres, and extended the quill. Farkle plucked the quill from Sternbluff's hand and scrawled his name next to the first checkmark. Felicia took it next, and then Fergus. He fanned the wet ink of their three signatures before turning the book and quill back to Sternbluff. Sternbluff looked at the three names in his book for a quick moment, then closed it and rose from his seat.

"So. Shall we?" Sternbluff stood from his desk and gestured an arm down the center aisle of bookshelves. The siblings' eyes lit up, and they followed the curator past the towering collections of books, toward the main exhibit.

"I must ask," Sternbluff asked over his shoulder, still moving forward, "what does bring you three here?"

If the ogres were able to be completely honest, they would have answered that they were hoping the exhibit contained the original map to the Dragon's Keep that Lord Farquaad had acquired nearly two decades ago, that they could peruse, if not just take - so they too could take the same quest that their father and Uncle Donkey took. But they knew better. They weren't even completely sure this exhibit would have the map at all. It was an educated guess, really. If it wasn't in the exhibit, they planned to check with the Town Clerk. And if both turned up nothing... they'd try something else. They had six months, after all. But this was a good start, a smart and logical start. And even if it ended up not how they desired, then it wouldn't be a complete waste of time.