milliways_bar | (no subject)

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OOM: Barry dreams, and learns that the finish line is near.

Barry left the room quietly, careful not to disturb Sara, and came downstairs early. He's been at the window for an hour now, studying the end of the universe, and feeling oddly calm.

He'll tell Sara, of course. How could he not? But for now, he isn't ready to tell anyone else. There will be time. And in that time, there is much to do, for the Bar, for his friends.

For the moment, though, Barry just looks out the window.

[ooc: slowtime, as always, is possible]

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"Well, hello. It has been a while." Barry grins back, perhaps only a little less enthusiastic than he might be normally. "How are you doing?"

"Fine," she replies, grin faltering only a little. "I just got back here the other day." She shrugs. "Easier to spend time here than back on Ossus right now. How are you?"

"I'm pretty good. The Bar has been a bit nutty of late, but things have calmed down." His grin doesn't falter. He won't let it do so yet.

"How long were you away this time?" He can tell she is not quite the same, again. The We has become the I again, for starters.

"About six months. We spent most of it fighting a war." She shrugs again, staring out at the universe ending.

Jaina remains quiet for a few more seconds before looking back up at Barry. "What happened here?"

"I hope your side won," he says, never sure how to react when people tell him they have been involved in such things.

"We had a bit of a scare. A very powerful being - in Tim Hunter's league - was making trouble. Even managed to brainwash a few over to her side. Fortunately, the forces of light rallied, as usual. And then a house fell on her." Which still puzzles Barry to no end. "So things have calmed down."

"It was complicated," Jaina replies, trying to put an end to that conversation.

"A house fell on her?" She blinks, clicking a little in the back of her throat. "That sounds like something in a movie Sawyer made me watch once."

"Yes. Very much. And given how things can get here..." Barry grins. He hasn't heard that one last detail, but if you told him Dorothy Gale had been in that house, he wouldn't be too surprised.

"And what did you think of that film?" Being from the Midwest, and someone who used to run down and take on tornadoes, he has a fondness for it.

"Strange." She takes a sip of her water, shaking her head. "And Jag doesn't resemble the Tin Man at all. Don't know why Sawyer kept calling him that."

"It is a very odd film, but also a product of its times. Color was new in the movies, and I think the director wanted to play with color. Though the story is older, and odd on its own.

"As for Jag...I think Sawyer just mean to imply he's a bit stiff. You know how Sawyer can get." Barry says this with a grin, figuring
tthat Jaina and Sawyer probably made peace.

Jaina rolls her eyes. "Jag is not stiff. Vapin' people need to stop saying that. A little grim, maybe, but he has emotions."

He just doesn't show them that often.

"Well, I really don't him, but I believe you. I had a friend like that. Another hero. Cold as ice much of the time, but I think that was so his emotions wouldn't show.

"We would never dare call him Tim Man, though. Not even behind his back.

"He's how doing? And Zekk?" Curiosity - or perhaps old-fashioned nosiness - it seems, can even affect Barry.

"Jag's at home, still recovering from his wounds." Jaina clicks for a second or two, looking out the window again. "Mom shot him down during the battle at Tenupe. Sorta surprised he's still willing to marry me."

She shrugs, smiling at the ring on her hand. "But he is. And Zekk's doing great. Somewhere off with Tahiri, we think."

"Well, that's a new way to fight with your in-laws" is all that Barry allows himself to say.

"And I guess congratulations are in order. I hope you two will be very happy. And at peace."

Jaina grins. "Thanks. I really hope we will be, too."

"Have you set a date yet?" A question, he knows, that he maybe shouldn't ask anymore.

"We're aiming to get marring in about a month. I'll be sure to let you know once we have an actual date decided on."

A month. He could still be around then, couldn't he?

"I look forward to it. Never seen a wedding from your worlds."

Jaina nods. "I'm hoping Jag will agree to having the wedding on Ossus. It's nice there this time of year."

"Hmmm. A trip to another planet...that could be fun." And for Jaina, as for any of his friends, Barry would not let his own troubles stop him from celebrating one more time. "How would I dress for such a wedding? How would Sara?"

"Usually is," Jaina answers with a grin. "As for dressing?" A shrug. "Suppose you and Sara could just wear something you'd normally wear to a wedding. Fashion's diverse enough in the Galactic Alliance that I don't think people would necessarily notice."

Or, at least, she hopes not.

"Think they've ever seen a tuxedo there?" He grins and then gets a horrible image.

"Oh lord. Don't say that to Sawyer. He might wear that kilt from Tim's wedding." Talk about trauma!

Jaina shakes her head. "Possibly some version of it."

She chuckles at the idea. "No, I don't think there will be any kilt wearing at the wedding. He'll have to wear something more...normal."

Barry is relieved.

"Did you hear about Tim, by the way?" Perverse, isn't it, how talking of others' miseries can deflect you from your own?

"Aside from what you previously mentioned?" Jaina shakes her head. "No."

"I can't recall what I said, actually." Too much going on outside his head, or inside. "But Tim and Ace broke up. And now apparently Tim is gone, and replaced by an alternate version of himself."