milliways_bar | Of Dates, Intangible Things, Broken Legs, and Cocoa

"Some. The funeral helped get things calmer in my head. Guess that's why we have them."

He gives her a kiss and a gentle hug, and then sits next to her.

"How are your ribs? And for that matter, the rest of you?"

"Eska healed my ribs yesterday, and the bruises have mostly faded. Physically, I'm great. Mentally, I'm getting there." She smiles, though there is a serious undertone to it. "Frankly, I'm more worried about Ace than anyone, though she is strong."

"Thank goodness for Eska. We chatted this morning, and just going around with her about things helped me. Not sure how much it helped her, though. She went through something rough, and isn't ready to talk about it yet.

"And that reminds me - you know this without me saying it, but if you need to talk about what happened to you and Murphy and Fray, I'm here. And if you aren't ready to talk, or don't need to, that's okay too." He gives her hand the squeeze that's come to mean "I'm here."

"Ace is amazing. I didn't think she'd be able to speak, and she did. One of the best eulogies, too. I have to get to know her better. Did I tell you she even made sure to tell me how much Tim respected me? She's something."

"It definitely made me choke up," she says quietly. "And..she is amazing. I'm awed by her in many ways."

"And thanks for the offer," she leans over to peck his cheek, "but..well, I'll talk about it with you soon. It was easier speaking to someone I didn't know well for some reason."

"No, I understand. I was doing that for Jaina Solo earlier. I know her but not well, and she was telling me about some...personal stuff. A lot of the time having an outsider hear things works. I'm not sure why, but you can't argue with success.

"Till then, I'll be here to not talk about it." And he smiles, being just a touch sappy.

"There was one other eulogoy that was really touching. The poem the cowboy read."

"Sounds good." She nods. "That was a good one as well, though I liked Raph's. Short, very much to the point."

"Raph spoke for everyone who couldn't speak, I think." He then goes quiet for a moment.

"And so it goes, as Vonnegut used to say."

"Yep. That's a good Billy Joel song too."

"And that is possibly the first time that anyone has ever invoked Billy Joel and Kurt Vonnegut in the same conversation.

"Not that I'm a big Joel fan, or that I've read Vonnegut in years."

"Only in Milliways." She raises her mug in mock tribute. "And for some reason, it makes sense."

Barry, in a rare literary mood, is now thinking.

"Vonnegut would like this place. I read a book where he is a minor member of the cast, and at the end he gives all the characters their freedom. Breakfast of Champions. Weird stuff.

I bet he'd walk in, look around, and figure this is where all those characters went afterwards. And then he'd probably buy a drink for any that come and say hi.

"Or he'd faint dead way when Kilgore Trout says hello.

"And I hope you've read some Vonnegut since otherwise I'm making no sense at all."

"I've read enough to somewhat follow, but not enough to make a worthwhile contribution. I wonder what Neil Gaiman would say if he came here and met his version of Death." The thought is amusing to her.

"Well, then we are even, since I don't know who Neil Gaiman is. Though I can guess that must be a writer who was busy channeling Death for much of his career.

"Funny how I haven't met any writers here yet. Maybe it's to protect the writers from either their works or from zealous fans."

"He wrote the Sandman series, among others. He's a very intelligent guy from what I can tell."

She snorts. "Yeah--that probably would be to their benefit to protect the writers. It'd be awkward to hear the people you thought you created criticizing what you wrote."

Barry smiles, remembering something that should be but is.

"I've told you about how I met the editor of my comics once, didn't I?"

"You did," nodding. "What was that like?"

Barry thinks for a moment and smiles nostalgically.

"It should have been as weird as meeting Indy or McCoy, but it wasn't. It feel like meeting a long lost uncle. Julie Schwartz was the nicest guy, so that helped. But so did how much he seemed to care about my life and what I'd been through.

"It was as if he really believed that on some level he wasn't helping to write the stories but only to tell them. And that he'd known I was real the whole time.

"And the enthusiasm he had, it wasn't like when Ray met me. It was calmer. A meeting of two adults who happened to be a comic book editor and a super-hero. In some ways, it was like the best of Milliways."

"That is a theory I have encountered in several places: that those who write aren't actually creating, but channeling the stories and images," she says nodding.

"I've heard that, of course. It makes a certian amount of sense, but it would tend to diminish the creative process some. And why should writers be mediums for outher worlds when painters or musicians aren't? I think artistic skill goes beyond even the strange explanations sometimes.

"Have you told this thoery to Suti? He seems to like such things, judging by the conversations we'd had and the stuff Eska has told me."

"Don't think I have. It'll probably come up at some point when we're working in the garden. Conversations like that usually happen then."

"One of these days, we should we go to the garden together and you should show me around. It's been too long since I've relaxed in a garden with a beutiful woman.

"Which reminds me that we haven't had a real date in a while, either. Are you feeling up for one next week?" His smile blossoms.

"Oh, that sounds wonderful. Picnic in the garden this time?"

"That should do nicely. Though after that, I think it's time we treat ourselves to a fine meal in a quiet corner of the bar.

"But just you and the garden should be just as superb." And Barry smiles in anticipation. "Tuesday sound good?"

"It's a date. Though a fine meal sounds good as well, when we decide to do that."

"All in good time, my dear Sara." He takes her hand, still smiling. It's been a long week, but he knows that with her at his side, they can both get better, together.

[ooc: time to wrap. Have a good weekend.]

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lvpd_sidle - 2005-04-29 20:03 (UTC) - Expand