Millitimed to sometime after the thing with k_in_black.

[gone_byebye]

Ray comes in from New York City, rubbing at his face tiredly with one hand. He's got a sheaf of papers in one hand, and he looks as if he could use a drink; what the Bar gives him, however, is his usual green stuff and a plate of dinner. He nods and touches the bar briefly with his Visa card.

"Thank you, Bar, I appreciate it."

That having been done, he scoops up his receipt and goes looking for a place to sit.

Comments

[precocioustilda.livejournal.com]

Blink. "Seen? As in on the telly? I never paid much attention to the television, so maybe. If so, I don't recall. What's a lightsaber?"

[gone_byebye]

"Well, it was a movie, more than anything on the TV," Ray says. "It's a type of energy weapon used by Jedi Knights as part of their efforts at upholding peace and justice throughout their galaxy. I thought it was just about the coolest thing ever when I was a little kid, so I tried to build one. I sort of accidentally set the cat on fire when I tested it, though."

[precocioustilda.livejournal.com]

"Is it possible to build a working one, then? Or did you give up? Upholding peace and justice sounds nice."

[gone_byebye]

"Oh, it's possible to build one," Ray says. "But I asked permission first, because I finally met real Jedi here. If you're going to have one, you're supposed to be making a major commitment to the Jedi order's ideals and practices. That kind of thing lasts a whole lifetime, you know?"

[precocioustilda.livejournal.com]

"I guess. But peace and justice just make sense to uphold." She grins in a vaguely mysterious way. "And I suppose I've got a headstart on that sort of thing..."

[gone_byebye]

Ray eyes the girl thoughtfully.

"Superhero?" he guesses.

[precocioustilda.livejournal.com]

"It would be a stretch of the definition. I don't wear any silly costumes or go gallivanting about looking for evil to thwart, but I've done my share of thwarting nonetheless. There was a very nasty lady, and I made her run off."

[gone_byebye]

"Hey, it's a start," Ray says. "I mostly just deal with the restless dead, myself, but every so often it turns out there's a living person behind the trouble they're causing, and then we've got extra duty to do."

[precocioustilda.livejournal.com]

"Well, in my case it was the Headmistress of my school, who liked picking her students up by the hair and sometimes throwing them. Which probably isn't nearly as exciting as the restless dead, but as you say, a start." The Grin is cheerful at him.

[gone_byebye]

"It doesn't have to be exciting to be important," Ray says. "Good for you."

[precocioustilda.livejournal.com]

The Grin takes on a note of pride and sings it happily. "Thanks. It was just a bit of cleverness, really. I found out she'd killed a man and made her think his ghost was after her. So she--" An abrupt change of impending vocabulary takes place. "--ran off."

[gone_byebye]

Ray blinks. "Seriously? They let a murderer run a school? I'm guessing this was one of those 'nothing was ever proven' deals."

[precocioustilda.livejournal.com]

"It was put about that he killed himself, and left everything to his loving sister in thanks for taking care of his daughter. The loving sister in question was Headmistress Trunchbull and the daughter is Miss Honey, my adoptive mother since shortly after I got rid of the Trunchbull."

[gone_byebye]

"Gotcha," Ray says. "Well, it sure sounds like you know how to take care of yourself, at least. That's always a good thing to learn early on in life."

[precocioustilda.livejournal.com]

"I suppose it is at that. But then again, I've been taking care of myself for a lot longer than I've been going to school. My parents were never what one would call attentive. I'm rather glad they fled to Spain and left me with Miss Honey."

[gone_byebye]

"'Fled'?" Ray repeats. "You make it sound like they had a mob of revolutionaries on their tail."

[precocioustilda.livejournal.com]

"No. I rather suspect it was the law. My dad's a crooked used car salesman."

[gone_byebye]

"Kind of like my friend Peter's father, then," Ray says. "Although he used to do a lot of stuff, not just car sales."

[precocioustilda.livejournal.com]

"Dad sold cars with the bumpers glued on, sawdust in the transmissions, and the odometers turned back by means of an electric drill. He made" and the mun looks up the number "four thousand three hundred and three pounds and fifty pence in a day once, although I think that's the most he's ever done on a single workday. I expect that now he's gone to Spain he has much the same job."

[gone_byebye]

"Wow," Ray says. "That's, um... that's a lot more work than Peter's dad ever put in. I hope he's good at running. I don't think the Spanish police like that kind of thing."

[precocioustilda.livejournal.com]

"I really don't care much how good he is at running. He's a crook, and if the Spanish police catch him, good for them." The snark-face is for her dad.

[gone_byebye]

"Gotcha," Ray says, and contributes a similar face for the cause. "I'd offer to loan you my dad instead, but he sort of died a long time ago. You seem to be doing pretty well with Miss Honey, though."

[precocioustilda.livejournal.com]

"Oh, I'm sorry. I bet he was loads nicer than mine, not that that's hard. And Miss Honey is lovely. When we moved into her dad's old house, I found out it has loads of books stashed away in boxes and such in various storage rooms. Boxes! There must be thousands of them - I want to get them properly shelved and displayed, but I'm Bound at the moment. Still, it's a project for when I get back. Oh, and she's very nice to me, of course. She's letting me study ahead in school - says I'll be ready for university in two years if I try, although if I study plenty while I'm Bound I might cut it down to one and a half. Time doesn't pass there when I'm here."

[gone_byebye]

"Well, my dad was a chemical engineer. He and Mom were very big on books. We didn't own a television until I was five, and after that I only got an hour a week, but they were glad to let me read as much as I wanted." He grins. "I didn't get to skip ahead as fast as you would, though. I had to wait until I was nearly fifteen to go to Columbia University."

[precocioustilda.livejournal.com]

"Oh." She discovers wells of sympathy deep within her soul for someone who waits until the ripe old age of fifteen to attend university. "Well, I congratulate you for not owning a television until the age of five. I rather wish I'd been in the same situation. It's hard to read when your parents are making you eat dinner in front of the telly. Just thinking of all the books I could have finished earlier than I did..."