milliways_bar | (no subject)

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(no subject)

In an entry post that's not completely an excuse to show off a new icon, but probably mostly is, Steph's outside, over the lake and the forest, practicing on her skaterug.

Well - more off than on, technically - it's surprisingly steady, even when you push yourself off from a handstand and somersault twice, letting it go under tree branches while you go over, and land on your hands again. She's pulled that one off seven times now, and only fallen twice - and no serious injuries, either, just a couple of scratches from when she tried it too near the Whomping Willow. (It didn't approve.)

One of these'd be so much fun in Gotham.

[ETA: OOC: I vanish, la. Curse you all for not being awake at stupid o'clock your time when I wanted you, etc, etc, as usual if you want a thread tag anyway and I'll pick up inna morning or whenever I get home. ♥, W.]

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"Good morning, Stephanie."

A quiet Hank collects a cup of coffee and wanders outside.

"Hank! Hi."

She halts, and then glides down to ground level, pushing sweaty hair out of her eyes.

"How've you been?"

Distractions are good. She's not sure if she can kill herself with training, these days - being already dead - but ...

Well, distractions are good, anyway.

"I have been... well. Things are still pretty insane on my world, but... they always are and always will be."

He smiles faintly and looks up at her.

"How are you?"

"I've been better," she admits, dropping to the ground and tucking the rug into her back pocket. "But I've totally been trying not to dwell on things. Tell me about your world, instead?"

His eyebrows rise and he considers her for a moment, but he nods.

"Very well. There are some trouble facing my kind currently, the mutants. We have been lessened in number and in strength, and then imprisoned, watched over, for our own safety, or so they say. Meanwhile, those who stand outside our number, those who defend the lands as heroes, are currently facing the possibility of a new trouble, one that may brook very bad things, very soon..."

"That sounds bad," she says, sinking to sit cross-legged on the grass. "What can you do?"

"Not a lot, currently. We are mostly trying to consolidate those mutants left and organize. Meanwhile we are continuing what we do best; defending those who need defending, aiding those who are in need, seeking a way to help anyone who needs it. We are watching the others... and soon, it may be neccessary to take a stand. I dont know how things will fall out at all."

He smiles faintly, grimly.

"Another reason for me spending nights here, to get away from some of the constant darkness."

Steph nods, bleakly. "Well - if there's anything I can do, I'll do it. If you need me."

Hank smiles.

"I will remember, Stephanie. Thank you."

He nods.

"What are you doing around here, these days?"

"Not much. Just ... the usual."

...yeeeah.

He nods, slowly.

"Doom, sadness, teenage angst, and intermittent moments of joy?"

"...yeah, pretty much," she admits, with a quick grin. "And the desperately trying to avoid thinking about it, that too."

He nods.

"If you ever wish to talk, I will listen."

He smiles, then.

"Perhaops sometime when it is less chaotic on my world, youi can come and see it. The place where i live truly is a lovely place."

"I just - hurt someone. Who I really care about, but I can't - can't love him as much as he loved me, and ..." She shakes her head, wrapping her arms around herself. "You've probably heard the story a million times. I never thought I'd be that girl, though."

He winces.

"I am sorry, Stephanie. It is never easy to hurt someone. You do not seem to be the kind of person who would do so intentionally. I take it that it happenned as most such things do, with one misunderstanding leading to another?"

"Well - not really. It really was my fault. I ... there was another guy." She shrugs, staring at her feet. Hank's been good to her. He deserves to know the truth, even if it means he thinks less of her. "It got - Things went wrong."

Hank winces again.

"Ah. Do you love this other guy?"

"I don't know. I don't ... Love's a big word." She rests her head on her drawn-up knees. "I don't even know if I loved the first one. I thought maybe I did, but ... you'd know for sure, wouldn't you? It's supposed to be such a big thing..."

Zuko doesn't offer or ask for anything. It's ... very different.

She still can't meet Hank's eyes.

"You are young, for all your experience, and sometimes it is very easy to get confused about love, even if you are far older. "

He sighs.

"Did you two talk? You and the first one?"

"I haven't seen him yet. It was -"

Who's she kidding, of course Hank knows she means Billy.

"He's on the Rock, and I can't - I left a note. I just hope he comes back to the Bar, sometime, to get it. We - haven't - We need to talk. We do."

Hank nods, slowly. He suspected who she was talking about.

"I hope you manage that talk then. And that it goes very well."

He smiles faintly.

"Anmd if you ever want to talk, my door is open, Stephanie. You are my friend."

"Thanks." She does look up now, grateful. "I think it'll be okay. I've just got to sort my head out. But thanks."

"Give yourself time. Think it out and then, like you said, talk it out. Life can be very crazy, no matter how old you are, but you are a smart young lady."

He smiles.

"Now, why dont you get back up there and show me what you can do with that rather odd looking device?"

He grins."

She laughs, but shakes her head. "Nah, I'm all worn out. I've just been moving, 'cos then I'm not thinking, y'know? But I should maybe go do some thinking."

He nods and pats her shoulder.

"Maybe so. Come on, I'll buy you a shake to help and you can go do that while I stop avoiding working on paperwork."

He grins.

"Sounds like a deal," she says, gratefully, and grins up at him. "Let's go."

He grins and they go and it is done... and while shakes cant cure all things, it is, perhaps, a start. And between friends, sometimes, that is enough.

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