milliways_bar | (no subject)

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There is a flash of light. Small, quick, probably no one noticed it.

"What...."

But, if you happened to have noticed, where the light flashed, there are now, for some reason, two little pale feet peeking out from two legs of a pair of light purple pajama pants.

"....Um...."

There are two little white hands splayed on the bar floor, currently drawing back under two light purple pajama sleeves.

"....When did... I..."

There is an eight... [or nine?] year old little girl sitting dumbfounded on the floor of the bar at the end of the universe. A second ago she sat on a bed in a house in Tokyo. And her dark hair sweeps away from her face, revealing an expression of confusion... fitting. Hotaru blinks, and, too surprised to move, just sits and says,

"How did I get put into Milliways....?"

[OOM: of possible interest, to singer/songwriters]

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"Hmm..."

She nods slowly. A part of her doesn't really believe it's that simple. But a lot of her doesn't presume to know adults very well. All she knows is that she's still sad about it...

"It's good that you're both okay, now..." she adds, with a quiver of uncertainty in her voice.

"Yeah. It's really good." He nods, as much for his own benefit as for hers. It's not a matter of convincing himself or anything; he knows this place is as fucked up as a place can get. It's just that maybe, deep down inside, he believes in the power of love and it's possible that's what brought him and Beth back together.

Or maybe not. Maybe it's one of those mysteries he's not supposed to know about. "So... a couple, three weeks, a month after I get back, in walks Beth and damn if I wasn't so glad to see her, Hotaru. So glad. It's like all the waiting, all the anxiety... it just vanished, made all the other shit worthwhile. All of it. I've never been so glad to see anyone my whole life -- don't take it personal -- and... yeah. Yeah. I haven't even tried the door since she got here. Don't care if it opens or not. I..."

Enough, Spike. She's just a little kid. You don't have to convince her of anything.

"....?" She's listening intently.

What...?

"What is it?" She looks around the room suddenly, wondering, did something happen? But she doesn't see anything and turns back to him. "What's wrong..?" she asks, confused.

"Nothing. Not a thing. I was just getting tired of hearing myself talk, that's all." He nods to her. "You comfortable with that blanket? You need anything else? Or you want me to keep going about how great Beth is?"

That makes him smile.

She laughs in a soft voice, "You can go on about how great she is... I feel very comfortable, actually," she smiles happily.

"I saw the door just now when I looked at the rest of the room. At least that probably means I'm not stuck in my pajamas here," the thought brings a shade of red to her face.

"Well, I'd offer you a room, but we're kind of crowded right now. You... need me to get you one? Or are you content to just kind of sit here till you're ready to go back to bed?"

He remembers Hotaru, looking older and a hell of a lot more frail, lying on the bench or on the floor or on a table, people trying to work on her, to wake her up. But those were the old days. That was before the evil... uh... thing with the purple... uh... thing kind of exploded and took him down for the count.

That was a long time ago. And he doesn't want to be rude now; even though he promised Beth he'd only be a few minutes, he bets she'll understand when he tells her Hotaru's back and he didn't want to leave her down here all alone. And so far as that goes...

"I mean... you want to come upstairs? I bet Beth would be glad to see you. It's been a really long time."

It's not really an offer he planned on making, but what the hell. She's just a little kid. He can't leave her alone down here, right?

"Oniisan, that's okay. Though it is late."

She gulps, if anyone walks into my room to check on me, it'll be trouble!...

"W-why," she says slowly, smiling nervously. The thought of her parents angry in her mind is still scary, "don't I see if I can try the door..."

After all, I didn't notice it before, and I see it now...

She hops off the couch, leaving the blanket where it is. She weaves her way through the tables and bar denizens still awake and puts her hand on the door handle. She pulls, and it starts to open.

"Hota... fuck it." Instead of calling after her, he simply waves, trying not to have a y'all don't forget to come back now, hear? look on his face. At this place it's kind of like Ingress said (and who knew seven-year-olds were so damn smart anyhow?): people come and people go, and sometimes they come back and sometimes, well, they don't.

He wasn't trying to get rid of her. He wasn't trying to do that at all, but he succeeded spectacularly.

Maybe one of these days, he'll actually start to understand her; she's a strange one. But till then... upstairs calls.

He guesses.

She turns and, seeing him waving, waves back before she steps through, (with no idea of what awaits her on the other side), into what is only a dark, empty space at first. But when she opens her eyes (she closed them, she didn't want to be shocked again), she's standing on her bed, right where she was sitting before.

"Wh-whoa!" she loses her footing.

"Ouch..." Oh, I'm still wearing the slippers from the bar. They'll probably want them back.

She sets them neatly beside her bed. Then she falls backward from her sitting position and stares up at the ceiling. Tired, she closes her eyes. She falls straight asleep, on top of the covers.

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