milliways_bar | (no subject)

Well, shit. Even though in the back of her mind there's been this thought, this idea, that things would be different here, she never expected that Beth and Beth Junior and Spike just wouldn't... be around. Not in their room, not in the one she used here last time, not in the bar, not out by the lake, not in the goddamn greenhouse, not in the stables, and not in the woods (although she did hear things in the underbrush, but that didn't scare her). They're just not anywhere, and she figures that's that: they're gone. Just gone, not that they had made any promise to be here just in case she ever trotted her lean mean ass back into the place.

It's a shitty feeling, though. Makes her kinda sad, because Beth... Beth's her friend. And Beth Junior is her niece: they're family, and she doesn't have much of that any more. Just Yorick and Mom, and the world's such a goddamn mess, who knows when she'll ever get back to DC to see Mommy again anyway?

Hero sets the backpack down right next to her chair: Quinn's awfully sweet but she doesn't want to leave her pack in his room where she might not be able to get to it if she needs it. It's been a lot of years of having to be ready to spring into action at a moment's notice and that habit isn't going to go away overnight, no matter how warm and seductive his arms are. He's going to have to go back and slay dragons -- literally -- and she's going to have to deliver her package. And it's gonna have to happen soon.

"Shit." Stretching out, she rests her feet on the chair across the table, the heel of one boot resting on the toe of the other. For as long as she can, she's going to soak up the atmosphere of this place. It's not like anywhere else in the whole goddamn world, that's for shittin' sure, and she wants to remember every minute she gets to spend here. Because if her family isn't here and Quinn's leaving, there's no selfless reason to stay. It'd only be to satisfy her own stupid ego, and that would be at the expense of everyone else out there counting on her.

She just can't do that. She can't be that selfish.

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Leaning forward and snatching that handkerchief back from him, she laughs out loud. "Too late, Romeo. If I had a goddamn horse, I wouldn't have had to walk from here" -- she stabs her finger on Las Vegas on the map -- "to here. Yeah. I used to have a horse, but I gave him up for a motorcycle. And I gave that up for food. But now that I have a token from you, I'm golden."

Now it's her turn; she tucks the hankie into her back pocket. "Next time, I'll bring you corn. All the goddamn corn you can eat."

"All the other knights have got it coming, now? And hell, I'd give up a horse for a motorcycle any day."

Duo wrinkles his nose. Horses are big and smelly. And kind of scary, shut up.

"But hey, I'd take corn. 'S the middle of winter at home. I'll take vegetables where I can get 'em, but fresh is better than frozen. Or freeze-dried."

"You got it." Still smiling, she pats her rump pocket and pushes back the chair. "I gotta find my friend Beth. She's my... oh, let's call her my sister." That's close enough. Sister-in-law doesn't cut it, and she leaves out the part about her niece because it's nobody else's business.

Carefully, she picks up that knife and her map and tucks them both back away into her backpack. "Thanks again, Duo."

That's... about it, except for one more thing. "I might be here for a couple days. If I get a chance I'll hop back out with a basket and you can have all the goddamn corn on the cob you want. How's that?" Reaching over, she rests her hand on the top of his head. Someone somewhere once told her in some countries that's a sign of disrespect. She sure hopes it isn't one at the end of the universe.

She knows she's goddamn lucky for this place, and for people like Duo and Quinn and Beth and Spike. Even when it seems like nothing but a wish, she knows she's goddamn lucky.

He laughs. "Only if you want, hey? Stick around and get some rest instead. What kind of fair- eh." Duo pauses to consider.

"What kind of prince would I be, disrupting my champion's vacation? Stay cool, Hero. If I don't see ya before you head out again, and all."

"All right, boyfriend."

She doesn't mind calling him that: he's a boy and he's her friend, and she sounds like a goddamn 11-year-old but she doesn't care.

She doesn't care at all. And she's gonna get him that corn for sure: it's only fair. She's never liked taking without giving.

Shouldering that backpack, she turns and gives him a lopsided grin before making her way across the bar. Beth has to be around here somewhere.