milliways_bar | (no subject)

(no subject)

Val bounces into the bar, normal. Perfectly normal for once. Well, other than the huge conspiratorial smile on her face. She's up to something. Perhaps it's just the bounciness of the season, perhaps there's more to it than that. She puts her coat on a coat tree that seems to have appeared by the bar, and shakes the snow out of her hair. Picking up her tray and a mug of tea from behind the bar, she plops down on a stool and sings to herself.

Last Christmas
I gave you my heart
But the very next day
you gave it away
This year
To save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special

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"Oh," he says, as though he's not sure he believes her. "Right. Yes. There's...liking...going on. Likage, if you will."

Val's eyes twinkle. "Likage is a good thing, Warren. It really is. Keep it up."

"I...don't have a history of stopping."

That means something.

There's a double meaning in that. And Val understands it. "That's a good thing, Warren. I read somewhere once that you never really love someone, unless you never stop caring about them."

"Ye-es, but...when they say they never want to see you again...maybe I should have stopped. That's all."

"Even if the other person decides they don't care about you anymore, if you really cared about them in the first place, you won't stop caring. That's love, that's life."

"That makes me do...very stupid things," he reminds her.

"Perhaps it does. Perhaps it did. Love has made a lot of people do really stupid things. That's unfortunately the nature of love. It's a double-edged blade. It feels wonderful, but it also hurts like hell sometimes."

"Sometimes?" He snorts.

"Ok, let's make that a lot of times. But then again, if it doesn't hurt, then it's not love either. People thing love is this gentle thing, but it's not." For a girl who's only really been in love for a month, she sure knows a lot.

He nods reluctantly.

"That's how it gets you. It starts off all sweet and giggly and then...boom. You'll die without them. Or vice versa."

He winces.

She nods seriously. "It's true. Love is a fight, not a cake walk."

"So how do you win?"

"That's the question of the ages, Warren. I don't know how you win, really. I don't know really if there is a way to totally win. The saying goes that it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved. But then again, that implies that there is winning to be done." She ponders for a moment. "No one comes out of it unscathed, but I guess the best way to win is to give all of yourself." She shrugs. "I don't know. I'm no expert."

He nods.

"Great, now I'm all...," Warren whines. Beneath the whine it's possible he's screaming. And so he begins a hasty retreat.

"I think I'll head to bed."

Impulsively, Val reaches over and hugs him tight. "Sleep well, Warren. If you need anything, you know where to find me. I mean it."

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