milliways_bar | (no subject)

"Brooklyn!" The girl in the corner booth beams and waves. She stands up to come over...

...and promptly trips and falls on her face.

Apparently it still takes a little while for Elda to figure out her center of balance when she's changed into a human.

"Elda!" He then strikes another pose and bounds over. "I'll save you!"

He picks Elda up with one claw and dusts her off with a smile. "Not that you ever need saving. You take care of yourself. But, hey. Guy likes to look big and strong sometimes." He puffs out his chest and winks at her for good measure.

Golly gee wiz! He sure didn't mean to keep that arm around her waist for so long. Making sure she's steady, that's all!

"What are you wearing?" She laughs, poking his arm. "You are very dashing, of course. Is that some sort of family crest?" Elda is comic deprived.

Also, she doesn't seem to mind.

Brooklyn notices this lack of smacking in the head for his invading of her personal bubble. This is something to think on. Don't get ahead of yourself and DON'T push, he gives himself an internal pep talk.

"What?" He palms giant, red G on his chest. "You don't have Superman in your world? Oh, man. He's...he's...he's Superman! And he flies around, saving people, stopping nuclear missiles, bickering with Batman. It's great!"

"...batman?" It should be known Elda is getting a very odd mental image. More like Manbat than Batman.

"The saving people sounds good...are nuclear missiles some kind of offensive spell?" Oh, pop culture references. Listen to the whistling noises they make as they fly over Elda's head!

Brooklyn practically deflates. "I'm starting to think my costume choice isn't making the impression I was going for. And I need to give you comic books. Lots of comic books. It's the only way, Elda. Just like you can't go life without New York, you can't live without DC vs. Marvel 'debates'", and here Brooklyn finger quotes. "No matter how much you claim you aren't a geek."

She tilts her head at him. "...what's a geek?"

That seems to be the most important part of his sentence, anyway. No comprende!

"I. I. You haven't met my rookery brother, Lexington. He'd be the perfect example. Man, how do you explain 'geek'? It's one of those things you just figure out."

He scratches at the underside of his beak in thought. Light bulb!

"Okay, do you know anyone that is really into book learning and lacks many basic social skills?"

...Oh man, Karma is going to smack Brooklyn IN THE FACE for this one sometime soon.

"I think that describes my friends and I pretty well sometimes," Elda admits, looking a little sheepish. "So, it's a bad thing?"

Maybe she should spend more time out of the library. There are just too many interesting things to learn about!

"No, it's. It's not a bad thing!" Karma says HELLO. "It's. It's a thing! Like movies! You have to see it before you can really get it, yeah?"

"Oh! All right. If you do lend me some comic books, I will read them and learn more about geeks." Elda is determined! Earth is nifty, and she wants to know more about it. Also, if Brooklyn likes it, it must be interesting, right?

"I'll even bring you the comics this thing," patting the customized Superman emblem on his chest, "is based on. Just, like plays and movies? You've got to suspend your disbelief and pretend that if a rock glows a different color, it can affect your superpowers. ...okay, that's actually kind of normal for us."

"I don't know about super powers, but my friend once had a coat rack following her around for some time. Glowing rocks are relatively normal." Especially if you count crystals, or gems. She sees those glowing all the time.

"A coat rack?" That throws him for a second. That's never happened to his clan. "...was it her cursed brother?" What else would a coat rack that follows someone around be?

"...no, her brother is the Emperor of the South. It was just a coat rack. She was the one who had a jinx. And when someone who didn't listen tried to fix it, coat rack." Elda gestures expansively, which ends up a little floppy. Silly spaghetti arms!

"Of course. Can't have the Emperor follow around his sister. He might lose his favorite hat."

"Jinx. I'm thinking that isn't like the name game where you can't talk if someone jinxs you."

"Not really, no. But I bet there are jinxes like that, too! They're like curses, except someone doesn't really cast them on you. They're snarls in your magic, either from a bad habit, or something bad that happened to you. Hard to fix, as he found out."

Elda wonders idly if any of the bar stools here used to be failed magic teachers!

"Like...knots in your hair? Do you..." He thinks of the right metaphor. "Do you cut them out or do you comb them out?"

"Carefully pick them and comb them out." She sounds a little horrified as the very idea of cutting. "And then...throw away what's left on the comb, to extend your metaphor. You can't just cut it out, it's a part of you!"

"Hey, hey," he waves his claws in surrender. "All I know of magic I've figured out from when people used it on me. I've never really gotten any sort of crash course in the mechanics."

"Well, if it's common to have things like that happen in your world, don't you think you'd be best off studying it, at least a little? There are some things that people without magic can do, to help themselves or stop someone from harming them with it!"

He waves his hands again in a vain attempt to escape Elda's educator wrath. "Magic isn't something that is taught in my world any more. It's very rare. You are either born one of Oberon's Children and are a creature of magic, or you learn it from a master. And the only gargoyle I know that has any magic learning isn't..." He tries to think of how to describe Demona in a way that doesn't end with him throwing a chair. "...she isn't a possible teacher."

"I've picked up a few things, here and there, and from Puck. I know not to break magic objects unless ordered to by a professional and not to read strange incantations just for fun. And some of the basic principles from a few brushes with the almost end of the world. But not..." He shrugs in a sort of helpless way. "I don't want to be a magic user, so that's never really been an issue."

"Well, those are two of the important things to know when you sometimes deal with magic."

Elda tilts her head at him, then pauses to shove all her hair back over her shoulder.

"What do you want to be?"

He blinks.

"I'm a gargoyle." Brooklyn makes a slightly hero (and very dorky) pose makes his wings flow like a cape. Then, he scratches at his horns and tries to think how to verbalize this one.

"I'm...well, I'm a gargoyle. I'm the second in command of my clan. When Goliath, our leader disappeared for several months, I was in charge. When Goliath steps down or..." He tips his head to the side and shrugs. "Then, it is my job to lead the clan as best I can. Protect home, make the world a better place for our kind."

He smiles then looks more toward the ceiling as he delivers, "And may be find a nice girl. Have an egg or four. If I can find one. I'd like that." Thank goodness he's red, because you can't tell he is almost blushing!

"Those are good things," Elda says with a smile. "That's mostly what I want to do, too. I'd want children someday. Not until I finish school and make some sort of a name for myself, though. It would be hard to travel with little griffins who can't fly yet."

Then she pauses to consider. "Though I suppose they wouldn't have to be griffins at all! That certainly didn't stop Mum and Dad."

Trying to sound only curious, "Are your parents really human? And they had you and your brothers and sisters?"

"Completely human!" Elda says, nodding. She loses track of who she's had this conversation with. "And so are Shona and Blade. Then there's the five of us who are griffins: Callette, Kit, Don, Lydda, and me. Then my little sister and brother who are humans with wings, Angelo and Flo."

He doesn't know how to feel about that. It is interesting especially since...well. He likes Elda. He hasn't met a girl before that he actually got to talk to, have a real friendship with and he didn't push it too far, too fast and.

But having your own clone and watching friends genetically altered does make him a little leery of some areas of science.

"You told me before but, it seems so... People abuse that sort of science in my world. That's..." He grins and tweaks Elda's nose. "I'm glad you got to have such a great childhood with so many brothers and sisters. They can be great fun, yeah?"

"There isn't much of that science in my world. Dad doesn't really let people know how he does what he does. That's probably why, so no one can make griffins or something not nice at all, and use them for something bad. We're his children, but not everyone is as good a person as he is."

She smiles a little and flicks his beak in revenge. She knows it feels weird!

"They can be a lot of fun, especially when you're the baby for years. And everyone gets in trouble for pulling your tail."

"Ack!" He flails at his own trick being turned on him. "You and your thumbs! The dreaded enemy!"

"I was always the oldest. Had to keep everyone from eating things they shouldn't, perching where they should, not locking the littlest in the rookery when the elders weren't paying attention. And teaching my bigger, younger brothers and sisters a thing or two." He looks side long at Elda and feigns innocence. "Size doesn't matter. It's how you use it."

"I'm the littlest of the griffins- Kit and Callette are huge, and Don's nearly as big. Dad used cat instead of all lion for me. And Kit's a fantastic wizard, too. It's very unfair." She pouts.

He grins. "You can only mostly crush me with your beak, if you wanted. Instead of instant death, I might have a chance if you get distracted mid-chew. So, I'm grateful to your dad."

Elda beams. She does not mind being admired as dangerous when it comes from a friend.

"I wouldn't crush you," she says with the air of someone imparting an important secret. Then she eyes him. "You probably wouldn't taste very good anyway."

Pause.

"-I mean that in a good way!"

"I will have you know many a fine lady gargoyle say I have a wonderful after taste."

Brooklyn is triumphant!

Beat.

"--wait, wait! That sounded a lot better in my head! And if there actually were any ladies that would know the answer to that question, they would say something very witty and funny in reply to your insinuation."

"And I'm glad you won't crush me."

Elda lets out a peal of delighted laughter. "Are there lots of lady gargoyles? We only found out how many griffins there are not so long ago. And that was quite a shock. Do they look like you and your brothers?"

"...well." He tries to think of a way to explain the complexities of his life. "You remember Angela, right? The lady gargoyle with my rookery brother, Broadway? She's...well. She's the first female we've met in years except for...well. Our clan."

He stops, scratches his beak, and starts again.

"A long time ago, our clan was much bigger. But, things happened. And, all that were left were Goliath, Hudson, Broadway, Lexington, Bronx, and myself. It had been that way for a long time. We thought we were the last, you know? And then Goliath disappeared for a long time, and it was me leading the others, and then suddenly, Goliath was back with Angela and it was so." Brooklyn laughs at himself and won't meet Elda's eyes. "I was a bit of jerk."

"Angela, she says she has a dozen or so sisters in her own rookery, and Goliath says there are loads of other clans out in the world that he visited in his travels, but." He shrugs. "Most of them have made their choice. And, I can't leave the clan right now to go search. Goliath trusts me as his second."

Brooklyn slowly realizes what he has let pour out of his mouth. His eyes are wide for second before he snaps his beak shut. "...not to many ladies. Some of them have really big horns?"

"I'm sure you couldn't have been nearly as much as a jerk as some of the griffins I met once," Elda says with a frown. "And people say things they don't really mean when they're frightened. Being alone can be scary."

She squeezes his hand.

He looks at Elda's hand in his for a long moment.

"Hey, I'm good at everything. I'm sure I'm a grade A jerk."

He thinks about his actions here. With a moment's hesitation, he lifts Elda's hand and kisses the back.

"You are way to nice to a guy like me, Elda."

...well hey, what do you know. Griffins can't really blush, but humans can. Elda's cheeks pink slightly, and she scuffs one foot along the floor. Good thing she doesn't have any claws at the moment.

"Don't be silly, Brooklyn. You're very nice."

Yeah, sure, is pretty much Brooklyn's thoughts in that moment. He isn't exactly sure how to interpret her reaction. Does that mean he went too far, she's being polite, and now he has to hide for weeks from her while she eats loads of ice cream? Or does that mean...

Yeah, option number 1. Stick to option number 1, because that would be the best strategy and give Elda space. Yeah, that's what a friend would do. Space. Okay. He can do this!

"Yeah." And he carefully drops her hand and rubs at the back of his neck with a laugh. "Yeah! Well!" He points with his thumb claw back at the door. "Well, my clan is holding a big party, and I owe them an entrance. I promised everyone. So, I." He hesitates and offers a weak smile

...oh.

Elda is used to a large amount of comradely screaming and shoving among her siblings, and her friends aren't that much different.

Does he not like her as a human, maybe? Was that too embarrassing?

This sort of thing is very complicated, she realizes suddenly.

"You wouldn't want anyone to miss your costume," Elda manages. "Especially if they are geeks and like your comics. I'll...see you later?"

He grins, real but still a little hesitant. "Yeah, Elda. Later. ...I promise."

He gallops on all fours back to the front door, waves, and quickly heads out.

His inner monologue is along the lines of stupid, stupid, stupid, pushy jerk, stupid move!

Elda gives him a little wave, then sits carefully back down at the table and swings her feet.

Stupid human feet. She wants to fly.

So, she goes home.