milliways_bar | (no subject)

She thinks of the sunlight, and how temperate it is on the island, how things are in bloom there all the time. She thinks of Seoul and wonders what day it is there and how when she left, the temperatures were starting to cool so slightly from the hot days of August, and how she had known she would not be seeing Seoul again for a very long time. She thinks again of the island: its heat, its relentless sun and intense but brief rains, and of how hopeful they were those first few days for rescue. She still holds hope. She does not want to be the one responsible for holding time still there, but how can she be? Kate is here too, and she has spent more time on the island.

Nothing in her higher education has prepared her for a thing like this. She has not studied quantum physics. Only art history and music. Like any woman of good standing in her society, she knows how to behave. Her father is a wealthy and powerful man, and he and his family are both respected. Knowing how to function in Seoul society is not only expected but it is a given: she grew up with it. It's innate.

Today, Sun shivers and pulls her sweater around herself tightly as she walks the snowy path back into the bar. Nothing in her life has prepared her for life at a bar at the end of the universe. Most days, she thinks she has simply gone mad. Today, she takes a cup of tea into her hands. It feels very real and for that, she is grateful.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It is exactly as she thought: the same in any world. Well. That's one suspicion confirmed, and it did not take superhero powers to realize what she already knew.

She wonders, though: how many of those who pretend to be friends are truly enemies? Jin thought Michael was his enemy. Michael thought the same about Jin, but it was just a misunderstanding. What if the same thing happens with someone else?

Jin cannot defend himself... at least not with words. She hates the idea of him being stuck there without her, and she has to ask the question again. "And when you are here, does time stop in your world? You step back into it and the clock just... starts again?"

Herc nods. "Time and the bar are strange beasts."

"I didst step outside for mere hours, and returned to the bar and months had passed!"

Her face drops in shock and disappointment. "Months passed... here? That is unthinkable!"

It would be far worse if months had passed outside after mere hours here, and she takes some small comfort in that. How can time not behave as it should? It is one thing she has always, always been able to rely on.

Now this place takes that from her as well?

"The bar can be quite fickle," Herc says with a chuckle. "Tis like a woman."

Despite herself, she's amused. "Or like some men I have met." Still laughing, shaking her head, she rises to her feet again.

"But not you."

Her offer to plant something in his honor is quite sincere, and between that and the suggestion Sallie made to research plants, she thinks that this will be a good way to spend her time. "Thank you again, and I hope to see you soon." She gives him a little bow, a little nod, before turning to leave.

His last comment still amuses her.