milliways_bar | (no subject)

Entry tags:

meg ford,
x-23

(no subject)

It's Spring Break, for Meg, and while she could use her break to get further ahead in her classes (and certainly has done just that in the past), this year she is trying to make it an actual break.

Which is why this evening finds her curled in a comfortable chair, reading Jane of Lantern Hill, and drinking cocoa.

Just a quiet evening at the end of the universe, right?

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X makes her way over to Meg, settling down (quietly) in a nearby chair.

And after a few moments of silence --

"Meg."

Beat.

"Hello."

"Hello, Laura," Meg says.

"How are you doing?"

"I am better," X says, very firmly.

It's a nice change.

"You are okay, too?"

"I'm glad," Meg says.

"And I'm good.

"I haven't had any other trouble with Roe-bear, and everything else is going pretty well."

"Good."

X's tone becomes very briefly fierce.

"It is better when people are not problematic."

Or dangerous.

"Much better," Meg says.

There's a pause.

"Actually . . . about all that . . . um, I wanted to ask you something."

Edited 2010-03-03 03:54 (UTC)

"Oh."

X looks more than a little startled -- but not upset.

"Okay."

Then she waits for Meg to explain.

"If . . . if I wanted to know how to keep someone from hurting me . . . not fight, per se, but just . . . stop someone and run away . . . could you show me?

"Just in case I ever need to know?"

X studies Meg carefully for a few moments, weighing her response.

Then she nods, just once.

"Yes."

Beat.

"You will need to practice. Muscle memory is important."

Meg nods.

"I can do that," she says.

She's never set out to learn anything and not taken it seriously.

"Thank you."

X's shrug is more awkward this time.

"It will be useful. For you."

Beat.

"And it is better to be safe."

They both know that very well by now.

"Yes. Much."

Because . . . well, you never know.

"So," Meg says, "what you been doing lately?"

"I talked to Liz," X says.

"About getting cats."

"Oh? What did she say?" Meg asks.

"She will talk to Red."

Beat.

"He likes his cats."

"Well, I will keep my fingers crossed that he can part with at least one. Or point you in the direction of one who needs a home if he can't."

X nods a little, as if in agreement.

"It will be okay."

She trusts Liz. And Hellboy.

"Yes, it will."

All of it.

"How are the fish?"

"They are okay."

Beat.

"I will need to replace the filter. Soon."

She does not mind, though. It is good to be busy.

"That's nothing too out of the ordinary, though, right?"

"No," X says.

"And the tank is not leaking. That is good."

Beat.

"Alain is okay?"

Speaking of things X has not asked about in a while --

Not in a while, no.

Meg nods.

"Alain is well, yes," Meg says.

"We had our one year anniversary on Sunday."

"Oh."

X looks startled again.

And, if you squint, cautiously pleased.

"That was good? For you."

Beat.

"I do not know what people do. For those."

She suspects movies may not be accurate.

"It was very good, yes.

"We went to a play. And spent the day together and just generally had a very nice time.

"I think what people is . . . well, it depends on the people. We went to a play because we met at a play. I think that's pretty common, to . . . somehow acknowledge the way you met, or your first date, or something like that."

"Oh."

X does not think about milkshakes.

"You like plays."

Beat.

"You have been to many?"

Meg considers this.

"Many is probably a fair assessment," she decides.

"Do you like them?"

"I have not been to one."

She cannot tell if that is a bad thing.

"Would you like to, sometime?"

X hesitates.

But --

"Yes."

She's not lying.

"It is okay if I do not like it?"

"I think it's almost always okay to not like something."

It's not always necessarily okay to act on disliking it. But you don't have to like it.

"And not all plays are good, or likeable.

"So, sure.

"We'll make plans to go to one, and you can see what you think."

"Okay."

X is an agreeable person in the right circumstances.

"It will be one that you like?"

She thinks this might be important.

"Or one that I think I will like, if I haven't seen it yet."

And Waiting for Godot is right out.

"Okay."

X sounds a little more hesitant about it --

But only a little.

"It might depend on what's playing.

"If you check in San Francisco, I'll check in Montreal. It should be in the paper."

And French isn't a problem for either of them, right?

Right!

X nods very seriously.

"I will look."

Beat.

"And I will report back."

She is good at making decisions, but informed decisions are better.

"And we'll see what sounds interesting, and make the decision together.

"It can be your birthday present."

"Oh. I -- "

She cannot say she forgot, because it would not be true.

"Okay."

Beat.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," Meg says.

"I think we'll have fun."

Even if they don't like the play.

"Yes," X says.

That, at least, she is sure of.

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