milliways_bar | (no subject)

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The bar may still need some cleaning up, but it's here and so are its patrons, and for that Artemis is grateful.

So she's trying not to take it too personally when it feels like the one person she hasn't seen since the almost apocalypse is the person she wants to see most.

She scrounges up a bar napkin and a sharpie; moments later, the following is tacked to the notice board:

HAVE YOU SEEN PAUL AVERY?
If so, please contact Artemis. (Yes, that one.)

Now there's nothing to do but wait patiently(-ish). Artemis takes a seat at the bar, swiveling slightly back and forth on her stool as she watches the room.

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"Little bird told me you might be looking for me."

The smile that Paul is wearing as he sits down next to Artemis is half simply pleased and half sheepish. He nods first at her and then at the notice bar, expression threatening to break into a proper grin. (It's been a while since he's seen her, and, well. He's missed her.)

"I like your sign."

At no point did Artemis realistically consider that, thanks to the apocalypse, she might never see Paul again.

(Outside of realistic consideration, however, there is still plenty of room for paranoid ironies.)

Paul barely has time to get settled before she jumps down off her stool, flinging her arms around him a tight hug.

"You're okay."

He hugs her just as tightly, pressing his lips to her hair in a quick kiss.

"It'll take more than an apocalypse to get me out of the picture," he says gently, in the sort of tone that implies well, yes, an apocalypse would about do it, but I'm here anyway.

"Nice to see you're still in one piece."

Artemis laughs, the sound all relief.

"It's good to be here."

She loosens her grip, but still keeps her arms around him.

It occurs to her that there's no better excuse than surviving the apocalypse for kissing someone.

It's not entirely free of hesitation--it can't be; this is not something she does, has not been for so long--but the kiss is tender and grateful and so damn happy.

It's not entirely free of hesitation and he doesn't expect it to be (he knows the myths, and he knows her, after all). When he pulls back, he looks nothing but happy, not even bothering to try to hide the smile on his face.

"Missed you."

(Similarly, he's never been particularly eloquent when it comes to expressing his own feelings.)

(He's in good company.)

"Missed you, too."

Because even if it might be obvious, it deserves to be said aloud.

"Um...do you want to sit back down here, or somewhere else, and...maybe play catch up?"

Not that Artemis is reading over the notice board.

Mostly to get a feel for the place.

Some days it really doesn't pay to get out of bed.

This Artemis is watching that Artemis totally not read over the notice board.

"You know him?" she wonders.

"Never heard of him. It's the other name that caught me."

"Yeah? What about it?"

Could be just the standard 'haha someone's parents were hippies' level of interest. Could be something else, though.

"It's a good name. I like it."

A beat.

"Got me to look at the archery club at school anyway."

"No kidding?"

Artemis grins. "You stick with it?"

"So far. If we get an archery theme villain though, they might shut everything down."

There might be two groups that teach juggling left in Gotham. There is not three. Eventually you stop presenting a target if you are not to rich too learn.

"Hang on a second.

Archery. Theme. Villain?"

"It's Gotham. Our crooks are a little different."

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