milliways_bar | (no subject)

Dick wasn't expecting to see the bar.

Ever again, really. He had become used to the bar being somewhere he could access through tents and doors in the circus. It was a new part of his world, sure, but it was a part of it.

Then his world collapsed in front of him and everything changed and suddenly he found himself living in an orphanage in Gotham City run by nuns.

He's had to deal with that new, horrible world, and he hates everything about it. Hates how it's not the circus, but at the same time, he's sort of pleased that he doesn't have to be at the circus, to see Mister Haly or the animals or any of his friends, and not see his parents. This new world is horrible, but because it's missing everything, it's not missing them specifically.

That's what he'd think if he was capable of coherent thought on the subject right now.

As it is, Dick couldn't explain exactly why finding the bar appear on the way to his dorm feels like a betrayal.

The boy stands in the doorway, fists clenching at his side as he glares at the bar for daring to still exist, and still be bright and loud and friendly when everything on the other side of the door is broken.

He glares for one second,
two seconds,
three seconds...

And then he vanishes into the rafters.

[OOC: If you can find him, completely open! But be open to very short threads, if he doesn't want to talk. DCU!Dick.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Almanzo considers this, leaning over to squeeze the last few drops out of the cow. Milking takes practice.

"I guess that depends if you already have the land." he says. "If you got the land for twenty years, probably cheaper. The storekeeper has to pay for someone else to have the cow on their land and to feed it and that makes their profit."

"You sell milk, right?"

"No, we sell butter and cheese though." Almanzo says. "The milk feeds the whole family and then some. But most families round here would have one cow for their milk."

Dick nods.

He's tempted to say something about the circus - but he doesn't want to pretend he's still living there - or the orphanage - but he doesn't want to ruin everything by dropping that news in the conversation.

So he doesn't follow it up.

"Is there anything else that needs doing?"

"I got to muck out the cows next." Almanzo says. "But you can just watch if you want, I didn't bring you here to do all my work."

Father comes in at this point, to check that the cow is fully milked.

"Not bad." he says, nodding at the pair. "Royal said you had a friend over, make sure the chores are finished before you play."

"Yes Father." Almanzo says, nodding. "Dick helped me with the milking."

"You're a good milker for your first attempt." Father says, nodding. "I'll let Mother know there's one more for dinner."

He heads out, taking the milk bucket. Almanzo picks up a fork.

"Cows don't ask for all that much really." he says, contemplating. "But I like horses better."

Dick smiles despite himself at the praise from someone else's father, and turns away so Almanzo can't see just how much he liked that.

He would offer to help, but he doesn't particularly want to. So he swings himself up high into the barn to watch without getting in the way.

Almanzo points out the animals by name as he works.

"And that's Starlight." he points over towards the colts, which Dick should just be able to see from his position. "I'm not allowed to go near him."