milliways_bar | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Red makes note of the occasion out back on her way from the woods into the bar. She shrugs it off once she sees the sign, though; as far as she can remember, that's someone she never met.
She asks Lady Bar for paper and something to write with, and proceeds to leave a note for a few people.

There's something I want to try this weekend, which should be the full moon in the bar, if one or more of you would be willing to help.

That done, she heads for the fireplace. Hopefully all these flowers won't bother her so much that she has to leave before anyone answers her note.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Helena comes into the bar, claiming a drink from Bar, and receives Red's note along with it.

Scanning the bar, she finds the woman herself, and goes over. "What can I help you with, darling?"

Red looks up, and smiles - and sneezes.
"Sorry. Damn flowers. I want to... see how I do staying inside over a full moon. It might be something I need to do sometime, and I'd rather find out how easily I'll get overwhelmed with people I trust around."

"Of course, darling." Helena takes a chair by Red. "Tell me what you need me to do." She rummages in a pocket and produces a handkerchief. "Here. Looks like you need this."

"Thank you. At least there's a purpose to the flowers, or I'd be a good deal more upset." But since they're there to honor someone, she'll tough it out. Or go home, or retreat upstairs.
"I'll want company, mainly. If Charles is around I'll still be able to actually communicate, but even if he isn't, people I know and trust won't hurt. And if I get overwhelmed, throw the cloak on me."

"Of course, darling. I'll do anything you need me to." She nods. "I do probably have better reflexes than Charles." Martial arts training and all. "How have you been otherwise, darling? I have not seen you in quite a while."

"I've been well. That mess where everyone was young was just... odd, though. And I had a dream about my mother, but I think I needed that."
It let her actually put things to bed.

"Oh, tell me about it." Helena rolls her eyes. "Joshua believed he was twelve. It was... quite the interesting time."

A pause. "Oh? What did she have to say?"

Edited 2013-11-14 00:19 (UTC)

"He did? Oh dear. It caught Snow and Charles both." Snow actually liked Her Majesty at the time. That was just weird.
"Oh, she didn't have anything to say. She was a wolf the whole time. But I... needed to tell her that just because my pack doesn't look like hers doesn't mean I'll hurt them on her say-so."

"Actually, I think Joshua said that he talked to Snow. He said something about being absolutely fascinated that he met a real princess." Helena giggles a bit. "He was rather adorable."

A pause. "Sometimes it is important to say things to people, even if they cannot or will not respond. Do you feel better now that you have had that chance to speak to her?"

Red smiles. "I do."
And then she sneezes again. "Gods, this is ridiculous."

"Good." Helena winces. "Is there somewhere else you can go? Would going upstairs help? Or, if it's bad enough, I could take you back to my world for a bit or relief."

"I haven't tried going upstairs yet. I haven't claimed a room." When she's been upstairs, it's been in Charles' room.
"Could you? Take me back, I mean."

"Don't see why not. I'd have to warn Claudia that someone was coming in, but that would be no problem at all." She smiles. "Besides, you probably could use a bit of a vacation anyway."

Red smiles again. "I'd like that. How have you been lately?"

"Quite well, actually. My former partner has come to Milliways." She's beaming. "It is wonderful to see him again. And I have finished a writing project."

"He has? That's wonderful!" She thought Helena seemed happier than previously.
"What were you writing?"

"I... had at one point thought I had killed him, however, I merely threw him forward in time." A wry smile.

"I was writing a sequel to one of my previous novels. It's for Joshua."

"You didn't after all? That must be a load off your mind." She wishes she could have that same reassurance, but Peter's death was... very obviously her doing.
(She's past calling it her fault, at least.)
"I'm sure he'll like it."

"Oh, it is." Helena nods. "Granted, he was eventually killed by pirates, but he died on the job instead of because of me."

A pause. "I think he will. I used some of his science in it."

"Pirates? I wouldn't have expected your world to have that kind of problem." But then, everything she's heard indicates there's less sea travel to be had.
Red laughs. "He'll be surprised by that, but I think it'll be a good one."

"Darling, as long at things are transported on the sea, there will be those who wish to take those things away from their rightful owners."

"Oh, I cannot wait to see his face." Helena beams.

"I concede the point."
Her smile fades a little. "You wished it was Christina for a moment, didn't you? I thought the same thing about Peter, when I first heard the dead sometimes show up here, but... he'd be bored out of his skull very, very quickly. It would almost hurt more to have that."

"I did." She takes a deep, shaky breath, hand clutching her locket for a moment. "However, I did realize one thing. If she were to come here, she would be eight forever. That is no life for anyone, let alone someone as dynamic and full of life as she was."

"No, it isn't. And it may hurt more to watch that than it does to have her gone. But realising that... is a step in itself, really."

"Exactly." She sighs. "I still want her back terribly, but I'm beginning to realize that I will never have her back."

Red reaches for Helena's hand. "It's a start."
It's more than Helena's managed to do so far. The rest will come in time.

Charles is thoughtful as he gets the drink and notes the easel and marks of Urquhart's wake before looking for Red.

When he spots her, he walks over with his drink, "Hello."

Red smiles. "Hello, Charles."
And then she sneezes. Damn flowers.

"Would you rather go outside? I know its cold but it might be easier on your nose,"

There are a good deal of flowers, more than he feels Urquhart perhaps merits but that's not something to say.

"Or upstairs. I didn't want to be in the middle of someone else's occasion."
Not least because she didn't know the man.

"Upstairs, I know the man they're mourning and he wasn't terribly nice,"

He offers her his arm.

She accepts his arm. "What happened that he died?"
Permanently, it would seem, if the dates on the sign are anything to go by.

"An attack of zombies, its not a term I'm familiar with, but enough to kill him. I find it all rather over the top and feels like some funerals I've attended when I was growing up. The action of doing it mattered more than the feelings behind it."

"Gods." It's probably a good thing she missed that mess.
Red shrugs. "Even unsavory people can make friends. It means something to the people who were close to him."
And then she sneezes again. "If someone had just decided to put flowers all over the bar for no reason, I'd be more upset."

"Oh yes, I know and I'm glad that he's having this. Its just not something I feel comfortable dedicating too much time to. Now what about the moon?"

Its the kind of lying that he dislikes.

It can be hard to see how some people make friends. She's not sure what Her Majesty ever did to have Snow's trust so completely when she was little. But that's another matter entirely.
"I want to... try staying inside for the night. It might be something I need to do sometime, and I'd rather find out if it's too much with people I trust around. Helena's already said she'll be there, but the more the merrier."

"Of course I'll be there and you will be able to do it. I believe in you,"

She's starting to see her strength and it makes him hopeful.

Red smiles. "Thank you. I just - want some good company, and someone who can throw the cloak on me if I get overwhelmed."
People who aren't afraid of her. People she trusts with her life.

"You'll have it and you will manage it. I'm sure you will."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only