milliways_bar | (no subject)

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Well, that really wasn't fun. Rae supposes she couldn't truly expect the weather to hold off for a little thing like her fighting for her life, but it would've been nice if it had been a little more considerate, you know? Con had been impervious to the icy rain - of course he had - but Rae's experience had been a little more... well, human. Her fingers, slicked with blood and exposed to the elements, had soon gone numb and clumsy. It hadn't been an easy night. When they had returned to her apartment, her only thoughts were of the hot shower she was about to have. The three hot showers she wanted to take in succession, and the long, soaking bath she wanted directly after, and the twelve hours or more of sleep she wanted after that. So what if that would put her waking up around sunset tomorrow.

But the door to her bathroom, of course, has other ideas.

Rae shuffles into the bar today, exhausted, soaking wet, and shivering. Her black sweater and sweatpants cling to her, sodden and still dripping as the ice melts. There is ice in her hair from the sleet that had gotten caught in it, and she smells of cold sweat and blood. The melting ice and rain may have washed much of the blood from her, but some of it remains, and the scrapes and minor injuries that show where her sweater has been torn still bleed sluggishly.

"Unnnnnngh," Rae makes an exhausted noise of complaint in her throat as she sees where she is. She hadn't been expecting Milliways. Now she has an entire set of stairs to climb before she can reach her shower. Why so cruel, universe?

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"Then you would have little hope of ever returning to being that person, if the day comes when all this is over", he realizes. "And sometimes hope is all we have."

"Yeah," she says tightly, wiping at her eyes.

"I want to... I need to be able to be... who I was, before this all happened. I can't be... this... all the time - it'd drive me mad."

"And yet other people - out of necessity, of course, not to blame them - continue forcing you to be this", he says sadly. "Is there anyone in your world you can confide in?"

"I have an ally I fight alongside," Rae nods. "He knows what I can do, and is there with me when things get bad... but his perspective is such that, ah, um."

She hesitates, trying to figure out how to word it. "He has seen a lot more of this than I have, and some things that seem worldview-shattering to me, he just takes in stride. It's... normal, for him. It hasn't yet become so for me."

Edited 2013-12-15 21:16 (UTC)

"Then I pray it never does. If you ever need an escape, completely away from your world, to remind you what normality is like, you are welcome to visit my world. And not to join my war, I would have you go somewhere other than Sleepy Hollow."

Sunshine chuckles, genuinely touched by the offer. "I appreciate that, Ichabod. Wish I could return the offer, but my life doesn't have much normalcy. Or a reliable door to Milliways, for that matter - I never know when it will appear again."

It's only as she (finally!) reaches the top of the stairs that she remembers to mention - "I met your wife, the other day."

That gets a smile, automatic but completely genuine, of happiness and love.

"Oh yes? I did also, near the woods."

"We had tea and muffins in the kitchens, and talked," Rae smiles. "She's nice; I enjoyed meeting her."

"I'm glad. She is... very alone, where she is. Except now, here."

"Is she staying here, or does she only visit from time to time, like most patrons?"

"She can only visit", he says quietly. "Remaining here would bring great risk, both to herself and to Milliways itself, if he were to pursue her..."

"...I wonder if we could find someone here more powerful than he is," she murmurs, leading the way down the hall. "There used to be a god on Security, from what I've heard."

"I would enjoy seeing that. Although I fear the destruction caused during the fight might be high."

Rae smiles vaguely, reaching a hand out to steady herself against a wall. "Or maybe he'll decorate the bar as a coatrack."

Ichabod blinks at her, then bursts out laughing.

"The only thing that could improve on that is if the Horseman were with him."

Rae chuckles as she walks, glad to have made him laugh. "I've heard that literally happened once, when some powerful being came in intending to break the first and second rules."

She hasn't heard the specifics, but it certainly sounded amusing.

"This place has already survived the apocalypse, anyway... all of them at once, I heard, and it's still standing."

"How very resilient", he says dryly. "I can only hope to transfer some of that quality to my own world."

"I hope so, too," Rae says, softly, as they come upon a door with no number, but a stylized sunburst of wrought iron hanging upon it. Though in appearance the door itself is no different than the doors to the rooms on either side of it, it feels very solid. Almost wall-like, itself.

"Well, this is my stop."

Even with no talent of his own, he can feel that, and keeps his hands well away from the door.

"I will see you safely through it, if you don't mind."

Sunshine smiles faintly, exhaustedly, leaning on the door frame. "I don't mind at all."

She carries nothing with her when she's out with Con, just in case. This includes keys, so Rae moves to put her hand on the doorknob. It takes effort to clear her mind, and her eyes close with the need to concentrate, but the soft sound of the lock tumblers shifting into place soon follows, and she opens the door.

It's a plain room beyond the door - modern, but with only simple furniture, a bed, nightstand, dresser, low bookshelf, and a wide, soft chair piled with pillows. A place to stay, not to live. The walls are pale yellow, and the windows on the far wall are large, letting in the slanting winter sunlight. But the whole effect, however, is of looking at something as solid and impermiable as a life-sized photograph of the room.

This feeling passes, however, when she says, "You can come in, if you'd want."

"Gladly." He steps cautiously through the door. "Although I thought you intended to sleep? Or clean yourself?"

There are wards of many different shapes and purposes hanging above the door, emitting a low, mental hum of solidity and security. A long, ribbonlike strip of ward paper is wrapped around the curtain rod over the window, and another ward hangs from the clasp holding the window locked. The whole room looks like a regular room, nothing out of the ordinary, but it feels very secure. Like a room with no drafts coming in.

"I do," Rae says, a faint line appearing between her brows in confusion at his question. "But... you said... I'm sorry, I must've misunderstood. I'm not all here at the moment."

"I certainly would not remain in the room while you cleaned yourself", he says quickly. "Sleeping... perhaps. I did say I would protect you, but I understood there was less need of it in this room."

"Sorry," Rae shakes her head, chuckling drowsily. "I'm just really not with it, right now. I should get a shower quick before I pass out, or continue spreading confusion."

"Thank you for helping me up the stairs."

He lingers, hesitating, and glances at the door he assumes leads to the bathroom, as he can't see any shower or tub here.

"Would it ease your mind if I did remain? Or returned?"