EP: Kate Barlow | Main Bar

[ikissdhimbck]

The door opens to a golden sky, so thick with dust it looks like orange meringue.

The soft chnk of spurs precedes the cowgirl, collar turned up and hat low over her eyes. Once the door closes, she tips her hat back and takes a look around. And smiles.

As soon as she settles at the Bar, she's presented with gift after gift after gift after gift, along with a plate of Solstice sweets and a few gingerbread ... robots? She eyes everything with delight, surprised when she realizes how much time has passed. She wasn't expecting she'd be gone so long. She best start on the thank-you notes straight away.

But first, she does happen to have a few gifts of her own. She unshoulders her bag and leaves the tardy presents with Miss Bar.

Dr. Lecter receives a fine buffalo pelt, along with a small parcel of meat, and a handwritten note.

The Sandhu's receive an ornate chess set along with a fine oak board, and five parcels of candy suitable for each family member.

Mr. Tommy Gavin receives a bar of lye soap and a suggestive note on what to do with it, along with a very attractive silk teck tie wrapped in tissue.

Mr. John Marston receives a fine gentleman's hat: it's a high top Derby, and it's bulletproof. The accompanying note says: Keep your head on straight –Kate

Mr. The Kid receives a pair of chocolate brown dancing shoes and a framed picture, along with a handwritten note.

Master Elrond receives a book of poems by Lord Byron, and a jar of Kate's spiced peaches, along with a handwritten note.

Ms. Remy receives a lidded trinket box in the shape of a white cat with big blue eyes, filled with her favorite sweets. The accompanying note is signed: –Blue Eyes

Ms. Ellen receives a set of very practical gifts: a nice length of good rope, tooled leather boots, a fine set of spurs, and a pair of lambskin gloves, along with a handwritten note.

Ms. Dixie receives a set of dime novels and a pair of lambskin gloves in pink, along with a box of chocolate bonbons and a handwritten note.

Ms. Clementine receives a box of saltwater taffy, and while Kate is setting it aside she asks Miss Bar to add a pint of Peach Cobbler ice cream to the parcel.

Enzo & Dani receive a traditional engagement gift: silver spoons, along with a set of silver civil war cannon trinkets, and a gold locket. A formal note of congratulations accompanies the gifts.

Ms. Pyrrha receives a paint box set with several fine colors, and a few horsehair brushes. While Kate is at the Bar, she asks that a bushel of ripe avocados be added to the parcel.

Teja receives a pommel sword and sheath with a gold eagle head hilt and gold inlay along the blade, as well as a handwritten note.

Ratonhnhaké:ton receives a fresh set of writing tools, along with a toy stagecoach and a small parcel of sweets.

William Evans receives a new collection of books, mostly American authors as it's what she could find in Galveston, and a dime novel slipped in. They're accompanied by a small tin of caramels, and a handwritten note.

To everyone else go a jar of spiced peaches and a small parcel of sweets, nuts, and dried fruit.

That done, she settles down to write her thank-yous, occasionally admiring the clay cat and pondering a name change to 'Queen of the Bandits'. No doubt she'll soon break into the sweets, though there's far too much to eat in one sitting. It's a good turn of luck that she feels inspired to share.


[ooc: I've missed all of the fun! Feel free to catch me up and link me to anything you'd like to have tagged, I'm happy to bounce around and see all of the shenanigans. ^__^ This is open throughout the weekend and perhaps longer. Hello again.]

Comments

[the_cupbearer]

"You're welcome to come with me to mine sometime, though it's very different from your time, I imagine," he says.

"I primarily ride an exceedingly high-spirited Andalusian buckskin stallion. Named Aurelio."

[ikissdhimbck]

"D'you live in a 'sky-scraper'?"

Kate knows about these things.

Her stunning knowledge of modern L.A. architecture pales when he speaks of his horse, however. Her eyes light up, a smile spreading fast across her face.

"He sounds beautiful. That's quite a horse."

[the_cupbearer]

"He's very much a stallion, I will say that," he says.

"But no, I do not. I live in a house on the beach in Malibu. It's two stories, but not a skyscraper by any means."

[ikissdhimbck]

On the beach. Kate looks duly impressed.

"Mal-a-boo — don't think I've ever heard'a that place. S'that Indian?"

[the_cupbearer]

"It was a long time ago, yes."

[ikissdhimbck]

She nods, struck with quiet sadness.





"Well. Milliways may not be like Malibu, but Aurelio would be treated well. Beaut don't much care for the cold, but she does all right here. An' animals are welcome t'come an' go, of course."

[the_cupbearer]

"I wasn't there when it was still primarily Indian. By the time I came along to the place, it was very much American. But it is a little sad, how places shift and change, and sometimes disappear."

But he nods. "I'd very much like you to meet him, he'd like you." He tends to take better to people who don't shy from him. "I'll try to get here with him sometime."

[ikissdhimbck]

She smiles sadly.

"It is sad. I think I'm on the cusp of all that change. I've seen Indian wars, an' they always end badly, as wars are wont t'do. I'm too afraid t'ask what things are like in the future."

Even if it won't be her future.

In a small way, it always is her future.

"I'm sure I'd like him. I get along with most horses, more'n I do with people sometimes."

[the_cupbearer]

Ganymede chuckles dryly. "It hasn't changed so much from your time to mine. People are always the same, really."

He shrugs. "Why is that you think?"

[ikissdhimbck]

"Why is what? Why I get along with horses?"

She leans back a little, reflecting on her life.

"I reckon it's 'cuz that was my daddy's business. I grew up 'round horses, started ridin' when I was knee-high to a grasshopper. Jus' learned how t'talk to 'em, I reckon."

[the_cupbearer]

"I meant why you'd get along with them better than people, but that's a start," he says.

"Regrettably I don't have much to do with my father's business."

[ikissdhimbck]

"Well, the reason's about the same, I'd wager. I never learned how t'talk to folk as well as I do horses."

Her lips twist.

"I get along with most all right, but I'm at ease with animals."

She chuckles under her breath, turning again to her glass.

"Is it so regrettable that y'don't?"

[the_cupbearer]

"Spoken like someone who has no taste for politics," he laughs, shaking his head.

"My life was supposed to be very, very different. I know people tend to think of me and they only really know one or two things--that I like men, that I was and am thought beautiful by a great many. I have to say if someone had asked me what I'd want to be remembered for, those wouldn't have been on any list I'd have made. I would've preferred being my father's son in all that entailed."

[ikissdhimbck]

There's a quick retort on the tip of her tongue, but she holds it back. She listens, expression softening.

My life was supposed to be very, very different.

She bites the inside of her cheek, but it doesn't stop that quiet exhalation, that one sharp breath that could be a laugh if it held any sound. Wry, and sympathetic.

"So what all does that entail?"

[the_cupbearer]

"In all likelihood, bloody murder and a lot of politics, not always honest. My father made a city where there was nothing. It wasn't an easy task."

[ikissdhimbck]

Her eyebrows brush her hairline.

"I can understand folk wantin' t'be remembered for their politics, but I can't say as I've ever heard somebody say they'd rather be remembered for bloody murder."

She keeps her tone light, bordering on playful.

[the_cupbearer]

"Better that than be remembered for being abducted and whored," he says bluntly, but softly.

[ikissdhimbck]

She winces.

Her eyes instantly drift to the Bar.




"M'sorry. I didn't mean to—"

She shakes her head.

[the_cupbearer]

"Make me give that answer? I'd wonder about you if you had," he says, and he tosses his head, takes a breath, and stays calm.

"I'm sure it sounds very shallow, but I would have very much preferred being remembered either not at all, or for something less...well. Too late now."

[ikissdhimbck]

"I didn't mean to upset you."

She does look up now, regret in her eyes.


And something else. Something like kinship.

"It doesn't. Sound shallow, that is. All I ever wanted was t'teach."

[the_cupbearer]

Ganymede studies her face for a long time, blinking slowly. "So what do you do now that isn't teaching?" It's something she's not happy about and never would have done otherwise.

[ikissdhimbck]

She studies him in return, her whole demeanor turned quiet.

When at last she speaks, it isn't to him. She glances down, turns to Miss Bar, and murmurs a request. In short order, a newspaper materializes in front of Ganymede.

The headline says it all.



Kissin' Kate Barlow.

[the_cupbearer]

"Armed and dangerous," he reads, tilting his head and looking back at her.

"I feel fairly confident that you're not about to kiss me."

[ikissdhimbck]

Her lips twist.

"'Bout as confident as I am you're not gonna do the same?"

[the_cupbearer]

"About so," he says with a twitch of his lips that might have been a smile. "Are you expecting me to be afraid of you, now that I know what you do?"