milliways_bar | (no subject)

Entry tags:

rose/thorn

(no subject)

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Rose had a birthday recently and she's currently prodding at a cupcake with a candle in it, a guide to driving sitting next to it on the bar.

Oh, she'll eat it eventually - the cupcake - but for now she's just going to sigh forlornly at it until her mood goes away.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Hello." It's been a while, but Alec remembers the girl who works in the costume shop and seems like she carries the weight of the world around.

Alec is rather memorable and she perks up a little when she sees a friendly face. Or, you know.

"Hi! How are you?"

"Busy, but well. And you? Is it your birthday?" He isn't sure she will want to make a thing of it, so he is reserved about the candle and the cupcake.

"A few days ago." She just hasn't been in bar until now. "I'm nineteen."

"Happy birthday." Nineteen...he isn't sure he was ever nineteen.

"Yeah," she sighs. "First one I've spent alone."

"I'm sorry. No one should have a birthday alone." Unless they are swamp things?

She shakes her head, getting her thoughts together. "It's okay. It happens when you're an adult."

"I suppose it does." Nineteen is hardly an adult. But no nineteen year old would ever think that. "How have you been?"

She shrugs. "Things are fine. I'm trying to learn how to drive and it's pretty hard. Do you drive?"

"I had a license, once. I suppose I could do it again if I needed to. But I can travel from place to place through the Green, so I don't have much need of a car." Also, cars are horrible sources of pollution. He can't say he likes them much anymore.

Rose, sadly, has other things on her mind than pollution, though she would agree it's horrible in general.

"How do you travel through the Green?"

"I am connected to all the plants in the world. If I want to be somewhere, I reach out through the Green and find the plants, and transfer my consciousness in those plants and grow a new body.

"I hope that makes sense." It's not the easiest thing to explain. Not the sort of thing he was taught to lecture about.

She nods. "As much sense as anything else around here." Basically, she gets the idea.

"I might have a new job that I'll have to drive to."

He smiles softly. "So no more Swamp Thing masks to sell for Halloween?"

"Oh, it's still for the costume shop. They're opening a second location and I might be day manager." She can barely contain her genuine excitement.

"That is really good. Glad that your store is doing that well. And that you are getting the chance to be part of it. Where will the second store be?" He's not feeling excited himself - too much is happening in his life for excitedment - but he is happy for her.

"It's further west of where I live. Too far to walk." And a crowded bus... just isn't a good idea.

"But still in the city?" He remembers urban driving. He would rather fight Arcane.

"Oh, yes. I would never leave Metropolis." It's too much her comfort zone.

"It's a wonderful city. Centennial Park, the universities, and of course the Big Guy." Who is almost a friend these days.

"It's home," she says simply. And then she smiles. "Superman's the best, isn't he?"

"He definitely seems to be. Never reacts to me like I am a monster, always has a smile and a kind word, and is incredibly dedicated. He makes me want to be a better man." Or thing. Or whatever.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only