milliways_bar | Entrance post

Helen walks over with her tray. "You look like you're new here." She smiles warmly, brightly. "Welcome to Milliways Bar, the Restaurant at the end of the Universe."

Todd just blinked. First of all, beautiful woman talking to him. That was unheard of.

Two, end of the universe??? How can there be an end, and who would stick a bar there?

So his reply came out something like, "Hab-buh-whut?"

Helen just smiles. "First of all, yes, you are at the end of the universe. Look," she points to the observation window, "There's the universe, just ending." She smiles again. "Secondly, I'm Helen. I'm a waitress here. What's your name? And where are you from?"

Todd went to look out the window, and his jaw dropped in shock as he stared at the sight of stars exploding.

The space race was heating up in his time, so the idea of being out in space was mind-blowing.

As it was, he had to blink, and ask as he finally turned around, "Uh, sorry, what?"

Helen grins. "It's alright. I know it's overwhelming. Anyway, I'm Helen. I waitress here. What's your name, and where are you from?"

Todd blinked, realizing how rude he was being to a lady, "Oh! Uh, I'm Todd Anderson. ...Is me. And I'm from Welton Academy in Vermont."

Great, no social skills in front of women at all.

Helen smiles, still, comfortingly. "Nice to meet you, Todd. I'm from Sparta, Greece. Many years in your past. Can I get you a drink? Food? I can get you anything you want..."

Todd stared again, and his eyes boggled at this information. A beautiful woman, who claimed to be from Greece, in the past.

He blinked, and finally stammered, "Aren't you dead?" Was this the afterlife? He didn't remember dying. Hey, wait, if it is, maybe Neil's around?

Be careful with the poor boy, he's been in for some bad shocks in his life recently.

"Actually, I'm not. Time works differently here." Helen keeps a comforting smile. Her kitten peeks up over the basket rim. Helen smiles warmly. "Todd, this place is really easy to deal with, but you just sort of have to accept it. I know it seems odd at first. Just don't get in fights and you'll be fine. Now, can I get you a drink or something? You look like you need it."

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And look, another familiar face! Except that it was older. And...well, he was supposed to be dead. This was an image of what Neil might have been if he had seen to live the days after tomorrow.

But it wasn't Neil. In fact, his name was James Wilson, and he was an oncologist. He was also oblivious of Todd's presence for the time being, eating some onion rings at the bar.

(OOC: I think Todd might break a record for noob breakage tonight lol! Especially since this one did become a doctor. *pets her new pup*)

Todd was still looking around, when he spied a face. It can't be? He started towards them, only, no. He's older.

He still couldn't help shakily ask, "N-Neil?"

For some reason, despite the fact that it wasn't his name, Wilson looked up from his plate of onion rings over to the source of the voice. It was obvious that the boy was staring, and since he didn't know who he was and didn't recognize the name "Neil"...well.

"Can I help you?" He asked, cocking his head the one side as he observed Todd, oblivious.

Todd stared a moment longer, and then sadly replied, "Never mind. Sorry, sir."

It's not Neil, it's this grown-up, never was Neil.
Neil's gone. And the reminder just hurt all over again.
He wiped at his eyes that were threatening to tear up again.

If Wilson had been another kind of man, he might have ignored the fact that the boy was tearing up. However, this was Wilson we were talking about, and...well, he wasn't that kind of man.

A frown came to his lips when he saw that somehow, he had upset the boy. Perhaps not intentionally, but that didn't mean he could just leave it alone.

"There's no need to apologize," he reassured. "Are you sure there isn't something I can help you with?" He asked sincerely.

Todd sighed, "I don't think so. It's just you look like a friend I know...knew." He still had trouble using the past tense at times when it came to talking aout Neil.

Knew? That either meant that his friend was no longer a friend or...well, dead. Wilson had been a doctor long enough to sense these things.

"Here, why don't you have a seat? You look like you could use something to drink," he said gently, gesturing to the seat next to him.

"Uh, it's ok, thank you." Todd sat down. He glanced up, studying the man's features. The whole thing seemed eerie.

And he thought he could hear Mr. Keating quoting, 'Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less travelled. And that has made all the difference.' Neil took the road less travelled, like Keating, and look where it got them.

This man seemed to have taken the more travelled road.

And as odd as it was introducing himself to this older, not Neil, he said, "I'm Todd Anderson. I-I just got here."

Neil was starting to fit into the grove of the place, at least...he liked to think he was starting to fit into the grove of the place. He certainly was feeling no desire to be anywhere else and though he often looked towards the door when he came in to the main room of the bar, he had yet to approach it again since that night when April pointed it out to him.

He'd found a book and had it tucked under his arm intrigued by the subject matter and coming into the room to get himself some tea and maybe a sandwich to enjoy while reading when he ...

Saw a very familiar face.

Pausing in midstep the youth blinked, reached up and rubbed at his dark eyes and then blinked again before he smiled brightly and called out.

"Todd!"

That voice... I know that voice...

Todd spun around, trying to find where it was coming from... His eyes flickered over the crowd until he spied a familiar face. And it was the right age...and then reality threatened to crash around him.

Oh God... it can't be, can it? He thought maybe this was a dream, or maybe it was the afterlife after all?

The blood drained out of his face, and he took a hesistant step toward that laughing, smiling face.

"Neil? Is-is it r-really you?" Maybe he was a ghost? Or he was hallucinating?

He took another brief step, and in a hushed voice of disbelief, said,
"They told me you were dead...

At first, without really thinking, Neil was all smiles and his usual ready laughter as he worked his way through the crowd towards Todd’s side. All he was thinking was how great it was to see his friend and it didn’t dawn on him until he was beside the other boy how his sudden disappearance might have affected Todd.

“Todd…hey…” Neil quickly set his book down on a nearby table and took Todd by his elbows, steering him towards a free chair. “Sit down before you fall down buddy.”

As soon as he had Todd off his feet, Neil hunkered down on his heels beside the other youth, gripping his wrist.

“Now…what’s this about…being told I was dead?”

Neil felt a twinge of disquiet. He was certain…almost positive at this point that he wasn’t dead…that he hadn’t pulled the trigger but here was Todd, looking at him as if he’d seen a ghost.

Todd couldn't help staring at him, a million questions running through his mind. Most of all, why? And how can you be here talking to me?

He trembled a little as he sat, his mind struggling to grasp it all.

"Charlie woke, woke me up to tell me. It was after your performance, and you were so amazing in it, by the way. You're right, you should be an actor." He wiped his eyes as tears started down his cheeks again.

"But-but-but they said you kill-killed yourself...that you shot yourself. And, and there was a service at Welton, and they, they fired Mr. Keating."

He then asked in a pleading voice, "You're really alive, right Neil? You're not a ghost?"

Neil listened to his friend’s halting account of the events following his amazing trip through the window with a sense of growing guilt and horror.

“Todd…Todd, look at me.” Grabbing his friend’s hand, he lifted it up to press it against his face.

“See? Real… I promise.”

Reaching up, Neil gently wiped the tears from Todd’s face as he smiled sadly.

“I…after the play my father told me he was withdrawing me from Welton, he had a military school lined up and he was going to force me to go there. I…I don’t know what happened Todd but it was like my whole world, everything that made me, me was being ripped away. Acting, Welton, the Dead Poets…you.”

Neil sighed softly and lowered his hands to rest them on Todd’s one arm.

“Everything was swirling around in my head… I went down stairs…I… God help me Todd I had my father’s revolver in my hand, pressed to my temple, ready to pull the trigger. Then … one of the study windows blew open and I put the gun down and got up to go investigate…and…then I was here.”

Frowning a little, Neil wrinkled his nose as he thought about what Todd had just told him.

“I’ve spent a lot of time trying to confirm if I’m alive or dead but everything points towards my being alive. I can see the door I can open it…though I haven’t had the courage to look much beyond the white landscape beyond. As for what you’ve been told…it would be just like my father to find his gun…find me just gone…and to cover up the embarrassment of my possibly having run away…he reported me dead.”

It would have been a stretch but his father had some good friends who might have been able to help him pull it off at least to certain eyes…to achieve certain results.

Like the firing of Keating.

Todd was shaking pretty badly, but it calmed a little at the contact from Neil. My God, he really is here. He's alive, and everything's ok. He listened to his friend, just stunned by it all. He came to understand a few things, partly why Neil did it. He was dead already, Mr. Perry had killed him before Neil ever picked up the gun. But he knew, wasn't there something about his body being found? Wait, by his parents... Mr. Perry could have lied about it all, covered it up, and blamed it on Mr. Keating. He knew he didn't like the teacher, and he saw how he was around Neil.

It did seem possible, but part of him still thought, Two roads diverged in a wood... One road leads to Neil committing suicide. That road lay behind the door he couldn't see anymore. The other he ran away, but is alive.

And I, I took the one less travelled. I choose the less travelled road.

Todd glanced back at the door, or where the door was supposed to be, "I can't see it anymore, and I don't care. There's nothing back there. You're here, Charlie's here, maybe Meeks, Pitts, and Knox will find this place too. Maybe even Mr. Keating." He'd rather that Cameron didn't find the place personally. Mostly because Charlie's probably want to deck him again if he does.

He found a blanket that covered his feet, and there was no sweaty-toothed manman looking to choke him here.

Maybe it wasn't heaven, but it's good enough. They could do whatever they wanted here, and be free.

"We did it, Neil. We're free." He smiled a little, still shaking slightly, but it was getting better. Everything was going to be fine.

Neil looked at Todd and he didn’t have the heart to tell his sensitive young friend that the freedom they both felt at the moment was false. That eventually they would become trapped in their own cage of what if but that was something for later. For now, Todd was starting to look better, starting to sound a little steadier and…

Well, Neil was just glad to see him.

Standing up he reached and ruffled his friend’s sandy hair, finally processing his words.

“Wait.. Nuwanda’s here? Okay we need to go find him! But first, you’ve been told the rules of this place yes? Do you have somewhere to stay?”

Forever playing the self appointed role of protector to Todd, it was as natural as breathing and Neil felt a fresh wash of guilt at the realization that he’d been ready to abandon Todd that night.

Todd nodded, and gave a small smile, and feeling a lot steadier. Better than he had the past couple of days.

"Yeah, we got here about the same time at least here. Uh, the times we came from seemed kind of screwed up." Nothing he wanted to dwell on anyway. It didn't matter, none of it mattered. He felt reassured.

He held up his room key, and replied, "Yeah, I did, and I got a room."

He then stood up again, steady on his feet once more, "How long have you been here? This place, it, it all seems incredible."