milliways_bar | (no subject)

He's in the middle of towelling off his hair when he notices her, and grins, pulling the towel off his head. The rest of him is pretty damp still, too.

"Hi, April."

The book was marked before April glanced up, a smile instantly upon her face. "Hi there, Remiel," she replied. "Isn't it a bit cold to be swimming?"

Remiel grins at the question.

"Well, here, anyway," he chuckles. "I got caught in a rainstorm today. Warm rain, luckily."

"Oh, well, that's not too bad, then. We all need to get caught in the rain from time to time. Builds character." She grinned and took a sip of her margarita. "Where were you that it was warm? Actually, a better question is will you take me there?" She laughed brightly.

"I was in Costa Rica, at least for a short while. Trust me, you don't want to go there -- spiders bigger than your shoes in those parts." He allows himself a brief shudder. "Getting that cold around here, huh?"

He remembers, then, that the outside was made to be like Scotland.

"...I suppose it would be, yeah."

"Only going to get worse, too, by the looks of it," April sighed, casting a quick glance towards the back door. "But I can't really complain much, since I love the snow. Can't have snow without it being cold, unfortunately."

"Well, you could," he reasons, "with fake snow, but that tends to get expensive. And it's not very worth it."

It never really gains natural fluffiness. Or, at least, that's Remiel's opinion on the matter.

April wrinkled her nose in distaste. "No, it's not. There's nothing like the real thing. I think maybe the cold is important. Makes it more special. You've got to be a little uncomfortable to really appreciate it," she laughed.

"I think you're right," he laughs. "You have to be as cold as the snow to get it, maybe. Understand it."

April nodded her agreement and smiled, propping her chin on one palm. "I don't think I could live somewhere where it never snowed. Can you imagine, never having a white Christmas? It's practically criminal!"

Technically, the angel has had Christmases just about everywhere, including places that don't exist anymore in his time.

A cold Christmas, though, with hot chocolate or warm eggnog, ranks very highly.

"Oh, I'd have to agree with you there," Remiel smiles. "Although it is fun to mix things up a little. Have a warm Christmas in the desert, decorate a cactus..."

Okay, so he made up the last part. He's never decorated a cactus.

But now he wants to.

April had to think on that a moment, but eventually nodded. "It'd probably be fun to do, once or twice," she agreed. "I've never decorated a cactus... do people in the desert really do that?" The idea worried her a little, if only for the potential for injuries.

"I don't know," he confesses. "Maybe some of them. I'd prefer to do it with some very long metal utensil, and not my fingers, personally. I don't think it's very... traditional, or generally good, to bleed at Christmas."

"No, I wouldn't think so," April replied with a low chuckle. "You know, I really do think I'll stick with a white Christmas if I can get it, as intriguing as decorating a cactus sounds."

Remiel laughs.

"I'd say that's a good decision. Have you been in Milliways for Christmas before?"

April shook her head. "No, not here. Although I did go to Christmas in London with Sherlock earlier this year, and that was nice." Even if it had meant her wearing a dress.

"London? Well, that'd be plenty cold, I should think."

He remembers, of course, but sometimes forgets that he does.

"There was lots of snow," she confirmed with a smile. "I feel kinda special, getting two Christmases this year. Have you ever been here for Christmas?"

"Not here, no," Remiel replies, grinning. "I've been just about everywhere else that celebrates it, though. Should be interesting to see how Milliways does things."

Holmes did not prefer to consider himself something so trivial as an interruption. He did step up to stand at her side, however, sliding one arm about her waist to curl his fingers against her hip and arch a brow at her choice of reading material.

April immediately snapped the book shut, not even bothering to mark her place. "You're not allowed to read that," she told him, turning her face up to his, her lips quirking.

Brow arching a bit more dramatically at her own dramatic reaction, he took a seat beside her, lips quirking at one edge when the Bar immediately coughed up one cup of steaming cup of tea. Perhaps it was finally willing to make up for all the trouble it had given him in the past. Perhaps not. He had little hope for this place, in that regard.

"And what, pray tell, am I unjustly prevented from reading?"

"Yourself," April answered easily, taking care to slide the novel away, out of his reach. "Nothing you won't find out eventually, I'm sure," she added, far too smug. "Although I'm hurt that there isn't anything in there about you falling completely in love with a beautiful, mysterious American named April. I mean, really, John should get it right if he's going to write it." She smirked, drumming her fingers across the book'd cover.

He did turn his eyes away, rather more obediently than anyone might have suspected. "You are right enough," he murmured, lifting the cup to his lips, one arm still resting along the back of her chair, casually circling her waist. "I should rather not know."

Pausing, he considred his words for a moment. "Better that I not be tempted to attempt any sort of change."

April bit against her bottom lip as she peered over at him. "You're not mad at me, are you?" she asked quietly. "I was just... Well, curious, I guess. I started reading it while you were gone, and I figured I might as well finish."

Holmes glanced at her with both brows arching, startled. "No," he determined after a moment's pause. "Though I do worry that you may know something of me that I do not quite know of myself," he chuckled, smile wry. "But you do tend to hold the advantage over me in such matters, after all."

April thumbed the edge of the book's cover idly, and half-shrugged. "You don't know that, though. You being here changes things, doesn't it? The events in here-" she tapped the cover "-might change or not happen at all."

She was hoping that would be the case, at any rate, seeing as how John was detailing Sherlock as the perpetual bachelor.

"I suppose that may be true." He should like to ask which events in that book had, in fact, already occured, but he successfully denied the urge. "Even so, better that I not try my hand at predicting my own future, I should think."

He had endured quite enough of that from Random, after all, though his card predictions might be proven to be correct.

April's shoulder presented an appealing curve, and he leaned momentarily closer, brushing his lips against her skin.

A contented hum sounded in the back of April's throat, her eyes falling half-lidded.

"You're trying to distract me, aren't you?" she asked, smirking as she cut him a sideways glance.

"Not at this moment," he chuckled, drawing back again and resting both arms quite safely against the smooth surface of the bar, sipping from his teacup.

He arched a brow. "Do you require a distraction? You seemed enjoyably engaged."

"I prefer the real thing," April answered easily, edging the novel further away with her elbow. She paused, and then added with an arched brow, "Don't you?"

"I do, yes," he replied without hesitation. He quite well remembered having to exist with only her memory for comfort, for the period of some eight months. The sting had not entirely faded, just yet.

"Vastly. I should say."

April chuckled softly under her breath and then leaned closer, catching her palm against the curve of his cheek. "I love you," she murmured, nuzzling at his temple, breathing in the familiar scent of him. Her lips lingered against his skin and then she drew away, staring at him in silent reverie for a moment before turning back to her drink and taking a large sip.

*Penny is well practiced at being an interuption so she wanders over.*

Hey April, Margarita any good?

"Are they ever bad here?" April asked in reply, chuckling. "How're you? Haven't talked to you in awhile."

Well, I don't know, I've never had one here. Raph told me one time that the bar serve nothing margaritas for while, before I got here. so I can't bring myself to order one.

*Penny shrugs*

I got a big dose of reality on Halloween but otherwise I am good. How are you?

"I'm really good, actually. For the first time in awhile, which is a nice change." She tapped the edge of her glass absently, and tilted her head. "Weren't you going back to school or something? I seem to remember hearing that."

Oh, that's good to hear.

*Penny grins*

Yeah, I am taking night classes to finish up high school so I can go to college. I'm almost done with those though.

"That's fantastic, Penny," April replied with a wide smile. "Do you know what you want to major in?"

No Earthly idea.

*she shrugs*

"You have plenty of time," April reassured her. "The fact that you're going at all is a great accomplishment. I'm less than a year away from finishing my degree, and I still don't know if I will. Something always manages to come up."

Yeah, I've heard that happens. My boyfriend still has another year of school left but I think I'm gonna go ahead start college if I can get accepted. It's not like Nate and I could go to school together, damned milliways relationships...

*she laughs*