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[sunnydalealum]

Her duffelbag is heavier than it should be, as she moves out through the AirTrain lobby and onto the street. She feels slower than before. Weaker.

She feels light enough to spread her arms and soar up into the sky.

The number's still in her cellphone's immediate memory; it's the last number she called.



"Hello?"

Comments

[nomorekaraoke]

"Long story short, one of my friends got caught up in a portal leading to my home dimension. Naturally, the rest of us had to find a way to get her back. And let me tell you, I was so scared to go back, I was terrified... What will they think? What will my friends think when they see the horror that is my home world?"

He still hasn't let go of Beth's hand, even if his grip has softened. "Mom thought I had done the right thing and offed myself when I didn't come back from whatever it was I was doing in the woods the night I disappeared. She was so mad at me for coming back and bringing shame to the clan, she spat me in the face. And that was just the beginning of it."

He shrugs, then adds, by way of explanation, "Pyleans don't normally have the emotional range of humans. No music, no love, no nothing."

[sunnydalealum]

Beth's eyes widen in shocked horror. "Your mother thought you should have --" She can't even finish the sentence.

"Your own mother?"

[nomorekaraoke]

He nods. The cat was already clawing its way out the bag, he might as well give it a hand. He was going for something that might cheer his friend up, but now that it's out there, he thinks maybe it only sounded funny in his head.

"I know. I can't even excuse her by pointing out she's a demon, and I won't."

[sunnydalealum]

"But why..." She swallows. "Because you didn't want to be a hunter?"

[nomorekaraoke]

"Because I wasn't like all the other children. I was too--" His free hand makes vague little ripples in the air that don't actually clarify much. But maybe it's just enough.

[sunnydalealum]

Maybe just enough when combined with some familiarity with Lorne: his habitual flamboyance, his mannerisms, his taste in clothes....

Beth's mouth closes hard, and there's a glimmer of righteous anger in her eyes.

[nomorekaraoke]

"It's not so much that I didn't want to be a hunter, I did... But when I got old enough I started asking questions. I just never was a hunter." He smiles, but something in Beth's eyes stops his smile from reaching his own.

[sunnydalealum]

The anger dies away, into sadness.

Muffled: "Everybody always wants us to be something we're not."

[nomorekaraoke]

"And that's exactly why we have to resist the temptation of letting them get away with it. People put you in a box, it's so easy to stay there. But nobody's puttin' me in the corner." To paraphrase one of the most famous movie quotes of all time.

He shakes his head just a second later, smiling wryly. "Challenge people's views of you, sugar. You'll feel better for it."

[sunnydalealum]

"I don't even know what people's views of me now are going to be."

It's plaintive when she says it, but then she blinks, as though unexpectedly stepping into sunlight.

[nomorekaraoke]

"So? It's a new beginning. You can be anything you want to be."

[sunnydalealum]

"Yeah," she says, soft and wondering.

[nomorekaraoke]

"But you know what? I think that kind of daydreaming is best done on your lonesome. I'll just keep yapping, and you won't get any peace of mind."

He's secretly excited for her sake. He can't even imagine being in her shoes, with such a clean-looking slate before her, and he can't wait to see what she decides to do with it.

[sunnydalealum]

Beth's glance focuses on him again, and she gives a crooked, apologetic smile.

"It's okay. I've got time." She drinks the last of her coffee. "And in the meanwhile ... well, I'm told I still have a job."

[nomorekaraoke]

That's good to know, she isn't sick and tired of him yet. He smiles just a touch wider. "You certainly do. As long as it suits you."

[sunnydalealum]

"So..."

Her smile widens.

"When's the next event, Boss?"

[nomorekaraoke]

"Ooh, now I'm the 'Boss' all of a sudden." He winks, trying very hard to suppress another grin. Okay, no, he isn't, but he'd like to think he is.

"Let's see, it's little over two weeks from now, as a matter of factoid."

[sunnydalealum]

"Anything you need me to do between now and then?"

[nomorekaraoke]

Well, if she wants to play it that way. "I need you to go have a look at the new venue, talk to the owner, make sure all the papers are in order. You know the drill. We start set up on Monday next week if everything checks out. You'll have the check list by tomorrow morning."

[sunnydalealum]

She takes a deep breath, but she's smiling. "Right," she says.

Back to work; back to life. You're real again.

[nomorekaraoke]

"Right."

Brown eyes glancing at her cup, now empty. "Ready?"

[sunnydalealum]

"Yeah."

Beth pushes back her chair, and stands up.

"I think I am."