OOM for Bela

[ikissdhimbck]

[following this:]


The bar is loud, and Kate looks like she's about ready to pass out at any moment. Scaling the stairs to get to her room isn't high on her list of Things To Do right now, but with a little encouragement from Bela she manages to get up as far as the second landing before she has to stop and sit down.

Her mind is reeling, her body is shaking, and though this isn't the most private of settings, it is at least much quieter. In a minute or two, she'll be able to think about getting up and walking the rest of the way to her room.

.

Comments

[ikissdhimbck]

She nods slowly, eyes still distant, and shifts her legs up under her.

"Yeah. He's been... he's been a real good friend t'me. Doc's death hit him real hard."

She traces her thumb along the lip of her glass.

"Outlaws have got t'stick t'gether."

[not_lugosi]

"'Course we do."

She pats her shoulder again.

"This whiskey's great, but I think we need chocolate. Lots of it. Expensive, dark, endorphin-rushing chocolate. I can make a run for some."

[ikissdhimbck]

We.

The corner of her mouth twitches humorlessly.

That is what you are.

When Bela starts talking about chocolate, her smile turns a bit more sincere, until she's chuckling softly. Sniffling, she nods her agreement.

"I think that sounds amazin'."

[not_lugosi]

"I'll be right back."

She puts one hand on the doorknob and then turns back to Kate.

"Don't go anywhere. Seriously."

She walks out, giving Kate one more glance before she closes the door. She's not gone very long at all. When she returns, she holds a few boxes of truffles, turtles, and other gourmet chocolates enclosed in fancy boxes that look nothing like what you'd pick up at the corner CVS or even at the local Whole Foods.

These are serious chocolates.

Bela pulls up a chair, opens a box, and offers her some dark chocolates shaped like sea shells.

"Bon appetit."

[ikissdhimbck]

She nods when Bela heads for the door, but doesn't speak until her friend hesitates and looks back to make sure she isn't going to go anywhere.

"I won't," she murmurs, eyes serious.

She laughs wryly after Bela has left the room, peering into her whiskey.

"Don't think I could, even if I wanted to."


She's positively awash with relief when Bela returns with the chocolates and pulls up a seat next to her. She doesn't hesitate before reaching into the box and plucking out a piece of chocolate.

"Thank you," she sighs, savoring the chocolate as it melts on her tongue. She rubs her eyes tiredly. "This helps."

She's half-teasing, but the words are more serious than she probably realizes.

[not_lugosi]

"No problem."

She's on chocolate number three before she says anything else.

"Do you want to close your eyes or anything? I'll stay here and, you know, keep watch, if you want to sleep."

Others at Milliways have done so for her before. She can see why they offered.

[ikissdhimbck]

Kate spent the break in conversation staring blankly across the room, alternating between chocolate and slow sips of whiskey.

She blinks and looks down when Bela speaks, shaking her head slowly.

"I... I can't. I can't close my eyes, there's..."

She sighs, breath shuddering out of her lungs, and admits:

"If I close my eyes, then I'm admittin' that this is all real. That I'm awake, and Doc is really somewhere outside that door. I might not wanna open 'em again."

[not_lugosi]

"I know what you mean."

When X guarded the door the night the demon attacked Bela, she couldn't close her eyes either. Maybe not for the exact same reason, but close to it.

"Then we stay up. I can always make a coffee run. We can get mochas. More chocolate is never bad."

[ikissdhimbck]

She nods dumbly, trying on a small smile for her friend's benefit.

She doesn't know what a 'mocha' is, but Bela has a point. More chocolate is never bad.

"Jus' stay with me for a lil' while," she whispers, reaching over for her hand. "But y'don't have t'stay all night. I'll be okay. I just... I just need some time. T'think."

[not_lugosi]

"I'll be here as long as you want me."

Or maybe a little longer, depending on how things are going. She squeezes Kate's hand.

"Here." She flips opens another box. This one has turtles with big fat pecans in. "These are fabulous."

[ikissdhimbck]

"Sounds good," she chuckles, fishing into the new box.

There's a moment of quiet chewing.

"I'm so sorry. We were talkin' 'bout your world, an' Texas, an' now here we are..."

She shakes her head sadly.

[not_lugosi]

She shrugs.

"Shit happens. We deal with it when it does."

She pops another piece of candy into her mouth. She'll pay for this at the gym later.

[ikissdhimbck]

"Jus' wish I knew how."

Beat.

"T'deal with it."

She runs a hand over her face, and then picks through the chocolates again.

Pause.

"This is really real, isn't it? This is... this is real. Right?"

[not_lugosi]

She could lie and tell her no, but it wouldn't do much good. Not really. She wants to, though.

"It's as real as things get here. So yeah. It is."

[ikissdhimbck]

Another quiet, numb nod.




"Tell me it'll make more sense in the mornin'."

[not_lugosi]

"Oh, that I absolutely can assure," she says, somewhat brightly. "Morning here always helps me."

[ikissdhimbck]

"Have y'ever had the previous form of your dead lover walk back in b'fore?"

[not_lugosi]

"Well, no. I had a dead lover come back to life. It was just kind of weird. So you are way ahead of me there."

She's not being flippant. Her tone is more factual than anything. It's the chocolate and the whiskey talking. She's feeling a little on the light-headed side.

[ikissdhimbck]

"You did?"

Beat.

"What'd... what'd you do?"

[not_lugosi]

"Oh, no, it wasn't like what's happening to you. I mean, he'd been dead the whole time. Here. And then he wasn't anymore. So it was just weird. I couldn't even tell the difference."

She stares at the box of chocolates in her hand.

"Um. Maybe I should change the subject about now."

[ikissdhimbck]

.
.
.

"Oh."

Something suddenly makes a whole lot more sense to Kate; which is ironic, considering the absurdity of Bela's words.

Bloody Milliways.

"I'm sorry."

Beat.

"You're right, I should jus' sleep on it. Give myself some time t'think," she mutters apologetically. "I'll be okay."

If only she could make herself sound more sure of that.

She smiles weakly in reply to Bela's last remark, and brushes her hand.

"Why don't y'finish tellin' me your story. From earlier. An' I'll tell y'more about Buchel's Bank."

The very thought of anything other than what's happening here and now with Doc in the Bar is hard to conjure. Kate's desperate for answers -- but there are no answers. So she'll settle for a distraction, instead.

[not_lugosi]

"Don't be sorry. It's- a bizarre night. All bets are off."

If Kate was a man, Bela would know how to comfort her. Sex is easy. Sex takes you out of the world for a little while, and when it's over, the release is enough to take the edge off the worst of turmoil. Unfortunately, Kate is not a man, and Bela just doesn't get into women that way.

She'd like to comfort her, though, with something besides liquor.

"Hey, um, this may sound strange, but- I could brush your hair out. If you wanted. When I was small, one of my nannies would brush my hair when I was sad, and it- Well, it always calmed me down."

Her words falter because they sound fucking ridiculous to her ears. "Never mind. I mean, it's a stupid idea. I can totally finish telling you the story, and I can't wait to hear about the bank."

[ikissdhimbck]

A quiet pause passes between them, as Kate's gaze (which had been focused on one of the chocolate boxes sitting between them), goes distant.



"I'd like that."

It doesn't sound stupid, or juvenile to Kate. Only the higher-class can afford to have others comb through their hair for them at night, before bed. But, the social structure of her day and world aside, the thought is a comfort to her. It's been fifteen years since the last time her momma combed her hair, and her daddy... loved her, but was awful when it came to getting the knots out.

"I'd let somma the girls in my class brush out my hair on occasion," she murmurs, a secret smile playing on the corners of her mouth. "They loved t'play with it."

She slips her legs back out from under her, and stands.

[not_lugosi]

"Yeah? Really?"

Oh! Okay. This is good. This is doing something to help that does not involve painfully searching for words or getting drunk.

"Where's your brush? I warn you - I've only been brushed and not done the brushing, but I think I'll know how."

[ikissdhimbck]

She laughs, and though it is a tired, helpless sound, it's still a laugh.

"S'in the bathroom. Lemme get it. I know you don't got clumsy hands, so I'm not afraid."

She retrieves the brush, which looks like an antique by modern standards. It's a fine, horsehair brush with a round, silver handle, engraved with a floral design.

"Where d'you want me to sit?"

[not_lugosi]

"After tonight? Wherever the hell you want."

This is strange. But it's strange in a good way, and not an awkward, uncomfortable way. Before Milliways, she had no time for friends and girlfriends were an abstraction. Even as a child, she was the odd one out, thanks to her situation at home. There were girls who were friends, but never close friends.

She never had hair-brushing friends.

[ikissdhimbck]

Neither did Kate. She got on well enough with the girls at university, but most of them were preoccupied with suitors, while she was preoccupied with academics.

(Her father was proud.)

She settles near Bela's feet on the rug, and begins to unbraid her hair.

"Thank you."

She tips her head back so she can see Bela, sincerity shining bright in her too-blue eyes. They look every bit as much as a wind-whipped sea as one would expect after a night like tonight.

[not_lugosi]

Bela glances down at Kate's eyes and expression, but averts her eyes quickly. It's a bit too much emotion to deal with. She'll focus on brushing.

"You start at the tips and work your way up, in case there are tangles," she says, brushing carefully. "At least that's what- God, I've forgotten her name. But she was one of the nice ones. They didn't last long, the nice ones."

She falls into a rhythm as she methodically brushes her way through Kate's long hair. It's easy once you get going, except for the occasional snag from a tangle.

In that way, it's not too dissimilar from friendship, Bela thinks.