One of these days, I'm going to win a pool game from you. Until then, I'll just keep writing you songs with titles like I Suck at Pool. They can be our own personal musical in-joke.
I haven't been to Xanadu much either. Where are you going tonight?
A few minutes later, he finds Julia by the fountain. If he'd paid more attention to the way things sounded he would have known just how hard it was raining, but he doesn't mind getting wet. Anyway, she says she's got him covered.
"And here I am, giving away all my best secrets. Songs about pool, a sweet little chocolate shop." Julia makes him smile; she always has. Tonight's no different and when he joins her under the umbrella, he holds his palm out to catch raindrops. "I found one of my dogs back on Mars on a rainy day. Walking home from school. He was hiding behind a dumpster, cold and wet and shivering. I couldn't leave him there." From this vantage point, all his memories of pets are fond ones.
Holding the umbrella up between them so they're equally sheltered from the rain, she slips her free hand into the pocket of her coat. Her smile is a little bit teasing and a little bit fond. "Why is it so easy to picture you taking home strays?"
Over two years ago, he invited her in. They were barely more than strangers with something significant in common.
From the stories he's told her, he did something similar with Faye when he met her for the first time.
"Maybe because I'm way too easy to read." His laugh's all good-natured; their shoulders bump as he dodges a puddle. "I was terrible about it, or great about it if you look at it from the animals' point of view. My poor mother finally told me no more strays in that voice moms use that means they're really, really serious. I had to stop. In fact, I had to take a whole different way home from school so I wouldn't go anywhere near the restaurant district of the colony. That's where all the animals hung out, of course. Because they weren't stupid. They didn't know they were strays. They only knew leftovers."
It's a cheerful enough conversation to be having now. "I've had people here tell me to get a pet. I guess this city has no shortage of strays too. I'm just afraid once I start, I won't be able to stop."
And he barely has enough now to pay his rent and expenses. Add pets to the mix and he'll be living on a very precarious edge.
He's right. In this case, at least, he's very easy to read.
Walking alongside him but letting him steer them in the right direction, she takes a larger step over another puddle. "How badly do you want one?"
To her, that seems to be the real question. If he wants one, she's sure he can make it work. If he doesn't, there's no reason he needs to listen to what anybody else says.
Get a pet has always seemed like such a standard line here, and it is an easy solution. She won't argue against that. It's just not necessarily the right one half as often as she's seen it thrown around.
Regardless, she knows Gren would love any animal he took in.
That question isn't as easy to answer as he'd like. As with most things about him it has two answers, and they're separate and contradictory answers and both make equal sense. He picks the one from Column A.
"I don't." He points out the road they need to turn down to get to the chocolate shop. "That's why I don't have one already. It's not that I don't think I'd enjoy a pet, because I would. They're wonderful. I just..."
Wow. Why should this be so hard to say that he has to stop walking and take a minute? The answer is obvious: it hits too close to home. It hits on everything he fears, and he's not afraid of very much.
"I just don't think it's fair. People get taken away from this place all the time. To get a pet to depend on you, get used to you, rely on you... and then all of a sudden one day you're gone: I don't know. It seems so unfair."
Anita told him that was a false worry, that Lestat would take care of any animal he might adopt if the City took him away. But that's simply a mask for the real fear. There are a very small
( ... )
Underneath the umbrella, she casts a sidelong glance at him, face almost impassive. "I don't blame you."
She hesitates, looking forward again.
"I never had a pet on Mars because I had the wrong lifestyle for it." Syndicate hitmen should not have pets. The reasons why aren't really all that different from Gren's. "The closest I got--"
For a split second the words want to stick in her throat and refuse, almost selfishly, to come out. But the moment passes as quickly as it comes about.
"--was a crystal sculpture of two angelfish."
When she glances over at him again, there's a hint of humor there. "It was easy to take care of."
The look he gives her is a little bit sharp, a little bit on the appraising side. But then he smiles and the smile widens and turns into a laugh.
"Glass fish are probably pretty trouble-free. Unless you drop them." Gently, hesitantly, he rests his arm around her shoulder. Julia's the best friend he's got, the oldest friend he's got. And he needs her. He didn't know that about himself until he got here, but she was such a godsend. She took care of him while he died -- not something he'd ask of his worst enemy -- and took care of him afterward. She helped him, and she never asked for a thing in exchange
( ... )
"All they need is a little dusting every now and then."
And, as he said, a careful hand when you move them around.
That sculpture is definitely one of the material things she's had that she misses the most.
Looking ahead, she sees the flag in question, and she nods. She's been this way a few times before, but she's definitely never stopped by the chocolate shop. When they get close enough, she can smell it.
I haven't been to Xanadu much either. Where are you going tonight?
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Walking home, sooner or later. Unless you have a better idea.
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Hi, City.
I found this place that sells the most exquisite chocolates. Can I tempt you into a little bit of that?
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Don't worry about the rain. I have us covered.
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"And here I am, giving away all my best secrets. Songs about pool, a sweet little chocolate shop." Julia makes him smile; she always has. Tonight's no different and when he joins her under the umbrella, he holds his palm out to catch raindrops. "I found one of my dogs back on Mars on a rainy day. Walking home from school. He was hiding behind a dumpster, cold and wet and shivering. I couldn't leave him there." From this vantage point, all his memories of pets are fond ones.
Reply
Over two years ago, he invited her in. They were barely more than strangers with something significant in common.
From the stories he's told her, he did something similar with Faye when he met her for the first time.
Reply
It's a cheerful enough conversation to be having now. "I've had people here tell me to get a pet. I guess this city has no shortage of strays too. I'm just afraid once I start, I won't be able to stop."
And he barely has enough now to pay his rent and expenses. Add pets to the mix and he'll be living on a very precarious edge.
Reply
Walking alongside him but letting him steer them in the right direction, she takes a larger step over another puddle. "How badly do you want one?"
To her, that seems to be the real question. If he wants one, she's sure he can make it work. If he doesn't, there's no reason he needs to listen to what anybody else says.
Get a pet has always seemed like such a standard line here, and it is an easy solution. She won't argue against that. It's just not necessarily the right one half as often as she's seen it thrown around.
Regardless, she knows Gren would love any animal he took in.
Reply
"I don't." He points out the road they need to turn down to get to the chocolate shop. "That's why I don't have one already. It's not that I don't think I'd enjoy a pet, because I would. They're wonderful. I just..."
Wow. Why should this be so hard to say that he has to stop walking and take a minute? The answer is obvious: it hits too close to home. It hits on everything he fears, and he's not afraid of very much.
"I just don't think it's fair. People get taken away from this place all the time. To get a pet to depend on you, get used to you, rely on you... and then all of a sudden one day you're gone: I don't know. It seems so unfair."
Anita told him that was a false worry, that Lestat would take care of any animal he might adopt if the City took him away. But that's simply a mask for the real fear. There are a very small ( ... )
Reply
She hesitates, looking forward again.
"I never had a pet on Mars because I had the wrong lifestyle for it." Syndicate hitmen should not have pets. The reasons why aren't really all that different from Gren's. "The closest I got--"
For a split second the words want to stick in her throat and refuse, almost selfishly, to come out. But the moment passes as quickly as it comes about.
"--was a crystal sculpture of two angelfish."
When she glances over at him again, there's a hint of humor there. "It was easy to take care of."
Reply
"Glass fish are probably pretty trouble-free. Unless you drop them." Gently, hesitantly, he rests his arm around her shoulder. Julia's the best friend he's got, the oldest friend he's got. And he needs her. He didn't know that about himself until he got here, but she was such a godsend. She took care of him while he died -- not something he'd ask of his worst enemy -- and took care of him afterward. She helped him, and she never asked for a thing in exchange ( ... )
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And, as he said, a careful hand when you move them around.
That sculpture is definitely one of the material things she's had that she misses the most.
Looking ahead, she sees the flag in question, and she nods. She's been this way a few times before, but she's definitely never stopped by the chocolate shop. When they get close enough, she can smell it.
"I already see why you like this place."
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