Entrance Post (take two)

[souvlakifan]

There was no flash, no whoosh of air, no warning at all.

One moment, he was sitting beside Cohen as the plane started to climb, and the next moment, nothing.

And the next moment, he was walking through the door of a bar.

"Oh man, this has got to be heaven!"

Comments

[eternal_boy]

He had been sitting, eating a meal. Yes, eating a meal...that will cause talk enough, surely, but yes. Simple roast beef and a glass of wine, alone as has been his custom...

But even human ears can recognize a voice like that.

"Schanke?"

He turns, stands from his chair with a clatter, and looks towards the door.

"Schanke?"

[souvlakifan]

Schanke whips his head around at the voice. "Nick? Nick!"

He rushes over. "What the hell just happened?"

[eternal_boy]

Nick doesn't walk, but runs over and pulls Schanke into...well, there are other names for it and they probably should be used, considering it is Nicholas B. Knight we're talking about, but the reality is that it's a bear hug and it's tight and he's not letting go.

"Schanke! God, Schanke! It's...it's good to see you."

[souvlakifan]

He pats Nick on the back, confused as all hell.

"Hey, Nick," he says, chuckling, "I don't know about you supermen, but us mere mortals need air. D'you mind?"

[eternal_boy]

He pulls back, gaping and staring at Schanke as if he'd grown another head before hugging him tightly again. This lasts a moment before he finally pulls back again and blatantly stares.

"I...I don't...I..."

He shakes his head and lets go, not quite sure what to say. The guilt from Schanke's death was still strong and hard and heavy in his heart, but seeing him, seeing him now when everything seemed so dark and his life felt as if it was flying to pieces...

Well, it gave him hope.

"It's good to see you, Schanke. You have...no idea how I've missed you."

[souvlakifan]

"You been hitting that red wine again, Nick? I just saw you a couple days ago."

[eternal_boy]

He shakes his head, a frown on his face.

"No...No, Schanke. For me...for Natalie..." and there is a sideways look for her, "it's been...it's been a great deal longer."

[souvlakifan]

Schanke eyes him.

"How... much longer?"

[eternal_boy]

"A year."

It seems so little as he says it, or it should. He'd lived for eight hundred of them and he would cling so over only one where he had missed his friend. But he was mortal now, human, as frail as Schanke had been in life. As frail as any of them. He didn't know how he'd have taken this if he were a vampire, but right now it hits him like a shot.

A year.

"It's been a year since the...the plane."

[souvlakifan]

"Yeah, that's where I just was. I was on the plane, sucking up to Cohen -- I let her the window seat even though it was my ticket -- the stewardesses, I mean 'flight attendants', were just doing their little exit dance, and then... here."

[eternal_boy]

He nods.

"This...yes, I...I imagine," he doesn't quite know what to say, but he remembers being blown up before. It was abrupt if it was anything. "You're...you're here now, though. You're at Milliways."

He smiles, bright and shakey.

"Welcome to Milliways, Schanke."

[souvlakifan]

"Nick... how can you be here when I'm here? You're not dead, too, are you?"

[eternal_boy]

He chuckles, looking down at his shoes as he shakes his head.

"No, Schanke, I am...certainly not dead."

[souvlakifan]

"Well, hey, that's good... right? That is good, right? You out there, doing the job, giving your new partner weekly heart attacks by doing that weirdo look when you're driving and then running off for no reason. Man, I wish I could see the guy's face when you do that."

He puts an arm around Nick and pats his shoulder. "Come on, I see a bar. And you were just about to buy me a drink, weren't you? Of course you were, cause you're a pal."

[eternal_boy]

"Of course, Schanke," he says with a smirk, "after all, I owe you...quite a few."

[souvlakifan]

He laughs as they head over to the bar. "So, tell me everything. Who'd they pull over to captain the precinct? And who'd you get for a partner?"