Barmaid on Duty!

[maid_of_astolat]

Elaine is waitressing tonight, staring at all the animals in the bar. It's a bit of a zoo in more ways than one.

But it's not the animals she's watching for; she's looking for Spike. She'd not gone to visit because she wanted them to rest and recuperate, and now she just hoped they were still around.

So she's keeping an eagle-eye on everything

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[not_that_spike]

Now here's someone he hasn't seen in a long damn time. There was a time he trained her real well to never let anyone sneak up on her, so he won't try it now. Instead he just kind of leans back against the wall near the portrait and watches for a minute.

There's not a chance in hell the six months they've been gone hasn't changed him and, knowing that, there's also not a chance in hell Elaine's just like she was the last time he saw her.

Time to find out what's new.

His eyes are soft and there's a little grin on his face. Not a big one -- hell yeah, he's glad to be back here, but that's not why he's smiling -- but it's there. With a nod that's barely a nod, he makes his way over to Elaine's side.

"Yo. Sorry I didn't bring any souvenirs."

[maid_of_astolat]

Elaine beams and hugs him hard. "Spike. I'm so very, very glad to see you," she says with fondness in her voice.

She sometimes feels as if she's always waiting for people to come back, and she's so glad he did. And she wants to hear about him, about what's happened to him and how Beth is, and how Beth Junior is.

"I hope you stay for a little while," she says, stepping away from him to look at him. "You look well."

[not_that_spike]

Hey, she remembers him: how 'bout that. Elaine's one of the few people around this place who's allowed to hug him. When she finally lets go, his grin widens and he reaches forward, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Like I was going to leave without saying hi this time. Last time I... didn't know I wasn't coming back for so long. Sorry 'bout that."

She looks good, though. She looks just like she's supposed to. "We won't be here long. We're... kind of in the middle of something we need to get back to out there. But guess where we were just before this? Paris."

That, he thinks, is a place she probably knows. "Beth and Junior are good. I stopped over here to bring in some food. Junior likes her crib. She hasn't napped this long in a long time."

It isn't like she's really had the opportunity. It's been six months of get-up-and-keep-moving. In some ways, he's surprised any of them have made it this far.

[maid_of_astolat]

"It is all right. I know of the whims of this place and of the door by now." She shakes her head at him, grinning. "I'm sorry you won't be staying long, but perhaps I can see Beth and the little one before you all leave again."

She knows they'll leave, as she will someday. Everyone leaves. It's taken Elaine a long time to accept that, but she's finally started to.

"Paris? Was it much different than the United States? Or about the same? I'm so glad you are all safe, I was worried--though perhaps I shouldn't have been, since you were with them."

[not_that_spike]

Shit: the whole damn world is different. But yeah, Paris is about the most civilized place they've been. No amazons for one thing: a city with electricity and infrastructure and all that shit. Now it could be that other places are more like that too out there, but he hasn't seen it

[maid_of_astolat]

"I have to admit that I wasn't terribly surprised that you'd gone after them. I didn't think you'd be able to stay here while they were out there without you."

Elaine wouldn't have been able to do it. "And I'm glad you were out there for them, I'm sure it made things easier in a lot of ways." And harder in others, of course.

"And sometimes stupid things have a way of turning out for the best."

[not_that_spike]

"Yeah."

This is nice. He hasn't smiled this much in... well, in a long time. Sure, they've had moments, him and Beth, or him and Beth and Junior, or sometimes with Hero. That was a good thing, telling her, because it made it so much easier when Natalya and Ciba weren't around. He didn't have to keep hiding.

"I guess it all boils down to this: we do whatever we have to, right? To take care of the people who matter most to us. And I don't mean you don't matter -- don't get me wrong -- but you know what I'm like without Beth. I can make a pretty good show of it, but if I'm not with her, it's like half of me is missing." There's no question that Elaine of all people knows exactly what he's talking about.

Home for him is with Beth and Junior, and he won't apologize for that one at all.

Not for all the tea in China.

Not even for all the potechi on Ganymede.

[maid_of_astolat]

"I know precisely what you are talking about," she says, and Spike knows what she's like without Ryan--she's a grief-stricken mess. She smiles gently at him.

"I'll just be happy having my big brother back for as long as you allow yourselves to stay. I know you have things to do--though I don't understand precisely why. I did see Hero the other night. I'm glad she came with you, too."

She looks him over a little more; he looks so thin. She hopes he gains back some weight while he's here. And she makes plans for baking things while they're here. Might as well fatten them all up, after all.

[not_that_spike]

"Yeah. We were all together when we found the door. The only thing I wish we'd done is bring Beth Junior's carriage with us. I don't know if it will be there when we get back. But it's only a little thing in the face of some other bigger things, you know?"

He's well aware of the way Elaine studies him, but that's okay. It's been a lean six months, and the rumbling in his stomach reminds him exactly why he's down here. "This place: shit. It's like... opportunity bundled with this life of luxury. Even when it sucks, you can get pretty much whatever you want or need here. You know what I've missed most, besides being able to just hang out in public with Beth?" The way he shrugs is entirely unapologetic.

"Hot food."

[maid_of_astolat]

"It is good that you were all together. I'm sure the carriage will be there when you get back." After all, in a world with nearly no children, what would be the use for the carriage?

"I imagine so!" She grins at him. "Do you want anything? It's my night for waitressing, as usual."

She doesn't tell him that she'll quite possibly be bringing by large quantities of food in the near future. And David might want to visit, as well.

[not_that_spike]

"Oh, shit. You don't have to serve me. I was going to bring some stuff back for Beth and Beth. Junior's started eating solids already. It's the sweetest damn thing."

Yeah, he's a sucker for his girls.

"I'll make damn sure you get to see them before we go. You won't believe how big Junior's getting." One one level he's well aware of the way Elaine is with and around and about kids, but shit, Junior's his daughter. Their daughter, his and Beth's. Well, his and Beth's and Yorick's if he wants to be really accurate, but out of sight is out of mind and so for the moment, he'll leave the other guy from Earth out of the equation.

Really, he doesn't want to leave his Beths for too long but they'll understand if he takes a few minutes to say hi to his little sister. Neither of them will fault him for doing that.

[maid_of_astolat]

"She has?" She smiles again. "Oh, she must be so big by now!" she says, half-sorry for it. "Is she walking yet? I am afraid I've lost track of how old she must be by now."

She knows he must want to get back. She knows what it's like to just...not want to be away from her loved ones, not even for a moment.

[not_that_spike]

"Just about a year old."

She's big and beautiful and smart and funny, and he never in his whole life thought babies could be like that but this one sure as hell is, and he loves her like a crazy person.

"Hard to believe, isn't it?" He remembers that night a year ago, that night Beth said it wasn't a joke, to go get Hero, and Elaine was there and he was there and Hero was there and Beth was there, and then Junior was there. Just like that, like some work of magic, some miracle, some...

...yeah.

"Walking? I..."

She's been carried just about everywhere.

"I'd help her walk if I could but... she tries. Not quite there yet, just a step or two and then boom. It's so fun to watch her work on it, though."

Sure, it's been hard. Really hard. A lot's gone on with Junior that he doesn't get to watch. Has to stay out of the way. But he's sure as hell going to take advantage of the freedom he has here to do every damn thing he can with both his Beths.

He's just that much of an opportunist.

[maid_of_astolat]

"I'm sure it is. And frustrating because you really can't help, you just have to let them try."

Elaine has always loved children, and especially the children of her friends. "I'm sure she'll be walking and running all over the place before you know it."

[not_that_spike]

That idea makes him smile with the concept of a pair of invisible hands restraining a determined little bumblebee racing across the French countryside. Yeah, he's going to have fun playing the invisible dad.

Hopefully he won't have to be invisible forever. And who the hell knows? Maybe they'll be back here, or somewhere else. Mars, or Venus, or Europa, or Earth. Eleuthera... in his dreams. He knows the universe is a hell of a fickle force to be reckoned with, and there's only so many ways he can force it. It still gets back to the whole whatever happens happens thing, but it doesn't mean he has to take things lying down. Even if he's not supposed to be around, he'll carve out a place for himself.

He's had plenty of time the past six months to wonder exactly what it would feel like to throw off that cloak and just be himself. Beth said fuck no to that concept and it's her world and she probably knows best, but if they do get to go back out and if they do get stuck there again, they'll have some shit to work out. He won't stay

[maid_of_astolat]

"Yes, we do." She pauses for a moment. "Do you know, Spike, I think you've seen me go from walking to running, in a way. You were one of the first people I knew here, and many of the others have gone or do not come here as often anymore."

Elaine smiles. She remembers what she was like, and she sort of cringes a little at the memory. But how else could she have been with the life she'd led and how sheltered she was?

Here is where she had her first good friends and here was where she learned so much more than she ever had in life. And Spike and Beth had played a large part in it.