(Untitled)

[nomorekaraoke]

A demon walks into the bar (as the story goes), asks the Bar(tender) for a drink, and gets one to match his snazzy red and green fabulousness. This is a very good thing.

But what happens next?

((Edit: Sleepy mun means slowtimes apply. Feel free to tag in, just don't expect me to tag until tomorrow night (GMT+1).))

Comments

[smallestopener]

There is a colorful someone Ingress hasn't seen in a long, long time.

"Hi, Lorne," she says, bounding over, waving and smiling.

[nomorekaraoke]

And over there is Lorne's very most favorite purple-haired girl. "Ingress!" Forget abut coffee! It's swooping-down-for-a-hug-time now.

"Oh, look at you, sweetie! I swear, you're getting bigger every time I see you!"

The blues are officially vanquished. Huzzah!

[smallestopener]

"I'm nearly eleven!"

She gives him a great big hug back. Lorne hugs are awesome.

"How have you been? It's been so very long since I saw you."

[nomorekaraoke]

Maybe it is like he told Ava. Maybe he is as huggable as Kermit the Frog. "Eleven? My, oh my, you're a big girl now.

"I'm good. I've been...through some really rough times, but I'm better now." About the worst thing you can do to kids? Lying to them.

However, this doesn't mean you leave in gruesome details.

[smallestopener]

She's from the Underside. She knows that 'rough times' is a euphemism for all manner of terrible things.

"I hate that you've had rough times. Rough times can take a flying leap."

[nomorekaraoke]

"Yeah..." He glances to the side, and back again, and looks straight into Ingress' pretty eyes.

"But between you and me? It was worth it, every last bit of it." He winks. "How've you been?"

[smallestopener]

"Okay. Tom and Door and I have fought a lot about stupid things lately. They make me so mad when they treat me like a little kid."

She's still ready to be more grown up, but after accidentally switching bodies with Mary over April Fool's, she's in much less of a drastic hurry.

[nomorekaraoke]

"Aw, I'm sorry, sugar plum." Lorne pats the seat beside him, as there's plenty of room on the couch, and there's hardly anything as comfy as a fireplace crackling softly nearby, in his humble opinion.

[smallestopener]

"It's not so bad."

She plops down on the couch beside him.

"I think this happens to lots of kids. I've read about it in stories."

[nomorekaraoke]

"Oh, it happens to everyone, at one point or another," Lorne reassures his darling friend gently. "But the important thing to remember is that they're being a pain because they love you, and they've been in your shoes."

...okay, so maybe Tom's never donned a pair of glittery mary-janes, but that's not the point.

"There's no rush growing up, right? I mean...you'll get to be a grown-up forever, but you're a kid for just a few, precious years."

[smallestopener]

"Yeah, that's what everyone says," she sighs, perhaps melodramatically. It's hard when you're little and impatient, and you don't know what you'll miss.

"But everything's fine otherwise. I have, oh, I think I have two new teachers since I last saw you. I picked them out all by myself. Laura teaches me hand-to-hand, and Havelock just started teaching me how to use knives in fighting."

[nomorekaraoke]

Teaching children how to fight. Oh, how this brings back memories of his own childhood.

The lack of enthusiasm in his smile-cum-grimace shows just how much he approves. "...do you like combat training?"

[smallestopener]

"Oh, yes," she says, a slight flicker of worry sparking in her eyes. "I'm going to be a Herald, remember? I need to know these things to keep people safe. Anyway, my lessons now are still more like learning dances. Just with sharp edges in."

Some girls take tap dance, and some learn to throw knives. It all works out.

[nomorekaraoke]

His shoulders slump; his grimace turns wry. "I know, sweetie. It's just...I remember what it was like when I was a fresh faced little guy with my horns having only barely broken through." He shrugs.

"I never got the hang of it like the other boys and girls. I was like... Do you know Disney cartoons? Does Ferdinand the Bull ring a bell?"

Who knows. Maybe Disney has a presence of some sort even in Ingress' world.

[smallestopener]

"I know some, but not that one. I've seen lots of Shirley Temple movies."

Ingress knows that not everyone is good at fighting skills. That's okay. Everyone doesn't need to be!

[nomorekaraoke]

"Guh, Shirley Temple. Could she be any more fabulous?" Lorne drapes his arm over the top of the backrest, leaning in as if to tell Ingress a great secret, or better yet, a great story. In fact, that's exactly what he's about to do, if she isn't too big for great stories.

"Wanna hear the story about Ferdinand the Bull with a capital bee?"