Reception

[fiery_ring]

The reception takes place in the Big Top, which is more than large enough to accommodate the crowd. Outside, a large hog roast is taking place, with food and drinks aplenty.

It's a good time for Carlotta to catch up with her friends from school, most of whom she hasn't seen since the start of the war. A few of them have married in that time and brought husbands, some are in work or still at university. A petite, pretty woman, Alison, has brought a daughter of about two; finally a distraction from an incessant need to worry what her hair looks like. A tall, strapping woman, Mirabel, is sporting a burn scar on her face; rumour has it, she has been serving in combat.

The circus folk mingle among the guests, bringing food and occasionally breaking out into acrobatics. At the front of the tent, Fred the Bouncer sits with Wolf, his large guard dog.

Comments

[52_dropoff]

"Tell me about it. I get the feeling she'll be marrying off her daughter before my next birthday." He offers a small smile.

"And yes, I did a lot of wandering before coming to the Bar. There was one place I called home that lost its charms, and off I went."

[ikissdhimbck]

She chuckles softly.

"I sure hope not. That's a whole lotta spoilin' and fussin' I've got t'do over those little ones in jus' a year's time.

"That's a familiar story. How'd your home lose its charms? If y'don't mind my askin'."

[52_dropoff]

"Not at all. I was a crimefighter there...have you met any of the superheroes in the Bar from my era?" He tries to remember if there were any costumes that far back in time, but is doubtful about that. "The job and the city conspired to kill me."

[ikissdhimbck]

"Oh, yes. I know several superheroes."

She isn't certain they're all from the same era, but once Mr. Szasz is finished speaking that hardly seems the most important point.

"Gracious. Had your luck run out, or d'you mean literally?"

[52_dropoff]

"I mean that if I had stayed another two weeks, my obsession with saving the city from itself would have left me so tired that I would have probably ended up in a fight I couldn't win.

"The funny thing is that in the end, the city didn't need me to survive." And that he died from cancer. But that is a story for another time.

[ikissdhimbck]

Her brow furrows.

"That sounds terrible. I mean — I reckon your job is t'do what y'can despite the circumstances, but it sounds like y'made the right choice t'go."

She does her best to look reassuring.

[52_dropoff]

"I know I did." Even though it meant leaving the only woman he ever truly loved. "And your wanderings, if I might ask?"

[ikissdhimbck]

"Not quite so altruistic."

Her red lips twitch.

"I fell in love with a man of color. He was killed, an' I took revenge on the sheriff who let it happen. They'd burned down my school an' ransacked my house, so I just — left. Been on the move ever since."

[52_dropoff]

Charlie blinks as he takes that in.

"Didn't expect that. Though I don't entirely blame you for your actions, given the era and the location. They still frown on mixed race relationships in some places even in my day, and occasionally it gets ugly."

[ikissdhimbck]

Another wry twitch of the lips.

"Why, because I look so comely an' docile?"

She immediately chases the remark with a shake of her head and an open palm, indicating that she's just taking a bit of a jab at herself. She sobers.

"I'm sorry t'hear that, though it seems a common theme among worlds. I'm told it gets better, an' I can only hope it does. There ain't much to protect folk where I come from."

[52_dropoff]

"Is this your first visit to this time and place?" A subject shift might be a good notion.

[ikissdhimbck]

She nods, amenable to the new topic.

"Carlotta's never really had the opportunity t'have me out before. It's certainly colorful. An' the music's wonderful."

Like nothing she's heard before, with all the bombast of classical but with such joy and swagger.

[52_dropoff]

"You look like you have the dress down pat. I don't think I quite managed it, but I can always pass myself off as an American with no clue."

The music is catchy, but Charlie rarely thinks about music.

[ikissdhimbck]

She smiles bashfully, dropping her chin.

"Thank you. It's not what I'm used to, but I've been told it's tasteful. Y'look quite dapper, whenever an' wherever you're supposed t'be from."

She winks.

"I don't s'pose I could be so bold as t'charm you into a dance?"

[52_dropoff]

"I don't see why not." Though he thinks he noticed her with someone else at the ceremony.

[ikissdhimbck]

Tommy will no doubt show up sooner or later, but she doesn't see the harm in asking someone else for a dance. Milliways has made her bold in that respect.

Pleased, she takes another curtsy, and holds out a hand.

"I know so few here, I must call upon any excuse t'enjoy your company. I hope y'don't think me outrageous for askin'."

[52_dropoff]

"Not in my day. In fact, I doubt I would ever get to dance if women didn't ask me." Because Charlie and dancing have never quite gone together.

[ikissdhimbck]

"Really? Don't tell me I've run across my very first shy superhero."

The teasing is good-natured, unconsciously meant to put him at ease. The song playing is moderately paced and relaxed.

[52_dropoff]

"We're all shy. Why do you think we wear masks?" He tries to keep a straight face.

"I just never got in the habit of dancing. And the women I've been with aren't much for it, either." He can't imagine Helena dancing like this. More likely she'd go for a mosh pit.

[ikissdhimbck]

She chuckles softly.

"I never thought 'bout it that way. But I reckon it must be hard t'think of yourselves as brave.

"That's a shame. I love t'dance myself, but there ain't much opportunity for it out in the desert."

[52_dropoff]

"You could dance in the Bar, maybe. I saw you with someone before. Doesn't he dance?" Charlie is never afraid to pry.

Er. To ask questions.

He would never pry.

[ikissdhimbck]

"Oh — "

She turns a little rosy.

"I don't think he's much of a fan either. He's done me a favor by bein' my escort, an' I think he's havin' a good time. But, between you an' me, I think he's a li'l uncomfortable."

[52_dropoff]

"Because he's not from this time and place, either? Or because he doesn't go for fancy parties?" From Charlie's vantage point, Kate's date seems even more out of place than Charlie.

[ikissdhimbck]

"Both, I believe."

She laughs softly, absently searching the crowd for him as they dance.

"He comes from the early twenty-first century. Mostly I see him wearin' denim, or his firefightin' uniform."

[52_dropoff]

"Firefighter...I've met a lot of cops but never a fireman. I wasn't the 'rescue babies from burning buildings' sort of hero."

He seems to be getting the rhythm of the music. Slowly. You would think that between his training and Sallie's occasional efforts to get him to dance, he would do better.