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]

"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.

[ikissdhimbck]

If there is a single clumsy step, you wouldn't know it by Kate's expression. She's ever gracious, relaxed, and pleased by her partner.

"What sort of hero were you?"

[52_dropoff]

"I went after the high and mighty who abused their power. At first. Eventually that allowed for stopping street crime. And at the end...let's just say it got weird and I was way outside my element.

"Have you met Renee Montoya in the Bar," he asks seemingly out of the blue.

[ikissdhimbck]

She gives him a funny look when he says it 'got weird', but she doesn't press.

"No, I don't believe I have. Is she someone else from your world?"

Going after the high and mighty who abuse their power is the sort of thing Kate wholly stands behind.

[52_dropoff]

"She's my protege and successor. And she seems like the weird.

"She comes to the Bar every so often. Another lurker in the rafters."