[ with weyland in nyc ]

[tragic_mask]

They step through the door, and find themselves on the cracked sidewalk outside of a lively bar. A sign glows: "Blue Owl."

It's nighttime, but the city still glows with all kinds of light, and shakes with the noise of honking, shouting, music, the clinking of glasses, all blending together into the cacophony and symphony of the city.

Melpomene looks around. "Well, we're back... Right where I started."

Comments

[mechanicalswans]

"Not afraid," he says with a smile. "Just... cautious. I don't like being arrested, and I'd rather not start a fight here. If you think they won't bother us here, I don't mind staying."

[tragic_mask]

"Well, since we're in New York... we can take a tour. I'd like to show you around anyway. See the apartment I've had for the last... seventy years or so."

[mechanicalswans]

"Seventy years?" he asks, surprised. "I move around every fifteen or so. But then, I imagine a good apartment in New York is much harder to find than an average one in Minnesota somewhere. I'd love to take a tour with you, anyway."

[tragic_mask]

"Well, I go where the art is... I may move again, sometime, but this seems to be all right for now."

[mechanicalswans]

"And you get to avoid packing," he says. "I hate packing--I don't have many things, and most of what I do have I keep in the forge, so I don't have to pack very much. It seems like such a waste of time."

[tragic_mask]

"Sensible," she says, and climbs to her feet.

"By the way, you have a very comfortable chest."

[mechanicalswans]

"I try," he says, hoisting himself back to his feet. "Or at least, I don't try to make it uncomfortable. You're very warm and comfortable to be leaned against by."

[tragic_mask]

After sorting out propositions, Melpomene nods. "I try," she says, and then she goes through the space in the bushes.

[mechanicalswans]

"That's also on the list, just so you know," he says, following her back through the bushes. "'Warm and comfortable in situations of leaning,' and also 'A perfect height in comparison.' It's a very long list."

[tragic_mask]

"Perfectly legitimate reasons, I'm sure."

She laughs, and goes out towards the street, where the noise of traffic grows loud again. She waves a hand towards a taxi, which pulls to the side of the road.

"486 W. 50th St," she says to the taxi driver, who nods inscrutably.

[mechanicalswans]

"Some of them," he grins, walking along beside her, "some of them less so."

He opens the taxi door for her, and will climb in after her."

[tragic_mask]

She cocks a brow. "I see. You'll have to enumerate those at some point in the near future."

The cab driver pulls out into the street, weaving through the late-night traffic.

[mechanicalswans]

"That can be arranged, I'm sure," he says, settling in beside her and looking out the windows. "And if I feel particularly inspired, the list may be even longer..."

[tragic_mask]

She puts on her best determined face. "I'll do my best to be inspiring."

[mechanicalswans]

"'Eager to inspire, dedicated to her work,'" he says, miming writing it down. "All you have to do is keep being yourself, and I will keep finding new things to add."

[tragic_mask]

"You should carry a notepad and pencil, it seems, just to keep track of all my excellent qualities." She brushes imaginary dust from her shoulder, then grins as the driver honks and yells something unmentionable out the window at the traffic.

"Ah, the city."

[mechanicalswans]

"I would feel cheated if it were any other way. I go to nature to enjoy peace and quiet, but it seems I like my cities raw and dirty. My home is artificial enough, and sometimes I need realism."

[tragic_mask]

She looks out the window as the blocks go by. "I admire your ability to adapt, to see the positive."

[mechanicalswans]

"I know myself," he says with a light shrug. "I know my wants and my habits, and I am honest with myself about them, that's all. I don't have a very romantic view of humanity, so I would be very surprised to find a clean and idealized city."

[tragic_mask]

"I can't see that happening, either."

The cab hits a red light. "My place is just a few blocks from here."

[mechanicalswans]

"It's a nice neighborhood," he says, glancing out the window again. "Is it mostly quiet here? Well, quiet for the city."

[tragic_mask]

"For the most part. It mostly gets busy in the early mornings, when people are all trying to go somewhere at once."

The taxi pulls up to the side street, and Melpomene gets out, patting her pockets.

"Oh, Jesus, I don't have enough cash. Well, don't tell anyone I did this--" She leans forward, and says to the taxi driver, very carefully, "You like me. You are more than happy to have given me a ride for..." She checks again. "Seventy-two cents."

He puts his hand out, and she puts the change in it.

[mechanicalswans]

He climbs out of the taxi and watches the exchange in silence, rather like an audience member watching a fairly complicated magic trick in progress.

When she has paid, he grins, shaking his head. "Impressive," he says. "Do you always do that?"

[tragic_mask]

She ducks her head, and grins sheepishly. "Not always... Rarely, in fact. I try not to abuse that particular power."

[mechanicalswans]

"I would have offered to help pay, but all I have with me are credit cards," he says. "And I don't know if they work here. In the old days I could find lost coins easily, but things are more expensive now..."

He offers her his arm. "It wasn't a very long trip, so it's not like he is out a lot of money."