[ 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]

"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."

[tragic_mask]

"No," she says. "It's just that I try not to take advantage of people just because they're... people." She takes his, and goes towards the apartment building as the taxi pulls away.

[mechanicalswans]

"It isn't something to make a habit of--well, I don't think you could, anyway. It's not what you are. For some, it is. For me, I would avoid it if I could, but if I couldn't, I wouldn't worry very much."

He looks up at the building as they approach.

[tragic_mask]

She fiddles in her coat pocket, and comes up with a key, unlocking the main door and heaving it open.

[mechanicalswans]

He will follow her into the building once the door is open, a brief scan of the names on the mailboxes if there are any in the entryway.

[tragic_mask]

And the door swings shut behind them.

"I'm three floors up." Melpomene's voice echoes around the building as she begins to climb the stairs.

[mechanicalswans]

"Mine's on the second floor, over an Indian restaurant," he says, following her. "I find that living over restaurants is very convenient."

[tragic_mask]

"Yes," she says wryly. "Until you get sick of the food they offer." They continue up the spiral staircase, up and up.

[mechanicalswans]

"It was an Italian place when I first moved in, and then it was a Turkish one for a while, and now Indian. By the time I move out, it will probably be a sushi bar, if it continues its eastward move."

He doesn't mind stairs, at least. They're not as awkward for him as they had been before his metal alterations.