(no subject)

[tragic_mask]

They are outside the Blue Owl Bar. It's mid-morning, so there are cars rushing [so to speak] by, and people walking, biking, or rollerblading down the sidewalk nearby.

"Well, here we are,"  she says brightly, ponytail ruffled by a light breeze.

Comments

[mechanicalswans]

"...well, there are settings that have always appealed to me," he says with a smile, "but really you're the only important part. Anywhere would be fine, as long as it's with you."

[tragic_mask]

"That's terribly romantic of you," she says, with an arched brow.

[mechanicalswans]

"...although if you said you really wanted to live in the middle of the desert I would try to talk you out of it," he admits, and kisses her again.

[tragic_mask]

"I'm not that fond of the warm," she says, patting his arm. "More like the tropical type, with coconuts and warm, white sand."

[mechanicalswans]

"Tropical, I don't mind," he says. "As warm as you like, as long as it's on the water. The sea, a lake, a river, anything like that."

[tragic_mask]

"Then I think we'll be all right."

[mechanicalswans]

"Better than all right, I would say," he murmurs. "We'll just need to save up to buy a nice place on the beach someday."

[tragic_mask]

"Scrounge for years," she says sagely, "Until we can retire by the sea."

[mechanicalswans]

"Rent a hut, at first," he suggests. "Spend our days combing the beach for interesting things to turn into sculptures to sell to tourists, and our evenings entertaining those tourists with songs and stories at some local pub."

[tragic_mask]

"Live off the land," she adds. "Or just the kindness of strangers. Either is equally romantic."

[mechanicalswans]

"I can fish," he says. "We would never lack for food. And we would have no stress at all--it would be beautiful."

[tragic_mask]

She contemplates it, silently, tracing patterns on his chest.

Then: "I feel like, really, my stressed self would always be sneaking back in. After all, there's only so long I can pretend not to be... what I am. A long weekend is probably just about the right length for that."

[mechanicalswans]

"You'd be surprised how long you can distract yourself," he says quietly. "It takes a certain amount of compartmentalization, but it can be done. Then again, it's a bit of a specialty of mine..."

[tragic_mask]

"Why?" she inquires.

[mechanicalswans]

"Why do I do it?" he asks. "It makes things easier. More pleasant. Better than exploring all the harsh realities of a situation. Selectively accepting certain things and refusing to see others--isn't that what being in love is?"

[tragic_mask]

"Ha," she says. "Yes, I suppose it is."

[mechanicalswans]

"Sometimes you just need to be able to close certain things away, to get by," he says softly. "It makes the difference between being able to survive, and being bogged down by what has happened to you. I find it comforting."

[tragic_mask]

"It's a talent I find difficult," she says. "Everything just seems to mix together in a strange gumbo."

[mechanicalswans]

"Why is that?" he asks. "For me, it's easy. I just... put certain things aside, close the door, and go on without them."

[tragic_mask]

"I don't know," she says. "I think keeping them all together lends itself to my work."

[mechanicalswans]

"I couldn't function at all if I didn't lock some things away."

He settles back on the bed, and lights a cigarette. "But I'm not doing a very good job of it tonight."

[tragic_mask]

"I think you're doing better than I am," she says. "At least with locking away the vocational side of things."

[mechanicalswans]

"We're on an uneven field, with that. There's no fire here, after all. My work needs tools that I don't have with me, where yours needs only you. I can keep that away, but the rest--the rest, I have less experience with, and more temptation."

[tragic_mask]

"The rest?" she asks, head tilted.

[mechanicalswans]

He takes a drag on his cigarette, watching her, then looks down at his hands.

"I care for you," he says, "deeply. Those aren't the words of an imagined man going on an ordinary vacation."