(no subject)

[tragic_mask]

Melpomene slept deeply without dreaming, and only woke up when the light between the curtains fell across her eyes.

It was a nice way to wake up. So now, as she opens her eyes, she stirs only slightly, and then settles back into a comfortable position.

Comments

[tragic_mask]

"Sure, I'll be autonomous," she says.

[mechanicalswans]

He returns her gently to her feet.

"They'd probably look at us strangely if I carried you around in the gift shop, anyway," he says. "We'll each need both hands free for shopping."

[tragic_mask]

"Oh, yeah," she agrees. "Those little postcards, the Niagara Falls refrigerator magnets..."

[mechanicalswans]

"I hope they have one of those machines that you put pennies in and they flatten them and print a picture on, of the falls. And that they take American pennies--but they're the same size, aren't they?"

[tragic_mask]

"We'll have to find out... I don't often cross the border."

She slips her arm through his as they proceed along the sidewalk.

[mechanicalswans]

"I know I've gotten them by accident now and then. Which is unfair, as they are generally worth less than an American penny, but I do like the leaves on them."

He walks with her, contentedly.

[tragic_mask]

"I'll take your word for it. I never got a close enough look to appreciate the foliage."

[mechanicalswans]

"It takes a brave country, or a very courteous one, to have a leaf as their symbol," he says thoughtfully. "I do like maples, though. The syrup, the candy. The... furniture."

[tragic_mask]

"Furniture made of maple syrup," she says slowly, as if contemplating. "Could get interesting."

[mechanicalswans]

"Well, if you live in one of those ice hotels," he says. "You could lick your furniture if you get hungry. And it would smell nice--or would it have any scent at all, in that cold?"

[tragic_mask]

"You'd probably know better..." she says. "I do know that if I tried to sit on it in normal temperatures, I'd slowly but surely sink to ground level, surrounded by a tasty but shapeless puddle of maple syrup."

[mechanicalswans]

"...I wouldn't mind you covered in maple syrup," he grins. "Not in that alien-queen outfit, though. That would get messy."

[tragic_mask]

"Messy is half the fun," she says, with her eyebrow raised. "If not more."

[mechanicalswans]

"On hardwood floors, or outdoors," he says after a moment. "Not on carpeting. But it could be arranged, if you want..."

[tragic_mask]

She laughs. "I'll think about it."

[mechanicalswans]

"I think the good people at our hotel would be very upset with us if we tried it here. I have to admit, though, the more I think about it, the more I'm tempted."

[tragic_mask]

"I feel I should be more incensed than I am," she says, with a supressed grin.

[mechanicalswans]

"The only question is whether they would sell proper souvenir Canadian maple syrup in the gift shop at the Falls," he says with a chuckle. "I suspect the answer is yes."

[tragic_mask]

"Would it have to be the souvenir kind?" she asks, eyebrows quirking. "Does that change the experience?"

[mechanicalswans]

"Not particularly," he says. "It's just a nice touch. We could have taken some of those syrup packages from the restaurant."

[tragic_mask]

"I feel like we would have needed quite a few... to make a chair, I mean."

[mechanicalswans]

"If only you had one of those giant handbags that elderly women carry," he says, "we could've collected enough. We missed a golden opportunity."

[tragic_mask]

"So to speak," she says wryly.

[mechanicalswans]

"We could also use gelatin," he says, "though that isn't specifically Canadian. It would probably hold the shape of furniture better, without being frozen... until we try to use it, at least."

[tragic_mask]

"That could end disastrously..."