Who: George, Fairytales Where: The mall When: Tuesday afternoon 21/12/10 What: Fairytales and George meeting.
George felt like he was really doing a good job when it came to handling the mall. Tons of bright lights, tons of loud noises, and he was only breathing a little bit faster than normal and eyeing the exits every five minutes or so. He laughed a little at himself and shifted the bags he was carrying to a different hand. He'd be back to normal and able to deal with the mall sometime soon, he hoped.
After discovering the weird fraud on his credit cards (none of them had turned up missing, so he figured that whoever had gotten his numbers had done it when he was shopping online), he'd taken to the mall with cash in hand to finish up his Christmas shopping. So far, it had been free of anything strange. Which probably should have been a warning that of course something weird was about to happen.
George felt the telltale brush of another immortal before he saw her. She was across the food court by the fountain, dressed very oddly and smiling at nothing in particular. Something about her felt very...familiar, although George couldn't remember ever meeting her at all. He shifted from one foot to the other for a moment, trying to decide whether to say something or just keep walking. His curiousity won out, though.
"Ma'am? Everything okay?" George said to her, trying not to be completely awkward.
Fairytale smiled at her reflection in the fountain, amused at the way the water rippled and distorted her image. Perhaps it was an odd time of year to be wearing a half tutu with a bright green hoodie and red leg warmers and scuffed Mary Janes, but it made her feel festive and pretty. The tinsel wound in her hair completed the look, and it glittered in the water.
She felt George drawing nearer, felt his hesitation. She blew her reflection a kiss, then turned a beaming smile in his direction when he spoke. "Hello, Dragonsbane. How are you?" she said, wondering if it'd be a good idea to climb onto the top of the fountain. She didn't want to get her clothes wet, though. Or be kicked out by mall cops.
George blinked, surprised. It had been a long time since anyone had called him 'Dragonsbane.' Centuries, probably. He smiled back at the woman and sat down at the edge of the fountain.
"I'm doing okay," George said. "Have I met you before, ma'am?"
Fairytale giggled. Fancy being called ma'am! "Not in person, I don't think. I know you, though. I know the maidens you saved and the dragons you vanquished, brave knight." She knew the myths of course. Any metaphorical stories behind the dragons didn't exist to her. "I am Fairytale. You only exist because of me. You're welcome." She winked at him, then sat down next to him, smoothing out her tutu.
George gaped at her for a moment. There was a goddess of fairytales? He was starting to think that his worries about literally everything having a god were totally spot-on. Still, though, George was pretty fond of fairytales. At least she was the goddess of something he actually enjoyed. He smiled at her, a little hesitant but happy.
"Oh. Um. Wow. It's nice to meet you?" He'd have pointed out that he was an actual historical figure outside of her stories, but that kind of sounded vain.
"Meet to nice you," Fairytale replied, clasping her hands between her knees. "So what do you do now? I've met others like you, you know. They all try to live rather normal lives. That makes me sad." She sighed and shrugged a shoulder. "Nothing can be done, of course. Choosing romance is part of the bargain." She looked around at the people moving back and forth, then smiled as a girl got up from her table and bumped into a guy trying to move past. "Now that's romantic chance," she said to herself.
George patted her on the shoulder, not sure how to apologize for not slaying dragons with much regularity anymore.
"Um, well, I'm working for the government," George said. "Helping out soldiers. I'd love to be out, y'know, slaying dragons, but there aren't many running around lately. Also, not many princesses." He perked up a little. "Oh, hey, but I got married to my true love."
"Oh, and they all lived happily ever after," she sighed, looking wistful. "Not many seem to get their handsome prince these days." She got up again, and balanced on the edge of the fountain, walking around the edge until she came back to George's other side. "Are you hungry? Always check for poisoned apples before you eat."
George stared at her for a moment, trying to decide if she was insane, messing with him, or completely awesome.
Then he grinned at her, having decided that she was completely awesome.
"I could eat. The Chinese place at the food court is tasty, and usually poison-free."
She was used to being on the receiving end of looks like that, and she didn't really care what people though. She jumped down off the fountain, smoothing her skirt.
"I like Chinese. Lets go." Let him think she didn't think straight, if he wanted to. It made no odds to her. She happened to think that he didn't think curly enough.
They got in line for the Chinese restaraunt, George with his mountain of bags and Fairytales in her tutu. He had to admit, the looks they were getting were pretty excellent.
"So, did you just come to New York?" George asked curiously. "It's a shame I haven't met you before."
"Oh no, I've been in a mental home," she said, hands behind her back as she craned to read the menu board. "The people there were so lovely, for the most part. I'm thinking fried rice today, for me."
He was apparently going to get surprised every other minute. He shot her a worried look.
"Are you okay?" He couldn't really think of a polite way to ask if she'd escaped. "You aren't hurt or anything, are you?"
The girl behind the counter gave him an impatient look, and George muttered something about orange chicken.
"Egg fried rice, thank you," Fairytales said to the girl, then glanced at George to give him a smile. "No, I'm fine, but I appreciate the consideration. They just thought they were doing the best thing for me, since I had no family to claim me, and I sometimes act in a way that some see as unusual. I let them take me in. And ten years just shoots by so fast."
"Oh, okay," George said, managing a smile. This was definitely an unusual conversation, but he was enjoying it in an odd way. Or maybe he just like Fairytales inherently, which would make some kind of sense. "Well, hey, how're you liking being out?"
He paid for both of their orders, since he had no idea if she actually had any money on her. Plus, it was just the nice thing to do.
"It got boring, after a while," she said, finding a table and sitting down. "Things don't change much in places like that. It's like a tower, where you're locked away high up, and everyone goes by and doesn't even know you're there. Always look up, Saint George."
Taking up her fork, she inhaled the scent of the food. "They don't make food like this in there either. So tell me of the last dragon you fought." She looked at him, eyes bright.
He tilted his head, considering. He'd fought a lot of things lately, but none of them were dragons. The last thing he'd fought that could be considered a dragon would have been...Opium, ironically enough. The Drug wasn't even a little lizard-like, but the phrase "chasing the dragon" had to count for something.
"The last dragon I fought was one that had captured my True Love," George said, munching on some of his orange chicken. "It was a Dragon of Black Smoke, and it enjoyed growing plants and stealing beautiful people. It put my True Love under its spell, so he couldn't remember who he was. I went in to fight it in its lair, but the dragon was too strong for me and threw me out. So some of my friends and I lured the dragon out and stole away my True Love then."
Fairytales watched George speak, a smile slowly forming on her face. When he was done, she looked down, blushing with pleasure. "I'm glad you found a way," she said, feeling strangely warm. That he'd put things in terms like that for her, and that it was such a marvelous story and she believed every word of it, flattered her. She realised suddenly how much she'd missed speaking to people she could connect with, not just those she could hold to her. "Thank you," she murmured.
George grinned back, glad to see her smiling.
"You're welcome," he said. "Oh! You should meet some of my other saint friends sometime! Assuming you haven't already. But a couple of them show up in your stories, and I think they'd like you."
"Thank you for the invitation! Maybe I will. I don't have any plans." And it was true, she had no plans whatsoever.
"It'll be fun, I can tell you about how Michael, another dragonslayer, saved my brother from the Red Dragon and the Fallen Dawn Star," George said. "Where are you staying? I can bring them to a restaraunt or something by you."
Where was she staying? She thought for a moment, then remembered. "I'm in a house with some other people. I tell them stories," she said. "You'll find me, I'm sure." She smiled, resting the matter entirely on the hands of Fate.