InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Braaaaiiiiiins"

Gordon, Barbara Gordon (batgirlbabs) wrote in snapthread,
@ 2019-07-23 14:21:00

Entry tags:

barbara gordon, john crichton (fs)

Who: Barbara Gordon and John Crichton
Where: Around Town
When: Today
What: Maybe a dose of reality?

Things had been strange this month, first everyone getting sick, and the doors closing the way they had, and then the werewolf? Barbara almost felt like she was back at home again, it was the kind of craziness that she would have expected from Gotham. But not here in this quiet little town she had been stuck in for too long now.

But here she was - in her reality that included more super powered people than she was entirely comfortable with, and magic, and monsters, and so many things that defied explanation that she had stopped trying to quantify it a while back.

Today though, had seemed mostly normal so far, nothing too interesting had happened just yet, but she knew how quickly that could change and so she was ready for something to change if it happened.

The Library was a good place for a mostly normal sort of day though, so Barbara felt like chances were high things would be fine here. She was going through stacks of books when she heard someone come in. They were still working on bulking up the collection and making it what one could look at and agree it was a real library and not just their sad attempts at calling a handful of books a library. But it was a work in progress - which is what was so clearly on display when she heard someone come in. "Hi, lemme put these down." She called out.

"Hi," Say what you would about this place, but it was helping her work on her introduction skills if nothing else. There was always someone new to meet. "I'm Barbara, I don't think we've met yet."

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not_kirk
2019-07-25 04:17 am UTC (link)

John frowned, staring at her. Wait, was she serious? He frowned. She was serious. Well....shit. That sucked. Would his Earth even still be there if he found a way back one day? Ugh, he didn't know if he wanted to think about it.....

"Oh, so this is perfect for you, then." He nodded around the library. Though the health issue thing...well, he stared at her for a moment, wanting to ask but not really wanting to intrude anymore on that one.

It was nice. Nice to be normal. "You uh...ever worry about your family? Friends? I mean, are they missing you, do you think?" He only asked because he felt that way about his own family back home. A lot. Funny to actually be talking about this now with somebody else.

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batgirlbabs
2019-07-25 05:07 am UTC (link)

"Ah yeah, I mean as close as I could get here in a place like this." She shrugged - the library science stuff had been good, she liked the idea of helping people through something like that, like a real way of doing what she tried to do as Batgirl, you know without the mask. But it had started to feel like the sort of thing that wasn't going to be as helpful as she wanted it to be. It was why she'd been looking into something new, some thing with an environmental focus. Clean energy, like her company.

She sobered a little further when he asked about her family and friends. "Yeah," She said softly, "All the time. I - I should be there with them." But she hadn't been a very good friend recently, she knew, she'd let herself get distracted with everything and had let herself get lost in Batgirl. Frankie had been calling, and Alyisa had been trying to tell her something about the company.

"I hope they're missing me." Well she did and she didn't. She didn't want this to hurt them, her being gone, but she wanted to be missed too.

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not_kirk
2019-07-25 05:51 am UTC (link)

He could understand the part about wanting to make a difference, to do something to help others. That was why he was doing his own experiments. Sure, there was adventure and glory in it. But there was also the possibility of changing the world and changing space travel. Opening Earth up to the universe.

That part went a little too well, if you asked John.

"I'm sure they miss you." He promised her with a sad shrug. Just like he knew his father and his best friend missed him back home. Just like he missed Aeryn....

Really should stop thinking about her. It made his head hurt to even think about.

John sighed, his eyes growing a bit lost in that moment before shaking himself out of it.

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batgirlbabs
2019-07-25 07:29 am UTC (link)

"Maybe," She gave him a small smile - he didn't really want to hear all of her problems - he was new in town after all. They didn't really know each other but there was a part of her that wanted to say more.

Something about this place made her want to reach out to people, more than she ever had back home. Maybe it was losing Dick and Jason that did it, they'd felt like safety when she arrived and now that they were gone she couldn't help but want to find something like that again.

"The last time I saw my dad I yelled at him." She admitted when he grew quiet, something about the stillness compelling her to share an ugly truth. "I was so angry with him and now -" She didn't even want to think that she'd never get the chance to see him again, but it certainly felt that way. She'd been here for months now and no one seemed to know what was going to get them back.

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not_kirk
2019-07-25 05:15 pm UTC (link)

Truth was, John liked hearing someone else complain for once. He'd gotten good at it amongst his previous crewmates, and it was...nice Day-to-day problems seemed normal. He was really starting to realize how much he misssd normal.

Poor kid. There was a slow nod at the comment about her father and how she reacted the last time..and he looked down, not really sure how to answer that one. It was tough. He had his own pains, of course, but he wasn't quite as ready to let those out. Not yet.

"I'm sure he knows how you really feel. He knows you love him." John shrugged, smiling at her and hoping it helped. "That's what kids and parents do, right? They fight"

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batgirlbabs
2019-07-25 08:58 pm UTC (link)

"I hope so," She said trying to return the smile he gave her, she didn't want to start falling apart here, not right now, and not with him. She didn't know him - she wouldn't have even let herself fall to pieces like this around Frankie. Barbara took a slow breath to try and get a hold of herself.

"We haven't really - we haven't fought like this before." She admitted, "I hope he knows that I still love him though." Even after everything, even after the stuff with James, even after his disappointment in Batgirl she would always love her father. She was only ever just trying her best, just like he was.

"I guess I just have to hope that we make it back home eventually, so I can tell him that myself." She stood up a little bit straighter and tried to calm herself just a little bit more, she was fine - everything was fine.

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not_kirk
2019-07-25 09:50 pm UTC (link)

"He knows. I'm sure he knows." John didn't want to act like it was no big deal. He had his own struggles with his father, hoping his dad knew he was okay. Hoping he moved on and was having a good life without him there. Even if it hurt.

"Yeah....I know what you mean." He smiled sadly then cleared his throat and looked at the DVDs, grabbing a handful. "So, I think I'll start with these. You said you had a player? And a TV? Maybe a couch?" He was kidding about the couch. Sort of. "I mean, I can just watch them from my bed."

Honestly, John was looking forward to some time to just...veg out. It would be good for his brain. Maybe he could forget the hell he'd been through over the past few months.

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batgirlbabs
2019-07-25 10:49 pm UTC (link)

She nodded, it was going to have to do for now, there wasn't much else to do with that sort of thing. She just had to hope things changed one day. And not lose her mind while she was here. She could handle it.

At least John seemed happy to move on and Barbara was glad for it and nodded. "Yeah, yeah definitely take those and let's see about the player. I don't know about a tv, but we've got a portable player that you can use." She said ducking under a counter to find what she was looking for.

She came up laughing when he asked about the couch too and shook her head, "That one I'm afraid I can't help you with, but if you decide to brave a trip through the doors you can probably find one to bring back sometime." She told him as she presented him with the portable DVD player. "Think you can figure this out or do you need a tutorial?" She asked him, if he was as smart as she seemed she had a feeling he could handle it.

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not_kirk
2019-07-26 12:09 am UTC (link)

He chuckled, taking the player under an arm and nodding. "I can handle it. Finding a TV might be a bit more difficult. Maybe I can ask Tony to rig one up for me," he was kidding. Sort of. He wouldn't be surprised if Stark already had an idea.

"Thanks, Barbara. It was good meeting you face to face." John nodded and turned to leave with that boyish grin of his still planted on his face. Okay, maybe this place wasn't so bad after all. "See you around?"

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batgirlbabs
2019-07-26 12:23 am UTC (link)

"Actually," Barbara countered when he mentioned the tv, she reached for the player and opened it up to show him the screen. "We've got that taken care of too. I'm going to trust that you have the rest." She said with a small teasing sort of grin, hopefully the rest would be easy enough to figure out, especially for someone who had done what he had.

"It was really nice to meet you too John." She agreed letting him go with a wave, "Don't feel too bad if you have to come back some time and ask for help." She teased as he headed back out again.

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