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[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

[the sound of Billy's front door closing, and a short sigh]

...Well.
I guess it lasted longer than I thought it would, at least.

[fridge door sound, hiss and pop of a can opening]

--Speaking of things that last longer than I thought it would...are we ever going back to the Castle?
Not that I'm eager to or anything, of course.

It's just that... well.

[staring forlornly at where a certain mad-scientist laboratory should be]

...Anyone else end up somewhere that is juuuust different enough from home to be really unsettling?

Comments

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

Yeah... it's been really strange, seeing what everything is like in the future. It takes some getting used to.

[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

The future?

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

[blink, and a quick laugh] Oh, yeah. I'm from about 30 years ago. Things have changed a bit.

[encryptedlock]

Oh, the numbers? The ones here are 4, 5, 6, and 7. They're not quite AIs, but they're not...organic, either. I'd put them in the same category as the Cube and that puppet, Halloween.

And yeah - GLaDOS, for example, has her own room and everything. I'd make sure she's in a good mood before visiting, though. She has turrets.

[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

The one who wants a robot to pilot around?? ...She has turrets??

[...uh-oh]

[encryptedlock]

That's her, all right. Used to mastermind experiments back at her home. Likes cake.

[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

[blinks back]

Really? ...No wonder you think everything is so cool.

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

[amused] I was pretty happy with my world, too.

When you look at it, technology and magic both can be pretty impressive... it's just kinda fascinating to me that this world has both.

[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

Magic was fascinating, up until the "yeah, I don't get it and--hey--holy crap, it can kill me" point.

[sips his drink]

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

[laughs] Touche.

[shrugs] I don't know though... it's not that different from my world, really. More obvious, but still.

It's not entirely safe... but a lot of times it's worth the risk.

[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

[skeptical look]

No offense...but really? Still?

[...you know what he's referring to, lady]

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

[her smile fades and her right hand goes automatically to her wrist]

I didn't say that it couldn't be abused.

[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

[he shrugs a little]

The world's confusing enough with its 'normal' problems. Adding in magic just seems like overkill.

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

I don't know. It seems to me that the problems are the same. They're just... flashier here.

[taking another drink]

[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

[scoffs a little]

[bitterly] Yeah, okay. Getting shot with magical love-inducing arrows, trying to figure out how to hide from an incorporeal serial killer, and finding out what being a vampire is like...those are normal problems.

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

[okay... fine. She's done arguing. Because, yeah..]

...you got shot, too?

[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

Yep. [drinks more]

Because of magic, ironically enough.

[then stops and thinks about that, because he's pretty sure he just incorrectly used 'ironically']

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

I have more of an issue with the fact that someone purposefully set out to use that magic. [she's mostly forgiven Barney, but... still]

[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

...And it doesn't bother you that the Castle does that on a daily basis?

[gestures around them with his glass again]

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

Of course it does.

[frustrated sigh.] Look... I get that magic is dangerous. And, I know you hate not being able to understand it.

But the world is dangerous. Any world. Terrible, shitty, unfair things happen. And I didn't understand it any better when it was caused by "normal" people. Maybe even less, then.

That's why I look so hard for the wonder. Because, without it, the rest is just... too much.

[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

[frustrated sigh of his own]

...But...why do you need magic for that??

[then kind of...shuts up. and drinks more of his drink]

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

[she blinks, and then gives him a surprised smile]

I just like it. I don't need it.

[smile] which is probably a good thing, since there's not a lot of that to go around at the moment.

[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

[stirs his drink, staying silent for now, thinking in the general direction of his glass]

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

[taking another drink]

I take it there's not a lot of magic in your world?

[need-to-rule-it.livejournal.com]

There are some people with pretty crazy abilities, but other than that...no.

It's alot like this place, otherwise.