strangetrip | [GP] Food for the soul

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[GP] Food for the soul

Carlos hated being back at the hotel. He had begun by trying to access the Nevernever but that had totally failed, then caught up with Buffy to go and visit both London and Edinburgh, for varying reasons, and the rest of the time he had headed to Spain - he may have been well travelled, but rarely got time to be a tourist - but his time relaxing and finding out about Spain had been unceremoniously cut short when he woke up and found himself back at the hotel. For a few moments he lay there, utterly fed up, and just feeling incredibly homesick.

That only lasted a few minutes; after that he was a man on a mission.

He hunted out Caroline, and had a long chat with her. Plans were set. Time to cook up a storm. They'd missed 4th July, this could serve as a belated celebration, as well as a 'things ain't all bad here' event. Posters went up throughout the hotel, giving notice of a cook out. Everyone was encouraged to attend. What could be bad about this?

Grills were set up outside to cook up as much meat as they could hold; non-meat options were there as well for variety; salads prepared... a vast array of food to try and cheer up anyone who needed it. Carlos took his place at the grills, brandishing tools, turning the meat over just at the right point.

All that was needed now was people to attend.

[ooc: Use as a general gathering post - if you want Carlos specifically, tag him in the subject line]

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Bradley tried to picture what that might look like and it was hard for him. Caleb would know all this, probably. He watches more sci-fi than me.

"Do you miss it?" He asked. "Or... do you miss your original home? I... don't know what I'd think if I went from one world to another and couldn't get back."

Snow didn't have to think about that even for a second. "In order, yes. And no." She missed people in Gotham terribly. The only thing she regretted about home was leaving her baby brother behind.

He nodded. He didn't understand, but he nodded. He thought maybe he could understand a little if he only had the cabin and his father to go back to, but they had escaped and his brother needed him and they had to find mom and Ted.

"Someone said places like this can grow on you," He said after a beat. "I guess they were right for some people."

Snow shrugged one shoulder. "Some people don't have anything back where they came from. Sure as shit ain't anything for me back there." Not strictly true. But everything she still loved was back at her father's house, and the only way she'd go back there was in a pine box, assuming he'd even care enough to bring her body back if she died.

"I'm sorry." He said.

Brad wasn't sure if he meant because he brought it up or because of what she said.

"You probably have some good friend here, then, huh?" Brad added, changing the subject.

Snow considered him in silence for a long moment, beats going by with no attempt from her to fill them. Then, finally, she said, "I think I'm the one making you uncomfortable."

Brad frowned in confusion. He was okay with silence. He had always been okay with it even though his dad and Caleb were much more used to noise and talking.

"Why do you say that?" He asked.

"'Cause I'm not the one who keeps assuming something's wrong," Snow said plainly. "I don't know you from Adam, anything I tell you ain't something that scars me."

I guess that makes sense. Bradley looked out in front of them.

"I keep thinking I'm going to say the wrong thing and offend someone," He admitted quietly. "I've met people from different countries before, but never from different worlds or different times. I don't have experience just being like 'oh, you have magic?' or 'you're a superhero back home, that's cool'. It all seems weird to me, you know? Like this is a dream, but one where if I make the wrong person angry I'll have to put up with the angry at me for a while."

Snow grunted, a non-committal noise. She could relate to some of that; after all she'd come from a world where magic was close to non-existent and she might have gone to her grave thinking it was a thing from stories if not for her stepmother's mirror. At the same time, she had never put much stock in making people angry unless it was going to lead to that person beating her or attempting to rape her.

"It takes getting used to. People can do some real weird shit."

"Yeah," He agreed, thinking of the music Sunny made come from him. "Can you... do anything like that?"

Brad's eyes moved to the gun, then back to her.

"Are you like, a sheriff or something, back home?" He asked.

Let me tell you something, kid. Magic's just a word for what's left to the powerless once everyone else has had their fill.

"No." And while Snow didn't smile, as she rarely did, there was a glint of sharp amusement in her eyes. She was a half-breed Indian bitch, who would let her have any kind of power like that? Or any kind of power at all. "And no, I wasn't any kind of lawman."

"But you have a gun," He observed, but with no judgement.

My dad had a gun, too... His lips formed a tight line as he tried to push away the thought of finding the gun under his dad's bed. It led to everything after that.

"I do," Snow acknowledged, though she didn't understand even now why that was a big deal for anybody. "I'm not the only one around here with a gun, either."

He remembered how his dad had let him, no, made him, fire the shotgun. His dad hadn't given any instructions. When the butt of the gun flew back hard into Bradley's shoulder, his father had laughed.

Bradley rolled his shoulder in memory while looking out at everyone.

"When did you learn to use it?" He asked. I wonder if it's okay to ask something like that.

Snow did have to think about that one. She couldn't quite recall how old she was when her father had first put Rose Red in her hands. After all, if she could remember her early years more clearly, she'd remember what her real name was. She knew she'd been ten when he'd had the opal set in the pommel, but that was as close as she could get. "I was small," she said finally. "My father had this gun made special for me." It was her pride and joy, as well as her comfort.

Bradley's gaze dropped to the gun again. Something her dad made special for her

"It's nice that you have it here, then." He said, meaning it. "Your dad must have wanted you to be able to protect yourself."

She was quiet, but somehow Brad could sense she was someone who could look after herself just fine.

Now Snow laughed, a high, hard, fierce sound that had little to do with amusement. "No. That's not what he wanted." He'd wanted a pretty little doll he could dress up however he pleased and then put away in her cabinet again. He'd have her nursemaids dress her in white, to see her black hair against that. He'd have them dress her in black, so her skin looked paler against that. He would dress her as a Crow woman with her hair in two braids. He would dress her up in a cattleman's clothes. And so, the gun.

If her father had had his way, she would have died in that house. "But I've never been without it."

The laugh visibly surprised Bradley and he was stunned. He blinked several times and tried to recover, but he knew he wasn't as smooth as he could have been.

He wasn't sure what to say, but his gaze drifted back down to it.

"It's... kind of pretty." He said. "Is that something you say about guns? I mean, it is pretty, but is that weird?"

"She is," Snow agreed, though she didn't draw it to show him. Not with so many people around. Nor did she correct herself on her choice of pronoun. "I take it you don't shoot."

"I shot once," He said. "A shotgun... It was my dad's."

Bradley paused. He remembered how Caleb was goaded into shooting the white rabbit and the look on his brother's face when he hit it.

"I didn't know how to hold it and it bruised my shoulder." He said. "Only really went away a week ago. I didn't realize the kickback on those things were so hard."

Snow nodded. She may not remember exactly how Rose Red had first come to her, but she did remember the first time she shot. The kickback had been strong enough to knock a little girl down, and it had. "Takes a lot of force to blow a hole in the world. It's gotta go somewhere."

"Yeah," He said. "I just wish... I wish it had gone differently."

Bradley shrugged and looked away. He watched people walk around and enjoy themselves. He let silence enter their space again as he took in the party.

"Will being here ever start to feel normal?" He asked finally.

Snow too was silent for a long moment as she thought about how to answer that. "Depends. Some people don't want it to feel normal, and they fight it."

I wonder which one I'll be. Bradley knew he didn't feel normal now, but a lot of people told him he was going to get used to it.

"Thanks," He said after another long moment of silence. "For not just telling me I'll get used to it. I mean, I want to, I guess. If I'm stuck here, I want to be okay with that. But it's nice to not have to feel like I should be there already."

[GP] Food for the soul

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