25 - You can't be a Queen, you know, till you've passed the proper examination

[notdreaming]

[ Video ]

[ Kara is as chipper as the day she left, though the sigh of relief that escapes her suggests that this is a recent change. Kryptonians do get headaches, it turns out. Especially when they argue with their own Council. ]

Hello again, barge! I can see I've only been gone a few days in this timeline. It's been more like a year and a half, in mine. Superman says hello, and so does Mother. They practically insisted I take Krypto with me.

[ Hearing his name, the big white dog barks cheerfully from his place at his mistress' side. She smiles and reaches down to scratch his ears, which quiets him down. ]

I brought some... interesting souvenirs. [ She snickers, glancing off-screen to look at the small pile. ] See, everyone on Earth is really excited about Krypton, and everyone on Krypton is really excited about Earth. And I get free merchandise, because everyone wants an endorsement. A lot of it has pictures of places the artist has only seen from other pictures, and the result is... well, like I said, interesting.

Who wants a volcano snow globe, or a cat light chime?

[ She holds up one of each: A snow globe depicting a very shiny gilded gold mountain with red "lava" snow, and what looks like a Hello Kitty wind chime in orange, but instead of metal bars something that looks like tiny lines of light. These are in fact very small metal bars. They reflect rainbows all over the place, it's great. ]

Comments

[mercurialize]

Looks like I beat you back.

Hey, Kara.

[He gives a smile. Still the same face, but there's a worn look in his eyes. Something just seems missing.]

And what the hell is a cat light chime supposed to do?

[audio]

[tucky]

[That light chime is super pretty; hell yes she wants it.]

Is the Hello Kitty one taken yet? Can anyone have it?

[babyfacedkiller]

[ Lloyd hasn't been feeling his most social lately, what with the being recently deceased, so the communicator thing has gone mostly ignored. But now this blond girl is on there, glowing like she just birthed Jesus or something. And good for her, if that's the case, but that's not what gets Lloyd's attention. ]

Did you say Krypton?

[ He's not really a great reader of anything, including comic books, but he was a kid once, and then he read his share. Or paged through, anyway. He doesn't remember a whole lot about the actual stories, it's all a mishmash of WHAM and KAPOW in his head, but come on, who doesn't know about Krypton? And fucking Superman, for that matter. ]

[notdreaming]

[ She doesn't notice it yet, because she's too excited. ]

Kyle! You came back! Where are you?

[ Translation: hugs are going to happen. ]

[audio]

[notdreaming]

[ Kara laughs outright. Yes, she has seen Hello Kitty and is aware that the basic design has been ripped off by Kryptonian artists. ]

No, it hasn't been taken. I have a few of them, actually. Of course you can have one.

[notdreaming]

[ She just escaped a shitstorm of politics and diplomacy. Which is a lot like birthing Jesus, to be totally honest. She blinks at him for a moment. She hasn't run into many people who know of her from other worlds, so it takes her mind a second to register the question. ]

My home, yes. That was my deal, before I left: bringing Krypton back.

[audio]

[tucky]

[That last flood had fucked with her head a lot, but she still manages a little smile.]

Okay. Should I come pick it up?

[audio]

[notdreaming]

I can bring it to you, it'll be faster. Where are you?

[mercurialize]

[A good thing. He wouldn't know what to say at the moment.]

Yep, I'm back. Guess you were right. And I'm in my room at the moment. Want me to stop by?

[babyfacedkiller]

[ Right, he remembers. Krypton got blown off the map somehow, and that's how the whole alien in tights story started.

He's not sure what to try to wrap his head around first, the fact that this girl is actually from Superman's world or that she apparently managed to bring a whole planet back from the dead. He gives a short, incredulous laugh. ]

Shit, that's a hell of a deal.

[audio]

[tucky]

In my room. Number six-oh-three.

[notdreaming]

[ Don't be silly, Kyle. She's already knocking at his door. ]

[action]

[notdreaming]

[ A moment later there's a knock at the door. ]

[notdreaming]

[ She grins widely in response. She had her doubts that it was possible, that it would last, that there wouldn't be disastrous consequences somewhere else in the universe. A year and a half later she's confident that everything's sunshine and rainbows. ]

Yeah. The Admiral is pretty impressive.

[action]

[tucky]

[She opens it, and wordlessly steps back so Kara can come in if she wants. Tiffany's room is very nice, really-- it's been transformed to look like a luxury hotel room. It's still somewhat bare and generic, because she doesn't have a lot of personal possessions here.]

[mercurialize]

[kajsldkjaslkdd

Dammit Kara. He answers the door, but stands in the doorway.]

I said I could go to your room.

[notdreaming]

[ Damn straight, Kyle. She immediately goes in for the hug. ]

Did you? I must have missed that.

Re: [action]

[notdreaming]

Hello!

[ She holds up the chime for Tiffany to see before entering the room. As light hits the little bars they spin, shooting rainbows all over the place. The more light, the faster they spin. ]

Do you have a place to hang this up? I can help with that, too.

[action]

[tucky]

[She reaches out and runs her fingers over the chimes. It's even prettier in real life.]

I was thinking over my bed, but... I don't got hooks or a hammer or nothing.

[action]

[notdreaming]

Hold this for a moment?

[ She waits until Tiffany has the chime in hand and won't drop it before vanishing. A moment later she's back, a long nail in her hand. When she flies into the air above Tiffany's bed it's at a much more natural speed - some things she has patience for. Fetching is not one.

She holds the nail up to the ceiling in the space above where Tiffany's head might rest if she were to lay down in the center of the bed. ]

Here?

[action]

[tucky]

[Woah.

Of all the things she was expecting, it wasn't this-- but she's too surprised to do anything but just hand over the chime.]

[babyfacedkiller]

[ Yeah, he can't help but smile back a little bit. She's got plenty to be happy about, it sounds like, and honestly, he can't remember the last time he's seen anyone grinning so wide without the threat of sharp teeth behind it. ]

Way people keep talkin' about him, he's Santa Claus, the Wizard of Oz and the Tooth Fairy all rolled into one. But kind of an asshole.

[mercurialize]

[The retort gets jammed in his throat by the hug. He really can't handle this right now. He's had such a rough few days, but she's so happy to see him and he can't keep up. He hoped things would go more slowly, or that he could hide and just recover for a while on his own by his own terms, but the hug obliterates that idea. It's the glaring realization when you feel most alone that someone else comes, someone like Kara, and picks you back up whether you're ready or not. And she has no idea that she's even doing it.

For a long moment he can't speak, he can only cry into her shoulder. He should explain, he has to. It's tumbled through chokes and sobs.]

Elene. She's dead. Elene's dead.

[notdreaming]

[ She only holds him tighter when she realizes he's crying, excitement immediately overpowered by concern for her friend. She rubs his back soothingly - it's the only thing she can do, really. It breaks her heart to know someone she loves is suffering this much. ]

Oh, Kyle. I'm so, so sorry.

[notdreaming]

[ She laughs outright - she finally gets these sorts of references. ]

That sums it up pretty nicely, actually.